User Comments - tom12ga

Posted on: Music Corner in the Park

Jenny,

What is the verb for when you strike a gong? Would that also be (dǎ) 打？

Posted on: A Stroll through the Hutongs

The characters and their respective pin yin in the lesson's graphic show the word tong4 not as a neutral tone, but Jenny does refer to it as the neutral tone (tong5).

Posted on: Daddy Changes a Diaper

My daughter was born in China, and I could not be happier. She'll be two in the Fall and I would not have traded her away for anything. (My wife is Chinese and she is happy that I placed a greater emphasis on the joy of our first child than its gender.)

I also didn't mind the surprise of waiting until the baby was born to find out what we were having.

Posted on: The Surname Code

Changye raises a good point when he mentions " 欧阳" (ou1 yang2)" This is one example of an exception to the Bai Jia Xing ( 百 家姓) which is from the old list of family names in Chinese. There are a total of 438 names and students once (??) learned them as a poem. The exception of two-character names is known as Fu Xing- 复姓. A few other examples include: 令狐 (Ling Hu)司徒(Si Tu) 东方(Dong Fang) Maybe Jenny can share some additional insight into the existence of these two character names and how rare they really are.

Posted on: Surviving Winter and Singles Scene for Expat Girls

Johns,

I am married to a Chinese woman & she has an older sister whose husband makes less money than her. It doesn't seem to be a major issue...and he is definitely pushed into a "Mr. Mom" role.

It may not be a norm, but I just wanted to tell you that it does exist.

There is also another comment that didn't come up, but at least in Guagdong province, Chinese women are much less interested in the African immigrants than Caucasians. I've been told that this has more to do with wanting children who have whiter skin. (Bai Pi)