User Comments - podster
podster
Posted on: Does It Suit Me?
January 21, 2015 at 6:09 PM大小 means size in the sense of how big or little something is. 尺寸 means measurement and is used to refer to clothing sizes. Each of its constituent characters refers to a Chinese unit of measure, but the word itself just means "size" in a general sense when referring to clothing size.
Posted on: ChinesePod Jobs in New York! In Shanghai!
January 21, 2015 at 5:59 PMUmmm, did you notice that the posting was from June 9, 2013? Perhaps they already filled the position.
You might have better luck looking here: http://chinesepod.com/jobs
Posted on: House Hunting
January 20, 2015 at 1:36 AMmarek, I think you can ignore the "reception hall" thing in this lesson. They should not have put it in the vocabulary list since its irrelevant in this context, at least as far as the dialog goes. But . . since you ask, as far as I know nobody in the English speaking countries has a "reception hall" in their home. At least nobody in my socio-economic stratum. Maybe someone with a Scottish castle will weigh in to correct me.
You might be surprised to know that there are lots of apartments in China with no living room or common gathering area whatsoever. That's why the landlord in the dialog refers to the 一厅 (yi1ting1) "a living room" feature. I haven't heard of 两厅， 三厅 (two "ting", three "ting") but I supposed you could have a den or a study, along with a living room. A dining room would be a 餐厅 can1ting1, although in practice I suppose if your apartment is 两室一厅 then your "living room" is also your dining room。
I'm not sure but in other English-speaking countries you may hear a living room described as a parlor. I heard that in the US parlors used to be used for wakes (where the body of the deceased would be placed prior to the funeral.) Now that role is filled by "funeral parlors" and the real estate industry upgraded the nomenclature to avoid the association with wakes. Get those dead people out of your parlor! It's now a "living room!"
Now are you sorry you asked?
Posted on: Do I Need To Learn Chinese Characters?
January 19, 2015 at 3:11 PMIs the Skritter Lite still not working on ChinesePod for you? I'm currently on a basic subscription so can't check it. Maybe something got broken during the move from Shanghai. Probably your comment got missed so you may need to write to their support email address.
Posted on: The Important Difference Between 需 (xū) and 须 (xū)
January 18, 2015 at 4:45 AMI thought this lesson was brilliant in its conception and well scripted, but had one problem in its execution. It seemed that every time Fiona talked about "the difference between xu1 and xu1" she unconsciously pronounced them differently. In fact, the first time it sounded like xu and shi. If you look at her mouth when she says them the first time you can clearly see that she is actually producing two different syllables. Other times it sounds like she is pronouncing the first one in first tone and the second one in neutral tone. As this is advanced material we can probably overlook it, but it's so obvious and slightly distracting that it might be worth considering editing the lesson with a few segments re-recorded. Otherwise a very engaging and informative video. I hope there are more like this to come.
Posted on: Manly Beards or Pretty Boys?
January 17, 2015 at 5:05 AMI'm guessing that to understand 魅力／有魅力 you have to look at the character 魅 which my popup dictionary translates as "demon; magic; to charm" so I think it means more like "bewitching" than charming. Maybe the "bad boy" appeal is that of the charming devil.
Posted on: Manly Beards or Pretty Boys?
January 17, 2015 at 4:46 AMI think 得了吧 is similar to 算了吧, i.e. "forget about it / no way / never mind" Whereas 拜托 is more like “puh-leeze / give me a break "
Posted on: Insurances
January 17, 2015 at 3:40 AMstill pending, FYI
Supplementary Vocabulary
社会保险 shèhuìbǎoxiǎn social security
社保 shèbǎo social security
政府 zhèngfǔ government
账户 zhànghù account
贷款 dàikuǎn loan
统筹 tǒngchóu the way the
government
redistributes money
Posted on: Want To Lose Weight?
January 14, 2015 at 7:02 PMhttps://chinesepod.com/blog/we-love-skritter/
Posted on: Pricey Parking
January 22, 2015 at 4:18 AMHi, Mark,
I've heard 打的 dǎdī for take a taxi. I'm guessing 搭 is a variant writing of da (though it is first tone in your example.) I've never actually heard the verb used for the subway.
Regarding 临停 see Fiona's reply about abbreviations above in response to the question raised by busybee.
I haven't listened to the lesson yet, but I'm not sure 公有 and 公共 are equivalent. I think the former implies public ownership, whereas the latter connotes public use. As for 开单 and 罚款 I'm a little confused about the usage in the dialog too. The former is to open an account or a tab, or write out a receipt. Sort of like 开支票 for write a check. The latter is a monetary penalty or fine. Maybe there is a problem with the translation of the dialog. I'm not sure if they are talking about being fined as a penalty for illegal parking, or simply being given a bill for the normal rate for parking in an attended area. In the previous line of the dialog it is referred to as 收费 ("fee")