User Comments - foleadu

Posted on: Farewell, Son 游子吟

Pete, fantastic work, both on the podcast and the amusing video (who knew that Elvis was so literate?).  I'm continually impressed by Cpod's willingness to try out new ideas.

Though I consider myself an upper-intermediate/advanced learner, I have zero knowledge of Chinese poetry (and little understanding of the context and history); however, you've definitely got me interested.  As others suggested above, I think the podcast can be extended, perhaps with more background about the poem/poet and discussion about how 'important' this poet/poem is (e.g. do many Chinese today know this poem?). 

Also, please dissect the poem and the characters a bit more. I'd like to know, for instance, is a '5 character'-per-line-poem a common form or meter?  Is there anything else about the style that we should know?  While the syntax would not be common in modern Chinese (at least spoken), perhaps you could point out useful characters and relate them to words we should know or give examples of modern 'replacements' for these characters/words.

The line by line translation in the podcast was extremely helpful.  Would it be useful to also add that to the website with the Chinese?  This may make the lesson more approachable for learners of all levels.

Last idea (I promise!) - why not add the reading of the poem to the 'dialogue' button on the audio player so we can listen to it on its own?

Continue the great work!

Posted on: Rating Restaurants on Dianping

I really like the recent lessons that introduce popular Chinese websites. Five years in China, and I'd never run across dianping. I'd like to see more of these sorts of lessons - very useful.

Posted on: The Boy That Cried Wolf

Hilarious - I almost fell off my chair when the 小男孩儿 popped up in the second telling.  You have some very creative people working there.

I suggest putting the story up as a transcript, in addition to the key words. 

I hope that in the future you use some Chinese stories and legends, rather than focus on common children's stories and Aesop's fables, etc.  Also, it would be great to hear some personal tales.

Posted on: Riding the Subway

These videos get better and better.  I really like the mix of verbs and nouns and how you used color to separate them. I'll bet you could do the same with other parts of speech and mix in some adjectives too.

I also like that we get to see different members of the Cpod crew.  Always a fun surprise to see who will be the star in the current video!

Posted on: At the Hair Salon

That was really well done.  I enjoyed watching the video as much for the language as for the cinematic value.  I love that Cpod has such high-quality content that it is blurring the line between education and entertainment. 

I hope you can do longer videos in the future.  There were many other relevant words that could have come up, like 剪刀，按摩，付钱，等.  However, if longer videos means sacrificing quality and speed, maybe not worth it.  Also, I realize these video lessons are geared towards Newbies and Elementary, so you don't want vocab overload.

I am surprised that the 'Related Lessons' links on the left do not link to any 'hair salon' lessons.  Are you still working on this 'related lessons' feature?  It seems like a really valueable tool.  How are those lessons chosen anyway?

Posted on: We're going to miss the plane!

出租车司机往往是这样的，我很急，怕赶不上火车或误飞机，但司机会说“放心，没问题”等。他的(她的)话安慰不了我.

By the way, in the Vocabulary there is a minor mistake.  The tones for 绕来绕去 seem wrong - I think 绕 should be fourth, not third tone.

Posted on: The 是...的 (Shì...de) Pattern

Very useful!  Love the rapport between you three!

Posted on: Jazz and China from a Different Perspective

Thanks s0395617.  That's gorgegous music.  I would love to get a copy if it is available.  Do the two of them perform live at all?

Posted on: Jazz and China from a Different Perspective

Hi daofeishi,

I don't know of any Chinese funk bands.  The Chinese bands in my area are mostly hard rock or pop-ish.  I definitely plan to go to the Shanghai jazz festival, and it looks like there might be a few local bands that fit into the jazz-rock mold.  Maybe a Shanghai or Beijing resident could let us know about some more bands and artists to check out?

Posted on: Jazz and China from a Different Perspective

Hi daofeishi,

Coco Zhao and the Possicobilities are a good place to start.  The singer is very well-known around China (and internationally I believe).

Also, just saw that there will be a jazz festival in Shanghai from Sept. 19 - 21.  A great way to check out the local musicians...