User Comments - pchenery
pchenery
Posted on: Finally
June 20, 2009 at 6:16 PMThis is not related to "finally" but I always wondered about the difference between:
挣钱 zheng4qian2 (to make money)
赚钱 zhuan4qian2 (to make money)
Can the two be used inter-changeably ?
Posted on: Finally
June 20, 2009 at 6:11 PMThe last sentence of the lesson, there is 结果:
等了很久，很希望达到的结果出现了。
Děng le hěn jiǔ, hěn xīwàng dádào de jiéguǒ chūxiàn le
We waited a long time, and the result we hoped to attain has finally appeared.
Can we add this to our list of ways to express "finally" ?
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
June 4, 2009 at 10:47 PMI just recited this lesson to a Chinese friend to test my speaking ability. The good news is that she said that my pronunciation was perfect and she understood 100%. The bad news is that she was quite shocked with some of the language in the dialogue. I guess this is what makes CPOD unique amongst Chinese language podcasts.
Posted on: Boston
April 23, 2009 at 3:25 AMHi Pete,
I've lost count on the number of marathons, since I started running in 1995. 参加跑步比赛是为了减肥。
Boston's got almost as much interesting history as China, the Tea Party, Civil War and notable for its authors.
When I get healed from my latest stress fracture, I plan to do the Shanghai Marathon and take you guys out for beers after. 不醉不归
Posted on: Boston
April 23, 2009 at 3:09 AMWell, as a marathoner, I'm quite disappointed that the Boston Marathon (which was held this week on Patriots Day) was not in the dialogue. It is after all, the most famous sporting event in the City (yes, even more so than the Red Sox).
I ran it 5 times 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003. More than 1 Million people come out to watch it.
1996 was memorable, the 100th anniversary.
Pete, as a runner, don't you agree ?
Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song
April 10, 2009 at 2:33 AMmiantiao,
我绝对不是那个意思
the comment was intended to apply to both cultures
a significant percentage of our daily language usage involves "symbolic speak" which requires an in-depth understanding of the culture before you can understand the meaning
for example, I did not understand the real meaning of "你喜欢吃豆腐吗" 或者“你老婆给你戴绿帽子”...until a Chinese person explained it to me.
apologies to my Chinese poddies if my meaning was interpreted to be a "slight on their intelligence"...
it was intended to be in good fun, but thanks for pointing that issue out to me
Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song
April 9, 2009 at 3:39 AMI think they are quite smart, but not smart enough to discern the subtleties of hidden meanings in language. As an example, Lu Xun did this with great success in his writings, and was even praised by the government he criticized.
Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song
April 9, 2009 at 3:24 AMCPOD could do a political lesson "in disguise".
For example, create a fictitious place (like in the Ji Zhou series) just re-name some of the places, people and events, in order to avoid being censored. Euphemisims could be employed strategically too (which would be difficult for Chinese censors to translate and therefore difficult to determine censor-worthy status). Double-speak could be employed to maximum effect.
The Tianamen story could be labelled "The Tea In A Minute Messy Scare"...a story about spilling tea (as opposed to blood)..
CPOD could even do a story on the "Far Loose Gone" movement.
Creativity knows no bounds !
Posted on: Morning Hygiene
June 20, 2009 at 10:31 PMThis lesson is almost 3 years old. Perhaps most Chinese by now have adopted showering in the morning routine.