User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: An Introduction!

Thanks Jason, I look forward to learning more. This Wiki does not support my 'theory' that Shanghaihua and Hangzhouhua might be mutually intelligible because say 80% is Putonghua. Furthermore, both are unintelligible to Mandarin speakers. So their mutual intelligibility must rely on the non-Putonghua parts being mutually intelligible.

The matter must be complicated by for example a Hangzhouren choosing to speak either Putonghua, Hangzhouhua or a combination of the two.

Posted on: An Introduction!

All the Shanghaihua I know is:

Nong wei gang pu tong wa va? (Can you speak Putonghua?)

I am looking forward to learning more. :)

Posted on: Daddy Changes a Diaper

Ai yah yah! Disposable nappies (I can't bring myself to say d.....s) 'introduced around the 1950s'! God I feel old. Catherine, my children were born in 1979 and 1983 and I don't recall using disposable nappies even then. I would object on environmental grounds - by the time they became popular in the 1980s they were making a massive contribution to the shortage of landfill!

Posted on: An Introduction!

Hi Jason. What does the term 'mutually intelligible' mean? Forgive my ignorance of basic linguistics. Does it mean the same as mutually comprehensible? For instance, are you saying that a person speaking Shanghaihua can be understood by a speaker of Hangzhouhua, and vice versa? (They sound quite different to me, but I speak neither.) I realise that they are the same language group but I would like to know how close is close. Is it the case that the content that both can understand is what both languages have in common with 普通话?

Posted on: Defining a Dashboard and Upcoming Lessons!

I like Amanda's idea of keeping a notebook - I started one on 3 October 2006 and now I have a number of notebooks that are combination text book, dictionary, travelogue and autograph book. I still use them a lot, writing down the names of people I meet, new expressions etc. Often I get other people to write in my book - and they enjoy flipping through what other people have written.

Posted on: Defining a Dashboard and Upcoming Lessons!

The main problem ChinesePod faces right now is how to restore communication!  (Ironic for a language learning site.)  I am reminded of the Bible story about the Tower of Babel where God caused the people to speak in mutually incomprehensible languages (I hope I remember correctly.) There are now at least a dozen separate places on this site discussing the new Dashboard.    

Posted on: Kinds of Nuts

In Australia we say 'ow ya goin' mate?'

Transation: Hullo.. [not necessarily said to your friend].

Posted on: These Napkins Ain't Free

@haikewen

哈哈， 关于‘羊毛出在羊身上’我的词典说：比喻所得的好处实际来自于自身的付出。亦指转嫁名种负担。 媒人打夹帐，家人落背弓，陪堂讲谢礼，那羊毛出在羊身上，做了八百银子，将珍哥娶到家内。 （醒世姻缘传）第一回. 英语说： 'No such thing as a free lunch'.

Apologies for no pinyin and detailed translation - perhaps someone else can help? It says that the 'chengyu' means something along the lines that there is nothing free, and then illustrates this with reference to a matchmaker arrangement that turns out more expensive than expected. But I am sure I have missed some of the subtleties.

Posted on: Kinds of Nuts

Hi Suansuanru

Finding these in the lessons WOULD be amazing - is that what you mean by 'topics'? You saw these expressions in lessons?

You may find them in conversations by poddies; that is a different matter.

But I am talking about 情节 (the action, the plot, the circumstances) in lessons that are not realistic. 不真实的。 The odd colloquial expression does not make the scenario authentic.

Posted on: Kinds of Nuts

We might say 'To Whom It May Concern' - it sounds formal but it is used quite a lot.