User Comments - maureen
maureen
Posted on: Going to Church
July 29, 2009, 11:22 PMAs a Jew, I'm interested in Judaism in China. I understand there was once a sizeable Jewish community in Shanghai. Does it still exist there, or is it only part of Shanghai history?
Interesting lesson! Too bad any discussion of religion (even in a language learning setting) can really bring out the worst in some people...
Maureen
玛琳
Posted on: Expired!
February 19, 2009, 10:38 PMThe guys in this dialogue are great - especially the second one; he's so funny. I always enjoy the dialogues he is in. What's his name?
Great sound effects, too. Kinda gross, but effective!
Posted on: Hold the Elevator
February 17, 2009, 02:55 PMXuchen wrote:
"I'm constantly amazed by the number of people that can fit into an elevator."
When we were in China to adopt our daughter in 2005, I was always astonished to see more people cram into what I thought was an already full elevator. In the US, people seem to shy away from any situation in which they will maybe be forced to (!) touch a stranger for a millisecond.
BTW, none of our adoption group could speak Chinese (except our guide, of course). So when we had to make it to an elevator that was ready to leave, we found that running toward the elevator and waving a hand like a crazy person was usually enough to get someone to hold the elevator for us! (Maybe carrying a cute one year old baby also helped.)
But it's always nice to know the right way to do it.
Posted on: Sign Here, Please
February 04, 2009, 09:40 PMLujiaojie and Changye:
Thanks for the suggestions for my Chinese name. I might go ahead and use either 马琳 "ma3 lin2" or 玛琳 "ma3 lin2" - if for no other reason than "穆" (mu4)is much harder for me to write than 马 or 玛! Besides, "ma3 lin2" is much closer to the way I pronounce my name than "mu4 lin2".
Changye, I'm not Muslim, but I don't have a problem with "穆" being often used with words relating to Islam - I found that information 非常有趣 fei1 chang2 you3 qu4 (very interesting). (Thanks for sharing this kind of information with us all!) It's just that I like things to be simple, and 穆 just has too many strokes!
Maureen
Posted on: Sign Here, Please
February 03, 2009, 05:36 PMGood lesson! Very practical and helpful.
I know this question is not the point of this lesson, but since you did discuss Chinese names....
I'm trying to find a Chinese name to use in my Chinese class. It's hard, because just by picking out a couple of characters I like, I will probably come up with a name that doesn't make sense in Chinese. I used an online name translation tool that told me "Maureen" translated into Chinese characters is "穆琳
Posted on: Gong Xi Fa Cai!
January 26, 2009, 02:39 PMWhich expression is more common:
新年快乐 (xīn nián quài lè)
or
新年好 (xīn nián hǎo)?
My Chinese teacher taught us 新年快乐. Are they pretty much interchangeable? And are the same expressions used for the "other" New Year on January 1?
By the way, 新年快乐 or 新年好 to all!
Maureen
Posted on: The Broken Chair
January 16, 2009, 06:22 PMI enjoyed this lesson - especially the guy's response to the woman falling down...it sounds like he was just standing there watching with a dumb look on his face. Makes me wonder if he actually helped her up!
Speaking of other uses for "huai4 le", is that the expression you would use if you broke your leg - "wo3 de tui3 huai4 le"? Or is there another way to talk about broken bones?
Thanks to everyone who gives pinyin and/or English translations of their Chinese characters in these discussions - since I'm a Newbie/Ellie, it helps a lot.
Maureen
Posted on: Forget It
November 15, 2007, 07:35 PMWow - I guess I'm a "really newbie" because you all are way over my head! I'm trying to figure out the pronunciation of "suàn". In the dialogue and the vocabulary, I hear "san", with no "U" sound. Is that correct?
Posted on: What have you done in 2009?
December 31, 2009, 07:06 PMOK, this may be a dumb question, but can you tell me why the pinyin for "2010年" is "èr líng yī līng nián", and not "èr líng yī líng nián"? Why is the second "ling" first tone instead of second tone like the first one? And, John - that was a great explanation of the use of 了 le to indicate what we call "tense" in English! In fact, I almost thought I understood it, before it slipped away from me again. But I'm getting close. I think I will actually start understanding some of this Chinese after all! Maureen