User Comments - light487

Posted on: Leaving Luggage with the Hotel

Yeh.. I do grow tired of the MS PinYin IME constantly choosing the wrong character for my needs. I have gotten to know what it does in a lot of cases and can anticipate its inability to comprehend the most basic sentence structure.. but I might have to give the Google one a try at some point because at least it will learn to know what I want..

MS Pinyin IME = tai2 ma2fan le! :)

Posted on: Leaving Luggage with the Hotel

I like the term "unit" for explaining measure words. A unit of milk, a unit of people, a unit of trees; 4 units of dogs, 6 units of books, 3 units of beer.. etc.

It's a generic term just like "ge" is a general term even though for some of the above, "ge" is not always the most correct measure word, it is the generic term that can be used if you're unsure.

The context will define what type of unit you are referring to.. so in the context of books (even though the correct measure is "ben"), people will know what you're talking about if you ask for liang ge shu in a bookstore (2 books)..

Posted on: Often: Using 常常，经常，通常 (chángcháng, jīngcháng, tōngcháng)

Hrmm.. spoken English is a little different to instructional English. Not sure it is specifically a Canadian thing as such. I would normally say words like that with the emphasis placed on the consonants and syllables where I would normally not place emphasis in daily speech. When I say Australia, I will say it as "Os-tray-ya" in daily speech but when I am explaining something to someone in an instructional way, I will take care to pronounce it correctly as "Os-tray-lee-ah" so there is no confusion over what I am saying.

I am thinking this is probably why she said it the way she did.

Posted on: More Chinese lessons, and now EnglishPod!

swimmers and jumpers.. yeh.. hehe.. :)

Posted on: Often: Using 常常，经常，通常 (chángcháng, jīngcháng, tōngcháng)

Which is more correct?

我常常每天抽点。。

我经常抽点。。

I assume that it is the second one but I am still unclear on the difference between changchang and jingchang.

For: I often have chocolate milk tea at lunch time, would that be:

我通常中午喝巧克力的奶茶。。

Or is there a better way to indicate lunch time? I can only really find ways to say the verb of having lunch, or the noun of lunch as a meal. I don't always have my lunch at noon.. so it's not really correct to say I always have the milk tea at noon/midday.

Also what is "not often"? Is that simply: 不常常，不通常，and 不经常?

Posted on: More Chinese lessons, and now EnglishPod!

I'm always hesitant to post comments over at EnglishPOD. I don't want to rock the boat with my own take on language because it's not my own pet project, and I am Australian rather than a global English speaker so not all of what I say might be relevant.

Posted on: Leaving Luggage with the Hotel

噢哟，真麻烦！ I could hear myself saying this one quite often but is it common for Chinese people to complain so openly about things of everyday life?

I would have put 哎呀 into the "oh no!!" or "oops" category rather than just a "ohh!" show of surprise/shock.

Posted on: Can you Speak Chinese?

Hehe.. I am always getting caught out by either adding extra words that seem like they should go in there, or leaving out extra words that I didn't think were needed for the phrases I am trying to create.

The basics of mandarin are very straightforward and easy.. but putting it all together is a bit of a nightmare sometimes.. fun and enjoyable as well as frustrating at the same time.

Posted on: Can you Speak Chinese?

Yeh.. hrmm I was sitting on teh train trying to work out this phrase today. I knew from memory that the ability to speak was huishuo, and that of course Chinese is zhongwen (or more properly putonghua) but I kept trying to force a "can" or "have" in there. For example: "CAN you speak mandarin?" or "Do you HAVE the ability to speak mandarin?".

So in the first instance I got "ni keyi huishuo putonghua ma?" and in the second I got "ni you huishuo putonghua ma?". However now I see that there's no need for this extra verb.. the "hui" seems to be sufficient all by itself. Have I missed something in the grammar here?

Posted on: No Need to Take off Your Shoes

Well I'll be the first to admit that my feet really stink when I first take my shoes off, especially after a hot day. I don't really feel embaress for myself but for the discomfort it will bring others, or in this case my gracious host.

I wonder how many awkward moments this "shoe-off" culture has caused. This is not a Chinese-only thing either. I remember growing up that it is reasonably common in Italian and Polish households, and even some Australian households as well but usually only the middle to upper class households.