User Comments - ElijahW

Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin

Mac or Windows? I might actually still have it somewhere. I'll look around, and if I do, I'll come back here and let you know.

Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin

Looks like they're not there any more. The content was identical to what you find here. The main difference is that there was a (Flash-based if I remember correctly) stand-alone program you could use offline. It had all the sounds, but not all the information provided at the other link. As long as you don't need the information offline, its disappearance is not much of a loss from what's on the website.

Posted on: Lost and Found 失而复得

我用Windows上的Google Chrome没问题。

Posted on: 66 Enjoyable Characters with Joy #1

brentulus,

I think there's value in both. Learning the radicals is definitely essential, but crazy comparisons like this are more memorable. Are you familiar with the Outlier Dictionary? They're working away at producing etymologically-sound explanations of character components, but it's not an easy job.

My experience is that when Chinese young people learn characters, the logic is not unlike what's in this video - more along the lines of mnemonic devices than actual etymology.

Posted on: Do you drink hot water? 你今天喝热开水了吗？

我刚到中国的的时候，当然马上有一点意识到，但是听这篇课文之后才开始明白：Cold Will Kill You。娶到了中国老婆之后，就变成了我后半生的故事。

Posted on: 南北差异

ChinesePod高级的词汇一直很有用！我在听一本恐怖灵异小说，男主角拿到了新的武器时，是这样说的：

“最主要的是，这把剑所散出的阳气简直是以前那把无法比拟的，如果用身高来形容的话。那简直就是一个一米四一个两米二一样。

“虽然我知道浓缩的都是精华，但是此时我手里拎着这一把铜钱剑，确实心情无比激动。不知道要说什么好了，原来文叔说要给我的惊喜就是这个啊！”

Posted on: Can you help me find...?

Wow, you have a good ear! Yes, you heard correctly, and the distinction between "c" and "ch" is a regional thing.

You'll find that regional variations in pronunciation were rare on ChinesePod in lessons produced before this year. During 2018, ChinesePod did a lot of experimenting with new voices. If you want to stick with strictly "correct" pronunciation, have a look at some of the older lessons. And don't assume that "new is better." Actually, most of my favorite lessons are the older ones, such as "Whatever," "I Don't Want It," and "Why, Why Why?"

Posted on: Online Shopping 网上购物

I just did a quick look at what's within those dates, and here's what I came up with:

2008-2010 Breakdown

Newbie: 116

Elementary: 202

Intermediate: 185

Upper Intermediate: 157

Advanced: 124

Media: 44

There are plenty of lessons here. You almost wouldn't even have to take a peek at anything else on the site until you're almost to Advanced. My current goal is to work through all the Advanced lessons from September 2007 through 2014. I'm planning on it taking me 3 years.

Perhaps to whet your appetite a bit: I personally think the most consistently interesting lessons on ChinesePod are at the Upper Intermediate level. Most of my favorite lessons are there, and that to me is the level where ChinesePod really shines the brightest.

Posted on: Online Shopping 网上购物

Taimafan,

Hopefully I haven't built up your expectations too far! I should mention that when it comes to the format of how the two hosts interact during a lesson, Fiona and Constance held to tighter standards than the Shanghai team.

However, I feel that the dialogues themselves, along with expansion sentences, were better in the 2008-2010 period. Those are what I study with my tutors, and what typically happens is after a month or two of these consistently interesting and high quality lessons, my tutors start saying, "Wow, these are great dialogues! So much better than what my other students are using."

That consistency is part of what makes that period so good: the lessons were 百发百中 - pretty much a bullseye in every way, every time. For me, that makes a study routine much easier to maintain.

So, do stick with them for a period of time. After a while, I'm confident you'll start to "feel" the rock-solid consistency in difficulty and learning objectives across those lessons.

Posted on: The Key to Closing a Deal

没想到，最近在听一步恐怖灵异小说就碰到了这个词：

文叔摇了摇头，看了看表后对我说：“现在不行，因为过阴要讲究天时地利人和，缺一不可，否则的话就容易真正的死亡，所以要在这个月最阴的那一天开坛做法以蒙骗鬼神才行”。