User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Finishing Work for the Weekend

Thanks both Crystal and Changye,

I'm kind of disappointed, I thought there was something in there about extra work. Changye - if 加工 is a noun in the 'process' sense - would it be the 'process' itself? I have seen it used as an adjective 加工的. It must be an adjective in 加工店 - or is that a noun? (Here i am asking you about English grammar.)

Posted on: Snacks

The common word for potato in South West China is 洋芋 yángyù - 土豆 tǔdòu is not common but you would be understood. 洋芋 yángyù, 薯 shǔ and 土豆 tǔdòu are all used on the mainland. I would be interested to know if there is one dominant word. I would have said 土豆 (because I have used it in quite a few places) but my dictionary does not even list 土豆 under 'potato' (not promising). When I look up the Chinese dictionary it says 土豆 is dialect. I wonder if a word for potato has not settled because it is not native to China?

Posted on: Finishing Work for the Weekend

Can you help me with 加工 jiāgōng?  I had an idea that it meant overtime, or a second job, or either overtime or a part-time job, but I can't find support for this in my dictionaries.  Is it a verb or noun or both?  

I passed a shop on the way home with a sign [什么什么]加工店 shénme shénme jiāgōngdiàn (something something 加工 shop) but I that this is different again?  Some kind of processing going on?  

Posted on: 马丁· 路德 · 金

Thanks - I see your point. To a native speaker there is possibly little difference (even though they do have the 'k' sound in Chinese.) The point of transliteration is to make it easy for a native speaker to say, so there is no point us foreigners whingeing?

Posted on: Good Morning!

You would need to say 坐火车怎么样 zuò.. rather than just 火车怎么样 to convey the meaning you intend. As for 'always at the end'? .. I look forward to hearing the answer from someone else.

Posted on: New year, new lessons, and a reminder of new prices!

I think that Enid Blyton was fond of the word 'Gosh'. Seems that it is having a revival. :-)

Posted on: 马丁· 路德 · 金

It doesn't have 'ki' but it has a number of sounds that seem to me closer to 'king' than 金, eg. 吭 keng1. Ok, you have given an explanation for this one - but the fact that ki changed into ji in Chinese does not seem to me sufficient reason for using this sound as a transliteration. The point of transliteration is to imitate the sounds of the other language.

Many transliterations from English to Chinese seem to native English speakers so bad.. :-)

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

Okay, in the other lesson there are some answers to my questions. The lesson mixes up 叁八 and 三八, suggesting one is a mistake?

It says the new PRC in 1949 chose 8 March as Women's Day - but the explanation of the significance in the dialogue is ambiguous. It intimates that the demonstrations on this date '100 years ago' occurred in China and then people all round the world began celebrating changes to womens' rights on this day. But as I say, the dialogue is not exactly clear; I wonder if anyone can enlighten us? Ms Google?

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

I'd like to know why the complex form 叁 is used instead of 三， 叁八 instead of 叁捌？

Posted on: Meeting ChinesePod's Teachers

Barbs - I think 三八 is just the date, 8 March? Nothing sinister? Or are you suggesting something sinister in the choice of the date? If it is 'international' it seems unlikely that China chose the date to celebrate?