User Comments - nobailesconmigo

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nobailesconmigo

Posted on: Going to Church
February 14, 2008 at 10:31 PM

Speaking of stigmata...why does Islam(yi1si1lan2jiao4) become Islamism in the transcript? Anyone else notice?

Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 14, 2008 at 10:20 PM

On the other hand, the tones and the subtle differences between the "pinyin-z/x/c/j" kinda prevents "meddling" with the stressing and pronunciation, unlike in English or Spanish. At least that's the way it seems to me. Perhaps I've remained ignorant during three years of learning Mandarin, though... There are interesting variations, of course. (nar/nali etc. or characters with a pronunciation completely different from what they should have) (I've just noticed that I tend to make the same mistakes as my students when writing in English without giving much thought for spelling: they're vs their vs there..., habitualisation? ;-) )

Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 14, 2008 at 10:12 PM

I'm so glad Mandarin makes no distinction between long and short vowels... I tried to learn Thai once, but gave it up as a bad job. I settled for Khmer instead, which is non-tonal but has a pretty "random"-looking writing system.

Posted on: Choosing a Chinese Name and Safety
February 14, 2008 at 7:36 PM

Ah, Dolores is not that bad (My mothers second name)...though it carries that ring of domina...

Posted on: Buying a Pet and Food Poisoning
February 14, 2008 at 7:23 PM

Well, I got "food poisoning" in twice in Greece and once in Germany, but surprisingly ,never in Cambodia, Ecuador, Bolivia, China or Egypt etc. , though I never really tried to avoid ice, fruits etc. (Even had a fruit shake with raw egg and ice that's cut from large blocks in the street in Cambodia without experiencing any unpleasant effects. It tastes splendid, but I still advice you against it. Don't take chances with your life. It's just *bloody* unhygienic.) "at Chinese new year do NOT accept dumplings made by the guests at the hostel no matter how festive it seems!" Is that common? I've never been offered any.

Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 14, 2008 at 3:21 PM

Another question on the subject of tones (brilliant lessons by the way, really suited for helping newbies out, though it's never sufficient to approach the theory of a language only): It's for example very common that my Chinese-born students (I give language classes at a vocational high school in the UK) take much longer grasping the concepts of many sounds of a non tonal language (of course, there are exceptions). That strikes me as rather odd. Should it be easier for them as they're used to subtle distinctions? ---- And how do native speakers, in rapid conversation, distinguish between a word that is normally 3rd tone but changes to "2nd" because of the character to follow and a syllable that's second by nature? Context can't be the sole answer, as a commentator proved when he mentioned the difference between pronouncing a word in the neutral and the first tone (plural etc). --- I always tell my students that almost no dialect or regional accent, no matter how thick, can be as difficult to understand as the pronunciation of a foreigner who's not particularly fluent. Some acquaintances of mine who travelled to China or tried out their Chinese on the unsuspecting colleague or street vendor reported that their interlocutors did not only stare at them blankly, but actually thought they were speaking English/French. How can it be that they did not recognize their own mother tongue (understanding is a different matter), even if the pronunciation was far from perfect but using the correct tones? ---- Anyway, keep up the good work. A big thumbs-up to the ChinesePod-staff as well a the ever-helpful commentators.

Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 14, 2008 at 2:56 PM

Two things I noticed about the word xian1sheng (Mr.): 1. Is it possible that the sheng is not neutral, but first tone? I've never had much trouble with tones, so it's weird that I don't ever hear a neutral tone there. 2. What's the cultural background of that expression anyway - literally, it means first-born, if I'm not mistaken. How did this come about? Thanks in advance for your reply.