User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Street Argument

Thankyou for your reply Jenny,

Having listened to your excellent and entertaining podcasts every chance I get,I feel I am starting to hear the tones ok.I have a lot more trouble speaking the tones correctly as I don't get many opportunities to practice with native speakers.But my question relates more in how to remember long term which tones are used in each new piece of vocab.Am I right in presuming that very young Chinese children [before school age ] ,just pick up on the tones and aren't consciously specifically thinking of the tone number? At school age do they then get taught tone numbers? I'm just curious about this,but what is most relevent to me is how adult learners remember which tones are used in each new bit of vocab.I think it's great that in your podcasts ,at the breakdown,you often confirm what the tone numbers are and this is reinforced on the website.But having confirmed the tone numbers,I'm not sure I'm commiting to memory the numbers [I think I am for some though] which to me would be a more academic approach,but more memorising how it sounds ,which would be more of an intuitive approach [which as I've said is how I presume little kids do].So I'm interested in both what is most advisable for adult learners,and what most adult learners find works for them.Thanks again for your time.I hope this makes sense.

Posted on: Language Power Struggle

standuke wrote:

"I think "Chinese must be very hard for you" is an unfortunate linguistic phenomenon... Chinese are aware that Chinese is hard for foreigners to learn and they want to express concern/sympathy/interest when they make small talk.  It just never comes out right."

This is the way I would have interpreted it and I good explanation that rings true.

Posted on: Los Angeles

yeah,I've been wondering that.For the celebs ,I wonder if the transliteration comes from someone high up in the media.I'll be interested to find out too.

On the topics of names,I've come across a site that can convert a western name to Chinese for anyone that's interested: http://www.mandarintools.com/  .Just click on  the link to  Chinese  namer.I wonder if they use a tool like that.This particular one gives you some choice though which can be fun finding one you like.

Posted on: Street Argument

I have a question about remembering the tones.Sometimes I specifically try to put in memory what the tones are [ like chaojia is 3rd and 4th ].Other times I just try to remember what the word sounds like [perhaps more like remembering how a song is sung ].I'm sure Chinese kiddies do the latter when they're very young [and aren't walking around specifically thinking about the number of the tone].Does anyone have any advice on what is most advisable? Is it a case of whatever works for the individual ,or is it more of a case of everyone should specifically remember the number of the tones?

Posted on: Golf

eyux,

Thanks for your imagery of a xsection of a green for the tones in gaoerfu.A great way to remember them,and now I won't forget !

Posted on: Los Angeles

Thanks a lot Calkins,

Actually I think I heard Ken say that the fuwu was for service in another podcast ,but was wondering if it could be broken down further into the fu and wu ?

Fuwusheng does ring a bell;thanks heaps [and also for including the characters ].Do you know where this is used more and where fuwuyuan is used more ? [Perhaps fuwuyuan in Mainland China and fuwusheng in Taiwan ?]

ps how do you get the accent marks above the letters?

pps you must go to Taroko gorge when you're in Taiwan;piaoliang !

Posted on: Los Angeles

@Xiaohu,

yeah,great intro;congrats.

Speaking of fuwuyaun,I know that is the usual term that has been used on CPod for waiter/waitress.I met a Taiwanese person recently who said that there is another term more commonly used.It started with fuwu ,but had a different ending.Does anyone know what it may have been? Also any breakdown on fuwuyuan?

Another great lesson CPod,very relevent and interesting dialogue.

Posted on: Street Argument

@standuke,

Thanks for your take on this.Very interesting and the kind of insight I was looking for.Of course I realise that it is only human nature that people from all walks of life and all cultures argue,but it was the public nature of these arguments that I was not so sure about.Having never witnessed this myself I only had what I had read about Chinese frowning on public displays of anger.I was just postulating of course,and glad to be corrected.Here in Oz,I recently witnessed what at first appeared to be an argument with a taxi driver,and ended up actually being an attempted grand theft auto.The thief was high I think and took off in the taxi and was chased on foot by an uninvolved good Samaritan who caught up to the thief in the traffic and made a citizen's arrest. Like many others [I'm sure ] I had never witnessed this before anywhere.There was a huge crowd that stopped to witness this I can tell you.

Posted on: Best Friends

Thanks Chris.It's cool to know it  is  everywhere in Shanghai ,and thus the real deal.The only other Chinese beer I could find in Oz was  one called "lucky" which had lots of Chinese writing on it and was in a bottle shaped like Buddha ,so it looked great ,but reading the fine print showed it was made in Australia,which was a tad disappointing as I was looking for the genuine article.

Changye..thankyou.You are like a walking encyclopedia.I never would have guessed about the transliteration to German.

Posted on: Prescription Drugs and Overseas Chinese

yeah,I was surprised they hadn't picked up on the name.How did they overlook that? Maybe some intermediate person had transliterated the name into Mandarin?