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Ask and Answer——HSK
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Tommi -

I asked today about registering for the next HSK in June, atleast in Sichuan Uni they allow
registrations online and in person this time because of the amount of complaints they had last
time. I would think this also applies to other HSK exam places?



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Jingjing-N -

Answer:
To Roddy: To create a test site, we have much consideration. Besides the equipment condition, the
number of HSK candidates is also a big deal. That is to say, if the university has a great demand
of HSK, we may think about it. Next week, we are going to hold a test administration conference,
gathering all test sites in China together in Beijing and have a further discussion about the
problems.
To anonymoose: Some candidates encountered the same problem with you. But the nuber is relatively
small, most of the candidates can do it successfully. So this time, we allow online registration
and in-person registration. Time schedule is on our homepage

Attention,everyone! If you have any questions and confusions about HSK, please tell me as soon as
possible. The HSK administrtation conference will be held next week focusing on discussing and
trying to find solutions of them. And any constructive suggestions are welcomed!!!










wushijiao -

Hi Jingjing-N. I am really glad to see that your attitude towards taking in suggestions about the
HSK is so positive!

I have taken the HSK fives times, at Jiaotong and Shanghai Normal University, and I have to say
that the officiating and quality of equipment has been very good every time. However, it does make
me a bit angry to hear stories of test-takers openly cheating. As you know, the test is graded on
a curve. If a significant percentage of people cheat, that will certainly influence the overall
scores. Personally, I think that if a person is found cheating on the exam, his or her paper
should be taken, and the person shouldn’t be given a score.

I would also endorse the idea of being able to pay with foreign credit cards. This would be very
convenient for the people who are not able to register in person.










kdavid -



Quote:

I would also endorse the idea of being able to pay with foreign credit cards. This would be very
convenient for the people who are not able to register in person.

Also, wouldn't all of the test-takers be foreigners and therefore using foreign credit cards to
register? I'm sure there are exceptions for those who have been in China for awhile and have
Chinese bank accounts. I agree with the posters above in that foreign credit cards should be
accepted.










pandaxiongmao -

Non-chinese speaking ethnic minorities also have to take the HSK test to enter Uni. So it isn't
just foreigners taking the test.

Hainan does not have an HSK test site because of the lack non-chinese speaking ethnic minorities.
I don't know the actual numbers, but I'd guess there are more of these ethnic minorities taking
the test than actual foreigners taking the test within China.










roddy -

There's a specific test for minority students I think - MHK? - can't remember the actual name and
don't know the figures, but I'd suspect they don't make up a huge proportion of HSK takers. But
unless one of us actually bothers finding the numbers

The HSK office is providing a service, and as such as it needs to be making things as easy as
possible for its customers. That means in person registration for those who want it, and online
options using both Chinese and overseas payment options. It can't just choose the one that's easy
for itself and then tell us it's 'convenient ' - you give us the choice, we'll decide which one is
convenient. If there needs to be a reasonable fee for the extra costs of in person registration,
that's ok.

I also think there's too much focus on developing new tests rather than fixing the problems with
the existing ones. See here - all those issues with the levels of the core exams have been ignored
literally for years. That post is from 2005, I wrote this (see the bottom) in 2003. This issues
arise from poor planning and should never have arisen in the first place, and they need fixed. If
you don't do that, how much confidence can we have in your other exams?

Don't misunderstand - I think in general the HSK office does a relatively good job, and I
certainly have a lot more faith in you than in your friends at 汉办. But there's a lot of change
and expansion happening, and I'm not convinced it's changing and expanding in the right direction.










gato -



Quote:

Non-chinese speaking ethnic minorities also have to take the HSK test to enter Uni.

Ethnic minorities can take the MHK for university admission. There's a one-on-one oral section in
the MHK, done in person by an examiner, and is graded on a pass-fail basis. Since the HSK is
graded on a curve, it wouldn't make sense for minority students who have lived all their lives in
China to take it.

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heifeng -

First of all I also applaud Jingjing-N for starting this thread. Here are some of my thoughts on
the HSK.

ONLINE:
I actually don't mind waiting in line to register. I think that it is not that much of a hassle at
all IF you are in China, so registering in person should still be an option for us. However, if
you are going to have an online service for students to register, you definitely need to make sure
it is user-friendly for the end user: the students, and not just for your organization. Right now,
without the foreign credit card option it is not very user-friendly (as already mentioned) period.

TESTING PROBLEMS
I have also taken the HSK a total of 4 times at BLCU (5+ if you count the C.Test and other 'guinea
pig' exams in the afternoon after the advanced HSK), once for the chuzhong and 3 times for the
advanced exam. Luckily I have never really encountered terrible problems regarding the
administering of the exam. In fact I think it is always very well organized at BLCU and usually on
the strict side. However, if this isn't the case at other universities and students are taking
advantage of this, well than that affects my score too and I am extremely unhappy about that.

USEFULLNESS:
99% of the reason I take the advance HSK is to give myself some sort of goal and gauge my
progress. However, It WOULD be nice if the HSK or even the C.Test actually seemed to have some
real use to us while we are in China. As a westerner studying Chinese I originally thought that
maybe the HSK would offer some 'proof' of my proficiency level (I won't discuss how accurate that
proof is on this thread however). Originally I felt the more 'proof' the better since many people
generally have the preconception that westerners cannot speak, read, write, understand Chinese
very well. However, I have NEVER even had an opportunity to use my certificate for anything
whatsoever, nor have I met any Chinese person outside of a university even knew what the HSK is.
(Unlike those English Level exams Chinese students take that everyone knows about.) So I guess
what I am asking, outside of the academic community and (apparently) companies in Korea, is your
office trying to boost the name of the HSK to make more people familiar with it? I am happy to
take the exam just to motivate myself, but it WOULD be nice if I had a chance to use the
certificate for something.....anything.

ACTUAL CONTENT PROBLEMS & SOME STUFF YOU PROBABLY CANNOT ANSWER, BUT THEY ARE NOT SPECIFIC
QUESTIONS, JUST GENERAL QUESTIONS:
Roddy already mentioned the important questions above.

However, after taking the afternoon exam this past April after the Advanced exam I have the
following feedback and general questions: (Sorry, I sort of wrote this on the survey after the
exam, but exhaustion may have set in so I don't know if it made sense...so I am rewriting it here
for your personal viewing convenience)

Listening: I don't have any problems with the changes here.
Zonghe & Reading: Why would the office want to put so many questions on the correct order (ABCD)
of sentences. It seemed a bit excessive. At least with the current test format section 2 of the
Zonghe forces us to improve our vocabulary a bit more. Overall, getting rid of the zonghe section
4 of the current exam is a welcomed change, but I don't think section 2 should be excluded. Also
the new zhonghe & reading section is REALLY LONG. By the time you get to the reading (if you
follow the sequence of the questions), if you didn't pace yourself well, then you are totally
going to be unable to complete many of the questions. It just seems less mentally exhausting to
have shorter sections rather than one super long one...followed by the shortest section of them
all...What is the logic here?.

Speed-reading: I am just wondering what the motivation behind this section is. Is this modeled off
of other language proficiency exams?

So is this DEFINITELY the new format that is going into effect next year, 2008?

FRIVOLOUS STUFF
Lastly, I think the advanced certificates should have a real embossed seal on them to make them
more official looking. I was a bit shocked when I noticed my chuzhong certificate had the seal and
my advanced certificate didn't....(yes, this is very frivolous, but it just seemed very odd to me )

thank you










Jingjing-N -

The first revised HSK will be held officially in June. There are 3 grades: elementary,
intermediate and advanced. I personally think this division is better. HSK Revised adds speaking
and writing part. You can find the detailed information in
Attachment:中国汉语水平考试改进版. The grading technology was also advanced, see
Attachment: HSK主观考试评分技术的突破和飞跃. About the online registration of HSK in
June: see 网上报名通知
ATTENTION!!! registration of HSK REVISED (intermediate) in June: see中国汉语水平考试改进1

中国汉语水平考试改进版.doc

HSK主观考试评分技术的突破和飞跃.doc

网上报名通知_f.doc










Jingjing-N -

And thank you heifeng for your helpful suggestion












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Chinese Mandarin - 了again -

> Learning Chinese > Grammar and Vocabulary
了again
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rezaf -

(I know that 了 has been discussed a million times here. )
My English is not so good so I hope my questions are clear.


1- 今天早饭你吃什么了？does it mean "What are you going to eat for breakfast?" or does
it mean "What did you eat for breakfast?"
What does 了 indicate in this sentence ?


2-If I want to say "Today I ate bread for breakfast." is it correct to say
"今天早饭我吃了面包。"?
What does 了 indicate in this sentence and what does this sentence mean without 了?



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againstwind -



Quote:

1- 今天早饭你吃什么了？does it mean "What are you going to eat for breakfast?" or does
it mean "What did you eat for breakfast?"
What does 了 indicate in this sentence ?

----What did you eat today for breakfast?
In this sentence, 了 is used after the verb to indicate completion.



Quote:

2-If I want to say "Today I ate bread for breakfast." is it correct to say
"今天早饭我吃了面包。"?
What does 了 indicate in this sentence and what does this sentence mean without 了?

Yes.
The same to the 1st, 了 indicates completion.
Without 了, this sentence '今天早饭我吃面包' may have different meanings in practice:
1. Today I am going to have bread for breakfast. (You say this sentence before breakfast,
indicating your will.)
2. Today I ate bread for breakfast. (You state the truth after breakfast.)
So what meaning this sentence exactly conveys totally depends on what context you are in and how
the listener understand.










Lugubert -



Quote:

Without 了, this sentence '今天早饭我吃面包' may have different meanings in practice:
1. Today I am going to have bread for breakfast. (You say this sentence before breakfast,
indicating your will.)
2. Today I ate bread for breakfast. (You state the truth after breakfast.)

Or, it will sound like you will continue speaking, like for instance.
1. Today, when I will have had bread for breakfast, ... I will have a boiled egg too.
2. Today, when I had had my breakfast, ... I went on with having an egg.










rezaf -

thanks. I am a beginner and so far this is the first difficult thing I have seen in chinese
grammar. not so bad...










anonymoose -



Quote:

Without 了, this sentence '今天早饭我吃面包' may have different meanings in practice:
.
.
.
2. Today I ate bread for breakfast. (You state the truth after breakfast.)

So under what circumstances would one choose to say the above sentence (without 了) as opposed to
今天早饭我吃了面包 when refering to the past situation (after breakfast)?










againstwind -



Quote:

So under what circumstances would one choose to say the above sentence (without 了) as opposed to
今天早饭我吃了面包 when refering to the past situation (after breakfast)?

If someone (native) speaks casually or optionally, it possibly happens.
In other words, it's not strict to use '今天早饭我吃面包' when refering to the past
situation (after breakfast). But this is just what people say.

And I think that usually people would prefer another expression, like
'今天早饭我吃的（是）面包'.












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Chinese Character - Colloquial Chinese - w/CDs -

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
Colloquial Chinese - w/CDs
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griz326 -

I am considering the purchase of Colloquial Chinese by Qian Kan through Amazon.com for $85 USD.

One line in the review has me puzzled. It spoke of being able to switch from the spoken word to
the characters.

My question is: Do you need to use this course while seated at a computer?



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flameproof -

I think the one for US$85 refers to the CD-Rom version.

I would go for the audio CD, which you can do everywhere.












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Learn Chinese online - Find a female foreign friend who want to learn Putonghua -

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Living in China > Classifieds
Find a female foreign friend who want to learn Putonghua
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lilymei -

I am a native female chinese. I want to find a friend who want to practice oral chinese. I want to
practice oral english as well. I am at Beijing, and working for an international company. I think
we could touch many topics, such as, business writing, traveling, food, etc. If you hv
intertesting, email me at meijie2002@hotmail.com.

期待与你共同进步！



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HSK - Studying at Global Village? Other private schools? - Page 2 -

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Universities and Schools > Studying
Chinese in Beijing
Studying at Global Village? Other private schools?
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Long Pan -

I am French and got my tourist VISA in Paris. I had 3 months to enter China, and once in, 3 months
to stay. Chinese VISA are a bit confusing because they seem to be different from one country to
another - but this type of 3 months tourist visa is always what I got in Paris.

I still have 2 months on this VISA so I haven't started yet to worry about it. I know that it is
easy to get a 1 month extension, and that at least if I cannot get 6 months more here through an
agency, I can always go to HK where everybody seems to agree that you can get a 6 months visa
easily. A friend of mine (French also) is in the process to extend her tourist VISA through an
agency in Beijing - I will ask her how it is going. As for Global Village, it tends to be a bit
the mess here in 办公室 so I tend to avoid the place and only go to the courses.



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bdffrnt66 -

Thanks again for your answer, Long Pan. That´s cleared up a lot of doubts I had. Still would be
good to hear the experience of your friend. Obviously using an agency in Beijing or (if need be)
in Hong Kong, seems to be the easiest thing to do in order to extend your visa, but I would like
to avoid that if possible. I lived in Taiwan for 7 years, during which I had to go to the police
station every 3 months and leave the country every 6 months (flying out to HK). After a while, it
really gets to be a drag. I´d rather avoid that kind of situations while studying in China. I
guess I would really like to figure out the easiest/cheapest way to stay in China for the longest
time possible. Anyways, thanks again for your help!










bianfuxia -

My post provides some recent information for you to consider about alternative private schools in
Beijing. There are tonnes of them, of course. In the last week I went to trial classes at 4 of
them and have signed up for a month at Frontiers. Read on to find out why. It's all anecdotal of
course but you might find it helpful.

I'm an "upper elementary" student. I did a half-assed semester at the BLCU which in retrospect
provided a much better basis than I thought it would. But I'm hardly the world's most diligent
student so that's where I am.

The biggest conclusion I made is that the best thing to do is TRY before you BUY - for me, almost
everything depends on the individual teacher. His/her teaching method and ability to explain
things clearly is critical. I chose Frontiers on this basis even though it wasn't the cheapest.
Second most important factor for me is the level of the other students. Ideally I want to be in
the upper 50%, so the class pace is fast enough, not too fast, but I don't feel dragged down by
the slower classmates (or that I am holding everyone else up). Third would be the text book they
use. Only fourth, for me, comes price (assuming the options are all within what I can afford - I
ruled out a few on the basis of price alone).

School: Canjie Mandarin School.

Location: Heng'an Building, South of the Zhaolong Hotel, 6591 0933. A long walk from Dong Si Shi
Tiao subway.

Advertising offers: Group classes at all levels, all subjects. They have a maximum of 5 per group.

Price: 30 rmb per 50 minutes. Each class is composed of 2 x 50 minutes. There's also an option to
take 'super small classes' (2 people) for 840Y per month. Private classes: 70Y per hour.

CLASS: I attended a class which had only one other participant (a second person was absent). The
teacher meant well but wasn't very good at explaining things - when the other guy asked her some
questions she really struggled to communicate. They use a terrible book there, with a lot of
philosophical kind of texts (rather than more "every-day" kind of stuff) . OK for some, but not
what I am after just yet.

The level was actually a bit high for me, and I struggled to keep up. They had nothing to offer at
that time at my actual level, other than "take a private class".

Admin: Were attentive and responsive.

School: Juncheng School of Linguistics

Location: Two branches. One in Wangjing, the other at the East Road of Beijing Railway Station.
The walk from the subway was pretty seedy.

Advertising offers: group classes at all levels, all subjects. They have a maximum of 10 per group.

Price: Regular Chinese courses: 3,150Y Monday-Friday, 3 hours per day per 3 months. There's visa
assistance, and will give accommodation assistance. HSK courses 1,200Y per month, Monday to Friday
13:30-15:30. Private classes 80Y per hour (at the school)

There's a one time registration fee of 100Y. To do a one-month upper elementary course there would
have been 800Y.

CLASS: I took two classes here, both supposedly upper elementary but one was further along in the
text book than the other. The first, lower, class had a fantastic teacher but after 2 hours in the
class it was clear that I was a bit more advanced than both the material and the class mates. It's
a shame, because the teacher had an excellent, clear way of speaking, she could explain things in
Chinese and only resorted to her excellent English when absolutely necessary. The book was much
better - stupidly I didn't write down which books were used - but it was one that is commonly seen
around and perfectly acceptable as far as these books go (in that they are generally pretty much
the same). That class had quite a multicultural mix - Polish, Russian, Turkish, Korean and I would
have been classmate number 8 if I'd stayed.

I did the next class up and the teacher was quite good but not as stand-out as the first one. If I
could have had the first teacher and the second class, I probably would have stayed there. But the
second class was a bit less fun. Also, it was only Korean and Japanese class-mates, which for me
is difficult because I find (generally speaking) their Chinese a little more difficult to
understand due to pronunciation issues. The teacher spent a lot of the class time correcting them
on basic sounds which was going to get pretty annoying pretty quickly.

Ultimately I decided against this school because I couldn't find the right mix of teacher, level
and classmates. If I was a little less advanced, I would have taken the lower class in a
heartbeat. This school has a nice environment and is well priced.

Admin: Quite helpful and accommodating. They were patient and let me sit in on 2 classes.

School: Frontiers

Location: Dongzhimen and Jianguomen.

Advertising offers: Courses designed for all levels, from beginner to advanced, as well as
specialised courses in business Chinese, HSK, current events etc.

Price: 1470Y for 42 hours. (payment done as a package) Private classes are 80Y per hour.

I went to the Jianguomen branch and very quickly found out that they had no classes at all. The
branch is new so they have no students yet. They asked their manager if they could set up a
beginning/intermediate class and they said: pay for private class then roll them over when some
more students enrol'...

At Dongzhimen things were much better. I tried 2 classes, again, and found that the lower level
class, which had only 2 other students, was burdened with a teacher of poor quality. An example:
we were studying the use of "zheng hao" meaning "precisely or exactly", as in when you give the
shop assistant exactly the correct money and they say "zheng hao". The teacher had a lot of
difficulty explaining this. She had made some exercises for us to fill out. One said: "A: You're
on time today!" "B: Yes, I took the subway...". After some confusion at our proposed answers she
told us she'd designed the answer to say "Yes I took the subway and when i arrived I saw a friend
and he has a car so he offered me a lift and that's how I got here "zheng hao" at 2pm". (rough
translation of course). Rather convoluted, no? I also felt that the other classmates reverted to
English too much, probably because they had trouble understanding the teacher in Chinese. There
were a lot of discussions along the lines of "what is it, how does this work?" etc.

So that afternoon I took the more advanced class which was right about the correct level for me.
It has 3 other students, one less advanced, one about the same, and one a bit higher. The teacher
is excellent, nearly as good as the mythically fantastic one from the other school. He has solid
English but is adept at explaining things in Chinese and the class is conducted almost exclusively
in that.

It's more expensive here, 1470 for 42 hrs broken down into 9 hrs per week spread over 3 days/wk,
but for me it was within budget and therefore the best choice, based on the teacher-students-level
equation.

Admin: Very helpful. Even cut me a discount on the basis that I would miss the 2 last classes
because I have to leave the country before my month's package ends.

Di Qiu Cun

There's lots of info about DQC but I also tried there.

Basically I found the teachers to be ok, probably average compared to the others I've seen. This
time around, my class sizes were good - only about 5. Other times I've tried there, though, I've
been crammed in with 20 other students for a kouyu class which isn't ideal. I might have
perservered with the smaller class this time around except that Wudaokou is quite a way from where
I live. Plus, I don't like the heavy smoke environment that pervades the building! Still, there is
no denying that DQC offers a huge range of classes and time slots and the teachers generally seem
competent.










ffswoo -

Thanks for the reviews, bianfuxia. About your advice to try before you buy - do most private
schools allow a free trial lesson?










bdffrnt66 -

Hi Bianfuxia, thanks for the info on the other schools. I will be checking them out when I´m
there, although my preference still seems to go to Di Qiu Cun (Global Village) because of wide
choice/flexibility/price.

For those of you following this thread because of the visa situation when studying at a private
school: as mentioned in an earlier post, I had a Chinese friend of mine call Global Village, and
it was confirmed that they can not give you an invitation letter to apply for an F-visa abroad,
and they can not help you with changing an L-visa into an F-visa. I probably will be taking Long
Pan´s advice and just use a visa agency. My Chinese friend found the admin people at Global
Village rude, and unwilling to get into details over the phone regarding costs of extending visas
etc...Will be continued!










Jekai -

I've been watching this thread hoping for good news about getting a student visa (I assume you
mean student X visa, an F is a business visa) to study at Global Village as I also want to come
here for a year, but it looks like no luck.

Do any private schools in Beijing have the ability to grant X visas, or just universities? Also,
do agencies have some sort of special pull to get better visas than I can on my own through the
embassy? This is all very confusing and was easier last summer when I didn't need more than a
tourist visa.










bdffrnt66 -

Hi Jekai! Apparently, an X visa is for students studying for more than 6 months, and an F-visa is
either for business OR for short term students (less than 6 months). But Global Village is not
allowed to issue the "invitation letter" which is needed to apply for an F or an X visa...I have
not yet figured out for sure if there are other private schools that can issue it, but I´m
getting the impression it´s only the universities that can. Really seems that, if you want to
tudy at a private school, the best is to use the visa agencies, who have the necessary guangxi to
pull things through.










yonitabonita -

Yes most schools allow you to try before you buy. But usually just one class though.

The staff at Diqiucun are notoriously rude. They're paid an absolute pittance and have no
incentive to be helpful. I'm referring to the people at the front desk, not the teachers. My
teachers are nice and I suppose that's what counts.

As for visas, only universities as far as I know are able to help you with X visas. Private
schools can't. Several staff at the BLCU, Diqiucun were consistent on this point.

I went through this process when I dropped out of the BLCU last year. The end result was that I
went to HK and switched to a F visa. I went to HK again in February for a 'visa' holiday. Bit of a
hassle, but beyond that first extension which must be done overseas (or HK), additional extensions
can be done in Beijing.

hope this helps.

y










Long Pan -

See here for more info on the agency in Wudaokou for L visa extension (up to one year)












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Learn Chinese - I Don't Feel Like Dancin' ~ Scissor Sisters -

> Extras > Other cultures and language
I Don't Feel Like Dancin' ~ Scissor Sisters
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Koneko -

I Don't Feel Like Dancin' ~ Scissor Sisters

What a fabulous tune!

Any Scissor Sisters groupies out there?

DJ. K.



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Koneko -

God, I haven't heard this song for donkey's years!
I used to listen to this song so much when I studied in Malaysia!
I could sing it all day long and all night long!

Listen

Jika dunia
Aku yang punya
Akan kuhiaskan
Putih dan berseri

Jika dunia
Aku yang punya
Akan ku dirikan
Sebuah syurga
Malam tanpa siang
Untuk ku bermimpi

Sepanjang masa
Tanpa kecewa
Bertemankan bintang yang setia
Bagaikan puteri
Kisah khayalan
Yang hidupnya suci dan sempurna

Tapi sayang
Hanyalah impian
Bulan tak bisa tumbuh di taman
Dan bila mentari datang
Pulanglah segala kenyataan

Jika dunia
Aku yang punya
Akan kuhiaskan
Sepasang sayap
Putih dan berseri
Untukku kemudi

Sepanjang masa
Tanpa kecewa
Bertemankan bintang yang setia
Bagaikan puteri
Kisah khayalan
Yang hidupnya suci dan sempurna

Tapi sayang
Hanyalah impian
Bulan tak bisa tumbuh di taman
Dan bila mentari datang
Pulanglah segala kenyataan

DJ. K.










Koneko -

東京は夜の７時
Any P5 fans out there?

DJ. K.










Koneko -

Another Malay song I used to fancy a lot back home!

Further to HashiriKata's comments on 杨乃文's voice earlier, I also find her husky voice is
quite similar to a Malaysian rock queen, Ella.

Please click here for the music video.

Layar Impian

Jika mimpi masa silam
Bisa kusimpan dalam kaca
Jadi perhiasan
Pasti aku abadikan
Zaman riang kanak-kanak
Pabila hujan mengundang
Suasana bahagia
Dalam hidup yang seindah
Mimpi yang tidak pernah
Melukakan perasaan...

Tapi kini bila dewasa
Ku mula sedar betapa mimpi
Hanyalah suatu permainan
Jiwa insan dalam kesepian

Jika mimpi cinta kita
Bisa kuzahirkan
Jadi lukisan yang menarik
Pasti aku sentosakan
Malam pesta bila engkau
Lafazkan janji dan memelukku
Sepanjang tarian
Hingga pipi ku terasa
Basah dalam tangisan
Yang penuh kesyukuran...

Tapi kini bila dewasa
Ku mula sedar betapa mimpi
Hanyalah suatu permainan
Jiwa insan dalam kesepian

DJ. K.










Koneko -

What a stunning tune!
So electrifying and uplifting!
Shake your arse with this video. Please click here.

I've Got a Life
Turn it down so I can't hear it
Turn it out so I can't see it
It's just useless to ignore
We're going down, you don't feel it
Turn it round, you don't mean it and
I can't stand it anymore

When the whole world sighs
And it's making you so deflated

I've got a life
Though it refuses to shine
I've got a life it ain't over (it ain't over)
I've got a way
It's the only things that's mine
All I'm asking for is tenderness
A little tenderness
Ooo it's a cruel place
You never asked to be here
Nobody cares and no one's gonna help you now (hold on)
It's dog eat dog the human race
The only thing they'll do is hate you (hate you)

Such a crime to be unkind
Turn your cheek pretend you're blind

I've got a life
Though it refuses to shine
I've got a life it ain't over
It ain't over
I've got a way
It's the only thing that's mine
All I'm asking for is tenderness
Tenderness

I've got a life
Though it refuses to shine
I've got a life it ain't over
It ain't over
I've got a way
It's the only thing that's mine
All I'm asking for is tenderness

Be strong now baby
Gotta be strong now baby
Gotta be strong!

DJ. K.










Nivea -

god i remember this song was played 4-5 times everyday in sydney radio










Koneko -

Are Scissor Sisters popular in Sydney like Kylie in London?

DJ. K.










Koneko -

How about some St. Patrick's Day pre-celebration?

This clip features Siamsa , a scene taken from Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames.

Apropos, I used to do Irish Dance at Uni too! Ha ha...
Also an active ceilidh dancer in Edinburgh! Ha ha...
Was even invited to perform the Riverdance at an Irish pub!

K.










Koneko -

Cool video featuring Ken Hirai in different looks!

Pop Star

Lyrics

DJ. K.










Nivea -

actually im not sure, i just like to listen to the radio when i was working, but i remember they
were in the top 10, but never reach the top












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HSK Exam - Hejia binguan 和家宾馆 – good hotel option next to BLCU -

> Studying, Working and Living in China > Universities and Schools > Studying
Chinese in Beijing
Hejia binguan 和家宾馆 – good hotel option next to BLCU
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Long Pan -

This is a very good option which should be more emphasised in this forum.

He jia binguan (和家宾馆) is part of a chain of hotels called 和家宾馆连锁 (lian suo =
chain); they have 6 hotels in Beijing which can be located on their website (only in Chinese). The
one I am talking about is called beisihuan dian (北四环店) = hotel north of 4th peripheric.

HOW TO GO THERE:
In fact not many taxi drivers know this place. That's because it is located in a small street on
the west side of of huaquing jiayuan compound (华清家园).
* If you come from the airport, the best is to arrive from the 4th peripheric. Here is the
address + instructions they give on their website 海淀区 成府路 东升园 七条
华清家园 (北四环保福寺桥向北300米再向东 100米). You can also find a map but
not that clear.
* If you come north from wudaokou (五道口) you should take the small street which is just
BEFORE the MacDonald on the west side of huaquing jiayuan (华清家园 – this orange compound
on your left) – see also this map (click on the map on the right); the little road I am
talking about is not drawn but you see the MacDonald.
RESERVATION
Call 82629055. Only “bad” point – they do not speak English (most of the customers here are
Chinese). Maybe a fax (82629181) could do it. I do not see any email address. I would recommend
you to book two days in advance as it is usually full.

PRICE (March 2007)
Single room (单人间) = 168 RMB per night
Single room with king size bed = 188 RMB
No negotiation for long term stay as they told me on front desk (I asked for one or two months)
Their website will give you updated prices.

THE ROOMS
Nice, clean, convenient, with ADSL for your laptop. No comparison with the not so good 368 RMB
single room of Xijiao binguan which I just left this morning (and 368 was the cheapest price which
you get only after bargaining – otherwise it is 450).

LOCATION
You get all the good part of wudaokou (next to subway, 15 minutes walk to BLCU, in front of
地球村 private school…) without the bad part of it (being on this small street prevents you
from the noise and crowd of the noisy chengfu lu).

LONG TERM STAY
If I had to stay one month I would definitely prefer this option to SAC (Beijing Foreign Students
Activity Center) where most of the cheap rooms are gone letting you only with the 150 something
rooms. Moreover I think SAC location is really not good - far from every thing, with a 20minutes
walk to BLCU which looks like hell!). SAC is I think rather overvalued in this forum due to I
guess to the very persuasive 2005’ thread of Amanda . Anyway, for BLCU students I think the best
location for a 4 or 5 weeks session is within the campus; it is nice, quiet and convenient. But in
case there is no place (especially for the single rooms) or that you want to be out of the campus,
then Hejia binguan seems to be a good option. For a 2 months stay you could start thinking about
renting a flat which is what I am doing – but that’s another story.



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Long Pan -

I forgot; in Hejia binguan there is also a nice buffet for lunch and diner, very convinient, with
plenty of choice and pretty good, for only 15 yuan.

(as for Xijiao binguan I made a mistake: the current price is not a 368 RMB bargain for 450 RMB,
but 384 RMB for 480 RMB )










landellian -

Hi Long Pan,

I know it's been awhile since you posted this comment about hejiabinguan, but the website for the
hotel isn't up anymore. I remember it being there a few months ago. Do you happen to know if they
changed sites or companies?

Thanks










Long Pan -

Indeed, it does not work
I do not get more success zith this other address I have http://www.hejiachains.com/










adrianlondon -

Cheap hotel, didn't pay their hosting fees :-) Might mean their ADSL isn't working too well either.

If you google 82629055 you'll find a couple of sites with maps but, more importantly, it seems to
confirm that the telephone number is still valid.










landellian -

Thanks to both for checking up on this. I guess I'll call them to make a reservation about 2 or 3
weeks before I leave for BJ. Looking forward to being there... and the posts in general have been
great help.










adrianlondon -



Quote:

the posts in general have been great help

Please keep posting after you arrive. You can update this thread with the latest prices, hotel
condition, and -if it exists - an email address/URL










deezy -

Hmm, thanks. I'm arrving in a week and need a place to stay before I get in BLCU...

BTW, do most of these hotels accept USD...or must you pay in RMB?










mk063 -

Hey guys,

I just arrived at HeJia binguan (he2 jia1 bin1 guan3) in Beijing, will be studying at BLCU
starting September. This was my first time in Beijing. Here is what I did to get here:

- At the airport, after waiting in line at the taxi queue, I gave a piece of paper to the taxi
driver with the following information (provided by Long Pan earlier, thanks) :

He jia binguan (和家宾馆) beisihuan dian (北四环店)
海淀区 成府路 东升园 七条 华清家园 (北四环保福寺桥向北300米再向东
100米)
Phone: 82629055

The most important info is the phone number, which he called right away and asked the best route
to get there. Taxi ride took 30-40 minutes, with total cost of around 90 rmb. (I was expecting to
pay around 140rmb based on what I read here, but not so, maybe it was less because I had a small
older taxi, drinks less gas..)

- When I arrived I tried to explain to them I had a reservation, but they didn't understand my
Chinese, hah, however one girl working there spoke English and new all the correct phrases ( May I
have your passport, How many days would you like...) But, honestly, its not a problem at all if
you get someone that does not speak English, just walk up to the front desk, flip open your
passport, smile, say something in English, and they'll know you need a room, and it would be
helpful if you know you numbers in Chinese, to say how many days you want to stay san1 tian1
(three days), si4 tian1 (4 days)...

- The room rate I got was 198 rmb per day, without any bargaining. I personally didn't have the
energy/language skills to bargain. I will be staying for two days, she asked me for 500, (396 for
two days and a 104 deposit that I will get back when I check out.) Check out time is 2pm.

- The room is clean, neat, and I am happy with it. Western style toilet, tv, queen size bed,
towels in the shower, and the usual stuff you find in hotels.

- Fast and easy internet, just plug the cable into your laptop, and your online.

Overall, a nice place, and I'm glad I stayed here instead of Xijiao hotel. Feel free to ask
questions.










redmini -

does anyone know whether there are any double rooms available at Hejia Hotel and how much the room
rate is? thanks!












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Learn Chinese - Teddy Robin & The Playboys -

> Chinese Culture > Music
Teddy Robin & The Playboys
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Vellu -

I was introduced to Teddy Robin just recently, and I was surprised to find out just how popular he
actually is - both in music and film industry. I'm listening to a pretty recent CD collection of
his songs, titled "The In Sounds of Hong Kong", and the music ranges , as the CD booklet says
"from 60s pop, beat, garage, fuzz-punk and psychedelia". Some of the songs are really great!
Personal favorites include the song "Magic colors", also heard on the "Love, peace and
poetry"-series' Asian Psychedelic Music-compilation.

How many of you are familiar with Teddy Robin's music? Especially the 60s beat, and psychedelic
music, not so much the more recent compositions for film soundtracks etc. What about other 60s
Chinese pop and rock (especially psychedelic) music, from Hong Kong, or Taiwan (mainland China is
obviously out of the question)?



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roddy -

Wow, a Chinese 60s. I'd never thought of that.

This article goes into some depth. I can't find anything to listen to from my usual sources though.










character -



Quote:

What about other 60s Chinese pop and rock (especially psychedelic) music, from Hong Kong, or
Taiwan (mainland China is obviously out of the question)?

You're somewhat in luck (I don't know of any psychedelic music). A lot of Cathay/Shaw Brothers
musicals have appeared on DVD in the last few years.

Some examples:
http://www.brns.com/pages4/drama279.html
http://www.brns.com/pages4/drama259.html

So far Blue Skies is my favorite HK musical. They make a nice break from (but are harder to
understand than) Shaw Brothers action films.

There are also a few CD releases:
Shaw Movies Soundtrack Compilations:
Timeless Favorites
Romantic Classics
Greatest Hits from Musicals










Ian_Lee -

Teddy Robin has directed the quite successful New City Cinema film 點指兵兵 in the early '80s.
But somehow the VCD/DVD is hard to find.










laolee -

This one is a pretty good compilation of '60s era music:
http://global.yesasia.com/en/PrdDept...id-1004172528/

So far, I've only listened to the first two CDs but I think you might like it.

I picked up a Joe Junior/Irene Ryder compilation also but it was a mix of classic and newer
recordings.

I love a go-go!

On YouTube, there are a few folks are uploading '60s era songs from excerpted from movies. Search
for Siao Fong Fong, Connie Chan or Nancy Sit. Maybe not as hard as you're looking for but you
might find it of interest nonetheless.










laolee -

Hmm, looks like a lot have been deleted, but still found these:

Fung Bo Bo (1968 )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9Wki3VMnIk
Josephine Siao Fung Fung - Don't Be Cruel 1967
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOOn1c9m8Ac
The Fabulous Echoes - It Won't Be Long (1965)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACEqwYjOmEc
Connie Chan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_mx3Wk58vM

Modern HK tribute to Surf City
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTdb9Mm98V0












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Speak Chinese - New Antiwave Podcast 人民大会谈4 - “东南西北”宋以朗 (下) - Page 6 -

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
New Antiwave Podcast 人民大会谈4 - “东南西北”宋以朗 (下)
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roddy -

This one's good fun - they basically throw lots of rapid-fire questions at Danwei.org founder
Jeremy Goldkorn to see how he copes.

How many people are actually listening to these? Speak up!



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wushijiao -

I listen to them!










imron -

I listen to them too.










wushijiao -



Quote:

they basically throw lots of rapid-fire questions at Danwei.org founder Jeremy Goldkorn to see how
he copes

I would have got all of those 北京话 ones wrong!

I do think they could have asked Jeremy Goldkorn less questions about what a laowai always gets
asked, and more serious ones (not that I didn't mind the unserious ones). Maybe next time.










roddy -

This is an automatically generated post to alert users to a new Antiwave Podcast. See here for
more info.

想随时通过手机收到电子邮件？你可以使用昂贵的 BlackBerry
服务，或者，装个免费的 Morange 轻松解决问题。...
To listen to the podcast, visit the link below and click on 音频下载 (download) or
在线收听 (listen online), then post in this thread with any questions or comments. And don't
forget to leave a comment on Antiwave's own site to say thanks ;-)
More...










m.fardream -

what's meaning for the following message:
> This is an automatically generated post to alert users to a new Antiwave Podcast
why all the posts from the antiwave podcast were added this message?
is it the RSS feed?










imron -

As the post mentions, you can read here for more details.










m.fardream -

I just strange the message "This is an automatically generated post...". I feel it looks like a
kind of RSS feed. but it is not the normal feed what I used.
I know that the people can subscribed the content of a website, such as the antiwave, by iTunes or
IE. if there are some update information, it will be shown in my feed reader. but as I know, the
update information can not be posted in the forum. so I am interesting how to automatically
generated post and paste it on the forum.

by the way, I heard the episode of the "玉米“ it is very funny, although his Chinese test are
not good.










roddy -

The vbulletin forum software allows you to use RSS feeds like this. Lots of content management /
blog software can do this.










roddy -

This is an automatically generated post to alert users to a new Antiwave Podcast. See here for
more info.

《变形金刚》的预告片是不是又勾起了你拥有机器人的梦想？试试乐高玩具�
��司的NXT机器人，和全球玩家共享设计的乐趣吧。...
To listen to the podcast, visit the link below and click on 音频下载 (download) or
在线收听 (listen online), then post in this thread with any questions or comments. And don't
forget to leave a comment on Antiwave's own site to say thanks ;-)
More...












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Study Chinese - Seeking help with a translation - Page 2 -

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Seeking help with a translation
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JVGruat -

Levares: "The result is: 瑪麗亞，我們都祝願你退休后快樂、長壽 。。。"

What makes things a bit complicated, is that not all variants are recognized in all fonts ...

As for the above, I would think 祝 should be written with 示 - which requires for example a
Mingliu font to become visible. This font also accepts 妳 - which I think could be used, since
although both variants are considered as "rare" you are still in a kind of formal-friendly mixed
exercise.

As for 后, definitely should be 後. Otherwise, you are talking to someone like the Retirement
Queen - which Maria will be on that very day, of course, but does not correspond to the message
you intend to convey.

Incidentally, DimSum - accessible from Mandarin Tools - produced conversion all right. One of my
preferred software ...



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Levares -

Thanks for the continued efforts everyone.

DimSum does indeed seem very useful. I love how it gives a breakdown on what everything means.
It's a lot better than the web-based converter that I found hehe.

So in the end, "瑪麗亞，我們都示願你退休後快樂、長壽 。。。 " is the accurate
conversion?
Any objections?










Lu -

瑪麗亞，我們都祝願你退休後快樂、長壽

What JVGruat means is that the radical in 祝 should be 示, not that you should replace the
entire character. Actually I think that although you can try to change it, it's just fine with
this radical.










Levares -

Thanks Lu, I missed that. Good thing you said something.










JVGruat -

Lu is perfectly correct - and am sorry for misleading you !
祝 and 你 are OK - and no need to use one "rare" character and not the other. Hereafter what I
mean - in image format










Levares -

Well, the party has come and gone. It went really well. She got a little misty-eyed when she saw
the banner. I really don't think she was expecting that at all. Anyways, I just want to say
thanks! I couldn't have done it without you all. Also, a special thanks to JVGruat for all the
hard work. The initial translation, the idea for the seal, and sample pictures/explanations helped
a lot.












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Chinese Character - Chinese - Japanese Spreadsheet! -

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
Chinese - Japanese Spreadsheet!
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mdango -

I am sorry to contribute to the immense amount of similar threads, but I'm having problems
locating a document I know I originally found on this forum...

I have learned a lot of Japanese characters, and am now working on translating that knowledge into
basic chinese literacy. In doing so, I came across this site (which is amazing), and also a very
good excel spreadsheet. The .xls has the chinese character, pinyin, japanese, and a yes/no column
whether the japanese character is also a traditional chinese or simplified chinese character.

I have spent over 35 minutes looking for this spreadsheet on the forum once again, with no luck.
Does anyone have any ideas where to look, or maybe also has it on his or her computer?

Thanks in advance.



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atitarev -

Try this thread:

http://www. /showthread.php?t=8005










mdango -

Thank you.. that's the one!












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Learn Mandarin online - 30 million more men than women in China by 2020 -

> Chinese Culture > Society
30 million more men than women in China by 2020
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Meng Lelan -

Wall Street Journal reports that China acknowledges that its one-child policy wiill result in 30
million more men than women in the 20-45 year age group by 2020, which "may push increasing
numbers of Chinese men to move to other countries in search of partners".

Comments?


Lelan



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gamerfu -

Mongolia will united with China

Statistics are statistics, although China is a big country. They might want to enforce in the
people, that family blood lines are within girls too.

My honest opinion, we all will be mixed one day.










gato -

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...2790469&page=1
China Fears Lopsided Sex Ratio Could Spark Crisis
By BETH LOYD
Jan. 12, 2007

A report by China's State Population and Family Planning Commission says that in 2005, there were
118.6 boys born for every 100 girls, and those figures are expected to increase with China's
population. Experts warn of increased prostitution, AIDS cases and violence if this trend is not
reversed to some degree.

Zhai Zhenwu, professor of demography at the People's University of China, tells ABC News that if
this trend continues, "men won't be able to find wives, especially those with low income or little
education. That will create social instability and increase discrimination against women."

In rural areas, the sex imbalance is even greater. As many as 130 baby boys are born for every 100
girls.

Here males are preferred out of necessity. Boys can help with the farming and have a better chance
to make money for the family, as well as carry on the family name. There are reports that some
poor parents of unwanted baby girls sell their babies for as little as $8 to those seeking girls
for their sons.










gougou -



Quote:

"may push increasing numbers of Chinese men to move to other countries in search of partners".

I have doubts that the 30 million that will find themselves without girl are gonna be in a
position to move abroad.










adrianlondon -

As a gay man, I think this is a fanastic statistic ;)

On a slightly more serious note, this does place women in a position of power here; all the small
domestic spats I've seen on the streets have been with the woman demanding, and winning,
concessions from some browbeaten bloke. This coupled with the fact that foreign men seem to like
the Chinese women, whereas the foreign women don't go for Chinese men (based solely on the mixed
couples I see wandering aimlessly around Chaoyang), means the rate of single men must only
increase over time.

In order to continue the "men must father children to pass on the family name" xiaoshun thing,
maybe there needs to be a legalisation of polyandry (one woman, many husbands). The men all seem
so busy at work anyway.










Luobot -

China is doing a lot of research into stem cells. Before 2020, they’ll have the bio-technology
to simply even out the population. This may be called the “One country, two genders” 5 year
plan.

Good news: It won’t require a surgeon’s knife, but may be a little disorienting the first few
days after the procedure.










bhchao -

I wonder what would be the effects of shifting to a two-child policy. That was a policy originally
conceived by Zhou Enlai.during the 60's.

It would probably increase the rate at which female babies are born, and could keep the the birth
rate steady for males, but in the worst scenario, could also accelerate the birth rate for male
babies if both children happen to be boys.










wushijiao -

I also strongly doubt that the guys in the 30 million demographic (guys who can't find women in
2020) would have the ability to go abroad and marry a local woman.

On the other hand, I wonder if this means that women will have more power to find good husbands,
or at least richer husbands, thus securing more money for their parents who would be in
retirement. I sometimes wonder if all these rural parents are betting on the wrong gender!










bhchao -

They could move to Hong Kong as there are more women than men there.










Ncao -

I think a way the Chinese government could help this problem out is by stopping abortions that are
based on the sex of the fetus and the abandonment of baby girls.












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Chinese Pinyin - Antiwave back online - Page 4 -

> Learning Chinese > Speaking and Listening
Antiwave back online
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imron -

I'll put up my hand too.



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Meng Lelan -

I vote for transcripts too - I have a severe hearing impairment but I do want to "hear" what they
say.

Lelan










Shadowdh -

I would like to raise my hand for the idea too... cant understand too much right now but would be
very good and useful material for listening... although I dont think I am up to scratch to
transcribe... cheers Roddy...










roddy -

Ok, I've set that up now, and you can find threads for the three latest podcasts in the Speaking
and Listening forum. I was just going to get the latest one to start with, but it was the second
half of a two parter, and I had to get three to get the first part.

I'm hoping this will give people something more interesting and challenging to listen to than the
average textbook, and that the podcasts will generate a fair number of language queries - ie they
won't just slide down the forum unnoticed.

As always, many thanks to the Antiwave crew for such consistently great content. Also, it's
entirely possible to do something similar with any other site (text or podcast) that has an RSS
feed. If you have any suggestions, speak!










roddy -



Quote:

I'm hoping this will give people something more interesting and challenging to listen to than the
average textbook, and that the podcasts will generate a fair number of language queries - ie they
won't just slide down the forum unnoticed.

The Antiwave podcast posts are generating little if any attention. I know some of you may be using
them to alert yourselves to new posts, but there have been very few instances of someone listening
and coming up with a query on something they didn't understand, or a comment on the content.

This makes me think that it is perhaps unnecessary to have the automatic posts - anyone who wants
to can easily use iTunes or antiwave's own RSS feed to keep up to date, and if they aren't
generating discussion, there's not much point in having them on here.

Any thoughts. I can't really see what can be done to encourage any actual posting.










wushijiao -

Personally, I don't really think the automatic posts are necessary, partly because, as Roddy
mentioned, they haven't generated too much discussion, but also partly because they have those new
"one minute" segments, which are more like brief news summaries than they are like penetrating
insights into some aspect of Chinese culture.

Of course, I still feel that antiwave is one of the most interesting sites out there. But I guess
if we find a particular listening to be interesting or worth discussing, then someone can always
post something about it, including background info, so that people can talk about it, even if they
don't understand 100% of the podcast.










imron -

Yeah, agree with all of the above.










roddy -

Have turned them off. The actual RSS feed is at
http://antiwave.net/index.xml
if anyone wants to subscribe themselves.

Got to say, the little one minute segments aren't grabbing me. I think the glory days are over.












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Learn mandarin - reading magazines and news articles is so discouraging... - Page 2 -

> Learning Chinese > Reading and Writing
reading magazines and news articles is so discouraging...
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wushijiao -



Quote:

attack the challange every moment, every second you can afford, continue to look things up every
few words like your doing

I agree with that. Everybody has given great advice, but the key ingredient, I think, is keeping
up the intense stamina required for the months and months of arduous studying through the phase in
which textbooks become kind of boring and useless, but newspapers/TV are a bit too difficult to
understand. Once, about three years ago, I was reading 中国大历史 at a slow snail’s pace,
looking up between 10-25 words per page. I got so frustrated that I threw the book as hard as
possible at the wall, denting the book pretty good. So, I understand how you feel.

Anyway, about two years ago, over the course of a few months, I felt like I started to get out of
that plateau. A lot of the things that helped me, I wrote down here:

http://www. /showth...83%96%E5%AD%90

Also, you might want to consider studying for an HSK. I’ve never done too well on standardized
tests, and so I didn’t even consider taking the test. But then I happened to buy a few HSK
materials, and I think that the studying process really helped. If you are like me, you might have
some real weaknesses concerning grammar or vocabulary that you may not be aware of (unknown
unknowns). I think studying for the HSK can help bring these to light, and help you improve. For
example, once I studied for the HSK and formally studied common sentence patterns and how Chinese
clauses worked, my ability to understand newspapers and to speed read improved dramatically. (At
the time, I had fallen under the myth that Chinese grammar was "easy, just SVO with no verb
endings or declensions" and other such stuff, and therefore wasn't worth taking seriously).

Also, keep in mind that newspapers contain spoken slang, Internet slang, formal Chinese, some
classical Chinese, abbreviations, and the vocab differs from subject (celeb sleeps with celeb) to
subject (nuclear disarmament). So, newspapers are, in a sense, the most difficult type of texts
for a foreigner to read.

加油！



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dporter1465 -

What I'd really like to find is an online Chinese news source that provides BOTH short,
interesting articles and audio recordings of the same (eg news broadcast). That way one could
practice listening and reading together with the same text, which would presumably be a big help
for both listening to the radio and reading newspapers. Has anyone seen anything like this out
there?










imron -

See here.










赫杰 -



Quote:

赫杰: I know what you're saying. instead of pushing myself to recognize every frickin character,
I should instead focus on the meanings. but, maybe it’s because im a little bit of a
perfectionist, I just hate myself for not knowing a character, and I just can’t sleep until I
find out what it is. ill try to go through an article without touching a dictionary next time!!!

ai ya, I saw this and I was like, ummm, why did he say this? because I even said:



Quote:

continue to look things up every few words like your doing

I think it is because my third point is not very clear, damn English



Quote:

3) don't translate what your reading to English, let the words fill your head with images and
feelings, be as vivid and imaginative as possible, just like when you use English (or whatever
your mother language is), you speak from feelings and pictures, not from another language

what I mean by "do not translate what your reading to English" is, "do not translate (in your
head) what your reading to English", just allow the words to paint pictures and scenes in your
head, of course when you come across characters/phrases you don’t know then by all means look it
up. but im just saying, what helped me is the next time I saw the word that I looked up, I did not
look at it and immediately think of its English counter part, but thought of whatever the message
and meaning it was trying to convey. so don’t stop using the dictionary!! I still use it a lot
when reading articles, perhaps now not so much to look up meanings of words, but at least to check
their tones.

I am quite the perfectionist as well, I think you have to be if you want to have good Chinese.
this is not supposed to be easy, so go ahead and start feeling dejected, the trick is to keep
fighting and not giving up, just like wushijiao awesomely put it in another post, learning this is
like a rollercoaster or mountain, climbing up is hard hard hard, then (usually all of a sudden)
you will realized that you have cleared the top and can relax as you sail down, then if you really
care about your Chinese, you will find another mountain and repeat the whole process again, fun
aint it?










babygodzilla -

lol damn english... it sucks! no, just kidding.


well actually if i keep looking up every single word and character that i don't know, ill probably
be doing that at least once a minute, and then it'll take me a month to get through whatever i'm
reading... so if I can't guess the meaning I'll look it up, otherwise i'll just skip it for next
time huh?

anyways, i just bought some Doraemon comics. they make me feel better cause i can actually read
and understand most of it!! HA HA!!










gato -



Quote:

well actually if i keep looking up every single word and character that i don't know, ill probably
be doing that at least once a minute, and then it'll take me a month to get through whatever i'm
reading... so if I can't guess the meaning I'll look it up, otherwise i'll just skip it for next
time huh?

Try underlining words you don't know but don't look them up until you have a dozen or two or them.
Then look them up en masse. Call it the assembly line dictionary lookup. It'll save you time
whether you're using a paper dictionary or an electronic one. If you're using PlecoDict, you can
store every word you look onto a flashcard list with just one button tap. If you don't have have
PlecoDict, it would still be a good idea to keep a notebook of all words you look up so you can
review. Practice makes perfect. After 30 days straight of doing this, you'd already know a lot
more words even if you are just learning few dozens a day.

Remember that the 1500 or characters cover 95% of texts rule is really only meaningful for native
Chinese speakers who know many of the words already and just need to recognize them in the written
form. Foreigners who are starting with a very small vocabulary (written and spoken) should
concentrate a lot more on learning words instead of characters.










atitarev -

I am staying away from reading articles in Chinese for the moment ( I read a few from News in
Chinese, though), sticking to simpler reading, although I am OK with reading them in Russian,
English, German and to some extent Japanese - yes, NJStar or Wenlin are a great help to go through
an article.

Does someone know where you can get exact copies (Chinese/English) of articles.

I use CNN, BBC, NHK (Japan) and sometimes China Daily to read multilingual articles but often it's
hard to find exactly the same contents when you switch to another language!

That would be awesome - having 2 online articles - English and Chinese. Does anyone know such news
sites?

Is National Geographic available online in 2 languages? I am incredibly slow looking up
characters, would prefer an online version, so I could use electronic dictionaries.

I am in the same boat as babygodzilla with Chinese but I am not discouraged.










gougou -



Quote:

If you don't have have PlecoDict, it would still be a good idea to keep a notebook of all words
you look up so you can review. Practice makes perfect. After 30 days straight of doing this, you'd
already know a lot more words even if you are just learning few dozens a day.

On a related note, I once was recommended to make a dot next to the dictionary entry of all the
new words I encounter. Once a word has two or three dots (depending on how eager you are to
increase your vocabulary), you go and add them to your vocabulary list. This way, you avoid the
obscure impressions some reporters think will give their articles an aura of professionalism...

Haven't gotten around to starting that system yet, but it sounds like a good idea!


Quote:

That would be awesome - having 2 online articles - English and Chinese. Does anyone know such news
sites?

I read the Financial Times in Chinese.Apparently, most of their articles are translations from the
English articles, link to which are provided. I have been looking up the occasional sentence I
didn't get in the English article; the translations seem to follow the original quite strictly.










atitarev -



Quote:

I read the Financial Times in Chinese.Apparently, most of their articles are translations from the
English articles, link to which are provided. I have been looking up the occasional sentence I
didn't get in the English article; the translations seem to follow the original quite strictly.

Thanks, Gougou! I see, you use the 查看英文原文 button.

Cool! Do you you know non-financial sites, e.g. general news, which has the same functionality?










wushijiao -



Quote:

Does someone know where you can get exact copies (Chinese/English) of articles.

Danwei.org often has interesting articles translated into English (some by forum members here)
with links to the Chinese original. I suppose you could also try that if you're not to into
business topics.

http://www.danwei.org












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