User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Guided Plan Gets Better! Plus: Poetry is Pending

I am well aware that in terms of utility when it comes to language that's going to be used in everyday life,learning Chinese poetry is not going to be the most efficient way to go.But we already have over a thousand lessons at all levels for this and the number is growing.We still have new lessons for all levels each week.I think it's great that we are going to be offered a new dimension to explore.Not all learning is for utility.Some is for the shear joy of it.I am interested in all things Chinese;language,culture,etc.Thanks CPod for putting so much on offer and catering to the wide variety of interests out there.I think one has plenty to pick and choose from here.I struggle to understand why people don't just use the parts that appeal to them and skip the bits that don't.Sure if there are areas you're interested in but can see improvements then put in suggestions.But if you have no interest at all,there's plenty of other lessons on offer.I suppose I'm just more of a vote with my feet kind of person.

Licha,

I am very sorry if I have offended you in any way in any of my posts.I can assure you no offence has ever been intended.I wish you well.

Barto,

What great comments.I wish I had a fraction of your understanding of Chinese poetry to more fully appreciate what you are saying.The way I look at what you're saying is a bit like asking how one will explain the full appreciation of Shakespeare to all level of English learners.I think that would be a very tall ask to start with,especially given that many native speakers struggle with it.But if you can give them some insight,or at least spark an interest in some so inclined,you may have opened up something wonderful for them.There are several levels of appreciation of Shakespeare,but you have to start somewhere.I'm really hoping you will join in the poetry discussions and am particularly looking forward to your posts to help enlighten us all.Cheers mate :)

Posted on: The Broken Chair

wchan,

Thanks for the great examples.I stand corrected.Cheers :)

Posted on: Seeing Somebody to the Door

sushan,

Great story.Thanks for sharing.hmmm...seems there is more to this songing than first meets the eye.I take it your friend accompanied you through the restaurant in her pj's too.Was this taken as nothing to take notice of by the restaurant patrons...or had they left? What a thoughtful gesture.Seems they really look after their guests.Perhaps western culture could learn something from such great hospitality.

Posted on: The Broken Chair

matt_c,

恭喜恭喜你们 Matt.

[gong1xi3..congratulations

ni3men ....you plural ...Matt and wife ]

I think the request for pinyin and/or English is fair enough,and I certainly agree that we should respect whatever CPod decrees as being fitting,but to be fair to wchan and chistudent I think this request would have been very easily missed.In the 4 months I've been in the community,I may have missed it [and perhaps it may have been suggested by users before], but have only noticed these requests from CPod come in the last week [and only a few times at that].

I hope you enjoy your fruit/flower anniversary.

btw does anyone know if the Chinese have traditional gifts associated with each wedding anniversary? I'd be surprised if they didn't.

Posted on: The Broken Chair

chistudent and wchan,

re: "Dear all"

You certainly don't need to apologise to me [an ellie] ,and I fail to see that an apology is necessary to anyone at all.But all the same,you have both once again demonstrated what good characters you are.I think we're all very lucky to have the likes of you to enhance our community.Thankyou both.Cheers :)

Posted on: Guided Plan Gets Better! Plus: Poetry is Pending

Jiayou Pete.Looking forward to the new poetry show.Can't see that much attention has been paid in the past to poetry,so can't wait.Also,if it's anything like western poetry,it should be able to be digested line by line.

Not surprised by the double ellie/no newbie experiment.As you guys point out,there are tons of newbie lessons in the archives,and it must be hard to keep coming up with something original with a simple and limited vocab to work with.Personally I'm a bit relieved as I don't have time to go through all the old newbies as it is anyway,but hope to eventually all the same.I can't imagine that if you went through all the newbie lessons there are that you'd still be getting much new learning out of them.

Posted on: The Broken Chair

Thanks Pete,

Yeah;that's why I clumsily tried to make the point that this is my interpretation as a 外国人 ,as I can see the viewpoint you are referring to of a Han Chinese person on the inside.My point was really for other poddies and not really for wchan in whom I could see it was valid.I just wasn't sure that it would then be valid for other 外国人 to use it as a general word for person as they're building their vocab,and thought it may be worth pointing out for their benefit.Thanks again.

Posted on: Seeing Somebody to the Door

hehe;yeah,great tip Ken about not just going up to people and saying 我送你 wo3song4 ni3 [I send you].As a newish learner brimming with enthusiasm and champing at the bit for any opportunity to practice newly learnt Chinese phrases,I can imagine it being a trap for new players like me.

btw this is the same 送 that you use when you're shouting someone to dinner, right [or other gift giving]?

Posted on: Terrorized at the Airport

baiwenkai，

Actually,I was just being lazy on this occasion.I copied and pasted that sentence from the expansion examples [and when you do that you get the rollovers as in this case.I don't know how to add them myself...but would be glad if anyone told me how to do it ].I liked that sentence so much and it reminded me of superheros [I'm sure I've specifically heard some superhero say it but I couldn't quite recall exactly which one...anyone have any ideas on this?] so I thought I'd post it.

Posted on: The Broken Chair

wchan,

I'm just an ellie,so your Chinese is way more advanced than mine,and I'm not trying to nitpick,but for the sake of clarity for everyone ,my understanding of 汉 Han4 is that is refers specifically to Han Chinese people [the term having originated from the Han dynasty] and not to "person" in general [which would be ren2 人 ].As a wai4 guo2 ren2 外国人 ...foreigner,this minor difference is more apparent even though I'm sure you're aware of it and is likely a trivial oversight.Cheers :)