User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Weighing Yourself on the Street

the etymology of the traditional form of the character 称 is 稱 and is interesting as it is an associative compound, once again with grain on the left and on the right part above you can see 爪 ..claw..or extrapolated to mean hand, and below it is holding scales. I guess 冉 has a symmetrical/balanced kind of scale like appearance..so with the hand holding it, conveys the idea of weighing. 冉 itself though seems to have several definitions none of which approximate scales...surname Ran, passing of time, tender, weak, proceed gradually...!?

Posted on: Weighing Yourself on the Street

the etymology of 秤 is a little surprising. It comprises of the radical 禾...grain...no surprise there as I guess it's coming from grain being weighed on a set of scales. But yellowbridge says this is a pictophonetic character and that 平 ping is providing the sound. Somewhat different to "cheng" in my mind..but I guess some characters have different readings. Pings meaning of "level" I would have thought could have contributed to the meaning here...leveling off the scales.

Posted on: All About the Lesson Content

thanks dunder. Jenny mentioned special audio equipment to appreciate the difference. Do you have special equipment? So I guess if you can hear the difference ...do you feel it helps your tones and pronunciation? ..your comprehension? Once again I guess I just need to try it..but I am curious how others feel about it/find it so thanks for your answer. :)

Posted on: All About the Lesson Content

I'm curious about how many poddies download the cd quality lessons. I only ever download the radio quality as I've found them fine, but I'm curious whether any poddies feel the cd quality makes a difference [I guess I could just try myself too].

Posted on: The Lazy Child

I haven't listened to that lesson dimijis. I don't think I'm in a position to explain it well. guo still seems to be an experienced action marker...so it's still asking if you've done it or not [ still referring to something in the past, even be it the recent past ]. le has many uses and in this case seems to be indicating a completed action. Trying to explain in terms of English is probably going to lead to problems but it calls to mind two expressions. "Have you eaten", and what you might say to a young child..."have you eaten it all up?", Maybe someone else can explain it better.

Posted on: The Lazy Child

good question mate. I really don't know. Adding the le somehow sounds more natural. Maybe the stinky tofu is a good example. It may be one thing to have started to try it..to chi gou .....but have you ever chi guo le?...[finished it off] hehe.

Posted on: The Lazy Child

I'll have a shot for you dimijis.

to me "chi le ma" is just asking if someone has eaten something....like their dinner for example. Adding the guo ..is basically asking them if they've ever had the experience of eating that thing. For example you might be talking about stinky tofu and you might ask you're mate if he/she has ever eaten stinky tofu "ni chi guo le ma? "

Posted on: The Lazy Child

Interesting article here:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-08/13/content_11148092.htm

Posted on: The Lazy Child

yeah, interesting question lydia. The age at which you can leave a child at home comes up from time to time here in Australia, but there is no specific age specified by the law, though of course there are laws governing parental responsibilities. Looks like the situation is similar in the US except for a couple of states, such as Maryland which apparently stipulates age 13. I'd be interested to hear the situation in China.

Posted on: The Lazy Child

Looks good to me carmel, though I'm no expert on grammar. At the very least what is entirely clear is your meaning.