User Comments - John

Posted on: Smelly Cheese

If they call it 双吉 (shuāng jí), maybe that could go even further and call it 喆 (zhé). :)

Posted on: Smelly Cheese

By the way, the typical verbs for this discussion are:

买得到 (mǎi de dào) for "can be bought," as in, "can you buy it in China?"

买不到 (mǎi bu dào) for "cannot be bought," as in, "you can't buy it in China."

I got extensive practice with these particular complements through my attempts (and many failures) to buy shoes my size in China.

Posted on: Smelly Cheese

Do you know many other cheese names? It seems like a lot of times the "Chinese translation" is simply descriptive and seems inadequate to handle the wide world of cheeses. An example: grated parmesan is often just called 芝士粉 (zhīshì fěn), literally, "cheese powder."

http://item.taobao.com/auction/item_detail.htm?item_num_id=3757203249

卡门贝 (kǎménbèi), "Camembert," is a counter-example.

http://www.nciku.com/search/en/%E5%8D%A1%E9%97%A8%E8%B4%9D

Posted on: Smelly Cheese

Hasn't anyone ever had any China/cheese experiences?

Posted on: Reviewing in Class

Great to hear! 加油！

Posted on: Reviewing in Class

Yes, it's correct. But if you just use 练习 (liànxí) as a verb, it needs to be understood from context what you're practicing.

In a classroom setting, 做练习 (zuò liànxí) is kind of a set phrase established by habit, basically meaning, "do the exercises (in the book)."

Posted on: Ordering Pizza

We have a lesson on that very topic coming out in less than a month, although it's not super in-depth because it's Elementary. We could also take a look at dress code intricacies at higher levels, though.

Posted on: Sex Education Class

Don't miss that supplementary vocab... :)

Posted on: Catching a Train

"Comrade Piggy"? Hehe...

But I've never ever been called "comrade"... :(

Posted on: Ordering Pizza

The pattern is: A, B 还是 C?