User Comments - RJ
RJ
Posted on: Triumph of the Rat
October 26, 2008 at 12:57 AMI think this was the best story yet. Nice job Emma. I am however disappointed in cpod's stuborn refusal to include any form of Chinese trascript, even after numerous user requests. Surely a transcript was written for Emma to read from. Is it so much work to include this as pdf, word doc, part of comments, or even as Hanzi sub-titles in the video? I have no problem with the vocab words - they stick out like a sore thumb and I can understand the story line, but its the small words that glue ideas together that are difficult. I listen to these stories fifty or sixty times and still there are always a handfull of words I can not be sure of, or can not make out. A transcript, please, so I can learn to hear it all. This is such a great idea but you are leaving half of it out.
Posted on: Triumph of the Rat
October 25, 2008 at 8:16 AMI always figured Changye referred to a "long night" but as long as it has been brought up, maybe changye will tell us.
Posted on: Chinatomy: Iconic Tunes and Hairy Crabs
October 25, 2008 at 8:10 AMGreat topic. The use of commonly understood music is also a form of communication. Thank you for this insight into the Chinese use of music.
Amber you should definitely try the hairy crab. I think you would like it. Be warned, it is a lot of work to eat. I have only had the male, and much to the chagrin of my hosts, I would not eat the yellow part. :-) The white meat is very good however. Their legs are actually quite hairy if you look close.
Posted on: Triumph of the Rat
October 25, 2008 at 7:37 AMChangye,
another very old western (from the christian bible) version of this chengyu is to "cast pearls before swine". It is interesting that the same ideas develop in different cultures. I have to wonder do these sayings develop in parallel, or do they diverge after they are once originated. I suppose it happens both ways.
Posted on: Salt and Pepper
October 22, 2008 at 12:57 PMChangye - I think the intent of the saying is that one has eaten more grains (particles) of rice than the other has eaten crystals (particles) of salt. A large pile of rice therefore. If you go by weight then you are correct.
as for water - it is over-rated indeed.
Posted on: The Attitude Pattern (yǒu shénme... 有什么...)
October 22, 2008 at 10:13 AMClay is happy and still working in SH the last I heard (couple weeks ago). I believe he reads the boards from time to time.
Posted on: Salt and Pepper
October 22, 2008 at 9:33 AMIve eaten more rice than you have salt.
我吃过的米比你吃过的盐还多。
Love it - thanks Jen.
Posted on: What's his name?
October 21, 2008 at 9:27 AMHey TP - where have you been? Still blacked out? Miss hearing from you.
Posted on: No Walking on the Grass
October 21, 2008 at 8:43 AMbababardwan,
the drug issue was touched on in this lesson:
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/the-drug-dealer/discussion
I suspect they have much less of a problem today in China than elsewhere.
Posted on: Triumph of the Rat
October 26, 2008 at 4:13 AMsomeone sent me a gift. thank you.
the transcript:
大家好。我是Emma。今天要和大家说的是十二生肖的故事。在
中国有十二生肖：鼠、牛、虎、兔、龙、蛇、马、羊、猴、鸡、狗
、猪。但是你知道为什么排在第一位的是小小的老鼠呢？
很久很久以前皇帝决定选十二种跑得最快的动物作为十二生
肖。报名的那天老鼠起得很早。他在路上碰到了牛。老鼠觉得自
己快累死了。他想了一个好主意，对牛唱歌。牛说：“好啊”。可
是等了一会儿，牛没听见。牛就问：“你怎么不唱了？”老鼠
说：“我在唱啊。你怎么没听见？喔，我的声音太小了。我爬到你
的脖子上的话，你就听见了”。牛说：“好啊”。
就这样牛听着歌声，越跑越快越跑越快。快到终点的时候老鼠
突然跳下了他的脖子，飞快得冲到了牛的前面。就这样老鼠排
在了十二生肖的第一位。