posted by itsanthonyhere on December 4, 2011 | 17 comments
Are there any lessons that teach vocabulary/sentences for asking for and receiving directions?It's about the most encountered situation while traveling but I can't find lessons on it anywhere :(Thanks-
Anthony,At the Absolute Beginner level or something more advanced? For the absolute basics try this one:http://popupchinese.com/lessons/absolute-beginners/parking-the-carThat gives you the basics with left and right. You can drop north (北), south (南), east (东) or west (西) into the same sentence structure.
@Trevelyan,I think it might be useful to do a lesson, perhaps at the intermediate level all about giving and receiving directions. Something akin to a textbook 问路 lesson but with a Popup spin.
crusty_138 on December 5, 2011 | reply
@Xiao Hu - "can you please tell me how to get to the Zombie Pirate school?"
@Crusty_138,
Ha! Perfect theme for our 有着跑跑中文的特色的问路课.
I'll start it off,
In the complex labyrinth of 胡同's in the crowded megalopolis that we call the capital, for us foreigners, no matter how many times we've traversed them, they all seem to look alike.
没错儿。
If you've found your sense of direction has yet again taken leave at a critical juncture, then it might be helpful to ask one of the friendly locals the way out of your sticky situation.
Let's listen...
好的。
(ding dung dang dong dong...)
甲: 对不起老师，我想问一下，紫禁城怎么走？
乙：aarrgghh,你要去故宫？先一直往前走...
甲：船长是你呀！
乙：下一个路口,往右转，走两公里。到了西长安街，左转。然后...eerrgghhh...下一个路口就是西单北大街，向右拐，最后你会走到文津街，往右拐，就到了。aaarrr...你可以在底下停车场停车...aaaarrrrr...下了车以后，把你的剑拿出来，杀，杀，杀！！！
甲: 船长啊，我怎么觉得你就好象越来越可爱呢！
乙: aaarrrr...最好我带你去吧，一起去， 一起...杀，杀，杀！！！eeerrrggghhh...然后吃一些美味的当地特产, aarrrr 还有买一些有趣的纪念品...
(Ding, dang, dong dong dong)
And we're back. I've found that the content of this lesson has given me the urge to move my feet and sway my torso to the grammar beat.
How about you Echo?
嗯，我也是。
And SCENE.
Hey, I have an idea, why don't we make this a continuous chain story? The story of the zombie pirate captain can be a project for the users to write and edit together. Let's see how many zany directions we can take the story!
I mean, not like 问路 directions but, in a figurative sense...ya know...
I was actually thinking the zombie pirate might end up in prison for a while after taking over Walstreet...but there is the 九二七 监狱 podcast already...Darn. Will have to keep thinking.
crusty_138 on December 6, 2011 | reply
haha - I've created a monster!!! (pun fully intended) 脑子。。。脑子
@Crusty_138,The monster is growing exponentially right before our very eyes and summoning you to join in the creation of our zombie pirate captain chain story!向右拐。。。就到了。。。脑子！;)
itsanthonyhere on December 8, 2011 | reply
@trevelyan - I would say both. I'm in China now and when I'm on the street or out with people, the stuff I ACTUALLY need to use doesn't seem to be in any podcast. I can find 100 podcasts telling me how to converse about the Spring Festival or elephants, but it's not useful when I'm on the street. Asking for directions, ordering food at a restaurant, asking for help, etc. For example, I can say, "qing geo wo mi fan" but that's not really how it works. You usually point at something and say, "zhe ge yi fen"..which is something I have never come across in any podcast. Etc.Of course I haven't been over the entirety of popup chinese so I'm not critizising it, I'm just sayin :)
crusty_138 on December 10, 2011 | reply
@xiaohu - well meaning, yuppie parents wish to give their only son an edge in his education, so decide to enrol him into "International Zombie school"在路上；爸爸： 请问，去国际僵尸学校怎么走？路上人： 国际僵尸学校。那是什么呀。为什么想去这个地方呀？爸爸：听说孩子们和僵尸成为朋友之后，会对他们的性格培养起到很大的帮助。让他们变得更加的成熟和稳重 (stolen from transcript)路上人: ah!(duck noise)这是什么呀。你们俩都疯了。僵尸不是孩子的朋友。僵尸才会做一种事情-吃脑子。你疯了！！爸爸：国际僵尸学校是在(add district name here)郊区。你能不能告诉我们怎么走？路上人： 好吧。先------然后---------后来------到---你就到了。(walk off & mutters under breath -huh,疯了）父亲到了学校发现校长是我们的老朋友-海盗僵尸船长。。。。to be continued
clickertricks on December 12, 2011 | reply
Like Anthony, I'm interested in an index though of a different type. I'm thinking it would be nice to see a list of grammar points and their associated lessons.
Agreed. The current "my progress" tool works a bit like the "I'm feeling lucky" button on Google, which is also fun but isn't how most people search, especially if they have a few ideas in mind beforehand.
crusty_138 on December 13, 2011 | reply
@Xiao Hu - Looks like xmas has come early for us :D
@Crusty_138,吼吼吼，圣诞节快乐 Crusty! 今年圣诞老人来得很早啊。Well, since we're celebrating early...我昨天晚上失眠就闭不上眼，起床到了厨房去夜宵用餐，安谧的傍晚在我屋子中，安宁的气氛连鼠都没动。长筒袜都挂好了在烟囱上，心里欲望着圣诞老人的来往。忽然，从院子哐哐当当声地响，我狂奔去查毕竟是什么事项。至窗口俺这个老外奔驰呼，把百叶窗打开而拉开了绂。月光在白雪的胸怀上闪烁，让地上的万物如日中一样瑳。突然一下，正好在我的眼前，一辆雪橇和驯鹿的样子出现。小小的和蔼的司机既欢又快，就是圣诞老人的圆圆的脸腮！(This is when I really need for Echo to come in and clean up a foreigners poorly constructed rhymes...)