User Comments - light487

Posted on: Pearl Tea

Less than 3 weeks now! :) 18 days! :) wooot! :)

Posted on: Pearl Tea

Well I was buying this yesterday and I did it almost all in Mandarin.. but what through me off the most was when she told me the price, which she got wrong incidentally.. She was saying "si kuai liu" but I was hearing "si kuai le" so I couldn't understand.. context may be king but in a real-world situation it's not always so simple. The real price was "si kuai" but in any case, it was this that I couldn't catch even after she kindly repeated it for me..

I order a "da bei" (large cup) most of the time.. :) Simply saying "da bei qiaokeli naicha" is enough to get my favourite milktea.. and then a quick "buyao" to the question about whether I want "zhenzhu" takes care of that :)

Posted on: I Miss Daddy!

I'll never fully understand Chinese sub-titles in TV and Movies because they almost never match what is being said... that's why I prefer Music Videos because at least the sub-titles directly match what is being said/sung.. I usually find it easier to turn them off and listen to the same parts of the movie/tv-show a few times..

Posted on: Personal Ad

There's this movie called "Sound of Colors" (or 地下鐵 in Chinese). It's a great film in my opinion though some might think it to be a bit weak and tiresome. It's of course a love story and stars Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and Miriam Yeung who are both great performers in their own right but together are wonderful in this movie. The reason I am mentioning it in this post is that the girl (who is blind incidentally) goes to see a match-making place to find a boyfriend.

You can read the full review here, though the review does tell you basically the entire storyline..

Sound of Colors (2003)

The DVD I have of this comes with Cantonese and Mandarin audio, as well as English, Simplified and Traditional character subtitles. Oh and what the review fails to touch on is some of the great art direction contained in this movie where we get to see a portrayal of what the girl perceives as the world around her in her imagination.

Posted on: I Miss Daddy!

Who's kid is in the photo? Is it a cPOD staff's kid? Or a stock photo from another site? :)

May I infer that 想 xiǎng when used in this context also has a connotation of "wanting" to be with that person due to xiǎng also having the meaning "to want"? And also to "wish" the person was with you due to it also meaning "to wish"? or am I reading too much into the character that can be used in multiple and, most importantly, separate contexts that do not warrant the same implied meanings?

Posted on: Taking it all off

摘    zhāi    /to take/to borrow/to pick (flowers, fruit etc)/to pluck/to select/to remove/to take off (glasses, hat etc)/

：）

Posted on: More News!

Hrmm.. if everything was in Chinese.. how could you learn anything if you didn't already know Chinese. There are Intermediate, Upper-Intermediate, Advanced, and Media lessons for those people who are already beyond the need for English translations and assistance.

At the Intermediate level (and also QingWen) there is a half-half mix of English-Chinese. Every level below that has more English, and everything above that has less English. I am at the Elementary level but I still get a lot from Intermediate and a lot from Newbie. I often see the Advanced learners learning from Newbie level lessons because ChinesePOD is different to many other web offerings, in that it also provides cultural context language not just standard textbook language.

Anyway, as Kevin_Zhong said, you can find out "for free" if ChinesePOD is going to be right for you because you have a full access account for 7 days with no limitations and no obligation.

Posted on: Evading Nosy Questions

@sushan:
If that is the case, it makes a lot of sense. I wonder where the Chinese Modesty comes into play in situations like this though..

Posted on: Evading Nosy Questions

Hrmm interesting discussion. I haven't really given it much thought other than I know it's not something people talk about. Another thing that makes it difficult to talk about is with "enterprise bargaining agreement" style contracts, where you may be getting paid more or less than the very person sitting next to you every day at work. They do exactly the same tasks as you do and have the same expectations placed on them as you do, yet you will get paid less or more based on these "bargained" contracts.

I have recently received a promotion within my own organisation and consequently received a payrise of $10,000 (Australian Dollars) annually over my last role but I still work in the same office as the people I just spent the last 12 months working next to. So the discussion of the payrise around them is something that I don't do because of the potential for envy to jeopardise my existing relationships with them. I've obviously told those people close to me who I know will only be happy for my winfall but it's a tender subject for many, especially in such bad ecnomonic times as we are in currently.

Posted on: Expired!

@rjberki

I did notice there was a new setting to turn the English off under the Lesson Settings, where you can also turn Traditional Characters on. It's that little cog wheel at the top of the discussion area.. may be have a look in there and see if the English is disabled for some reason.