User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
April 7, 2009 at 9:25 AMHi pgwilliams,
Here you go. I share your preference for the traditional characters. When the PDF situation gets straightened out, this will be much more convenient.
泠泠七弦上，靜聽松風寒。
古調雖自愛，今人多不彈。
鳴箏金粟柱，素手玉房前。
欲得周郎顧，時時誤拂弦。
P.S. If you have Wenlin, you can convert the characters easily.
Hi executer,
Glad you enjoyed the show.
Hi bendidelaowai
I'd be curious to try a guzheng. I play the violin, and would be interested to learn the 二胡, but there never seems to be enough time. Thanks for your comments.
Hi haile22
You've come to the right place. Don't worry if you don't understand the poems right away. My goal here isn't for everyone to master the poems. I just hope that people will discover the beauty and sophistication of classical poetry.
Hi will,
Thanks for your generous comments, and for the link!
Posted on: The Double 了 (le) phenomenon
April 7, 2009 at 6:05 AMHi sebire
With the sentence 我喝酒了 you need to look at the context. This is what makes 了 so devilish for learners.
It can show completion (完成)
For example：
A: 你的嘴巴很臭！
B： 我喝酒了。
And it can also show a change (变化)，
A： 你们都喝饮料？
B: 那我喝酒了。（表示我要开始喝酒）
Posted on: 金字塔销售
April 7, 2009 at 5:45 AMHi missworldtraveler
There is no equivalent male expression for 芳 as it is used here. But when you ask someone's surname, you can ask 您贵姓, to give a bit of face.
Posted on: Getting a Driver's License
April 7, 2009 at 3:28 AMHi kuaihaizi,
Jiaojie explains that 还是懒得去 that means I'm still too lazy to go.
"马路杀手mǎlùshāshǒu" Some people can't drive well, and they get into accidents, so they're like “马路上的杀手”-- killers on the roads!
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
April 7, 2009 at 3:25 AMHi bababardwan
Thanks for your enthusiastic remarks.
Joy found these audio clips online. She gets all the credit for the polished sound of the final production.
The other proverb I mentioned was
曲高和寡 qǔgāohèguǎ， which means that the grander or more magnificent an idea, the fewer the people who can understand it. Please note the fourth tone pronunciation of 和.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Beijing
April 7, 2009 at 3:22 AMHi stanimal
例如 and 比如 are the same, but “比如” is more common in spoken Chinese. Thanks, Jiaojie, for the explanation.
Posted on: Stopped at the Gate
April 7, 2009 at 3:20 AMHi stanimal
嘛 is used to soften the tone. Thanks, gesang, for recommending this classic Qing Wen!
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 6: Up-and-Comer in the Office
April 7, 2009 at 2:54 AMHi ulymarrero
Used as it is at the end of the sentence, the 的 in 我会努力的 的 makes the statement more emphatic.
Culturally, this kind of empty phrase is very important. The point is to show modesty and an intention to keep working hard-- not in reference to a particular project.
Posted on: Table for Three
April 7, 2009 at 2:47 AMHi stanimal
I discussed this with Jiaojie.
左右 is only used after numbers.
他二十岁左右 Tā èrshí suì zuǒyòu. He's about twenty years old.
他身高一米八左右。
Tā shēngāo yī mǐ bā zuǒyòu. He's about 1.8 meters tall.
差不多 Can be used with verbs, adjectives and numbers.
火车差不多要到站了。Huǒchē chàbuduō yào dàozhàn le.The train is going to enter the station pretty soon.
他俩差不多高。
Tā liǎ chàbuduō gāo. The two of them are about the same height.
我学汉语差不多一年了。（快一年了）
Wǒ xuéhànyǔ chàbuduō yīniánle. I've studied Chinese for almost a year.
我学了一年左右汉语了。（”一年多“或者”不到一年“）
Wǒ xué le yīnián zuǒyòu hànyǔ le. I've studied Chinese for a bit more than a year, or not quite a year.
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
April 7, 2009 at 1:48 PMHi jola0011
Thanks for the feedback. I agree, traditional characters add a lot of depth. And I like bodawei's suggestion about calligraphy. Poddies have helped out by posting calligraphy/paintings on previous lessons. I'm not sure if we could find this for every poem, but it would be fun to try.
Hi xuchen
Keep on truckin! One of the best (and least-marketable) things about studying a foreign language is becoming able to appreciate its literature.
Hi lazypupil and graeme73
Thank you for listening and offering suggestions. Researching and writing this series takes about four to five hours per episode, and I have to fit it in with my other CPod duties. But I am delighted to discuss these poems in great detail, as long as people are not getting overwhelmed or bored.