User Comments - auntie68
auntie68
Posted on: Singapore
April 6, 2008 at 1:19 AMchillosk, I'm glad you had a good time. Next time you visit, please let me know so that you and your party can test the Stunt Toddler's command of Filipino over a good meal. Btw, I love your podcasts for learning Filipino, even though I haven't posted any comments yet. After the lesson on toilets, I'll never forget the words for "right" and "left" again!
Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day
April 5, 2008 at 11:36 PMI really hope that casie caught obitoddkenobi's 清明 story about Zhou Enlai. It touched me deeply. Thank you for sharing it!
Posted on: Are You Tired?
April 5, 2008 at 10:57 PMHello andrewm. Both words mean "tired", but 困 (kun4) generally connotes sleepiness as well. I hear 累 being used a lot more. Btw, 困 is frequently joined to other characters to form word compounds, in which case it conveys a different meaning: to be stranded, hard-pressed, or surrounded.
Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day
April 5, 2008 at 6:45 AMOops, I was not clear enough earlier. I didn't crash into the Volvo, I narrowly missed doing so!
Posted on: Tomb Sweeping Day
April 5, 2008 at 6:44 AMFor anybody out there who has never seen a traditional Chinese grave before, these things can be enormous. The biggest I've seen cover about half the area of a tennis court They look like a stone wingback sofa set into the side of a hill, with the "arms" sweeping out before curving inwards slightly to create a kind of paved "forecourt" that the family will use for the various ceremonial rites. Now this is a true story: Some years ago I would sometimes go to a golf driving range at night, just before closing time, to hit a bucket of balls. The route home was via a lonely small road. Lonely because on one side there was only dark golf course, and on the other side, some big bungalows set well back from the road, and... an odd little patch of graveyard filled with Chinese graves. Late one night, as I was driving home, I nearly crashed my car because there was a strange, hard blue light amongst the gravestones, a lot of flickering shadows like somebody was moving about quickly, and then -- to my horror - I saw a Chinese lady dressed in an ancient Chinese costume. Fortunately, I noticed just in time -- but only seconds before crashing, gape-mouthed into the Volvo ahead of me, my poor brakes screeched -- the small film crew from Channel 8 which was filming a scene for a local "swordfighting" costume drama TV series. I only realized that the "mortal" standing in front of the "ghost lady" was a make-up girl in jeans at the moment I hit the brakes. Aiyah!
Posted on: Tone Rule: Two Third Tones
April 5, 2008 at 6:03 AMDear light487, something tells me that you are not going to have any serious problems with this language... You're doing the right thing to get right in; if it feels right, even listening to "Intermediate" lessons can be helpful because the sentences are longer and so you can get a better "ear"/"feel" for the rhythms and sounds of this language. There's no need to wait before getting into Chinese characters, either. The characters contain elements which convey meaning, which some people find very helpful from an early stage. Some learners find that recognizing some characters can give you a break sometimes because you're not trying to remember the tone for each character, you can concentrate on the meaning and how the words are put together. Good luck! Btw, I'm sorry I didn't have the time to "hanyu pinyin-ize'" the examples in the Qing Wen lesson.
Posted on: Scandal in the Pageant
April 5, 2008 at 5:18 AMWhether the reasoning is that (i) 绯 (fei1; the colour) connotes something sexual; or that (ii) the principle meaning of 绯 (fei3; as used by Jenny) has to be something untrue and purely speculative, I'd really like to know. Please, Amber?
Posted on: Scandal in the Pageant
April 5, 2008 at 5:11 AMwesty25, you've raised an interesting point. When I heard "绯闻" in the podcast, 绯 (fei1) being the Chinese word for a specific shade of red, but commonly pronounced as fei3 as explained by Jenny, the first character which popped into my head was actually the 诽 (fei3) from 诽谤 (fei3bang4; to slander somebody). These two characters are so easy to confuse with each other; both ("red", "having to do with slander") also happen to fit well into the context. Btw, I am a Formula One fan, and think that the behaviour of the tabloid which got the scoop, as well as any parties who may have conspired with it in this elaborate sting, is far worse than what Max Mosley is alleged to have done... just my personal opinion. really hope that Amber will help to clarify this.
Posted on: You Must Listen to this Episode - 非...不可 (fēi...bù kě)
April 5, 2008 at 1:52 AMP/s: And I think that 非 can be followed by an adjective, whereas 不得不 can only qualify a verb. But this has to be confirmed by a native speaker.
Posted on: Detroit
April 6, 2008 at 12:31 PMI completely, utterly support this suggestion for a podcast on Bangkok. I hope that it will reflect the authentic character of the "Land of the Free", as well as the Thai people's very deep love for their King, who celebrated the 60th anniversary of his reign last year. Although I am not Thai, my heart feels very full whenever I see a photograph showing a sea of yellow shirts being worn by Thais out of love for their King. This is a very special King who is a jazz musician/composer (--> Hua Hin Jazz Festival), water engineer, cartographer, and conservationist. It's worth a podcast, please go for it! Princess Maha Chakri Sirindorn, who is very well-loved by the Thai people, is reputed to be fluent in Mandarin. The podcast doesn't only have to be about klongs or tourism...