User Comments - rich
rich
Posted on: Updating Old Lessons
March 7, 2008 at 5:58 PM3 years in 'net years is like... survival? ChinesePod is aging very nicely!!!
Posted on: Insect Market and Having a Baby
March 7, 2008 at 7:28 AMDon't let Michael Vick near them!
Posted on: Insect Market and Having a Baby
March 7, 2008 at 7:25 AMSave the crickets! Down with green-goo fighting! Is it possible to get roaches to fight? If one kills the other, does it the body still disappear by the next day?
Posted on: Buying a Newspaper
March 7, 2008 at 12:56 AMsballa, I have to admit that I kind of laughed at your question... not that it isn't a good one, just that it reminds me of my own problems with knowing what words in Chinese meant what kind of "news". I never had a problem with 报 as to me that was what one gets in the morning (or evening, whatever the case may be) to read with with a cup of coffee (or beer, whatever the case may be). For me it was 新闻 xīnwén, which simply means "news", and literally means 新new and 闻smell/hear(but also means "news" itself). This is the news you see on TV or hear on the radio, or smell in the bathroom (oh wait, no, not that one). So I was always confused why the TV can tell me 新闻 but why I can't tell a friend 新闻. It just is, from my understanding. You must use 消息 xiāoxi (news; information; tidings) unless it is public news.
Posted on: Buying a Newspaper
March 7, 2008 at 12:31 AMsballa: 报 does not mean news, even though you use it to say 报纸. 报 itself can mean newspaper as well, yet the 纸 (paper) at the end helps make it clear. 报 can also mean "report, periodical, bulletin, telegram" as Jenny said in the lesson (but often by itself it means newspaper) Other words that use the character 报 pretty much all mean "report": 报告 bàogào: report, speech, term paper 报导 bàodǎo: report, information 报道 bàodào: report, news report, story In your sentence, you would use the word 消息 xiāoxi for the word "news" as in something new that happened. 消息 literally means "disappear" and "breath", meaning it is something that won't be around for long; quickly comes and goes; new today, gone tomorrow, etc. etc. The way to say your sentence: 我有很好的消息. Wǒ yǒu hěnhǎo de xiāoxi.
Posted on: MSN and QQ
March 7, 2008 at 12:15 AMI know when typing a lot of pinyin, the easiest way is just to put the number at the end of the syllable, and for neutral tone just leave off the number: Ta1 shi4 wo3de peng4you. That is a way to specify tones, but I don't know if that will exactly be quick for a Chinese person to read, as they don't necessarily think about what tone such-and-such word is right away. Yet I have to agree with Cassie, that a sentence like the above is much easier to read if the tones are there, otherwise have to think too much. For example, "lianxi" can be "lian2xi4" (to get in touch) and "lian4xi2" (to practice/exercise).
Posted on: Chinese Green Eggs and Ham
March 6, 2008 at 7:41 AMI don't know about 愉快, but from what I recorded the teacher here at my school saying to the students new to these words is that to say 他很快乐 (he's very happy) means that generally he is happy, a happy guy. If you say 他很高兴 (He's very happy) it means he is happy due to a circumstance, such as someone giving him a gift, or whatever. I always though 愉快 was a tad bit more formal word than 快乐, but I could be wrong. I have only heard it interchangeably in sentences like 祝你周末愉快 / 祝你周末快乐 etc.
Posted on: Buying a Newspaper
March 6, 2008 at 7:34 AMOoo ooo oo... picture of Jenny. Was it cold in the office then? I'm dying to see a lesson being recorded... hopefully when I am in Shanghai in the fall... pray they still do lessons this way then, ha ha.
Posted on: Stargazing
March 5, 2008 at 10:50 PMman, having many typing problems today: Any GlRL (or any body for that matter) who fell....
Posted on: MSN and QQ
March 11, 2008 at 1:26 PMBazza, Try downloading it from my website, just put it on there: English Version (2005): http://www.richmahn.com/DOWNLOADS/EngQQ2005Formal.exe Chinese Version (2008): http://www.richmahn.com/DOWNLOADS/QQ2008SpringKB1.exe For those of you who haven't signed up for QQ, or had problems since it is in Chinese, here is the link and some vocabulary for signing up: http://freereg.qq.com/ * - required info *昵称：Name to be called *年龄：Age 性别：Gender *密码：Password *重新输入密码：Enter your password again *国家：Country (if you don't live in China, select second item) *请输入您所在的国家：(Please enter your country) *省份：Province *城市：City Then you select questions and type answer: *问题1：Question 1 *答案1：Answer 1 *问题2：Question 2 *答案2：Answer 2 *问题3：Question 3 *答案3：Answer 3 安全邮件地址：Secure Email Address 手机号码：Cell phone number 真实姓名：Real Name 证件类型：ID Type (1-Student card, 2-Passport, 3-Military ID, 4-Other) 证件号码：ID Number (the 6 items above are simply used for retrieving your lost password) 验证图片：Confirmation Image *验证码：Confimation Code 我同意以下条款： (I agree with the below conditions [check box]) 下一步 （Next step [click here]) NOW, USE THE ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOVE FOR THE 3 QUESTIONS ON THIS NEXT PAGE (IT IS THOSE THREE QUESTIONS YOU SELECT ABOVE THAT YOU ANSER HERE, BUT YOU CAN JUST PICK THREE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, ANSWER THEM "AAA" "BBB" and "CCC" AND ANSWER THEM THE SAME HERE TO GET IT RIGHT) Click 下一步 and walla! You have your QQ number. Message me if you have difficulties. Files for QQ might not be there later (just doing that for Bazza). My QQ number: 307188017 Skype: richmahn