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Posted on: Asking Indirect Questions 旁敲侧击
August 23, 2016 at 9:26 PMRe: "many of the terms are out of date" -- okay, I'll bite. Which terms are out of date and what are your suggested corrections? Also, since this lesson was published a week ago, I wonder why the writer would have been using many "out of date" terms. Are you suggesting that this was written by someone who is either not a native speaker or who has been away from a Chinese-speaking environment for a long time? Or that the roles depicted are old people who are themselves "out of date"? I meet many Chinese senior citizens, so wouldn't consider a lesson with slightly archaic terms to be a complete waste.
Posted on: My Cell is Out of Juice!
August 20, 2016 at 1:00 AMOr you could see this Qing Wen at ChinesePod: https://chinesepod.com/lessons/%E8%BF%98%E6%98%AF-haishi-or-%E6%88%96%E8%80%85-huozhe
Posted on: Hot Pot Chitchat
August 20, 2016 at 12:52 AMNo worries, Anna -- its pretty rare that the lesson comments actually have anything to do with the language in the lesson. I see you scrolled further forward and found John's explanation, which you kindly copied the examples from. It is much more informative. A related grammar point for expressing actions either experienced but no longer applicable versus experienced and ongoing is the different implications of 过 and 了. There's a useful explanation of this here: http://popupchinese.com/lessons/elementary/the-marriage-of-true-minds.
Posted on: Hot Pot Chitchat
August 16, 2016 at 2:46 AMAnnabanana123, A similar question was asked in the thread above by kang_jie, and Jenny answered it.
Posted on: Department Store Announcements
August 14, 2016 at 12:48 AMYou can report mistakes using the "report a mistake" link. To get to it, look at the lower left hand corner of this page. Click on "leave a suggestion" and the link for reporting mistakes will appear. Your karma will be enhanced. (Actually I think users should start getting paid with an extra week on their subscription every time they catch a mistake. )
Posted on: Who Are You Voting For?
August 13, 2016 at 1:25 PM可以 看媒体 （Youtube) ：2016總統大選電視辯論 （台灣公共電視 網路直播頻道）
他们用的词 是 “辯論 ” （辩论）而不是 “政見發表會” （政见发表会）
我也发现了有那个 错误： 難講 （难讲 ）不应该 翻译 speech. 就是 who knows, difficult to say 的意思 。
Posted on: My Cell is Out of Juice!
August 13, 2016 at 12:20 PMIt is a mistake; you are right. The translation of 就能开机了 is missing, both in the text and dialog tab.
Posted on: Department Store Announcements
August 12, 2016 at 8:18 PMshopping mall = 商场
百货公司， 百货大楼 都是 'department store.'
Posted on: Asian Rainy Season
August 12, 2016 at 12:00 PMNice lesson. I was able to to guess the meaning of 干衣机 gan1 yi1 ji1 from the individual words (dry clothes machine). Previously I had learnt 烘干机 hong1 gan1 ji1 as the word for clothes dryer. I'm guessing the former is a Taiwan usage. The latter made less sense to me. I looked up 烘干 just now and got the meaning of "to dry over a stove". Well that's certainly not how we do it here. Anyway, I know the norm in Taiwan and the mainland is line drying the wash.
Posted on: Asking Indirect Questions 旁敲侧击
August 24, 2016 at 3:56 AMTim, Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Regarding your "language partner" I can only say that I have cringed more than once at explications by native English speakers here on CPod about what proper English is, so I think that what any one individual says has to be taken with a grain of salt. I'm not sure what a "standard" dictionary is, but it seems令千金 does have to be parsed out. I could not find a definition for it as a set phrase, but令 is defined as honorable and千金 is an honorific for daughter (i.e., someone else's daughter). I did find 随缘 in one dictionary, defined as "in accordance with the factors that condition a situation." That's a lot more clunky than CPod's definition of "follow destiny." As to whether or not that is an "old" cultural concept, well, I think maybe it might be better described as a "deep" cultural concept. I heard one podcast where it was mentioned that someone might have a long talk with a caller who dialed a wrong number, on the assumption that it was a fated encounter. Anyway, maybe the lesson description gives us a clue, since it says that this is about "traditional" expectations. I certainly don't have the impression that CPod's curriculum is lacking in current language usage examples though. Maybe this lesson is the exception, but yes, not a big deal.