User Comments - toianw
toianw
Posted on: Presentation on Trends
February 4, 2011 at 7:03 AMHi pretzellogic ,
Have you seen this lesson?
Posted on: Discussing Basketball Teams
February 2, 2011 at 10:46 AMPosted on: International vs. Local Schools
February 1, 2011 at 9:21 AMCould 呢 perform the same function here?
Posted on: 温州人
January 30, 2011 at 7:30 PMWe may be in the 21st century, but this is authentic stuff. I've spoken to 温州人 on two separate occasions, and they've both informed me that people from Wenzhou are considered the 犹太人 of China, to refer to their business acumen (I suspect this is the reason CPod included this comment in the lesson - because it's a frequently made comparison). I'm sure it's never meant to be taken in any nasty way at all, but at least if your prepared to hear it, you'll be able to come back with an appropriate rebuttal.
Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website
January 30, 2011 at 7:18 PMNote that when you use 挺 to mean quite/very it's usually used with 的 after the adjective (挺 adj 的).
so 他挺帅的 = 他很帅 (though the first is possibly a bit stronger).
The difference in degree (quite handsome or very handsome) seems to depend on the tone of voice (how emphatically it is said), though I'd be interested to hear if a native speaker agrees with this.
Posted on: I Changed My Mind
January 29, 2011 at 3:50 PMHi huibert,
I agree that it has a Scottish (Gaelic) origin, though it seems in Scotland this generally refers to something more specific. According to Wikipedia:
"Tartan is also known as plaid in North America, but in Scotland, a plaid is a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder or a blanket."
I've never heard of a plaid shirt in the UK, but as I said, maybe that's because I don't pay too much attention to dress-sense. I'm certainly not complaining about the language use - just taking the opportunity to learn something new.
Posted on: I Changed My Mind
January 29, 2011 at 2:16 PMAs a native English speaker, this is one of the few occasions where the Chinese made more sense to me than the English. So I'm interested, is "plaid" a north American term, or do I need to start paying more attention to fashion?
Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website
January 29, 2011 at 8:19 AMAnother question from the expansion sentences:
Is there any difference in meaning/feeling between writing 呆在家里 and 待在家里?
Posted on: New Employee in the Office
February 4, 2011 at 4:11 PMbobm112,
I think you'd use 潜力 for this. I've heard Chinese teachers use something like 他很有潜力 (He has a lot of potential) to talk about a student.