User Comments - light487

Posted on: Counterfeit Money

How about 你可以便宜点儿吗？ nǐ kěyǐ piányí diǎnr ma?

Would that also work? or is yours still the best way?

Also.. I checked the pronunciation thing and there is no "yan" in there. There's a severe lack of the y constanant (sp) to be honest..

Posted on: Counterfeit Money

Some pronunciation questions:
一共 yi1gong4 - When you say it in the dialogue and also in explanation you are pronouncing it as "je jong". But then when Jenny gives examples, she says it how I expected to hear it "ee jong". Am I missing something here?

验 yan4 - I keep hearing this pronounced as "y-ien".. I thought it was supposed to be "y-ahn". I know I am the learner but I just want to be sure of the pronunciation and if I am doing things wrong now, I need to know so I don't keep doing it wrong.

Also something I learnt when haggling is 讨价还价 tǎojià huànjià. Apparently this is quite a common usage thing. Since it's a more local/native-speaker thing, you might get a better reaction if you use it.. and hence cheaper final price. :) I think the usage might be something like "咱们讨价还价怎么演？“

Posted on: The DVD Vendor

Hrmm.. I am seeing some discrepancies in my own pronunciation of certain characters.. for example: 演 I wuld have thought this to be pronounce: "y-ahn" and in this podcast both John and Jenny pronounce it as "y-ien"..

Mmm.. I like this level a bit more now.. have to have the PDF open but yeh.. I like it a lot more..

Posted on: How YOU doin?

I think I would say wo hen hao de pengyou.. but I wouldn't say: wode hen hao de pengyou.. nor would I say: wode pengyou.. I would be worried about using: wo hao de pengyou.. because my silly brain says "hey! that's a single syllable adjective"..

I guess that as long as you get the message across, at least at this level of mandarin, it doesn't really matter that much. I think it is perfectly ok to make the mistake as we are not native speakers.. no one is going to slap you for it.. may be laugh.. but you won't be causing offense.

Also, I got a new phrase book the other day. It's quite a good one actually, published by LonelyPlanet. And there's a bunch of "Romance" topic phrases in there. Going from the very early stages of a relationship all the way to "home base".. some of these "home base" phrases are absolutely hilarious.. more so that they are in the book to start with than the actual phrases themselves... can you imagine pulling out your phrasebook at a moment like that? :) It might even bring about a response such as: Gang1cai2 zhen1 you3dian3 qi2guai4 (That was weird.).. lol

Here is my favourite pickup line from the book:
Ni3 zhang3de xiang4 wo3 bioa3mei4. (You look like some cousin of mine.).. Ha! :)

Posted on: How YOU doin?

@kingofmalkier

不是，我朋友在那儿。
bù shì, wǒ péngyou zài nàr.
No, my friend is over there.

wo de (我的） signifies "ownership" or "possession" of something. In this case you don't own your friend, or possess your friend. There is a Qing Wen about this.

You can find it here:
http://chinesepod.com/lessons/the-my-minefield

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Beijing

Wow that was a long one.. twice as long as most lessons. :) I'm glad that you did spend this long with this one because you are exactly right that it had a lot of useful things contained within.. :)

谢谢你

Posted on: Interview with Cassie

excuter - are you subscribed to News and Features Podcasts?

Posted on: Interview with Cassie

It seems modesty goes out the window when comparing the height.. ha! :) Connie is also one of my favourite ChinesePOD staffers. One big shame is that I might not get to meet with Clay.. another favourite.

Posted on: Interview with Cassie

I wonder if I will have worn out my welcome with ChinesePOD staff by the time I travel to Shanghai next year. It is my hope to see them at the start and again at the end of my trip, to see how much a month in China can improve on what I have already learned from ChinesePOD. However, I can understand if they are too busy for this.. it's not all fun and games. So may be once is enough to go there. I definitely want to meet them all at least once though..

Posted on: How's the weather?

Haha.. it may not have meant to be a funny lesson but the male acting is hilarious. Very typical of male.. ha! :) May be he has had a few pijiu already.. ha! :)

I always have trouble with the 1st tone. I either don't say it high enough to be distinctly different from the rest of the tones; don't hold the tone long enough; or I just sound strange (to myself). I know it's meant to be probably the easiest tone but 2nd and 4th are straightforward and with a bit of extra care the 3rd tone can be just as straightforward but the 1st.. always a problem.

Also.. with the "hǎo ā" (好啊) phrase.. I took that was being "hǎo'er" (好儿).. that is, the Beijing accent. How can you pick the difference? They are pretty much identical in the sound..