Given the recent death of Edward's solicitor and the mysterious disappearance of his wife, it seemed natural to suspect foul play in the millionaire's own untimely passing. But who could the culprit be? There were but five people on the island at the time of his death, and every one had an ironclad alibi, having gathered to dine not only with each other at the time of the murder, but with none other than Detective Wentworth Summers, the most reputable sleuth in all of Scotland Yard.

Learning Chinese? Today we take a break from verb conjugation drills to present a murder mystery that piles up the bodies faster than Greek Tragedy, all the while operating under conditions of voice recording austerity that would satisfy even the International Monetary Fund. So take a listen, and see if you can guess the solution to our mystery before all is revealed. And let us know what you think in the comments section too: we like that.
 said on
March 18, 2012
I can't believe Gao did all 3 parts here. Quite a talented fellow!
 said on
March 19, 2012
@drummerboy,

You're not the only one. We played it for Amber and she didn't even realize it was the same person doing all three roles. :)

--david
 said on
March 21, 2012
@David @drummerboy

How can you know these 3 voices are from the same person?

--Amber

amber@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 21, 2012
@ Amber, Because in the beginning of the lesson Brendan says "in today's lesson we have 1 actor doing all 3 parts" :-)
 said on
March 22, 2012
@drummerboy,

Ah~~~Hehe, I just listened to the dialogue.

--Amber
 said on
March 28, 2012
@Echo,

开头儿的时候你说了“为了节省开支我们不得不~~裤腰带。” In order to save on expenses we have no choice but to tighten our belts. "lei4jin3" 就是 “to tighten," 但是在我词典里在一起的这两个字我都找不到了。
 said on
March 28, 2012
@尼古拉斯桑,

应该是“勒紧”(lei1jin3) :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
March 31, 2012
In a previous elementary lesson titled "not even close" you used the term 差远了。 壹n this lesson it is, of course, 差得远了。 What's the difference. When should one employ the "得“?
 said on
March 31, 2012
@griffith.craig,

Those two phrases have exactly the same meaning. 得 used there is to indicate the degree of the difference (差). You can omit it.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
June 2, 2013
调的表 should this be tiao2 de biao3, not diáo de biǎo ?
 said on
June 3, 2013
@etbaccata,

Yes, you are right. Fixed, thanks!

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com