User Comments - John
John
Posted on: Saved by the Gong: History
April 17, 2008 at 9:06 AMsophie20461, I think 武侠小说 is something of a cross between "kung fu novel" and "fantasy novel." We don't have the exact category in English. Sorry!
Posted on: What is a Chengyu?
April 17, 2008 at 8:56 AMHenning, You're right... chengyu are much more likely to be used in written language of any type (varying degrees of formality), but when it comes to spoken language, most of them are reserved mostly for formal speech. Interesting point about Chinese replacing Latin as a source of conveniently quotable cultural wisdom in the West. Perhaps it's only a matter of time...
Posted on: What is a Chengyu?
April 17, 2008 at 3:05 AMI'd like to just reiterate my point about chengyu briefly. Yes, chengyu are a very interesting part of the Chinese language, and if you enjoy learning them, great. But I would avoid a sort of "must learn them all" mentality, not because there are too many of them, and not because they're typically not very high frequency, but because you don't need them to communicate. You're learning Chinese to communicate with Chinese people, right? Well, we're here to help you communicate. The truth is, in ordinary daily life, Chinese people don't use them much themselves, and someone who uses them too much comes off sounding pretentious, similar to someone who always drops Latin or French phrases into their English. Granted, it's a bit different for formal contexts and reading, but this is an Intermediate lesson, so we're still focused on rather common language.
Posted on: What is a Chengyu?
April 16, 2008 at 5:59 AMsparechange, Actually, I just tell people what I do rather than what I am. It gives them a better picture of my job anyway.
Posted on: Detroit
April 8, 2008 at 9:07 AMwolson, As Ken likes to say, the lesson is not complete until the students add their say. So, definitely, the users' positive comments about Detroit help complete the picture! I've also been to Wuhan. I was impressed by its sheer size (it is actually the merging of three cities, right?), but I kind of liked it too.
Posted on: Can you Speak Chinese?
April 8, 2008 at 9:05 AMjwosmun, There are multiple translations out there, but here are some for you: 词汇教学法 (cíhuì jiàoxuéfǎ) - the Lexical Approach 词库 (cíkù) - lexis 词块 (cíkuài) - lexical chunk Not exactly Newbie material, mind you! :)
Posted on: He's Not In
April 8, 2008 at 6:29 AMfavsfx, Great lesson idea! Thanks for that...
Posted on: He's Not In
April 8, 2008 at 6:28 AMwjeffreys, I looked up "curmudgeon" in Chinese, but what I found was not so much a translation as an explanation in Chinese ("old, bad-tempered person").
Posted on: Welcome to ChinesePod
April 17, 2008 at 9:14 AMWelcome, everybody! Thanks for the feedback!