User Comments - mark

Posted on: Dormitory Drama - Part 4

I just study whatever I encounter, and don't think of any of it as a waste. If I don't encounter it again, I'll probably forget. So, I think my brain is already wired to perform this kind of natural selection. However, native speakers understand the infrequent stuff, just fine, and I want to master Chinese as much as I can. I know I will never reach native fluency, because I started studying Chinese in middle age, but that doesn't stop me from trying to get as close as I can.

Posted on: Dormitory Drama - Part 4

@calicartel, not much invention required, really. All you would need is a list of words with their HSK level. From there, the programming skills required are something you might be asked to demonstrate in a job interview. Where are you going with your thought? That Cpod should limit vocabulary by HSK level? I think that is a rather unnatural constraint, and you would get stilted dialog like what I remember from more traditional language lessons.

Posted on: Private vs. Public Placement

In regard to specialized vocabulary, I'm in IT, and have a background in Mathematics.  So, lessons along that line are interesting to me.  Cosmology and sailing are specialized areas where I have a hobby level interest.  A lesson on how to sail a junk, insider's view of the Chinese navy, or evolution of the cosmos from the initial moments of the big bang would be great.

Posted on: Dormitory Drama - Part 4

I once stayed in a place with a 宿管阿姨 for a month in Beijing. I thought they were 很厉害 about recognizing who was supposed to be in the building, and who wasn't.

Posted on: Dormitory Drama - Part 4

No problem. Personally, I like the change.

Posted on: Dormitory Drama - Part 4

@Kendrick, I personally don't have any complaint. I'll take whatever challenge Chinesepod gives me. I've listened to every last one of the lessons in the archive, at all levels, and listen to the new ones when they come out. So, for me it is just an observation. As an example, I think this lesson introduces more new concepts and vocabulary than the average intermediate lesson (heating elements to stick in a bucket of water, euphemisms for menstruation, how to say you are just grumpy, what to call dormitory inspections, hot plates, an expression for fetching water) historically intermediate lessons would have had half as much interesting and obscure material. It's all real Chinese, and very interesting, I was just curious if Chinese pod had made a conscious decision to push us into high gear. CPod has always had that flavor, a little bit. Traditional language courses usually slowly build up the vocabulary they expect students to know, adding a few new words into the mix with each new lesson. CPod has never been afraid to use vocabulary that just fit the lesson at hand. It just seems that recently, the gloves have completely come off. I like it this way. So, maybe, I shouldn't say anything.

Posted on: 三十六计

装可怜 - pretend to be pitiful.

Posted on: Dormitory Drama - Part 4

My impression is that vocabulary at elementary and intermediate levels of Chinesepod lessons has been getting more varied recently.  At least, it seems its gotten more likely that a lesson will include several words, or phrases, I don't already know.  So, I don't completely understand it on the first hearing. This lesson is an example of that. More challenging vocabulary is a good thing for me, but I wonder if this is a conscious decision about academic standards on Chinesepod's part, unconscious drift, or all in my imagination.

Posted on: 明星吸毒待遇不同-别让看脸蚕食社会风气

My reading of the sentence, " 好多影视剧都打着“爱情”的旗号给她翻案", is," a lot of movies and TV shows excuse her her adultery, because she was in love". This is obviously not a direct translation, but it is one of the ways I think an English speaker would express a similar idea.

Posted on: After a Car Accident

The guy seems to be quite cheerful about being at fault in an accident. Good to know Chinese are such good sports. 

@root, in New York zipper merging doesn't seem to be the rule.  So, on the few occasions when I've driven there, I've almost rear-ended several people, because they very rudely and unexpectedly stopped at the end of the on-ramp.  So, I think abiding by the local custom is polite.  Doing unexpected things is rude.