URLLesson Introduction
As usual, find out what lessons are coming out next week. Jenny will also tell us what the Expat Show is, where it is, and who will be there. Then we'll hear a bit about user rankings on ChinesePod. Finally, we ask our ever-imaginative ChinesePod users to create a new "News & Features" jingle to use at the beginning of this very show. Send it in MP3 format, 129 kbps, 5-10 seconds long, to chinesepod@praxislanguage.com. (If you're super cool, you can even give us the "fade out" music as well for the end of the show. Original creations only, please!)
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New lesson idea? Please let us know at chinesepod@praxislanguage.com.
henning says
September 13, 2008
Wow! A Formula 1 lesson for auntie68!
But another 减肥 lesson? To feed my bad conscience? ;)
bababardwan says
September 13, 2008
Lots of exciting developments.Though I won't be able to make the expat show ,I'd like to know more about it.How long has it been going? Is it going to be on every year and on the same date? Is there a website about it?
rjberki says
September 13, 2008
Henning - you have gotten your wish. I hope you can play an instrument. :-)
Light - I am expecting an entry from you. I hear you can play like Hendrix. Maybe do the Chinese national anthem, Hendrix style.
light487 says
September 14, 2008
Can't fit a lot in there within 10 seconds though..
light487 says
September 14, 2008
How do you say "news and features" mandarin? I see a few different possibilities for news: xīnwén, xiāoxi, and méitǐ. I am thinking it is xīnwén. And again a few options for features: tèxiě and tǐshì. I am thinking it would be tǐshì...
我们的有新闻和体式
wǒmen de yǒu xīnwén hé tǐshì
artkho says
September 14, 2008
Here's the website for the expat trade show, http://www.expatshowshanghai.cn/.
patmetheny says
September 14, 2008
Even though i'm only going to understand about 5% or less of the Formula 1 lesson, i'm really looking forward to hearing it. i'm not sure where the Formula 1 lesson is in the development process (all done and just need the pdfs to be created, or just writing the script), but I am curious to know the thought process at cpod about sports focused lessons. From American Football, World Cup Soccer, and other sports that Chinese may not be familiar with, cpod doesn't give much detail about specifics of the games that a person familiar with the game might want. For example, the Super Bowl lesson was just very top level vocabulary, and wasn't helpful if you want to explain some deeper strategies and tactics of the game (like a "play-action pass is not a good play from your end-zone"). Granted, the Super Bowl lesson was a elementary lesson, but even the World Cup Football lesson, which was an upper intermediate lesson, didn't have specifics about player positions, or a favorite player on a team, or descriptions of regional styles of play.
It would be nice for the Formula 1 lesson to have a few terms that talked to strategy and tactics. Maybe talking about specific drivers like Lewis Hamilton, and whether he can continue to put himself in position to win the driving championship this year would be helpful. Also discussions about road courses, and the difference between tracks might be helpful, like the differences between the track for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai ("very fast, 16 turns and corners"), and the track at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix ("lot more chicanes, 12 turns and corners").
Actually, for all the sports themed lessons, it would be nice to have those types of descriptions. Just a thought.
checkingoutchina says
September 14, 2008
为什么你们一个新jingle?
Why do you want a new jingle.
我喜欢一个jingle
I like this jingle.
blackjacksadie says
September 14, 2008
你好！I'm relatively new to CPod.
I agree that a new jingle would only be an improvement, and I really like the idea of a Hendrix-style anthem. I wish that I could play something besides the radio at times like these.
再见！
jim_parker says
September 14, 2008
I was multitasking while I was listening to this podcast, so I might have misunderstood, but did JP actually say that "tool of the week" isn't about "users we don't like" ? I would be surprised if anyone but a native English speaker caught that reference. :)
Of course, if I did misunderstand, then I suppose I just won the prize for this week...
-jim
bababardwan says
September 14, 2008
artkho,
Many thanks for the website link to the Expat Show Shanghai.For some reason the website took a long time to download,but when it did I can see that this is the 2nd show.Did anyone go to last years show ,and if so ,zěnmeyàng 怎么样 ?
Amber,
Perhaps this could be the topic of a Dear Amber show?
bababardwan says
September 14, 2008
jim_parker,
that's the way I heard it too.Funny thing is that I've been listening to so much CPod that at the same time as hearing the English "tool" ,I also heard ,within that word ,the Chinese tǔ 土 ,which for me will now be a good way to remember it as the meanings have some similarity.
light487 says
September 14, 2008
No one knows how to say "We have news and features for you" in mandarin?
darylk says
September 14, 2008
I think they said "tu of the week." Tu is someone who is not very sophisticated, sort of a rural dork?? But maybe I misunderstood!
darylk says
September 14, 2008
As for a jingle--how about a few bars of Shanghai jazz? I'm a techno-inept so I'm not going to produce a jingle myself but I think something with a Shanghai flavor would be nice. Any takers out there?
john says
September 15, 2008
jim_parker,
Yes, you heard me correctly... a little humor for those of you that are paying attention.
(For you non-native speakers, "tool" can have a negative meaning in slang.)
bababardwan says
September 15, 2008
John,
I also use urban dictionary on the odd occasion that I hear a new slang word.Do you know if there is an equivalent for Chinese slang?
kimiik says
September 15, 2008
Wow, "tool of the week" is the name used by the Cpod team for the weekly ranking of users. Isn't that more sarcastic than humorous ?
PS: Good news, I'm not in the list ! ;o)
chenhongjie says
September 15, 2008
Light, my guess would be:
We have news and features for you
我们有新闻和眉目为你
henning says
September 15, 2008
Hm. Considering John's explanation I seriously need to get off that list.
john says
September 15, 2008
kimiik,
Ha ha... No way! All joking aside, we highly value all members of the community.
Also, Amber was ranked #2 (#3 now), after all, and I have been #1 myself in the past... (those were the good old days!)
sebire says
September 15, 2008
I like the old jingle. Obviously a rare species round here.
light487 says
September 15, 2008
Chen hongjie, 谢谢..
If no one is going to disagree with that, I'll go with that. Wish I could sing better than I can.. but may be Jenny with her great karaoke voice can redo it for me if I supply the backing track.. hehe.. :)
@John:
I'm slowly climbing back up to my rightful place again.. hehe.. :)
bazza says
September 15, 2008
I'm ranked 3rd for 2008 so I guess I'm the one that Jenny forgot. :'(
bababardwan says
September 15, 2008
kimiik,
Merci beaucoup pour votre lien et aussi éclairement.
john says
September 15, 2008
BTW, keep those jingle submissions coming, guys...
light487 says
September 16, 2008
What is the deadline for the submissions.. good things take time.. I'm not just going to slap something together in 1 day and put my name on it.. lol :)
maike28 says
September 16, 2008
I love the idea of a jingle contest! I do audio -engineering/music composition, so I will definitely send you guys a few ideas. What is the deadline??
john says
September 16, 2008
I think we can extend the deadline a little to give you guys a chance to work on it a bit more.
Final deadline: Wednesday, Sept. 24th (by 6pm, Shanghai time)
light487 says
September 17, 2008
Ahh goodie! :) I don't think I will be able to fit in a rendition of the Chinese National Anthem.. may be a project to work on at least.. hehe.. but I'lld definitely give the jingle a go..
chenhongjie says
September 18, 2008
Light:
My wife has just returned from a business trip and corrected my *guess* of translation.
It should be:
We have news and features for you
我们有新闻和特辑给你们
(..........te4ji2 gei3 ni3men)
light487 says
September 18, 2008
谢你！：）
Now I have a foundation to work on for the Chinese portion.. It may end up just as 新闻和特辑。。 so that it fits.. but will have to see how it goes.. art is not a science, so can't always have exactly the "right" things.. :)
roscovanbasten says
September 20, 2008
Tomorrow is the last day of the Expat Show in Shanghai. If you are around, drop by to the ChinesePod booth (no.34 on the ground floor) - we have some small gifts and special deals and you can talk to some of the staff to answer any questions you may have.
Admission is free to the event at Yanan Xi Lu, no. 1000.