User Comments - zhenlijiang

Posted on: New Dashboard, Scarlett and Teachers!

I agree with Bodawei about the classroom teaching. I realize some people just are not near any good class or teacher, or for other reasons are not able to be in a class, but otherwise I would always suggest that learners try to find a good class and get in. Being on your own with CPod alone--good as CPod is--seems to me like an unnecessarily hard path to understanding and fluency. The lack of structure here has been discussed before. Yeah I would say that is a problem, if you have no other teacher. It's also easier to get your questions consistently answered right away, then further clarified until you're satisfied, from your classroom teacher.

In the "serious" class I can get into here, there are about 4 to 6 students--for me, four is just perfect. Schools that can offer attractive courses at prices people can afford will typically have classes with about 8 to a dozen students. There are also classes larger than 15-20 students but I would never bother to check them out. 50 students--forget it. I personally would never sign up for a class larger than a dozen.

Baba, in such a good, small class like that there inevitably is a lot of socializing and sharing that you always say is important to your learning approach (with which I agree). We're encouraged to (in Chinese of course!).

I've never been in a class where I thought the teacher's approach was didactic. Regarding edutainers, personally I find that notion a turn-off. All good teachers are good communicators. No need to cultivate a persona and have an act (see it's different, if your class is too large and the students become "your public"), when you go to work and meet with your four students and you're all sitting around a small conference table in a cozy room. And since most of my teachers are or have been (very accomplished) students of Japanese, we see our teachers as not only 老师 but peers that we can look up to and emulate.

Oh and totally agree with Chanelle--being put in a spot and feeling a little peer pressure in the classroom is very very good.

Posted on: New Dashboard, Scarlett and Teachers!

Just aping David! Heard him saying it at the top of this lesson.

Posted on: New Dashboard, Scarlett and Teachers!

Yay~ 期待期待！ Very much looking forward to the Adv. lesson on being on a movie set.

Posted on: Saying Goodbye at the Airport

Hope you get help on your second question. I'd say you're probably right, but perhaps there's more to it.

Posted on: Sending a Fax

For this particular sentence, I think a better translation would be "Have you received the fax they sent over?". I'm assuming this person is asking a colleague working in the same office or shop or something like that. "Have you received the fax they sent?" is fine, but 发来 means it was sent over to where the speaker is.

See the example sentences for the Nciku 发来 entry; none of the English translations say "over" because those contexts don't require it. But that is the meaning.

http://www.nciku.com/search/all/examples/%E5%8F%91%E6%9D%A5

Posted on: Volleyball

Bob I don't know what logic there is, but 支 is a MW for many different kinds of things. Take a look here:

http://www.nciku.com/search/zh/detail/%E6%94%AF/55039

Posted on: Saying Goodbye at the Airport

The boyfriend is going back (home or wherever, to resume his routine) from seeing her off at the airport. His going to the airport is something that has taken him away from his normal schedule and sphere of activity.

Posted on: In a Moment

John 老师 lǎoshī, this kind of reply is so good I have to say this. First I want to say I am the biggest fan of our native speaker teachers Jiaojie and Connie (if they should ever leave, CPod will cease to be attractive to me, simple as that). They're wonderful teachers and so patient and helpful, and sweet. I want to stress, in no way am I implying unhappiness with their answers to our questions, or with the responses from all our other native speaker teachers.

But I came to CPod because I was seeking a place where Chinese-related questions are discussed and explained in English. I understand too that as an Intermediate learner I have to stop thinking in English terms in order to progress. I'm just saying though, I think you (not necessarily you yourself, I realize you're a busy person--but someone qualified in the same way) should give us these "fixes" maybe a little more frequently, to sustain our spirit in our struggle as non-genius learners.

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!

Baba you might remember, last year we talked about this "language spamming", and considered the possibillity of a "language exchange corner" on CPod. I guess nothing ever really came of that though.

Posted on: Blog Posts, API's, Announcements and Gloria!

I was just going to ask Catherine if new users are clearly shown the policy in both English and Chinese when they're signing up, that is before they're actually here in the Community. I agree that sort of guidance is something that could and should be done if it isn't already (I suggested a while ago at the bottom of this comment, that policy needs to be indicated in Chinese, not only English).

The way I see this, "spammers" are a much greater annoyance now that we have threaded comments. I personally didn't use to mind their presence this much. So yeah I'm not disagreeing with you Baba.