URLLesson Introduction
A few months of everything fried combined with Chinese hospitality (read: feed) is enough to start anyone on a one-way trip to fat camp. Listen to this podcast and learn about one poor junk food lover's untimely demise into the shady world of carrots and wheatgrass.
sfrrr says
July 22, 2008
Ah, the perfect lesson for someone who just ate a quarter of a bag of Dutch soft licorice this afternoon. Definitely not touchi. That bag sits on my desk completely open to prying--or hungry--eyes.
huoyuanjia says
July 22, 2008
if everyone in China eats so much fried oily food, why is it that over here in China pretty much every chinese girl has an amazing figure....10x better than pretty much everywhere else in the world? i was sad last time i went back to Australia and a fine figure was rare, pang4zi were everywhere.
are the chinese well disiplined...or does the fat go straight through them with an evolution refined over the many thousands of chinese history?
is it something us in the west are missing?
or am I just imagining this whole thing?
ngarrity791 says
July 22, 2008
Yea I hear you mate, the girls here definately have better figures than the ones back home. Maybe its the lower food sanitary levels that keeps the food from sticking around in your body too long. In one minute, out the next...
changye says
July 22, 2008
My chubby dog basically eats everything including potato chips, but not an apple. I always tell her, "Which do you like better, Billy's boot camp or a dog meat restaurant? " I'll have my dog listen to today's lesson tonight.
我家的小狗胖得真像小猪，每天从早到晚吃个不停，怎么吃也吃不够，老是很饿的样子。我快要破产了，怎么办呢？
brims says
July 22, 2008
what do kids do at fat camp in China? do they get to play sports and do lots of outdoor activities, or is more like boot camp for kids?
what's fat camp like in other countries?
jennyzhu says
July 22, 2008
I came cross an article recently which said meat is a condiment in Chinese diet whereas in many Western diets, it's the centerpiece of a meal. Such a revealing observation but one I've taken for granted. In the Chinese mind, meat is inherently viewed and consumed as the highlight of a meal, but a highlight only not entirety. Maybe that's why our meat dishes are diced or sliced meat, rarely a chunky slab. That evokes another diet habit: portion control, balance and moderation.
changye says
July 22, 2008
What Jenny wrote is right. Seriously, meat is actually only a condiment in Chinese diet recently due to a crazy price hike in meat, which started last year!
songyian says
July 22, 2008
Is that picture from a 训练营? As a Chinese person myself, I've always felt I've been genetically predisposed not to gain weight. But of course, it would be unfair to say most Chinese are like this. Given the right unhealthy diet, anyone can become 胖. My impression, while in China, was that whenever someone (by which I mean girls) said they were going on a diet, it meant they were going to try to eat less.
dukwei says
July 22, 2008
Thank you! awesome lesson as always. think this is the only the 2nd/3rd message i've posted, but i listen to all the intermediates and think i need to move on to upper-int since it seems like the intermediates are getting toned down.
as a ABC that used to be tip the scale @ 200lbs @ 5'7", i can totally relate to this lesson.
as for why asian girls are skinnier... i agree w/ jenny on the moderation/balance theory. plus i'm assuming chinese girls walk around to get from pt A ---> B as opposed to westerners who just sit on our butts all day.
theblindseer says
July 22, 2008
Many of our eating habits are learnt in childhood. The adults of China today mostly grew up in leaner times. The waistlines of the Chinese may be different as the current one child generation grows older (the oldest of that generation are only 29 now). The rate of growth of obesity related illness (sorry have forgotten if it is Diabetes type A or B) is growing rapidly in China as a more western diet is adopted and wealth increases. As with the west it is likely that as the economy develops the Chinese will move to more sedentary jobs and use transport more and thus reduce physical movement. We are all genetically fairly similar so how much and what we put in reflects on how we look no matter where we are from.
Nice lesson and I liked the commentary on the ability to be more direct in speech in China than elsewhere. It would be interesting to have a lesson on how to vary this directness with different groups of people. In my experience you might be able to tell a friend that they are fat but it wont go over as well if you tell a customer that they are fat.
TBS
john says
July 22, 2008
Glad you all liked the lesson!
I think the growing obesity problem in China is not yet very apparent; perhaps the upper end of the wave of obesity is still only about 10 years old. It'll become more obvious in years to come.
I also wonder how much of a double standard there is. Are Chinese boys "allowed" to get fat, whereas girls are not?
minshirui says
July 23, 2008
This dialogue was really jīngcǎi! Ten out of ten from me! I really like the getting angry tone of the mother and all. Maybe there should be another lesson in which the Chinese mother does the telltale extremely fast paced scolding and then Jenny can decipher it for us. Also, now that I know 饿傻, I'm going to have to use it more in my daily life... a change from the old rut of 饿死.
small2medium says
July 23, 2008
Already an established issue in Xiang Gang. Consider the trams: the most modern have seats catering for bottoms inches bigger.
tanglang says
July 23, 2008
听CP不付就等于"偷听"吗?
davidfong says
July 23, 2008
This was a fun lesson! Great to hear some straight talking!
Does ying2 营 always have martial/disciplinary overtones? Are recreational camps also described as ying2 营?
I agree with theblindseer, there is a rising incidence of type 2 (maturity-onset, insulin resistant) diabetes in China and in overseas-Chinese societies. Let me check my lecture notes...it is estimated that China will have 100 million diabetics by 2010. As usual, without pro-active case finding by health services, three-quarters of those diabetics will not know they have diabetes!
As for genetics, the Chinese are not so lucky either. Here in Australia, I have been given a tape measure to estimate when men/women/Caucasian/Asian are at risk of metabolic syndrome (leading to diabetes etc.) based on waist circumference. And Asians are at risk with lower waist circumference!
And one need only look at Chinese students overseas to see that for many bad habits settle in quickly. Or perhaps compared to those back home many 有钱 and all are 想家.
pinkjeans says
July 23, 2008
哎哟！我听到这一个对话觉得小胖很可怜。一定是他的妈妈以前让她习惯多吃， 听说中国的孩子真是越来越胖，因为每个都是父母的小皇帝。只可以有一个小孩嘛，难怪妈妈爸爸要把宝宝喂到肥肥白白。
在新加坡的学校比较胖的孩子需要参加一个俱乐部，英语叫 Trim and Fit (TAF) Club. 以前是 Fit and Trim Club. 你们肯定猜到为什么换名字. 小胖子的自信心已经很细了，不该再破坏！
āi yō！ wǒ tīng dào zhè yī gè duì huà jué dė xiǎo pàng hěn kě lián。 yī dìng shì tā dė mā mā yǐ qián ràng tā xí guàn duō chī， tīng shuō zhōng guó dė hái zi zhēn shì yuè lái yuè pàng， yīn wèi měi gè dōu shì fù mǔ dė xiǎo huáng dì。 zhǐ kě yǐ yǒu yī gè xiǎo hái ma， nán guài mā mā bà bà yào bǎ bǎo bǎo wèi dào féi féi bái bái。
zài xīn jiā pō dė xué xiào bǐ jiào pàng dė hái zi xū yào cān jiā yī gè jù lè bù， yīng yǔ jiào Trim and Fit (TAF) Club. yǐ qián shì Fit and Trim Club. nǐ mėn kěn dìng cāi dào wèi shén mė huàn míng zì. xiǎo pàng zi dė zì xìn xīn yǐ jīng hěn xì lė， bù gāi zài pò huài！
(I felt pity for the poor little fatty in the dialogue. It must be because the mum had allowed him to develop bad eating habits from small. The single children of China are their parents' little emperors and they would feel proud of their chubby little babies.
In Singapore schools, the overweight kids have to attend Trim and Fit (TAF) Club, formerly know as Fit and Trim Club. No wonder the name had to be changed...in order to preserve the already fragile self-esteem of the little chubbies.)
user33162 says
July 23, 2008
As a middle aged, slightly obese man, (112 kg, 1.85 cm) I think I can tell you exactly why is it that Chinese still get to have a slim figure. DAIRY. Dairy products have been the difference for me.
I have always been active, but my eating habits (thank you grandma and all adults in my life) include finishing everything in my plate. Now, I eat as much pork, chicken, refined starch (white rice) and bread (馒头, and other 盒子）, but the main difference has been the lack of dairy products being consumed. Not only that, but I am actually losing weight, in spite of the fact that I still finish everything in my plate. That and the occasional chocolate. You figure it out. I have lost 2 kilos without stopping eating, and I feel great. Someone said that lack of hygiene makes Chinese keep thin? Quite unfair. I eat sundry Chinese items, everywhere, never gotten sick beyond maybe what I would at home.
That added to the fact that Chinese love to do activities for the most part, as a part of their cultural heritage, explains a lot. Of course, Diabetes （糖尿病- tang2niao4bing4- sweet urine disease）II is looming over the wealthier, most sedentary and western loving of them. No going back for me though. And no 训练营 for me either.
fortunatestar says
July 23, 2008
除非女儿很瘦她们都特别注意到减肥。最近电视台有报告关于一个十八岁的女儿，他生病了因为他吃了不卫生的西红柿。医生问他为什么吃这么多西红柿？ 他说他要减肥。他的体重不到五十公斤。
我有一个朋友他不胖但是为了中国女儿也许有一点儿：五十九公斤 （个子比价高）她的妈妈每个星期会提示她 “别胖”。
而且，我认为大大部分的人对减肥不太科学的。给你们一个例子，我的朋友最新的减肥的方法是为了早饭喝了一点儿橄榄油别的不吃。哎呀！（在中国橄榄油特别热门）
Jenny 说得非常明确的 中国人喜欢吃肉但是比西方人吃小得多。还有会吃内脏，鱼披，鸡脚，等等。我不知道这样的东西有很多热量但是真的好吃。反正在中国每人吃肉的数量越来越多。
所以男人你要抓住一个完美的女儿，你们因该快过来否则太晚了。 J
fortunatestar says
July 23, 2008
user33162
You are so correct – I forgot to mention that In my last post. I love coffee and used to drink several cups of all milk coffee everyday – perhaps a litre and a half of milk. I have stopped doing that recently and feel better. I have done something that I never thought possible – I drink 豆浆 dou jiang (soy milk).
It took me no time in China to become completely happy eating everything – and I mean everything. But “soy” yuk - could not stand it. But this is China and milk is a pain to get – I have to make special trips to WallMart for fresh milk. Whereas, everywhere, every morning you can buy dou jiang. So eventually, I conformed – which is true of pretty much everything in China (When in Rome …).
But on a sad note – milk is taking off – and they are selling “special” luxury milk at twice the price of ordinary milk (its fashionable) say no more.
qingdaossadventuresdotcom says
July 23, 2008
It was my belief that a bit of chubbiness (what would be considered unhealthy by most in the States) is usually viewed as a positive thing in China. Wouldn’t this have indefinitely been true during the Great Chinese Famine (三年大饑荒 –san nian zi ran zai hai) just more than forty years ago? However, maybe this idea is rapidly changing at a speed proportionate to the rise in obesity rates.
A few years back I remember standing on a Shanghai street corner with a friend, (who had quite a larger belly than myself) chatting with a traffic cop (交警-jiaojing). The cop then turned to my friend and commented on how healthy he was, while free of arrogance, at the time I would have been selected by 100 out of 100 Americans as the healthiest.
a1pi2 says
July 23, 2008
In all discussions of why Americans are fat when the rest of the world is thin, I tend to think back to a diet book published some time ago called French Women Don't Get Fat. I've been to Paris and seen their McDonalds packed with French women. And guess what? French women do get fat.
Americans' reputation comes from our status as the leading post-industrial nation. We invented fast food, automobiles and television. But the rest of the world is quickly catching up to our decadent lifestyle.
kameidai says
July 23, 2008
胖子加油。咱们减一点肥。
jennyzhu says
July 23, 2008
One of the favorite past time at my family reunion is looking at old photos and being amazed at how skinny everyone was during their 20's. It was in the 60's and 70's where life was harsh for most people. My parents and their siblings only had meat a few times a week up to their late 20's. And they were amongst the lucky ones to even have meat. As my father always says 'no fat in the body at all'. Then came opening up and reform, life changed. People started to swell along with their wallets.
suburbanite says
July 23, 2008
Jenny -- "People started to swell along with their wallets." That's a very insightful comment. In the states we don't think of the fast food and sweets as luxuries anymore. In China that is not the case. Although a beautifully decorated cake can be cheap, Mickey D's is still considered expensive. And the cake is not loaded with sugar. Western diets are more likely to have highly refined carbs--akin to just eating sugar.
More than that, I think the average Chinese is still more active on a daily basis than the average person in the US.
I was recently in China. At lunch one day our host asked us, "Would you like to have Western food tonight?"
"No Western food makes you fat."
chinkerfly says
July 23, 2008
Jenny made the point about "portion control, balance, and moderation" but I have to say that I taught lot of university girls in Chongqing, and I would often listen to them talk about their efforts to lose weight (not a single one of them could have broken 100 pounds), and the way they maintain the malnourished look is by not eating.
What did you have to eat today? "Oh, milk for breakfast. An apple for lunch. And I will have a cup of 刨冰 (shaved ice with fruit) for dinner."
Girls in Shanghai were considerably healthier looking.
andrew_c says
July 23, 2008
In my opinion, I think that two of the main reasons for the obesity disparity are:
As user33162 pointed out, dairy. In my opinion, the existence of dairy in Western cuisine and diet is one of its biggest problems, and the relative lack of it in Chinese cuisine and diet is one of its biggest advantages.
The prevalence of vegetables in the Chinese diet and cuisine. Whenever I go to the local Chinese supermarket, I'm always in awe in the checkout aisle seeing all of the people there with shopping carts loaded with fresh vegetables. The people not buying all of the fresh vegetables tend to be the heavier ones.
petuniaz says
July 23, 2008
Yes, there are still fat camps in the U.S. The New York Times Magazine has ads in the back pages for them once in awhile
How about that word sha3? I've learned 傻 瓜, sha3 gua1, silly melon. Is the meaning as cute as it sounds?
pinkjeans says
July 23, 2008
I've read that the average lady's size in the UK is now a size 16. You'll also notice that supermarket aisles are full of ready-meals, grease-laden and high in empty calories. Serving sizes are growing and everybody takes a sweet pudding after the main meal, so it really is no surprise. Plus, people drink a lot of alcohol.
Once, when I was in the MRT in Singapore, one American lady remarked that she would only eat rice when she got back to the US, as everybody in Singapore was so slim.
urbandweller says
July 23, 2008
i was utterly shocked and disgusted by the amount of Mc'd's, Pizza Huts, and KFC's that i saw on my trip to China...it seemed like there was one on every block in Beijing!! It's only a matter of time before the chinese will have weight problems like this US...someone please stop this insanity!!
urbandweller says
July 23, 2008
Zhongwen zenme shuo??
"Stop the insanity!"
ha ha!
sfrrr says
July 23, 2008
This is becoming a [bad] habit, but here's another off-topic question. How do you say the equivalent of "I just hit the wall"?
I went up onto the Forum to ask this question, but a spammer has eaten the entire site. In addition, while I was not paying attention to the forum, someone locked all the threads I wanted to check or participate in. (I didn't think I was gone that long.)
Anyway, I'm hoping that someone is online at this moment who might know the answer to my original question.
Sorry about the off-topicality, and thanks for any help.
chand says
July 23, 2008
I don't believe it is the diet so much as the constant walking that keeps Chinese people slimmer than their westerrn counterparts. I have seen many Chinese girls come to Canada, basically eat the same diet as in their homeland, yet start to balloon in just a few months. God love the car !!!!!!
eyux says
July 23, 2008
In case some readers don't spot a1pi2's irony:
1) America invented the automobile and Lenin invented the helicopter. What did Herr Benz invent? Actually, this could be a Chinese first (this from Wikipedia):
"Others claim Ferdinand Verbiest, a member of a Jesuit mission in China, built the first steam-powered vehicle around 1672 which was of small scale and designed as a toy for the Chinese Emperor that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger, but quite possibly, was the first working steam-powered vehicle ('auto-mobile')."
2) Americans' reputation for being fat comes from the USA having a very large number of fat people (the UK is catching up very fast). Here are the 2005 figures from the World Health Organisation. They estimate the obesity rate for women in the USA is (OK, was) roughly 7 times higher than in France: WHO (link to interactive chart where you can compare dozens of countries).
True, things are changing fast, France is now one of MacDonald's fastest growing markets: The Times
China's obesity rate is about one twentieth of America's.
It's interesting that the rates for the South Pacific islands are up to twice USA's (see Nauru). Culture or genetics? Don't know, but it doesn't look like wealth is so important.
learner1234 says
July 23, 2008
I should be at the "Fat Camp" longtime ago =D
Funny lesson !
missgoldfish says
July 23, 2008
When I went to China, I lost weight rapidly despite eating myself to death every lunch and dinner (breakfast was too rushed to do so as I had class to get to, haha) as well as eating ice cream at every chance there was room in my stomach.
I sincerely think that this happened due to the numerous buckets of sweat I shed every day in the blistering heat, as well as the scenic climb up every mountian, temple, and hot spring, not to mention the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, etc etc etc. The tourist attractions were endless (there seemed to be an endless number of temples and mountians in particular..) and ferocious shopping and bartering every day was also a workout in itself.
I think the weight issue with a lot of young women has a lot to do with the heat in combination with walking/shopping. I do not jest, shopping in the heat was on par in intensity with climbing the Great Wall. ^^v
trevlu says
July 23, 2008
That is the perfect fat-kid-caught-with-hand-in-cookie-jar music hahahhaa
amber says
July 23, 2008
hi petuniaz,
你这个傻瓜！
Nǐ zhège shǎguā！
Does sound cute. However, depending on the tone of voice you use, it can be an insult as well.
amber says
July 23, 2008
hi sfrrr,
A rough translation for "I just hit the wall" is:
我做不下去了 (Wǒ zuòbuxià qù le)
amber says
July 23, 2008
hi davidfong,
Yes 营 (yíng) is used in reference to other camping as well:
夏令营 (xiàlìngyíng) summer camp
露营 (lùyíng) and 野营 (yěyíng) to camp
john says
July 23, 2008
pinkjeans,
Don't be so sure! Oftentimes Chinese parents try hard to discipline their children, but they also rely on the child's grandparents for "free daycare," and it's the grandparents that spoil the kids rotten!
(Although, to be fair, it's probably the parents at fault most of the time... I remember when I was little, my mom wouldn't let me eat sweet cereals, wouldn't let me snack, wouldn't let me drink soda except on special occasions, etc.)
pinkjeans says
July 24, 2008
Hahaha, John, so true...the forbidden fruit always tastes sweeter!
changye says
July 24, 2008
对身体不好的食品往往是最好吃的。
一个很讲究健康的人曾这么说，
此生为了健康，死都不后悔。
sturawl says
July 24, 2008
a1pi2,
"We invented fast food, automobiles and television."
I don't know exactly where you got your education but did you really invent those things? TV is from the UK, the car was invented in Germany and your fast food seems to be named after German cities. But yes, you did invent obesity......
sturawl says
July 24, 2008
Urbandweller,
I agree with you although i left China more than a year ago so I'm not sure what it's like now.
When I think of Chinese food the first thing I think of is KFC and McDonalds because all my chinese friends are obsessed with those places. They are ubiquitous in china and embarrassingly popular - 'fast food' is definitely an oxymoron there.
Is it because that's the only kind of food that doesn't contain MSG? Or do they go overboard with the MSG on their fried chicken and big-macs?
su1xiao3ya3 says
July 24, 2008
This lesson really made me smile!
I'd echo what others have said: The Chinese are generally so much more active than westerners (not necessarily out of choice, to be fair).
For example, in the poorer areas of China, especially, I've noticed you seldom see mothers pushing their children around in pushchairs. They carry their babies until they are old enough to walk. No bundling everyone into the car, either.
Then there's obviously the ubiquitous rusty old bicycle...
standuke says
July 24, 2008
我一点胖了，但是我太太的男同学都比我胖。真奇怪。。。
我太太按中国的标准一点胖了，但是在美国他是‘size 2’，在好多商店里面找不到这么小的衣服！
Cripes I still have no idea what I'm doing writing anything in Chinese... I've noticed my wife gains weight in China and I gain weight in the US. I lose since we live in the US.
When I was familiarizing myself with Chinese food it took me a while to figure out what I was eating. You can definitely get fat fast eating Chinese food like dumplings, since they are cooked in such a way as to retain all the fat. It's not just the meat that's the 'condiment' in Chinese food, it's also the fat. Witness 红烧肉， (hong2 shao1? rou4) which is basically bacon plus all of the fat. If you just dig in and say 'hmmm, this is yummy' without thinking about what you are eating you will get fat.
user23050 says
July 24, 2008
Chongqing women are forced to hike up those hills,and are famous for hiking trips and mountian climbing.
Perhaps that accounts for those lovely rears and legs.
A date is libel to be walking the malls.
daofeishi says
July 24, 2008
"味道"和"口味"是同义词吗？
nickcripps says
July 24, 2008
我也不太清楚，好像口味的意思就是Flavour,但味道意味着Flavour和Smell。
sfrrr says
July 24, 2008
Amber--Thanks! About to add that to my arsenal.
shenhe says
July 24, 2008
Great lesson. The kids' voices are always hilarious.
I don't think Chinese women are generally thinner (I don't know about men, though) they just have a very slim built. Fat accumulates just as much on their bodies if they indulge in high cal food, it just doesn't show that much. I am a UK size 12, but that definitely doesn't reflect my eating habits. I've never in my whole life ate at a fast food place, am a vegetarian (little dairy either), snack on veggies and fruits all the time. I couldn't possibly reach the figure of my Chinese girlfriend even if went anorexic (ridiculous idea, of course).
What I don't get is that most people don't realise how disproportinate (sic) the servings are. Three burgers + chips + lemonade? There has got to be something odd about that....
shenhe says
July 24, 2008
Come to think of it - is it possible that the CP crew is a bit obsessed with these dieting/getting fat issues?
shenhe says
July 24, 2008
Would it be possible to say something like 你看这个危险?
petuniaz says
July 24, 2008
Urbandweller says, When I think of Chinese food the first thing I think of is KFC and McDonalds because all my chinese friends are obsessed with those places.
Nodding my head and laughing. A Chinese friend from Beijing came to the U.S. I wanted to take him to a nice healthy restaurant, but he just wanted to go to Mai4dang1lao2 for a han4bao3bao1. He is not overweight, though.
amber says
July 24, 2008
hi shenhe,
Yes, you could say:
你看这个危险吗？Nǐ kàn zhège wēixiǎn ma？
(Do you think this is dangerous?)
shenhe says
July 24, 2008
oh, yeah, the 吗... 我真没脑子了。。。Should have had some breakfast other than that ancient 豆浆。。。 ;-)
strillop says
July 25, 2008
也应该说一般有钱的男人可不瘦！他们差不多每个晚上吃得多，喝得多，快变了胖胖的酒鬼！
But it bears mentioning that in China well-connected men tend do be fat. Success depends on being out at karaoke bars, coffee shops, restaurants, etc. eating and drinking vast amounts to build 关系. A friend of mine in China who quit being a school principal because to do his job he had to wine and dine someone every night - he complained he was never at home and turning into an alcoholic. He said if he didn't go drinking with the head of the local utility, his school wouldn't get electricity.
changye says
July 25, 2008
More importantly, in China fatness has been traditionally regarded as a symbol of prosperity, and therefore fat guys don’t necessarily feel small because of their “grandioso” bodies. On the contrary, they are commonly welcomed as a guest who brings good luck on the Chinese New Year’s Day. I also hear that ancient Chinese beauties were also plump, just like my dog.
The Chinese god of wealth. (财神)http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=313619251
huasen says
July 25, 2008
Has anyone else had difficulty downloading the transcript? I get a message the file is damaged and can't be repaired.
user23777 says
July 26, 2008
"Western" countries do have fat camps. They call them "spas" and charge the earth.
strillop says
July 26, 2008
We do in need have fat camps in the the US. And Disney made a movie about it call "Heavyweights:"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110006/
a1pi2 says
July 26, 2008
@sturawl: I have had a fine education, thank you, as has had eyux, who noted the irony in my post.
My point is not that Americans literally invented television, automobiles, or fast food. It is merely that we have raised this life of leisure to an art form. I posted to highlight the misconception that all Americans are fat and lazy whereas residents of other nations are helplessly falling prey to America's nasty influence.
Americans certainly did not invent obesity though we have quite a bit of it. Many people have fat around their bellies. Others have fat between their ears.
PS: The first patent on television, according to Wikipedia, was also by a German. I've always thought it was the Scotsman who invented television but it turns out my education may be suspect after all.
woodstock says
July 27, 2008
We should send this mother to take a course in Psychology 101. I don’t think calling you child FATSO (小胖子) is an endearing (ke ai) term. I think it is more of verbal abuse.
rjberki says
July 28, 2008
In the US we used to do similar. Kids were commonly nick named chubby, Big Jim or big whoever, "Tiny" etc, and of course there were names for the thin as well such as slim, skinny etc. Then there is shorty which may be more painful than chubby. I had a friend named "lope". His mother nick named him this because his head was shaped like a cantaloupe. Today we are all very sensitve but these names only carry painful messages if society makes being fat something to be ashamed of. Back in the fifties this probably wasnt the case and these names were more common. Regardless, kids will hear it from some of the other kids. We need to teach good habits early.
candy822 says
July 28, 2008
我小时候也胖胖的，但那时候“小胖墩夏令营”还没有开始流行，所以只能去专业的减肥医院。
早上起来就要绕着体育场跑4圈，然后做做肚子按摩，下午去健身房锻炼，晚上就在体育场上搞些活动，虽然每天都很累，但也过得很充实。
长大了知道要漂亮了，就自己注意饮食和日常锻炼，千万不可以再胖回以前那样拉，哈哈 :p
dedsall78 says
August 3, 2008
Great lesson. Useful information in this one and it did make me laugh a bit. Coke and pototae chips are designed to be addictive.
I could go on all day about diet but I won't bore everyone. Most of you have gotten onto a lot of the key things but there is one thing that no one has mentioned yet.
High fructose corn syrup. This is in just about everything in the US. In China, most people still eat at homes often while many Americans eat out often. The children are getting fatter because they are adopting many bad Western habits.
High fructose corn syrup is in almost all refined foods. Next time you go to a 7/11, check out all the drinks. I challenge you to find one without high fructose corn syrup. Even the "healthy" drinks like Gatoride has it as the #2 ingredient.
Some scientists / dieticians are now thinking that high fructose corn syrup is undigestible by the body and may be the leading cause of obesity.
Oh, and don't forget about trans-fats haha
If the Chinese follow in our footsteps, the obesity level will simply rise like ours.
Ok, rant over :-)
dpay02 says
August 7, 2008
I love this lesson! :)
Who hasn't as a small child run to their mother clutching their stomach asking their mother if their is somthing to eat only to have the reply "吃个苹果就好“ haha. Knowing fully well that what you really mean was "Mum, where's the cake?"
amylovestea4 says
August 9, 2008
when i was in taiwan it always felt like i was eating alot, my family would constantly stick things in my bowl, but some how i lost weight while i was there, there were several diff. things i noticed might be the cause.
A. they have smaller serving bowls
B. we walked everywhere
C. they never had drinks with the meal, only afterward, and that made me eat less because i was focusing on how thirsty i was, and those cups are sooooo small, i felt dehydrated the whole time i was there
hahah thats my input
amylovestea4 says
August 9, 2008
just wondering, does anyone have an input on the differences in learning chinese in taiwan or china? if someone were to study abroad to learn chinese, are there advantages or disadvantages at either place?
chris says
August 18, 2008
Grammar question - what on earth is the "ba3" that appears in several of the expansion sentences? Is it a measure word? It appears to be totally redundant in the "Where did you hide my games console?" sentence. For example, why can't we just say "Ni3 cang2 wo3 de you2xi4ji1 zai4 na3r?" instead of "Ni3 ba3 wo3 de you2xi4ji1 cang2 zai4 na3r le?"......
thanks, Chris
lostinasia says
August 18, 2008
把/ bǎ: it's a grammatical word that doesn't have an equivalent in English. I can't believe there isn't a Qing Wen about this yet, but I can't find one. Nor can I find it in the Grammar Guide - what part of speech would 把 even fall into?! (Note to ChinesePod: searching with 把 pulls up only Advanced and Media lessons, which is NOT useful for those first encountering the word.)
Basically and not-necessarily-correctly: it lets us reverse the verb and object in the sentence, usually with action/ movement verbs.
I picked up the book. = I 把 the book picked up.
Somewhere John gives a good description of how to use 把, and how substituting the word "take", while not technically correct, is a useful way to think about it. It's in one of the intermediate lessons from a long time ago. Somewhere else I believe he talks about how the verb following 把 must be two characters--關上 in "把門關上", not just 關 for example.
In some ways 把 is similar to the passive voice in English ("Dickens wrote the book" / "The book was written by Dickens"), in that it provides an alternate way to say the same thing but often isn't necessary. For me 把 is one of those things I comprehend when I encounter it, but never seem to integrate into my own speaking. (Note that it's NOT passive - that's 被 - but the analogy helps me out, anyway.)
把 is, confusingly, also a measure word, typically for things with handles: scissors, umbrellas, chairs (?!), knives. But that's not the case for the two sentences here.
Some other examples from lessons:
你把這張表格填好。 / Take this form and fill it out.
你把太多的筆墨用在個人情感上了。 / You used too much ink on personal emotion.
Accusative II results in a change of state in the object, and implies a stronger sense in which something is done to the object, and is marked with the prefix 把 bǎ and by a movement of the verb phrase to the end of the clause.
I broke the plate. (Accusative I), versus
I (acc.)-plate broke (and it is no longer intact). (Accusative II)
I hit a telephone (I made a phone call). (Accusative I), versus
I him beat (up). (Accusative II)
goulniky says
August 18, 2008
If I remember correctly, John's explanation goes something like "take Object, do something with it" i.e. Subject 把 Object Verb
Similar to reverse polish notation if you think about it : '1 {enter} 2 +' is the same as '1 + 2' where {enter} is a separator that does the same job of as 把!
I guess it's also one of these constructs that allow modifying the sentence at the last minute, as in '你是最聪明(之一)。'