User Comments - xiaophil

Posted on: Flying a Kite

This is a very cute lesson.  Nuff said.

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

It seems to me that you guys (gals) often say something like "it is all women here today at ChinesePod" in the startoff of your News and Features podcasts. 

By the way, mentioning this means absolutely nothing.

Posted on: Election Candidates

我有点糊涂,lilac老师,你对谁说话?

Posted on: Pirates under attack!

Yarr! Cap'n Black Dog me hearty, what ye found on thar google quest be a chest o' doubloons!

I kind of think that the Chinese translation is correct. The island looks a bit like a dead man's chest (or at least it does if I want it to).

Bonus phrase:

八个里亚尔！八个里亚尔！八个里亚尔！

Posted on: Pirates under attack!

Aye Black Dog Brick, I be agreein' with yer sentiments.

I got that translation from a Chinese translation of Treasure Island. The first time I read it, I thought that must be wrong. But then I thought, "What does 'fifteen men on the dead man's chest' mean anyway?" Does chest have to refer to a pirate's chest? Could it refer to a human's chest?

Posted on: Pirates under attack!

Here's a well known pirate phrase for all you sea-sailing swashbucklers:

十五个人趴在死人身上，唷呵呵，快来尝一瓶朗姆酒！

Posted on: 郑和七下西洋

Simon, that's what I'm saying. Besides, the idea that 蚩尤 got his ass kicked so hard that he moved all the way from East Asia to America is just unreasonable (sorry student of Orangina). At that time, so-called China was very small relative to the China of today. I doubt they would have gone much farther than Sichuan.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in reading about the origin of Native Americans, I found a couple of quick reads.

http://www.stonepages.com/news/archives/003287.html

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_Native_American_Indians_arrive

Note: the first page shows the DNA of Native Americans are different than East Asian's. The second page indicates that Chinese are cousins of Native Americans. I have to say this is obvious. I have never met a Native American who I would confuse with a Chinese person.

Posted on: 郑和七下西洋

I'm right with you, Simon. For the record, I pointed that out above.

As for the Native American part, I had a Chinese student that insisted Native Americans are descended from an ancient lost Chinese tribe. I was like... no.

Posted on: How to Start a Conversation with Chinese People

你好吗？ is a translation of an English phrase? Which one? I would never say "Are you good?" in English. I think you mean "How are you?" but I don't see how that could be a translation of 你好吗？ other than in spirit. 对不起，我咬文嚼字。

Posted on: An Invitation to the God of Wealth

我昨天学了这个课程， 因为我对paganism有兴趣，所以我特别喜欢这个课程。其实我算不上异教徒，只是觉得很有意思。