User Comments - jennyzhu
jennyzhu
Posted on: Sound Check
July 10, 2008 at 2:25 AMwolson,
A West Point alumnus!I I am so in awe! I think you'll like the Chinese name too: 西点军校/xi1 dian3/West Point. Such a straightfoward translation with military precision.
Posted on: Sound Check
July 9, 2008 at 6:16 AMWhile being or aspiring to be in a band is a rite of passage for college students in the States, perfecting card game skills is essential to college life in China.
On this note, if you are a college student who happens to like music and learn Chinese at the same time, you are very likely to be a TV star in China. There is a ' Chinese Proficiency Contest for College Students' going on in China.And it's in the form of a TV talent show where contestants sing Chinese folk or pop songs or perform crosstalk.
This clip is compilation of auditioning tapes. Pretty fun.
Posted on: 磁悬浮
July 8, 2008 at 5:29 AMDave,
While I've always treated your comments with respect, I don't think today's deserves any.
Posted on: 磁悬浮
July 8, 2008 at 5:28 AMShanghai feels very sci-fi to me, visually and technologically. You've got things like the maglev and cross river tunnel that has special sound and lighting effects (which is a bit kitsch but good fun).
Posted on: What will it be?
July 7, 2008 at 5:45 PMI am a pescetarian for the month of July. Speaking of which, there is no equivalent of the word in Chinese. The only way to express it is a description of what it means. Not very fun when you want to tell people that you are a pescetarian.
Posted on: The Mean Boss
July 4, 2008 at 5:50 AMThank you Johns. I used to worry whether we'd sound stale after so many lessons. But I have to say Ken and I have a wonderfully fresh energy in each podcast. He is the king of podcasting. Incidentally, also a fantastic 老板/lao3 ban3.
Posted on: Taking the HSK
July 3, 2008 at 2:55 AMThe Chinese are particularly skilled in test prep. The chain school New Oriental/新东方 was founded on the principle of sytematically training test takers to score highly in English tests such as TOEFL and GMAT. They have a feedback loop where students or staff who took those tests would report the questions back to the experienced academic team (most of whom seasoned test takers themselves), who would then design precise preparation. The problem with the approach though is it trains test takers rather than real language ability. However, the results are amazing which makes New Oriental the dominant player in the field and they are NASDAQ listed. But they were also sued by the ETS (Educational Testing Service）for unfair play.
Posted on: Internet is Down
July 12, 2008 at 5:17 PMpcmi,
No, we are not planning to make the lessons shorter. But there is a degree of variation within the level in terms of length and difficulty, because we often are 'in between' levels when learning a language. We also make a special effort to diversify format to best bring out the nuance of the language and make the lessons engaging. Today's lesson is an example of that. I'm beyond thrilled that you enjoy the banter between John and myself. Thank you!