User Comments - perle
perle
Posted on: Hiking
June 10, 2008, 02:38 AMThanks Clay- I see it's origin! I did not know about Kalgren. Is there a commonly used reference book or website that is available either by Kalgren or someone else that could be recommended?
Posted on: Hiking
June 10, 2008, 01:14 AMChangye- thank you. I like learning the origins of the characters. I find that unlike European languages, there is almost nothing familiar in Chinese to "grab" onto. If I can personalize the character in some way it is easier to remember. The more connections I make, the easier it becomes-
This character(don't laugh-he he) I will remember the toe stepping on the other toe, the botton-which looks like a winking eye, a nose and lopside grimace.
It may be a visual clue or something that vaguely sounds like something else- like Ken Carroll's recent statement that "weekend" sounds like the name of a guy he knew- Joe Moore- it worked! (I bet old Joe Moore's ears are burning) -I remember it- and with use I can drop the intermediary crutch that gets me from English to Chinese.
I am just loving this stuff!
oh, btw, is there a chinese equivilent to the expression that somebody's ears are burning? that is a really funny visual I would expect for someone learning English!
Posted on: Hiking
June 10, 2008, 12:14 AMAnybody-
In the character 步 bu4, the top of the character is the toe radical- is the bottom part a modified xia 下 or xiao 小 or 才cai2 or none?
Posted on: Hiking
June 09, 2008, 09:40 PMHenning: Re: "2. Creepy CPod prophesy hit again." This is happening to me more and more. I went to a local restaurant and said "Wo3 tai pang4 le" 我太胖了。"I am too fat."after a good meal. The response I got back was "Ni3 ying1gai1 duo1 yun4dong4."你应该多运 动。"you should exercise more." I had never heard the word for exercise before and miraculously it was in the podcast within hours!
So here I am "exercising" my language acquisition skills!
As a native English speaker I know that my teachers from kindergarten to highschool and into college, were not linguists, but rather educated people who had a genuine interest in teaching written and spoken language. Why should I demand more than that at my early learning level of my teachers of written and spoken Chinese? As circumstances demand, my specialized language, and expanded language will grow. No one can learn it at expert level from the start. I am content with yi1 bu4 yi1 bu4 lai2 ba. 一步一步来吧。 One step at a time.
Perhaps at the Advanced level an argument could be made to include a wider possibility of meanings- although I image that exists- but really just exposure to LOTS of written, and spoken language is the only way to get to advanced levels and that is more of a personal effort anyway and no teacher can teach to that depth. But really, a teacher with experience teaching foreign language already knows this!
Posted on: Art Museum
June 04, 2008, 05:41 AM今天我去旧金山的亚洲美术馆。我喜欢特别画明代的画。Today I went to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. I especially like the Ming Dynasty paintings.
They also have a special exhibit of jade- extremely beautiful and intricate work.
Posted on: One-on-One Basketball
June 01, 2008, 06:55 AMHenning - I installed Google Pinyin and will give that a try- thanks. 谢谢
Posted on: Barbecuing
June 01, 2008, 05:34 AMWell adineichler, I have heard quite a bit of music that has Chinese lyrics that is really classical music or popular music from other countries which has been adopted by the Chinese people and culture as their own. I was hoping that if there was some relevance of the choice of music to the subject matter that a knowledgable person might pick it up and comment on it.
I also know that there a few learners who are Chinese native speakers and are learning English through these postings and podcasts- so a little inverse learning goes on here too. It is bit of info that may be interesting to some.
Posted on: Barbecuing
June 01, 2008, 03:18 AMInteresting choice of background music- written over a century ago. Music by Gus Edwards and lyrics by Will D. Cobb in 1907.
School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days
Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic
Taught to the tune of the hickory stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful barefoot beau
And you wrote on my slate
"I love you, so"
When we were a couple of kids
Posted on: One-on-One Basketball
May 29, 2008, 05:10 PMOK John,
我是一个耐心的人。
Did I just say I am a patient person or did I say I am a bearable person?
Posting in characters is hard to do. How does everyone else do it? I just used a program called MDBG.net and I have used InputKing, but what is the norm? Is there a feature in C-pod that allows choosing characters to post? After almost a year I keep finding out new stuff that C-pod does or is affiliated with. I am interested in what other more experienced poddies do to post in characters.
Posted on: Hiking
June 10, 2008, 06:08 AMchangye- one extra stroke in the Japanese version of 步 bu4. Sometimes the subtle difference in two characters eludes me. I just noticed tonight the difference between Mai买 -to buy and 实 as in 实现 shi2xian4-to realize/to come true from the expansion sentences. So close and so different.
johns- thank you for the book suggestions, I will check them out- I like any excuse to go to the book stores. I have a very dog-eared copy of "Reading & Writing Chinese"-William McNaughton also by Tuttle Publishing. That has helped me a lot too.