User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Renting an Apartment through an Agent

Hi Chanelle

You ask a good question about payment - I assume you mean the one-off payment for the agent to find you a flat? You are not paying an agent an ongoing fee of 1500 a month surely? Anyway, I will stick first to how it works in Australia (most Western countries are similar in this respect.) The landlord and agent normally have a written contract and the landlord pays the agent a set % of rent received, monthly. The customer in the West does not normally pay anything directly to the agent for the search, but where this happens in China it is a 'search' fee. An implied contract does exist relating to this search, true, but the agent has few obligations to you. The agent has an incentive to get you to agree to the highest rent possible if they are then going to take an ongoing percentage. The agent's main responsibility (despite this search function) is still to the landlord.

Posted on: Some uses of 些

Thanks Zhenlijiang - you've been very helpful. I think I've reached my limit of learning on this topic!

Posted on: Some uses of 些

Thanks Jenny, appreciate your advice. One reason for my question is that there are sentences where 从 does not relate to distance and time; it is more generically 'from'. In these cases there is no clear starting point (eg. changye's examples above). But I should learn to stay within my capabilities - I have enough trouble with my primary school Chinese. :)

Posted on: Catching a Train

Stealing a position in line happens more often than in Australia, and yes it happens in supermarkets if the stakes are high enough (potential 15 - 20 minute wait at the checkout). Yes, on the road - bus beats car, big car beats small car, expensive car beats cheap car, etc. Re train travel, just consider buying your tickets part of your studies.

Posted on: Catching a Train

I was called 同志 once last year, by a stranger, an old guy about my age, who wanted to stop me taking a photo. He certainly caught my attention. :)

Posted on: Catching a Train

People often push in - security queues, taxi queues, at the bank, the post office, 等等，it takes its toll.  After a couple of years experience I believe that there is no point saying anything.  The best outcome is you start an argument and I am always going to lose.  I watched a queue argument at the supermarket that went for at least 10, maybe 15, minutes.  All the way to the check-out.  I don't have that many swear words.  Those arguments are much more fun to watch than be a party to.    

Recently lining up to check in at the airport a guy tried to walk past me in the queue and somehow without thinking (it might have been the big important looking bag I saw out of the corner of my eye, or just the accumulation of resentment from countless similar events) I elbowed him 'no look' right in the ribs as he passed.  Without saying a word.  He looked quite surprised that a mild-looking foreigner would turn to violence, but he also could not be absolutely sure that it was deliberate.  He quickly went and pushed in somewhere else, two or three queues along.  I really surprised myself and I'm not advocating this as a general approach.  

Posted on: Some uses of 些

我应该从这些播课中吸取教训 。。 :)

Thanks for those wonderful examples.

Excuse me if I am being a bit dim, but can I take it that (after all) there is a context where it would be possible to say

从这些QingWen播课z中[not里]，你最喜欢哪一个课？

I understand that Zhenlijiang and you have pointed me to the preferred expression, but it seems that there is a sense in which you are 'picking out' the best lesson .. maybe then you would need to use 选取 (to choose)

.. 你选取哪一个课？(.. which lesson do you choose?) Implied only that it is the one you like most.

Posted on: Renting an Apartment through an Agent

Your experience is interesting to others if somewhat painful for you!

The role of 'agent' is often mis-understood by people, and agents themselves do not go out of their way to explain things clearly. In fact the agent is legally the agent of the landlord - so they are contracted to act in the landlords interests. (There are rare exceptions in Australia - you can find a few 'agents' who will act for the consumer, but mostly for purchasing a house. I have never heard of a renter's agent.) So you should not expect an agent to act in your interest - it is indeed 'buyer' beware.

I have heard good stories and bad about agents - sometimes it is better to deal with an agent than a nasty landlord!

We negotiated our current place ourselves too - there were a few things we didn't understand properly but fortunately it has not proved to disadvantage us.

Our place was full of STUFF as well as furnishings - we had to spend quite a long time going through room to room saying what we wanted. Then they brought a truck along and took away what we didn't want.

One funny thing - the phone is still in the landlord's name. I go once a month to pay and they usually ask me: 'are you XXX (the land lord's name)? The first time i said 'yes' (thought it would simplify matters). So now I am always XXX. But there was a new guy once and when I said 'yes, I am XXX' - he said 'Wow - you have a real Chinese name!' (I think he may have said this as the family name is uncommon.) It took a lot for me to keep a straight face.

Posted on: Some uses of 些

Hi Zhenlijiang

The dictionary (I am travelling so I don't have my heavy paper dictionary) is electronic, actually several dictionaries. Usually reliable. I referred to the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary - it has several applications of 'out of' including the 'out of something' or 'obtained from something' - this does say to use 从 (表示来源), and one of the sample sentences translates as 'a romance straight out of a fairy tale'. I thought that this was a similar meaning to 'selecting your favourite lesson out of the QingWen podcasts'. Or 'we'll get the truth out of her' also uses 从。

The nuance .. well it might be all in my head. :) 'Out of all...' to me suggests considering each and every podcast and selecting the favourite, almost reluctantly because they are all so good. 'Among' and 'in' probably have the same meaning (now I think about it) but we would not use these words in English. That is my problem with seeing the 当中 and 在。。 之间 - they translate as 'in' or 'among' but this in not natural English. We would not say either:

In the QingWen podcasts, which is your favourite?

Among the QingWen podcasts, which is your favourite? - possibly, but it is not as good as:

Out of (all) the QingWen podcasts, which is your favourite?

Posted on: Some uses of 些

当众和当中是一样的意思 in my dictionary - we have found another error. I must say though that these English translations do not really catch the meaning of my original sentence. 'Among' is not usually the same as 'out of..' or at least not used in the same way. I guess that is another weakness of dictionaries - the nuances are hard to catch.