User Comments - sharesindavid

Posted on: An Introduction!

there's no pdf because there's no lesson; it's just an introduction.

as far as pronunciation goes, im not sure using "intuitive" english pronunciation rules is actually the best idea. i just checked out the wiki and it seems shanghainese has 3-way voicing contrasts, a couple of front rounded vowels (not to mention nasalized ones), and a bunch of glottal stops. i think IPA is really the only way to go. 

and i thought cantonese was hard! hats off to all of you who tackle this language!

Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves

開心網？ hmm .. . . i'm familiar with 校内 (what i thought was china's facebook), but haven't heard of that one. maybe 校内 is only for students and 開心網 for adults?

Posted on: All the Things You Can Hit: 打 (dǎ)

meneer,

thanks, i didn't know that one. 打手枪 and 玩老二 mean the same thing

also, one i thought they would mention with the coughs and yawns is 打嗝（儿） which can mean (to the best of my knowledge, but please correct if wrong) both "to burp" and "to hiccup"

Posted on: Karaoke

oh KTV . . .where I can practice my chinese, learn 繁体字, and have fun all at the same time! not to mention impress the hell out of everyone .. . 哈哈，我上大学以后才发现，一个18岁的白人会rap周杰伦，对泡妞真的是太有效了！感谢chinesepod帮我学会中文！

Posted on: Being Vague: 大概 (dàgài), 左右 (zuǒyòu), 上下 (shàngxià)

woo go canada! i figure most cpod users are american, but i would expect there are still quite a few of us canadians, seeing as canada is about the yellowest white country in the world. who needs to go to china to immerse himself in a chinese-language environment? just go to vancouver haha.

although i must say, i am bothered how americans think we all say "a-boot"

Posted on: Not So Silent Night

happy holidays everyone!

btw, hannukah 怎么说？是不是“犹太圣诞”？

Posted on: The Perfect Sandwich

what a fun and funny lesson . .. keep it up

Posted on: Military Training

I really enjoyed this because David spoke (perhaps a bit more slowly/clearly than he usually would but) quite naturally. I think this gives better practice for real-life situations than listening to the normal lesson dialogues, although both have their advantages. A nice change of pace anywa; I hope to see more!

And as some people have said, a transcript would be nice, but no matter what type of lesson I listen to I always like to hear it once "cold turkey" - I think it's good listening practice as listening to something you've already read/heard before is significantly easier than hearing something for the first time.

Posted on: Rome

bu4 becomes bu2 when in combination with another fourth tone. the dictionary entry for 不, however, is "bu4" and sometimes when things are transcribed in pinyin it is still written with the fourth tone even though pronounced as second. similarly, you probably know that 一 yi1 is realized as yi2 when in combination with a fourth tone and yi4 when in combination with any other tone, though the allomorphy is not always marked in pinyin.

but that reminds of a question i had. or two:

1) would 不继续 be pronounced "bu2" or "bu4" ? because the ji4 is kinda doing its thing with the xu4 more than with the bu, if that makes any sense.

2) is 一个 pronounced "yi1 ge5" or "yi2 ge4" or "yi1 ge5"  (or does it vary)? i try to listen to natives, but sometimes they blur over both characters so fast it sounds like they're both neutral.

Posted on: Addressing People

my compliments to the podcasters; a pretty good lesson. think i knew most of it, but always useful to review. amazingly, chinese titles get even more complicated than what was covered, especially the family stuff.