Archive for April, 2006



April 22 Buzzwords

消费税(xiao1fei4shui4)
excise tax
The nation hopes the excise tax it started on April 1 to levy on cars, as well as other luxury products, will control the number of sedans on the roads as part of its effort to cut energy use and rein in air pollution.
全武行(quan2wu3hang2)
acrobatic fighting, scuffle
The term originally means the acrobatic fighting in traditional […]

Managing comments on ChinesePod

As the CPod community gets bigger (and better) it becomes difficult to deal with 300 comments per week. (It’s growing faster and faster.) I haven’t been able to keep up with that.
From your perspective, I know that it’s frustrating to post your heartfelt comments only to see them ignored. (Not all comments […]

The Word on the Street is 白骨精 (bái gǔ jīng)

Mention the word 白骨精 to anyone and you’ll see the same that-story-freaked-me-right-out-when-I-was-younger look. Made infamous as the monk-seducing, blood-sucking villain from the classic “Journey to the West”, this once active title now describes something the exact opposite. The modern translation refers to those who have made work their significant other. But, should this translation ring […]

Open thread

It’s that time. What’s on your mind?
Ken

Review on Slate.com

Michael Erard pens a very complimentary write-up about ChinesePod on Slate.com - ” Why all language podcasts should sound like Chinesepod.”
Mr. Erard compares us with other language podcasts - not just the Mandarin ones. It seems we come out on top by his estimation. I certainly get the impression that he knows a […]

VideoHotpot4 - Mr. Cab Driver

They’re Baaaaaaaaack… The VideoHotpot guys have created their best edition yet! The team at ChinesePod.com has continued pioneering this field of on-demand education with the forth edition of video language lessons.
VideoHotpot IV– Mr. Cab Driver
The newest edition of VideoHotpot is a high-speed adventure from one side of Shanghai to the other; an up-close […]

April 15 Buzzwords

偷着胖 (tou1zhepang4)
unnoticeably fat, a hidden fatty
Those who don’t look fat with clothes on, but are actually quite plump are called a hidden fatty in northern China. It takes great efforts to be secret about one’s subcutaneous fat these days when revealing clothing is in, especially for young women.
触电(chu4dian4)
flick appearance, thrill
The term was first used to […]

John’s Role at ChinesePod

I have been working for ChinesePod for two weeks now, so I figured it was time to give a shout out to the community and explain a little what I’ve been working on.
I have been hired as an “academic consultant.” That means I am working with the ChinesePod team in all kinds of ways to […]

Photo of the Day

Around the corner from our studio.
Aric

Photo of the Day

Pudong…look for that same skyline in the new “Mission Impossible 3″.
Aric