User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪五
August 17, 2009 at 1:24 AM中文的“到手的鸭子” 有一点类似于英文的“a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" 吧...
Posted on: Earlier and Later than Expected: 才and 就
August 15, 2009 at 1:03 AMHi all,
Courtesy of Connie, here are today's sentences.
你怎么这么晚才来？
Nǐ zěnme zhème wǎn cái lái;?
How come you came here so late?
你这么早就来了。
Nǐ zhème zǎojiù lái le.
You got here so early!
我昨天十点钟才睡觉。
Wǒ zuótiān shí diǎnzhōng cái shuìjiào.
I only got to bed at ten o'clock yesterday.
十点我就睡觉了。
Shí diǎn wǒ jiù shuìjiào le.
I went to sleep [at the early hour of] ten o'clock.
你怎么这么晚才回家？
Nǐ zěnme zhème wǎn cái huíjiā?
Why did you only come home so late?
有一天，他很早就回家了。
Yǒu yī tiān, tā hěn zǎojiù huíjiā le.
One day, he went home really early.
你今天这么早就回家了。
Nǐ jīntiān zhème zǎojiù huíjiā le.
You came home really early today.
做男人真难，早回家也不好，晚回家也不好。
Zuò nánrén zhēn nán, zǎo huíjiā yě bù hǎo, wǎn huíjiā yě bù hǎo.
It's really hard to be a man. It's no good if you go home early, or if you go home late.
飞机十点起飞，我九点才到机场。
Fēijī shí diǎnqǐ fēi, wǒ jiǔ diǎn cái dào jīchǎng.
The plane took off at ten o'clock, and I only got to the airport at nine.
飞机十点起飞，我六点就到机场了。
Fēijī shí diǎnqǐ fēi, wǒ liù diǎn jiù dào jīchǎng le.
The plane took off at ten o'clock, and I was at the airport [at the early hour of] six.
他们谈了十年恋爱才结婚。
Tāmen tán le shí nián liàn'ài cái jiéhūn.
They only got married after being a couple for ten years.
Pete学了一年中文，就已经说得很好了。
Pete xué le yī niánzhōng wén, jiù yǐjing shuōde hěn hǎole.
Pete only studied a year of Chinese, but he already speaks really well.
马上就到。
Mǎshàng jiù dào.
I'll be there right away.
我今天早上七点就到办公室了。
Wǒ jīntiān zǎoshang qī diǎn jiù dào bàngōngshì le.
I got in to the office at [the early hour of] seven o'clock this morning.
现在才八点，不会迟到的，慢慢来。
Xiànzài cái bā diǎn, bù huì chídào de, mànmàn lái.
It's only eight o'clock. We won't be late-- take your time.
现在才五点，你就下班了。
Xiànzài cái wǔ diǎn, nǐ jiù xiàbān le.
It's only five o'clock, and you've already gotten off work.
我早退了。
Wǒ zǎotuì le.
I knocked off work early.
我才学了一年中文，就已经说得很好了。
Wǒ cáixué le yī niánzhōng wén, jiù yǐjing shuōde hěn hǎo le.
I've only studied a year of Chinese, but I already speak really well.
Posted on: Is China Scary?
August 14, 2009 at 10:00 PMIrrelevant comment moved to public discussion board.
Please, folks, keep the free-ranging discussion off the lesson boards. These are for you to ask questions about lesson content.
Posted on: 小太监进宫四
August 14, 2009 at 9:58 PMHi golden_little_tiger85
The word 夸 can mean both "to exaggerate reality" (see 夸大） and "to praise." My guess is that the traditional Chinese attitude toward modesty and humility is coming into play here-- any praise or kind words could be seen as excessive, as an exaggeration of reality.People are supposed to respond to praise by demurring, mentioning their short-comings, etc.
When I was a teacher I remember telling one of my students' parents that her daughter's pronunciation was good, and she replied "很多人都那么夸她." That sounds at first a bit like she felt the praise was undeserved, but I believe it was more an expression of 谦虚 modesty. I certainly hope so, because otherwise it would be just a someowhat smug straight-up statement that a lot of people say the same thing... ;-)
Posted on: How many family members do you have?
August 13, 2009 at 3:44 AMDear Bellefly,
Thanks for a good question.
The lesson was written this way because the focus is on talking about how many people are in your family, not on their specific titles.
If you'd like to learn the names for various relatives, please see this lesson.
Posted on: Washing Dishes
August 13, 2009 at 12:03 AMEating and washing dishes were of the most memorable things about my time in the monastery. You would eat your rice and vegetables, and leave a bit of some leafy vegetable behind. Then, you pour some soup or tea into your bowl, use the leaf to wipe it out, and drink everything. Then you turn in the bowls, and there's no need to use any 洗洁精!
Kidding ;-)
Posted on: Heading Home
August 12, 2009 at 1:35 PMHi desluo929
You are correct. Here 不要+(verb) means "don't (verb).＂ It should be "Don't leave." I will repair this as soon as possible.
Thank you for noticing.
Posted on: 小太监进宫四
August 12, 2009 at 4:03 AMHi xiaophil,
对，我就是想讲一些具体的地名。
我们metonymy 用的稍微多一点，比如： Wall Street, the White House, Foggy Bottom, Hollywood, 等，这些地方都能代表一个概念，比如经济，行政部门，外交界，电影界等。但具体地名用的比较少。
Posted on: 小太监进宫四
August 12, 2009 at 3:15 AM对话里面讲到“稳如泰山。” 顾名思义，它的意思就是特别稳定。泰山就是山东省的一座山。
中文里很多其他成语和俗语也会提到泰山，如： 有眼不识泰山，泰山北斗，等。
我想问一下，听众朋友的母语会不会有类似的关于地理的说法？比如，日语会不会有很多讲富士山的俗语？我想了很久，英文好像没有吧...
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪五
August 17, 2009 at 2:19 AMHi xiaophil,
别伤心咯，我发现我们CPod 还挺喜欢搞cross-over, 说不定有一天老王就会去麒麟国玩儿呢！