User Comments - brendaninaus

Profile picture

brendaninaus

Posted on: Sydney, Australia
November 28, 2007 at 5:19 AM

Maybe Chinesepod had an effect on the recent Australian election. They do a lesson on Sydney just before we elected as prime minister someone fluent in Mandarin

Posted on: Finding the Teacher
October 10, 2007 at 8:32 AM

Are you guys trying to play with my mind? My exgirlfriend, who is probably the main reason why I started studying Chinese, is Shanghainese, she was studying at Uni of New South Wales in 2001 and her given name is Qi, which means jade. OK, her family name isn't Zhu and she doesn't look like Chinesepod's famous teacher, but it is still fraking me out.

Posted on: Saying Sorry
July 5, 2007 at 9:40 AM

A suggestion for a future Qingwen, I am a bit confused about when to use gen1 or he2 to mean the English "with". Are they interchangeable? I also find that sometimes dui4 and gei3 are used where in English I would use with. These terms usually translate to "for" or "to". Also, is there any difference between them?

Posted on: ChinesePod on the iPhone
July 5, 2007 at 9:40 AM

A suggestion for a future Qingwen, I am a bit confused about when to use gen1 or he2 to mean the English "with". Are they interchangeable? I also find that sometimes dui4 and gei3 are used where in English I would use with. These terms usually translate to "for" or "to". Also, is there any difference between them?

Posted on: She's Easy
June 28, 2007 at 8:32 AM

I had long hair when I went to China. I kept wondering why so many people wanted to cut it. I later learned why.

Posted on: Chinese Money Denominations
June 17, 2007 at 10:31 AM

From my travels (which at the moment is limited to a few Asian countries, outside Australia) coin collecting is pretty universal, and many touristy shops sell them, as well as markets. Often "proof sets" are available, but some of the ones at the markets might not be that proof. There are also many old coins from the ancient Chinese kingdoms. The Shanghai museum apparently has a great display of coins (although that part was closed for renovation when I visited it). As far as can you use Euros, I can not definitely answer that, but certainly across Asia, the greenback is still popular, and can often save you money if you do use them. The Australian dollars aren't accepted, but if you end up in the unfortunate situation of being robbed, as I did, the plastic notes that Australia uses confused my robbers, who thought it was monopoly money, so let me keep them (despite being worth much more than the Yuan I had on me).

Posted on: Going to the Museum
June 11, 2007 at 2:10 AM

I think you made a mistake in the expansion. It translates China as France. Also the sound for the "I did not go to school" sounds like "we went to school"