User Comments - wolson
wolson
Posted on: War Zone
August 1, 2008 at 6:04 PMAs a retired soldier, I found this lesson much too basic and much too short. Perhaps military terms could be covered in an Intermediate or Upper Immediate Lesson.
Of course, now that I am over 60, it is doubtful that I will ever need these terms again.
But even as a tourist to the Forbidden City, I watched soldiers drilling just inside the Tiananmen Gate and to the East of it. It would have been interesting to have the volcabularly to understand what the orders were, and what the officer or NCO in charge was saying to improve the marching performance of his squad.
Posted on: Tool Delivery
July 31, 2008 at 6:12 PMBazza,
In the US, we call these "vise grips." The Chinese called these
大力钳 （da4 li4 qian2)
32 minutes ago
Anyone know the Chinese name for Mole Grips? That's one of the few tools not in my visual dictionary.
Posted on: Tool Delivery
July 31, 2008 at 5:02 PMOutstanding Lesson! I could have used this when I was at Qinhuangdao: I had a chair that kept coming apart. I had a hard time describing what tools I needed to fix it... Apparently, most academics in China (and probably in the US) are not familiar common hand tools.
Posted on: Chinese Tea
July 23, 2008 at 1:58 PMBazza,
Lapsang Souchong is a smoked black tea from the Fujian region that most people either love or hate... there doesn't seem to be a middle ground on this one. Earlier, you mentioned that you like Earl Grey. Again this is another black (although, generally not Chinese,) tea that is again flavored, this time with a citrus oil.
In thinking about your taste for these teas, they may be another one that you would like. In the United States it is called Dragon Tears. However in Chinese it is usually referred to as
茉莉花茶-小龙珠 : mòlì huāchá -Xiǎo Lóngzhū
or Jasmine Dragon Pearl Tea. It is a "花茶" (huāchá) which generally means flower tea. Unlike the black teas above, most people do seem to like this one.
Another tea that people either love or hate (I happen to love it but I like most teas) is 普洱茶,pǔ ěr chá, Pu-erh. I am certain based on your tastes that you would probably love this one as well. This tea, when it is of good quality, has a strong earthy flavor.
Pu-erh's are among the highest price teas in the world and also keep the longest. When I was in Wuhan, I was invited to a meeting of tea specialists where we had a four hour 茶道, chá dào. During this ceremony (I guess that would be the best translation), we sampled a very old Pu-erh that was part of a tea bundled that was carried from Yunnan to Tibet. Its age was about 150 years old and it was still an extremely good tea.
Posted on: Chinese Tea
July 22, 2008 at 3:58 PMThe "Expansion" and "Exercise , 3rd Part" are in bad shape for this lesson, probably the result of the recent upgrade to the site.
因为由于肯定这一个新的网际网路网站，"Expansion"和"Exercise , 3rd Part"“很难过，
Posted on: Clarifying how to use "every" 每（měi）
July 21, 2008 at 3:23 PM每次请问很好；但另一方一面这次请问真好听！
Posted on: Money Values and Beating the Summer Heat
July 18, 2008 at 4:34 PMtsulu,
As you discovered, chocolate, especially Hershey's, makes a very good gift to give while you are in China. On my last trip, I brought over ten pounds of chococlate and gave it out to those people that particularly helped me. In all cases, this gift was received far better than the official monogramed gifts that I gave.
Posted on: Money Values and Beating the Summer Heat
July 18, 2008 at 4:25 PMu4xxxx...
Everyone has opinions; but why are you criticizing Amber's ability to speak Chinese? Have you talked to her in Chinese? Do you know anything about Amber other than a few "Dear Ambers"? A personal attack of that nature is totally out of place, here. Constructive criticism is welcomed but your comment does not improve this site.
Personally, I really do like how Amber prepares "Dear Amber." I have met her and I found her to be an outstanding interviewer. And her Chinese is far better than mine (I have spent some time in China and do a fair job of both understanding and speaking Chinese) so I can not be a judge of that.
My suggestion: if you do not like her work, then go elsewhere... there are plenty of Chinese blogs talking about Chinese experiences including those that are by native Chinese people both in and out of China.
Posted on: The Attitude Pattern (yǒu shénme... 有什么...)
July 15, 2008 at 12:01 PMI am the first? 第一有什么好的？第一有什么不好的？
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 2: Welcome to the Team
August 12, 2008 at 4:33 PMWow, this one is really edgy! Somebody has to go: either Lao Wang or Xiao Zhou. My vote is for Xiao Zhou.
This leasson is really timely. Today, I am welcoming new Chinese students to my research group. But so far, none of them are "know it alls." They all seem to be very polite young students ready to go to work.