User Comments - Kyle
Kyle
Posted on: Lesson
October 24, 2007 at 6:16 AMGo to the feed section and select which level podcasts you like. Those podcasts / lesson set will show up on your home page. You can also sign up for every level and get a new one every day. You don't need an iPod (I don't have one). For more information on payment and what each option offers, look under your account tab.
Posted on: I'm not Chinese
October 24, 2007 at 12:50 AM"African American" is a politically correct term, and political correctness does not exist in China. Honestly, if you said African American, 非洲的美国人, you'd probably just confuse most people. Any person with black skin in China is referred to just as a 黑人, or "black person". If you wanted to explain that your heritage / family originates in Africa, you could say, 我的祖先从非洲来 (wo3 de zu3xian1 cong2 fei1zhou1 lai2; My ancestors come from Africa).
Posted on: Pricey Beer
October 23, 2007 at 10:23 AMI was super shocked to find at a karaoke joint the other night that Budweiser (12 RMB) was cheaper than the local 哈啤 (18).
Posted on: Please Speak Chinese
October 23, 2007 at 10:19 AMI would say anywhere where the general population is not white, foreigners will always be spoken to in English.
Posted on: What meat is this?
October 23, 2007 at 7:38 AMI've found that most dish names don't translate well. However, this is what I found on baidu: 芝麻鸡 (zhi1ma2ji1) You can also take a look for yourself here: http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=sesame+chicken%D4%F5%C3%B4%CB%B5&cl=3
Posted on: Please let me through!
October 23, 2007 at 6:20 AMIf you wanted to be polite about it, you could say: 对不起, 我先来. (dui4buqi3, wo3 xian1 lai2) Excuse me, I was here first. If you wanted to be a little more aggressive, you could say something like 你瞎吗? 排队啊! ni3 xia1 ma? pai2dui4 a! Are you blind? Get in line!
Posted on: What's Your Name?
October 23, 2007 at 4:12 AMThe meaning and frequency of both of those sentences is the same.
Posted on: Where are you from?
October 23, 2007 at 3:54 AMMandarin has what are called "measure words". For example: a piece of paper a box of pencils a bottle of beer In these examples, piece, box and bottle are "measure words". Mandarin uses them much more often than English does. In the particular sentence you provided above, 个 is the measure word for 人.
Posted on: Phone Call for the Boss
October 23, 2007 at 3:43 AM@ user43825 I read somewhere that Mandarin has only around 500 individual sounds with tonal variations. Therefore many words have similar pronunciation, thus making context very important. =)
Posted on: What's Hot in ChinesePod and SpanishSense this week!
October 24, 2007 at 10:18 AMClay, when you were in late elementary / early middle school did you get any "ROUP there it is!" jokes? For those that aren't catching the reference right away (it's been awhile, I know) check out this link: http://www.emusic.com/album/Tag-Team-Whoomp-There-It-Is-MP3-Download/10864705.html And, btw, welcome to the community!