User Comments - Mingmao

Posted on: Abbreviations and Contractions

Re: 吊丝 - diǎosī

I know this word sometimes uses a different character; would you ever pronounce this as "diàosī" to indicate that you are not using the vulgar character?

Posted on: To Express: 标志 (biāozhì) and 表示 (biǎoshì)

In the sentence:

毛泽东指示全国人民大炼钢铁。

Mao Zedong instructed everyone in the country to smelt iron.

Could you say: "Mao Zedong decreed that everyone in the country should smelt iron," or would "decree" have a different tone? "Instructed" doesn't seem to have the imperious and mandatory feel that the hosts described for 指示. 

Posted on: To Express: 标志 (biāozhì) and 表示 (biǎoshì)

Again, I would like to suggest that David's definitions at the introduction of each term be included in the transcript. That would be very helpful.

Posted on: To train: 训练 (xùnliàn) or 培训 (péixùn)

Minor correction: "Everyday I train my dog to get the newspaper for me."

Should be: Every day I train my dog....

"Everyday" is an adjective, meaning, more or less, "ordinary."

Compare: 

It's not a special event, so I'll just wear my everyday shoes.

As opposed to:

I wear shoes every day. 

Posted on: To train: 训练 (xùnliàn) or 培训 (péixùn)

Just my 2¢ on the staff changes: I do miss departed staff from Chinesepod. I miss Connie, and I miss John most of all. His insights on grammar and usage clarifications for native English-speakers studying Mandarin were priceless. He was also very conscientious about repeating, with exaggerated and clear enunciation, words that his Chinese co-host would pronounce with a non-standard accent (especially the dropped 后鼻音). That was very, very useful.

Ken. Ken was essential for starting Chinesepod, and for that I am truly grateful, but personally I don't think we lose anything by losing him as a host. He was quite fond of pontificating, and his pronunciation was atrocious. His contributions are no doubt very valuable, but I don't think the lessons are well-served by having him as a host, when there are other capable personalities available.

I have to say that David is an excellent addition to Qing Wen. It's obvious that he works hard to consider the subtle differences between terms, and to come up with good examples to illustrate those differences. And although he speaks quickly, he makes a point of enunciating clearly when he gives the Chinese description of each term. This makes for good listening practice, and helps make it easier to look up unfamiliar words.

One thing I would like to see would be a homepage for the Qing Wen lesson stream where users could make suggestions for Qing Wen lesson topics. Long ago there was a discussion thread for such suggestions but it's probably well-buried now. I've made many suggestions myself, but never know if my suggestions were even seen, let alone considered.

Posted on: Outstanding: 出色 (chūsè) and 优秀 (yōuxiù)

David's high-speed, Chinese definitions are a welcome addition to Qing Wen. It would be lovely to have these transcribed and included in the lesson PDF if you have time.

Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life

After going back through this lesson in detail I think two aspects in particular remain obscure and could have been explained more thoroughly.

It would be nice to have more examples of how 处分 differs from 惩罚. What type of punishment would 处分 entail?

Towards the end when the interviewee is talking about military training, it seems to me that a lot of that language does not translate very clearly and there are probably a lot of Chinese-specific assumptions, and background knowledge that is understood by native speakers that is not translatable. I would have been nice to have had that explained. That one paragraph towards the end could take up a whole lesson unpacking it, but it would have been nice to have had Jenny and John just give a few sentences of explanation.

Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life

I think this lesson should have been listed as "Advanced." Usually I can understand at least part of an Upper Intermediate dialogue. I could barely pick out a few words of this. I might as well have been listening to the CCTV news. 

Posted on: Using 过程 (Guòchéng) and 流程 (liúchéng): Process

Transcript errors: 

整个处理过程非常简单，你只要按一个键就行了。

zhěnggè to take care of guòchéng fēicháng jiǎndān, nǐ zhǐyào àn yī gè jiàn jiù xíng le.

由于那次意外事故，整个施工进程被暂停。

yóuyú nà1 cì yìwài shìgù, zhěnggè shīgōng jìnchéng bèi zàntíng.

我们不能忘记旧社会的苦难历程。

Posted on: It's Stuck!

I have long been wishing that Chinesepod would hire age-appropriate actors for the roles of children and seniors. I always find the faking of child and elderly voices in the dialogues off-putting.