User Comments - mikenotinjubei

Posted on: Autumn Outing

Very Nice David I enjoyed it very much. In one sense brought back memories of my old home town, Pittsburgh in the US. If one comes from the Airport then just before the city (which you can not see) the orad goes into a tunnel through a mountain. Just on the other side when the tunnel ends you are on a bridge with the city now just in front of you where the Allengheny and Monongahela Rivers come together to form the Ohio River. At night it is really quite beautiful. I do remember Pudong from the mid 80's and even then it was mostly mud and fields. I can not even figure out where some of the small places I ate were even located now. I like the format. The visual clues really help me if I listen a few times I caan get most of the stories. Also the visual of seeing the speaker keeps me more focused than often if I merely listen on headphones. I know I am working harder on these stories since the 3 minutes seems far more intense on my brain than 12 minutes on a daily podcast.

Posted on: Chinese Characters and the History of Sex in China

Hi Changye

  Always interesting hearing from you. I am curious about your last comment that the more unreadable the more authentic a legal text is. Sometimes I have sensed in Japanese in my former office in the US that if a Japanese guy wanted to impress or show that he came from a better university than the other guys he would use more Kanji. This would make many of the Japanese staff who needed to be sure they understood the memo scrambling for their dictionaries. 

  It also seems strange to see on public announcements to see Kanji with small hiragana next to it for people who do not know the Kanji.

  And yes your comment on Katakana is funny but true. Many Katakana words are not going to be understood by older Japanese.

Posted on: Chinese Characters and the History of Sex in China

Changye

  Thank you for your comments and yes in calligraphy Hiragana and Katakana can look very nice. But I do find it disruptive looking on the printed page even though I often find the Japanese are incredibly creative in their print ads.

 I am learning Japanese now as well and although hiragana and katakana are easy to learn. For me they just don't look right whether the script is mostly Kanji (Hanzi) or not.

  Perhaps a better reason since yesterday was a National Holiday in Japan I was enjoying writing Japanese while drinking sake. (It helps) The box that the sake bottle came in had a poem all in Kanji(Hanzi) . With no help I could read almost every character and then since it was poetry one has to figure out what it means.

  This is the real pleasure in Kanji (Hanzi) for me. Being able to get to the point that a guy like me can make sense of what not too many years ago would have been impossible.

  And being a conservative in many ways traditional rules my scribling.

Posted on: Chinese Characters and the History of Sex in China

What a grooup we poddies are. A double topic on Sex or Chinese Characters and almost all the discussion is about Chinese Characters. My feeling is it depends what is your reason for wanting to read or write. For me Traditional Characters are (1) more relevant when you are in a museum and enjoy Chinese Art (2) in my opinion they also are more pleasing to the eye. No offense to Changye and others who are Japanese but as I now live in Japan, the daily print with Kanji (almost all traditional Chinese characters) forced to be surrounded by Hiragana and Katakana is so ugly. (3) there is something I find just a bit off about the politics of the simplfied characters remember when they were enforced on the people.

Posted on: Catch the Train

dukbludvermicelysoop Thanks for the explanation. I agree in context. Reading it or listening to it in the expansion section its not clear one is in a car, on a street or perhaps even sitting at a table trying to get someone to eat faster. Living in Tokyo now I often rush to catch the morning subway. I have discovered at my stop that Car #2 on the 6:51am train is only half full and has many attractive women. The 6:55am is full and contains only grumpy salarymen. (like me) and so is the 6:58. So I do rush down the steps if I am going to miss the pleasantness of the 6:51. Speaking of beautiful thoughts. Thanks Jenny for the image of you rushing in heels to catch the train. Although I can not believe any Shanghai Subway driver would not delay his train for the pleasure of taking you on your way.

Posted on: Catch the Train

Hi CPOD

  In the expanision section, I suppose if you are sitting in the car already maybe the expansion sentence makes sense but in general shouldn't it be

開車快點兒。
kai kuai che dianr
(Drive faster.)

I added "車"

Posted on: Leaving Luggage with the Hotel

CPOD QC Dept.

  I think there is a mistake in the PDF File (Tradional Only) for both the dialogue and the vocabulary.

It should be 甚麼時候  shénme shíhou but I think you forgot the 時.

  Is it possible to have a "spelling" mistake in Chinese?

Posted on: Moving House and Chinese Wineries

I've drunk many a bottle of Great Wall when I am in China. I never ever thought about vintage. (year)

 But it does not surprise me that if someone claims a "98" is a good year that counterfeits will be made. Same occurs in the West.

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

Jenny

  Regarding Helandou's detective work on determining the ages of you and John do you think vanity would mean some people ( see Jenny I am keeping it gender neutral) would change their zodiac sign yearly once they reach 29 ?

 Nice lesson and again I love the expansion sentences. I was sort of taken back on the one Why do I have to say I love you everyday. (1) my wife would kill me or cry if I ever said that (2) why no "我" to me it sounds as casual as saying "love you" instead of I love you.

Posted on: On the Way

Hi Jenny

  At least in Taiwan when ever you talk about meeting someone whether friend , business appointment it seems they key word to remember is :

差不多 chàbuduō -- "about"

   which I found out from experience in Taiwan means + 30-60 minutes or more from the agreed upon time.

 Whereas now living in Tokyo an agreed upon time is accurate to within seconds whether it is a train, appointment or start of a meeting.