User Comments - ruyide

Posted on: Transferring Money

Yes - I do bank with Barclays and I did not know about this arrangement. I will certainly check with them and thanks for the advice.

Posted on: Transferring Money

There is a lot of information in this lesson and the comments above which will be very pertinent to me as I will be spending six months in China from September doing a non-degree one semester course in Mandarin at university.

I have been thinking it would be better to open an account locally with funds transferred from the UK than use a debit card on my UK account as the cost of doing so would be astronomical.

However, the specific points which still concern me are as follows:

1. Would it be best to open an account with some cash then, once the formalities are complete, deposit a draft on my UK bank which I will have brought with me.

2. Does it matter if the draft is in pounds sterling or should it already be in renminbi.

3. I there a maximum amount which can be used to open such an account.

4. When I return to the UK can I transfer any remaining funds back there without difficulty. Would the formalities have to be dealt with at the branch where I open the account or could they be dealt with at another branch in another city.

5. Which banks in China would best suit my purpose.

Any advice from out there in ChinesePod land would be most appreciated.

Posted on: Adjectives with 是 (shi)

thank you

Posted on: Adjectives with 是 (shi)

when using the 'shi' 'sandwich' with bisyllabic adjectives is it permissable to shorten the first to one syllable?

For example, could you say 'piao shi piaoliang'?

In other words, could you shorten the structure in the same way that you can shorten a choice-type question to 'ke bu keyi', instead of 'keyi bu keyi'?

Posted on: Bank Transactions

Not a language question but one which someone above may already have answered - if so apologies.

I am hoping to go to China (Dalian) in September to study Mandarin for one semester at university. If I open a local account with funds from the UK can I transfer any remaining balance back to the UK at the end of my trip without difficulty?

Also, I would like to do some travelling in China at the end of the course, before returning to the UK. How easy is it to draw money in cities other than where the account is opened?

Any advice welcomed.

Posted on: Measure Word Fundamentals: 个，只，条，张

Presumably the measure word for a dachshund is 'tiao' rather than 'zhi'?

Posted on: Chinatown Diary

In the monologue the narrator lists what can be found on the streets - shops, bookshops, schools etc. 'Etc' seems to me to be pronounced by him as 'deng(3)deng(3)' rather than 'deng(3)deng(neutral)' as stated in the lesson transcript.

My dictionary says that 'deng(3)deng(3)' means 'etc' ,which confirms what I appear to have heard, but 'deng(3)deng(neutral)' means 'wait a moment'. This contradicts the transcript.

Please clarify.

Posted on: Shopping

I have noticed that, in the affirmative-negative format question, 'keyi bu keyi' is often abbreviated, as in this lesson, to 'ke bu keyi'.

However, another affirmative-negative question with a compound verb in this lesson, 'fangbian bu fangbian', was not similarly abbreviated to 'fang bu fangbian'.

So, is 'ke bu keyi' the only permitted abbreviation of this construction?

Posted on: Paying a Bill

The dialogue mentioned 'yidong' or 'shouji' as the word to use when paying a mobile phone bill. I presume that 'yidong' in this instance is China's largest mobile phone company and has become a synonym for mobile phone rather like 'hoover' became a synonym for vacuum cleaner many years ago. 

Posted on: Ending, Completing, Finishing

How do other verb suffixes indicating accomplishment such as 'shang' and 'zhao' differ in use from 'wan' and 'hao'?