User Comments - mk1977

Posted on: The Little Tadpoles in Search of Their Mother

Hah， I saw a lovely looking animated version of this on TV not long after I first arrived in China and had just started learning - I remember hearing the "ma ma ma ma" - "wo bu shi nimen de mama" and feeling awesome because I had understood something in 'real' Chinese...

http://v.ku6.com/show/SmL9pj9vRTxcid2P.html

http://home.pomoho.com/rzli2011/13916426

Posted on: Discussing a Thesis Topic with an Advisor

Yeah it's confusing.

In the UK the one you do for a Master's is generally referred to as a 'dissertation', and the one for PhD a 'thesis', i.e. the opposite of the American (and other) naming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesis_or_dissertation

I have a Chinese friend with a UK Masters who was told she was arrogant by a prospective employer for referring to her Masters 'dissertation' on her CV...

Posted on: Haggling Like a Local

I think the dialect shows are a great idea, though I was not prepared for just how different this was!

Posted on: An Introduction!

The British Council has a useful interactive (and down-loadable) phonemic chart, but I suppose it only contains the sounds used in British English.

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/try/activities/phonemic-chart

Posted on: Language Power Struggle

About that "哪里哪里" thing - I've always thought of it as the equivalent to saying "Aww, come on..." or "Aww, shucks..." whilst displaying embarrased body language...i.e. a level of modesty that perhaps seems over the top or false nowadays...

And I also wince at being told that 'Chinese is very (or sometimes 'too') difficult for you'.

Posted on: Study Abroad

Bazza, maybe 算了 suan4 le5 would work for that sense of 'forget'? http://labs.chinesepod.com/node/4&search=%e7%ae%97%e4%ba%86

Posted on: Most Frequently Asked Question in China

我是苏格兰的

Posted on: Basic Shapes

You can usually get the Wikipedia article you want via Answers.com: http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?s=Sinosphere&gwp=13