User Comments - auntie68

Posted on: Making Negative Comparisons

That was quick! Thanks, Amber.

Posted on: Making Negative Comparisons

Hi Amber, Connie. I would really appreciate it if you could help me to understand -- in Mandarin, if necessary! -- why that "那么" is useful for this construction in some contexts, but not in others? Thanks!

Posted on: Cosmetic Surgery and Mooncakes

Dear scottyb, I was very touched by what you have just written. With a father like you -- loving, wise, already a Dad in a mixed race family (you're not white right?) --, I just know that your daughter will be fine.

Because she has the kind of father who will cherish her and build up her self-esteem -- not only in connection with racial identity -- but in EVERY WAY. It's the general self-esteem that will carry her safely and happily through life, not any specific lessons concerning the worth of any particular racial "type".

I hope this isn't offensive to anybody out there, but -- just to give a random example -- I think that "Black is Beautiful" can never be as powerful as "I am Beautiful" in shaping a happy, secure person. Both are important, but not equally important.

Well, that's how I try to be a good auntie to the Stunt Toddler, who is half-Filipino and half Chinese Singapore, and growing up in Singapore, where too many of the locals look down on Filipinos. And then I hear Filipinos obsessing about fairness/darkness in exactly the same way that you describe. It's sad.

I have noticed that as Asian countries develop, the mania for "western" ideals of beauty does tend to wear off a bit. The Korean megastar "Rain" (Bi), who has a pronounced epicanthic fold, is already setting the tone in his country. Jokes about his eyelids/ small eyes are written into some of his scripts, but I'd notice that he is airing the subject in a very confident and positive way too. So the good news is that attitudes are changing. One day, China will be where Korea is today, concerning these ideals of beauty.

Hope this meddling didn't annoy you... I wish you all the best! 

Posted on: 妈妈在哪里？

As always, uncle changye to the rescue! Thank you! I actually prefer not having translations in the advanced lessons. But this time I had to ask because this use of 打 was beyond the scope of my Little Dictionary. Time to buy a bigger one, perhaps? With the 生人 question，I wanted to make sure that it wasn't a reference to his father (I know, that was silly!). Again, thanks!

Posted on: Cosmetic Surgery and Mooncakes

Hello xinjiapo2703, I've never felt comfortable with the idea of raising "asian values" over "Western values", or vice versa. It just can't be done.

How can we compare "MTV and reality television" to -- say -- the hard lives led by dalits to this day because the Indian caste system, which is a product of "Asian values"? Or the historical tension between Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar, which over the centuries has expressed itself in wars and conflict (Eg. the "sacking of Ayuthaya") The Rape of Nanking?

I treasure my Asian heritage, and am comfortable with it. But there are also a lot of useful lessons to be learned from trying to study the languages, culture, and history of Europe. Peace.

Posted on: 妈妈在哪里？

Hi. Could somebody please explain to me (Mandarin is fine) the sense of 打那以后 and 很怕见生人 in this lesson?  I think that maybe the 那 refers to 爸爸所打定的注意，放弃找妈妈的注意? And could 生人 be translated as "stranger"? Thanks! 

Here's the context:

谁知没过半年，妈妈突然就失踪了，爸爸带着儿子找了好几天都没找到，后来也就放弃了。

打那以后，爸爸就发现了一件怪事。他观察到他那三岁的儿子变得沉默寡言，很怕见生人。而且还有意无意地一直盯着自己，眼神中充满了疑惑。问他，他也不说。

Posted on: The 80/20 Rule

@mikeinewshott: I appreciated your lists so much! Thank you! You know, I wish CPOD would consider doing a sticky thread on "basic banter vocab" by level, which we could refer to if we thought we had caught something, but were not entirely sure... [hint! hint! ;-)] 

After all, the "base vocabulary" for each level is fairly controlled: Eg. 形容词，动词，感叹词，讽刺，口语 (vs 书面）etc etc. Should be do-able. I did try to offer some base vocab once, but it got buried very quickly, and when exactly the same kind of "anguished Ele" question came up again, I just didn't have any desire to re-write everything (I couldn't even find my own post!). 

So thanks, Mike...

Posted on: 减肥药

Jenny 老师, thank you for that language/grammar point.

@all the red-blooded CPOD males who have a "thing" for Chinese girls: Don't get too excited now (you are too nice!), but 苗条姑娘 (="cute willowy chickbabe") is something of a Chinese set phrase which yields A LOT of pretty pictures if you google it. Enjoy!

Posted on: Trip to the Vegetable Market

Hi everyone. So many ideas have already been thrown up, by way of "suggestions", that I think it will be okay if I post some examples that I found on YouTube in the context of teaching another language (ie Korean), and in a more sophisticated way:

Posted on: Trip to the Vegetable Market

@henning: Heh heh. That delicate marinated ultra-fresh herring -- Tante Ilse didn't even trust the Berlin fishmongers to fillet and clean those small fish, yes she did it herself -- is a taste that I can never forget. For me, it is my "German food experience", together with "soul food" like a wonderful Spargelessen (picked by Poles and Bulgarians, of course) eaten by candlelight whilst the sun is still up, or a nice slice of onion tart with a glass of (barely-fermented) freshly fragrant "must" (*that's the newest of the new "wine", it's actually wine base, for the non-Germans out there). Real weisswurst, fresh from the local butcher!

Yum...