User Comments - sydcarten

Posted on: Designing the New Apartment

Hope you guys don't mind if I just bump my post above.

It seems to have gotten buried in SPAM.

Posted on: Let's Just Be Friends

thanks for that changye.

I was considering that alternative myself,

but wasn't sure whether there may have been a good reason why the dialogue didn't say it that way in the first place.

Posted on: A Thanksgiving Phone Call

Small question about the phrase: 你谢谢您

Why does the son address his mother as 您 rather than 你?

Is this a formality due to celebrating a special holiday?

Posted on: Let's Just Be Friends

In the sentence:我觉得我们还是做朋友比较好 - I think it'd be better if we were just friends.

In this situation, in English, the word 'just' is very important. The speaker would want to emphasise the fact that certain limits should be placed on their friendship and the word 'just' or 'only' does the job quite succinctly. Consider the above English translation but without using the word 'just'. It simply doesn't feel right.

I can't see that the above sentence in Chinese uses an equivalent to the English 'just' or 'only'. How can it convey the full meaning of the English translation without being a little ambiguous?

Posted on: Designing the New Apartment

I agree with that.

I can understand why some Westerners may feel a bit weird taking off their shoes in another persons home, but when you are in you own home it seems crazy to still be wearing clunky, uncomfortable shoes there.

For me being at home means being comfortable, and that means taking those damn shoes off.

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

歌曲 橄榄树:

不要问我从那里来 我的故乡在远方

为什么流浪 流浪远方流浪

为了天空飞翔的小鸟

为了山间轻流的小溪 为了宽阔的草原

流浪远方流浪

还有还有 为了梦中的橄榄树橄榄树

不要问我从那里来 我的故乡在远方

为什么流浪 为什麽流浪远方

为了我梦中的橄榄树

不要问我从那里来 我的故乡在远方

为什么流浪 流浪远方流浪

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

Bugger! Thas site doesn't work from here in Australia.

Posted on: New year, new lessons, and a reminder of new prices!

I miss having the right to blow my eye out with fireworks.

Those were the days...

;)

Posted on: Chinese Zodiac Birth Year

great, that would explain it then.

thanks

Posted on: Chinese Zodiac Birth Year

yes, thanks for that.

but I was wondering why in English we use the word FACE to express this meaning. I used to think that this was a metaphor for something in Chinese culture