User Comments - Fiona@ChinesePod

Posted on: Both Dirty and Small!

Hey MingMao,

Check out my picture answer on our new forum :) 

http://forum.chinesepod.com/t/which-part-of-the-road-is-the-or-at/51/1

Posted on: Both Dirty and Small!

Hey ChasonDailey,

1. This depends a little on the type of list you want to make. Perhaps you could give me an example in English? You can continue with the 又 with three, but it makes it more exaggerated. 

－ 这家餐厅又方便，又好吃，又便宜 Zhè jiā cāntīng yòu fāngbiàn, yòu hǎo chī, yòu piányí

2. Poster - definitely go check out our mates at https://mandarinposter.com/ . We don't sponsor them officially but everyone at the office loves their stuff. I've got quite a few at home. If you go to the Gallery section of their site you might find Gwilym pre-ChinesePod days. 

Hope that helps :)

Fi 

Posted on: Films and Book Genres

Hi guys! Just wanted to add a addition comment to the lesson with regards to pronunciation of 片:

pian4, pian1, pian1r are all accepted pronunciations for 片. It is a 多音字. You’ll actually find different results amongst the popular dictionaries out there, especially when paired with other characters. Now I’m guess that leaves you wondering “which tone should I use?”.

For those living Taiwan, it’s more straight forward as only the fourth tone is used. For those living in China, you will probably hear all three pronunciations. Sometimes even in one conversation!

Now, in the context of movies, I would say that generally when talking about movie categories/movie specific nouns the 4th tone is more commonly used. However, when you are talking about a new release or a huge movie it’s way more often that you’ll hear 片 in first tone - 新片 xin1 pian1 大片 da4 pian1.

My Chinese friends use both in daily conversation. Some of them say 片 in the first tone and the others use the forth. There are also tons of Chinese forums where natives speakers are debating over which tone should be used for what. I’ve been trying to come up with a guideline that’s useful for all of our Cpod同学s, but it’s quite tricky as it varies greatly depending on a person’s idiolect and dialectal background.

Soooo…I would say that the most important thing is to be aware that there are three different pronunciations and keep your ears pealed for how those around you use the word. If you’re reading this and would categorise yourself as a beginner/intermediate stick to either 1st or 4th when you are speaking for easy of mind and oral fluency. Always learn chunks of vocab, rather than characters in isolation. If you’re more of an upper student, enjoy the organic and living language that is Chinese and pay attention to those differences.

Hope that helps and keen to hear your fav movie/film categories. Let us know if you have any good tips for pronouncing 片.

Have a nice weekend ;)

Fi

Posted on: The God of Thunder

Hey Darcie, I would say 雷 is thunder and 闪电 is lightening :) 

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

Hey Humalin, there are loads of very lucky sounding 成语s with 马 that could make your introduction swanky. How about this:

我姓胡，古月胡，叫马林。马到成功的马，森林的林。

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

It's not silly and totally depends on the situation. If it's a work context using bi 敝 would be very appropriate. If you're at a dinner party with friends, using bi would come across as a bit over the top and 我 would be more appropriate. 

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

Hi Tim, very cool name with the double character surname! Are you talking about the the character from 三国演义？or another person. If you are referring to the character from 三国演义 his name is 司马懿. Here's my suggestion 司马懿的司马, 天空的天，仰慕的慕。

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

Very good combo Neoh!! Literary figure with good vocab! To super charge your final character perhaps you could use this next time -生生不息的生

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

Perhaps you could try this shorted method: 正大光明的光明。

With 聪明的明, it might be misheard as 聪敏的敏。

Posted on: Introduce Your Name Like a Native

I think that's a great way of introducing your name! You can def continue using those examples.

To make the introduction shorter you could just say “振兴中华 的 振华”

If you wanna jazz it up from time time you could say 陆小凤的陆 he was a famous fictional character from martial art fiction.