User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: A Disgusting Man

Haha gr8 lesson

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

"the value of John Pasden"

agree with you there...can't be overestimated.

But amongst all my rambling above, I'd be happy for it to be scrubbed and just leave this comment:

http://chinesepod.com/lessons/playing-mahjong#comment-232557

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

yeah, great scene Pretz...love that you've quoted that one...you've described it well and thus brought it vividly back to my memory. Yeah, it was simple and yet very effective. Great story telling.

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

"Why did they presume to teach"?

Their intro had:

"you'll be ready to jump right in. However, we don't guarantee you'll be beating any elderly Chinese veterans any time soon!"

...note ready to jump in....which is what I think a lot would be ready to do...got some overview...and then note the disclaimer...no guarantee of winning

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

"But then why is cpod even pretending to have a lesson about playing mahjong when I can just read the instructions? "

...I guess you could say that about anything. Why doesn't one just read a dry boring book to learn Chinese? Well here you're hearing the language and I still think that teaching you the language is the primary objective, and the lesson was a familiarisation with the game and the language involved. As I said above I think folk tend to fall into 2 camps...some need to know every last rule before jumping in and others need to just get the gist, which I think the lesson did give you, and know they'll catch on then if they just start playing with others who have played before [this last bit being the key I guess...if you bought the game and took it home to learn it with your family, you'd have to read all the rules...though of course you can usually read the basics to get you started and consult the rule book for the rest as you go]. I think they have taught something and it was a worthwhile introduction even if it wasn't all there was to it.

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

"But the point for me is that creative use of video"

haha, yeah, I agree. I think I have you Pretz. The problem here is that they were sticking to a near standard UI format as used in the usual UI audio lessons. Yes there were gaps and it was a little different...but it was still based around a 2+minute dialogue with then analysis of the dialogue. Now who was it that was hankering after sticking to the same format as audio? If, on the other hand, they had decided that the primary goal was to do something different with the video altogether, and rather than base it on a dialogue, just tried to teach you how to play mahjong, then I think it would have looked quite different and would have gone a lot closer to giving you what you wanted. So let's say it again....as much as I loved seeing Jenny and John in action and the dialogue actors,....dare to be different with video CPod. Mix it up. Don't play safe. Jiayou!!

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

"lesson should have been clearly made around these basic rules, then regional variations"

..yeah, maybe. I agree that it didn't teach you how to play, was more of an introduction, enough to give the gist, and the basic language. Of course when I leant it was as a kid and I learnt it in English. I'm sure you could find the rules online and read them there, and then apply the language you learnt in the lesson. I guess the focus of the lesson is still language based. Some people like to read every last rule first before playing for the first time, and some just like to get the gist and then learn as they go. If you're in the former group, then this lesson won't have fully prepared you. So I reckon find the rules online and read em, or try and join a game [preferably one that doesn't involve gambling...or at least the stakes aren't too high] and give it a go. Good luck mate.

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

"this lesson is for someone who has a basic grasp of mahjong"

...no, I wouldn't have agreed with that. I would fit into that group...have played it and have a basic grasp of it. The only thing I learnt, game rules wise, was that in Shanghai you can't have laji hu...you can't have a mixture. Otherwise it was only language learning for me. No, I'd say it was for someone who had no knowledge previously and was just giving an intro..an overview without going into the finer details...but I don't think they're overly important...it's not a complex game. eg you build 4 walls, with 18 or 19 pairs of tiles stacked 2 high...a detail that wasn't covered but one you just pick up quickly if you sat down to play it. Getting the overall aim is the important thing to get you started.

Posted on: Playing Mahjong

Pretz,

I've gotta dash, but in brief:

Firstly I already knew how to play mahjong, so I might not be best to assess how well one would do without former knowledge. No, I think the lesson gave more of an overview of the game...what the different kinds of tiles were [suits if you like] and the overall objective [to create sets...like peng...3 of a kind or gang ..4 of a kind]. So the overall objective is to be the first to have all your tiles in sets [which can include one pair at the end]. No, they didn't go into all the nitty gritty rules which would potentially create a couple of problems...1stly possibly a very long lesson [?potentially boring], and 2ndly the problem of regional variation. But I agree, I think one would only get the gist of the game...but I would have hoped enough to get you started so you could sit down and your Chinese pals could fill you in on the rest as you go [As long as you don't end up saying Jenny's last few lines....而且你们之前又没跟我说...hehe]

Posted on: Plane Ticket Name Mix-Up

不仅很好的中文课程，而且很好的忠告，的警告。。多谢。称号/尊称呢？ 。。比如说如果机票脱落尊称的话呢？