User Comments - si1teng2
si1teng2
Posted on: Africa's Great Rivers
July 25, 2013 at 6:41 PMI'm not sure why this lesson is considered difficult. Sure, there were lots of place names, but these were relatively easy to guess as they didn't sound that different from their English equivalents. I didn't think the other vocab was particularly difficult for this level as there wasn't much of it, and the context made it easy to guess the meanings of the words. The grammar too was no more complex than other lessons. In fact, I thought it was one of the easier UIs. Does anyone else agree? Or am I just weird? :)
To me the most difficult UIs are the business related ones with masses of contextless technical vocabulary packed into almost every sentence! These technical terms are neither easy to guess nor to memorize.
Posted on: Africa's Great Rivers
July 25, 2013 at 6:30 PMI think the distinction lies in the senses conveyed by the etymology. 泛滥 means flooding in the sense of 'flowing' and 'spreading'; it has a strong sense of the movement of 'overflowing'. 淹没 means flooding in the sense of 'covering over' an area; it has a stronger sense of 'drowning', rather than 'overflowing' and 'spreading'.
For sample sentences, I yield to a native speaker. :)
Posted on: Bad Luck with Buses
July 5, 2013 at 2:45 PMThanks for the 了 explanations: when you must use it, when you cannot, and when it's optional. Very helpful! :)
Posted on: Firing the Ayi
June 21, 2013 at 12:14 PMIt's quite neat actually. Chinese uses the metaphors of the 'host' (zhǔ 主) and 'guest' (kè 客) points of view (guān 观) for 'subjective' and 'objective'. The host represents the first person, insider, or subjective perspective, while the guest represents the third person, outside neutral observer, or objective perspective. Hope this helps it make more sense!
Posted on: Dream Girls
June 18, 2013 at 11:34 PM“别猜了！” - 好像他猜对了。
Posted on: Making Veggies for Dinner
June 17, 2013 at 1:49 PMand here's the next line:
你说"马铃薯"，我说"土豆"。
nǐ shuō "mǎlíngshǔ", wǒ shuō "tǔdòu".
You say 'po-tay-to'; I say 'po-tah-to'!
:)
Posted on: Shanghai Weather Forecast
June 12, 2013 at 11:22 PMThe most basic meaning of yīn 阴 (traditional: 陰) is the shady side of a hill, usually the north face. (Yáng 阳 (陽) refers to the sunny side.) Because of the extra rain, the yīn side tends to be more moist and fertile, and by extension comes to be associated with 'feminine', nurturing or life-giving qualities. Daoist philosophers point out that we are seriously mistaken if we give these negative connotations!
Posted on: New Food
June 7, 2013 at 1:24 PMIf it looks so strange you have ask ask "能吃吗?" then I think it must be a 红毛丹 (hóngmáodān) 'rambutan'.
Posted on: New Food
June 7, 2013 at 1:03 PMYou could translate "肉" (ròu) as "flesh," to preserve the ambiguity.
Posted on: Cold Countries
July 29, 2013 at 2:03 PMLast November I went to 冰岛 (bīngdǎo). I was there for the first day of winter: it was very beautiful, but definitely 不太冷 (bú tài lěng)! I would guess 最冷的应该是格陵兰 (zuìlěngde yīnggāi shì gélínglán).