User Comments - kien

Posted on: Come on up!

Hi - on the difference between "yi" and "yao", I notice that "yi" seems to be used as an ordinal measure (e.g., first, second, third, fourth, etc), while "yao" is used as a cardinal measure (i.e., one, two, three, four, five).  In Chinese, "er", "san", "si", etc can be both ordinal and cardinal meanings, depending on the context.  To indicate clearly that an ordinal measure is intended, a Chinese would say "di er", "di san", "di si", etc (to mean 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc).

Perhaps John can confirm whether my distinction between "yi" and "yao" is correct?

It's interesting that in English, we seem to think about numbers primarily as cardinal measures (i.e. one, two, three); whereas in Chinese, we seem to be taught to refer to numbers primarily in their ordinal form (first, second, third).  I say this because a newbie would normally be taught to use "yi" (rather than "yao") to refer to "1".  I wonder whether this says something more fundamental about the difference between Chinese and Western world views.  Westerners organise the world by counting things (one, two, three), while Chinese organise the world by working out their relative positions (first, second, third).  Just a speculative observation.  Interested in what others think.

Posted on: Changes on ChinesePod

The change implies that ChinesePod is sufficiently well-established and can continue to attract new subscribers even on a paying basis. Congratulations to ChinesePod for this significant achievement.

It strikes me that ChinesePod is that very rare business that can both deliver commercial returns to its investors, and yet make a significant social contribution to society generally (including the ChinesePod community) and goodwill between nations.  I look forward to the day when I can be an investor in ChinesePod!

We should also acknowledge the tremendous contribution from the ChinesePod community.  I especially appreciate reading posts from Changye, Henning, Auntie68 and the many regular contributors.  It must take up so much time and effort to post so many comments, at such a consistently high quality, and often with such grace, courtesy and elegance.

I must not forget the people in ChinesePod.  I particularly appreciate the enthusiasm and grace they show, both in the podcasts and the posts.  I imagine there are many people in ChinesePod that have made significant contributions which are not visible, and thank them for all their efforts too.

Best wishes.

Posted on: Days of the week

Changye - you are a mine of knowledge. Thank you for responding to my post.

Posted on: Days of the week

I'm curious that the Chinese conveniently have 7 days in a week, and that the first day of the week corresponds to Monday, while xingqi "tian" refers to Sunday, which is a significant day for Christians. Has this always been the case, or did the Chinese adopt a 7 day week relatively recently (e.g., 20th century)?

Posted on: Relativity

ChinesePod is brave to tackle such a technical area of knowledge. If it is going down this path, may I suggest law. I would be interested in hearing some legal speak - e.g., contract, ownership, property rights, .... But if that is too boring, criminal law is always good fun. For example, does Chinese law distinguish between murder and manslaughter? Is intent usually necessary to establish criminal liability? How does Chinese law handle negilgence? What are the Chinese terms for prosecutor, defendant, barrister/solicitor, judge, jury (?), evidence? Does Chinese law have different standards of proof - e.g., "beyond reasonable doubt" (for criminal prosecution) vs "balance of probabilities") for civil action? Just a suggestion.

Posted on: Chinese New Year Plans

Happy new year ChinesePod and community. This is my second CNY as a ChinesePod subscriber.

Posted on: The Third Tone

On the subject of tones, are there any Chinese people who are "tone deaf"? Do tone deaf foreigners have difficulty learning Chinese?

Posted on: Singapore

Dear Auntie68 - you make me want to go and live in Singapore. The only thing stopping me is the humid climate. (That's why I left Malaysia for Australia!) Now, if there was a way to drag Singapore down south, to somewhere between Sydney and Melbourne, that would be wonderful.

Posted on: Sydney, Australia

In my first night in Sydney, I wandered around the Rocks looking for a meal, and came across two blokes walking along the street who seemed very happy and wanted me to have a drink with them. I'm afraid I didn't take up their kind offer, but thereafter decided that people in Sydney were very friendly. I've been in Sydney for 5 years now.

Posted on: Getting Reimbursed

Hi AZERDocMom - VAT refers to "value added tax". It is a tax on consumption, whereas income tax is a tax on income. I assume that in China, businesses must pay the tax authorities a VAT (e.g., 5%) on the value of the total "fapiao" issued by the business, say each month. Some business may prefer not to issue a "fapio" to avoid having to account to the tax authorities for the VAT. (Where this occurs, the transaction is part of the "black economy".) Alternatively, the business may charge a higher price if the customer asks for a "fapiao". Effectively, the business is collecting the VAT from the customer. [Disclaimer: I'm not an expert on Chinese VAT, just guessing how it would work.]