User Comments - si1teng2

Posted on: Buying a House

因为现在的经济危机我不肯定买房子是好主意还是坏主意。买房子的价钱比较便宜，可是经济危机还没有结束，而且最近听说次代(sub-prime)风暴减轻以后，还有“首代”（prime? 正确吗？）风暴再等着我们。真的不知道怎么作才好。

Posted on: Tea Tasting

I agree with paulinurus, sebire and bodawei on "bug," and I learnt my English in England. :) "Bug" is certainly understood in the UK, and some people do like to use it, but it is still thought of as an American word. The more usual word is "insect".

Perhaps the word that has the same kind of generality as 虫子 is "creepy-crawly." It would definitely be used in the context of finding some small unidentified creature in your tea!

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse

Hi Pete, (Apologies for the length of this comment: I promise to shut up afterwards!)

Thanks for your reply! I think you might have confused my comments with those of some other people. (I didn't suggest translating 去，去，去 as "Come on," and I didn't raise a question about 不過就不過...etc.) Incidentally, I didn't have any problem understanding the lesson. My level is actually Intermediate to Advanced, but I find I always have things to learn from lessons at lower levels.

My feedback was not so much about the accuracy of translations as about the pedagogical efficacy of translations that are tied too closely to particular contexts (whether literal or not), and to the appropriateness of presupposing that all students will understand Americanisms. Of course, there are individuals who are not American who do understand, including myself (I've lived in the States for many years), but the increasing America-centrism of Chinesepod strikes me as inappropriate for a global enterprise.

I think the most important point got lost in the details: "If poddies want to be able to use an expression in other circumstances (and not just understand its function in one particular dialogue), then we need more information than just its colloquial equivalent in that particular context." True, we could wait patiently and hopefully for each particular expression to reappear in other lessons, or look it up in grammar books, and dictionaries... But, to be more efficient, we could have the info that would enable us to use the expressions in different contexts in the lesson itself, either with clearer translations or through some form of annotation. My suggestion is that not just accuracy, but this kind of pedagogical efficacy, be used as a criterion in choosing translations. Just a suggestion.

Anyway, I just wanted to clarify my points, since the main part of your response seemed to be directed to someone else's questions.

I look forward to the additions that will make extra explanations available for those who would like them.

Lastly, I do appreciate your taking the time to think about my suggestions--offered humbly, as you rightly surmise, in the spirit of constructive criticsm. Thank you!

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse

I understand the arguments given by Pete about why he translates colloquial phrases the way he does, and agree that producing literal translations in all cases is not the right way to gain mastery of the language. However, given the level of confusion generated, the translations that Pete produces are clearly not always successful. Personally, I (from England, 1st language English) do not always find them helpful, and have assumed that this is because they are being written by someone who is not a native speaker of English. But now that I know they are being written by a professional translator whose first language is English I feel I have to say something. Since I am also an avid fan of Cpod, including Pete and John, I feel I also have to apologize profusely for this criticism of them--so, please forgive me if any of it offends!

I think the real problem with the translations is not whether they are literal or not but that they are not careful enough. In the case of fooling a 3 year old, for example, Pete opted--mistakenly in my opinion--for a bizarre sounding literal translation. Again, "Go on, go on" (which ordinarily means: "continue, continue") does not work at all as a translation for "去，去，去". The translation of "那我們不過了" as "Fine. Then that's it" is so vague in this context that it's almost meaningless. As paulinurus rightly asks "What's it?" Is it the argument that is over, the relationship? Find a colloquial expression that is more specific ("Then, let's forget this!" or "It's over between us!"), or if the original Chinese is ambiguous, or so vague as to be almost meaningless, then let us know. If poddies want to be able to use an expression in other circumstances (and not just understand its function in one particular dialogue), then we need more information than just its colloquial equivalent in that particular context--as is evident from the anguished cries of some respondents.

Finally, both Pete and John seem to assume that the American colloquialisms (including slang) they are familiar with are universally understood. I'm sorry, but even though I've lived the States for many years, I find this assumption to be quite irritating. Some expressions are understood universally, but much American colloquial language is not commonly used, often not used at all, in other English speaking countries. Many English speakers of former "Commonwealth" countries speak British English. Many Cpod users who are not native speakers have learnt British or Australian English, and might well be confused by these expressions.

Colloquial language is best translated with colloquial equivalents (where they are available), but they should be equivalents understood by the students. If all Cpod students were American, American colloquialisms would be fine. But, since Chinesepod is a global enterprise, a large percentage of students are not American. A little extra research will enable you to provide intelligible alternatives for these students too. I am sure you have British and Australian members of the Cpod team. Ken, I believe, is from Ireland, and Matt, if I remember correctly, is from Australia. Surely they could provide advice on colloquial equivalents?

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse

Matt, I know this is late, but few people have responded to your question about sound levels. I didn't notice any serious problem with inconsistent sound levels, but I did notice that John spoke with large variations in volume, even in the same sentence.

...However, I just noticed that this DID cause a problem when I used my computer's built-in speakers. Then I was unable to hear John clearly at all, even with the volume up. 

Hope this helps!

Posted on: Dealing With Depression

Thanks for that feedback, Ozzieozzie. 轉機 is a good word to know, but I'm not sure if it has the right sense for what I intended. What I meant was not so much a turn for the better as "a positive opportunity." That is, even though the events were negative, those same negative events should be seen as providing an opportunity to bring about a positive outcome (which may or may not happen). In this way, there has been no actual turn for the better, just a change in the way one sees bad things. My sense is that 轉機 implies that luck has actually improved. Am I mistaken?

Are you sure that 積極 cannot be used for abstract things? My dictionaries gives several examples: 積極因素；積極作用；積極的措施。

Posted on: Dealing With Depression

哎哟，miantiao, 那么可怜的故事，使我也得忧郁症。好了：别激动，别着急，别难过！应该豁达一点儿。可以把这些事情看成积极的机会。。。（病好了吗？）

Posted on: 民间迷信

对话里面的男演员特别好。 他说话说得非常自然，对外国人比较容易听得懂。

I haven't heard him in more recent podcasts. Bring him back! His natural delivery makes it easy to follow his lines.

Posted on: 环境保护

agreed! i love rummaging through these old gems. hope they get more traffic than these few comments suggest.

if not, perhaps poddies could be encouraged to search for topics rather than just wait for new lessons? (maybe a prominent "Find your Favourite Topics" button, with an fun icon, rather than the usual unobtrusive 'search' box?)

Posted on: Boston

Jenny, since you sound like you're considering user comments about UI and Advanced content, I'd like to take the opportunity to throw in my penniesworth.

I do enjoy the UI lessons, and don't find them as problematic as some of the other poddies. However, I do have one suggestion. When new vocabulary is introduced in the lesson, it would help tremendously if both John and Jenny could spend some time discussing it in intermediate level Chinese. I find that all too often, John immediately translates the term into English, and Jenny then moves on to the next word. This makes it difficult to internalize the meaning of the Chinese word. (This, incidentally, is what Jenny and Connie do in the Advanced lessons, and may be one reason why some poddies find them easier than the UI.)

Giving a few examples of usage of the new term, together with explanations in intermediate level Chinese where necessary, would also help to consolidate the meaning of the new term. I know you have the pre-recorded sample sentences that are supposed to do this, but I find these floating sentences to be disembodied, and out of context, and to be honest I find them off-putting and completely unhelpful.

To do this, of course, you would have to cut back on quantity of vocabulary, but I find that a smaller number of words thoroughly internalized helps with words I am unfamiliar with. It provides a context that enables me to assign meanings to new terms with confidence. Struggling to memorize large quantities of vocabulary translated into English is unproductive, counter-productive even.