User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Can't Get a Taxi

I think the most likely cause for a refusal is a shift change. Second, personal reasons. In Hangzhou (I lived there for about a year) I did not come across any zone problems (I don't think West Bus Station to West Lake would be a problem), but I rarely took a taxi. A final reason for conversation (common here) is discussion about the route. Like in Beijing they can ask 'Is it alright to take the Second Ring Road' or something like that. Because it is sometimes longer, but quicker. Here it is not unusual to get discussion about which way you want to go - the traffic is getting horrific. Also, no one likes saying 'no' in China, so a refusal to carry you in a taxi can be confusing because there may be a longish explanation (about a shift change) when in the West 'no' would suffice.

Posted on: Baby Talk: Friends Song

They are the same tones; and of course the second character, although different, sounds the same. Listen several times and the difference should come through to you. If not, keep listening, and sing along!

Posted on: Can't Get a Taxi

' our teacher starts the class by asking the students to briefly say what's going on in their lives on that day'

Often the 'small talk' is the most challenging, at least listening to other people's small talk. There are a million possible topics and it is likely you have no idea what the context is. My tutor started my last class telling me about a mass murder! I showed him a ChinesePod lesson to stimulate discussion; he glanced at it briefly and said ....'you know what happened just a few years ago around here.....?!! My homework is to read one of the murderer's last letters from gaol before his execution, and discuss... (the murderer is something of a celebrity)

Posted on: The 着 (zhe) Chronicles: Actions in Progress

在这里'着呢'是有点儿的意思对吧？

Posted on: Can't Get a Taxi

Please stop there - don't add your message to any more threads. Further posts will not encourage anybody to correspond with you - they just make everyone very unhappy.

Posted on: An Introduction!

Baba

'seems to have come from 扈'

Is it 扈 or 滬 （有三点？ ）You don't just mean the traditional form of the character?

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

But do you do it yourself (the essential feature of a laundromat in the West) or does someone do it for you - that is the question.

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

bump

People in far off lands will wonder what a 'laundry mat' is. Actually some places called it a laundrette,

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

Oh, okay - I wouldn't doubt that if you heard from the horse's mouth. It might be for anything that is owed to you (such as dry cleaning). I hope we hear confirmation one way or another.

Going back to your original sentence - you would in effect be asking someone to 'find/or give back what is owed' [in reference to your suit.] I am not at all sure of that structure - sorry, can't help.

Posted on: Hanukkah

小众 - my dictionaries have nothing either. I guess most literally it would be 'small crowd', maybe 'in-crowd'. In Australia we might refer to it as a sub-culture. But people I know who are probably a little bit different (eg. critical thinkers) actually refer to themselves as 小众人. You can use it to refer to a significant minority (but it does not go as far as a cult) - what casts them as a minority can be a whole host of different things. A radio station for example, or an artists studio, might employ a lot of people who could be described as 小众人. They might dress differently, have independent views, may be critical of various aspects of Chinese society. Not your mainstream Chinese. This is tentative - don't take it as gospel; all explained to me in Chinese so there a number of levels of potential misunderstanding. :)