User Comments - tabifu

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tabifu

Posted on: Getting to Know the Beauty Pageant Judges
October 24, 2007, 01:05 PM

After watching Chang'e 1 fly across the sky tonight, I was really excited to talk about it with my Chinese friends, but the only way I knew to describe it was to say "那个。。。飞到月亮的东西." Why not have a lesson on this topic? ^_^

Posted on: Of Beauty Pageants and Plastic Surgery
October 02, 2007, 08:34 AM

Mostly unrelated to the lesson, but... Thinking about the names Jessica and Monica and how they're transliterated into Chinese, I began to wonder. Who decides the "official" transliteration of Western celebrity and historical figures' names? I would think Chinese teens were talking about Jessica Alba on forums for ages before Xinhua news or a popular magazine had a chance to release her official Chinese name, although maybe people just use the Western name until a popular source comes up with a good name.

Posted on: Interview with an Athlete
August 13, 2007, 09:32 PM

I tried searching for a lesson involving political terms and didn't come up with much. Does such a lesson exist? If not, it would be really useful to have a lesson using phrases such as "I don't like to talk about politics," "Who is the president of that country?" and using vocabulary like "Communist Party" and "capital." Stuff like that. Yeah, I don't enjoy talking about politics, but it's a topic that comes up frequently, so I guess I should learn the terms (or maybe learn a way to politely change the topic).

Posted on: Jaywalking
August 05, 2007, 06:22 AM

I've never seen one of these crossing supervisors. Are they only at major intercections in the big cities?

Posted on: You Look Exhausted!
June 02, 2007, 01:13 AM

I was really confused about the meaning of "差不多 (cha4buduo1)" after this lesson because it's explained as "approximately, about." But when I saw a woman sweep the floor angrily, stop, look at it with annoyance and say "差不多!" I was puzzled. It seems like when I hear people use it, the translation is closer to "It's about the same," "It makes no difference," or even "Whatever."