User Comments - RJ
RJ
Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Chemistry
October 17, 2008 at 10:43 AMThe intro suggests that it may be hard to recall any famous chemists. You should recognize some of these:
Francois Grignard, Louis Pasteur, Linus Pauling, Madam Curie, Piere Curie, Irving Langmuir, Avagadro, Arrhenius, Lavoisier, Alfred Nobel, Daniel Rutheford, Johannes Van der Walls, Robert Woodward, Joseph Priestly and Xiaoliang Sunney Xi, who is Chinese, and teaches at Harvard today.
I have a graduate degree in Chemistry, but even I find introductory level chemistry rather boring. It does get more exciting if you stick with it, really it does. :-) There were always many Chinese students in the chemistry department. Men and women both.
Posted on: Rome
October 16, 2008 at 10:51 PMHuasen, Im guessing also but I would think that 以为 is used in a situation where the facts have shown someone to be wrong such as I (he she or they) thougt something and it turned out to be wrong or they realized it was wrong. Your example is more of an opinion where one person thinks one thing and another doesnt agree. 以为 is not needed. Just my opinion but it may turn out to be a good example where we can use 以为.
Posted on: Introducing the Managers
October 15, 2008 at 9:40 PMtrevorb - yes it can go either way. I have heard both. Same meaning.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 15, 2008 at 9:49 AMsebire - oh yea and it has little meaning, but if you dont say it, you are percieved as being rude. It softens the language or the mood - kind of like "a" and "ba" in Chinese I guess.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 15, 2008 at 9:33 AMbababardwan,
I think if you over-use please and thank you they no longer have any real meaning. They become platitudes such as in the west.
Posted on: Good Night
October 15, 2008 at 8:41 AMPete, you didnt mention hao ba in your answer to mudphud. In this case are you actually asking for a confirmation or agreement that it is ok? I would think this one would not be machine gunned. :-)
whenever I return from China I have to break the machine gun "hao de" and "dui" habit. It is quite contagious. Its like spending a couple days in Canada. I usually find myself struggling to resist that characteristic "eh" habit :-) That and they raise the voice inflection at the end of sentences. This one sneaks up on you.
Posted on: Introducing the Managers
October 15, 2008 at 8:16 AMThanks Amber.
Pete, I was thinking the same thing. What a great way to show respect during an initial meeting.
Posted on: The Boy That Cried Wolf
October 15, 2008 at 8:03 AMYou are very welcome everett. It took many repeat runs to pick out all the words. I hope I got them all right.
take care
-RJ
Posted on: Shikumen vs. Hutongs and Chinese vs. Western School
October 18, 2008 at 12:49 PMYase,
this makes sense. I see the result of the educational system in business. It is very hard to get people to think hypothetically or to look ahead at potential issues. New ideas are often seen as a challenge to the status quo established or maintained by "the boss" so they are not presented. Even socially, I tend to do a lot of "what if" thinking and if I do it out loud, it usually causes some confusion. I remember reading a blog by a western student in China. He was shocked when he gave his opinion of what a certain literary passage might mean, and was told to sit down, and that he was wrong. School should teach one to think in addition to memorizing what others have thought in the past. Even in the "west" we could do a better job of teaching critical thinking but Im hoping things will change in China as well.