User Comments - smilealot
smilealot
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 1:58 PM当然咯， 否则我的生活非常麻烦哦！ Perhaps it might be better not to discuss this kind of trivia here, lest we clutter this lesson's comment section...
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 1:28 PM澳大利亚! That explains the "mate". 我是黎巴嫩人，上中学的时候我住在的黎波里,可是六年以后跟家人一起移民到西班牙...
Posted on: Discussing Photography
November 27, 2008 at 1:12 PMI know it's more of an elementary phrase, but would 我可以照你吗? be the correct way to say "May I take your picture?", or is there a better way? (I don't just want to generally ask whether taking pictures is ok.) Furthermore, what about "I think it would be a nice shot" and "Your friend/grandchild/etc and you look great together" "Please act naturally/continue with what you you did", you know - to egg them on to give their consent.
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 12:47 PMOh, now I get it (My brain's a bit slow today, just like the internet connection)! ;) (Btw, 你是哪里人?)
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 12:33 PMbababardwan - what are you getting at?
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 10:44 AMWhy can't I change my comment? I tried to do so within the 15 minutes timeframe...这么神秘！
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 10:28 AMWhat an odd, but extremely useful lesson!
Perhaps you can help me out with "my" surname, 谭 (poor ChinesePod staff and native speakers - there's an overwhelming number of such requests every time there's a discussion on names...;) ) How should I explain it, if that's even necessary? 谭恩美的谭? Is there a way to use the character's parts - 言早谭?*
*What about the 覀 - is it necessary to mention all the radicals in the surname? 覀 probably doesn't have a reading, is it a form of 西? My dictionary was stolen last week(can you imagine how desparate that 小偷 must have been?), so I can't look it up. Unfortunately, I have never paid much attention to the radicals, which might account for my poor writing skills.
Random question: As this is an intermediate lessen, what on earth made you give us "汉字" as supplementary vocab? I'm puzzled.
Posted on: The Surname Code
November 27, 2008 at 2:18 PM@gunnellr Ahem, capitalism? Sure, in modern China it's more of a philosophical question, but didn't 小平同志 call it 有中国特色的社会主义?
But your anecdote does raise the question whether Chinese people would enquire about one's choice of name - how common are questions like "Why did you adopt that surname/personal name?"