User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Introduction to Pinyin

@john

You just intimated that the phonetic component helps - and then countered that with 'but it is not predictable'.  Exactly.  I hope I don't sound like a pedant but I find this really only helps if you ALREADY KNOW the word and mementarily have forgotten the pronunciation.  It is no use at all on a word you have not confronted before, in my experience.  It doesn't really help because the phonetic component is so unreliable, and because you still don't know which tone.

I wonder if this 'the phonetic component helps' is one of many Chinese myths - they hope if they repeat it often anough that people will believe it - you must have lived in China too long!  :-)

Like the meaning component - it does help when reading new material in the sense that context and meaning component can suggest what the word means.  But there are many false friends out there.  Do you agree?

Posted on: What is this called?

@janmusi

Yes, yes and yes.

Zhei(er) ge/nei(er) ge are less formal.

Posted on: Pin Number

@alwingate

You should have no problems getting cash at Chinese ATMs so long as the Chinese bank uses the same system as your American bank - look for say Cirrus, or Plus on the ATM. (Matching the brands Visa and Mastercard does not guarantee success in my experience.)  Whether it is a credit or debit card doesn't matter.  You can put cash on your credit card and use it like a debit card without incurring the usual interest charges, but check your bank for the way they charge debit versus credit cards.  Some Chinese ATMs issue dodgy receipts you can't read, or none at all.  Also, different Chinese banks have different limits per withdrawal, although the daily limit is set by your home bank.

Pete's problem is common now - important to tell your bank or they will save you from unauthorised withdrawals (even if it is you making the withdrawals!)

Posted on: Pin Number

Hi tanshuqi

It is always interesting to hear anecdotes from native Chinese about the language and culture. I don't know much about your home city; I have just passed through on the train I am afraid.  That is on my list of things to do. I was intrigued to read that in 1943 when Joseph Needham first went to Chongqing that the plane landed on a sandbank in the river, right in the heart of the capital.

My own experience in China (compared to my home town of Sydney) is that the use of stored value cards is much more prevalent (particularly for transport and supermarkets).  But the use of credit cards is low - much of the economy does not accomodate them at all.  And for the benefit of Westerners reading this, even when credit card use is available, 9 times out of 10 they do not take foreign cards.  I was surprised to find that even many high value transations (eg. uni fees) are exclusively cash.  My personal experience is that even where credit cards are accepted, most transactions are in cash.  It is even common to have wages paid in cash.  

Prior to the GFC the Chinese economy was considered to suffer from low level personal spending (matched by high savings).  China avoided the worst effects of the 'debt binge' in the West, much of which was credit card debt.  Of course now spending is the solution to the world recession, and in China it is still the Government doing most of the spending.

Posted on: Finally

I've begun to take these lessons for granted but it must be said: this is great work, CP team. 

As a teaching method it reminds me of the 'Oxford-style' which involves a teacher with perhaps a dozen students, possibly sitting around the teacher's study, fire going in the corner, together pulling apart just half a dozen lines from Burke or Freud.  ;-) Yeh, I know, wanker. Anyway, it is very rewarding to spend 15 or 20 minutes on just a few words and phrases, and still questions remain! 

To this point in time I have used 最后 in every situation calling for 'finally'。 现在除了最后以外可能用终于，总算，最终， 等等。  太好了。

Posted on: Pin Number

@shenyajin

哦，我忘了。 当然用信用卡在网上买东西，比如说买飞机票，很方便。 买别的东西还没有了。

Posted on: Pin Number

大概用信用卡是上海的现象，对不对？ (Perhaps using credit cards is a Shanghai phenomenon?) 

Posted on: Pin Number

Changye and Howard have both alerted us to the tautology in 'PIN number'.  It is, of course, simply a PIN.

Revenge of the pedants.

Posted on: 易中天《读城记》

@Pete

I like your analogy and completely agree..

The same friend prefaced his comments to me with '易中天 is very famous, but..'  :-) 

Sometime I'd like to get on to get on to some of the more ludicrous comments made about 成都！

BTW I really like this lesson because it amuses me.  But I feel like the guy laughing in all the wrong places.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Dongbei

This lesson is a great example of how poddies can refine the translation, and even though I argue for less translation I get SUCKED IN! 

So 大哥 is beuatifully translated by 'hun' and (may I suggest?) 'luv'.  For non-native english speakers it should be pointed out that these words are very commonly used by the waitress or shop assistant, although perhaps not where Paulinurus eats and shops.  They are short for 'honey' and 'love' respectively, and they are addressed to male and female alike in Australia, of all ages, like it or not.  It is definitely friendly and not intentionally disrespectful.  It won't happen if you are sitting in front of a white tablecloth but more's the pity.