User Comments - catherinem

Posted on: Designing the New Apartment

@philipjd In the instance you have highlighted, 再说开放式厨房现在很流行的, the 的 is a part of an adjectival construction. (In this case we're describing something as fashionable or in vogue.)

Check out this episode of Qing Wen to learn all about the 是。。。的 construction. It should help clear up some of your questions.

Posted on: 人情消费

Perhaps in the future. That's a good suggestion. We've gone back and re-done the exercises for all the old lessons. The PDFs might take some time. Will let you know!

Posted on: A Cell Phone Ad on TV

As betaver says, this is an action （有） that has been completed. (you already have them).

Posted on: Cold Weather Is Coming

@tomduka There's no official starting place. Basically our lessons are divided by level. So if you feel that you're at the elementary level, you can listen to any of our elementary level lessons. They overlap and interconnect, but you can start with whichever ones interest you. Once you feel that you've got a grasp of elementary, you can take the elementary level test to get your score.

I always recommend listening to lessons above your level every once in a while. If something is too hard, just listen to it again. Also, on the left-hand side of your screen you will find "related lessons" and topics. These are useful links for finding lessons that will be related to the one you've just studied.

Feel free to get in touch via PM or email the team at support@praxislanguage.com if you want any help or suggestions!

Posted on: 不一样的《阿凡达》

@user34332 Podcasts are audio shows (we try to avoid the book on tape approach which, frankly, can be painfully boring). As such, we mix them with music in the background. This is a stylistic choice that we have made at this company. It has nothing to do with "sound engineers showing off," as you suggest.

We use the sound effects in the dialogs themselves to create an atmosphere in which our dialogs can unfold as naturally as possible. If you have a hard time understanding what is being said, I would recommend using the other resources we provide (in the dialog tab) to listen to each phrase line by line.

In addition I would like to remind you that our sound engineers are talented, hard-working individuals who do their best to enhance our users' learning experiences. Thanks for your input.

Posted on: Return to the Hometown

In China people use the same calendar as in the west for just about everything (working week/weekend etc.). The holidays are different. Because of the lunar cycle holidays don't always fall on the same calendar day. For example, Christmas is Dec. 25 each year. But Spring Festival in China can fall on days within a month of each other (this year the holiday started on Feb. 14, last year on Jan. 26.).

Each year the government sets the holidays/working days. These are then shared with the public and most if not all companies follow them (for example this year the government set the holiday for Spring Festival as Feb. 13-Feb. 19, with working days on Saturday and Sunday the 20th and 21st.)

Posted on: Happy year of the tiger!

This show was so much fun to record - the studio did get a little cramped, though!

Posted on: Return to the Hometown

春节愉快！It's already feeling lonely here in Shanghai... :(

Posted on: Return to the Hometown

It's all about the lunar calendar!!

Posted on: Mailing a Package at the Post Office

You could say: 我要去邮局取包裹。wo3yao1 qu4 you2ju2 qu3 bao1guo3. (I want to go to the post office to pick up a package).

If you're already at the post office, then:

我要取包裹. wo3yao1 qu3 bao1guo3