User Comments - John
John
Posted on: New year, new lessons, and a reminder of new prices!
March 1, 2010 at 5:58 AMI agree... although perhaps once is enough, due to all the fireworks! :)
Posted on: Saying Goodbye at the Airport
March 1, 2010 at 5:55 AMGood questions!
First, both 我打电话给你 (wǒ dǎdiànhuà gěi nǐ) and 我给你打电话 (wǒ gěi nǐ dǎdiànhuà) are correct.
Second, you're correct in that there is some variation in terms of which second syllables are pronounced in the neutral tone. Beijing Mandarin (the mainland standard) includes a lot of "neutralizing", whereas Taiwanese Mandarin is at the other extreme, with very few neutral tones. Shanghai Mandarin is in the middle.
Try not to make this a major issue in your studies; go with the standard as you memorize new words, and just keep in mind that you will hear some variation "in the wild."
Posted on: Going to Church
March 1, 2010 at 3:17 AMpodster,
"Christians" are normally called 基督教徒 (Jīdū jiàotú) or 基督徒 (Jīdū tú).
"Catholics" are called 天主教徒 (Tiānzhǔ jiàotú).
Partly because of these labels, there is some confusion among the Chinese as to whether "Christians" and "Catholics" believe in the same God, belong to the same larger religion, etc.
Posted on: Buying a Shirt
February 23, 2010 at 5:08 AMjojje,
Is this lesson the kind of material you're thinking of? Or perhaps something that emphasizes refittings?
Posted on: How to Start a Conversation with Chinese People
February 21, 2010 at 12:57 PMhenning,
我知道。 :P
Posted on: The Black Spectrum of Meaning
February 14, 2010 at 6:21 AMComing as well...
Changye is right that the color series will cover 5 colors, but they're not exactly those 5.
Posted on: The Black Spectrum of Meaning
February 13, 2010 at 5:33 AMThe next color-themed Qing Wen is indeed about red... but not the next Qing Wen!
(We anticipated Changye's prediction, so decided to throw a curveball... hehe)
Posted on: A Cell Phone Ad on TV
February 12, 2010 at 7:52 AMMy cousin just visited Shanghai recently and insisted on buying a fake iPhone. It only cost him 300 RMB after 20 minutes of haggling!
It couldn't go online at all, and the "apps" were just simple ones that came with the phone (calculator, clock, etc.), but supposedly it worked fine as a phone. I'll have to ask him about that...
Posted on: Return to the Hometown
February 11, 2010 at 7:53 AMI can't wait to go to my own 老家 (lǎojiā) for 春节 (Chūnjié) this year! :D
Posted on: Saying Goodbye at the Airport
March 2, 2010 at 3:35 AMGood input from bodawei and jjinfrance here. That's also a great example to show the difference 了 can make in a simple sentence, really highlighting the flexibility of the language!
One quick point, though: Mandarin doesn't have "tenses" in any formal sense like English does, so we need to be careful when we use that term referring to Mandarin.