User Comments - light487

Posted on: Riding the Subway

@wxgcathy:

Thanks! I thought it was something to do with that. I think they are both quite pretty.. I think most Chinese women are quite pretty.. hehe.. :) I just didn't have anywhere to ask the question and show an example till now. :)

Posted on: Riding the Subway

Looks like they both had a lot of fun making that video! :)

Couple of unrelated questions:

1. Why is that Chinese girls always hold hands and link arms a lot when they are walking around together? I have noticed this a lot in Sydney as well. It's not something that non-Chinese teenage girls and young women do a lot.. it seems very common in Chinese women and girls.

2. This is going to sound really stupid but I have always been curious.. Jiaojie and Connie are very different in appearance. Do they come from different provinces? Or does their physical appearance have nothing to do with which part of China they are from? It's just that I have noticed that women from different parts of China "seem" to have certain appearances..

Posted on: Recovering a Cell Phone Number

Clay! 你好久不见！　你怎么样？

Posted on: 你好 (Nǐhǎo) is a Many-Splendored Thing

Ahh yes.. it's ownership.. doh! I was using the other 'de' rule.. *sigh*

Posted on: 你好 (Nǐhǎo) is a Many-Splendored Thing

Ahh.. I didn't think it looked right when I wrote it.. I've only just learned the way to ask about other person's family. How about:

Ni jiaren de pengyou zuijin zenmeyang? (Sorry no IME at work) To say: How is your friend's family doing?

Posted on: 你好 (Nǐhǎo) is a Many-Splendored Thing

Yeh.. what a great Qing Wen.. this is one I completely missed. If I find the time I'll have to go through all the old Qing Wen's..

Another way to ask someone how they have been is to say:
你最近身体好吗？
nǐ zuìjìn shēntǐ hǎo ma?

Which is literally: You recently health good?
Or in other words: How have you been lately?

Or you could say: nǐ zuìjìn gōngzuò hǎo ma?
Which is: How's work been lately?

I think avoiding the subject of someone's health, unless you really do want to know, is a good tip. Think about what answer you are wanting before you ask the question.. if it's just for small-talk, then you may want to ask them how their work has been lately rather than how their health is..

I think you could say: "nǐ zuìjìn jiārén hǎo ma?" as well, though I might have that one slightly wrong, to ask about their family.

Posted on: Lesson Preview, New Team Member

Last night I was practising my Chinese speaking with my tutor on Skype and as I was speaking, I was noticing that if I use too much emphasis on the tones I start to sound like an angry Japanese person from the movies.. :)

Posted on: Come on up!

Isn't it to do with the "two fourth tones together" rule? I can't remember how it goes exactly.. but I think it's similar to the "two third tones together" rule where the second one becomes more of a neutral sounding tone, even though it would still be written with the correct tone.. not sure.. sorry.

Posted on: Don't Never Say Never

@izzie26:
They are the sentences from the podcast.. just listen to the podcast for the english translations..

Posted on: Don't Never Say Never

Thanks I'll analyse it when I get home and can read the Hanzi.. I can pronounce the piniyin no problems.. but it means nothing till I can see the characters and use my Chinese Pera-Kun plugin for firefox..

Can obviously see understand the first bit: wo3 cong2lai2 bu4.. because it is still fresh in my mind from the lesson.. and of course shou1 bie2ren de.. but after that I start to get lost.. :)