Raising a pirate crew in China is harder than you think. Despite the allure of life on the high seas, many Chinese workers now forgo seafaring opportunities that fail to provide unemployment insurance and other social benefits. While many adventurers have thus drifted into more clerical work, there remains a group of the chronically underemployed that are still willing to work long hours for low pay and zero benefits. In our Intermediate Chinese lesson for today, we share tips on how to motivate these souls for a life of adventure. Also... the future aspect.
Intermediate
 said on
November 19, 2010
Thanks to everyone for your patience this week. David is now down in Chile, Echo was delayed by visa problems, but will be coming down in a few weeks. And we should be back on a normal production schedule. Hope you all enjoy this one.
rizzo
 said on
November 20, 2010
International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Sept 19.

Check it out at

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html

A vast yee matey and Spanish gallion off the port bow.

Of course nowadays we need to differentiate between the storybook pirates of old and the new breed of modern sea pirate.
Brad
 said on
November 20, 2010
I'm waiting for the epic quadfecta lesson featuring pirates, zombies, kittens, and diarrhea. One can only hope!
trevelyan
 said on
November 21, 2010
@Brad,

For what it is worth, I think this is an excellent suggestion. I will pass the idea along to our voice actors, or lock them in the studio under they come up with something serviceable. Perhaps both....

--dave
Brendan
 said on
November 21, 2010
@Brad --

Received loud and clear. Next time we record dialogues with our voice actors, I'll lock them in the studio with prompts ("ZOMBIE KITTENS" "PIRATE DIARRHEA" "KITTENS POOP ZOMBIES" "PIRATES POOP KITTENS" etc), close all the windows tightly, and open a few cans of rubber cement. This sounds like a recipe for greatness.
rizzo
 said on
November 23, 2010
This lesson is particularly timely in that folks state-side have been enjoying a new show entitled "The Walking Dead": a drama set in the zombie infested near future. No pirates though. Or kittens. Or much intenstinal distress. But still...
Brad
 said on
November 23, 2010
@Brendan

Sweet. I'm going to listen to that lesson and watch Pink Floyd's "The Wall" with the sound off in synchronicity. I expect great things.
trevelyan
 said on
November 23, 2010
Brendan and Brad,

I really wish I had thought of "Pirate Diarrhea". Brilliant and surprisingly evocative concept. Arrrr....

--dave

Xiao Hu
 said on
November 23, 2010
＠Brendan, Brad, Trevelyan,

I can't wait to get home and lock myself into my bedroom with an oversized bottle of 茅台, some oil paints and my canvass and craft my Pollock- inspired Neo Abstract, Mr. Bigglesworth Vs. Captain Jack Sparrow locked in a no-hold-barred celebrity deathmatch, masterpiece, while blaring tunes of the Tommy soundtrack, then submit the file to the Popup Chinese crew as inspiration for the third and final installment of the Popup-Pirates trillogy.

I'm expecting great things.

入乡随俗吧...
etbaccata
 said on
June 21, 2012
For talking about the future (as in predicting something) you discussed in a previous lesson the pattern 会。。。的, but these sentences with hui4 have no de at the end. What is the difference?
Echo
 said on
June 21, 2012
@etbaccata,

It's a very colloquial way :)

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
trevelyan
 said on
June 21, 2012
@etbaccata,

Without the 的 is more colloquial as Echo says. There are a couple of reasons we teach people to leave it in by default. The first is that this is the formal and proper way to do things according to Chinese grammar as taught in China, so leaving it out is technically incorrect and you can get graded down for it on things like the HSK and other more advanced tests.

The other reason to be sensitive to it is that leaving out the 的 can make you sound too colloquial in some situations, while leaving it in is almost never a problem even if you're speaking really casually. And there are situations where ignoring the 的 can make the meaning of the sentence unclear, by causing confusion over whether 会 is signalling the future aspect, or just suggesting that someone is capable of doing something, as with sentences like 他会游泳.