User Comments - RJ

Posted on: New Year's Song

George,

not only to take and use, but to take, and make as one's own, is what I think Ken meant.

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse

paulinurus

well said, and as you know I too have championed the analytical approach, but there are times when you do need to let it go and just accept a word or phrase. Some things dont translate and those few items you just have to learn in Chinese. Thats fine as long as someone points it out and its not worth blowing a computer chip over by trying to analyze something that resists analysis. Remember in language the rules came after the fact, not everything obeys the "rules". The only exact "language" is mathematics.

Posted on: The Final Show

Brent,

as you know, from our discussions, I too was disappointed in the way it was handled, but how else could it have been handled? Faced with an opportunity, and wanting to go to the US, I dont think she should have just announced: "Im leaving to work for another Chinese site, and oh btw its with Frank and Dave of cpod fame". That would have been tacky as well. Then she was faced with the decision - at what point do I disclose this. She is young, and life brings with it the experience needed to handle such things with more finesse. Maybe it was just the wrong thing to do? We cant answer that because only Amber knows all the reasons why she did what she did, and she will have to live with the consequences. Again, live and learn. At the end of the day its just a job and she has the right to pursue opportunity in a competitive market. Thats the system. Could it have been handled better? Probably. Was it wrong? I dont know, and surely it would boil down to a matter of opinion. So I wish her luck, but I too heard the cyber echo, and Frank's voice rings hollow. Time will tell, but they have a huge gap to fill. Its hard to put your finger on what it is that makes cpod special, but it is special, and visiting other sites makes this all the more apparent.

Posted on: Podcast Language 3

baba

yes you can add words manually to flash card vocab with audio. It just doesnt work all the time. Evidently it reads from the pinyin. If you add the pinyin field with numbers - no audio - if you use tone marks it speaks. Two word combos seem to work ok, but 3 or more tend to make it choke in various ways, although sometimes it works. At least that was my experience. Give it a try. It is also so slow. Always waiting for it to refresh every move you make. Painful.

as for using xml - I would have to delete all the extra stuff and cut and paste into txt file for importation. Lot of work. The csv file comes out gibberish. I got the setting changed to utf-8 and now I can see the characters ok but the pinyin turned to gibberish. Havent solved that one yet.

I believe the words you add must be in the cpod dictionary somewhere to work with audio - but many are.

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse

Thanks Pete,

x_crm also.

RJ

Posted on: Podcast Language 3

Simon, baba,

I tried to add the words from QW to vocab and make a flash card set today. Some of the audios work and some dont. Some additions totally scramble the brain of the thing so that only a few of the words show up when you choose flash cards. I gave up, again. This is why I stopped using the flash card feature inside cpod in the first place. Not user friendly and so slow. The export function for csv still does not work despite claims that it does. I have tried everything.

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse

Pete

this is very easy to understad and recognize in the future once someone explains it to you. A short note would go a long way. I have no problem abandoning english thinking but the first time I see something I want an explanation or a literal translation.

To explain such things is the function of a "teacher"

Posted on: Illegal taxis

there is a taxi queue - use it, dont accept offers from those who might walk up to you. Any taxi in the queue will be ok. There is a money changer at the airport. You should have no trouble getting to a major  hotel. If you can, obtain a card with the hotel name in Chinese. Cost will depend on how far into the city you are going but it usually costs me about 160 RMB. I do not believe car seats are required in SH.

Posted on: Funny Business, Part Two

tage

fast and loose:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/284300.html

Posted on: Delegating Tasks

Paulinurus

I guess where I land is that the cogwheel should allow any and all options, or mixtures of options. Everybody happy.

raygo- does basic include the dialogue only mp3?