User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Dialing a Nonlocal Phone Number

Good stuff as usual, language wise.  But.... :)

For authenticity reasons I should point out that if you call from a 中国电信 (China Telecom) landline, the message is exactly as in this lesson, and it is also given in English.  In fact the English message comes before the Chinese. (So if this guy in the dialogue is actually an English speaker he doesn't need to ask the question he asks.)  Please ChinesePod, keep it real.

It would be great to have some lessons on dealing with the many phone company messages that are NOT given in English.  Such as:

- the warnings provided when your bill needs to be paid, or

- the message when you ring up to find out how much money is left on your mobile.  Or

- a lesson on considering the type of service you wish to subscribe to, or maybe

- the various telephony companies that can provide a service.  Or

- the messages given when using a card for overseas calls.

Posted on: Dialing a Nonlocal Phone Number

Correction to the vocab:

中国联通 China Unicom

Posted on: What do Foreigners Like?

Hi mario

Don't feel bad about your faux-pax - just read on, this is an entertaining thread! You'll find useful tips for your own survival. :)

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

Hi Angelica

If you grew up in Taiwan you would know that the people there do not all think the same way. It is democratic after all? Amongst the older generation you find some who feel a strong affiliation with the mainland and quite a few retire to the mainland under arrangements that allow them to rediscover their roots. I am constantly surprised by the number of people from Taiwan I come across on the mainland - doing business, teaching in universities, re-settling in their old family towns.

'They're way more sophisticated' - ??? You don't think this is kind of a sweeping statement? :) It's okay .. I can see you feel strongly about this matter, but whole countries cannot properly be described as 'sophisticated'. :)

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

Hi xiaophil

If it is a 'black and white' story that you hear is it possible to post it here? I honestly have never heard it expressed in black and white terms, either officially (eg. trade and travel regulations, constantly being reviewed and changed) or unofficially.

Posted on: 长征

Mate, you are good. :)

This reminds me that chengyu (like English idioms) can be frequently misinterpreted and mis-used. I imagine in Chinese almost as much as they are in English.

The chengyu that I used above, in English, could be interpreted in a number of ways I think (I thought it meant that it is difficult to get to the real meaning of words), whereas the Mengzi quote (as you translate it) is something that cannot easily be mis-interpreted. And it conveys something much deeper than I had originally thought.

Thanks again for your time and effort on this.

Posted on: 长征

Thanks so much for that - I kind of suspected that 书面语 would be the way to go. I will also have a talk to my tutor about it - he works in the media and has a good feel for my reading abiliy; I'll see if he can help me through one or the other books you suggest.

I agree that newspapers are not much fun - I have been directed to 'life style' magazines; and they are a little more interesting than they sound. But I would like to understand more about the different styles.

Mengzi apparently said: 'words close, meaning far' - do you know which characters he used in this quote?

Posted on: 长征

Thanks for that mate. I think I would like to dabble in this. Will it help me read newspapers?

BTW I love how this site allows conversations with the ghosts.

Posted on: Where's the soap?

这个玩笑是好玩的因为两个理由：

1. 'where'和'wear'是同音异议词，所以句子有两个意思。 第一个意思，一块肥皂在那里？ 第二个意思‘如果用肥皂，肥皂磨损了’。 一个尼姑不明白。

2. 在澡盆里有两个尼姑一起玩儿，可笑的事情。

这是英国的特别幽默感。 xiaoliang是有趣的人， 对吧？

Posted on: Where's the soap?

On the contrary - while the meaning may not be clear to native speakers, this kind of humour is enthusiastically appreciated by Chinese people. From my experience they think puns are hillarious. I think that they would also love the picture of two nuns in a bath. Now you just need to translate it. :)