Our dialogue in this lesson is much easier than the quantum theory of superposition. It's so easy we almost made this an Absolute Beginner lesson in fact, save for that very last line. So if you're an Elementary student consider today's lesson a brief respite from our usual regime of grueling lessons designed to separate you from your sanity.
neehnahw
 said on
November 30, 2010
Around 3:09, Echo explained something like yi ben(???) 在小的地方的时候沒用'裡', which I understood as "'li' isn't used for small places." What was the "ben(???)" there? And why was it there? Also, isn't that contradicted by those small places that are actually containers?
Echo
 said on
November 30, 2010
@neehnahw,

I said 一般 (normally) :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
mattjelly
 said on
February 6, 2011
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait just one second. I've never seen a shopping centre smaller than my house, why is 里 used here?
palafx
 said on
February 6, 2011
@mattjelly

Then you aren't living in china :D

That said, I think it's just a fossilized use, possibly originating in the fact that a 家 isn't just a house, but a household, which is a bit more abstract and open-ended.
tuomasi.o
 said on
September 1, 2015
is there also a similar rule when to use 内? for example: 学校内. It also means something like "inside" but I'm not sure in what cases I gotta use it.

thanks for you help, keep it going! :)