User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Language Exchange
July 14, 2009 at 2:43 AMHi johanchristersson and raygo
Raygo's explanation is very good. I would add that 跟紧 (to follow closely) is often used in the abstract sense of to emulate, to follow in the footsteps of. To raise a gruesome example, the number of people who starved in each province during the Great Leap Forward was directly related to the degree to which the provincial leadership 跟紧 Chairman Mao's irrational policies.
Also, 跟 is the noun "heel." You'll see it in the word 高跟鞋, high-heeled shoes. Please note the foot radical 足 on the left, and the phonetic 艮 hen4 which appears in such characters as 很 and 恨.
That's probably a lot for your liquor saturated brain to soak up now, johan, but we'll be here if you have any other questions ;-)
Posted on: China's Most Famous Tourist Destinations
July 14, 2009 at 1:24 AMHi rloh10
You are correct-- the character 藏 can also be read cang2, meaning "to conceal, to store."
There is a common misconception that the Chinese word for Tibet, 西藏 means "Western Treasure House." Some commentators even take this so far as to say it reveals the exploitative attitude of the Chinese toward Tibet.
Politics aside, there is no solid linguistic proof for this argument. The origin of the name is actually related to a nearby river, written Tsang in English. Many province names include a cardinal direction and a relevant bit of geography-- 江西，山东，河北， etc.
Posted on: Opening a Factory
July 13, 2009 at 9:22 AMHi mikeinewshot,
Jenny mentions 原材料 yuan2cai2liao4 raw materials.
In fact, the 了 here is wrapping up a hypothetical statement (假设） about a future event. Even better than your suggestion or my original translation would be to substitute "Once" for "If" at the beginning of the sentence.
I will make this change as soon as it is technically possible. Thanks for pointing this out.
Posted on: How're You Doing? 得
July 13, 2009 at 8:55 AMHi changye, janmusi and downunder2
Changye is correct about the subtle differences between 讲 and 说. His comments reminded me of an anecdote from ChinesePod's Jiaojie.
She is a native of Shanxi province, in north-central China, where the word 讲 has still kept its more formal tone, even implying a bit of talking down to or lecturing someone. When she first came to Shanghai, she was surprised to hear southerners saying things like 我跟你讲 which would come across as rather arrogant in her home area.
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪四
July 13, 2009 at 8:47 AMHi christine30550
You are correct about the difference between 监视 and 监控. A few other things that you can 监控 are 物价 (governments monitor and control the prices of goods-- some more than others :-) and 仪表 (the pilot of an airplane monitors the instruments and acts accordingly.)
Surveillance cameras 摄像头 are considered to 监控 an area, as they can sound an alarm in case of intruders.
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪四
July 13, 2009 at 2:39 AM被麒麟人改造的人到底张什么样子？
Posted on: 中国的股票市场
July 13, 2009 at 1:36 AMHi calicartel
We are aware of the problem with the pop-ups. In fact, the percentage of lessons with errors is falling, as new lessons are more accurate and complete than old ones like this one from three years ago.
西方所流行的那一套基础分析或技术分析法在中国也似乎毫无用武之地。
You are correct that 毫无 means "none at all, none whatsoever." 用武之地 is a chengyu that means "a favorable position or place for using your skills." Thus, the sentence means that the set of analytical techniques popular in the West are apparently useless in China. Or, more literally, there is no place at all in China in which they can be used.
I don't want to offer an excuse, but rather to explain the technical cause for these problems.The system for inputting and saving annotations is glitchy (it occasionally drops a word that was already saved, or substitutes a word for its homonym). We are working on repairing this system, and appreciate your patience. There may still be the occasional mistake, and I appreciate your bringing it to my attention so that I can correct it.
Posted on: How're You Doing? 得
July 11, 2009 at 1:05 AMHello all,
Courtesy of Connie, here are today's sentences:
Pete说中文说得很好。
Pete shuō zhòngwén shuō de hěn hǎo.
Pete speaks Chinese really well.
我打篮球打得很好。
Wǒ dǎ lánqiú dǎ de hěn hǎo.
I play basketball really well.
Connie说谎说得很好。
Connie shuōhuǎng shuō de hěn hǎo.
Connie lies really well.
我做菜做得很好。
Wǒ zuòcài zuò de hěn hǎo.
I cook really well.
菲尔普斯游泳游得很快。
Fěi’ěrpǔsī yóuyǒng yóu dehěn kuài.
[Michael] Phelps swims really fast.
他们唱歌唱得很好听。
Tāmen chànggē chàng de hěn hǎotīng.
They sing really beautifully.
我写汉字写得不怎么好。
Wǒ xiě Hànzì xiě de bù zěnme hǎo.
I don't write Chinese characters very well.
大家打字打得很快。
Dàjiā dǎzì dǎ de hěn kuài.
Everyone types really fast.
姚明篮球打得很好。
Yáo Míng lánqiú dǎ de hěn hǎo.
Yao Ming plays basketball really well.
你中文讲得很好。
Nǐ Zhōngwén jiǎng de hěn hǎo.
You speak Chinese really well.
哎呀，姚明打得很好。
Āiyā, Yáo Míng dǎ de hěn hǎo.
Ah wow, Yao Ming plays really well.
Connie, 你唱得真好。
Connie, nǐ chàng de zhēn hǎo.
Connie, you sing really well.
他中文说得很流利。
Tā Zhōngwén shuō de hěn liúlì.
He speaks Chinese very fluently.
我昨天睡得很晚。
Wǒ zuótiān shuì de hěn wǎn.
I went to sleep really late last night.
我起得很早。
Wǒ qǐ de hěn zǎo.
I got up really early.
Connie写字写得很好看。
Connie xiězì xiě de hěn hǎokàn.
Connie writes beautifully.
干得好！
Gàn de hǎo！
Well done! Nice job!
说得好！
Shuō de hǎo！
Well put! Well said!
说得对！
Shuō de duì！
You got that right!
我跳舞跳得很好。
Wǒ tiàowǔ tiào de hěn hǎo.
I dance really well.
其实呢，我跳舞跳得不好。
Qíshí ne, wǒ tiàowǔ tiào de bù hǎo.
Actually, I don't dance very well.
你们觉得这个请问录得怎么样？
Nǐmen juéde zhège qǐngwèn lù de zěnmeyàng?
How do you think we did with this "Qing Wen"?
录得很好。录得特别好。
Lù de hěn hǎo. Lù de tèbié hǎo.
We did a great job (lit. We recorded it very well.)
录得挺顺利的。
Lù de tǐng shùnlì de.
We recorded it very smoothly.
录得很开心。
Lù de hěn kāixīn.
We recorded it very happily.
我们希望你听得也很开心。
Wǒmen xīwàng nǐ tīng de yě hěn kāixīn.
We hope you're also listening happily.
Posted on: Language Exchange
July 14, 2009 at 5:47 AMHi jenny,
I would've thought of you as more of a Jeopardy! fan...
Back in college, <爱情列车> was my one-way Chinese language partner. Pretty terrible. But lots of good slang.