URLLesson Introduction
Subway poles, dirty money, bajillions of people... perhaps the fact that hand shaking is not so popular yet has saved the Chinese race from germ decimation. China--not the place for those with hypochondriacal tendencies. In this podcast, learn how to make sure those you share hand space with have washed their dirty little hands.
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chris says
October 8, 2008
Hi all,
I often see 洗手间 （xi shou jian - wash hands room) as the sign for public toilets in Shanghai.
However, when asking where the toilets are it is often "ce4 suo3" that is used.
Are there any rules here - or can one use the above two terms completely interchangeably. Xi Shou Jian, in my mind, sounds a bit more polite.
Thanks, chris
pearltowerpete says
October 8, 2008
Hi chris
洗手间 is a bit more polite, it seems to be used more commonly in swanky restaurants. The 所 in 厕所 refers to "a place," so there are many compounds that use it:
研究所ｙａｎ２ｊｉｕ１ｓｕｏ３ Research Institute
派出所 pai4chu1suo3 Police Station
Frankly, I prefer the earthier 我去上个厕所 to 我去一下洗手间. For the same reason, I find the English words "restroom," "little boys' room," etc. affected and painfully middle class. When you see a spade, call it a spade. But your mileage may vary :-0
checkingoutchina says
October 8, 2008
Speaking of hygiene. I could do with a useful phrase input. How do you say:
"I think my eczema is coming back"
(Don't worry it's very mild for all the squeamish in here)
I need to say that to the doctor when I go to the 医院。
mingdao says
October 8, 2008
湿疹 shī zhěn is eczema
我想我的湿疹再发病了
Wo3 xiang3 wo3de shi1zhen3 zai4 fa1bing4le.
If it's okay for fureners to try a hand at it. ;)
jennyzhu says
October 8, 2008
checkingoutchina,
Eczema is 湿疹/shi1 zhen3. 'I think my eczema is coming back' is 我又发湿疹了/wo3 you4 fa1 shi1 zhen3 le. The verb 发 means 'break out'.
mingdao says
October 8, 2008
As for the toilet, where we live they say 卫生间 wei4sheng1jian1 for toilet, especially in your house. They reserve 厕所 ce4suo3 for the public toilets. Even so, 卫生间 wei4sheng1jian1 always gets us a restroom in Kunming.
In the villages, it's usually just a spot on the highest hillside. ;)
amber says
October 8, 2008
hey checkingoutchina,
You can also put it this way:
我想我的湿疹复发了。Wǒ xiǎng wǒ de shīzhěn fùfā le.
corwin says
October 9, 2008
thx for 洗手间
light487 says
October 9, 2008
Listening to this lesson makes me realise where I am at with my chinese language ability. I can hear a bunch of words that I recognise but not enough to understand immediately what is being said. Having said that though, I can identify which words mean what as soon as the first translation is done. So I think I am at the upper beginner level at this point.
I guess I am just now starting to understand the language.. I may not understand every word but I am starting to understand it as a whole and how the bits and pieces go together.. not that I can totally reproduce it.. just that I am getting a grasp of it now.
At the end of the podcast.. who is that speaking? It sounds a lot like Aric..?
changye says
October 9, 2008
Hi checkingoutchina,
I have eczema on the lids. It often comes back when the air is dry. It's really itchy. 同病相怜 (tong2 bing4 xiang1 lian2)吧 (ba), hehe！(Misery loves company!)
好像我的湿疹又犯了。
hao3 xiang4 wo3 de shi1 zhen3 you4 fan4 le.
It seems that my eczema is coming back.
changye says
October 9, 2008
A public restroom =
公厕 = 公共厕所 (gong1 gong4 ce4 suo3)
Some are pay toilets in China.
hobamei says
October 9, 2008
thx u
jonsnow says
October 9, 2008
我爱中文Pod
But can we tone down the arrogance lol? China is a country of modesty after all...
jesslyn15 says
October 9, 2008
yea indeed it is! ha by ur pic. i can totally see how u know that.lol JK
user23050 says
October 10, 2008
Yes, I become horrified when I see very young
children eating with dirty hands.
But what aces that experience is seeing adult
friends drive away without fastening their
seat-belts.
Amber maybe you can discuss that oversight on your program.
bababardwan says
October 10, 2008
I was thinking about parents addressing their offspring as either "erzi" or "nuer" commonly in China and wondered whether this may have been partially an effect of the 1 child policy.After all if you have say liang ge erzi,which one is being addressed becomes the issue.
I really enjoyed having a lesson that involved dialogue with kids.It makes it a more rounded experience and would love to hear more lessons involving dialogue with kids.Perfect for newbie/elle level too.
I find it very handy to carry a small bottle of an alcohol based hand gel on me while travelling.
bababardwan says
October 10, 2008
In the expansion I noticed re4 for hot is similar to ri4 for sun.Different pronunciation,and different character,but the similarity still makes me wonder about a common origin.The ri4 is making me re4.
changye says
October 11, 2008
Hi bababardwan,
I think that's a very good point. Actually, "ri4" (日) and "re4" (热) are very rare sounds both in modern and in ancient Chinese. Please look them up in a dictionary.
In both cases, there is virtually no other character that has the same sound in ordinary dictionaries, which I imagin the two words were very special for ancient people.
For the record, the old Chinese sounds (上古音, used before 4th century) of "日" and "热" are "niet" and "niat" respectively. They are very similar to each other.
So it's possible that ancient people created the sound "niat" to mean "hot" based on the sound "niet" (sun). And Then later, the character "热" was invented.
Haha, it's just a groundless blind guess. Just for fun.
bababardwan says
October 11, 2008
changye,
Thanks yet again for this.Very interesting.I'm once again impressed by your knowledge esp. how you knew what was used before the 4th century,but having that sort of insight I think can be invaluable.So much can be learnt from it.
changye says
October 11, 2008
Hi bababardwan,
There is no trick. I have a large Chinese character dictionary edited by a Japanese scholar that shows historical transitions of Chinese pronunciation for most of entry characters. I also have a "pronunciation dictionary" that shows ancient sounds for about 9,000 characters, which was published in China.
Actually, it's not so difficult (though not easy) to (very) roughly reconstruct ancient sounds of Chinese characters if you know modern Japanese and Korean (and preferably Cantonese) sounds of them. But please be noted that nobody knows the exact ancient pronunciations of Chinese characters.
checkingoutchina says
October 11, 2008
@Changye,Jenny, Amber
Thanks for the input, I went to the doctors and it went fine. I think....... They gave me some cream and it's working like magic. Not itchy anymore!
Plus you saved me 300RMB additional charge to go to an English speaking doctor ;)
bababardwan says
October 11, 2008
changye,
Thanks.I take it that your dictionary is a book and not an online version? Great work all the same and always much appreciated.
user2048 says
October 12, 2008
I learn as much from the discussions as from newbie lessons. Thank-you to all.
Integrated Chinese L1P2 has xi3zao3 jian1 洗澡间(Taiwan), and and wei4sheng1jian1 卫生间(Mainland) for a bathroom with bath/shower in a house.
I have heard that it isn’t normal in China, say at dinner, to announce that you are going to the restroom , you just get up and go. So我上厕所。wouldn’t be a high usage sentence. However, 一天上了好几次厕所。 (yi4 tian1 shang4le hao3 ji3 ci4 ce4suo3) could be useful to describe your symptoms after eating or drinking something bad.
twelch says
October 13, 2008
Good lesson! This is a great website; I just officially started. FYI, "to peruse" means to read or study thoroughly.
chris says
October 18, 2008
Checkingoutchina, Jenny, Amber,
Just a quick follow-on from your posts above. There is a fantastic cortisone cream called "Betnovate" that is brilliant at combating eczema. Coincidentally, I have just run out of my latest supply from UK and wondered whether you knew the Chinese name for this brand (including pinyin). It's actually a prescription cream back in UK, but I suspect it's possible to get it easily over the counter at a pharmacy in Shanghai. I could just try taking my old tube into a pharmacy to see if they recognise it, but the Chinese name would be helpful.
Any help, as ever, would be much appreciated.
Thanks, Chris
hitokiri6993 says
October 29, 2008
如果我的手好髒，不是媽媽告訴我洗手。。。其實我女朋友告訴我啦！(ru2 guo3 wo3 de5 shou3 hao3 zang1, bu2 shi4 ma1 ma5 gao4 su5 wo3 xi3 shou3...qi2 shi2 w3 nv3 peng2 you5 gao4 su5 wo3 la1!)