User Comments - pinkjeans
pinkjeans
Posted on: Taking the HSK
July 5, 2008 at 8:01 AMWaah, martian2, that is really solid!!!
Posted on: Taking the HSK
July 4, 2008 at 8:09 PMHow interesting! Thanks for the history on that, helenhelen.
Posted on: Taking the HSK
July 4, 2008 at 5:18 PMIf I may jump in here, I would like to offer a personal perspective to the GCSE and 'O' level exams. Both GCSE and 'O' level exams are usually taken at 16 years of age. While the UK has dispensed with the 'O' levels and renamed their exams GCSE, Singapore maintains it (and the standard too), and if I'm not mistaken, other than certain English papers governed by the Cambridge Exams Board, these are governed by its own Exams Board. The UK GCSE Chinese as I know it and Singapore 'O' level Chinese are of very different standards. My 12 year old has just taken her GCSE Chinese papers, and I only encouraged and allowed her to do so at such a young age because it was to me not even of Singapore PSLE (Primary School Leaving Exam) standard. I was told by my native Chinese teacher whose child was studying in China, that the standard of Chinese in Singapore and China schools are comparable, though the content and emphasis are different. So, either auntie68 had forgotten her stuff, or she did not do the Singapore exams. Sorry, auntie...
Posted on: Antiperspirant in China
July 4, 2008 at 11:02 AMBryan, I've always found difficulty in differentiating 1st and 4th tones (incidentally another Cantonese speaking classmate of mine has the same problem) but my children see no difficulty whatsoever, instead their difficulty lies in 2nd and 3rd tones which to me are super clear, so I think it's just getting used to hearing different pitches of the same tone (does that make sense?). I think the degree of inflexion one offers in his speech is also quite individual.
Posted on: Stargazing
July 2, 2008 at 8:46 AMAt first I thought this Upper Intermediate lesson would be beyond my ability, but I found it extremely accessible and was drawn to revisit it repeatedly and I'm so happy now I know the names of the planets in Chinese! Thank you, CP.
Posted on: Antiperspirant in China
July 1, 2008 at 8:36 PM"yik" - rancid oil smell
Posted on: Antiperspirant in China
July 1, 2008 at 7:18 PMHehe! Re: Bad Smells, I have another one.
"horng" - unpleasant smell of poor quality or old rice or grains.
Posted on: Do You Remember....
July 1, 2008 at 11:52 AMHow come my 你们 ended up as 呢们？Must remember to proofread my posts.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Macao
July 5, 2008 at 7:39 PMWhen I listened to the dialogue, it did seem like one dozen was pronounced as da2. The pdf transcript has it written as as da3 (打). I suspect though, that it shouldn't be da3. Someone clarify please. Thanks.