User Comments - danjo
danjo
Posted on: The Drug Dealer
July 19, 2007 at 5:08 AM门徒 méntú (Protege) is a good Chinese film about the drug trade. Much of the vocabulary from this lesson is used in the film.
Posted on: #8
July 19, 2007 at 4:10 AMAlas, if only I knew what I was missing when I spurned Dave's love.... (sigh)
Posted on: #8
July 18, 2007 at 7:31 AMWhat was that word for "high-maintenance"? Any chance you're willing to leave a comment with the characters for the clues you give?
Posted on: #7
July 18, 2007 at 4:27 AMNo movie madness today? I was rather looking forward to it.
Posted on: Musical Instruments
July 17, 2007 at 2:34 PMI've been learning the 古筝 during my time in China, though with notably less enthusiasm after I found out it is normally for girls. For those unfamiliar with it, I did recently record my teacher playing a song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_fLUiLc6HM
Posted on: The Drug Dealer
July 17, 2007 at 2:29 PMMere hours after listening to this lesson today, I was walking down the street in my town and was handed this flyer - 毒品的危害, along with another that is titled 还品上瘾原因何在. Talk about practical, timely lessons. I'm going to study them for homework. It reminds me of another day there was a big set of posters in front of my school warning against 邪教 xiéjiào, cults or literally "evil religions." That would be an interesting lesson topic.
Posted on: Chinese Seasonings
July 15, 2007 at 3:03 PMChangye, As far as I know 丹 dan1 is usually used for girls' names ("Oh! My girlfriend's name is also 'dan'!"). Actually there are slightly positive "dan"s but I prefer self-deprecating humor and left them out. In my 饺子 jiǎozi eating experience the tradition is for them to provide a small plate, vinegar, and chili pepper sauce, and you dip the jiaozi into the mixture. I haven't heard a dialogue quite like this but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I very often see it on menus as 水饺 shuǐjiǎo, "boiled dumplings" I suppose, and then there are the relatively similar steamed stuffed buns, 包子 bāozi.
Posted on: Chinese Seasonings
July 15, 2007 at 6:15 AMLostInAsia, Check out the various "food" lists here: http://www.yellowbridge.com/language/wordlists.php There is also a good character dictionary and other resources at this site.
Posted on: Chinese Seasonings
July 15, 2007 at 4:14 AMWhen I had just started learning Chinese I wanted to know the various meanings of my first name, and was slightly disappointed: 淡 dan4 - plain, light (supplementary vocab in this lesson); weak, thin, insipid, pale (my character dictionary) 胆 dan3 - gall bladder; inside of a thermos bottle 单 dan1 - be single; be simple 蛋 dan4 - egg Although I do like explaining my English name as "Dan...坏蛋的蛋"
Posted on: Studying Japanese
July 19, 2007 at 6:42 AMIn my one of my lessons (I teach English at a college in the northwest of China) I wanted to talk about stereotypes and asked the students to describe people from certain countries. When I put "Japan" on the blackboard they gleefully shouted out every negative adjective they could think of ("cruel", "cunning", "short"). One of my classes also has to learn Japanese where apparently the teacher (who has never been to Japan) teaches things like Japanese women are oppressed. Japan has come up numerous times in conversation and so far 100% of the time the Chinese person has had strong negative feelings about the Japanese. Of course, no one where I live has ever met a Japanese person. It is disappointing to see such narrowness of opinion, in any situation.