User Comments - si1teng2
si1teng2
Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native
August 26, 2015 at 12:12 PMOr, if you want to be funny: 光明的光，光明的明。:)
Posted on: He Won't Carry My Handbag
July 5, 2015 at 5:07 PM765348120, all the grammar books agree with toianw: there is more than one distinct function of 的. Check out the links he provided. I'll copy one of them on 的 as a modal particle (which is its function in this context), written by a former CPod teacher, John Pasden, who is also a doctoral candidate in Chinese linguistics (if you need proof of his expertise):
http://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/%22De%22_%28modal_particle%29
Posted on: Measure Words for Verbs 动量词
July 4, 2015 at 4:05 PMGreat lesson! 已经听了两遍。Curious that words with such different connotations are translated into English with only the single word "time/s". Now I'm curious about the subtle associations of three more：趟， 阵，and 场. Any more? Is 会儿 a 动量词?
Posted on: The logic behind 別的，其他，另外
June 26, 2015 at 5:57 PMYes, the visuals were unbelievably helpful in making the distinctive differences intuitive! 9 minutes later, and I feel like these subtleties are part of how I naturally think. Amazing!! 谢谢， 谢谢， 谢谢， 谢谢。。。。！！！
Posted on: I Forgot to Turn Off the Gas!
June 24, 2015 at 1:03 PMWell, there's no escaping dialect when learning languages. English learners usually learn either British or American English, and will inevitably have difficulty if they come across a speaker of the other form (or any other form). It's all part of what's involved in learning any language.
Even mainland Mandarin has regional differences (I'm not referring to the different languages). CPod used to be based in Shanghai, and Poddies often complained that we were being taught Shanghai usage and pronunciation (which is not used in Beijing), and even that Jennie Zhu had too strong a Shanghainese accent (not distinguishing final 'n' and 'ng', for example)! I think the important thing is that the Mandarin we are learning here is just as 'standard' as any of the variants spoken in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, or Nanjing. I'm guessing it's actually more 'standard' than the variants of mainland Mandarin spoken in the southern provinces, such as Fujian, Yunnan, or Hong Kong.
Are there any visitors to those regions who could confirm (or correct) this?
Posted on: I Forgot to Turn Off the Gas!
June 23, 2015 at 2:53 PMApologies! I'm a Brit who's lived in the States for many years, so my English is now a mixture of both, and I often don't pay attention to which is which. You're right. 'Hob' is used more commonly in England. I should have written "BritishPod" rather than "AmericanPod". :)
I'm guessing we have Poddies who speak a variety of different 'Englishes' from all the 'commonwealth' countries. I suppose one of the difficulties of teaching globally is: which 'dialect' do you translate into? 我的天啊！没办法。 But I think it is also one of the unique advantages of this site: I always find questions of differences of dialect to add to the interest of the lessons themselves! :)
Posted on: I Forgot to Turn Off the Gas!
June 23, 2015 at 1:35 PMI think you mean "AmericanPod". ;) A hob is a stove top.
There are plenty of gas stoves in the States. So that's not an issue of American English. I'm guessing you don't use a gas stove and have never worried about having left the fire on?
Posted on: 屈原与渔夫 Qu Yuan and the Fisherman
June 20, 2015 at 1:57 PM我同意以上所有的评论。 学习古文和传统故事从来没那么好玩！
Posted on: Dragon Boat Festival Special (Video and Podcast)
June 17, 2015 at 4:27 PMGreat lesson on 'sticky rice festival'! ;) Excellent idea providing a direct link to the video lesson too: the variety brings everything to life. Also I appreciated hearing Iona's accent: helps develop my listening fluency, as I get too dependent on hearing familiar voices and accents.
端午节快乐！
Posted on: I Need a Number Two
September 3, 2015 at 11:13 PM688688191，I've been away for months, and am only just catching up with old lessons, so I've reached this lesson just in time to answer your question! (I doubt any of the teachers are checking the comments this far back. Too much new stuff for them to attend to, I'm sure.)
In "我在大便啦”, 啦 ("la") is a combination of "le" 了 and "ah!" 啊.
And in "你等一下嘛”, "嘛" has the significance that Fi explains in the lesson: it softens the tone of the suggestion. It isn't the same as the question particle "吗" (though it sounds identical!).