User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Dealing with 管 (guan)

So I wonder how John's mate turned out. Can't help but wonder if he'd seen the Seifeld episode "the opposite" and thought he'd try out that theory,hehe [j/k mate]

On a serious note, I'm wondering how you'd say babysitter in Chinese. Possibly I'm injected a western slant on things here. I know 保姆 can be used for nanny, but I think of a babysitter a bit differently.

Posted on: Turn on the Light, Turn off the Light

herbert,

I think it's 灯泡 [dēngpào] mate,

..deng for light

and pao for bulb

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

hey I love the lesson avatar for this lesson..very apt.

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

btw I also agree with bodawei that we haven't had a good debate in a while here, so thanks for that. Any qualms you may have tried to raise that I was being wimp lo'd have now been quelled.

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

nah, RCK's sincerity and loyalty is something we can all learn from. I mean to be fiercely loyal for 2-3 years and beyond listening to 10-15 hours of dialogues on repeat every week despite the thought of picking up a southern accent and the improper intonations sending shivers through his spine, that's impressive dedication. Further he goes the extra step to be a walking billboard for cpod. Not sure what that billboard is saying mind you if it's "drunk out of my mind screaming at fake monks and hitting on chicks on the street in mandarin" ,hehe.

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

My google searching is letting me down. I just googled cpod bad mandarin as suggested and got only 4300 results. Looking at these results, usually the most relevant are listed first, but I'm really struggling to find any that concur with you. I'm not saying there aren't any [ in fact it would be surprising if there weren't some as on any given topic you can usually find at least a small number whose opinion will be diametrically opposed to what most think, or at least have some other agenda to push], just that I haven't been able to locate them. I did find one forum that debated the best resource and one post there was saying CPod should have native speakers only. Well I can see their point of view but personally I think the mix here is fantastic. I feel we have the best of both worlds...native speakers and non-natives who have travelled the path we're on and serve as a guide to that path and an inspiration. Someone like John knows the difficulties and questions we have. I also googled chinesepod bad mandarin and got 33,300 results, but similarly couldn't find anything that was relevant.

I also googled "cpod bad mandarin" in inverted commas and got zero results. Same with "chinesepod bad mandarin".

But I concur with bodawei, and would like to add that even be there google entries that back up your point and elude me, one swallow does not make a summer.

Posted on: Fasten that Safety Belt

I was interested in what John was concerned he might strike if he went fishing down between the seats. My first thought/concern would always be a needlestick injury from a used needle and syringe, though I don't know how likely that would be in China [any thoughts?]. I guess a more likely but less serious concern might be finding some yicky old food [pre or post consumption I guess].

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

"I learn what I can from whoever I come in contact with"

...I'm with you bro'. The beauty of living in a relatively classless society.

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

hehe, what was this about?:

"I was drunk out of my mind screaming at fake monks and hitting on chicks on the street in mandarin in hong kong last week and when people freak out when they here me bust out my mandarin"

...I'm not sure I get your point here. After being "out of [your] mind" are you trying to say it was the Mandarin pronunciation you learnt at CPod that "freak[ed]" people out. Was this a re-enactment of a CPod dialogue? ..if so, I may have missed a goodie.

Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China

I remember having a discussion once with xiaohu about emulating standard mandarin. I think at the time he was saying it was not ideal that we listen to waiguoren hosts for fear of emulating non standard mandarin. In that case I thought it was good practice for listening comprehension as there is supposedly such a variety of accents and pronunciations across China and opening the comprehesion to these possibilities, but conceded in terms of learning to speak Chinese he was right in that it would be good to learn to speak good Chinese [though not only does John's Mandarin sound awesome to me, but I believe it is also considered very good by those who would know]. I think in the case of a native Chinese, ignoramuses like myself are going to presume it's good pronunciation. Such a discussion makes me think of Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins and how I wish I had some clue as to what this Standard Mandarin is, and just how different others pronunciation and accents are and just how important that difference is [is it really as big a deviation as the English examples you're spelling out?..I'm very surprised at that and find it difficult to believe]. Is there some way of measuring or quantifying this? I'm not under the impression that there is any problem with the actors tones or pronunciation but concede that I wouldn't really know. I'd love to have it really spelt out what you're saying..I'd find that very interesting...getting into the specifics. Tingshuo that Beijing broadcasters have standard mandarin. Most people don't sound like they're a tv or radio broadcaster though do they. Further they usually, unlike actors, don't inject any great degree of expression or drama...tend to speak very unemotionally which could make for some very boring podcasts.