User Comments - light487

Posted on: The New Site and the Guided Plan

I was too nervous to think about tones too much during the lesson. I just tried to remember the phrases and words I needed to string together. I have warned my teacher about my constant battle with the "de" particle but she met my doubt with enthusiasm saying that it's not as hard as I think it is. :)

Posted on: The New Site and the Guided Plan

Ok! :) I finished my first assessment. I must say that I was very excited till about 1 minute before then I was VERY nervous and scared to speak mandarin with someone for the first time properly. My teacher is very nice and helpful and most importantly, patient. It lasted for about 25 to 30 mins, and there were a couple of awkward moments when I couldn't remember my words that I wanted to say.

It starts off with just introduction and a couple of questions in English to get a little background about myself and what I have been doing to learn mandarin, and how long I spend learning each day. Then we get straight into testing to see what level I am at and what words I understand and can say. So she would ask me a question in mandarin and I would try to respond in mandarin.

So things like "What's your name?" "Nice to meet you" "Good Morning" "Good Afternoon", then on to things like "I am learning to speak Chinese" and things about "What I like", today's date, the time and other things that a Newbie may or may not know. I understood about 50% of what was said the first time through and may be 75% after it was repeated. I had heard the words, I just didn't immediately understand them. And making the sentences to reply is also a challenge.

So then we discussed what we would do in the month ahead and we decided on Time, Phone Calls, Office Related Stuff, Shopping, and Daily Life. I now how a 5 lesson per week, 4 week learning plan. Week one looks like this:

week1
1.Newbie - Working Time
2.Newbie - What time is it?
3.Newbie - Using a Credit Card
4.Newbie - Too expensive!
5.Newbie - Singing Ability

So I am to, at the very least, master these 5 lessons during week 1. I can of course branch out to other "related" lessons if I have the time but the point is to really focus on those 5 lessons. At the end of the month I will be tested on my progression on these topics. During the month I can always ask my teacher questions I have about the lessons and also about the discussion we had already today.

Anyway.. yeh.. I definitely feel that it is worth it. Now I have a plan and a goal to reach and I can still do it on my own terms in the time I have available. Obviously everyone is going to be different, with different needs, different time constraints, different things they want to get out of it. So each lesson plan will be unique and individually created for that person by their invidual teachers. Just wanted to share with you all what my experience was like and hopefully answer some questions about the Guided subscription by giving an example of what it is like.

I'm sure I have left out some of the stuff that was done.. oh yes.. there's one thing I did forget to mention. During the skype voice conversation, my teacher wrote pinyin in the text conversation as well, so I could see as well as hear what was being said. I'm sure that at higher levels the teachers will use Hanzi if you desire it though. Anyway.. I'll leave it at that for now.

Posted on: I Don't Have the Strength (... 不动）

Not sure about Zhilei.. but shílì means "example". Are you sure it is Zhilei? and which tones are they?

Posted on: The New Site and the Guided Plan

Is it possible to make the site let me know that I have a new teacher comment available? My guided counselor left a message fro me 16 hours ago on my Teacher Comments but I didn't even know it was there because there was no alert or new message icon showing me.

If I get a new Private Message, I assume the little envelope at the top will have a number next to it indicating how many new Private Messages I have but there doesn't seem to be one for when I have a new Teacher Comment waiting. If that is going to take a long time to implement, may be an email message can be sent or something in the meantime. Obviously I wouldn't want to be spammed with emails everytime a comment is left.. but something needs to be done to ensure I am aware that my teacher has left a message for me there.

Posted on: I Don't Have the Strength (... 不动）

Still no sipping sound.. very disappointing!

太。。。了 tài...le
I hear this useful phrase to make statements about extreme situations. In this dialogue it was used to describe Amber as being too heavy: 你太重了 Is this what was said? Whenever I write the zhòng character it ends up being chòng instead for some weird reason. In my book I see it is used to describe extreme weather.. like when it is freezing you would say: 太冷了！　When it is really really hot, you say: 太热了！

Amber is definitely not too heavy! :) I think you could double Connie and Amber together on the same bike, Clay! :) They are the equivalant of one person! :)

Posted on: The New Site and the Guided Plan

I'm already a Guided subscriber.. My counselor have arranged a time tomorrow to get on Skype and take part in a needs analysis and spoken initial testing. I'm really excited to begin this new level of learning for myself. I have been learning on the premium subscription for about 3 months now and while I am not quite properly elementary (almost) level I feel I am ready to start making things a little more structured.

I have always faired better with a little more structure and planning than just randomly learning things. Though I think it was important to get an idea of the language and see if I was going to stick with it or not. Now that I am sure I am going to stick with it, I need to get something more. I think it will work great and the price is very affordable without being excessive like the Executive plan is (for me). I don't think I need that level of structure yet.

Posted on: Barbecuing

We call them "kebabs", eg. chicken kebab, lamb kebab.. I guess it's a shortened and slightly altered form of Shishkebob. Sometimes they are referred to as "skewers", eg. chicken skewer, lamb skewer. The most common "skewers" I come across in Sydney are Prawn Skewers. And the most common "kebabs" I come across are Satay Chicken Kebabs, even though they are essentially the same thing it seems that if it has chicken or lamb on it, people more often call them Kebabs but if it has seafood on it, people more often call them Skewers.

Posted on: Aren't you.... （不是.... 吗）

That's one good thing about living in Sydney, the trip to China is only a few hours instead of 14+ hours! I checked the local flight centre prices while I was shopping for food tonight and it's only $1,000 for a round trip.. which means I could get it cheaper online if I shop around. When my home loan goes through in June, I should have a spare couple of grand to throw towards a 2 week vacation in China later this year.

It probably won't be until at least October/November but I hear that Autumn/Fall is a nice season to visit. I couldn't handle not going to cPOD at least once.. I wonder if they will let me hang out there for a day and see how things get done. By that time, I will have had a few lessons with my new Guided teacher, so it would be good to meet her face-to-face as well. Definitely going to go in the next 9 to 12 months, regardless.

Posted on: Barbecuing

The following is a list of "official" Ballroom Dancing styles:

International Style
    International Standard
    Slow Waltz - Tango - Viennese Waltz - Slow Foxtrot - Quickstep
    International Latin
    Cha Cha - Samba - Rumba - Paso Doble - Jive

American Style
    American Smooth
    Waltz - Tango - Foxtrot - Viennese Waltz
    American Rhythm
    Cha Cha - Rumba - East Coast Swing - Bolero - Mambo

Historical/Vintage Dance
    Waltz - Polka - Schottische - Tango - One-Step - Foxtrot

Posted on: Barbecuing

Waltz is fine.. but I think you mean "Ball Room Dancing" in general which includes the Waltz.