User Comments - stevemisch

Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song

Yes, I'm certainly no authority, but I also heard that, of course formally, in the past, it had one meaning, but that now, in a more informal sense, or maybe with a younger generation or more of a "street language" sense it has this second meaning--perhaps related to context.

Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song

The word tong2zhi4 was used to mean comrade. Is this the same word as "colleague?" They sound similar. I've also understood that the chinese word for comrade can also mean homosexual--same word?

Posted on: Cold Weather Is Coming

General question, to help all of those of us with "bad foreinger accents," a native English speaker usually uses which tone for the majority of speach? My guess is we speak 4th tone most of the time.

The reason I ask, is, it's helpful to know from where you start, or what you're doing wrong, to get to the goal of mixing in different tones. I can do the tones somewhat, in slow motion, but find when nervous or in a hurry with others, I revert to my "normal" tone style.

And, may help to make the tone marks BIGGER to help burn them into our "slow learner" brains. All of our lives we've been happy to merely add a new word to our vocabulary, sans tone. I tend to do the same thing here--think I know a new word, forgetting the tone.... Must undo years of the old style.... Thanks...

Posted on: Get in line!

Dictation #4 has no place to type answer, and thus is marked as wrong--the default assumption....

Posted on: Can't Get to Sleep

I found listening to the dialogue is useful to do during breakfast. Even though I'm not totally focused, I learn more than NOT listening while eating. Then, for the rest of the lesson I should focus more--convenient multitasking. :-)

Posted on: Hawaii

other fun wave adjectives besides "gao1" are gnarly, bitchin', hollow, glassy and ominous.

Formerly Californian, now Land Locked in Chengdu, Surfin' Doc

Posted on: Medicine Doses

This is one reason all of our Pharmacists (and Doctors) speak English--to make it easier to discuss details of possible side effects and dosing, etc..

And, cold medicines don't work (Western or Eastern)--Save your money. :-)

www.parkwayhealth.cn (Shanghai and Chengdu)

Dr. Steve

Posted on: Getting Taller (Not Fatter)

Great lesson with lots of high frequency chunks that I didn't understand well before....

Posted on: Going to the Pharmacy

As a doc practicing here in China full time I couldn't resist adding a few thoughts:

1. Cold medicines don't work (western or Chinese)--save your money (4 billion $/yr in USA...).  And yes, cold medicines IV also not necessary and antibiotics not necessary.
2. Average cold lasts 7-14 days, with 80% totally wrapped up by day 14--be a little concerned if going much beyond that.
3. 90% of fevers resolve within 3 days--be a little concerned if going beyong that, although 10% will, and fever usually at beginning of illness, not later on. Later on is more worrisome, maybe a secondary infection.
4. Fever is not dangerous, even in Children--it will NOT cause brain damage ( a near universal myth related to meningitis causing fever and brain damage BECAUSE THE BACTERIA LIVE ON THE BRAIN).  So, treating the fever is not useful (in fact some evididence that NOT treating fever helps you fight off infection better--maybe that's WHY we have fevers).  If you want to use medicine for headache and body aches, sure, useful, but if a child has a 39 degree temp and super playful it's ok.

Your intro mentioned it's difficult to be sick in a foreign country.  Yes. That's why we're here: www.parkwayhealth.cn  People can usually see a doctor like they're used to in their home country.

Listening to some of the random stories seeking medical care made me cringe a little....Take care.

Posted on: What have you done in 2009?

Two small errors in the quiz section: 1. In expansion the sentence is "...yidianr dou meilao lao", but in the audio and the quiz there is only one "lao." 2. In quiz there is some chinglish, with "...zhe jian MATTER..." instead of "zhe jian shi..." Thanks