http://www.maxiewawa.com The personal blog of maxiewawa Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:31:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Watching the Olympic games, I got the idea of commentating on what was happening around me, to practice my spoken Chinese. Here's what happened. (i can't get podpress working, so you'll have to do the "right click/save As..." thing here. Sorry.) A foreigner walking down Nanjing rd can't fail to be approached ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/27/commentary-1/ I'm teaching English online. If you're a native speaker, you can help out by listening/reading the passage below and answering the questions that come after it. If you're learning, I invite you to do the same. You might find the explanation helpful. I didn't have a good day today. I went ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/26/english-assignment-3/ Amber from Chinesepod pointed out in one of her recent shows, 拉肚子 (diarrhea) isn't as much a taboo subject as in the west. I recently heard this conversation in a restaurant toilet. (I walk in. There is only one cubicle, and a guy is waiting.) Guy 1:朋友，你快好了没有？(Friend, can you hurry up?) Guy ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/25/yuck/ A conversation in a Chinese shop usually goes like this: "Hello welcome can I help you." "意大利经典." (A classic Italian sandwich please.) "你要什么面包?" (What bread would you like?) "好的，大的..." But occasionally, and much to my annoyance, the person behind the desk insists on using English, often very difficult to understand English. The conversation goes like ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/23/the-ha-technique/ I can't get PodPress working, so I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. I've made an mp3. It's here. Right click and choose "Save As" to download it! I've been trying to do something musical for a while. This is actually the theme to a show that I listen to ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/21/guitar-ditty/ I was at City Diner the other night, with some friends. They are famous for bad service. After we'd had a look at their menus, and decided what we wanted, we looked around for a waiter. We saw a guy behind the bar, and waved at him. He didn't see us. ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/19/bad-service/ Here's another story that I've read out and filmed loud in an effort to improve my spoken Chinese. If you can't see the video, it's here. The article is here. It's not the same as the version that I was reading from but is close enough. Basically, the story is this: A taxi driver, ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/18/taxi-driver-catches-thief/ I'm trying to teach English online. If you have a moment, please answer these questions in English below. I hope learners don't mind if I correct them! What's your in your room? Where is your computer? Here are my answers: There are two couches in my room behind me. There's a bookshelf and ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/16/104/ On August 13th 2004 I arrived at Shanghai Pudong International Airport with mum, dad and one of mum's friends. I spent the next few days sporadically watching the Athens Olympics, and getting to know China. Four years later I'm still here. Happy Anniversary Me! http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/14/4th-anniversary/ Last week I asked for some responses to questions in English and today I'd like to go over some of the answers. Thanks very much to these people for participating in the first assignment! Specifically, thank you to theresa, nicholas cripps, hyunwoo sun, koungeun choi, yiwei, lucierili, RuaGreenwood, Cody, sorry if ... http://www.maxiewawa.com/2008/08/12/english-review/