Despite it being the last stop before the highway started its thirty mile winding climb out of the desert canyon, the small family diner that had once been a trade favorite on the long-haul circuit was surprisingly devoid of his fellow truckers. And the atmosphere in the joint had changed for the worse too, but John was hungry and in a hurry to meet his schedule, so simply raised his hand to summon the waitress. He would eat quickly and be back on the road in twenty minutes.
 said on
December 31, 2009
Honestly this is the best way to learn Chinese on the net. You repeat sufficiently while keeping the flow of the lesson going. The speech is enunciated clearly and well demonstrated. Your quick and subtle jokes keep the lesson laid back. Great job! Ill be tuning in!
 said on
January 1, 2010
Hi Garrett -- glad you liked it. Happy New Year!
 said on
January 1, 2010
thanks garrett, and happy new year everyone. Echo and I just arrived back in Beijing on a 13 hour flight last night. Tomorrow is off, but we should have an HSK test up over the weekend and will be back to regular lesson publishing on Monday.
 said on
January 1, 2010
Yes, 泡泡中文 truly is the best Chinese language learning site on the internet! You guys have inched ahead of....that other site on the strenth of Echo, Brendan and the incredible humor you build into the podcasts.

方便提这个博客的幽默方式 just a note, upon the first time listening to the dialogue, I didn't catch that it was the waitress he was talking to, it sounded like it could have been someone he was at the restaurant with.

Maybe it would have been more clear if the first lines were:

服务员: 你可以点了吗?

贵宾: 可以。给我来一份儿汉堡.

Anyway, just a thought.

新年快乐!身体健康,万事如意,天天好心情!

 said on
January 1, 2010
I agree that it's much higher quality here. And I made the same mistake on interpreting the dialogue, incidentally. It didn't make sense until the explanation.

我也想祝大家新年快乐! 还希望2010比2009更精彩!
 said on
January 1, 2010
Thanks guys. We're really trying to produce high-quality stuff, and it's gratifying to get the kind of response we've been getting over the last year. That said, funny that you guys both "misheard" the dialogue. Brendan had the same issue with it and we just laughed at him and told him he was "totally wrong".

Final score:

Brendan: 1

me: 0

--dave
 said on
January 1, 2010
I fully agree that Popup Chinese is a very good way of learning Chinese and that you make great efforts to make podcasts highly interesting to listen to. Your product is high quality and substantially helps improve listening comprehension.

But I have one suggestion for improvement. Complement your listening comprehension [LC] podcasts with additional speaking production [SP] podcasts to help people become fluent in Chinese. To the best of my knowledge, no such a product is yet available.

What I have in mind is a podcast that takes advantage of the strenghts of both your generative audio reviews [GAR] and Pimsleur/Foreign Service Institute/Michel Thomas[PFM] type courses

I feel that PFM type courses are substantially less fun to listen than your current podcasts (and vocabulary used is also much lower frequency) and this clearly hinders successful language acquisition. On the other hand,GAR are very useful to review, but refer to isolated word/sentences and, on their own, do not pass a fun test.

I think that it would not take a huge amount of effort on your side to create this type of speaking production podcasts, in which you would end up producing sentences you have never heard before.

What do you think of this? I am sure you will find lots of ways of refining this rough idea

新年快乐!
 said on
January 2, 2010
@trevelan or @Brendan.

How do the hamburgers in China compare to those in North America? Previous experience has shown that mustard isn't a popular condiment in Taiwan and a hamburger is not a proper hamburger without mustard!

What would be the Chinese terms for popular condiments such as pickles, mustard, ketchup, mayo, etc? I have terms such as 西红柿,洋葱, 生菜 covered.

Great lesson. The light humor makes it memorable.
 said on
January 2, 2010
@lan_dawei: A topic near and dear to my heart, as I'm currently back in Philadelphia and gorging myself at every opportunity on burgers from Fergie's, an Irish/Palestinian joint venture in Center City that makes what are for my money the finest burgers in the cosmos.

There are good burgers to be had in China, but not very many of them -- there's something not quite right about the meat, I think: it's too dry and tastes slightly funny. Some places have got good imported beef, but then you're basically paying for the cow's college degree -- 80 kuai at one place in Beijing!

'Mustard' is 芥末酱 in most cases, though this can also refer to wasabi at a Japanese place. 黄芥末 is also becoming a common way of referring to the sauce -- though what you'll get is almost invariably the processed yellow gloop, rather than mustard that tastes like mustard. Any port in a storm, I suppose.

'Ketchup' is just 番茄酱 -- this is one of the cases where 番茄 and 西红柿 aren't interchangeable. Ketchup is much easier to find than mustard in my experience -- pretty much anywhere serving Western-inspired food has got a bottle or two for the fries.

'Mayo' used to be 沙拉酱, "salad sauce" -- and people really did douse their salads with it -- but increasingly I'm hearing 蛋黄酱 "egg yolk sauce" instead. This, too, is pretty much everywhere.

'Pickles' I'm actually not sure about! I've seen western-style pickles listed as 黄瓜片 ('cucumber slices') on menus at some places, and even as 泡菜 ('pickled vegetables' -- e.g. kimchi!) at others, but if there's a more standard or common term for pickle slices, it isn't coming to mind at the moment. Most places do have pickles, but prepare for disappointment -- they're the weird half-sweet half-briny kind. Kosher dill spears are another thing I spend most of my vacations back in the States loading up on.

@travelyan -- VINDICATION!

@chinopinyin -- That's a great suggestion, and it ties into a couple of the things we've been talking about at Popup Chinese headquarters. (Our headquarters are in a dormant volca-- I've said too much.) I agree that speaking practice is absolutely crucial to any kind of serious language study, and we're looking for ways of applying the things that we do well to what has historically been, as you note, a pretty dry pedagogy. Stay tuned!
 said on
January 2, 2010
@Brendan,

I suppose that bratwurst is nonexistent in the Middle Kingdom?....

I'm having some for lunch! :-)

My experience with Western cuisine in Taiwan was by and large disappointing. The food has been changed to accommodate the local palate. But the Chinese food is vastly superior on the other side of the pond even though we have a large Chinese population here in the Silicon Valley. So I don't even bother with Western food when I make it back.

Happy Eating in Philly! I suppose that you are stocking up on Philly Steak Cheese sandwiches too?

 said on
January 2, 2010
@Brendan,

I've got an idea for a project, a radical new project for total internet Chinese language learning domination.

From my super-secret headquarters, and with the help of my beloved right-hand-man "迷你我", I shall create a new technology called,"podcasting" and record a series of Chinese... "podcasts" utilizing a group of Bohemian Chinese Beatnik actors willing to work for gruel, I shall create a new Chinese pedagogy and blast our Chinese..."podcasts" over the internet airwaves amassing throngs of disciples hanging upon our every word, submitting to our every wish, willing to do our bidding in exchange only for a new..."podcast" and a list of vocab items!

I will call it..."中文博客"!

 said on
January 2, 2010
Why the name 泡泡中文 ? I am curious after reading Xiao Hu's earlier post.
 said on
January 2, 2010
@Xiao Hu -- Sssh! ot-Nay ere-whey e-they oles-pray an-cay ead-ray it-way!

@蓝大卫 -- It's definitely available, but I can't comment on authenticity. And yes -- I'm stocking up on cheesesteaks too. And proper beer.
 said on
January 2, 2010
@XiaoHu, Brendan, orbital

I made the same mistake listening to the dialogue, too, and was guessing the relationship between the speakers.
 said on
January 2, 2010
@LanZi,

Yeah, I didn't understand why the aversion to that one or two extra lines to clarify things? Brendan's opening line about the dystopian future doesn't make it clear enough that it's the waitress he's talking to.

中文 dystopian future 怎么说?
 said on
January 2, 2010
I know the PopupChinese team hears it a lot, but I can't help but say it: you are awesome!!! All of the dialogues are lively, fun, and helpful. Plus,in my case it is the best of both worlds: English isn't my native language, so I'm learning Mandarin, and catching English phrases along the way. I'm really glad I found this website. Happy New Year to the Popup team!!!
 said on
January 2, 2010
@Brendan,

An-cay, I-ay, et-gay, a-ay iggin'-fray ot-hay, ocket-pay?
 said on
January 2, 2010
@Xiao Hu & Brendan,

你们说的是火星语吗?

@geroi_asfalta,

Thank you very much for all your good words about the site ! 谢谢你,我们一起加油! :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 2, 2010
@蓝大卫 & everyone on the site,

I came up with "Popup Chinese" , because "pop up" is one of our main features on the site. Then when we worked on the Chinese translation, I thought “泡泡” could be a good one. “泡” has a meaning "to enjoy sth" in Chinese, like in "泡吧", and it also sounds like "pop up" if you double it.

We hope everyone will enjoy learning Chinese on Popup Chinese :) 我们希望大家都能在泡泡中文享受学习中文的乐趣!

2010年,新年快乐!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Echo,

你很聪明啊!我总是觉得 Popupchinese 是个好听的名字再说觉得泡泡中文这个名字更好听!原来 Popupchinese 这个名字是Echo编的并不是戴维编的。
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Echo,

我跟Brendan讲的语言就是凯尔特语嘛!

;)
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Xiao Hu

因为utopian是”乌托邦“,所以dystopian就是”反乌托邦“、”反面乌托邦“、”敌托帮“或者”废托邦“。Dystopian movies是“反乌托邦电影”。不过有些专家(scholars)会研究”反乌托邦(dystopian)“和”反面乌托邦(anti-utopian)“的不同, that dystopian and anti-utopian are different.

O-say, I-ay ink-thay, opian-dystay uture-fay is-ay, 不好的未来,非理想国,or-ay, 混世.
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Tíogair Beag -- Tá 'teangacha Ceilteacha' (凯尔特语) brainse d'Ind-Eorpacha. Is teanga 'Gaeilge' (爱尔兰语). Though I probably got that sentence completely around my neck, which is what I get for trying to be clever. And I think I probably should've put your name in the vocative.

@Echo -- Níl sé Teanga Mharsa, ní hea.
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Xiao Hu,

谢谢夸奖 :)

凯尔特语? *.* (晕菜了)

你的圣诞节过得怎么样?我在加拿大什么都好,就是吃得太不习惯了,一直想着吃火锅,嘴里都快淡出鸟来了 :P 对了,你知道“大山”吗?

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Echo,

我的圣诞节过得很好. 我和姐姐一起吃点心,然后打开礼物,然后出去逛街.只可惜妈妈在纽约也不能来.

前天和两个朋友在小肥羊吃火锅. 小肥羊的调料实在是太好吃了!

我当然知道大山,谁不知道大山呢?

哦,对了,“淡出鸟来” 是什么意思?
 said on
January 3, 2010
@Xiao Hu,

咦?你已经到中国了吗?

我们这次去加拿大,发现戴维妹妹的同事竟然是大山的表哥!世界真小阿 :)

“淡出鸟" 的意思是非常淡,没有味道,也可以是非常无聊的意思。所以你可以说,我的嘴里都快淡出鸟来了,或者,我的生活都快淡出鸟来了。这个是非常口语的。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 4, 2010
>>戴维妹妹的同事竟然是大山的表哥!

Dude, there are like 20 people in Canada. Totally 不足为奇!
 said on
January 4, 2010
@Brendan,

:(

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
January 4, 2010
@Brendan,

It was a surprise but nice. His cousin introduced him something along the lines of, "oh yeah, I've got a cousin who's in China. Maybe you've heard of him. His name is Dashan or something... he's been on television there."

So yes, apparently Canada does have something like 20 people. :)
 said on
January 5, 2010
Not only does Canada have only 20 people, but at least 18 of them live within 50 miles of the US border - essentially teeming at our nation's door! 在别的国家这不就是战争借口了吗?
 said on
January 5, 2010
@toneandcolor,

>>在别的国家这不就是战争借口了吗?

Lol

--Echo
 said on
January 5, 2010
Nonsense - the Canadians are far too polite to pose any threat to the US, and I'm sure that if we were to invade them, we could do it more or less by force of will and salty language. I don't foresee any serious problems with such a course of action, unless maybe we were to outlaw poutine.
 said on
January 6, 2010
@Brendan -

Poutine? "shudder"用汉语怎么表达???
 said on
January 6, 2010
Brendan--the US and Canada fought a war against one another in 1812 and Canada won. Nice monument to this at Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side, of course).
 said on
January 6, 2010
Brendan--the US and Canada fought a war against one another in 1812, and Canada won. Nice monument to this at Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side, of course).
 said on
January 6, 2010
@Brendan, @user18 - it goes without saying that the Canadian victory was fueled by a love for both homeland and home-grown culinary traditions scorned by the invaders to the south.

As a Canadian, I hope the next time our American readers think of Manifest Destiny, they remember the sweeping invaders from the North and the delicious combination of french fries, cheese and gravy.
 said on
January 6, 2010
@Xiao Hu: >>Poutine? "shudder"用汉语怎么表达???

加式鸦片.
 said on
January 7, 2010
@Brendan,

普丁? 浑身发抖!

@Trevelyan,

You mean the delicious combination of french fries, curds and instant gravy flavored starch sauce? 好吃得不得了!
 said on
January 11, 2010
Napoleon wasn't the only one to find out in 1812 what happens when you try to invade really large cold countries. (OK, what's Chinese for 'off topic'?)
 said on
January 12, 2010
@m.e. - maybe it was less defeat and more looking around the frosty wasteland north of the Great Lakes and coming to one's senses. ; )
 said on
January 12, 2010
@m.e

哈哈。“off topic”是“跑题(pao3 ti2)”,literally means “to run off the topic”;or“离题(li2 ti2),to be away from the topic”。Both are adjectives.
 said on
January 12, 2010
@lanzi This is a little 跑题, but maybe you can clarify something for me. When I'm standing on the subway platform I always see two characters right next to the rails. The sign says "stay off the tracks", but I always confuse the first characters with 跑, becuase they look very similar. 你知道我的意思吗?
 said on
January 12, 2010
@paglino9

哈哈。我知道!The sign with a stick figure who looks like someone getting electrocuted.

“禁止跳下”(jin4zhi3 tiao4xia4), don't jump down.

I think annually we have 5 people who jump down to commit suicide. It takes courage!
 said on
June 4, 2012
The vocab for the lesson says 沙拉 sha1la4. I think it should be 沙拉 sha1la1.
 said on
June 4, 2012
@murrayjames,

In the dictionaries, yes. In the real life, it's sha1la4 :(

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com