User Comments - tvan

Posted on: Reading Faces and Shanghai Architecture

Now I know why those Kung Fu Masters have 4" long eyebrows; it denotes wisdom.  Speaking for myself, I wonder what a "ski jump" nose means?

The piece on the construction workers was fascinating.

Posted on: F1 in China

Changye, I see NASDAQ commonly translated as 那斯達克.  Of course, this has nothing to do with racing other than crashes.  

Posted on: F1 in China

Changye,  perhaps there's another meaning but, per my dictionary, "房" translates as room, compartmentalized structure, surname, concubine and, of course, house.  None of those appended in front of car seem to translate to "stock car"... though, for an American male, concubine car probably comes close.

Posted on: F1 in China

I was waiting for the NASCAR crowd to show up.  Next comes the, "this is too American" crowd.  ;-)  

So, how do you say NASCAR in Chinese anyway?  I vote for 拿死卡/NáSìKa, but the Chinese version of Wiki just says NASCAR.

Posted on: Cosmetic Surgery and Mooncakes

I know many people like them, but I'm with RJBerki on the taste of moon cakes; right down there with Durian.  My theory is that mooncakes remind people of how terrible life was under the Mongols.  The Hagen Daz mooncake might work though.  

On a more serious note, I appreciated the unscripted Chinese at the plastic surgery clinic.

Posted on: Making Negative Comparisons

frances, I was MIA from CPod during that time, so I'll have to go back and look at that Qing Wen.

On your sentence, I want to say, "我的爺爺比你的老” or, to use the structure in this Qing Wen, "你的爷爷没有我的那么老."  Then again, as with all my grammar, it's mostly intuitive and often wrong.

Posted on: Making Negative Comparisons

I have a question on some of the sentences above.  Clarsen wrote, "我的中文没有我太太好."  I would have expected "我的中文没有我太太的好."  I know there are lots of implied possessives in Chinese, and I certainly understand the sentence's intent; Still, is the first sentence correct?  Can I leave off the possessive?

I saw several examples of the missing 的 above and just wondered.  Personally, 的/得/地/de/duh gives me headaches.

Posted on: The 80/20 Rule

Mike, I use your lists whenever I come across a banter I don't understand.  I usually don't comment to avoid clogging the boards with repetitive comments but, in this case, let me say, "謝謝您." 

Posted on: Hanoi

karmatortoise, the link between Chinese become much more vague when one considers that some of the regions north of Vietnam (at least Guangxi) speak different dialects of Chinese that, in fact, have more tones than Mandarin.  Also, South Vietnam's cultural heritage differs markedly from North Vietnam.

Posted on: Language Power Struggle

formozafolio, if I understand your question, there are five tabs at the top of this page just under the lesson name.  They are:  Discussion, Dialogue, Vocabulary, Expansion, and Exercises.  Click the tab that says Vocabulary.