User Comments - taibeitimes
taibeitimes
Posted on: Taipei
May 26, 2008 at 7:56 AMbetel nut is called 檳榔 (bin1lang2) betel nut beauty is 檳榔西施 (binlang2 xi1shi1) you won't find them (betel nut beauties) in taipei city, but they can be seen in taipei county. they are much more common in southern taiwan. while i wouldn't say betel tastes good, i wouldn't say it is disgusting. i'll chew it once in awhile if someone happens to offer me one... usually after drinking a few beers. good idea to put on a 伍佰 CD, wear your finest "wife beater" and blue-white 拖鞋 while chewing your betel nut for maximum 台客 effect.
Posted on: Knitting a Scarf
March 20, 2008 at 6:24 AMmy suggestions for lesson topics: finance & investment fortune telling environment/energy politics/geopolitics
Posted on: Relativity
March 17, 2008 at 6:01 AMauntie68, thanks. i looked past that one when i was searching earlier... too obvious i guess. i think there may be a couple things at the advanced level as well on some of the topics i mentioned. nevertheless, i haven't seen much in these areas which, from my experience at least, are discussed quite frequently.
Posted on: Relativity
March 17, 2008 at 2:31 AMPolitics/geopolitics is another area that just came to mind. We do have some elections of interest (i.e. the US, Taiwan) which would be useful conversation material.
Posted on: Relativity
March 17, 2008 at 2:10 AMThere is a dearth of lessons related to money, investing, real estate, etc... yet, many of the Taiwanese/Chinese people I know love talking about such topics (I do too). Perhaps some more lessons in these areas would be helpful. Thanks.
Posted on: My Scooter Won't Start
March 5, 2008 at 3:11 AMLooking at the following sentence from the expansion: 我自行車的剎車不太靈，你能幫我調一下嗎？ You have 靈 defined as "flexible". However, I don't see it defined this way using pleco or on www.mdbg.net. I get clever, quick, effective, etc; but nothing like flexible. Just wanting to verify if it can be used as you have defined it. Thanks.
Posted on: Beauty Pageant for Bloggers
February 27, 2008 at 2:40 AMLooking at the following sentence from the expansion: 你是去學習，不是去選美，不用穿得這麼漂亮。 I am a little confused about the use of 是 here. It seems to have a different purpose versus joining noun phrases or the 是...得 construction. Could someone clarify how it is being used here? In addition, could we have used a future tense (i.e. 會） giving it the same meaning? Lastly, maybe a couple of additional examples using 是 in a similar manner? Thanks
Posted on: London
February 26, 2008 at 2:23 AMIn the expansion, there is the following sentence: 你覺得花兩萬買一個名牌包，值得嗎？ However, I believe the sound clip also contains 塊錢, no?: 你覺得花兩萬塊錢買一個名牌包，值得嗎？
Posted on: Adventures in Chinese Learning
November 24, 2007 at 11:51 AMnot sure if it was mentioned in the above comments, but making sentences while reviewing vocabulary helps make it stick. furthermore, you are thinking in chinese, practicing grammar and reviewing additional vocabulary. i like to write it out (usually in pinyin w/vocabulary i haven't learned characters for yet) or typing on the computer using characters i am currently learning. i also had a teacher who would recite parts of a dialogue or passage, and i would need to repeat what i heard... or fill in what i couldn't remember with something similar. i started doing this again recently with some of the expansion stuff; the dialogues would also be good for this kind of practice.
Posted on: Taipei
May 26, 2008 at 3:07 PMlook for the neon and flashing lights on the small store fronts... attention getters for betel nut stands. some other taipei or near taipei sights not already mentioned (i think): beitou (sulfur hot springs), wulai (hot springs, hiking, aboriginal culture), a drive along the north coast (scenery), maokong (hiking, tea), elephant mountain (hiking, scenery). loads of fantastic scenery and outdoor stuff in taiwan.