User Comments - John

Posted on: Audit

嗯，很有可能。

Posted on: Christmas Carols

That video link is cool, but is it my imagination, or is that song somehow more repetitive in Chinese??  (Probably my imagination)

And that's a freaky reindeer at about 1:20.

Merry Christmas!  圣诞快乐！

Posted on: Going to Wudang Mountain

excuter,

Wow, there are a lot more girls in those pictures than I would expect from a serious Wudang-centric trip. :)

Posted on: Mobile Apps, QQ, and the Holidays

walishaari,

Currently, to see the pinyin on the iPhone app, you have to go all the way down to the word level.

The Android app works differently (you can toggle between English and pinyin on many pages), but this is due to the difference in interfaces on the two apps. We are planning some kind of toggle for the iPhone app in future releases, once we work out the optimum interface.

Posted on: Time Period Patterns with 末, 底, 初

@shanghaichanges:

Swear word? Me? You must have misheard... :P

Posted on: Having One's Nails Done

orangina,

Mandarin doesn't have one word for "ouch" (an exclamation exclusively reserved for reactions to sudden pain), but these both work:

• 喔唷 (wōyo)
• 啊唷 (āyo)

Posted on: Having One's Nails Done

Ha ha, I'm not sure if the other teachers were playing along or actually believed me, but yes, that was a joke (although I don't exactly have the hands of a lumberjack).

Posted on: I Want a Thick Blanket

brianhz,

拿 usually means "to pick up," or "to get."  带 usually means "to take" or "to bring" or "to carry."

In this particular example:

你拿小包，我拿大包。
(You carry the little bag, I'll take the big one.)

We don't have a lot of context to go on here, but what is implied is that there are two bags sitting on the ground, and neither person is holding/carrying anything yet. So each person needs to pick up one bag (and then presumably they will carry them somewhere else).

The translation focuses on the presumption, but it could just have easily been, "You get the little bag, I'll get the big one" which has a bit more ambiguity. (Because the word "get" tends to be very ambiguous and has a lot of meanings, we often avoid it in translations when it's an option.)

你带小包，我带大包 isn't wrong, but it's a little less natural, especially if the bags are both still sitting on the ground. Usually 带 (as a command) is for telling someone to bring/take something with them.  (For example, "be sure to take your passport with you when you go to the police station.")

I hope that clears it up!

Posted on: Having One's Nails Done

(In case you're wondering, yes, that is my hand in the lesson photo. Jenny has introduced me to a whole new world...)

Posted on: Starting a Company in China

I just got an additional message from Dan Harris (author of the blog post I linked to above):

Beware, forming an HK company is no different from forming a US company, in terms of being legal on the mainland!