roddy Posted January 7, 2011 at 01:58 AM Author Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 at 01:58 AM Excellent stuff. For me one of the best things about this forum is when you see people say things like "too advanced for me. I was totally unable to follow," and then two years later "I've finally finished all of this" - that's damned impressive progress. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted January 7, 2011 at 04:54 AM Report Share Posted January 7, 2011 at 04:54 AM Well congrats to renzhe and roddy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybills Posted September 24, 2011 at 04:06 AM Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 at 04:06 AM I can't get the charachters to display in notepad, tried saving it as unicode and everything. Anybody have it in word or know how to get the charachters to display in notepad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted September 24, 2011 at 12:04 PM Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2011 at 12:04 PM Hmmm, opens fine for me in Notepad (ANSI encoded) but I'll attach a UTF8 version to the first post, see if that works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob07 Posted November 12, 2011 at 09:26 AM Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 at 09:26 AM Finally started this ... has 白玉汤 really been castrated? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted November 12, 2011 at 10:37 AM Report Share Posted November 12, 2011 at 10:37 AM I don't think so. His 葵花点穴手 is not from 葵花宝典. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean Wong Posted January 30, 2012 at 10:53 AM Report Share Posted January 30, 2012 at 10:53 AM this TV contain a lot of dialect,but it`s funny,can you understand the dialect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Members luo.yi.zju@gmail.com Posted March 4, 2013 at 11:43 AM New Members Report Share Posted March 4, 2013 at 11:43 AM This is one of the very few TV shows I've ever rewatched. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 10, 2014 at 08:52 AM Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2014 at 08:52 AM Imron posted a link to a clip from this show elsewhere, and that's inspired me to bump this topic. It really is a fantastic show, and a challenging but achievable watch for high-intermediate / advanced learners who are willing to spend a bit of time with their dictionaries, or just accepting that they're going to miss bits. I've updated the Youtube / Youku links. Who's up for it. Go on, just watch a little... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zander1 Posted March 25, 2019 at 05:17 PM Report Share Posted March 25, 2019 at 05:17 PM I just watched the first two episodes of this - I did enjoy them, but unsure if I will continue for all 80 episodes. Given you guys' glowing recommendations, maybe I should keep going. I found it pretty comprehensible and while I am definitely relying on subtitles there (hopefully!) isn't too much that is going over my head. An obvious exception came in episode 2 when I had to look up why writing an essay against Confucius would have been warmly received by someone of the 老庄 school, which to be honest is probably something I should know... It really confirms what Imron is always saying about words you studied else where coming up in the most random places. For example in this episode the phrase “死马当活马医" came up when treating 郭芙蓉, which I had previously studied in a high school drama haha. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted March 26, 2019 at 02:42 AM Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 at 02:42 AM 9 hours ago, zander1 said: maybe I should keep going. Definitely keep going. Unlike other series there isn't really an overaching storyline running across all episodes, which means there isn't really a reliance on cliffhangers and other plot devices to keep you coming back to the next episode. The only reason to keep watching is because you like the characters and find the situations they get in to be humourous and interesting. 9 hours ago, zander1 said: It really confirms what Imron is always saying about words you studied else where coming up in the most random places. As we say in the software world, one in a million is next Tuesday. If you're consuming enough content, rare words will still pop up a few times a year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zander1 Posted March 27, 2019 at 09:30 PM Report Share Posted March 27, 2019 at 09:30 PM Okay, 7 episodes in and I'm really enjoying it. I was actually laughing at loud at some points which doesn't happen often with Chinese TV that's for sure. In terms of understanding, I actually think the first 20 minutes or so of the first episode is by far the hardest bit to understand, mainly because of all the 武侠 vocab. Once that's under your belt I don't think this show is really much harder than any of the empress dramas for example, and I think watching 延禧宫略 in full and lots of 甄嬛传 has helped a lot because much of the formalised or specialised vocab overlaps between them. It's very motivating to see how my comprehension has really improved leaps and bounds. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomsima Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:40 PM Report Share Posted March 27, 2019 at 10:40 PM im two episodes in and enjoying it so far too, good times 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted March 28, 2019 at 12:39 PM Report Share Posted March 28, 2019 at 12:39 PM Good to see this show finding some new viewers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted March 29, 2019 at 03:37 PM Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2019 at 03:37 PM Very much so. Do keep us updated on how you're getting on. Or if you can't decide who you're in love with, 郭芙蓉 or 无双。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zander1 Posted April 10, 2019 at 06:51 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 at 06:51 PM So I've got to episode 20, it's pretty enjoyable so far. I do think it has a real problem with tone and pacing generally, sometimes it'll be joke after joke and then suddenly it'll get serious without much foreshadowing or warning and we're just supposed to accept that. Often it's quite jarring. On that note, lots of the episodes seem to have a 'Very Special Episode' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_special_episode) feeling where everything is building up to a moral lesson at the end about the perils of gambling or lying etc. I know this is a feature of comedy in lots of cultures (I haven't watched enough to know whether its common in China) but personally I feel it can get a bit much. But enough complaining! The characters are good, well acted and like others have mentioned the show is quite layered with small references to things that happened before or will happen later scattered around all over the place. The stories are interesting and I am rarely actually bored with what is happening. The comedy is funny and sometimes quite clever. As a show goes it's really pretty good. I am in two minds about whether to continue watching much further. I am enjoying it, but from a very pragmatic point of view I'm not sure how useful I am actually finding it for studying. Like with all these things there is a nice flow of of new vocabulary when you first start, but that slows into a drip once you get used to their favorite words and patterns of speaking. If I really wanted to make things difficult for me I could cover the subtitles but I'm not sure how useful that would be as the stuff that would be a challenge is mainly formal language that is rarely spoken, so I'm less concerned that I'm relying on reading it as in practice that is likely going to be where I will encounter it. Changing shows means I can expose myself to more things, and 20 episodes would be a full series of a webshow (or indeed 2 for a Western show) and I'm not sure whether I want to continue all the way to 80+ as like us all I have limited time and watching TV is a very useful but very time consuming commitment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomsima Posted April 10, 2019 at 07:19 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 at 07:19 PM I'm only at ep 6, also really enjoying it, but all the variety of different dialect accents that seem to still be coming and going mean I go from casual watching to short bursts of rapid subtitle reading, which is slightly annoying; did you or any of the others that have watched the show find this an issue? I think I'm gonna stick it the whole way, there have been some 周星馳 esque fourth wall breaking scenes which has already had me in tears, good stuff if that's your cup of tea (although still not up there with 鹿鼎記（陳小春版本） for me, man I loved that show) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zander1 Posted April 10, 2019 at 07:39 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 at 07:39 PM 19 minutes ago, Tomsima said: did you or any of the others that have watched the show find this an issue? Yeah for sure , 掌柜的 for instance often speaks in a dialect which is definitely not Mandarin, this usually requires close subtitle watching! It sounds like sichuanese to my untrained ear (sh and s sounds blurring together and some dialect terms I think I recognize) but not entirely sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted April 10, 2019 at 08:22 PM Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 at 08:22 PM If I remember correctly, she's meant to be from Shaanxi. And having checked, I do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted April 10, 2019 at 09:02 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2019 at 09:02 PM 1 hour ago, zander1 said: 掌柜的 for instance often speaks in a dialect which is definitely not Mandarin 陕西话 is definitely one variety of Mandarin (Zhongyuan Mandarin, Guanzhong dialect). The four tones of Shannxihua are 阴平21[˨˩], 阳平24[˨˦], 上声53[˥˧], 去声44[˦]. So 大哥大嫂 would be like dāgě dāsào. And the most distinctive word is probably 我 ngè. Sichuanese is also Mandarin by the way. Basically, If it has four tones, it is Mandarin, no matter how they are realized. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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