After your son has pumped five hundred volts of current through your chest, it may be time for a little parental intervention. Is it really necessary for him to replicate the work of Nicolas Tesla in your family basement? As our own parents repeatedly reminded us growing up: high-energy experiments belong in the classroom, not the bedroom.

If you're an intermediate student in the Chinese language, join us for this lesson in the mysteries of science. In addition to a pro-science dialogue dedicated to Nicolas Tesla, this lesson reviews common units of measurement and how to use them in Chinese sentences. This is critical vocabulary to know regardless of whether you are conducting wireless electricity, building secret underwater laboratories, or simply reanimating dead lab assistants.

 said on
March 29, 2010
Nice lesson. Above and beyond the measurement units, 是时候 was new to me, and should be quite useful. Thanks.

 said on
March 30, 2010
Not to be too technical, but current is measured in amperes (amps for short) and electric potential is measured in volts.
 said on
March 30, 2010
This requires more thought on my part -- your word "current" is the wrong word, but the Chinese word 电压, which means voltage, is the right concept... It just sounds really funny to say "that was 500 volts of voltage!". More correct but lame would be "that was 500 volts of electric potential!".
 said on
April 7, 2010
This and the previous YI lesson really hit the spot for me as a low intermediate learner. This kind of language (measurements etc) is the kind of stuff that comes up every so often and makes me think "Damn I should know this!" but not often enough that I acquire it naturally.