User Comments - tucsonmichael
tucsonmichael
Posted on: Airplane Arrival
June 8, 2008 at 3:49 PMsorry for my font error above, 不小心 bu4 xiao3xin1 it was an accident.
Posted on: Airplane Arrival
June 8, 2008 at 3:46 PMchrisinguam, the form of address varies widely based on who you are writing to, their social or professional position relative to you, how well you know them, etc. There is a very good Mandarin grammar book by Claudia Ross, "Modern Mandarin Chinese Grammar" which might be a good investment for you, as it deals with openings and closings of both formal and personal letters, along with lots of other grammar and expressions. If writing to a Mister Wang you don't know well, you would just open the letter 王先生， If writing to your wife or lover, you would use the equivalent of "dear" 亲爱的 qin1 ai4 de. When writing to brothers and sisters, or family members, you often use their "kinship term" in the greeting, and your kinship term in the closing. e.g. 建国兄 Jian4guo2 xiong1 - Elder brother Jianguo. (from Ross, section 20.3) In other instances, when writing to someone younger than you, in an informal letter, it is just young xxx, e.g. 小琴 xiao3 qin2, and closing with 祝 好 zhu4 hao3 (loosely translated as good wishes, wish you well), and your name.
Posted on: I'm Married
June 1, 2008 at 8:44 AMchangye, 哈哈大笑。。。祝你有愉快的一天。。。 ha1ha1 da4xiao4, zhu4 ni3 you3 yu2kuai4 de yi1tian1 - that's funny, i wish you a (very) happy day! and thanks for the congrats....多保重。。。 duo1 bao3 zhong4 - take care.
Posted on: I'm Married
June 1, 2008 at 6:54 AMCome on changye, you know the man should ask the woman， do women ask men where you live?....你要不要嫁给我？ （ni3 yao4bu4yao4 jia4 gei3 wo3? Will you marry me?) just kidding .... I really admire your many insightful postings. Thanks for your help in learning Chinese! Coincidentally, one month from today I travel to Shanghai to have a wedding dinner celebration with my 老婆，妻子， 情人， 最好的朋友 。。。我们两个人二月份五号注册登记 wo3men liangge ren2 er4yue4fen wu3hao4 zhu4ce4 deng1ji4 We registered our names for marriage (in Shanghai) February 5. We will have a honeymoon after our family celebration in Shanghai, to Guilin 桂林 and Kunming 昆明, and then wait for US Homeland Security to allow 她 (ta1 her) to accompany 陪 pei2 me to America. Fortunately, with today's technology, we can chat each day for free with MSN Live Messenger....with me in America and 她 in Shanghai.
Posted on: KTV
May 25, 2008 at 1:27 PMbaillies and Light, I think of 得 as simply converting what comes after the verb from an adjective to an adverb; this expression could also be said as 我唱歌唱得特难听； the expression in the dialogue is just shortened, and more conversational, I think.
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Xinjiang
May 20, 2008 at 1:51 PM我真的喜欢菜的课。 I really like the cuisine lessons. One comment on expansion section. Sentence below should either refer to tomorrow's weather as (likely) being great (ting bu cuo is better than pretty good), or the first character should change to 昨 (zuo) to make it yesterday instead of tomorrow. 明天的天气也挺不错的。 (The weather yesterday was also pretty good.)
Posted on: SBTG: Special Economic Zones
April 13, 2008 at 7:38 PMSomebody just sent me this link, and at this level most of the dialogue will be understood. Fascinating to see / hear an English speaking political leader be so proficient in Mandarin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN42pk7eozk&feature=related Jenny should particularly enjoy, given her experience in visiting / living in his country.
Posted on: Art Museum
March 29, 2008 at 4:09 AMAmber, you are my 中文的angel...感谢。。。 Your 我欣赏不 expression really seems to mean "I don't really know how to appreciate it" more than "I don't really know what to make of it", right? 再说感谢你们。。。让我对中文学习感兴趣。
Posted on: Art Museum
March 27, 2008 at 10:00 PMJenny, thanks for the clarification. Is there a reservation website for the Shanghai museum, or do I need to call or visit? Megg, I have found many lessons to be quite practical and to help me in many ways during my 9 visits to China over the past 3 years. This is lesson 833, so there is a wealth of information at all levels, some clearly too advanced for me. Chinesepod, can you comment on the distinctions between 懂， 了解 and 认识? In the expanded section, I would think to know something more deeply, I should use 认识 或者 了解 ren4shi huo4zhe3 (or) liao3jie3. Thanks for your consistently excellent lessons and comfortable chemistry!
Posted on: Hiking
June 9, 2008 at 4:49 AMbluejay, to me, 走路 is more like walking on a sidewalk or pedestrian street, or park...to express more casual hiking out in nature, i have been using 远足 yuan3zu. I think of 爬山 more for strenuous (big vertical changes) mountain hiking or technical climbing, and to "climb" the Great Wall, the expression on the souvenir tee-shirts is 登山 deng1shan1, so lots of choices.