User Comments - suxiaoya

Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves

Hi tal and simonpettersson -

You may be quite pleased to learn, then, that the British representation at Praxis has grown by a third in the past week, with the addition of our lovely full-time intern Scarlett.

She is the owner of the divine voice you hear!

Her username is ousijia, so now you'll be able to look out for her on the discussion boards, as well as listen out for her in future audio review files :-)

Posted on: Express Train or High-speed Train?

Hi anayelena -

As I understand it, it would be better to say something like:

师傅，请开快一点儿, 好吧?
shīfu, qing3 kāi kuài yī diǎnr, hao ba?
(driver, please drive faster, ok?)

Here's a lesson on exactly this phrase.

Also, I think I've heard the collocation "加快" (lit. "add speed") before, too, but I'm not sure whether it can be used in this context...

Posted on: Two Tough Ladies

Thanks, dldshanghai, that makes sense.

Funnily enough, I did thing of using the "是... 的" pattern, but it doesn't use it in the dialogue (你才被疯狗咬了呢) so I was a bit confused.

xiaophil - "alight" sounds fine to me, as a British English speaker.

I remember feeling sooo happy when the Mandarin subway announcements finally made complete sense: A moment of Chinese-learning joy, snatched in the squash of rush hour.

Posted on: Two Tough Ladies

I love the use of Shanghai's line 2 metro announcement at the start of the dialogue! It's very easy to visualise this scene, complete with the invariable gathering of onlookers.

It was mentioned in the lesson that "才" can be used to emphasise that you're talking about someone other than yourself. Could I say:

你才要求我们晚上去出了!
"You're the one who demanded we go out tonight!"

(If we are already out but the other person no longer wants to be). How better could I say it?

Posted on: What Type of Man do You Like?

Thanks for the corrections (as ever), Changye.

I didn't realise the festival was called "七夕", but I'm pleased to discover that there is tradition behind it. Celebrating two "Valentine's" days in one year would seem a little excessive otherwise!

Posted on: What Type of Man do You Like?

正好,　明天是中国的情人节!
zheng4 hao3, ming2tian1 shi4 zhong1guo2 de qing1ren2jie1
Perfect timing; tomorrow is Chinese Valentine's Day!

Can I say that or is there a better way?

Sticking with the subject, this timely article in China Daily includes a quote from my flatmate on the dating scene for foreigners in Shanghai. Amusing!

Posted on: Dinosaurs

Changye

I guess the 掉 is useful in any discussion of dinosaur eating habits, then lol. Thank you!

The only other time I'd come accross 掉 used similarly to this was in The DVD Ploy (hilarious).

In dialogue 脱掉 is used to show the clothes should be totally pulled off (with energetic if not pushy/aggressive connotations). I guess that all fits with this usage. 

Thanks again :-)

Posted on: Dinosaurs

Can someone just confirm that you can use the following interchangeably to emphasise that the 吃 has been actioned to completion:

万一它把我们吃了，怎么办？

万一它把我们吃掉，怎么办？

(This question is as much about confirming whether I properly understood Jenny in her explanation as it is about understanding the grammar!).

Posted on: Funny Business 4 -- Farewell, Xiao Zhao

I usually listen to Intermediate-level lessons, but Lao Wang, and the high drama delivered in this series, has driven me up to Upper-Intermediate, just to find out what's going on :-)

Actually, besides from dealing with a greater amount of new vocabularly than usual, I found the lesson to be manageable.

Loving it!

Posted on: Qipao Dresses and Marathons in China

Hehehe! mer131, you and other Shanghai running poddies are one of the main reasons why I ended up in Mongolia!!

Funnily enough, pearltowerpete and I were just swapping emails about the Hangzhou marathon this morning. Perhaps we can get an official ChinesePod running team together???

We could wear t-shirts, and poddies and staff alike could train and run together while we practice our Chinese (I'm sure we could identify a charity too)...