User Comments - John

Posted on: A Special Christmas Gift

Thanks for putting up the link. We also offered it over on the first episode of Beijing Standard Time.

Merry Christmas!

Posted on: Adjectives with 是 (shi)

Heh, wish I could take the credit for the expression "Pu Jersey," but I didn't make that one up. It's been floating around Shanghai for a while...

Posted on: Do you have vegetables?

Yes, in Florida we also use "cantaloupe" and never "rock melon."

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

Ha ha... true.

Posted on: Lots of Musical Instruments

Yeah, when I was taking piano lessons here in Shanghai, I heard a lot of the word 练琴 (liànqín) too.

It always felt strange to me that pianos (gāngqín), violins (xiǎotíqin), accordions (shǒufēngqín), and harmonicas (kǒuqín) are all "琴" (qín) and (sort of) grouped together in the Chinese mind.

Posted on: Lots of Musical Instruments

It's been there quite a while. :)

Posted on: Lots of Musical Instruments

There does appear to be some ambiguity/vagueness regarding 大号, so we changed the image to avoid any possible confusion. I think this is one of those things where musicians are quite precise, but most people aren't.

Posted on: The Rising Cost of Food

As you all know, food is an enormously important part of Chinese culture.  So it really freaks people out that basic food costs are rising.

Posted on: What does she look like?

To ask "What does he look like" while simultaneously asking for a subjective assessment (e.g. good-looking or not), the normal way to ask is the way that was presented in this lesson:

他长得怎么样？ (Tā zhǎng de zěnmeyàng?)

If you want to ask very neutrally what he looks like, you can also use:

他长什么样？ (Tā zhǎng shénme yàng?)

You would use 像 to say that he looks like SOMETHING, for example:

他像猴子。 (Tā xiàng hóuzi.) He looks like a monkey.

Posted on: How to Protect the Environment

Good point! That short pause helps a lot with comprehension.