URLLesson Introduction
You don't pad your resume, of course, but then if you were to pad said resume, perhaps the best padding would be a first-class Chinese university that no one could call to check up on. Then again, buying one online from the University of Belarus is a viable option as well. You choose. Either way, get a little more educated with this lesson on a couple of the top schools in China, in Mandarin.
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baillies says
I am not really at this level but was wondering does the sign say 北京大学。 No wonder I can never read these signs. Also off topic but is there a timeframe for the new spod/fpod web layout to come to cpod?May 15, 2008
sophie20461 says
哇！北京大学哦，多少学子的梦想啊，可惜离我太远了。呵呵。对我来说那是可望而不可及的地方。May 15, 2008
john says
baillies, Yes, that is indeed 北京大学. And this one even has the decency to read left to right! :) (A lot of signboards in this style, such as ones at temples, etc., use the traditional right to left order.) As Sophie's comment illustrates, BeiDa is quite prestigious...May 15, 2008
lukeskywalker says
没有清华大学吗？大部分认为清华大学是最名牌中国大学.你们怎么说了复旦大学但是没说了清华大学？May 15, 2008
zhiyuan0920 says
I am a junior student in Harbin instuitite of Techonology .I major in automobile mechanics,and I want to make friends with some American who are eager to know more about China,he or she can teach me English ,I can teach him or her chinese at the same time.look forward to your coming!May 15, 2008
ncjones says
Believe it or not Zhiyuan but Americans are not the only English-speakers who use this web site.May 16, 2008
riceeater says
北京大學 (Beijing University) written using traditional characters. Though the sign above is does not look quite like the traditional 學 or the simplified 学. What character or variant of school/learn is it?May 16, 2008
guolanusa says
如果美国和中国相比,好像在美国考上大学比较容易,可是上大学以后,坚持下去和毕业是很痛苦的,很难成功,很多大学生失败,不能毕业. 在中国,考上大学很难,压力特别大,可是上大学以后,坚持下去和毕业是比较容易的,差不多每个大学生都一定要毕业. 老师们,谢谢你们为我们的努力!May 16, 2008
hcnerf says
I studied at Beijing Normal University last summer. The equally illegible school slogan was supposedly based on calligraphy by Mao Ze Dong himself http://www.photo.ccoo.cn/Edu/2005715/200571515044371.jpgMay 16, 2008
sballa says
hcnerf (or anyone else), What is your take on Beijing Normal, in terms of quality, location, things to do, etc.? It's one of about five schools I may be teaching and doing research at this coming academic year, and it's not easy to get a feel for these places over the Internet. I know its history and ranking, but beyond that I don't have much of a sense. Cheers, SteveMay 16, 2008
lydia1981 says
user27892, listen to the dialogue and you'll know! 清华 is not a 'wenke' universityMay 16, 2008
patmetheny says
cpod or anyone, i'm just curious as to how well known other American universities are in China. If I mentioned MIT, or the University of Southern California, or the University of Illinois, would a Chinese person know those schools, or should we just say that we went to an American university and leave it at that?May 16, 2008
changye says
据说大部分中国四年级大学生都是被放的小羔羊。 大四生基本上都没有课所以只要写一篇论文就行， 有的学生为了考研自己备考有的忙碌地寻找工作。 中国大学一般都有实习制度就是有点奇怪的传统。 学生在校外企业实习一段时间无疑是很有意义的， 但我认识的一个重点大学生在校外实习将近一年! 这个大四生一边交学费不上学一边在公司拿工资， 可笑是他甚至把大学宿舍的床位出租给别的学生。 大学实习就是没有人吃亏的一个非常合理的制度!May 16, 2008
rich says
特别有用的课程，谢谢。今天我有机会去一个有名的中国大学，是天津的南开大学。几个月以前我想去复旦大学，可是上个月改了注意，回我已经住差不多五年的城市，在那里跟我爱丁堡大学（在苏格兰)的同学学习六个月的中文。May 16, 2008
bduckie says
In this lesson and others the word "feng1" , meaning wind, is pronounced with a short "e" vowel sound, but I have heard many Mandarin speakers pronounce the word with a long "o" vowel sound. What is the standard pronunciation?May 16, 2008
cassielin says
patmetheny, I know MIT, the University of Southern California and the University of Illinois are very famous universities there. And I also know that Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Yale and Princeton are the Ivy. ^_^May 16, 2008
wonglungsek says
bduckie: the e in feng is pronounced as a schwa or the u in "cow dung".May 16, 2008
sballa says
For fun, here's a ranking of the top ten universities in China. As an academic, I know the problems inherent in this kind of rating system, but they can be useful, if for nothing else than bragging... 1 Tsinghua University 2 Peking University 3 Fudan University 3 Nanjing University 5 Zhejiang University 6 University of Science and Technology of China 7 Shanghai Jiaotong University 8 Beijing Normal University 9 Renmin University of China 10 Nan'kai University 10 Zhongshan UniversityMay 16, 2008
standuke says
Here's my attempt at translating Changye's comment: I've heard it said that many chinese four-year university students are allowed to wander like little lambs. They basically don't have class and only have to write a thesis--some students (instead of/in addition to?) taking exams busy themselves searching for employment. Some Chinese universities have internship programs (which leads to?) a somewhat odd situation. Students intern off campus for a short period (which?) certainly can be an important experience but I know a student who interned for nearly a year. This student partly went to school and partly worked for a salary, he even rented his dormitory bunk to another student. (this last sentence is tough... maybe something like this:) The internship system really works out so no one loses! Ack--something like that... I still have difficulty making sense of some of the basic 'plumbing' of the Chinese language, if that makes any sense. I think I get the gist of it but I'm not sure of the intended logic... Changye, if you don't mind, what's up with the sentences that all have the same number of characters in each line??May 16, 2008
standuke says
Rich, my wife would be very pleased that you are describing her alma mater 南开大学 as 有名。I didn't quite get the logic for taking Chinese lessons at Edinburgh rather than going to 复旦， though?? Not sure if this is an issue with your logic or my understanding of your written Chinese :>) Speaking of 有名universities, I have to say that using ChinesePod compares favorably with taking classes at very prestigious universities. Thanks, guys, keep up the good work! Hey, it's almost June--how about a lesson on 高考？Isn't 高考in June this year for the first time??May 16, 2008
man2toe says
The timing of this lesson is amazing. Just this week a lot of press has come out about Harvard and Yale's endowment funds. Here is a link to one article I read about it. IMO-I am rather disappointed in these two institutions and I hope the press pressures them to think a lot more of others and do a lot more to help others. http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/14/beck.collegeendowment/index.htmlMay 16, 2008
standuke says
Hey Man2toe, that's a great link. The Wall Street Journal had a couple similar articles last year about the scant amount of the endowments that get spent each year. I work at one of these rich institutions and I think its borderline criminal the way the hoard their $$. I'm all in favor of charging big bucks, but these guys could easily be educating 5-10 times the number of students if they were to build additional campuses. I totally think they should be taxed and the money funneled to public education if they don't get off their fat asses and find ways to educate more people.May 16, 2008
changye says
请大家看看，九位现任中国中央常委当中只有一位文科生，另外八位领导干部，包括胡锦涛同志，居然都是理科生。他们都在名牌大学学习水利电力等很实用的学问，尤其是清华大学毕业生对中国政治界的影响力应该会很强大。这很可能就是北大排不了大学排行第一的原因之一。我觉得中国不愧为一个坚持唯物史观的国家。 中国共产党 十七届中央政治局常委 胡锦涛 清华大学（水利工程系） 吴邦国 清华大学（无线电电子学） 温家宝 北京地质学院（地质构造专业） 贾庆林 河北工学院（电力系电器设计专业） 李长春 哈尔滨工业大学（电机工程系） 习近平 清华大学（化工系有机合成专业） 李克强 北京大学（法律系） 贺国强 北京化工学院（无机化工系） 周永康 北京石油学院（地球物理勘探专业）May 16, 2008
changye says
Hi standuke, Thank you for the nice translation, which I think is much better than its original Chinese text! As to your question about my stupid writing-style, it takes me a long time to write up, let me just say it is only a self-satisfying act.May 16, 2008
standuke says
Changye, I sometimes wonder how much effort I should put into reading/translating 汉字 here in the comments section--after all there are bound to be mistakes and who knows about style, grammar, etc.--but I figure if you've gone to the trouble to compose something neat and rectangular at least I know it's been edited :>) Seriously, reading anything in Chinese is still a bit of a slog for me, so it's fun to start here.May 16, 2008
guolanusa says
standuke, you can rest assured that changye's style, grammar, and usage are worthy of being emulated - and that translating his ideas is well worth the effort - he has an understanding of China that is way beyond the average Westerner's. (Oh, I have assumed you are a Westerner; forgive me if you aren't...) As for my comments, beware! The posts I type are chinglish - I (unwittingly) use English sentence structure to build Chinese sentences, and I use words and phrases in ways that no native speaker of Chinese ever would! (Or, to be more honest, in ways that are just outright wrong!) :) I enjoyed your translation of changye's earlier comment. Thanks for posting it! And, I completely agree with you that practicing reading by reading here is fun. Thanks C-pod!May 16, 2008
maoxian says
Is there a negative connotation when using 小资? Seems to be a pretty politically charged term from the old days. Also, is using 牛 as an adjective meaning "excellent" a recent thing? Thanks.May 16, 2008
jennyzhu says
maoxian, 小资/'petty bourgeoisie' had an extremely negative connotation and was to be avoided at all cost during the cultural revolution. But now, it refers to the burgening middle class and a refined lifestye. However, it carries a tinge of condescension since it refers to the lower rank of middle class. 牛 is a Beijing slang meaning excellent or 厉害。The national adoption of the word is a rather new phenomenon.May 16, 2008
light487 says
How obvious is the class (and caste as well) system in China? I mean, obviously there are the people living on the poverty line and those who are wealth, then everyone else in between.. but is there really a big distinction between classes in China? Understandably the wealthy tend not to mix with the poor but that is common in every culture.. I mean.. is there more to it then that in China?May 16, 2008
changye says
Hi light487, Let me show you a simple example to illustrate the class system here in China. I bought my chubby dog for 140 yuan several years ago, and the price of puppy of my neighbor downstairs is only 10 yuan. But the dog I saw in a park a few days ago was, its owner proudly said to me, incredibly 10,000 yuan. This is just the reality of the class society in China.May 17, 2008
zetazebra says
gosh! ^^May 17, 2008
dave says
I really don't like these school themed lessons. They make me feel like a college student which is the last thing I want.May 17, 2008
light487 says
Hrmm.. yeh but that's quite an overt example really.. Do you look down on the person who owns the 10 yuan dog? (I doubt you would.. it's a general question).. Does the 10,000 yuan dog owner look down on the 140 yuan dog owner?.. Could/would the 10,000 yuan dog owner associate with the 10 yuan dog owner in social context? In Australia, there is of course some upper class and everything-below-upper-class distinctions/separation.. but everyone else is quite happy to mix socially both in terms of work-mates and real friendships. The almighty dollar is not the only thing that separates the classes of course, it is the most obvious one though. I was curious more on the "separation" of classes in China.May 17, 2008
light487 says
As an example, I read in a book that an upper class person would not shake hands with a lower class citizen.. even in a setting where handshakes are normal. That would never happen in Australia unless the person was an exception to the rule.May 17, 2008
malachite says
感谢中文播客提供中高级课程。我觉得每节课很有意思，也很实用的。 那么，你们有考大学的经验吗？我是考澳洲的一个大学。澳洲跟外国一样，考大学要过分数线。我不知道在外国怎么考大学，但是在这儿年末考试只占成绩的50%。另外的50%是于“在校成绩”而成的。因此，坐考试时，没有那么多紧张。这样考大学比较容易，可是入学以后，做好成绩而毕业是挺难的。（特别是外语专业！一个星期只上3-4个小时的课）。 在你们的国家考大学怎么样？May 17, 2008
guolanusa says
light487, 你提出的题目特别复杂. 每个国家有缺点,有自己的社会问题. 比如说,在我们美国一个很大的问题就是枪,你一定听说过我们在学校里的孩子们把同学们杀死的消息. The question you brought up is very complex. Every country has its shortcomings, its societal problems. For example, my home country (America) has a problem with guns - you've certainly heard of the American schoolchildren who have shot to death their classmates. 中国当然也有问题,只是和美国和澳大利亚的问题完全不一样. 不是像你听说过的那么强的态度,可是还是有一些那样的看重经济的情况的态度,是一个问题. China of course has problems as well, its just that China's problems are totally different from America or Australia's problems. While the attitude isn't as strong as you have heard it is, their certainly is an attitude of considering heavily a person's financial status. It is a problem. 我有很多中国朋友,有的钱比较少,有的钱比较多. 如果我请他们都一起完儿,结果有点儿不舒服. 少钱的朋友觉得自己没有文化,不知道怎么和有钱的人相处. 其实,有钱的朋友们之中没有一个骄傲的,没有一个看不起其他人的,可是没办法,他们一起还是有点儿不舒服. I have many Chinese friends, some are rather poor, some would be considered more well-off. If I have a get-together where we all hang out, things are a little uncomfortable. Those who are less well-off feel that they lack class/education, and don't know how to interact with the more well-off. Actually, none of my more well-off friends are arrogant or prejudiced, but the result is uncomfortable nonetheless. 所以,情况不是像你听到的那么严重,可是这个问题是存在的. So, although the situation is not nearly as bad as you have heard it to be, it does exist to some extent.May 17, 2008
guolanusa says
Yikes, sorry for the extremely long post, translating into English takes three-times as much space as just characters alone!May 17, 2008
tmshu1 says
Yes, it does say 北京大学.May 17, 2008
light487 says
Thanks for the information guolanusa. I appreciate the time you took to explain it.May 17, 2008
andrew_c says
I'm trying to push myself towards the upper intermediate level and really understand more of what Jenny and John are saying at this level. Regarding the following sentences, I wrote what I thought I heard in Pinyin, if it's not right, what exactly was said in Chinese and what exactly does each statement translate to in English? Thanks so much for any help with this! I'm so close to understanding most of these sentences, so this will be so helpful to me. 3:30ish: na wei shenme shuo Beida he Fudan er bu shuo Qing Hua shenme de. 6:04: er si shang shi yi ge ming zi 6:30: gan jue he nong da pei shi ma. 6:35: 'gan jue he zhong' or 'gan jue hen zhong' 6:40 qiang lie = 强烈 ? 7:37 xian zai jie hen gu ding le e beijing 7:40 na wo men zai kan yi ge huangdi youguan de = "let's now read something having to do with the emperor"? 7:50 ni neng li zhe ge yi si ma? li = 理 ? In that case is there any difference between this sentence and 你明白这个意思？ 7:50 zhe ge shuo fa xiang ting guo 8:00 guan shi de ren li de hen yuan suo yi de lao bai xing ta guan bu liao guan bu jiao. 8:12 wo men ziji de shir 9:18 ni bu ... liang ge dou hen cha de ranhou ... zai yi qi 9:35 - fen shu shi zhi xue sheng de grades... What does zhi mean here? 9:50 - ni neng jing zenme yang de da xue. Regarding the sentence from the dialog 不过分数线一般都是北大高, I don't really understand how the four characters 一般都是 contribute to the meaning.May 17, 2008
hadzipopovska says
Wei Hui was a student in fu dan.May 17, 2008
andrew_c says
Regarding the PDF vocabulary list and The Fix should 尖子生 be translated as 'top-notch student', and not just 'top notch'?May 17, 2008
chillosk says
很高兴看到交通大学在top10list. :) 我以前在那儿学习中文。 徐汇的学校很漂亮！Minhang的学校虽然离徐汇太原了但是那个学校也是漂亮的。May 17, 2008
changye says
Hi chillosk, 我没记错的话，上海交通大学好像是 前任中共总书记江泽民先生的母校，对不对？ 不过，我不知道他学的是什么专业， 只知道他绝不会是个文科生。May 17, 2008
standuke says
acorrigan, I don't normally try to figure out all the details, but I'm feeling ambitious lately. Here's my take on the questions you posted. I've tried to indicate the bits I'm unsure of, but take the rest with a grain of salt, too. Here are guesses as to characters, my take on the pinyin and sort of a Chinglish translation of what I think the passages mean... 3:40 为什么说北大和复旦而?不说清华什么的 weishenme shuo beida he fudan er bu shuo qinghua, shenmede? Why say Beida and Fudan but not Qinghua and others like it? 6:04 思想是一个名词 'sixiang' shi yi ge mingci. 'idea' is a noun. 6:35 感觉很重 ganjue hen zhong vs 感觉很浓 ganjue hen nong. nb there is also 浓重 in my dictionary which means more or less the same as 浓. Regardless Jenny is saying 'don't use 重', which means 'heavy'. 6:40 that'd be my guess 7:37 现在皆？很固定了－啊－北京 xianzai jie? hen guding le -a- beijing. Now it (the meaning) is very definite--Beijing. 7:40 In this case zai '再' probably means 'again', as in: let's *again* read something about the emporor. 7:50 你能理解这个意思吗？ ni neng lijie zhe ge yisi ma? Do you understand the meaning of this? 7:50 这个说法像听过（的）？zhege shuofa xiang tingguo (de). Seems like this is something I've heard before. 8:00 关事的人离的很员所以地下的老百姓他关不了关不找。guan shi de ren hen yuan suoyi dixia? de laobaixing ta guanbuliao, guanbuzhao. People in charge are far away, so subversive? commoners, they can't be managed, can't be found. 8:12 我们就做我们自己的事儿。women jiu zuo women ziji de shi'er. We'll just do our own thing. 9:35 beats me 9:50 你能进怎么样的大学--ni neng jin zenmeyang de daxue. You can enter what kind of university. Those are my guesses--cheersMay 17, 2008
changye says
Hi light487, The gap issues in China are somewhat complicated. In modern China, there are no such things called “nobles” and “blue blood”, at least theoretically, unlike some Western countries. Instead, China has several 有中国特色的 (with Chinese characteristics) disparity issues. Of course, every country has, more or less, similar problems, but the thing is, though, everything tends to become extreme, or go too far, here in China. Explaining those problems in detail is completely beyond my competence, therefore let me just show you some key words. 1) The rich (富者) vs the poor (贫者) 2) Corrupted officials (贪官) vs common people (百姓) 3) Urban dwellers (城市居民) vs peasants (农民) 4) Majority (汉族) vs minorities (少数民族) 5) Local people (本地人) vs migrant workers (民工)May 17, 2008
riceeater says
Is the last character in the sign pictured at the top of this page 學 or 学 or yet another form of that character? It doesn't quite look like either the traditional or simplified versions of the character that I have learned. Can anybody explain that one?May 18, 2008
chillosk says
Changye, 你说的对。江泽民以前在交大学习。但是，我也不知道他的专业。 我老师也告诉我们姚明（篮球员）以前在交大也学习。May 18, 2008
andrew_c says
Thanks standuke.May 18, 2008
novoa says
me gustaria contactar con chinas que hablen español en china .xiexie--quiero poder hablar por messenger .con ellas o ellos .May 18, 2008
novoa says
buenas tardes ,me gustaria poder tener en mi casa una persona para de la casa y que enseñen a mis hijos hablar en chino si alguien conoce alguna persona en china .que se ponga en contacto aqui .un saludo ...xie xie ..May 18, 2008
wildyaks says
riceeater, it looks like the simplified xue (学) to me. It's calligraphy, and sometimes it's hard to recognize the storkes.May 18, 2008
andrew_c says
I have more questions about the dialog itself, in addition to the one above about 一般都是: I don't understand how: "对我们文科生来说，要考就考北大复旦。" corresponds to: "According to our Liberal Arts department, I should try to get into Beijing University or Fudan". To me it sounds more like: "To us liberal arts students, the only schools worth applying to are Beijing or Fudan" Have I totally misunderstood this sentence? Can someone please explain this sentence? I've only heard 的话 be used to express the idea of 'if', but here it seems to mean regarding / to speak of. Could I have instead used 关于? If not, when do I use 的话 and when do I use 关于? Thanks in advance!May 18, 2008
changye says
Hi riceeater and wildyaks, The four characters in the frame is based on the handwriting of 毛泽东 when he visited 北京大学 in “1950”, therefore I don’t think the character “xue3” in the frame is written using 简体字, because the new style characters were officially introduced in China in 1956. Of course, unofficial simplified Chinese characters have long been broadly used by people here in China, and many of those characters were actively collected and organized by Chinese scholars in the former part of 20th century, which eventually led to the establishment of 简体字。 It is highly possible that those four characters are written using 草书 (flowing style) of 繁体字 (traditional characters). It’s a little cumbersome to write the traditional 學 “stroke by stroke” with a brush even for 毛泽东. And I’ve just found another picture. It seems that my guess is right. 北京大学 正门牌子 http://www.bjlxtx.com/newjd_308.html Anyway, using traditional characters should be the most common way in calligraphy.May 18, 2008
changye says
Hi riceeater and wildyaks, This is supplemental to my above posting. According to my 草书 dictionary, oh my dog, the 草书 form of “學” is actually the same as “学”, in other words, the simplified character “学” was invented based on the 草书 form of “學”. (FYI, “学” is also being used in Japan after the war.) And therefore there isn’t much significance in discussing whether the character “xue2” is 简体字 or 繁体字 as long as it is written using authentic 草书 style, although you can still find a trace of “學” in the handwriting character of 毛泽东 in the frame, or at least I think so.May 18, 2008
yaorun says
hi acorrigan Most of the sentences in standuke's comment are right. but some still need to be corrected. 6:40 qiang lie is 强烈 7:37 现在已经很固定了啊，北京 xian zai yi jing hen gu ding le a bei jing 7:50 这个说法好像听过 8:00zhe ge shuo fa hao xiang ting guo 管事的人离得很远所以底下的人他管不了，管不着 guan shi de ren li de hen yuan suo yi di xia de ren ta guan bu liao, guan bu zhao 9:35 zhi is 指，more or less the same meaning as "is" 一般都是 means “ generally" So the sentence can be translated into that " the grade cut-off line of beida is generally higher. your understanding of "对我们文科生来说，要考就考北大复旦。" is right. I think 的话 can be used under both circumstances, and you can use 关于 instead of 的话 under the latter condition.May 19, 2008
badfish3885 says
除了"老牌名校"那个词组以外，还可以说"一流名校"。尽管中国历史比美国的长得多，北大，中国最"老"的大学 "牌"只是1898年成立的May 19, 2008
badfish3885 says
acorrigan, I'm pretty sure "关于" and "的话" mean the same thing. The latter is more colloquial, and the former can be spoken or written.May 19, 2008
badfish3885 says
...both mean "regarding."May 19, 2008
standuke says
yaorun, thanks for sorting things out. I don't normally try to nail down all the details like that, but it's an interesting challenge, now that I'm learning a few characters.May 19, 2008
a1pi2 says
@Casie: Columbia, Cornell and Penn are also members of the ivy league. There's a common misperception that the "ivy" of "ivy league" stands for IV, the Roman numeral 4. If that were true (it is not) then the four wouldn't include Harvard *_*May 19, 2008
bruharbin says
在法国不用考大学，你喜欢的专业就随便表名。但是每年级夏天的时候有比较难的考试，只有百分之五十的大学生考好。May 19, 2008
simongrant says
May 27, 2008
Good lesson - I'm now getting more used to Upper Intermedite level
lostinasia says
June 5, 2008
An article in Slate all about the Chinese university entrance exams:
http://www.slate.com/id/2192732/
Full title: China's SAT - if the SAT lasted two days, covered everything you'd ever studied, and decided your future.