User Comments - xiaohu

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xiaohu

Posted on: Chinese New Year Plans
February 7, 2008 at 5:41 AM

祝大家，春节快乐，身体健康， 万事如意! 过年的时候我要和亲戚在一起，吃好，喝好，玩儿得开心! 过年好!

Posted on: Even you can use the (连...都...) pattern
February 6, 2008 at 8:57 PM

Poddies: John is correct. Learning to read and write Chinese is not essential to learning spoken Chinese. John: As far as I can tell, the differences between 连。。。都 （也）and 甚至 are: 1- 连。。。都 is a Preposition 甚至 is a conjunction (conjoining 2 phrases) 2- 连。。。都 is used to bring emphasis or a stronger tone to a word or phrase 甚至 is used to bring prominence to an event or instance, linking the two ideas together. Like the examples in the text: 连。。。都 brings empasis to a single phrase "Even grandpa laughed" 甚至 bringing two phrases together creating emphasis "there were alot of people who came to the party, there were even quite a few elderly people who came", as opposed to a sentence without saying 甚至 "Alot of people came to the party, quite a few elderly also came", in this way it's not bringing out or drawing attention to "quite a few elderly also came". 3- 连。。。都 is often used in a condescending or insulting tone。 甚至 is just simply used to draw attention to an instance or part of the phrase and doesn't carry with it any condescending tone, or mood. I guess I'm behind the 8 ball on this one, perhaps my cognitive learning skills need to be sharpened. 连更多不同的方面我都不知道。 我想来想去而调查了， “连。。。都”和 “甚至” 的定义但是想不到更多不同的方面， 甚至好几个小时的研究之后想不出来了！ 不好意思啊！

Posted on: Whatever...
February 6, 2008 at 7:28 PM

user21826: The pop song is called "Ni3 Dao4 Di3 Ai4 Bu4 Ai4 Wo3" 你到底爱不爱我 www.51flash.com/music_detail_10606.html

Posted on: The Third Tone
February 5, 2008 at 10:39 PM

punter888: No problem, I'm always glad to help. When I first started learning Chinese I was profoundly confused by the third tone, especially because I asked several Chinese people about this mysterious changes of third tone and they said, "NO, tone go down then up, who tell you tone change?" I gotta tell you, after I heard that I almost fired my tutor! I thought he was teaching me some weird variant form of Mandarin. Later of course I found out everything he was saying was completely correct. But for a while there I was really wrestling with it, trying to figure out on my own how to voice the tones.

Posted on: Whatever...
February 5, 2008 at 7:57 PM

Jenny, Here in California we've been hit by the worst drought in many years. Recent rainstorms have given hope that the worst is behind us, but we still need to be aware of how much water we're using and be careful. Just like in China there are advertisments everywhere about saving water, some people have heeded the call but so many people just don't care and don't do anything to try and conserve water, let alone the little things they should, like not letting the water run while brushing their teeth, running sprinklers for a short time at night, etc. I wish we could be more like the Chinese in this way and heed the call to band together and make a difference. I wish more people would realize, as a society we all live together in one space, on one globe, sharing the same air, water and land. All human beings are connected and we all need to look out for each other. I'm happy to see the Chinese are doing just that! Doing the little things to help out those who are struggling. I know about how bad these storms have hit China from watching the news, however it's nothing compared to being there and having to live through it. My heart is definately with those who are struggling. I wonder if there is anything we can do from here?

Posted on: The Third Tone
February 5, 2008 at 5:43 AM

punter888: Just so you're 100% clear on the 3rd (half tone) phenomenon, imagine someone takes a pen and crosses out the rising part of all the 3rd tone marks on the Pinyin chart just leaving the first half of the tone...this is your "half tone", essentially leaving just the first part to be voiced. This is what your manual means by, "a 3rd tone syllable becomes a half tone when it is immediately followed by a 1st, 2nd, 4th or neutral tone syllable, i.e. only the first half (the falling part) is articulated". So you see the theoretical "3rd tone" doesn't really exist, it's always changing. I'd say only about 10% of the time will you come across the 3rd tone in it's theoretical original state. So again back to you example, the correct way to pronounce it would be: ni2 you2 ji (1/2 3rd) ge4 No wonder why it's considered to be the "redheaded stepchild" of the tones. (no offense to redheads or stepchildren)

Posted on: Even you can use the (连...都...) pattern
February 5, 2008 at 5:01 AM

Poddies: John is right, understanding my post is in no way a condition to understanding spoken Chinese. You can simply regard reading and writing Chinese as Electives, and if you elect to learn written Chinese you'll understand my post is here for edutainment value only. If you don't elect to learn written Chinese it will in no way impair your ability to learn and utilize spoken Chinese. If you have no interest in learning to read Chinese, there is no need to inquire as to why the post is there, you can simply go about the business of utilizing the wealth of excellent resources here on Chinesepod to learn to speak fluent Chinese. :)

Posted on: Even you can use the (连...都...) pattern
February 5, 2008 at 2:20 AM

连小虎都可以贴不太轰动的留言！ 虽然按照一些 Poddies 的建议就是说我我常常贴令人发指的建议不过这次我要贴挺温和的留言而连 Clay 也不会对我发火吧！你们准备好了没有？我觉得这个问题复杂得连 Amber 或 Connie 都不知道怎么回答才好！ 心平气和了没？　 我的问题是：；（连。。。都）跟 （甚至）是一个意思吗？

Posted on: Whatever...
February 5, 2008 at 1:52 AM

ricegrass 他们可以穿上大衣和手套到外边去用铲子开条小路， 对不对？

Posted on: The Third Tone
February 5, 2008 at 12:43 AM

renny: Early on in my studies, one of my Chinese friends (an ABC) had told me, "Oh, Chinese people NEVER USE THE TONES, yet we still understand each other". What he really meant was that HE doesn't use the tones, yet when he spoke Chinese he DID use the tones, because after having grown up around them it was subconscious, the tone was a built in part of the word, he didn't think he was speakig with the tones and yet they were there loud and clear, actually I don't think he could speak Chinese without using the tones. When you speak without using the tones, of course short simple sentences are no problem to understand, however when you get into long discussions, if you're not using the tones I guarantee you're going strait down the road of total misunderstanding. Also, a word to the wise, it might be kind of nice if, on this Newbie board you wouldn't promote the idea of not using tones and give people the wrong impression. Yes people, take it from someone with 5 years experience in this language, In Chinese the tones are VERY VERY IMPORTANT!