User Comments - jennyhow
jennyhow
Posted on: Going Dutch
March 13, 2008 at 10:15 PMHi everyone The "bill" (or check to our US friends) is a moot point nowadays. In fact going dutch is another alternate way. In UK the food in restuarants is SO expensive that it is costly for one person to bay the bill alone. We just divide bill by number of people IRRESPECTIVE of what you had (unless obvious difference). Whereas here in Korea the food is relativley cheap and roughly the same price and also that resturants are specific to same food so the bill is always equal and not expensive to even pay for several friends. If I go out with western friends we say BEFORE the start of rounds to the waiterress we would like to have seperate bills please. That way there is no embarassment. As we can leave when we want and just pay our amount. This doesn't stop extra drinks being bought as treats etc. So may I ask what is the Chinese for "seperate Bills Please" before we start ordering? Howard
Posted on: I Have Class
March 11, 2008 at 12:39 PMPlease everybody, there is no such thing as British English! only Bill Gates-ism. However the English spoken in the British Isles has the same grammitical construct and therefore we say (a) class because it is something you HAVE not DO which is apparently what you Americans mean. Therefore Class in UK is different from the Class in the US. There are many other examples when it comes to say, French/English The French use the word "default" meaning failure, whereas in English is means "a standard" so the same thing has happend accross the pond. The Americans have changed the usage of words. So CPod please take care when you give the translation. You are not dealing with like for like. Stop trying to taget your audience to only one of the 44 (at least) native English speaking countries. Try and use a "standard English " and NO I don't mean BBC, I mean one that we all can understand without being confused. Actually when I was at school (hmm long time ago) we said "we have a lesson" since it was a lesson we were having whereas class was the bunch of pupils taking the lesson. The teacher would say "good morning class 3B " etc. So it would have been impossible for us to say "we have class" because we were the class! maybe we could say we are class 3B etc. sorry to go on but the point is that teachers should be very careful of their target audience and as such need to understand that a simple sentence can have different meaning to different people. Howard97
Posted on: The First Tone
January 28, 2008 at 3:39 AMHi Americans put emphasis on the first word ie. HONG kong ICE cream wheras Brits tend to say hong KONG ice CREAM and these can be converted to tones However your results can be clouded by the fact that your friends could be in an environment whereby their accents have become dulled. But the point I was making and you have actually verifed this by saying that a single source can not represent CPODs mnemonic for Chinese tones. Howard97
Posted on: The First Tone
January 27, 2008 at 1:22 AMI also think "what" in English (non American) is more a 4th or 2nd. tones. The Americans tend to whine so to them 1st tone is like a whining kid retorting to his mothers request to do something. Please DON'T use English for analogies because American uses different speach tones. How to tell an American accent in 2 words? Ask them to say either "Hong Kong or Ice Cream" Then you realise American English and other (i,e. read the world) English are very different. Howard97
Posted on: Is someone in here?
January 19, 2008 at 7:46 AMDear Cpod could we have the Chinese for the following (British) English places Bathroom (place where you take a bath) Rest room (place where you take a rest nothing to do whatsoever with number 1 or 2's) Toilet (place where you do your toilette (as in French)) "Bog", "Stones" "Back" "yard" Please why are Americans so embarressed to say Toilet? Howard97
Posted on: Getting Your Hair Done
January 18, 2008 at 8:15 PMwhat is a "bang", "mullet"? What langauge are these? PLEASE can we have some ENGLISH translations on Cpod! Howard97
Posted on: Bumming a Smoke
January 14, 2008 at 8:34 AMIf this is a newbie lesson why are people showing off by sending their comments totally in Chinese? Howard97 PS I have no idea what "bumming a smoke" is either except something to do with bottoms? I am English but never heard that term used. Borrowing a fag maybe (hrrm!)
Posted on: Lost Cell Phone
January 14, 2008 at 12:54 AMRegarding roaming with Orange (UK) I have used my 'phone in Beijing, Shangai, Qingdao etc. and of course HK. BUT note that you have to have a "PLAN" with Orange not the "top-up" type.I also buy local SIM cards 100HK$ for a long time but only 6 months' "life" unless recharged of course. Regarding Stolen 'phones: All 'phones have a uniques serial number, therefore if the 'phone is stolen (in the UK) call the 'phone hot-line and they will diasable the phone so it just can't used at all. The only problem travellers have is here in bloody Korea where it's a CDMA system, however 3G phones work so "yer pays yer money and....." Also make sure your GSM 'phone is unlocked. Buying 'phones in HK ARE unlocked So it may be cheaper to get a 'phone in HK than to pay for unlocking fees in UK. Howard97
Posted on: Lost Cell Phone
January 11, 2008 at 7:08 AMsorry I mean out-with-THE-old in-with-THE-new howard97
Posted on: Baseball
March 24, 2008 at 1:15 PMsorry but who the fuck is ruth babe? is this a local game? howard97