User Comments - Mingmao

Posted on: The Popular Decline of Calligraphy

Chicken scratches, is what I've always heard.

Posted on: Meet-Up Frenzy

I have seen 集合 used to describe a group of people meeting somewhere before leaving together for another location, such as a group of people meeting at a certain mall parking lot before setting off on a day trip to another city, perhaps car-pooling.

Posted on: Sleeping in

How do you say "wake up" as opposed to "get up"? 

As in, "I woke up at 4 a.m. and then couldn't get back to sleep."

Also, I came across the expression, "扰乱睡眠," "to disturb someone's sleep."
Is this commonly used, and what exactly would constitute 扰乱睡眠? Does it have to be intentional? Could it be cold air from a fan, or a lumpy bed, for example?

Thanks. 

Posted on: The Kindle

Just to clarify, does this mean that 电子书 can mean either "e-book" or "e-book reader" depending on the context?

Posted on: A Qing Wen to Our Listeners

It would be nice to have some clarification between all the different ways to "hire" someone. I have come across 聘请, 雇佣, 录用 and 招 so far, that I can think of, and I'm never sure which to use in which context. I expect some other users could be similarly confused. 

Posted on: Future fun with 会 (hui4), 要 (yao4), and 将 (jiang1)

Thank you!

Posted on: A Qing Wen to Our Listeners

This suggestion is for a lesson that I would appreciate greatly but have difficulty knowing how to describe, as I have not been making notes up to now about which words are included in this set. 

There are a lot of one-character words with grammatical functions that are translated, but not explained in the dictionary. They seem to have complex structural functions, depending on the context. I would really appreciate a thorough lesson or set of lessons on the various usages of these words. 

Those I can recall at the moment include: 

至、所、而, and possibly 以 and 即 or 既.

I know there are many more; I will post again if I come across them again soon. Not understanding the functions of these one-character structural words frequently renders sentences untranslatable, which is very disheartening. If you could come up with a list of such words and explain how they work, I'm sure it would be a great solace to many listeners. 

Thanks.

Posted on: A Qing Wen to Our Listeners

I would really like a Qing Wen on all aspects of touch. There are so many things that the dictionary is inadequate in describing. 

I know you have covered, "Here, feel this" (你摸摸看), but what about things like:

I pet my cat.

When my boyfriend is upset he lays his head in my lap and I pet his head.

When the boy caressed her neck she felt dizzy. 

I've got no feeling in my arm: even though I can see that you're stroking it, I can't feel anything.

I sat on my foot too long and now I've got pins and needles.

I went to the dentist today and now the lower half of my mouth is all frozen; I'm afraid to eat anything for fear of biting my own tongue.

Don't touch me: I'm mad at you right now.

Don't touch the pinned insects; they're too fragile.

I'm going out for an hour: don't touch my stuff.

She tried to tap his shoulder to get his attention but her touch was so light that he didn't feel it.

In the lab they performed a test to determine how much pressure was required for the subjects to perceive that an object was touching their palm.

The mother held the back of her hand to the boy's forehead to see if he had a fever; his skin was indeed hot to the touch.

And any other touch-related expressions, idioms or usages that you can think of. These sorts of questions come up all the time and when I look them up in the dictionary I still find myself unsure of what to say. 

Thanks.

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Preparing for an Exam

The Lesson PDF (text version) link does not seem to work for this lesson.

Posted on: A Qing Wen to Our Listeners

Thank you, Connie.