I need to know how the phrase "this land" (referring to, basically, "this particular piece of property that's going to be a country, right here") in English would be said in Mandarin and written in pinyin.

(For those of you who're Browncoats might recognize my question. I need it for naming a project area.)

Your assistance is much appreciated, and thank you in advance!

guys, why not try the free software by Google and a Chinese local translation software designer. it's very very popular.

move your mouse on the character, it will show the english idea and pinyin, and vice versa.

http://download.iciba.com/pwl/powerwordlite.25269.3008.exe

Hello, all

This post is intended as a place where people can exchange their thoughts on translation as it relates to language learning. Please share your own suggestions and experiences in learning Chinese or any other language. Here are a few suggestions for discussion:

• Is it effective to literally translate every word in an article or story as you read? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
  
• How do you choose the appropriate meaning, when a given character has many interpretations?
• What is the role of cultural knowledge in understanding a phrase or story?
  
• How do you preserve tone and clarity? 
• How do we deal with profanity and slang? For example, a recent discussion dealt with the curse word 王八蛋 wángbadàn. Would a literal translation be effective here? How do you store the word in your mind?

This discussion is open to everyone, at all levels of Chinese. I'd be very interested to hear from people whose native language is not English. How did you learn English? How did that process differ from the way in which you are learning Chinese?

I hope that this discussion will shed some light on the ways in which we learn and, ultimately, master, foreign languages. I have my own opinions and methods, but I want to hear and learn from you.

Any thoughts you share will help me and the CPod team to understand your thinking better, with the goal of helping you learn Chinese.

Below are three chinese sentences found in Elementary or Intermediate lessons. I've picked them because they require a bit of EB thinking in order to figure out what they mean. See if you translate them. When translating, keep in mind that you want the communicative meaning (i.e. what is the sentence trying to communicate?) rather than the literal meaning. This is an experiment and we'll see what sorts of discussion (if any) could follow. Of course, Pete, our professional translator, would wait for others to play first before deciding whether to comment.

1. 我的房子不在这里附近的小区。

2. 想当年我独闯上海，什么苦没吃过。

3. 我为公司卖命二十年，他们说 炒就炒。

Forgive me Chinesepod community, for I have sinned. It's been months since my last comment/post. 

I am working on a translation of the following and would appreciate any help you could throw my way. I have a feeling the translation is very awkward. My translations from English to Chinese usually are. :)

The original in English:
Cast your free vote - Help get $5,000 to orphans in China

I have an entry in this travel-writing contest that made it to the semi-final round. If I can get enough votes to win the contest I will donate half the money ($5k) to help orphans in China through HalftheSky.org. From 2005-2007 I lived and worked in Chongqing as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and this is an opportunity to continue giving to China even though I returned to the US in 2008.

Winning the contest requires having a huge number of people show support by voting for the trip I wrote. It only takes two steps, and it's free. Donating to charity doesn't get easier than this. :)

The whole process takes less than 15 seconds!
Step 1: Go to http://www.trazzler.com/signin/facebook and click on “Sign up”
Step 2: Complete registration for a new username.
Step 3: Go to 18 Staircase trip: http://www.trazzler.com/trips/18-staircases-teahouse-in-chongqing-cn and click on “Add to Wishlist.”  All finished!

Please help spread the word and Thank you for your support!

My funky translation:
以免费的投票来帮助中国的孤残儿童

我参加了一个旅游作品赛，现在到了决赛。 如果我能得到足够的票数来赢比赛，我就会捐出奖金的一半（5000美金）给 “半边天” 以帮助中国的孤残儿童。从2005到2007年我作为重庆的美中友好志愿者工作。虽然我已经回到了美国，但是我想这是一个好机会，继续支持中国。

我只有10天的时间来拿出大量的人来投票支持我写的作品。投票的方式很简单而且是免费的。 捐赠给慈善的机会没有比这边容易获得。☺

整个过程只需不到15秒！
第1步：打开http://www.trazzler.com/signin/facebook 然后点击“Sign Up” 来登录 (看下面的实例)
第2步：完成注册新用户名
第3步：进入我写的“18梯” http://www.trazzler.com/trips/18-staircases-teahouse-in-chongqing-cn 然后点击“Add to Wishlist” 来投票。这儿就完成了！

请帮助我们继续宣传。9月15号是投票机会的最后一天！感谢您们的支持！

Hello everyone,

Hope you're all well.

I was wondering if someone could help me translate what is written on my friend Meaghan's t-shirt:

Thanks in advance...

Ben

Please translation the below sentence and answer. come on!!

1. 我们大概没有见过面吧？

Wǒmen dàgài méiyǒu jiàn guò miàn ba?

Eng:

Answer:

Hello,dear poddies

It has puzzled me for at least 3 days when trying to find the English equivalent about this Chinese word:顿悟 dun4wu5

他顿悟了一切.Suddenly,everything is clear to him.......

I just paraphrased the sentence.....it's acceptable but not recommendable for language learning...

Can someone tell me how to translate 顿悟

顿means "suddenly",or"for a short while",as in停顿(pause for a few moments) 悟 means understand,as in 领悟,醒悟,觉悟...

So.....

Hi everybody,

I would be very, VERY grateful if someone can help me out (and actually sooner rather than later would be better in this case, but beggars can't be choosers).  I'm doing a bit of translating work, and the following highlighted portion is bothering me, especially the part in blue.

现实中的城市显 然更为宏大，屹立于黄浦江畔东岸的这座大厦，填补了这处由泥沙淤积而成的土地上缺少高度的遗憾。 很久以来，只有从 东面大海上飞来的海鸥，和每 年迁徙的候鸟经过这里时，才能顺带看一眼底下的人群，和不断变化的城市。

I included the second sentence for context only.  Now here is my current translation:

The actual city is obviously much more massive.  It is a source of great regret that this land on the east bank of the Huangpu River that was once covered with precious silt sediment has been covered up by this large building. 

Now here is what is bothering me:

1. Am I right to break the original Chinese sentence into two sentences?  It seems to me that "现实中的城市显 然更为宏大" and "屹 立于黄浦江畔东岸的这座大厦，填补了这 处由泥沙淤积而成的土地上缺少高度的遗憾" are two separate ideas, but perhaps I just don't get the idea being expressed.
2. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around.  It seems to me that 缺少 does not modify 高度的遗憾 .  I think per the second sentence, 缺少 refers to a lack of sedimentary land.  Thus, I said "precious silt sediment".  Does this seem right?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.  And by the way, I know the English has to be cleaned up a bit.  I just want to get the meaning down first.