Consider the stock photo accompanying this lesson illustrative of the truly great times we have had partying at several Beijing clubs that are not the Loft nor Maggies and that Oliver Stone has yet to frequent at three o'clock in the morning, at least as far as we know.You see, Shanghai might be the clubbing capital of China, but Beijing has Rock and Roll, the only place we've ever been that has featured fire-breathing dancers and a choreographed routine involving a massive man-eating snake. Add to this the Titanic videos that still play on loop and the disc jockeys of indeterminate gender, and you've got to admit that the place has its own vibe.
ashemtyan
said on July 2, 2011
A friend of mine said that i could regester for free and be able to download a mp3 file and additional pdf. But i only can listen on-line a mp3 file.为什马？
trevelyan
said on July 2, 2011
hi ashemtyan,You can't get the PDFs with a free account, but you can download the MP3s to your computer using iTunes once you've signed up by setting up your personal feed. http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/popup-chinese/id292036117We also have a public lesson feed in the iTunes store that has all of the MP3s on it. That's the link above.Best,--david
zombie_chris
said on July 21, 2011
I think that there may be some confusion because last year, new members were given a week of free premium access if I remember correctly.
trevelyan
said on July 21, 2011
We've changed the way the signup process works, but the MP3s are still free at every level. The biggest difference for us has been fielding less confused emails about people wondering why the transcripts no longer work for them.I'm hoping we'll be able to keep simplifying the signup process, but I think this has been a big improvement.
mattjelly
said on December 9, 2011
You have no idea how many times the word 伪娘 has made me way cooler than all my much-better-than-me-at-Chinese friends.Thank you Popup Chinese.
j.stewartwallace
said on December 18, 2011
Quiz Q5: 为什么第二个有误？？
Echo
said on December 18, 2011
@j.stewartwallace,“呢”在那个句子里的意思就是强调呀。--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
murrayjames
said on June 19, 2012
Is there a difference between 伪娘 and 人妖?
amber
said on June 19, 2012
@murrayjames,Oh yeah quite different. To put it in simple, 伪娘 are still 100% men, but some 人妖 take estrogen hormone or do sex change operations(or partly), so they are not 100% men.--Amberamber@popupchinese.com
Brendan
said on June 19, 2012
@murrayjames - Yes; as Amber said, 为娘 connotes "cross-dresser," whereas 人妖 generally refers to someone who's had cosmetic surgery or hormone replacement therapy. As a side note, I was told a few years ago after using the term 人妖 in an article I wrote that many trans people in China consider it to be a derogatory term.
华金
said on June 19, 2012
@brendan, I was just about to comment on exactly what you just touched on. Doesn't 人妖 literally translate as "Monster Person"? What would be the politically correct term? Is there even one at all?
Brendan
said on June 19, 2012
Well, "妖" isn't necessarily "monster;" it can also have connotations of "beguiling" (妖艳), "seductive" (妖媚), etc. But yeah, it isn't particularly flattering. The term 变性人 is fairly neutral, as far as I know, but there may be something new out there by now -- I haven't looked into the subject in a while and am going from memory here, so corrections are very welcome.
华金
said on June 19, 2012
Ah, now that you mention it, my teacher taught me that a while ago, but I'd forgotten it! Thanks for the reply! :)
gmsalpha
said on January 9, 2015
I really liked this lesson, but I have a few questions. In the line 你早知道她是男的?, can you also say你已经知道她是男的? Would 已经 work? And if so, can you explain the difference between the two?Also, in the same sentence, 你早知道她是男的?, I am curious why it ends with 的 instead of 吗, since it looks like a Yes/No question. 的 for the possessive is easy enough (mine/his/ours, etc), but when a sentence ends with 的, it always throws me off.Perhaps these are the kinds of questions some one on one paid tutoring will be a better place for. :p-Gabriel
trevelyan
said on January 9, 2015
gmsalpha,Sure, you can swap in 已经. Or you can use both together for extra emphasis: 你早已经知道她是男的? You know HOW long ago?The difference isn't so much in literal meaning as it is in emotion and emphasis. 早 implies something like "ages ago" or "right from the start", whereas 已经 is much more literal and non-specific. So if someone uses 早 they're implying either that they've known for ages or - as in this case - suggesting that the distinction was obvious to everyone else.
j.ellman
said on October 26, 2016
Just wondering why 我当然不知道 isn't 我当然没知道 as it's in the past?
trevelyan
said on October 26, 2016
j.ellman,Nice catch. We have a show about this somewhere in the archives, but the shortest explanation is that you just don't want to ever precede 知道 with 没. There are some exceptions where Chinese linguists argue over the potential acceptability of 没, but even in these cases you are basically safe to stick with 不 since everyone else does.If you need to communicate a specific time period, just use a time market directly as with 你以前不知道吗？Likewise, you could answer something like 我当年还不知道....Cheers,--david
