User Comments - nicolas
nicolas
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 2, 2007 at 9:09 AMHi Changye, You are absolutely right. I just can't resist using other people own terms against them and show how easily they contradict themselves. I'll stop now as this game can be endless.
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 2, 2007 at 8:27 AMLunetta, an academic team ! what would it be of any help ? "if large group of people say something I would consider that to be correct language" :-)
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 2, 2007 at 7:53 AMlunetta, no issue with what you wrote. so your preference is: 1st.natives/locals 2d.dictionaries and grammar books 3d.foreigners who learn the language but who seriously could argue that learners should be put first, as a reliable source ? unless it is supposed to be a hilarious joke...
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 2, 2007 at 5:38 AMIn every language, you should rely : 1st. on dictionaries and grammar books, (which Kyle did to prove that he was right, didn't he ?) 2d. on natives/locals (who may make mistakes) 3d.on foreigners who learn the language (who are very likely to make mistakes) In every country, locals make mistakes in their own language For example, in French, "bring" can be said either of these two ways: "amener", in case you bring somebody with you "apporter", in case you bring something with you. However 80% of French people would say "amener something", which is wrong. You can also find Chinese people who make mistakes vs rules set by books and dictionaries Should I rely more on foreigners learning the language than natives for that reason ? Should I even pay attention to foreigners learning the language if I have easy access to reliable source of information ? Nonsense. So, where is the joke ?
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 1, 2007 at 12:06 PMsure Henning, you 3 did a great job clearing all ambiguities about the use of 把 :-))) the hell with grammar rules ! much more beautiful to go beyond them :-))) building up knowledge together and burining (?) into the brain... please nooo !!!! I need to improve my Chinese quickly !
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 1, 2007 at 2:15 AMThe beauty of group learning: Kyle: "Yeah, the 把 construction is certainly more 正式 (formal)". changye: "Kyle's explanation is [...]to the point" henning:"the 把-version [...]is definitely not formal." Kyle: "I also retract my statement that the 把 construction is formal. It's definitely neutral. However, in a lazy environment with friends it might not be used so often" to summary : 1.把 is more formal (kyle) 2.agree, it is more formal (changye) 3.no it is not (henning) 4.agree, it is not (kyle) 5.however it is (kyle)
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 30, 2007 at 10:00 AMooops .. I meant : "choice between reading "certain to be correct" Chinese and "likely to be incorrect" Chinese
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 30, 2007 at 9:58 AMWhen an intermediate learner writes "If you want to get a little more sophisticated, you can also use ...", I just skip the rest of the sentence, even if it may be correct. Once again, in a limited period of time available, if you have the choice between reading "certain to be correct" Chinese, why waste your time reading "likely to be incorrect" Chinese ? Otherwise, those who just copy and paste translations from a dictionnary, even if I don't see any value in doing so, at least it's not worse than useless.
Posted on: Li Yan's Diary: Love and Italian Food
September 30, 2007 at 6:01 AM@changye I'd rather that you get me wrong for the right reason than right for the wrong reason @richardsharpe ??? can you translate in Trad Chinese ? I may understand better what you just wrote @Kyle "Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, challenge those mistakes and ask questions" : agree with you. Is an intermediate learner qualified to teach ? certainly not.
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
October 2, 2007 at 10:14 AMlunetta, I wrote "I'll stop now as this game can be endless" ("as" meaning here "for fear") which shows my "liking for endless debates" ?! ;-) I promised I would stop but I could not resist this one.