We know you started making plans for a night out as soon as you saw us publish that lesson for Absolute Beginners this morning. Unfortunately for your social ambitions, we don't have a reputation as cruel mandarin taskmasters for nothing. Which is why in addition to our beginner podcast we've got this speaking practice lesson aimed at Elementary students and above: anyone who can be intentionally funny in Chinese.So call us up and tell us a joke. In order to get you in the mood, we've put together a quick podcast accompanying this lesson in which 9527 unleashes her devastating wit. Give it a listen and see if you can understand it, and if you don't have any better jokes of your own, feel free to steal it (the transcript is on the text page). Premium subscribers will find our toll-free telephone number and a personal PIN number listed on the text page. So call us up and record your joke when prompted. Our staff will listen in and get back to you later this week with personal feedback on your spoken Chinese.
barrister
said on September 9, 2009
nice chinese Brendan... 佩服！
Gail天堂的声音
said on September 9, 2009
@barrister,
我也这么觉得，所以如果我和Brendan交流的话，我绝对懒得用英语！
Gail天堂的声音
said on September 9, 2009
哈哈，小明！这个笑话让我想起了一个脑筋急转弯：小明的妈妈有三个孩子，老大叫大毛，老二叫二毛，请问老三叫什么？
luolin
said on September 10, 2009
How do you say, "I have no idea" in Chinese? (请问老三叫什么？)
brett
said on September 10, 2009
it's 真不知道, right?
Gail天堂的声音
said on September 10, 2009
@luolin,
i have no idea, you can say我不知道。
but this is really a easy question...
try to think it again...
luolin
said on September 11, 2009
一毛, but it's probably some kind of pun. I am the only one in suspense and willing to admit to it? It's the easy ones that fool me often.
Well, 不知道 is the most obvious but I was looking for some emphatic phrase like 什么都 or 到底 that would go before 不知道.
trevelyan
said on September 11, 2009
ha ha - read the joke again Luolin! The answer's staring you in the face!
bonita.delmonte
said on September 11, 2009
小明。：）
Gail天堂的声音
said on September 14, 2009
哈哈，我的问题还不错吧？
李言伟
said on September 20, 2009
I think "I have no idea" is often translated "我根本不知道“.
Speaking Practice
said on September 22, 2009
A quick note from the trenches - we've had a few users submit recordings in the last few weeks from accounts with invalid email addresses. We don't generally police that sort of thing, but hopefully it is obvious that if you don't sign up with a real email address, we can't email you feedback.If you've submitted a recording and have not gotten a response that is why. If you haven't signed up and want to give this a try, you can get a week long free trial by creating an account. Thanks,--david
xiaodou
said on September 24, 2009
I was wondering how long it normally takes to get feedback? I submitted a recording a couple days ago, and I've gotten email responses before so I think my email is fine, but I guess it may take a few days to a week?
Speaking Practice
said on September 24, 2009
@xiaodou - we'll look into it today. It shouldn't take more than a day or two unless you record on a Friday evening. --dave
Nowhere Man
said on May 23, 2010
The link to the PDF doesn't work.
