User Comments - kettle
kettle
Posted on: Man or Woman?
September 3, 2007 at 8:44 PM22160, Thanks for the tip. That was exactly it. It's great to be able to type characters, but I'm still getting used to it. linguisticpotato, Thanks for the confirmation. I hadn't doubted my Chinese friends. But then as I was writing that comment I was thinking of Amber, Connie and Jenny talking about avatars and whether they were 漂亮 or not. I began to wonder... Also, does anyone know other words that are specific to women or men when talking about looks? 美 (mei3) or 娟 (juan1) or 优美 (you1mei3) or others? Is beauty/good looks an androgynous thing in China?
Posted on: All About 所有 (suǒyǒu) and 都 (dōu)
September 3, 2007 at 7:46 PMHi aeflow, Thanks so much for these responses. Your last post in particular really hit a lot of those basics that had become fuzzy to me after years of neglecting the language. Having the knowledge/ability to do something (会), as opposed to the ability/tools/resources/circumstances allowing you to do something (能) and then permission (可以). Still seems like there is quite a bit of overlap that could bring confusion with 要 and 想 in some instances, though. Still think it's all ripe for 请问。 Those grammar articles are great though. I haven't gotten used to checking there first with a question like this. Another great addition! Thanks again for your help aeflow. Much appreciated.
Posted on: Man or Woman?
September 3, 2007 at 7:09 PMBrings up an interesting cultural question (about use of 漂亮) and reminds me of some comments I got in Beijing in the early 1990s. I'm a man, but my hair was quite long (my old rock band days). People would sometimes call me 很漂亮 (hen piaoliang) and I was originally a bit offended, thinking they meant I looked like a woman. My Chinese friends, though, insisted this was a compliment for men as well, and that for a man to be pretty was admired. Is 漂亮 still used in this way? Should I have been offended? How are these sentences? (For some reason my computer won't let me type the character for female...) 我以为他们觉得我nu人，还是他们的意思是我长得象nu人。但是到底就是我糊涂了。 可以吗？ Sorry, another long post...
Posted on: All About 所有 (suǒyǒu) and 都 (dōu)
September 3, 2007 at 5:52 PMAgain, I apologize for the length of that post... In the future, I'll try to keep it under control... Thanks again Chinesepod!
Posted on: All About 所有 (suǒyǒu) and 都 (dōu)
September 3, 2007 at 5:46 PMHello Chinesepod folks, I've been meaning to write for a while to give huge kudos, but also ask a few questions. I haven't been sure where to ask these, but 请问 seems the perfect place. First, I am so glad I found you all. I had been struggling to relearn Chinese after a decade-and-a-half lapse. I was using just my old dictionary and some old flashcards. Then I stumbled upon Chinesepod! There's so much good to say! You're lifesavers. I love the regular lessons, and newer additions like 请问! And The Fix is extremely useful especially when driving. The range of topics - from the boring but useful, to the odd, disturbing and useful - is great. And the lessons that introduce more modern vocab (the internet, etc..) are great as well. For this same reason, even some of the simplest newbie lessons are worth giving a listen, to refresh old stuff but also for words and constructions that weren't being used in the language in the early 1990s. This has also raised one or two questions. For example, the lessons sometimes include questions that do not use the particle "吗" or other question constructions - they just raise their voice at the end of the sentence. This is entirely new to me and somewhat confusing, as it was drilled into me never to do this. How common is this and how long has it been going on? Have I just forgotten this was allowed? It seems like it could make things confusing. Another thing that I once thought I had down back in the day is the useage of 能， 会， 可以. But as I relearn perhaps some concentration on this would be useful. I think this could make a great 请问 episode, actually. In at least one instance (an older podcast, "Buying a car") 会 is also used where I would have expected another word (maybe 要?). The sentence was “如果你的薪水够高，你会买车吗?“ Before I heard the translation I thought this was an odd question, because I interpreted it as "If you made enough money, would you be able to buy a car?" But the translation was actually, "would you buy a car?" Are there other instances when 会 takes on this connotation of intention? And more fundamentally, 为什么他没说， “如果你的薪水够高，你要买车吗“ Sorry if this question has been asked before... and for such a long-winded post. Thanks again for such a great resource...Chinesepod is frickin amazing...
Posted on: All About 所有 (suǒyǒu) and 都 (dōu)
September 11, 2007 at 9:45 PMThanks Amber and wildyaks (and others) for your comments, clarifications and examples on 会, 要 in that sort of context. Extremely helpful. I guess this is why you all are always urging us to 上网 and get into the discussions? Thanks!