User Comments - tvan
tvan
Posted on: Arrival in Jizhou
September 15, 2007 at 2:12 PMConversation speed in upper intermediate lessons, while natural, still seems to be at a fairly deliberate pace. I think it's to be expected that language speed picks up with lesson difficulty. Also, while I have problems following the advanced lessons, their conversation speed doesn't seem too far out of line with my experience.
Posted on: In-Laws and Drinking
September 8, 2007 at 1:09 PMGoulnicky, I've heard of doing calligraphy in early morning dew, but never personally seen it. How did you do? I can't even write a decent "Yi" and would be terrified at the prospect of a public performance.
Posted on: In-Laws and Drinking
September 8, 2007 at 12:50 AMMy wife (Chinese) always complains that she is drunk after two to three sips of wine and, sure enough, her cheeks redden up and she usually conks out. I used to think she was acting but, apparently, Asians do have a genetic tendency towards alcohol intolerance. (e.g. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldehyde_dehydrogenase). However, that doesn't explain why Japanese and Chinese businessmen plus fill-in-the-blank asian bar girls (Not that I ever knew any!) used to all drink me under the table!!
Posted on: Election Candidates
September 2, 2007 at 6:54 PMOn the subject of 布希 versus 布什， at they are both in the same dialect. When it comes to 翻音詞(???), I think Chinese has a unique problem in that the written form can be pronounced in many different ways. I have watched with amusement as my Taiwanese friends mangle their already broken Cantonese trying to sound out which international movie star a Hong Kong newspaper is referring to.
Posted on: All About 所有 (suǒyǒu) and 都 (dōu)
September 1, 2007 at 11:51 PMwongfeihung, 我覺得朋友是個名詞。Your first sentence looked correct.
Posted on: 你好 (Nǐhǎo) is a Many-Splendored Thing
August 19, 2007 at 6:09 PMI don't know AuntySue. Seems like an overaction to an admittedly banal pleasantry. Should we could rewrite this episode of QingWen so that the proper response to "你好?"is "關你的屁事!"? Personally, I prefer the pleasant banality. When someone from Australia wishes me "G'day", I generally thank them, albeit sometimes wondering in passing why they can't prononunce "Good". :)
Posted on: Abducted by Aliens
August 18, 2007 at 4:21 PMGreat lesson! Entertaining, yet introduces good vocabulary in a way that complements the typical "First Day of School" textbook subject material. Still, never thought about Chinese being abducted by aliens, but I suppose that odds are...
Posted on: Extreme Tourism
July 25, 2007 at 2:30 AMAdding to what fp00n wrote above, the first character seems pretty likely to be 漂。Working on the last two.
Posted on: 军训
July 20, 2007 at 8:59 PM我是中級的學生所以必須把字典慢慢翻譯。結果是我懂所有的談話除了這句子以外： “好几次我饿得眼睛都绿了。” 為甚麽說眼睛綠色？是不是一種的成語？
Posted on: Personal Questions and Bargaining
September 16, 2007 at 3:05 PMI used to get angry when, inevitably, I found out that I paid substantially more than what a local did for the same product/service. Now, I take this position that, hey, I think I bought something cheap, the merchant thinks he got a great price, we're both happy, it's all good. I know... what a wimp.