User Comments - tiaopidepi
tiaopidepi
Posted on: Adventures in Chinese Learning
December 9, 2007 at 3:25 PMRJBerki: The Tuttle flashcards are NOT in order of frequently used characters. They are in the order matching the other books by Philip Yungking Lee. He does a better job than most authors of using frequently used characters in his book but the characters he picks are clearly not precisely the frequently used in Mandarin. That said, I have bought his first set and love them. The only change I do is to write the other radicals on the back and sometimes a new definition (like putting 对不起 on the back of the 起 card as an example word.)
Posted on: Chinese Breakfast
December 2, 2007 at 3:30 PMThe bowl of white stuff pictured is not *real* 豆浆。It doesn't have any color. It looks like actual food. I have a friend who is concerned for my edification. She took me to a market in 北京 where we ate stomach of something and drank a bowl of 豆浆。It was greenish-gray and brought back memories of high-school gym class (both for the psychological terror and the distinct aroma.) The edification came as I walked past a vendor who tried to interest me in fried beef dumplings. As I turned to say "byao" he saw the bowl of greenish-gray toxic sludge I was drinking. He undoubtedly realized I wasn't going to learn anything from eating a food so safe as beef dumplings.
Posted on: Give Me a Kiss
November 24, 2007 at 7:38 AMThey talk of Jenny in every lesson discussion. But when the topic is kissing they talk about their dogs. There are two kinds of cute in this world. But CPod fans are unique.
Posted on: Do you have a girlfriend?
November 24, 2007 at 7:27 AMkkythapa: Add an input language to your operating system. If you're using Vista, help is at the link below. You can do the same on XP or Mac OS but the input language tool is nowhere near as nice : ( http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/52e368fa-bd32-4749-955e-331f9130889f1033.mspx
Posted on: Do you have a girlfriend?
November 24, 2007 at 12:45 AMThe teahouse is a scam. I've been working in Shanghai a few weeks and have been asked *exactly* the same question around People's Square at least 40 times over the 4 days or so I've spent around Raffles and the museums. "Hi, how are you? What country are you from?" When people phrase it exactly the same, with the same intonation and the same fake smile, it's a script. I've taken to having fun with my responses. 我不会说英文。你会说法文吗？They are usually shocked that a white person speaks any Chinese. There are some days when it's hard to be laowai in China. It's a lovely country but both friends and strangers constantly remind me just how inclusive and diverse America is. I'm well aware of America's discriminatory past and bigoted present but at least our vendors charge everyone the same prices. Chinese translation: I can't speak English. Can you speak French?
Posted on: Phone Call for the Boss
October 20, 2007 at 11:33 PMThe etymology of "lăobăn" is interesting only because it illustrates that many Chinese really do not know their own language. Even though teachers and Seattlites are unusually certain of their opinions this rule applies to them as well.
Posted on: Getting Water Delivered
January 4, 2008 at 7:05 AMKen: The five-gallon/19 liter water bottle is usally referred to as a "bottle" but we normally specify the size along with it. You can also call it a "carboy" which is the term used by chemists and brewers for large liquid storage containers. Regardless, they are not the same bottles as 瓶.