URLLesson Introduction
You feel like you've won the battle by actually getting one to stop--though you had to beat off your street corner contenders to do it. All is fair in the battle for the cab... you claimed this curb first. But now, as you settle into the not-so-white white seat covers, don't lose the war. In this podcast, learn how to tell your taxi driver where you wanna go (and how to get there!), in Mandarin Chinese.
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johns says
July 17, 2008
I always carry my destination and return destination cards in Chinese for these guys. None speak English. One time I had to just get out and walk back to my hotel because he drove me a few blocks before he gave up trying to understand me. Maybe with CP.com I will finally be free to explore! Nice lesson. Thank you.
maoxian says
July 17, 2008
Great cultural point about the (rare) use of "thanks" in China ... even though I'm not a newbie, I learn something from the lessons at every level.
fernando235 says
July 17, 2008
Great lesson!!
ricola says
July 18, 2008
More difficult than stopping a taxi is getting on a bus... When I finally figured out which bus would bring me to the destination, I missed 4 or 5 until I manged to a) stop one, and b) board before he closed the doors and drove off!!!
hajaralkhaled says
July 18, 2008
Ricola, that kind of stuff usually happend to me in the UK, and even when I caught the correct bus I never knew which stop to get off.
tmod5862 says
July 18, 2008
I just want to say that I have been using Chinese Pod for only a year. Now I use Chinese every day for business in San Francisco. I am so happy to be part of this great service as a student.
I thank the staff and every body involved in giving me my daily class. I like this so much that my mother is using the Italian Pod. If any one asks me how I learned to speak Chinese, I tell them Chinese POD!
If you want to learn Mandarin, you are in the right place.
Tom
nominaraz says
July 18, 2008
fine dude tnx
poopzilla says
July 18, 2008
great stuff, thx!
thestudnt says
July 18, 2008
Great lesson!
shuchang007 says
July 18, 2008
Great! Simple and useful. Thank you.
weibwo says
July 18, 2008
This all works except in Guangzhou. It seems they refuse to speak or understand Mandarin, not to mention rip you off.
gargouille says
July 19, 2008
Hi, I'm new. So far I'm finding ChinesePod to be a fabulous complement to my classroom studies. :) Thanks for the lesson!
Is there a difference between 这里 and 这儿 or can they be used interchangeably, by the way?
gaoteli says
July 22, 2008
Good lesson, but I am finding the bold script on the Vocabulary words impossible to read at times (see nar). Also, the script below the Dialogue has been made smaller-also tougher to read. My eyes are going, I know, but my glasses do help and these are tough.
Love ChinesePod, and intend to be starting SpanishPod soon. Got my son onto ItalianPod. Much better than other approaches. Brilliant, in fact!
jwosmun says
July 23, 2008
I agree with gaoteli - characters are not clear when used in bold - 蟹 vs.蟹, [xiè] /crab, as an example.
anayelena says
July 27, 2008
If one "needed" permission to "take a look", we could say, "Rang4 wo3 kan4 yi1xia4", right?
AY
john says
July 27, 2008
anayelena,
Yes, you could say that. The characters are 让我看一下.
nostatic says
August 1, 2008
One thing you forgot:
fa piao - reciept
I was taught to always ask for a receipt. Part of the reason is in case you left something in the cab you have some info on how to contact them. The other is that some drivers have been known to charge an amount higher than shown on the meter.
macallus88 says
August 28, 2008
Regarding:
where: 哪里 and 哪儿
there: 那里 and 那儿
here: 这里 and 这儿
Are they totally interchangable?
Also, while I'm here: Is there any easy way to remember when to use 这 and 这个, the right way round?
谢谢
amber says
August 28, 2008
hi macallus88,
All of those (哪里 and 哪儿, 那里 and 那儿, 这里 and 这儿) are totally interchangeable. Often it's a matter of whether you are from the north or south of China, which one you tend to use.
As for 这 (zhè) and 这个(zhège), if there is a noun following the 这 (zhè), you need a measure word. So you would use 这个(zhège) or 这 (zhè) plus the appropriate measure word.
emily311 says
August 29, 2008
anayelena
neng rang wo kan yi xia ma?
能让我看一下吗？
ke yi gei wo kan yi xia ma?
可以给我看一下吗？