User Comments - scotts23
scotts23
Posted on: Evading Nosy Questions
January 24, 2008 at 8:58 AMHi mwoodmansee, I agree with Changye, listening to the radio (or TV) helps, once you have a decent foundation in the language. I take classes (and listen to Chinesepod) in Los Angeles, and it took me about 12 months before I could begin to make any kind of sense of Mandarin broadcasts or commercials here. In L.A. (and a few other U.S. cities), we are lucky enough to have a Mandarin station, and while the quality of the content is sometimes debatable, it's helpful to listen to while driving around -- it's amazing the vocabulary items you pick up. One of my all-time unexpected favorites is 裸体海滩 (luǒtǐ hǎitān), or "nude beach."
Posted on: Pedestrian Peril
January 22, 2008 at 4:58 AM“呸呸呸“ 好像跟德文的“toi toi toi"一样！
Posted on: Preparing for the Heat
January 8, 2008 at 7:20 PMAmber, Thank you. I always wondered what to call those! I think "thingy" is the perfect, um, umbrella term for these items in English.
Posted on: Preparing for the Heat
January 8, 2008 at 9:08 AMSpeaking of 防晒, two questions: 1) What's the Chinese term for the welder-mask-like face shades commonly seen on the street? (Oh, and how about the cute lil' sleeve extenders for women with short sleeves, also worn for sun protection, too?) 2) What's the measure word for 扇子? 谢谢！
Posted on: Getting Water Delivered
January 5, 2008 at 8:27 PMAt my work in the U.S. several years ago, we had a water thief repeatedly come in the dark of night and steal many of these 5-gallon bottles of water from the office. To combat this problem, the company installed security cameras trained on the water cooler area! (It worked.)
Posted on: A Present from Santa Claus
December 24, 2007 at 6:32 AMFor all you agnostics: 猪你生蛋节快乐！ Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Posted on: Evading Nosy Questions
January 24, 2008 at 9:00 AMActually, that could feed into a nosy question too: 你去过裸体海滩吗？