User Comments - henning

Posted on: Traffic

Update: Mobile site runs again on my iPhone.

But I cannot access the video lesson - it just doesn't show up :(

Posted on: Changes on ChinesePod

frances,

with English (absolutely not my native language) I learned that sometimes us non-natives ardously mimic clumsy expressions, wrong word usage, or plain errors because they sound so unbelievable great to our ears - especially if the other non-native comes from the same country as oneself and the dictionary seemingly supports the choice of words.

I learned to check with google not only if an expression is used elsewhere but also where. If it is only in other German research papers I become suscpicious. Worst case: the one and only hit comes from...myself.

But, yes, just like you, I continue to mimic anyways in the hope that in total (and with a multitude of sources) I get more correct than incorrect input. :)

Posted on: Changes on ChinesePod

No, what (the always much too humbe) Auntie says is that the Advanced students here still do not nearly approach the correctness and elegance of even the most uneducated native speaker. This is especially true in Chinese which leaves a nimble speaker so many degrees of freedom.

There is one exception to the rule. And that is Changye. All native speakers I have shown his posts to pointed out that his writing is both elegant and without flaw.

Posted on: Traffic

Just checked: It works in the regular Firefox on the PC but on my iPhone all I get is a blank page. Other sites - including the main CPod site - are still fully accessible.

Maybe an issue with the meta tags?

Posted on: Traffic

As the mobile site is still down I could not check how this looks on the iPhone...

Posted on: Traffic

Looks nice & professional and it definately shows the effort and dedication that has gone into it.

But couldn't the same effect be achieved (less impressively but maybe more cost-efficiently) by providing a static image with some hot spots? Or flashcards with pictures instead of English words? Did I hear someone whisper "Rosetta Stone"? No? OK, never mind. :P

Curious: How do you plan to approach higher level content?

Posted on: The My Minefield

hape,

it seems to have changed over the years. My wife (from Beijing) originally also taught me that 老婆 is the equivalent to "Weib" in German, a slightly disrespectul term used primarily by uneducated peasants. The word my wife preferred was 妻子.

But now 老公 and 老婆 are obviously used all over the place (on the mainland) - I even saw boyfriends/girlfriends address each other with that term.

Posted on: The My Minefield

Very interesting lesson.

It becomes even more fun when you add 咱们 ("inclusive we") into the equation.

我们公司 is not necessary 咱们公司.

Posted on: Chinese Birthdays and Local Hospitals

Amber! Congratulations!

DA is now only one show short of beating TSS in continuity!

Posted on: The 80/20 Rule

Thanks Amber.

Just discussed this with my collegue also - we came to the conclusion that 成本 is "cost" in the very business sense (i.e. a monetary measure for the consumption of ressources required for a defined purpose; a measure used primarily for calculation), while 费用 is more general "expenses" (reduction of monetary funds).

Actually in German we distinguish further between "Auszahlungen", "Ausgaben", "Aufwand", and "Kosten" but as there are not even established equivalents for those terms in English that we know of, we did not to come up with a Chinese translation.