Snowflake's Mandarin Log - Continued

[snowflake]

Hi Smallwhite, it will be a while before I get back on "大约" and "大概". At the moment I'm trying to finish a long story that was started in Sept and is being worked with my iTalki instructor, and this one for the AP class, "搜索中国高考制度和美国高考制度的相同点和不同点，并谈谈你对两国高考制度的看法。" I expect to use "大约" and "大概" in preparing the 2nd so should get further with those.

[smallwhite]

Hi Smallwhite, it will be a while before I get back on "大约" and "大概". At the moment I'm trying to finish a long story that was started in Sept and is being worked with my iTalki instructor, and this one for the AP class, "搜索中国高考制度和美国高考制度的相同点和不同点，并谈谈你对两国高考制度的看法。" I expect to use "大约" and "大概" in preparing the 2nd so should get further with those.

Good luck with your story! I look forward to learning from you how to write those 2 sentences -

how do you say "Ralph will buy that laptop" when you know it will happen, ie. the case in which you said "大约" has to be used, and how do you say "Ralph will buy that laptop" when you think Ralph will buy it but he might not, ie. the case in which your said "大概" has to be used?

[snowflake]

Am mentally fried due to a combination of things, the upshot being that anything done with Mandarin right now is a bonus.....goes without saying that I haven't gotten around to doing work on "大约" and "大概".

Started watching 鬼吹灯之精绝古城 which is based on the tomb raider novel Ghost Blows Out the Candle. The first episode can be found at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk4oSXpS3-g English subtitles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGZu2G35xYw Chinese subtitles

Parts of exchanges with a Taiwanese friend who is here locally;
me...想说清楚 大会议27晚上会开始。那天只有晚饭 不会有早餐 午饭。最后一天有早餐 午饭 不会有晚餐。

him...Just to help you use Chinese precisely. I think your 想說清楚 mean just to clarify. Perhaps the words 解釋 may be better. 想說清楚 Has confrontation meaning inside. I would say我跟你解釋一下

him...Normally when you say 我想要跟你說清楚 people would think that there is a tense situation between you both.

him...But it's still depend on context.

him...or you can add 我想要跟你說清楚 "關於 about".... then people could understand you are really trying to explain or address certain issue

[smallwhite]

goes without saying that I haven't gotten around to doing work on "大约" and "大概".

Oh, you don't have to explain them to me, you've done that already; I was just after 2 example sentences. Very hard to understand something without examples! The 大概 one was the example sentences you first gave, so you already have it, only that you gave its English translation and I'd like to see the original Chinese version. The 大約 one is the only one you have to write but it must be easy-peasy after all that discussion you've had about them! But do take your time.

how do you say "Ralph will buy that laptop" when you know it will happen, ie. the case in which you said "大约" has to be used, and how do you say "Ralph will buy that laptop" when you think Ralph will buy it but he might not, ie. the case in which your said "大概" has to be used?

[snowflake]

Checking in, mind is fried….the previously mentioned conference started Thursday night, ended today. 2000 attendees, a few were non-native Mandarin speakers. Listening comprehension varied from 80% to next to nothing dependent on the topic and the speakers’ vocabulary. I decided to forgo some of the sessions and helped with the meals. Bought 2 DVD sets which are recordings of prior conferences, 2 music CDs, and looked at auditing some graduate classes conducted in Mandarin, also am formulating a shift focusing on the AP class model. Planning on buying some audio CDs with 谚语 and 成语 故事. Will post more when the brain is fully functional.

[snowflake]

Sent by a Shanghainese friend, best viewed on something like a smartphone due to scrolling;


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2018新年
祝所有的朋友们，爱你所爱，是你所是，做你所做，如你所愿，成为你想成为的。祝大家，生活幸福快乐，坚持
勤勉外加扔掉面子，人生无敌
     

[snowflake]

I had been planning on pushing very hard with the AP Chinese material and hopefully auditing a masters level class conducted in Mandarin this coming fall, but I slipped on the ice and hit my head on the concrete driveway. The good news is that the doctor thinks there is no concussion. The bad news is that reading and various other activities tends to give me headaches.... so am thinking about shifting to a mostly audio approach so there is much less dependence on reading.

On that note, came across this S.H.E. song; 中國話 (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCKGoND0pS0 )
got the lyrics from an online site......

扁擔寬 板凳長
Bian dan kuan Ban deng chang
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long

扁擔想綁在板凳上
Bian dan xiang bang zai ban den shang
The bench wants to tie itself to the ends of the bo staff

扁擔寬 板凳長
Bian dan kuan Ban deng chang
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long

扁擔想綁在板凳上
Bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang
The bench wants to tie itself to the ends of the bo staff

倫敦瑪莉蓮 買了件旗袍送媽媽
Lun dun ma li lian Mai le jian qi pao song ma ma
In London, Marilyn bought a qipao as a gift for her mother

莫斯科的夫司基 愛上牛肉麵疙瘩
Mo si ke de fu si ji Ai shang niu rou mian ge da
In Moscow, Fuski fell in love with Chinese beef short noodles

各種顏色的皮膚
Ge zhong yan se de pi fu
People of every skin color

各種顏色的頭髮
Ge zhong yan se de tou fa
People with hair of every color

嘴裡念的說的開始流行中國話
Zui li nian de shuo de kai shi liu xing zhong guo hua
What they're reading, what they're saying... Chinese is becoming the new trend

多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
Duo shao nian wo men ku lian ying wen fa yin he wen fa
How many years did we painstakingly practice English pronunciation and learn their grammar?

這幾年換他們卷著舌頭學平上去入的變化
Zhe ji nian huan ta men juan zhe she tou xue ping shang qu ru de bian hua
For a change, now it's their turn to get their tongues all in a knot

平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)
Ping ping ze ze ping ping ze (ze ze ping ping ze ze ping)

好聰明的中國人 好優美的中國話
Hao cong ming de zhong guo ren Hao you mei de zhong guo hua
How smart the Chinese are!-- and how beautiful our language!

扁擔寬 板凳長
Bian dan kuan Ban deng chang
The bo staff is wide; the bench is long

扁擔想綁在板凳上
Bian dan xiang bang zai ban deng shang
The bench wants to tie itself to the ends of the bo staff

板凳不讓扁擔綁在板凳上
Ban deng bu rang bian dan bang zai ban deng shang
The bo staff won't let the bench tie itself to the ends of the bo staff

扁擔偏要綁在板凳上
Bian dan pian yao bang zai ban den shang
Instead, the bo staff wants to tie itself to the bench

板凳偏偏不讓扁擔綁在那板凳上
Ban deng pian pian bu rang bian dan bang zai na ban deng shang
The bench won't let the bo staff tie itself to the bench

到底扁擔寬還是板凳長
Dao di bian dan kuan hai shi ban deng chang
So is the bo staff wide or the bench long?

哥哥弟弟坡前坐
Ge ge di di puo qian zuo
Elder brother and younger brother sit on a hill

坡上臥著一隻鵝
Po shang wo zhe yi zhi e
On the hill, there is a swan

坡下流著一條河
Po xia liu zhe yi tiao he
At the bottom of the hill runs a river

哥哥說 寬寬的河
Ge ge shuo Kuan kuan de he
The elder brother says, "The river is wide."

弟弟說 白白的鵝
Di di shuo Bai bai de e
The younger brother says, "The swan is white."

鵝要過河 河要渡鵝
E yao guo he He yao du e
The swan wants to cross the river; the river wants the swan to cross

不知是那鵝過河 還是河渡鵝
Bu zhi dao na e guo he hai shi he du e
Don't know if the swan is crossing the river or the river is crossing the swan

Chorus:
全世界都在學中國話
Quan shi jie dou zai xue zhong guo hua
The whole world is learning Chinese

孔夫子的話 越來越國際化
Kong fu zi de hua Yue lai yue guo ji hua
Confucius' words are becoming world culture

全世界都在講中國話
Quan shi jie dou zai jiang zhong guo hua
The whole world is speaking Chinese

我們說的話 讓世界都認真聽話
Wo men shuo de hua rang shi jie dou ren zhen ting hua
Our language makes the people of the world listen up

紐約蘇珊娜
Niu yue su shan na
In New York, Susanna

開了間禪風Lounge Bar
Kai le jian chan feng Lounge Bar
Opens up a Chinese style lounge bar

柏林來的沃夫岡
Bo lin lai de wo fu gang
Wolfgang from Berlin

拿胡琴配著電吉他
Na hu qin pei zhe dian ji ta
Pairs the erhu with his electric guitar

各種顏色的皮膚
Ge zhong yan se de pi fu
People of every skin color

各種顏色的頭髮
Ge zhong yan se de tou fa
People with hair of every color

嘴裡念的說的開始流行中國話
Zui li nian de shuo de kai shi liu xing zhong guo hua
What they're reading, what they're saying... Chinese is becoming the new trend

多少年我們苦練英文發音和文法
Duo shao nian wo men ku lian ying wen fa yin he wen fa
How many years did we painstakingly practice English pronunciation and learn their grammar?

這幾年換他們卷著舌頭學平上去入的變化
Zhe ji nian huan ta men juan zhe she tou xue ping shang qu ru de bian hua
For a change, now it's their turn to get their tongues all in a knot

平平仄仄平平仄 (仄仄平平仄仄平)
Ping ping ze ze ping ping ze (ze ze ping ping ze ze ping)

好聰明的中國人 好優美的中國話
Hao cong ming de zhong guo ren Hao you mei de zhong guo hua
How smart the Chinese are!-- and how beautiful our language!

有個小孩叫小杜
You ge xiao hai jiao Xiao Du
There once was a child named XiaoDu

上街打醋又買布
Shang jie da cu you mai bu
Went out one day to buy some vinegar and sell cloth

買了布 打了醋
Mai le bu Da le cu
He sold his cloth, bought his vinegar

回頭看見鷹抓兔
Hui tou kan jian ying zhua tu
Turned around and saw an eagle catching a rabbit

放下布 擱下醋
Fang xia bu Ge xia cu
He put down the cloth, cut loose the vinegar

上前去追鷹和兔
Shang qian qu zhui ying han tu
Began to chase the eagle and the rabbit

飛了鷹 跑了兔
Fei le ying Pao le tu
The eagle flew away; the rabbit ran away

灑了醋 濕了布
Sa le cu Shi le bu
He spilled the vinegar, got the cloth wet

嘴說腿 腿說嘴
Zui shuo tui Tui shuo zui
His mouth blamed his legs, his legs blamed his mouth

嘴說腿 愛跑腿
Zui shuo tui Ai pao tui
His mouth blamed his legs, those legs that love to run

腿說嘴 愛賣嘴
Tui zhuo zui Ai mai zui
His legs blamed his mouth, the mouth that loves to run

光動嘴 不動腿
Guang dong zui Bu dong tui
Moving just the mouth and not the legs

光動腿 不動嘴
Guang dong tui Bu dong zui
Moving just the legs and not the mouth

不如不長腿和嘴
Bu ru bu zhang tui huo zui
Might as well not have either legs or mouth

到底是那嘴說腿
Dao di shi na zui shuo tui
Did the mouth blame the legs...

還是腿說嘴
Hai shi tui shuo zui
... or the legs blame the mouth?

[emk]

I had been planning on pushing very hard with the AP Chinese material and hopefully auditing a masters level class conducted in Mandarin this coming fall, but I slipped on the ice and hit my head on the concrete driveway. The good news is that the doctor thinks there is no concussion. The bad news is that reading and various other activities tends to give me headaches.... so am thinking about shifting to a mostly audio approach so there is much less dependence on reading.

I'm really sorry to hear about your fall, and about your headaches. I hope you get well soon.

[snowflake]

Emk, thanks.

Smallwhite; Ralph大概会买那笔记型电脑。
................. Ralph大概会买那笔电。

中国革命; used this term today in class to refer to the civil war, or the revolution as the older Chinese here in the US say. Think the instructor (Beijing person with adult kids) understood what I was saying. My regular overseas Taiwanese chat partner (S, in his 30's) asked which revolution was being referred to and thought I probably meant the cultural revolution which he said to use 文化大革命 instead.

三年大饥荒; again a term that my instructor seemed to understand. Had to explain this to S.

Trying to figure out what terms to use for the 2 mentioned events when talking with Taiwanese and mainlanders.

[smallwhite]

Smallwhite; Ralph大概会买那笔记型电脑。
................. Ralph大概会买那笔电。

Thanks, snowflake. The 2 sentences are identical except for the "laptop" bit. They represent the 2nd case below, don't they?

how do you say "Ralph will buy that laptop" when you know it will happen, ie. the case in which you said "大约" has to be used, and how do you say "Ralph will buy that laptop" when you think Ralph will buy it but he might not, ie. the case in which your said "大概" has to be used?