User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Amusement Park
August 4, 2009 at 5:07 AMHi all ,
Students at the Intermediate level should be comfortable reading Chinese characters, and with the valuable skill of looking them up in digital or print dictionaries.
In the lessons we provide the pinyin and English translations for your convenience. But in the discussions, sometimes people forget or can't be bothered to include pinyin, and that's OK. We push harder for pinyin at the Newbie and Ele levels.
As a staff member here, I include pinyin for rare words but not for full Chinese sentences.
If you have questions about how to pronounce a specific word or phrase, please do ask. We are delighted to help.
Posted on: Amusement Park
August 4, 2009 at 4:39 AMHi xiaophil,
"Churping" may be a portmanteau word like "chortle"-- which comes from "chuckle" and "snort."
Churping-- chuckling whilst burping?
Posted on: 80后民工开博炮轰城里人
August 4, 2009 at 3:39 AMHi changye,
晚上坐出租车特别容易丢手机，一不小心，它就从兜子里掉下来，很郁闷。我会定期的把要记住的手机号码抄一下，万一丢了，不会太麻烦，至少有最重要的人的联系方式。
Posted on: Amusement Park
August 4, 2009 at 2:33 AMHi tal
The close relation between the gall bladder and the emotions reminds me of the Western concepts of the "humors"-- black and yellow biles, phlegm and blood. The gall bladder stores the bitter bile, and so must somehow have reminded the ancients of moxie, nerve or, as you mention, guts.
Interestingly a story popular in Suzhou tells of the war between the 越 and 吴 kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn era. The initially defeated Yue leader slept on a bed of firewood and hung a gall bladder outside his tent to remind himself of the bitter taste of defeat. Eventually, he was able to stage a comeback, and emerged victorious. This is the origin of the phrase 卧薪尝胆 wo4xin1chang2dan3, lit: to sleep on firewood and taste the gall bladder, to harden oneself for struggle and toil.
Posted on: Are You Happy, Content, or Delighted?
August 4, 2009 at 2:25 AMHi bodawei,
Turnips go well in miso soup, too. But I haven't found a great way to prepare them plain.
Posted on: Amusement Park
August 4, 2009 at 1:58 AMHi all,
Thank you for your feedback on the exercises. We're glad to bring you this improvement, and we are going to keep coming up with even more good stuff.
And welcome back, Jenny!
Posted on: Are You Happy, Content, or Delighted?
August 3, 2009 at 8:43 AMHaha tvan, there have been times when people would be glad to get a turnip to eat.
When I was young we walked to school uphill both ways...And we liked it!
But seriously, you are correct, Amber did a great job getting the show up and running.
Posted on: Manila
August 3, 2009 at 7:23 AMHi themainman,
Welcome aboard.
Don't worry about bringing us anything, just enjoy your trip and we'll look forward to seeing you in Shanghai!
Posted on: Amusement Park
August 4, 2009 at 5:26 AMI have deleted the pinyin conversation. It was adding heat and not light to the discussion.
I have left my own (slightly edited) comment up because it is a concise summary of the way we hope CPod users will use pinyin in the discussions.
If anyone has a question, please contact me or matt_c directly. We will be happy to address your concerns.
Let's reserve these boards for discussion of lesson-related or at least Chinese-language/culture related issues.