User Comments - al_walker
al_walker
Posted on: Meet Lily!
March 21, 2010, 01:00 PMI'd really like to see Cantonese next please!
Posted on: Jet Lag
December 23, 2009, 05:38 PMI'm not sure if these tips would work for everyone but here goes. I live in the UK and find myself flying eight time zones in each direction, either to California or to Hong Kong (en route to Guangdong). I find that jet lag isn't really a problem going in either direction because there's the anticipation of going to another country, and either I'm looking forward to a vacation or I have a specific business task to achieve.
Having said that I will also not go to bed the previous night so by the time I've boarded my connecting long haul flight out of Paris CDG or Amsterdam, by the time that I've had my meal (and some wine) it's mid-afternoon and sleep will generally take me, even in Economy class. Jet lag for me is only really a problem on the way back home as it's the anti-climax after the trip, I can deal with it by getting a midday flight out of Hong Kong so by the time I get back home it's late evening and I just go to bed after a rather long day so I'm straight back on UK time. There's no easy way I've found in dealing with the eight hour time difference flying back from the west coast of the USA, it just takes a week to get back in sync.
The one time I flew around the world (stupid thing to do!) involved on one leg leaving Los Angeles at 1 am Saturday morning and arriving in Taipei 5 am Sunday morning (crossing the dateline the wrong way!). Some things the human body wasn't designed to cope with!
Cheers,
Al
Posted on: Ways to Describe Things that are "Inside"
December 13, 2009, 02:04 PMHi,
Can you use the 五年内 construction with 上 or 下 to say "In the last five years" or "In the next five years"?
Does "上五年内" make sense for saying "In the last five years?"
Thanks,
Al
Posted on: 次，遍，趟: Measuring Times
December 06, 2009, 06:11 PMHi Sebire,
I too knew many of the facts of life at that age thanks to very good sex education in UK schools and my parents being open with me, which I can appreciate was sometimes perhaps awkward for them. Of course there was the playground innuendo, which still carries on into adulthood...
However that doesn't negate the issue here which is a discussion about a parental guidance notice for lesson content. Personally, I'd be happy for there to be more adult content on CPOD, but I think that it's only reasonable that if such content is included in lessons then notice is given upfront. And yes, some of it is to prevent embarrassment to parents in their own homes, but as parents they probably do have a right to that!
Cheers,
Al
Posted on: 次，遍，趟: Measuring Times
December 06, 2009, 04:25 PMIf you're subscribing to CPod then you have a credit card and you're an adult, and so shouldn't have an issue with age-appropriate content for yourself. If you're a parent then you do have a right to a judgement call on how much you wish to expose your children to, regardless of other others' views of how protective (or over-protective) you are being.
However, I think it's very important that adult themes are tackled by CPod (and the other Praxis language courses) including the cultural sensitivities of the Chinese people and what is acceptable and what is taboo. Aric and Jenny were doing some interesting programming in the latter days of The Saturday Show for example.
If the price of this is a PG-13 rating, then so be it. It doesn't cost anything.
Just my thoughts,
Al
Posted on: 次，遍，趟: Measuring Times
December 05, 2009, 01:08 PMHi,
Is it correct to say "shí èr cì", "èr shi èr cì" for 12 times. 22 times etc. or should "liǎng" be used instead of "èr"?
Also how do you indicate an approximation using "cì", like saying "about twelve times"?
Thanks,
Al
Posted on: (W)rapping It All Up
July 03, 2010, 05:49 PMI can't download the PDF even though I can download the MP3.