User Comments - paulinurus
paulinurus
Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China
October 30, 2010 at 1:25 PMOnce, I was at the VivoCity food court (after visiting Sentosa) lining up for "Yong Tau Fu". They cooked the items I selected and served in a bowl of soup. The cashier said “四块"，followed with something else which I didn't understand. She repeated several times, then frustrated said "算了". The chap behind me said "tray", and pointed to the stack of trays neatly hidden underneath the counter.
Yeah, it just takes one word not understood to cause some frustration and unpleasantness. I don't think 盘子 pan2zi has been covered in any of Cpod's lessons.
p.s. for those who is wondering what the dish "yong tau fu" is,... it is a well known Singapore hawker dish... grounded fish meat stuffed in all sorts of vegetables, served dry or with soup. I looked up and I think it is called 酿豆腐 niang4dou4fu) (
Posted on: Dealing with 管 (guan)
October 30, 2010 at 11:27 AMHehe, but ...how to say in Chinese? Maybe something like this...来给你硬币，就走吧，去找一个某人要管你的事.
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
October 30, 2010 at 5:21 AMWhoa! I posted the message as a comment in the News and Features where John and Catherine were mentioning about more overlapping lessons, and it appeared in this lesson. Another strange happening...beam me up Scottie!
Posted on: You've been everywhere!
October 30, 2010 at 5:11 AMMore overlapping lessons? I hope this doesn't mean more lessons such as the recent Elementary "You've Been Every Where" featuring the phrase .“去过”According to Cpod's search, there are already 52 podcasts containing this phrase. How much more overlapping lessons are necessary to teach such a phrase or other repeated phrases/vocabulary?
I would suggest that if the production team is running out of Elementary phrases to feature in the Elementary lessons, then perhaps the current Elementary level should be phased out, just like the Newbie lessons, and start Elementary level II with fresher vocabulary.
Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China
October 30, 2010 at 4:39 AMNo worries mate expressing your opinion on Cpod's spoken Mandarin. However, I hope you're off base, because if not, I'm emulating bad Mandarin. On the other hand, I'm thinking...who speaks standard English on TV? Ahh.. the Canadians, with their drunken ehs!
Posted on: Dealing with 管 (guan)
October 30, 2010 at 4:10 AMYeah, useful... can't wait to say 管他呢, "who cares" and if more clarification is needed, then say... 我不管 "I don't care", hehe.
Posted on: Exchange Rates
October 23, 2010 at 2:46 PMYeah, the exchange rates between yuan and European and North American currencies are getting more and more favourable for the yuan, and this trend is expected to continue. I read that the core problem is a cultural one.... chinese save 1/2 of their earnings while Americans and Canadians spend more than they earn. But not too worry... Chinese people are now starting to buy branded goods ...Rolex watches, Gucci bags, Italian clothings etc (just see some of the malls in Beijing!). Their time has come... expensive autos, houses, yachts, travels, fine dining and say within 20 to 50 years, we'll most likely see a reversal as history has shown of what's happened to Japan, Britain, and USA since their emerging eras.
Posted on: Exchange Rates
October 23, 2010 at 2:25 PMOuch! Not an American myself, but such mockery still stings. Coincidentally, there was a report this week that USA remains the biggest manufacturer in the world, exporting their planes (Boeing), cars (GM), elevators, semi conductors, drilling rigs, industrial and agricultural machineries (e.g. Caterpillars), pharmceuticals, chemicals, telecommunications , hi-tech systems, retailers (e.g. McDonalds, Walmarts,) and of course weapons. Although, the report did admit that if China were to revalue the yuan upwards, its total exports of clothes and household items could top in total over USA's exports.
Posted on: A Stroll through the Hutongs
October 21, 2010 at 12:03 PMThe Bell Tower hutong in Beijing is being preserved by the suthorities in that renovations are only allowed to the interior of a house and not the exterior. Looks to me some rich folks are moving into this area since I saw quite a few houses seemingly undergoing extemsive renovations. Would imagine these renovated houses will have their own toilets and not have to use the shared toilets outside.
Posted on: Job Shopping in Modern China
October 30, 2010 at 2:00 PMAfter listening to the dialogue and its context, I think it is more common to title this dialogue as "Job Hopping" 跳槽 instead of "Job Shopping", i.e. "Job Hopping In Modern China."
听说，独生子女当然这样的，能蹲在家里啃老！