User Comments - John

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John

Posted on: Talking about Talking in Chinese
March 29, 2010 at 2:56 AM

I consulted with Jiaojie for this answer.

In terms of formality, it's like this:

谈 (tán) > 谈话 (tánhuà) > 讨论 (tǎolùn)

Both 谈 (tán) and 谈话 (tánhuà) are considered "formal" (by Jiaojie), whereas 讨论 (tǎolùn) is not.

You can't really count on individual characters for indications of a word's formality.

Posted on: Beards Are for Old Men
March 29, 2010 at 1:36 AM

I had a beard for a while in China. It's not that bad.

But the smaller the beard (neatly trimmed, of course), the better.

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 29, 2010 at 1:34 AM

Thanks, that is the plan!

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 29, 2010 at 1:34 AM

Thanks, that's what we're thinking too!

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 29, 2010 at 1:34 AM

Thanks! (I won't hold your selfishness against you... :P )

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 29, 2010 at 1:33 AM

RJ,

I'm not planning any kind of incremental departure. AllSet Learning's and ChinesePod's interests are aligned, which certainly helps a lot.

One-on-one tutoring is one aspect of the service that AllSet Learning can provide. I won't go into it in detail here, but the emphasis is on offline speaking practice.

I hear you about the threading, and we're looking at how best to fix the problems.

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 29, 2010 at 1:31 AM

Thanks!

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 28, 2010 at 4:02 AM

Ha ha... thanks! I'm pretty sure that AllSet Learning office is nicer than Mr. Wong's. (It actually reminds me a bit of ChinesePod's old office, though not quite as "gritty.")

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 28, 2010 at 3:59 AM

Well, I've never been the one to do the actual development; I am more on the planning and project management side to try to ensure that the original vision becomes a reality. I am still working closely with the team on the upcoming new Dashboard and Grammar Guide projects. In the meantime, our CEO Hank is working closely with the tech team on roles and processes. SRS is a part of vocabulary, which is also a big part of the API project. It's all in the plan.

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!
March 28, 2010 at 3:55 AM

Sorry for the shock, but thanks, man! I'm really enjoying the new challenge.