User Comments - maktubhelou

Posted on: Mother's Day

在韩国没有母亲节。这里我们有父母节。

Posted on: Finishing Work for the Weekend

Totally because of your Japanese ;-)

I'm studying Korean as well and in Korean it would be "나 먼저 갈게요" or "I'll go first."

Is the word for "first" in Japanese kind of unique to that phrase?

I agree about "I'll go first" making sense in English in the right context, but at least, the way it's used in Korean and Chinese, like when you're going to leave a place before other people, would sound really weird.

Posted on: Suffix Magic

Awesome work!

Have you studied Japanese and Korean too? I think you commented before on one of my comments a while back.

If you speak Korean, I wonder if you know of a good source for cognates. For example "可能性" and "가능성" I know there are thousands of examples out there, and I keep noticing them as I'm studying Chinese, but it'd be great to have a website or book that lays them out for you.

Posted on: An Introduction!

I'm interested where you get the information on the pronunciation of 상해. How is it known that it was once pronounced "sang-hai?"

Posted on: Giving up a Seat on the Bus

Hi Mac,

What makes you think I don't think very highly of Korean people? When I said it's pretty much exactly the same here in Korea, I was referring to the fact that people generally try to give up their seats to elderly people, which was the topic of the dialogue. There's nothing negative about that at all, quite the contrary. As for the 不要脸 people who come in and steal the seat while two people are having a stand-off of politeness, all I can say is there are idiots everywhere.

Posted on: Giving up a Seat on the Bus

Great lesson! Cute, too. It's pretty much exactly the same here in Korea, including the "shameless" guy who comes in and steals the seat while two people are trying to be polite waiting for the other to take the seat.

What was the full expression for "shameless" that Jenny used in the dialogue? And how would you use it in conversation?

Posted on: How to Start a Conversation with Chinese People

Actually, Chinese pod was the first place I heard that people don't actually say "你好吗？" and I'm glad for it. I just thought I'd point out though, that in the PDF file it's included as "你好吗？" and not "你好." It might confuse some people. It's probably there as an oversight because in the dialogue they mention that you don't say it, but if you just look at the PDF first, it's a little misleading.

Posted on: Monopoly, Uno, or Twister?

What would be the equivalent of "heads or tails" to choose who goes first in Chinese? I also wonder if there would be a way say "heads, I win; tails, you lose."

Posted on: Before Noon, After Noon

I always just thought of it as you always 上 before you 下. You have to "上班" before you "下班" and you have to "上课" before "下课". For me that helps a mnemonic.

Posted on: She's Easy

This is a great lesson on fun gossip. But why's the girl the only one getting a bad rep? It'd be fun to see a lesson on the Chinese equivalent of a Don Juan.