User Comments - andrewm
andrewm
Posted on: I Have Class
February 17, 2008 at 2:06 PMI guess Jenny's English is that of the American variety. American English that is. All that time spent in Australia and China, and she still sounds like an American. Hmmm.
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 12, 2008 at 7:42 PMOff the topic, but very interesting. Chinese character = 学/學 Vietnamese = học Cantonese = hohk (Yale Cantonese) Fukienese & Taiwanese = ? (Similar to the Cantonese hohk, I think) Shanghainese = ? Mandarin = xué This is the observation that I have made If you were to travel from the South of the Asian mainland towards the North along the East coast. The final "c" in the word "học" in Vietnamese is pronouced as a clipped glottal stop, sometimes sounding simular to a "p" without aspiration to my western ear. However, it is distinguishable from the Vietnamese word "họp" as the lips for this word are closed. The "c" has obviously been replaced by the "k" in the latinized phonetics for Cantonese, so that the sound is nearly the same. I'm thinking of the "Incredible Hulk" where the "k" in the word "Hulk" is clipped and not aspirated.
Posted on: Chinese New Year!
February 9, 2008 at 6:27 AMIt's interesting to find out the reasons for firing off so many firecrackers and fireworks. I've heard a different reason for firing them off at the Chinese New Year's Eve, or at least in Vietnam. This was that the firecrackers are to freighten off any evil spirits while welcoming the good spirits. One of the good spirits is known as the Kitchen spirit, also known as the Kitchen god. This spirit is sent to the Jade emperor reporting on the conduct of the people who reside in the household. These families are hoping for a good report and will him a safe return, welcoming him back into the house on Chinese New Year's Eve night. Several days earlier some families will send him off by releasing a carp, which he rides, while burning new paper money (not real money) and/or paper gold and new miniature-sized paper clothes and a little paper hat for his journey. Isn't this also true in many parts of China? As far as the cleaning of the households before the Chinese New Year's Eve. I believe, again, at least in Vietnam, that there is a fear that the fortunes received during the Lunar New Year holiday would be recklessly tossed or sweeped out of the house. I think this parallels more closely with the tradition in China. Oh, by the way, to all the cpod staff and cpoddies: 恭喜发财！鼠年快乐！Gong1xi3 fa1cai2! Shu3nian2 kuai4le4! Happy Chinese New Year!
Posted on: Cold from Biking
January 25, 2008 at 4:02 AMI notice that the conjunction "and 和 he2" between the words "gloves 手套 shou3tao4" and "scarf 围巾 wei2jin1" was absent in the Chinese dialogue. Can other words like hat 帽子 mao4zi, earmuffs 耳罩 er3zhao4, etc. be added to the sentence without using the conjunction "and 和 he2?"
Posted on: Choosing a Chinese Name and Safety
January 20, 2008 at 12:51 AMI think it's a good idea to ask someone who is from China, as I did, for a Chinese name. The only difference is that I demanded that the name should not be a traditional transliteration which so often happens. I wanted a name that was already well known to the Chinese but sounded remotely like my first name for the last two characters. The first character or surname, from my point of view, could be different from most surnames, because I'm not of Chinese origin. I noticed that many Chinese people choose well known English names like Sally, Jenny, Stefanie, Joe, Jay, etc. They usually, it not always, retain their last name.
Posted on: Choosing a Chinese Name and Safety
January 19, 2008 at 11:54 PMIs this glutinous rice ball with with red bean and black sesame paste with coconut filling called 艾窝窝 ai4wo1wo?
Posted on: The Non-Chinese Speaking Tourist and Toilets
January 15, 2008 at 7:01 AMJust wondering, can 马桶 (mǎtǒng) the 'actual' toilet, be used to refer to the squat toilet? As in "蹲式的马桶 dun1shi4 de ma3tong3" or is it never spoken this way throughout China? I noticed that Amber refered to it as 蹲的 dūn de." Dropping the word "马桶 mǎtǒng." I remember Jenny once refer to it as "蹲式的 dun1shi4 de3" and John Pasden said something about "坑子 keng1zi". Wikipedia uses the word "蹲厕 dun1ce4", but I not sure that this word is actually heard very often. Can anyone give me a clear translation or is this just a case of "it is what it is?"
Posted on: Ordering Chinese Take-out
January 2, 2008 at 4:22 AMWhere I am (Washington, DC area, USA) most restaurants call 鱼香肉丝 yu2xiang1 rou4si1, shredded pork in garlic sauce. In most asian supermarkets 青菜 qing1cai4 is called Shanghai bok choy. Can 加 jia1 be used in place of 放 fang4 in this dialogue?
Posted on: New Year's Song
January 1, 2008 at 6:00 AM新年好二零零八！xin1 nian2 hao3 er4 ling2 ling2 ba1! 谢谢 xie4 xie Chinesepod. 祝大家新年快乐！zhu4 da4jia1 xin1nian2 kuai4le4!
Posted on: Behind the Scenes at the Beauty Pageant
February 20, 2008 at 8:51 PMIs it possible to get a transcript of this lesson? l'm just trying to find a way to bridge the gap between the advanced elementary level and the entry-level intermediate level. I believe having some transcripts of Jenny and John's interpretations in addition to the PDFs would definitely help (speed things up).