User Comments - yeguohao
yeguohao
Posted on: 中国的戏剧
June 17, 2010, 03:47 PMIt's very difficult to understand Chinese opera until someone explains it to you in English! On a separate note, my absolute Western classical favorite is Handel's Messiah. Gorgeous.
Posted on: 中国的戏剧
June 04, 2010, 05:02 PMI developed a deep interest in Beijing/Sichuan/Hebei operas when I was living in Singapore for 10 years (1990-99), and since I moved back to Kuala Lumpur in 2000, I've been living in a relative cultural desert. There are several dedicated individuals in Singapore who are passionate about traditional Chinese opera who take the trouble to prepare detailed Chinese and English subtitles for live stage performances of troupes from China. Of course, the quality of the English translation varied greatly, depending on the individual doing the translation. In some cases, only the broad meaning of the scene was explained, leaving out many important details. But in other cases, the translation was not only detailed, it was also written in sophisticated literary English that enhanced appreciation. Many mainland troupes visited Singapore every year, and I was able to appreciate the storyline without understanding any of the language! I owe Singapore a gratitude of thanks for helping me and others break through the language barrier and opening the artform to someone who did not understand Chinese.
My interest in China's traditional performing arts was not shared by my peers (I was in my 20s at that time), and I had enormous trouble convincing anyone to go with me to the theater. Two decades after my first encounter with Chinese opera, I continue to retain my fascination, which now my wife finds perplexing. The music was almost universally considered strange and unusual. The problem for me is that while I can appreciate the singing and the beauty of the stage performance, I could not understand the Chinese text/script even till today, as it is rather different from the way ordinary Chinese is spoken/written.
Can I make one lesson suggestion for ChinesePod? You could consider picking out excerpts from several famous Chinese operas and turn them into lessons. For instance, one of my favourite is 四郎探母的《坐宫》。Foreigners would be more familiar with Farewell to My Concubine （霸王别姬）because of that movie by Chen Kaige. Or the evergreen Madam White Snake（白蛇传）. I think it would be interesting for ChinesePod to dip its toes into a more cultural and literary part of the language, while retaining its overall focus on the modern, day-to-day aspects of the language. Personally, I am impressed with how modern and up-to-date ChinesePod lessons are, for instance I've already heard two lessons on Taobao, and several lessons on computer games! But until today's lesson on 戏剧, there's hardly been any traditional/literary content. Perhaps this is a gap that ChinesePod may want to explore filling.
Posted on: 扎着麻花辫的女孩三
April 28, 2010, 04:39 PMTo David, congratulations on the very excellent production of this series of three stories. Your oral interpretation and reading have made the story come alive. And the music - where did you get the music from? It really augmented the scariness of the tale. Amazingly well done, you have set a very high quality standard for everyone else in ChinesePod. Keep it up!
Posted on: Adventures of an Andy Lau Fan on Taobao
December 02, 2009, 05:14 AMHi David, it's a refreshing change to have you on this lesson. I notice among the native speakers, you are a minority among a sea of ladies!
I listen to you on the Advanced lessons, although I don't follow the meaning of everything you say on the first listen. This is the first time I heard you on Upper Intermediate. I am not proficient in Chinese, but I can follow the Advanced lessons with the text in front of me, and the Intermediate without the text.
This is not a criticism, but I find listening to you more stressful than listening to Jenny. I have to concentrate a lot harder. Jenny speaks more slowly, probably because she makes the conscious effort to slow down for learners like us. Whereas you speak more naturally, and hence you finish a sentence more quickly. Jenny also intersperses her Chinese with English explanations more often.
I hope that you will slow down in future Upper Intermediate lessons, in order to make listening less stressful for people like me. Thank you!
Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China
November 06, 2010, 05:16 PMProperty prices in China too high for her to move out! At 6000 renminbi per square feet, and starting salaries at 4000 renminbi a month, affordability is a huge problem. Besides, in Asia (in general) children stay with their parents until they get married, unless of course they work in a different city.