Previous Counseling

Hi Shirley,

Yes, shou1dao4 means to receive. You can shou1dao4 zhang4dan1(bill);shou1dao4 li3wu4(gift);shou1dao4 duan3xin4(text message) ;shou1dao4 you2jian4(email), etc.

"every month I receive my bills on the 4th." You can say:wo3 mei3ge4yue4 si4hao4 shou1dao4 zhang4dan1.

Grace

Grace,

this word shou1dao4 收到 means to receive.  So I can shou1dao4 a bill, gift, text message..etc.  You can shou1dao4 just about anything right? How would I say "every month I receive my bills on the 4th."?

Thanks Grace! That makes since. :)  I'm dissapoined that I didn't hear my phone call! I studied my lessons well this week. Aaah.  Ok, well I'll talk to u again next week! sorry

Shirley

Dear Shirley,

pa4怕 can be to fear or to be afraid of sth. also means cannot stand sth.

So when u say you are pa4 of cold means you cannot stand it.

咬yao3(to bite)can be used for animals also for people.  

So you can bite an apple, also you can say "a! bao3bao yao3 wo3 le!"(啊！宝宝咬我了！=Ouch! My baby bite me!)

Also, when you use the word yao3, to bite.  Is this only when animals bite something.  You can't bite an apple.  Or can you say Ouch! My baby "bite" me!

So, when u say u are pa4 of cold.  Does that mean u are scared of it or hate it?

I have a question.

► http://s3.amazonaws.com/chinesepod.com/0980/f24c74615bd4910802b84c6391316b3aba241fe1/mp3/64/rec-1219957220843-8.mp3 0 她很怕冷。

Hi Shirley,

Please check your assigned lessons.

Talk to you this Friday.:)

Dear Grace,

Are you able to put my lessons and future lessons under my assigned lessons tab?  That way, it's really convenient for me to access all of my lessons when I sign into Chinesepod.  Thank you. :)

oh yeah sure

see u then!

Dear Shirley,

Could we switch the class to Saturday 21:00 this week?

Dear Shirley,

Sorry, I think only the elder people like my parents will value such thing. I remember my mom bought me a set of red underwear in the year of rooster. She said they would keep the bad luck away from me. :) But I also heard that it will bring the people who is a tiger good luck this year. Anyway, I won't take it seriously.

Dear Grace,

I have a question.  This new year is year of the tiger, and I am a tiger.  I thought that would be a good thing, but my co-workers say it's not really a good thing. They say it is hard to explain.  Why is it not really a good thing?

Grace,

I'm having trouble finding the rest of this weeks lessons!  Can you tell me my lesson plan as soon as possible?  Thank you talk to you tomorrow!

Shirley

Dear Shirley, talk to you next Friday.

Hello Grace,

I was wondering if we couldn't do our lesson this week.  This week work has been tiresome, and I'm really tired right now.  Would it be ok if I see you next Friday? ;)  Thanks so much.

Shirley

Thank ya Maam!

Hi Shirley,

Generally speaking,旧 can only be used for things, like 旧书jiu4shu1(old book)；旧房子jiu4fang2zi(old house);
老 can be used for people, also for animals and things, like 老朋友lao3peng2you(old friend);
老虎lao3hu3(tiger); 老房子lao3fang2zi.

Hello Grace,

I've got a question.

Jiu 旧 and "lao" both mean old right?  Can they be used interchangebly?

Hi Shirley,

啊itself has no meaning, but it can soften the tone of a sentence. Like "好的啊。=好的。"and "可以啊。=可以。" 

Hi Grace,

How are you?  I was wondering why I always hear this word when talking with some people. 啊  Also, when I'm chatting online, I see this symbol all the time.  Some of my friends say "ah" 啊 at the end of every sentence.  I was wondering what it was about before I start using it myself. ^_^

Thanks

Hi Shirley,

还好hai2hao3 means "so so/not so bad", same function with"还可以hai2ke3yi3"and"马马虎虎ma3ma3huhu"

Also, I was wondering if you can add my new lessons to my "assigned lessons" tab for me?

Thanks,

Shirley

Hi Grace,

Thank you for the new lessons. :)

I always hear the word hai2 hao.  This means still good?

Hi Xueli, This is your second month lesson plan. Hope you enjoy your studies！
 
 
Week Commencing: 11/21/2009

Week 1 
1. Elementary - Just a Flesh Wound

2. Elementary - Elevator Emergency

3. Elementary - How embarrassing!

4. Elementary - It's Nothing

 
Week 2 
1. Elementary - Views on Contact Lenses

2. Elementary - Wake-up Call

3. Elementary - Hard of Hearing

4. Elementary - Keys, Wallet, Phone

 
Week 3 
1. Elementary - Not on purpose

2. Elementary - Returning an Item

3. Elementary - Hanging Up the Phone

4. Elementary - In a Moment

 
Week 4 
1. Elementary - Getting Dressed

2. Elementary - Watch Out!

3. Elementary - Common Measure Words

4. Elementary - Pronunciation Correction

Hi Xueli,

Yes, both 与 and 跟 mean "with". But "我跟他一起去"is better than "我与他一起去。" Because "与"is formal and literary than "跟".

Hello Grace,

The word  与 means with right? So, I know the word gen means with too right?  These are interchangable?

                  
Dear Xueli,
1."上" can be "to go to", like"他上北京开会了。"
(ta1 shang4 bei3jing1 kai1hui4 le. He went to Beijing to attend a meeting.)           
Here "上"and"去" are interchangable.

"上" also means to go to do something at the appointed time, like"上班""上学".
So your sentence is right---我去上班。
Here"上"is not interchangable to the word "去".

2.  When I wear my glasses, I can see clearly. 
    戴眼镜的时候，我看得很清楚。Dai4 yan3jing4 de shi2hou4, wo3 kan4de hen3 qing1chu3.
    When I don't wear my glasses, I cannot see clearly.
    不戴眼镜的时候，我看不清楚。BU2dai4 yan3jing4 de shi2hou4, wo3 kan4 bu4 qing1chu3.

3. Both 用 and 使用 mean "to use". 使用 is used in more formal situations，like"禁止使用手机"
(jin4zhi3 shi3yong4 shou3ji1;prohibit the use of cellphone). 用 is more colloquial, like"我可
以用你的手机吗？"(Wo3 ke3yi3 yong4 ni3de shou3ji1 ma?;Can I use your cellphone?)

Hope it's helpful!

What's the difference between using 用 and 使用？

I understand that they both mean "to use" is one better to use than the other?

Also, I need a reminder on how to say:

When I wear my glasses, I can see clearly.

I think there were two questions that we went over during the last phone call that were similar to that question.  Hope you can remember. :) Thanks again, Shirley

Hello Grace,

你好吗？我有一个问题。

The word shang4 上 means "to go to"?  So..in the past I would say "I'm going to work" like this: “我去上班。” So, would that be wrong because it's like I'm saying "to go" twice. 

So, is the word 上 interchangable to the word 去？

Thanks,

Shirley

Hi Grace,

Did you just try to call me?  I was just looking at my phone to set my alarm for tomorrow morning and I noticed an unknown number.  Sorry I didn't expect your call because I thought we were going to have the test on Friday and today is Thursday here.  Well, I will talk to you later.

Bye,

Shirley

Hi Xueli, I will call you this Friday. If you have time to prepare the lessons, we can do both the first week and the second week.

Here are the examples:

我比较喜欢吃蔬菜。wo3 bi3jiao4 xi3huan chi1 shu1cai4.  I like eating vegetables comparatively。

我觉得我的听力比较好。wo3 jue2de wo3de ting1li4 bi3jiao4 hao3.  I think I have a good listening ability comparative.

上海和北京哪个城市比较大？Shang4hai3 he2 Bei3jing1 na3ge4 cheng2shi4 bi3jiao4 da4?  Compare Shanghai and Beijing, which city is bigger?

Hi Grace,

I was wondering if you can explain to me how to use the word  比较.  I understand that it means comparatively, but perhaps if I had a few more examples sentences, I'll understand better. Thank you :)

Grace,

So, just wanted to make sure what time you were going to call me?  Was it this Friday and is it over the first week and second week lessons?

Thanks,

Shirley

Hi Xueli, here are the examples:

1.他昨天向我借钱了。Ta1 zuo2tian1 xiang4 wo3 jie4 qian2 le.  He borrowed some money from me yesterday.

2.你可以向他借一支笔。Ni3 ke3yi3 xiang4 ta1 jie4 yi4zhi1 bi3. You can borrow a pen from him.

3. 我没有向别人借过东西。wo3 mei2you3 xiang4 bie2ren2 jie4guo4 dong1xi. I didn't borrow anything from others.

Hope it's helpful!

Hello Grace,

Could you be able to give me a couple of example sentences using. 向……借

Thanks for clearing that up. It makes more since to me now. ^_^

Hi Xueli,

我一点也看不见。 "I can't see anything at all."

Here is the pattern：一点也+不/没有，which means even a little not……

Hi Xueli,"他每天晚上睡觉以前刷牙。" means "Everynight he brushes his teeth before going to bed right?" “V1+以前+V2” means before doing V1 do V2.

Hello Grace,

Another question for you..

我一点也看不见。

The translation says "I can't see anything at all."

Why would you use yi1 dian3 then? Because I thought yi1 dian3 meant a little.

Hello Grace,

I have a question.

This sentence is supposed to mean. Everynight he brushes his teeth before going to bed right?

他每天晚上睡觉以前刷牙。
but it confuses me for some reason and I think it is saying he goes to sleep before brushing his teeth.  I'm confused.

Are you able to put my assigned lessons under "My lessons" so that I can see all my lessons I need to learn under one place?

Hi Xueli, can you tell me the sentence said by your friend? Because there are at least 3 situations where "的" is used at the end of a sentence.

Hi Xueli,

收means to receive, so you can 收邮件(you2jian4;emails)，收礼物(li3wu4;gifts)，收邮包(you2bao1;a package in the mail); to send is 发(fa1), so you also can 发邮件，but we don't say 发礼物, because "to send" has several equivalent words in Chinese, you should say 送礼物.

I also wanted to know the differerent rules on how to properly use the word 的。  I am familiar with using it to show possession.  However, I was talking with my friend and he used the word  的 at the end of the sentence,   The sentence meant I will certainly get better.  I wasn't sure why de was at the end of the sent., but I'd like to learn how to properly place 的 in my sentences too.

Have a question.

When I using 收. I can  收 anything? Not just emails right? I can use the word 收 when I want to send a package in the mail or send a gift to someone.  Can I use this word like that?

Me too.

Hi Xueli,

Looking forward to speaking to you next Friday.

谢谢了！

That means alot to me.  Getting fluent in Mandarin is one of my biggest goals for my daughter and I. 

Hi Xueli,

我相信(xiang1xin4;be sure)总有一天(someday)你可以用中文和你的女儿(nǚ3er2;daughter)交流(jiao1liu2;exchange)。

Hi Xueli, this is your first month plan.

 
Week Commencing: 10/12/2009
Week 1 
1. Elementary - Connecting with Email

2. Elementary - What do you do?

3. Elementary - This room is too small

4. Elementary - A Walk in the Park

 
Week 2 
1. Elementary - Morning Hygiene

2. Elementary - I can't find my glasses!

3. Elementary - Borrowing and Returning

4. Elementary - My computer froze!

 
Week 3 
1. Elementary - Discussing Eating

2. Elementary - What would you like to drink?

3. Elementary - Do you have vegetables?

4. Elementary - Cooking

 
Week 4 
1. Elementary - Office Policy: Internet

2. Elementary - My boss isn't satisfied

3. Elementary - Calling in Sick

4. Elementary - Bank Hours

Hi Xueli,

我给你发了邮件。I've sent you an email, but in the email I forgot to mention the lesson time. So I will post it here.

Next lesson will be next Friday 12:00(GMT+08:00), for you is 23:00. I'm sorry it's a little bit late.

Hi Xueli,

感动can means be moved or touched.Like你的话让我很感动。What you said makes me moved. 感动also can be used for things，like这个电影很感动。This movie is touching.

Grace,

Another important reason I have to learn Chinese is for my new daughter.  She was born in April and she's Chinese/American/Filipino  I really feel it's important for her to be in touch with her Chinese culture.  I hope that I can someday talk to my daughter in Chinese equally as well as I can in English.

Hello,

What does the word 感动 mean and how do I use it?

Alright, I'm ready.

Yes, I'll be expecting your call then.

Thanks!

不好意思，Xueli. I mean I will call you tomorrow(Sunday)at10:30pm.Is it ok for you？

你好，xueli.I will call you tomorrow (Sunday) at 10:00 pm(USA).

No, I don't sorry

Hi, Xueli, do you have a skype username?

Sorry didn't mean to leave u 5 of the same messages, I didn't think my messages were posting so I kept on hitting Post Message! lol sorry!