User Comments - pretzellogic

Posted on: Connecting with Email

The following link has a better explanation of what a directory is. But what it doesn't say is that the directory in question is usually found on something like Windows 2008 Server, or other server operating environments where you can set up a directory tree. In other words, you'd have to be a system administrator or software developer to start caring about this.

http://www.microsoft.com/language/en-us/Search.aspx?sString=directory&langID=zh-cn

Posted on: Negotiating a Deadline

Light, I suspect that this is about as average an upper intermediate as there is now being produced in the past 6-10 months, thanks to Cpod standardizing the lesson formats. My take is that you're right, upper inter is definitely more work. I do recall Simonpettersson blowing through upper intermediate, but he was Simonpettersson. Here's been my experience with intermediate lessons (your mileage may vary):

1) listen a few times and get about 50-80% of the lesson on the first pass. Usually took some drilling down for about an hour or 3 to get the last words under the belt. Drilling down includes writing down new/unfamiliar words and usages. If i'm enterprising and have the time, i create new sentences with them (haven't had much time recently which is why my Chinese is still atrocious, but I whined about boredom and Grace is kind enough to let me go to upper intermediate)

2) don't bother with listening to the show unless there are plenty of words that you don't understand, and you've already moused over the dialogue on the website. John's/Jenny's explanations usually do the trick.

3) shadow.

4)have guided lesson call with Grace.

Altogether, I end up spending about 2-4 hours on an intermediate lesson.

This approach might have worked if I hadn't been so busy this week. Preliminary results for the first upper intermediate were:

Altogether, spent about 2 hours on a lesson I should have spent maybe 6-8 hours on.

1)listened about 10 times to the dialogue straight through and understood about 5% even after 10 times.

2) read the dialogue and understood maybe 50% of the lesson. This is where the metrics around new/reordered words comes in. I will say i've heard plenty of people speaking this fast, so i'm "ok" with the speed, but its just that content on manufacturing is a different ballgame from talking about kids, life, grammar and what are you doing this weekend.

Posted on: A Day at the Races

Forgot all about this lesson. Definitely calls for a snooker lesson.

Posted on: Negotiating a Deadline

Ok, why was this lesson so difficult for me (besides being the first upper intermediate lesson i'm tackling)?

1) 30+ new words, and approximately 10-20 existing words that were combined in a different way.

2) supersonic speed. I thought intermediate was fast, but I now realize intermediate was zipping along at 0.8 Mach, and now upper intermediate (at least this one) is at Mach 1.2.  It does seem natural speaker speed though.

3)new context.  Not really familiar with this type of work.

Posted on: Checking Baggage

Now all we need is baggage claim to pick up the luggage.

Posted on: A Member of the 'Moonlight Clan'

for everybody, I guess I was unclear about what I meant. I was referring to a name like "moonlight clan" for the people living payday-to-payday in the US. i've heard hand-to-mouth, paycheck-to-paycheck, day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month.

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

I learn something new everyday....

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

I haven't listened to the lesson either, but I suppose the question is as relevant as in English: what is "several"? many or a few? In a lot of cases, I guess I've seen it both ways.

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

i'll attempt an answer, and then likely be corrected. But jǐ kuài qián is "several kuai" or "many kuai". you're conveying a sense that it's not just a couple of bucks, or very cheap. Here, you know the price. When you use duōshǎoqián, you're asking how much something costs because you don't know the price. Hope that helps.

Posted on: Wrapping a Gift

Another cpod lesson comes in handy just at the right time.....