User Comments - xemrac

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xemrac

Posted on: Farm Life Tourism
October 04, 2014, 09:56 AM

Fun lesson! The voice actor for 胡老板 did such a good job with the countryside accent. Love to hear different types of speech on these podcasts.

Posted on: 京东众筹
October 01, 2014, 11:54 AM

On the other hand, acronyms like "B2C" or "B2B" which are commonly used among Chinese speakers but sound like jargon to those not in marketing could be explained in English!

Posted on: 京东众筹
October 01, 2014, 11:39 AM

十分同意。David用了特别清晰的中文来解释新的词汇,觉得没必要用英文直接翻译。另外,用中文介绍也让我们学生更好地把新的生词连到我们已学过的汉字。比如 “众筹” 就是从大众的 “众” 和筹集的 “筹” 组成的。这样也能听得懂,而更容易记得住。

Posted on: 弃婴安全岛
May 13, 2014, 10:49 AM

真的很有意思,我喜欢这种讨论社会问题的课程。谢谢Vera和David。想问一下课程里的访谈是从新闻报道改过来的吗?听这钟报道对我的听力很有帮助,而且你们后面解释地很清楚。

广州的弃婴安全岛已经关了,很可惜,但对我而言最大的问题还是国家的儿童福利保障制度,特别是有病残孩子的家长。他们没有足够的资源,也缺少社会的关怀和包容。

Posted on: 港媒:上海幼儿园鼓励方言被批鼓励歧视
April 11, 2014, 09:30 AM

我的理解是:

@4.40 “课余时间” 是指不上课的时间。我听到的是“时间”而不是“时节”。“余”就是剩余的余,意思就是 "extra/leftover". So literally, 课余时间 means "time other than class time".

So as I understand, it doesn't just mean "after school", but can mean any time outside of class time. Not sure if that is correct.

@4.40 “两节课” :对的,“节”就是“课”的量词。

@5.05“不会说说”

@5.39"不是会说"

Yep, that's what I heard too.

Posted on: (W)rapping It All Up
July 16, 2010, 12:11 AM

Great job on this series guys. It was awesome - 呃! It's a lovely language. Now I hope I can retain some of it in my brain.

Posted on: 人家: Other People and Pouty Girls
July 14, 2010, 01:34 AM

How about, "The Dude does not abide, man!"

Posted on: How to Start a Conversation with Chinese People
April 26, 2010, 07:09 PM

@xiaopaul

just from anecdotal experience, i think the friendliness factor really depends on tone of voice. i've definitely heard people say 你干吗?! with an angry tone of voice, and would translate it to mean something like: "what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Posted on: Dog Meat and Animal Rights
March 20, 2009, 09:31 PM

nicely stated kesirui, 

i totally agree. let's not shy away from the fact that food (all food) comes from somewhere.

there are more sustainable ways of eating. yes, maybe it's not feasible for all right now, but the current state of food distribution makes sure the poorest of all of us don't have access to food, or only have access to food with little nutritive value.

i was a vegetarian for political reasons but unfortunately was not able to hold up against my grandma's dumplings and... bacon. i'm a happy omnivore now but try my damndest to eat meat responsibly. i.e., not eat too much of it and not buy feedlot meat as much as possible.

is seems like there's an increasing interest in supporting smaller-scale procurement and "slower" foods, as it were, in the US.

and i recently read an article about this in China... upscale but still happening.

Posted on: About Face! A Multi-faceted Look at 面子
March 17, 2009, 03:18 AM

totally agree with calkins

in terms of consumerism i think the US takes the cake. much of "conspicuous consumption" has to do with creating new needs in the mind of the consumer and creating false demand in turn. and a lot of that is what made the US an economic powerhouse for so long.

but the cultural concept of mianzi certainly extends beyond flaunting riches, which a few people have brought up. my mom came from a relatively wealthy, well-traveled family, who lost a lot of what they had when they fled to taiwan. this concept of buying things just to show-off was pretty disdainful to her, but other aspects of mianzi -- like behaving well and doing good by your family -- were pretty much indispensable when i was growing up.

and to matt_c, while we definitely have to respect other cultural notions as they arise in their contexts, i do think we can get lost in cultural relativism. there are certain aspects of rampant consumerism that i simply disagree with, and i think if the world is to be a more flourishing place, a lot of us -- all over the world -- need to rethink cultural values that have placed greed and excess over human and environmental good.