User Comments - rods

Posted on: Reinstalling Windows

Good timing C-Pod! I stumbled upon this yuè (A) yuè (B) pattern just the other day. :-)

Posted on: The Lazy Child

Right, because most of the example sentences for 过 guo in the Glossary don't use 了 le. (哎哟 -- bangs head on desk)

Posted on: The Lazy Child

I'll take a stab at this one (hopefully, someone more knowledgeable will help us out). What I'm getting from the grammar texts is basically what Baba is saying. So, here the mother asks the girl, "did you eat your supper?" That is, "this specific supper. The one I prepared, put in the fridge with a note on top, saying, 'microwave on High for 5 minutes', that supper you lazy child!" So, no 'guo'.

Now, later that evening, suppose someone knocks on the door. Of course the mother answers it, because the lazy girl can't be bothered. ;-) There stands the mother's old pal from college whom she hasn't seen in years. So she greets her with a 'guo', the way we might say, "Come in, come in, let me get your bags. How was your trip? Have you eaten (guo)? Let me fix you something."

Did you do X, no guo. Did you ever do X? guo. That's my guess (for what it's worth.)

Link to Google Books: A practical Chinese grammar Pages 275, 276 By Hung-nien Chang, Sze-yun Liu, Lilin Shi Note especially P. 276, paragraph 1.2

Posted on: The Lazy Child

Thanks Bababardwan. That's an enlightening article. I thought that the problem arising from having a bunch of unsupervised adolescents running around would be of a more "mature" nature. Instead, the article suggests that the problem is that these children of migrant workers aren't maturing fast enough.

Posted on: The Lazy Child

That's interesting. I would have thought it would be the other way around, with all the extended family members I hear about in China. I guess Mr. Noodle (fāngbiànmiàn) will always be a staple for Chinese kids too.

Posted on: Politely Declining an Invitation

Hi apocgenesis,

Last summer, Jenny and Ken did another Ele. lesson called Are you free? which featured the very persistent Zhōu Liàng asking a girl out on a date, and her polite efforts to decline his advances. It's a fun lesson too.

Posted on: Learning about Levels

Thanks guys! Ken used to talk about C-pod's teaching method, quoting his favourite linguist, Otto Jespersen, on occasion.

I have found that knowing why I'm studying a particularly difficult (or boring) something-or-other has really helped me to keep going.

Posted on: Revisiting Before and After

"从前有座山，山上有座庙 ... " and so on.

(Connie's story)

Posted on: Going to the Gas Station

The octane numbers Jenny mentioned sounded at little high to me. So, I checked with wikipedia and discovered that we use a different numbering scheme in North America.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating#Regional_variations

Posted on: Asking about What to Wear

Hi eupnea63355,  yīdiǎnr also popped up in the Ele. lesson "Light and Dark Colors of Clothing" alongside yǒudiǎn(r).

From that dialogue: bùtài hǎokàn, yánsè yǒudiǎnr shēn. yǒu méiyǒu qiǎn yīdiǎnr de? No, the color is a bit dark. Do you have something lighter?

Looks like I've got some reviewing to do.