User Comments - jennyzhu

Posted on: Wrapping a Gift

@theherbdoctor,

I think people in China would be sufficiently scared by a set of sharp knives as a wedding gift. Although indispensible in cooking, it's too easy to associate knives with killing. You want to stay away from giving knives as a gift in China. 

Posted on: Wrapping a Gift

@jimijames,

Yes, it's 被子/bèi zi/quilt. It's actually a must give wedding gift in China. The woman's parents usually buy it for the newly wed.

Posted on: A Charming Café in Shanghai

@quasifrog,

I have a jazz singer and a magazine editor coming up in 2 weeks. Very interesting people.

Posted on: Skiing, Not Ice Skating

@bodawei,

差不多 means 'more or less the same', 'no great difference'. I think what you are confused by is that 差不多 can have both positive and negative implications. In your example, my interpretation is that the shopkeepers means 'ok, I'll give it to you'.Now, that's a positive result. But quite often, 差不多 implies a compromise on standards. For example, you want things to be done to a certain standard, but people who work with you say '差不多就行了', which means 'that will do, no need to be so strict'. When quality and standards are involved, 差不多 often means a compromise and being slack.

Posted on: Skiing, Not Ice Skating

@scoldilocks88,

Jimijames is correct. But we use 滑旱冰/hua2 han4 bing1 and 旱冰鞋/han4 bing1 xie2 more than 轱辘鞋/gu1 lu xie2.

@jimijames,

Thank you for your help as always.

@mystic,

'Snowboarding' is 单板滑雪/dān bǎn huá xuě. 单板 means a 'singular board'. How graphic!

Posted on: 孔子标准像

pdy2kn9,

谢谢你！‘孔子标准像’的意思是一个标准的形象。因为谁也不知道孔子到底长什么样，这个课说的就是孔子基金会想定一个标准的孔子形象，以后一直用下去。　　

Posted on: The Dragonfly Experience

@de41546,

Many Chinese wouldn't even stand a typical Chinese massage. Your body is left more sore than before, but many people go for that pleasure and pain feeling.  

Posted on: The Dragonfly Experience

@bodawei,

谢谢你的鼓励！You might like this interview I did with a local charity organization Bean. Although set up by an American woman, Bean has a good mix of expats and locals who share the same goals. Their current president is a Chinese girl.

Posted on: A Charming Café in Shanghai

persimone,

煎饼果子jiānbǐng guǒzi  and 山东煎饼/shān dōng jiān bǐng are practically the same. There is a man making them outside our office. It's delicious, but slack on hygiene. 

Posted on: 奥巴马访华

@ouxiansheng,

你的听力真得很好！

@boxerduke33,

Thanks for your support! We are actually discussing making advanced lessons more frequent. I also think it' is a great means for advanced students to finetune their language skills.