User Comments - helenshen_counselor

Posted on: How Long Has This Been Going On?

@carlos_in_irvine, I'm soooo sorry to make such mistake! I should have double checked! You are right "It's Gùgōng yǐjing yǒu liùbǎi duō nián de lìshǐ le."

Posted on: Job Interview

@bababardwan In China, there are indeed some questions like "do you have boyfriend?" I am just wondering, does that matter if I do have boyfriend? And your height and sometimes even weight are needed when filling out an application form. Is that a beauty pageant or an interview? Oh, we are lucky, no such thing happen in China, "There has also been a trend in the west to get people assessed by psychologists to determine suitability for a job", but dear baba, pls don't mention this ever again, employers would take it as next action.

Sometimes we'll have panel interview, but this is not to guard against discrimination, it's usually for some really important position, and one interviewer can not decide, maybe! I don't like the Chinese concept of "人脉", someone else' “人脉” always bring me some inconvenience, like cut in line...sooo many. And yes, this is totally new concept in China. As for the salary, more than 90% position being applied for would not be advertised, after the interview and according to the performance of the interviewee, the employer would decide how much they are going to offer.

Posted on: Job Interview

@luobinzhenmei, the "款" here has nothing to do with money, it's an abbreviation of “款式",pattern, style! “新款”，new arrival, 可以说，“新款服饰”，“新款腕表”，this “款", most of the time has something to do with fashion.

Posted on: How Long Has This Been Going On?

@carlos_in_irvine，exactly, "how long (distance)?"you can say, Nánjīng Lù duō cháng? and also Tā shuō le duōjiǔ? Yes, if we want to ask a person's age, we use "duo1 da4?", （this can be used to ask people in different ages） If they are kids, you can ask them "你几岁了？” nǐ jǐ suì le? And if they are senior people, or middle aged, it's better to show some respect like "您多大年纪了？” nín duōdà niánjì le?

For houses, we usually say "duō dà?", or “这房子多少平方”，zhè fángzi duōshǎo píngfāng，here, 平方 is square meter.

And for "old", we use different words, you're right, "He is old" Tā lǎo le or Tā nián jì dà, but to say "That house is old", "这座房子很旧” is more natural, zhè zuò fángzi hěn jiù

Posted on: How Long Has This Been Going On?

@carlos_in_irvine, "The Forbidden City is more than 600 years old." 你可以说，故宫已经有六百多年的历史了。Gùgōng yǐjing yǒu liùbǎi duōnián dìlì shǐ le

"The Forbidden City is around 600 years old." 故宫已经有大约六百年的历史了。Gùgōng yǐjing yǒu dàyuē liùbǎi nián dìlì shǐ le

"older than..."，when it's used to say people's age, you can say: “A比B大”，but here, you can not use this pattern，because they are two countries. "The Forbidden City is older than the United States"，故宫比美国的历史悠久。Gùgōng bǐ Měiguó de lìshǐ yōujiǔ。

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Tai Chi

@rash, it's correct to say "把胳膊慢慢举起来，再慢慢放下来". There are three "de", namely "的","得","地", it's a little bit confusing, sometimes even a Chinese guy can not tell the difference between the three.

For “地”，“把胳膊慢慢地举起来，再慢慢地放下来”，“地” is used for forming, like English -ly，eg, hěn kuài ∼ 很快地 very quickly，of course, 慢慢地，slowly.

Posted on: Baby Photos

@bodawei, yes, you are right, but we'll say "小弟弟" and "小妹妹" for strangers instead, eg. “这个小妹妹真漂亮”.

Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Tai Chi

@xuchen, you are supposed to distribute it, not eat it yourself! 我大学太极课差点就不及格了

@Pete, 你打太极拳么?

这就是大学普遍教授的太极拳。

Posted on: Baby Photos

@bodawei, in this situation, you can not say "弟弟” or "妹妹", because they might be totally strangers! These two words are used to address relatives(and maybe your friends' relatives), but only when you know for sure they are not strangers!

@junejune122009, there are two correct pronunciation for "照片", they are zhàopiàn and zhàopiānr, but sometimes people from the South will pronunce "zhàopiān", and this is also widely accepted.

Posted on: Delivery Problems

@dangrayson, it's not curse, of course. Most of the time, native speakers would put it really fast like: 你怎m这么说！You can hardly recognize there is a 么there! But everyone can understand that is "你怎么这么说".