User Comments - Fiona@ChinesePod

Posted on: 成长: Hope and Despair

Hey there, 

Thanks for the suggestion! I changed it to "to gain is luck, to lose is fate". 

Fi

Posted on: 成长: Hope and Despair

Hey Mohit Bajaj,

Thanks for spotting that. It's been fixed. 

Fi 

Posted on: 身在杭州

Hi guys,

Simple answer, you can say it both ways.

Technically speaking, the pronunciation (the 读音) for the character 辙 is zhe2. This character means the tire marks from an old cart. So the literal meaning of the expression is "the tire marks are like they come from the same tire / the tire marks are exactly the same".

However, since 辙 zhe2 (car radical, 车字边) is a rather uncommon character, and with old fashion carts fading out of modern life, the more common character 撤 che4 (hand radical, 手字边) seems to have taken over slightly.

You'll find a lot of native speakers actually write out the 'incorrect' character 如出一撤 che4 or 徹 che4 instead of 如出一辙. With regards to pronunciation, you'll hear both in CN/TW.

If you wanna pick only one, I would say lean towards zhe2 as it covers the original meaning, but be aware that for a lot of native speakers che4 seems very natural.

Thanks for the question. It's one of those things that native speakers auto tune out, but makes for an interesting point for learners.

Hope you both have a good new year.

Fi and Constance

Posted on: 庄子《逍遥游》一

Hi Pranjnapaper, 

Thanks for spotting that and sorry for the error everyone. New files have been uploaded. If you are still hearing the old version, clear browsing history/cache, refresh the page, and you'll have the most recent file. 

Also, if you'd like more classical Chinese lessons, let us know. 

Fi 

Posted on: 朱自清《背影》（下）

Hi James,

Well spotted. Interesting question. 

This isn't a TW/CN issue. In fact, the official pronunciation on both sides is pan2shan1. 

However, a lot of people (late twenties +) on both sides will probably remember being taught man2shan1. 

This issue is two-fold. 

First, you can think of this as a general misread of the character. This is common with less commonly occurring characters.  母语者很习惯有边读边. So when we see the character you automatically want to read a "man..." sound. With so many people reading it as man2, some dictionaries included it as an alternate pronunciation. Now, in order to correct the pronunciation, they are all listed as pan2. 

Second, it doesn't help that the character can technically have different meanings if pronounced differently. 

pan2: 走路不穩的樣子。例：步履蹣跚。man2: 跨越。例：蹣山渡水。

Often, official pronunciation will go with what most people use. It's interesting that it hasn't been the case for this word. 

In the context of this lesson, it is definitely "pan2", so I'll try and get an updated recording when possible. But also note that you might hear "man2".  

Fi 

Posted on: Avoiding The Gym At All Costs

Hey guys, 

Thanks for requesting more video lessons! There will be more intermediate and elementary coming out in the following weeks. 

Fi 

Posted on: Avoiding The Gym At All Costs

Hi there hylith,

健身房 and 运动中心 can both be translated into "gym" in English. 

I would associate 健身房 more with private gyms and fitness clubs. The place where people lift weights, run on the treadmills, that type of thing. 

Whereas 運動中心 is a sports centre, so one would imagine a community or public gymnasium with different courts, a swimming pool and the local salsa dance club. 

Both are often translated as "gym". So there is no proper Chinese word for the English word "gym", rather, different ones that you can use depending on what you want to describe. 

If you are interested in more lessons about sport & exercise or going to the gym, you can check out the below playlists. 

Gym and Working

Sports and Exercise

Thanks for your question and hope that helps. 

Fi 

Posted on: What a Lovely Painting

Hey Mingmao,

This is just a general way of saying that "I would like to live in the mountains". Just like in English, it doesn't specify which part of a mountain that would be. 

If you wanted to talk about having a view, you could say:

我想住在有山景的地方

If you wanted to live in a valley, you could say:

我想住在山谷里

If you wanted to live higher up, you could say:

我想住在高山上

Speaking of mountains, there is a feng shui 风水 related expression that says the best types of property have their back to the mountain and face the sea - 背山面海. That would be ideal for me! 

Hope that helps. 

Fi :)

Posted on: I'll Uber to the Party

Hey there, I'll be sure to give the voice talents your feedback att our next recording. if you click on the dialogue tab and click on the play button at the end of the sentence you'll get to hear Constance read the dialogue at a slower pace. 

Fi 

Posted on: It's Hard to Shed Fat

Hey there! Sorry for the lower rate of video production at the moment. The people right below our office have been renovating for the past two months so we've had to squeeze in production for both audio and video during lunch hours and on weekends. We've been prioritising audio during this time as the production is shorter. 

We should be back on track again at the end of this month! There will also be some video Qing Wen's coming out soon. 

Thanks for your feedback and be rest assured we want to get back to creating more videos as soon as we can. 

Fi