TFFCast Test Run Three

This is the third test run of our experimental TFF China Podcast, with a brief intro into why we're considering starting a podcast.

If this works like we're hoping, you can simply to subscribe to our podcast through iTunes. If you don't have iTunes you can download it here.



Hope this works!

Beijing Trip 09

Fun times in Beijing! (Posted by Sarah)

For more photos click here.

Im not that (kind of) excited...

Today I went to an office where they make informational videos. They needed someone who speaks American (they have a word in Chinese to distinguish American English from British English) to record a voice-over for a video. I wanted to impress them as they pay pretty well considering the ease of the work, so I dressed a little nicer and went out of my way to perfect the script I was to read. The first run through went alright, nothing special. They asked me to read a little faster and (I think) with more enthusiasm. As their English was pretty limited and so is my Chinese, I consulted the dictionary on my phone to find out the word for "passionate," to make sure that I understood. I found a word whose initial definition looked pretty accurate and showed it to my "boss" to verify. He made a weird face, shook his finger and said "no, no, no." That confused me because then I didn't know what they wanted from me, so I asked him again and he responded the same way, even a little disgusted this time. So I clicked through to the full explanation of the word and here is what I found:

-to get excited
-passionate (thats all I could see when I showed it to him initially)
-aroused to passion (!)
-to fall in love
-in heat (of animals) (!!!!)

No wonder he was disgusted- I had asked if he wanted me to read the script while "in heat" or at least aroused!

Lesson learned!

P.S. They did ask me back in spite of my...forwardness.

P.P.S. I should have known better. In Spanish, if you add an "o" to the word "excited" you have the same meaning as the Chinese word I found. The word you're looking for instead is "emocionado/a". I've messed that one up before too!
 

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