Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
Since I’ve always lived in southern China (Nanchang, Kunming, Guangzhou), it’s been fun to travel up North these past few weeks and hear the locals speaking Mandarin with slightly different vocabulary choices than I’m used to hearing in the South.
This list is based on my incidental observations and isn’t meant ...
Posted in General | 12 Comments »
Friday, December 25th, 2009
Shèngdàn kuàilè 圣诞快乐 everyone! (Such a strident seasonal greeting--it just doesn't sound as merry in Chinese.) Before I get back to wrapping my gifts, I thought I'd mention an actual free gift (as opposed to this) available to everyone for the next week.
Apparently, ChineseTeachers.com is doing a Christmas special offering ...
Posted in General | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Even though I live in China, it's sometimes hard to find someone to speak Chinese with me.
I'm not talking about all the "duōshao qián" 多少钱 and "yes, I've eaten" exchanges. I mean someone I can really stretch my vocabulary muscles with and speak with for a long period ...
Posted in General | 22 Comments »
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
As I watch the starting line up for Michael Phelps' next race, my two thoughts are:
1. Maybe the Chinese commentators are right. Maybe he is an alien (wàixīngrén 外星人), and that's why he swims so fast (he does have slightly webbed toes I'm told).
2. What a lot of work ...
Posted in General | 16 Comments »
Thursday, March 13th, 2008
I was looking for seedless oranges the other day. Here's how the conversation with the lady selling oranges went:
Me: zhè zhǒng yǒu méiyǒu zǐ? 这种有没有子?
Does this kind have seeds?
Lady: méiyǒu. 没有.
No
Me: nà zhǒng ne? 那种呢?
What about that kind?
Lady: nà zhǒng gèng méiyǒu! 那种更没有!
That kind has even less!
Can anyone explain ...
Posted in General | 7 Comments »