User Comments - timlb
timlb
Posted on: 哪里不一样：发音差异, Part 6
July 25, 2023, 07:33 PMI have seen the term 怀疑 used to mean “to doubt”, but here it means “to suspect.” Sometimes these are opposite meanings. For example in English I can say “I suspect he is a spy.” You don’t think so, and you could say “I doubt it.” Could you use 怀疑 both times?
Posted on: 哪里不一样：发音差异, Part 6
July 25, 2023, 07:27 PMMy wife is from Liaoning province, and her pronunciation sounds to me somewhat in between standard Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin. It’s mostly standard, but her pronunciation of “zh” is often like the Taiwanese “z” and her “sh” is sometimes “s” as in the Taiwanese pronunciation. She tells me that my pronunciation (learned in Beijing) is more standard than hers. ????
Posted on: 清谈 Gender Equality
July 14, 2023, 08:15 PMGoodness, I sure see a lot of 性别歧视 in the comments! As a man, I think holding women back is dumb as it holds back the whole society. It’s better now in many places, but not entirely fair to women pretty much everywhere.
Posted on: 清谈 Gender Equality
July 14, 2023, 08:11 PMYou are confusing equality with identity. They are not identical but in the eyes of the people and the laws they should have equal treatment and rights. And, as you say, we can still acknowledge and respect, even celebrate, the differences.
Posted on: Beijing & Shanghai Difference
July 12, 2023, 09:15 PMVery enjoyable lesson! Personally I knew Beijing first, in 1987. Later I went to Shanghai. For this American, Shanghai felt more relaxed and comfortable. However, as a lover of Chinese culture and history, I also appreciate Beijing. I agree that the erhua is beautiful! In the end I guess I made my choice, as my wife is a northerner.
Posted on: Lifestyle of foreigners
July 12, 2023, 08:50 PMThe term 跑蘑菇 is translated as procrastination in the vocabulary but it’s used as pester or hassle in the expansion. Is this just a mistake in the vocabulary definition?
Posted on: Lifestyle of foreigners
July 12, 2023, 08:48 PMI kind of agree. In the lessons through intermediate level it’s useful because there is explanation in English. I guess there’s still some value here in that there is a foreigner to give another cultural view.
Posted on: Animal Proverbs: A dead duck’s mouth is hard
June 14, 2023, 08:53 PMI don’t see the third idiom listed in the vocabulary section. Can someone fix that? I want to save it to a flashcard deck.
Posted on: Animal Proverbs: A blind cat meets a dead mouse
June 13, 2023, 03:27 PM老鼠过街，人人喊打 to me seems to have a sense that someone who does bad things is discovered and then everyone turns against him or her.
Posted on: Using 又 (yòu) and 再 (zài)
December 30, 2023, 04:57 PMThese are especially useful since we use one term in English for this but there are two terms in Chinese. These kinds of things are among the most difficult for foreign learners.