User Comments - Rui_an
Rui_an
Posted on: Class Is Over Now
June 02, 2012, 03:08 PMYes, context is important! This was the first thing he asked me. I'd assumed the same thing as you but he said "No, no, no!" when I told him 我去车站。Then he talked to my friend in 长兴话 who told me, "He doesn't want to know where you are you going. He wants to know where you are from." He got off the bus at the next stop so our conversation wasn't terribly long.
But yes, normally I'd think a person would mean which stop (if you're on a bus).
Posted on: Pinyin Section 15
May 31, 2012, 04:27 PMMy coworker's name is Xǔ Yuè. I'm still having trouble with that one.
I studied German for about 6 years and never really learned any good tips on how to pronounce the ü sound! These are helpful.
Posted on: Class Is Over Now
May 29, 2012, 07:41 AMSpeaking of dropping pronouns and other sentence structures, not too long ago some guy on a bus turned to me and said, "什么地方?" shénme dìfang.
I was confused so I asked, "What, what place?" Turns out he was just asking where I was from.
Posted on: Class Is Over Now
May 29, 2012, 07:31 AMMe too :p
Posted on: Your Baby is So Cute!
May 14, 2012, 05:08 PMI've had many of those moments myself! I was just recently at a KTV and the characters were traditional...I was the only 外国人 there and my Chinese 朋友 even had trouble. 加油！
Posted on: Making a Dinner Reservation - Part 1
May 06, 2012, 01:10 PM喂wéi and 喂 wèi. 我知道了！I didn't even think about the tone change. Thank you for pointing that out.
I'll be sure to keep it a second tone when I'm making a 订位 ;-)
Posted on: Making a Dinner Reservation - Part 1
May 03, 2012, 03:28 PMDefinitely useful!
I've actually heard 喂wéi used outside of a phone conversation, but it's usually when people are trying to get my attention and maybe it's not in the politest sense.
Posted on: Where Did You Learn Chinese?
April 25, 2012, 01:21 PMI believe the word for "trolling" is 钓鱼 diàoyú which literally means to go fishing! Okay, so I know you probably weren't REALLY asking what it was, but I was curious so I asked a Chinese friend and looked on Baidu :p
Posted on: Can I Sit Here?
April 16, 2012, 03:12 PMI suppose it depends where you are. I usually find myself in places where not a lot of foreigners in China go so when people take a seat near me at the local noodle/Chinese fast food/spicy soup shops they are eager to strike up a conversation. Of course, if I were Chinese I know that wouldn't be the case.
I think it's safe to respect cultural norms but at the same time you're given some leeway to act a little silly and approach things a bit unconventally in the country.
One of the strangest criticisms I get in China is that people tell me I smile too much...
Maybe they think I'm a little special, but hey, at least they know I'm happy!
Posted on: How Long Have You Been in Shanghai?
June 12, 2012, 09:18 PMJust caught a tiny error in the audio review:
他要来中国吗？ "Are you coming to China" is translated as "Are you coming to Shanghai?"