User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Jason and Sarah

Jason,

No need for apologies...I was flattered you'd mix us up...I think it's bodawei that needs the apology.Just remember,I'm blahblahblahwan.Hey,I loved the Michigan America's High Five pic..not seen it before..very cool.

RJ,

I wonder if its a legal liability thing

..whaddya mean? Like from food poisoning? Is it shared in a similar way to Swiss Fondue[ultra cool for a dinner party]? Do you have that in the States?

orangina,

The words "hot" for spicy and "dry" for wine are from this system.

...superb nugget of info.I didn't know that.Thankyou.

Sarah,

then edited out for purposes of professionalism

..sounds like a blast.You'll have to release a bloopers podcast for a laugh.Actually I've noticed a few bloopers seem to have been deliberately left in for a laugh lately in some of the Praxis podcasts such as John recently saying something along the lines of we better edit that out about picking up from the police station.That or someone behind the scenes [gulam ,what are you up to?] is having a bit of a laugh.Anyhow,thanks,looking forward to that episode if you can find it.

Posted on: Do you like China?

shenyajin,

I would like to go to China but have no immediate plan.When I have expressed this using yao I was immediately asked when I was going..and it was conveyed to me that yao in this situation implied there was a definite plan whereas xiang just meant you were thinking about it/would like to go.Have a got the wrong message then? Are they really interchangeable in this situation to mean exactly the same thing?

Posted on: Jason and Sarah

Cool,2 intermediate lessons..nice unexpected surprise.

hehe...I loved Sarah's "or am I?" comment,and then her ducking off mid programme.It kinda reminded me of the Leadside episode of Get Smart "I can run but I can't walk".Jiayou Sarah. :)

Welcome Jason.Gotta dig out that Saturday Show yet.Does CPod not have it in the archives for us? Could serve as good inspiration.

Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取

xiaohu,

我得不同意你的看法

..No worries mate.Actually I wrote my comment in a bit of a hurry and should have been clearer.I half agree with you.On the modelling our speech side I certainly agree with you..we should be striving for the most native sound we can achieve and that's why I thought it was still very important to have native teachers in the mix.These are the one's we'd model our speech on.However,I was referring to the comprehension side when I said it wouldn't worry me if I was hearing Chinese with a foreign accent [Korean or otherwise].As long as we realised the speaker had a foreign accent and we approached it with a comprehension attitude and not a modelling attitude then that would be fine in my books.To illustrate what I'm trying to say,though I don't think Mandarin is close to this state of affairs ,I have read that by 2020 [I think that was the time predicted] it is expected that only 15% of English speakers will be native speakers.If one can only understand a native accent therefore one will not understand 85% of English speakers.How about if we poddies all met up in China and tried to communicate in Chinese and couldn't understand each other? Would we have to resort to English? Would it be bad for us to try to understand each other in Mandarin? Personally I think not.I think it's good to challenge our comprehension.Furthermore,there's obviously going to be quite a range of accents amongst the Chinese themselves.Dealing with this variation strikes me as an important skill.

tvan,

Did I really suggest Jenny is Korean? I think you're pulling my leg ,n'est pas?

Posted on: Using a Character Dictionary

loraleemacpike,

Thanks heaps.That one looks really interesting and just what I'm looking for.:)

Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取

would you be ok if Connie or Jenny spoke with a Korean or Japanese accent?

yep,as long as it was still readily understandable by native Chinese.I think a mix is great and hearing Chinese with different accents could actually be good.After all,John is not native Chinese but his teaching is awesome.Of course I'd definitely still want to hear some native accents in the mix.However,I can't see how this point relates to Liliana's English because we're not here at CPod to learn English.Her English is very easily understandable [don't think I've ever not understood a single word] so I don't see why accent should be an issue as the teaching is clear and her vibrant personality definitely adds an edge to the show.Jiayou Liliana.

I really liked the ending to this show where the summary was basically a test of how one would translate the English.Testing us at the end like that is a perfect way to see how much we've taken in the lesson and I'd really encourage more such endings.

Changye,

Thanks heaps for the etymology.Fantastic stuff and just the sort of thing I'm looking for. :)

Posted on: Finding a Street Number

bonjour asegal,comment allez vous?

Posted on: Finding a Street Number

siteng,

There is an irritating raspiness that is making me want to stop listening. Is anyone else having this problem?

..sorry mate,no, I haven't noticed that.However what I did notice was that John's voice sounded a tad hoarse 【in this and a couple of other recent lessons] and it made me wonder whether he had a touch of a cold.I hope it's just that and that he's not getting singers nodes 老师和播客者 are prone to.如果我说的对，我就祝John早日康复[其实，考虑到这个课程被记录在大概两个星期前面【我猜，呵呵】，我希望John已经全复】

Posted on: Finding a Street Number

Wow,fantastic lesson.Potentially mundane topic and covered before,but super useful in so many ways and great idea to go over these previously covered topics at higher levels [I suggest more of that,particularly for the high frequency situations,covering newbie,ellie topics but at higher levels again],and reinforcing vocab from recent lessons.Love the double le pattern,awesome teaching packed in grammar and underlying meanings.The 女人 sounded a tad 撒娇；你们同不同意？Actually it was also entertaining as it reminded me of a scene from the amazing race.Yeah,anyhow,useful tips re directions..not so easy I found when trying to find a back alley off a lane off a street off a road that the taxi drivers couldn't find despite a printout I had.I have a question though re 猪头 [literally pig head] which you guys translated as meaning idiot.In English when I think of someone being described as pigheaded I think more along the lines of being stubborn [unwilling to listen to anyone else,esp partner...some classic examples in the amazing race] ,obstinate..sure to a foolish degree.I take it that it doesn't quite have that implication here [and it's not like in the dialogue the guy was ignoring her advice]?

Good tip Matt.

aylish,

Has anybody else found that if you ask directions in China and the person clearly doesn't know, they don't simply tell you that they don't know, but will just make something up instead?

..put it this way..I have certainly heard that said several times before and I think your proferred explanation is the usual one as well.

Posted on: Capital Punishment

changye,

I love it.Yes,very easy to see.I really get a kick out of understanding these characters.Any further such posts will always be greatly appreciated.Well explained. :)