It is the defining dichotomy of our age: which operating system do you use, and why? And that's why we're going to give you the chance to talk all about it in our speaking practice lesson for today. Just pick up the phone and call us. And if you're feeling particularly at a loss for words, check out our vocabulary section where we've compiled a number of related words that might come in handy for expressing your love-hate relationship with high tech.

Premium subscribers please visit our text page, dial the toll-free telephone number listed there and key in your PIN number. Then tell us your stories of computing misery or glory. Once you've finished your call your recording will be automatically submitted to our teachers for review. We'll listen and get back to you in a day or two with feedback on your spoken Chinese.
 said on
August 11, 2009
I've just given this a shot. Nifty system. Looking forward to hearing back.
 said on
August 11, 2009
I think the most important term to know when discussing Mac V. PC in China, is the term

兼容 (jiānróng) compatibility.

Or at least that is where most of my headaches arise from here.
 said on
August 11, 2009
Surprised how it's come along really. My boss doesn't really know anything about technology, therefore he uses a Mac. Tends to go with the territory.

Surprisingly we can work on the same documents at a fairly high level of complexity. Granted they're all Microsoft apps but still, it's not like it was in the old days...

 said on
December 6, 2009
LINUX用中文怎么说?用英语名字吗?

我有三个电脑: 一个微软XP,那个操作系统不错。(that is for Microsoft! :-) ) 一个微软Vista。我认为Vista 非常讨厌!我也有一个LINUX Ubuntu. 我特别喜欢用LINUX Ubuntu 操作系统因为软件免费。 LINUX的质量很好。 听说Windows 7 不错,但是我没用。

 said on
December 7, 2009
@蓝大卫,

我们就说“Linux” :)

我和我所有身边的朋友都不喜欢vista,我觉得xp不错,我们叫它“cha1r P”,因为"x"在中文里叫“cha1r"。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 7, 2009
@Echo,

我的那个重庆朋友也是这么说的。为什么这么多中国人这么讨厌 Vista 操作系统呢?我的 G1 手机的 Android 系统挺稳定的,而且 Android 是从 Linux 改编的。
 said on
December 7, 2009
我爱mac,因为又好看又没有病毒!
 said on
December 7, 2009
@Xiao Hu,

因为Vista太麻烦了,大多数中国人都习惯了XP,而且Vista需要更多的内存,所以在很多人的电脑上都跑得很慢。

你不用iphone吗?我感觉很多美国人都用iphone。

@Lanzi,

可是苹果好难用 :(

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 7, 2009
@Echo

不不不,你应该说:可是我还没习惯上苹果。

我爸爸在学电脑之前还说电脑难用呢,现在上网上的跟网瘾少年似的。
 said on
December 7, 2009
@Lanzi,

哈哈,有道理!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 9, 2009
@Lanzi

我喜欢Linux 因为也没有病毒!Linux 和 Mac OS 都 Unix 操作系统。

但是Mac 太贵, 所以我用 Linux。 :-)

 said on
December 9, 2009
@Echo

"身边的朋友" 用英文怎么说? “side friend" 是 ”close friend"/好朋友马?

 said on
December 9, 2009
昨天我买了 Window 7 笔记本电脑 因为我的Vista 笔记本电脑坏了!! (Grrrrr!!!!)(BTW, "Grrrr" 用中文怎么说?)Windows 7 是 Acer de。 Vista 是 HP 的。 我觉得HP 质量不好。听说 Acer 更好的

 said on
December 9, 2009
@蓝大卫,

哈哈,Grrr,I think you can say 吼吼!hǒuhou。o(∩_∩)o...
 said on
December 9, 2009
@蓝大卫,

我不太确定“side friend "的意思,“身边的朋友”的意思是“friends around you"。“close friend"的意思是“亲密的朋友”。

怎么我们刚开始讨论电脑的问题,你的电脑就出问题了?“Grrrr”我们会说“呃....e5"。

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 9, 2009
@Gail,

吼吼???谁的电脑坏了会高兴地“吼吼”啊? Grrrr....

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 9, 2009
@蓝大卫

mac电脑最近很便宜,因为明年要出新产品!真的很便宜!

不过听说win7很稳定,比vista好多了。

btw,"Grrr..."我大概会说“啊...”或者直接骂脏话。
 said on
December 9, 2009
@Echo,

不会说“吼吼”,但是在留言的时候,我觉得之后气得“吼吼”才能够表达出我气愤的感情。或者我可以说:啊!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 said on
December 9, 2009
@Echo

I ran 身边的朋友 through Adsotrans and came up with "side friend". Looks like the human touch is still the better way to go! (Nonetheless I find Adsotrans very helpful...I often rely on it!)
 said on
December 9, 2009
@蓝大卫,

Yes,I'm sure Adso won't disappoint you :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 10, 2009
Hi guys,

I've just added the phrase 身边的朋友 to our dictionary and tagged it as a noun phrase. Anyone can do this actually - just highlight the word once it is adsotated and provide your preferred translation in the popup that will appear. The new word will be resegmented on the page and automatically added to our review cue for inclusion in the dictionary.

A quick search shows that we already have these definitions for close friend, which might be useful as well: 亲密朋友, 密友, 贴心人 and 知心朋友. I've definitely run into 知心朋友 a few times, although it seems much less common than 身边的朋友 according to Google. How did I not know it until now?

--dave
 said on
December 10, 2009
@dave

因为比“知心朋友”更常用的是“知己”,比如“她是我的知己”。

但“知己”和“密友”还不大一样。“知己”强调朋友间的精神共鸣,可能这两个人并不是每天联系,但仍然非常了解对方。“密友”强调关系密切,彼此亲密无间。