User Comments - auntie68
auntie68
Posted on: Where Do You Live?
May 11, 2008 at 4:08 AMHi alwingate. I can only answer for myself, okay? My take on this is that CPOD somehow manage to produce such useful content that there is something useful for everybody, at any level, even in a Newbie-level lesson. That is my only explanation for why more advanced posters can be found lurking -- or posting -- in the lower levels too. In a way, I like that. For one, there is no "caste" system based on ability, and for a Newbie it can be confirmation that they are learning something worthwhile (rather than "baby" stuff). Also, this ethos also encourages relative beginners to feel completely uninhibited in entering higher levels just for a look-see. Eg., light487 has only been learning Mandarin for less than 3 months. Yet I see him posting -- and having fun -- in Intermediate levels or higher. That's great. I don't have problems typing characters; if I forget to pinyin-ize, that's because it's not natural to me. Like double the work. So as long as I am posting in characters which are well within the vocab of the lesson concerned, I won't bother to pinyin-ize everything. Guess this is a philosophical question. In the Newbie levels, is it such a no-no (or politically incorrect) to use Chinese characters? Character recognition comes so much more quickly and easily than writing characters, that I wonder: Is it so completely ridiculous or elitist or inconsiderate to imagine that this can begin in the Newbie levels? One last thing to consider, if anybody is willing, is that Mandarin is very different from English. That's another reason why even the more advanced learners find it worthwhile to visit the more elementary/newb lessons; it's not so unusual to have an "Oh!" moment thanks to that. And people like me (or changye) sometimes post some tips -- usually along the lines of something that we wish we had known when we were first beginning Chinese --, you can always ignore them. Sorry if it irritates anybody.
Posted on: Thirsty for Water
May 11, 2008 at 2:46 AMHi. One very Chinese "thing" is the concept of 开水 (kai1shui3), ie water which has been previously boiled. I think that many Chinese people are psychologically unable to bring themselves to drink tap water unless it has been pre-boiled. Here's some 开水 vocab: 白开水 bai2kai1shui3 = Plain pre-boiled water 凉开水 liang2kai1shui3 = Water which has been pre-boiled and then allowed to cool to room temperature. Literally, 凉 (liang2) means "cool". God forbid that a Chinese person should try to drink something really cold! But if you want it well-chilled (or even iced), I think you could say, "白开水，比较冰的“. I'm not 100% sure if this last one is correct, hope a native speaker will step in.
Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Geology
May 11, 2008 at 2:33 AMFor what it's worth, Advanced lesson #489 (自然灾害 zi4ran2 zai1hai4; "Natural Disasters") has some useful vocabulary on earthquakes. For instance, the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 is: 南亚海啸 (nan2yang2 hai3xiao4)
Posted on: Where Do You Live?
May 10, 2008 at 11:42 PMDear amichal, we're all only human, so Chinese characters will creep in occasionally, or we will forget to "hanyu-pinyinize". Please try not to be put off by that. Re-reading all the posts in this thread before yours, the ones which you were reacting to, I realized that your friend "changye" actually took the trouble to use only Chinese characters that appeared in the PDF. So apart from the 三年了 (san1nian2le; "3 years already") -- which is pretty basic, you would hit this kind of vocab very early on, if not in this lesson, then maybe the next -- in his last example set, you could figured it out without having to look up a dictionary or install ChinesePeraKun. And his point was a valuable one. In fact, even the intimidating "Chinese-only" post by hitokiri6993 could have been a way to test your grasp of the lesson: He used the exact construction "我住在..." taught by the lesson, so it could be inferred that everything which followed was some place name. Okay, you might not recognize the first chunk of text (多谢课程), or know how to read the Chinese characters of his hometown (Laguna - he provided that info, btw), but that's the way Chinese is. Even for advanced learners, and even native speakers sometimes, we will come across strange characters that we just have to guess at. Hope you didn't get offended by anything I just wrote, and thanks for your patience with this LONG post.
Posted on: 功夫之王
May 10, 2008 at 3:22 PMOops, sorry, just embarassed myself by not reading the sentence carefully. Please forget the rubbish I wrote. I believe that the 只就有 means "simply only" or "just only". Sorry!
Posted on: 功夫之王
May 10, 2008 at 3:18 PMI believe that 成就 is a compound word meaning, "achievement"/ "accomplishment"/ level thereof etc...? Sorry, I haven't got round to doing this lesson yet, does this make any sense to you?
Posted on: Regional Accents Part I
May 10, 2008 at 7:23 AMAiyah, ichigo86, don't worry lah. Sure can one. I don't know if this Auntie would know of any places that would be interesting to you! I live in the Newton/ Novena area (family home) and also in my own very tiny flat in the Boon Keng/ Serangoon area. Do please p.m. so we can at least have a pratha or a coffee together, okay? Again, welcome to 新加坡...
Posted on: Regional Accents Part I
May 10, 2008 at 4:56 AMHi ichigo. If you are living in Singapore now, I don't think you will need to make any special effort to pick up that accent. It's everywhere! It's contagious! In fact, Chinese nationals who live here probably despair because it just creeps in, especially for their kids if they attend local schools. Welcome to Singapore. I hope you and family will be very happy here.
Posted on: 《奋斗》之父子争执片段
May 10, 2008 at 3:34 AMHere's an English translation lifted straight from "Everyday Chinese" Brighter Readings in Classical Chinese": At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ears became an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right. Happy weekend...
Posted on: Where Do You Live?
May 11, 2008 at 2:09 PMHi alwingate. I hear you, okay? Another CPOD "Auntie" -- ie AuntySue -- has helped to express the heartfelt feeling -- pretty eloquently -- that Newbies will feel "crowded" in their space if (slightly) more proficient users persist on "getting their jollies" from croding newbies in what should be a "newbies-only" space. In my humble understandinbg, "getting their jollies" is like saying that more advanced learners get their rocks off "showing off" (in some way), at the expense of newbies. I'm really sad if that is how newbies view the participation of non-newbie users. You already agreed iwith me, alwingate (thanks!), so I think you don't have any problem with the idea of users getting their rocks off at the expense of newbies. I just am not like this. But I guess the proof is in what impression people get of my interference. Guess the question is: What to do with the "other" baggage on the part of newbies? Seriously, this is a CPOD site and only CPOD can (or should) sort this out. Please just accept my response, if you can, that it is