User Comments - maxiewawa
maxiewawa
Posted on: Pushy Insurance Salesman
August 22, 2007 at 10:55 AMWhenever someone calls me trying to sell me something I just practice some of my dialogues from Spanishsense.com . Someone on the other end speaking in a language you don't understand will make anyone hang up!
Posted on: Abducted by Aliens
August 20, 2007 at 6:17 AMHere's some language for you aliens out there, long neglected by the CPod writers; 带我去你的领导。 Take me to your leader. 反抗是没用的。 Resistance is useless. 消灭，消灭，消灭。 Exterminate, exterminate exterminate.
Posted on: 盗款买彩
August 10, 2007 at 9:40 AMhttp://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200708/20070810/article_326742.htm
Posted on: 盗款买彩
August 10, 2007 at 9:36 AM今天看到新闻:这两位被判死. http://www.danwei.org/front_page_of_the_day/emission_control_test_and_40_c.php 找不到中文的文章.
Posted on: Asking for English Books
August 10, 2007 at 9:28 AM... I just read your post again and I'm not sure if I answered the question you asked... Could you provide examples? I think I know what you mean, but I can't think of a situation where syllables would blur together like you describe. Or maybe you WERE asking the question I thought you were, and it's all 没问题.
Posted on: Asking for English Books
August 10, 2007 at 9:24 AMYanou, I understand your problem. I've actually spoken Chinese since I was a kid, but only become literate recently. Since learning pin-yin, I have found out that I have been pronouncing some words I learnt as an infant incorrectly, for 20 years or so, Usually in the way you just described. Even now, I don't know if 新, 星 or various other words have an 'n' or an 'ng', and when typing, I just keep typing until I see the character I need. Basically, what I'm saying is that most of the time if you fudge it no one will notice (unless everyone has just been being polite all these years, and tolerating my mistakes!) A strange thing is that if I learned a word AFTER becoming literate, I have no trouble remembering if it's '-n' or '-ng'. It's just the words that i picked up as a toddler that I can't get right. One final thing though, the vowel sound changes between 'yan' and 'yang', so that wouldn't be included in the n/ng problem. Other syllables that don't have changing vowel sounds are: 'Xin' and 'Xing', and 'yin' and 'ying' would be included.
Posted on: Asking for a Phone Number
August 7, 2007 at 10:55 PMI heard that 'yao' began as a military term, a little like 'niner' in English. 'yi' sounds so similar to 'qi' so they changed it.
Posted on: The DVD Vendor
August 7, 2007 at 10:37 AMI was expecting the customer to turn out to be an undercover policeman, like in The Drug Deal and Buying Black Market Weapons lessons. That would have been funny! 另外，我今天在听西班牙语课，按了iPod中间的按钮三次而看到对话。 对话出现了可是在最下面写着： For a full translation, plus grammar explanation and learning tools, visit ChinesePod.com. ¿Que? In each Spanishsense.com lesson, at the bottom of the dialogue, where it says "Visit Chinesepod.com for more info" in our Chinese podcasts, it says "Visit Chinesepod.com" instead of "Visit Spanishsense.com". I would have put a note at Spanishsense but I'd have to login and i still haven't registered. I thought this was the 2nd best place to let someone know about the mistake.
Posted on: Studying Japanese
August 7, 2007 at 2:07 AMI hate to be a dobber/rat/tattle-tale but I don't think bbbb8888さん's comment is in good taste. It simply says that Japan is better than China. Not very tactful either.
Posted on: I can't write it
August 23, 2007 at 3:13 AMThat's more a comment on English than Chinese. 会 ＝ can, 可以 = may, have permission to Remember the old joke? Student: Teacher, can I go to the toilet? Teacher: I don't know, can you? Teacher is pointing out the difference between 'can' and 'may'. What the Student should have said was 'may I go to the toilet?' It's just that in modern English, 'can' and 'may' are interchangeable. No such confusion in Chinese. 老师，我可不可以去上厕所？ 可以。