User Comments - jennyzhu
jennyzhu
Posted on: Group Photo
January 28, 2008 at 6:30 AMMy dad's cigarette is a fixture in my family photos. He holds it like an accessory. My mom used to nag him about it all the time. Then, along came Photoshop. Now, my dad is simply handless in most photos.
Posted on: Cold from Biking
January 25, 2008 at 8:45 AMHenning, How was Hawaii? Welcome back!!
Posted on: Opening a Meeting
January 25, 2008 at 4:43 AMrobp59, Our lessons on Chinese new year or new year might help. They cover festive language, congratulatory remarks, but not specific to your need. I've always thought honesty to be the best policy, so you might want to admit that the most comprehensive Chinese podcast failed you on this big day. In Taiwan, end of the year dinner is called 尾牙/wei3 ya2, right?
Posted on: Cold from Biking
January 25, 2008 at 4:36 AMdarylk, 'Bo si te le' LOL. Andrewm, 和 isn't absolutely indispensible in many cases such as this, as it doesn't alter the meaning of the sentence. Yes, you can add those words without using 和。 Incidentally, I wear everything that you listed in your comment, plus a 口罩/kou3 zhao4/surgical mask. It is magic, once you block the cold air from your nose and mouth, you feel like in Hawaii (at least half of your face does).
Posted on: #34
January 24, 2008 at 9:06 AM朝三暮四 is probably one of the most misused 成语of all time. It was coined by Zhuangzi in a story about a man and his pet monkeys. He fed them 8 chustnets everyday, 4 in the morning, 4 in the evening. One day, he decided to cut spending and reduce 8 chustnets to 7. So he said to the monkeys, 'I am gonna give you 3 chestnuts in the morning, 4 in the evening.' The monkeys went ballistic, cause they would lose 1 chestnut. The man cleverly manipulated them and said 'how about I still give you 4 in the morning, but 3 for dinner?' That made the monkeys happy, they thought nothing would change since they'd still have 4 chestnuts for breakfast. That's the story behind 朝三暮四, which literally means 3 in the morning, 4 in the evening. The 成语tells us to be extra careful and gaurd ourselves against dirty tricks. But thhe usage got mixed up with a similar sounding chengyu, 朝秦暮楚, which means uncommitted, playing the field. Phew, can anyone follow?
Posted on: Evading Nosy Questions
January 24, 2008 at 4:13 AMI think 90% of the population are part timers for the Census Bureau.
Posted on: The First Tone
January 24, 2008 at 4:09 AMThis is the first of our tone series. The tone trio (the new nickname for Ken, John and myself) had a new year's resolution: to tackle tone-phobia. And we are really thrilled that you find the podcast helpful. For me, being observant about sound and mnemonic is key to grasping tones.
Posted on: 橄榄球在中国
January 22, 2008 at 6:21 AM我以前觉得橄榄球像打群架，写了这课以后发现这是种非常精彩、有技术含量的运动。
Posted on: Pedestrian Peril
January 20, 2008 at 3:15 PMsoulman2001au, When 'pedestrian' is used as an adjective, the translation is 平常、乏味.
Posted on: 橄榄球在中国
January 28, 2008 at 6:43 AMuser34695, Thank you for the extra help on vocab. Advanced lessons present some challenging but extremely fascinating vocab for all of us to chime in and interpret. Our Advanced Media lessons feature a wide range of current events and related discussion. Hope you enjoy those.