User Comments - raymondc

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raymondc

Posted on: International vs. Local Schools
January 20, 2011, 10:46 PM

One year cost 20-30 thousand USD . That's incredibly expensive for school children ! more than university courses.

I know an Eurasian girl who attended international school in Hong Kong. She speaks fluent English but cannot understood one word of Chinese after growing up in cantonese-speaking environment.

I'm homeschooling myself with Chinesepod :)  . My Chinese classes on the week end are not enough tough.

Can someone translate for me ? What do they say in the 2 last minutes ? I understood Chinese children can go to 国际学校 only if they have a foreign passport. What about the foreigners ? I didn't understand that part. I also heard about who can go to international school without money ?

Posted on: Too Many Food Allergies
October 04, 2010, 10:09 AM

Interesting for the family relationship .

伯父 bo fu : father's older brother. In the dialogue,  晓旭 addresses his girlfriend's father in a respective way , not because the her father is older than his. Right ?

伯母 bo mu : wife of father's elder brother . Aunt

叔叔 shu shu : father's younger brother

阿姨 a yi : aunt . I guess it's the wife of father's younger brother. Rigtht ?

Now how to say cousin (distant) ? In the sense , it's the father's female cousin.

Any help thanks

Posted on: Sina's Microblogs
June 21, 2010, 10:56 PM

Speaking of micro blogging, I want to say:围脖 :明天,我猜国踢球队不会博得 . The French coach Domenech should retire.

Twitter is blocked, right ? And sina is open. Can you put 140 Chinese characters? that 'd be too long.

I read the 140 characters twitter limit is tied to SMS (text message). How much Chinese characters can you write in a text message ?

Posted on: Shanghai Expo Pavilions
May 23, 2010, 12:34 PM

If i were in Shanghai , I'd take the chance to visit Expo. 2 years ago I was in China during the olympics but I don't regret to watch them on TV.

But same as in Paris , I hate long queuing system.

I've never been to a World Expô in my life and would love too.

太期待今天的世博一日游了.

Posted on: Asking for a Raise
March 15, 2010, 10:33 PM

What's the difference between 单子(dan zi) 合同( hetong) both meaning contract ?

I guess 合同 is employment contract

Posted on: Asking for a Raise
March 15, 2010, 10:05 PM

Yes, I like this idea of rehearsing the dialogue and not translating.

Posted on: A Cell Phone Ad on TV
February 15, 2010, 11:35 PM

This comes very handy, on Feb 12 I was offered a Nexus One thanks to Google. I was chatting with a Chinese and he spent 4000RMB (half his salary) on this Nexus one month ago. I wonder if the subscription plan subsidies the cell phone . Or Chinese are willing to pay a brad new at full price without subscription.

Tried the android ChinesePod version, it changes the way I use it in the public transport.

How would you translate : they're selling cellphones on web sites ? 网站上在卖手机

Posted on: Fire in the Hallway!
January 19, 2010, 08:32 PM

Just a simple question : 打119 sounds yao yao jiu not yi yi jiu. I don't remember for 号码 (hao ma phone number) 1 = yao

Posted on: Fire in the Hallway!
January 19, 2010, 08:22 PM

Where I lived (Tahiti) the Chinese community burn fake money, paper clothes at cemetery. Not heard of Louis Vuitton bags. Even take some food and let animals consume them which we now take back home.

The belief is the deceased ones will get whatever we burn for them.

Math question : if the family honors the deceased ones. Who honor the ancestors' ancestors ?

The last deceased have to share with their ancestors. So each passing generation has to offer more.

Posted on: Finding a Street Number
December 02, 2009, 12:31 AM

@matt_c . True street numbers are not so useful only the nearest intersection is. One year I visited Praxis office on Wanhangdu Lu, the taxi took opposite direction, we called the office to have the closest intersection.

What about the numbering of streets in China? The south has lower number than north. The numbering begins from west to east ?