User Comments - pearltowerpete

Posted on: Learning the Lei Feng Song

Hi xigua2

The stories we tell about ourselves and our heroes reveal a lot. Despite all the talk of 5,000 years of history, the modern PRC is a very young country.

Before war and scandal kicked a lot of the idealism out of us, Americans loved syrupy stories about their founding fathers. Think of Mason Weems' George Washington-- "I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet." It's obviously a bunch of malarkey, but it was required reading for generations of young Americans.

Posted on: Stuffy Room

Hi jin1si1

Exactly right! It's so cool when poddies help each other out.

If the other person has not started their action, there's no need for the 了.

Posted on: Understanding 了解 (Liǎojiě) and 理解 (Lǐjiě)

Hi Adam,

Cheers! The atmsophere during Qing Wen tapings is lively and light. Jokes just seem to roll off our tonges.

Posted on: The Person Component

Hi poddies,

What other bodacious radicals would you like to see as guest stars on this rip-roaring new show?

Posted on: 普通人的慈善

Hi tgif

I actually translated the phrase as "the arena of wealth and fame." The idea was to capture the feeling of competition or one-up-manship.

I rejected "Vanity Fair" because it brings to mind the Thackeray novel, which might be confusing.

Posted on: Understanding 了解 (Liǎojiě) and 理解 (Lǐjiě)

Hi longdehua

I like your explanation of 理解 as theoretical understanding. 了解 is not necessarily deeper, just different-- it's when you understand someone's habits and preferences. As kanken helpfully explained, 理解and 了解 are not necessarily related.

Maybe we could say that they are non-overlapping magisteria ;-)  But you are right about the origins of our company name!

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 6: Up-and-Comer in the Office

Hi fangaili

Great question, and one that touches on a key issue in our design. We have considered listing parts of speech and multiple meanings of words in the vocab section, but ultimately decided against it. Parts of speech are not as useful to learners as good sample sentences and explanations of how to use new words.

Most of CPod's users have somewhat limited time in which to study Chinese, and so they place a premium on concision. So, another major aspect of our teaching method is that we provide just one main definition of each word. Ordinarily, this is the most common usage, i.e. the one that comes first in the dictionary. But if the word is used in a special way in the lesson, this may be discussed instead.

Our method has the obvious benefit of clarity, and of increasing the likelihood that a user who listens only to this particular lesson will learn the most likely definition for the new words. The obvious disadvantage is that the users may miss other valuable details about the word.

If your time is limited, you can study just the vocab terms as they are presented in the CPod vocab section. If you have a bit more time, I strongly recommend that you consult a good dictionary to flesh out your understanding of terms. Incidentally, this will include learning the word's part of speech.

Thanks again for your comments. The rest of the CPod team and I look forward to seeing you around on the forums.

Posted on: Table for Three

*Comment deleted by moderator

Posted on: How's the weather?

Hi myr_halcyon:

Great question. The best place to see and hear the differences for yourself is the pronunciation guide in the resource section.

Posted on: Stuffy Room

Hi bababardwan

I am a huge fan of a fresh breeze in the living room. And I sleep better at night if I'm snuggly under the blankets but the air in the room is freezing.