If the restaurant didn't want you to build that bonfire in the ashtray, they wouldn't have put it on the table, right? What else are you supposed to do with matches in the non-smoking section?

In today's lesson, Brendan and Echo waltz us through useful words and phrases for smokers and non-smokers alike. You'll learn how to ask for a light, how to get seated in the non-smoking section, and get the lowdown on how Chinese parents terrorize their children into skipping acts of arson.
 said on
May 10, 2009
Are there some more beginners lessons hiding somewhere? Things appear to have become very advanced very quickly.

I understand the basics of the dialogue but there was a boatload of chitty-chat that went right over my head.

Will you be making anymore beginners podcasts soon?
 said on
May 10, 2009
@doubt616 - absolutely. We're producing these lessons on an ongoing basis. There should be at least one Elementary/Absolute Beginner lesson every week. The next one will be released tomorrow.
 said on
May 19, 2009
ta gongzuo hen wanr ming

ta hen wanr de gongzuo

is that right? And is hen here 4th tone?

Thanks
 said on
May 19, 2009
dui

ta hen4? wanr ming de gongzuo
 said on
May 19, 2009
@maybrown - 很 is third tone for very and fourth tone for hate. I'd go with 他拼命地工作, is that right guys?
 said on
May 19, 2009
Orbital is right. 他工作很玩儿命 &他很玩儿命地工作 both correct. 很 is the third tone here. If it meets another third tone word, such as 很好, it turns to be the second tone.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
June 1, 2009
discussing 工作很玩儿命, at about 4 minutes, Echo says

laoban dou xihuan neizhong ?? (sounds like yan2gong1)

老板都喜欢那种 ??--

Bosses all/always like that kind of ??

From context I can guess something like working dedication/attitude.

What is the thing here that bosses like?

Thanks.

 said on
June 2, 2009
@kudra,

It's 员工(yuan2 gong1) :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
June 12, 2009
Error Generating PDF: please report this problem to david.lancashire@gmail.com, along with a link to the lesson in question./tmp/custompdf-1244774860-69849.tex
 said on
June 12, 2009
@rgbowden - problem fixed. thanks.
 said on
October 18, 2009
Can the pdf include more vocabulary that were spoken in the "chit chat" as examples? I think we're all interested in learning them too...
 said on
October 18, 2009
Probably won't be transcribing the chit-chat part of the podcasts anytime soon, although if you're curious please ask. We may be introducing additional sample sentences for the lesson vocab sometime soon though.

We could have a lesson about the sorts of things Echo says in the podcasts though. That might be fun.
 said on
August 14, 2010
Somewhere in the podcast when Echo asks Brendan whether he smokes, I think he says 我不好說. Does that mean he can't say or he won't say or something else?
 said on
August 14, 2010
neehnahw,

Brendan means it's hard to answer. He smokes sometimes, but probably not often enough to count himself as a smoker.
 said on
March 29, 2011
- 你抽烟吗? - Do you smoke?

- 不好说。。。- Hard to say...

- 怎么讲? - What do you mean? Or - Which is to say?

Did I translate the last line correctly?

谢, ^_^
 said on
March 29, 2011
@huyilin,

Yes, both translations are correct. 怎么讲 means I'm not sure what you mean, so can you explain specifically for me.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
December 2, 2011
Hey guys,

“Light a fire” 怎么说?
 said on
December 2, 2011
@lcardone,

You can say "点火“ (dian3huo3). "起火" is ok too, but it's less common than “点火”.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
May 5, 2012
Is 玩火尿炕 a Northern expression? My wife, who's Sichuanese, has never heard of it.

http://wenwen.soso.com/z/q105779636.htm -- According to this page, 玩火尿炕 is something parents tell their kids to scare them away from fire. Is that accurate? It reminds me of the lies Western parents tell their kids, like "If you keep making that face it will stay that way" and (the far scarier) "Don't masturbate or you'll go blind."
 said on
May 5, 2012
@murrayjames,

I don't think so, but it's also just a slang, so it might be regional. Have you asked your wife if there is a similar saying in Sichuan?

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
May 6, 2012
@Echo,

It's not a regional thing. Just asked friends of mine from 四川、新疆、山东 and 辽宁. They all heard 玩火尿炕 from their parents growing up.

As for my wife... Guess she never played with fire before :-)
 said on
May 6, 2012
@murrayjames,

Lol,then she's a 乖乖女.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com