User Comments - auntie68
auntie68
Posted on: 八卦周刊：巩俐疑似怀孕
November 1, 2007 at 4:51 AMOr is 独家 "exclusive"? Gosh, my Mandarin is terrible.
Posted on: 八卦周刊：巩俐疑似怀孕
November 1, 2007 at 4:50 AMHello everybody. I'm still such a total newb at the "Advanced" level, and would be so grateful if anybody could help me with the following words from this lesson, which were probably too current/advanced for my old dictionary: 独家 (-> feature?) 关系图 蹲了两个星期拍到的。。。(does this mean, "taken during the time when she was stopping over for two weeks"?) 经纪人 ("significant other"? “ex"?) 跨页大照片 “spread"?) Thanks for your kind help! Rgds, Auntie
Posted on: Global Warming
July 9, 2007 at 1:06 AM[QUOTE] The gap between the accent from an Argentinian speaker and someone from Mexico City is as big as it gets in the language. [/QUOTE] Mm, so that you don't feel offended by me when no offence was intended, Ashtangi, I chose "Argentine" (my inexpert guess for Maria's accent) and "Mexico City" precisely because the gap between the two IS as big as it possibly gets in the language. This Auntie was trying to say -- If I really was so far out in left field concerning the accent, then I'm humble enough to accept it, with a humble apology! Peace -- Auntie
Posted on: Global Warming
July 9, 2007 at 12:53 AMDear Ashtangi, Point taken. Thanks! No, I am not an "expert" on accents, but where would you say that Maria's accent is from? From your reaction, you seem to be implying that I am equating "accents" with "correctness". In the sense that some accents are "better" than others. Tone mistakes can make your Mandarin "wrong", I don't think that an accent can ever make it "wrong". My point -- clumsily made, I accept that -- was actually that a particular accent doesn't make anybody's Mandarin or Spanish correct, or incorrect. But I really do appreciate a relatively "neutral" -- but still natural-sounding -- delivery such as John and Jenny have turned into a hallmark of CPod. Maria's accent, to my uneducated ear, is as strong as -- say -- a Beijing or a Mallorquin or a Boston accent. As I wrote in my posts, it's BEAUTIFUL. But why not give newbs the chance to build their first foundations in a style of delivery that isn't marked by the accent of any particular country? And just so that I can speak for myself in lieu of words you have put in my mouth, Madrid isn't high up on my list. Neither is "Queen's English" or "Beijing Mandarin" or "Bahasa Baku". Because, unlike say Kitty, I don't think that there is a hierarchy of accents. For Spanish, I have few opportunities to hear "Madrid" Spanish, my only contact is with Catalans who are kind and patient enough to speak Spanish with me. I really appreciate that because they are not speaking it with a "local" accent (because Spanish is not a local language), but as a "learned" language. So it's relatively accent-neutral, albeit correct. You may not agree with me, it's your right.
Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life
July 9, 2007 at 12:22 AMThe ways in which human minds -- and hearts -- handle foreigners' attempts to learn or speak somebody's "mother tongue" seem to be extremely complex, don't they?
Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life
July 9, 2007 at 12:09 AMZhou sunn Xiaohu. Yes, I know exactly what you mean. And I totally agree with you.
Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life
July 8, 2007 at 4:22 AMDear Lantian, hee hee. But speaking as a woman, I'd say that a bad line is a bad line, in any language! For what it's worth, I'd like say that I second what Xiaohu and Mark had to say about saying things correctly in Mandarin but sounding "off". Maybe it's just one of those things about Chinese; the language depends so much on context/word choice for something as basic as mere intelligibility. But I'd like to say that as soon as that humbling "ahhh!" moment is reached, the learning curve suddenly feels a lot smoother. It's a good way to cut down on those awkward "Erm..." looks from the Chinese people we are practising on. I've had my spoken French (gently) corrected a few times, in situations where it felt like, "Yikes! But I've been saying that for... how long? Double Yikes! Triple!" But it's a chance to learn, and move on. Having said that, I'll allow that having mistakes corrected is a deflating feeling, but unless one is still paralysed with fear and hasn't actually begun speaking Chinese yet, a bit of constructive "negative feedback" now and then can't be so bad, can it?
Posted on: Confession of Love
July 3, 2007 at 1:02 PMOoh, Dave, are you talking about a certain "adult movie star" who works for Peter Ackworth's production companies? I thought it looked like him. If it's him, he's a MEGA star!
Posted on: Experiencing Agricultural Life
July 2, 2007 at 4:16 PMMan2Toe, pls be patient with me... my Chinese comprehension is like the cell coverage each year when my friends holiday and I have our annual holiday in the quieter parts of Catalonia... kind of spotty! All the best -- Auntie
Posted on: 八卦周刊：巩俐疑似怀孕
November 1, 2007 at 5:15 AMDear Henning, 谢谢你的解释，我先摘在明白了。你说得对， 这课文的难度好像比平常的高级课文高了些，词汇相当身 (hope that's not wishful thinking on my part!). Thank you!