User Comments - pulosm
pulosm
Posted on: Studying Japanese
October 11, 2007 at 1:39 PMoolung: You will find that men are generally more difficult to understand than women in ANY language. When Japanese young men talk, I can hardly even pick out a word I recognize (btw, I don't speak Japanese, but I do know *some* words).
Posted on: 中美法律体系的差异
October 10, 2007 at 8:32 PMGOOD LUCK!
Posted on: 中美法律体系的差异
October 10, 2007 at 7:32 PMLydia, it would be even better for you if it was Dutch law compared to Chinese law. ;-)
Posted on: Studying Japanese
October 10, 2007 at 5:15 PMAs for French, all you are saying, really, is that it is hard to learn French from writing. Oral French wouldn't be that hard (i.e., if you used linguistic codes to transliterate the way things were actually pronounced). The thing with Chinese is that they have invented a system (pinyin) that you can use as a handicap; French has no analog. In any event, the "my language is harder" debate is really nonsensical because Russian is a "hard" language, but not for a Bulgarian. Chinese isn't as a hard for a Vietnamese person, as maybe Italian would be. It's all a matter of perspective. When we say a language is hard, I guess what we are saying is it is hard from OUR perspective, whatever that may be. Also, some languages are easy to grasp at a basic level, but are hard to become super fluent in. I hate when people say "Spanish is easy" but then can't even speak it that well...
Posted on: Fighting over the Bill
October 10, 2007 at 5:09 PMI didn't know that "codo" came from "codicioso," which to me sounds like "covetous," the only use of "codiciar" that I have really heard is in the Diez Mandamientos(Ten Commandments). ;-) Thanks for the factoid.
Posted on: Finding the Teacher
October 10, 2007 at 3:07 PMWait. 怎 is zen3, not zen2. Interesting note on tones, though. "What" is rendered "She(n)2 me" in pinyin, but my roommate in Taiwan (a native mandarin speaker) was typing on his keyboard and trying to find "shen2," he typed in "shen3" (well, not exactly, they don't use pinyin in Taiwan, really, though I hear they are starting to). The point being, he thought it was THIRD tone. AND, the more I thought about it, it DOES sound like third tone! If you say: "Ni3 yao4 she2 me ?", it really comes out as "she3 me"...maybe it's a "Taiwan" thing. Try saying "she me" in a variety of sentences and if you are saying it "correctly" it will actually come out as third tone (at least to me). Second tone feels "forced."
Posted on: Studying Japanese
October 10, 2007 at 1:59 PMChangye, that's such a humble reason. If that's true, that's pretty crazy, considering how "major" Japanese and Chinese have become. That all said, I agree with your point; of I met someone fluent in Vietnamese, I'd be impressed--it has yet to become trendy to learn Vietnamese.
Posted on: Studying Japanese
October 10, 2007 at 1:06 PM(1) 可憐 meaning "pretty" is funny. I like it. I can see the confusion. "I feel sorry for her, she is so 可憐." "Yeah, but why do you feel bad for her?" "Because she is 可憐!!" "Yeah, so why feel bad for her, if anything you should be happy for her!" (2) 非常門. I always thought about that, too. My guess is that the meaning isn't that far off from Chinese. 非常 literally means "no often," so it is not the door you normally use, in other words. 非常 in Chinese is used to mean "extremely," but the idea is kinda the same, right? It is refers to something that is not often encountered and therefore "extreme." I just made that all up, fyi. (3) As for sputnik's comment, some of the comments do get really annoying really fast. It would be one thing if Chinese people (mainlanders, that is) were impressed by everyone. But if you are Korean-American and speak Chinese, they would NEVER make that comment to you. In fact, you can look blatantly Korean and people will think you are Chinese, bad accent and all. It's willful ignorance. What's more, it's as if they mean to imply that Chinese is so difficult for stupid foreigners. The reason it is super hard to be a foreigner in China is because you never ever ever get a break from all the same conversion (unless you go places where you know everyone). Everytime you meet a new Chinese person, they will marvel at your Chinese, your ability to use chopsticks, etc. It's tiresome to have the same conversation over and over; though, I'd imagine that lots of people get a big ego trip out of it. Also, I just thought of something funny. I love how Chinese people call everyone "waiguoren" even when they live in the United States and are referring to Americans. Oh, and come on, sputnik, everyone knows that French is easy. ;-)
Posted on: Beyond Or: Another Use of 还是 (háishi)
October 9, 2007 at 7:14 PMshe's canadian.
Posted on: Describing Athletes
October 11, 2007 at 2:44 PMTucson: (1) There is a nuance here. In Chinese, when you describe something with an adjective, a comparison is often implied, especially here where the word 还是 is added, as here. In other words, you don't need 最. For example, if I ask "shei2hao3kan4?" I am literally asking "who is good looking?," BUT in Chinese, you are implying comparison that you get from context, so you are really asking "who is BETTER looking?" Using the "Shanghai is fun" example, if I ask (sorry, no characters here): "Beijing hao3wan2 hai2shi Shanghai hao3wan2?", your answer should be "Shanghai hao3wan2," not "Shanghai bi3jiao4 hao3wan2." Sorry if that was more confusing than helpful. In sum, if the comparison is obvious (i.e., you are talking about 2 or more things), you don't normally use zui4 or bi3jiao4 because they are unnecessary. (2) Yes. And "liu4 kuai4 fu4 ji1" means "six-pack".