~ My Letter From China!! ~
italiana
June 21, 2007, 12:19 PM posted in General DiscussionNi hao! My penpal from China, Zhouwei, sent me and email letter. He usualy writes half in english and half in chinese, but this time he wrote the whole thing in Chinese! Being only at elementary level, I couldnt read it (at least not too well). He doesn't knwo very good english so thats probably why wrote it all in Chinese. Can someone help translate it for me? Xiexie!
This is the letter:
dave
June 23, 2007, 04:06 AMYes, it was a joke.
italiana
June 21, 2007, 01:13 PMOne more wuestion: do you know what Zhouwei means by "emotional/moving music"?
goulnik
June 21, 2007, 01:32 PMjust gave that one a try, sorry, someone else maybe?
fp00n
June 21, 2007, 03:21 PMAbout the "emotional/moving music", your friend said that he really enjoyed the second song, not the second track (首 shou is a measure word for one song) Then he asked if you have any 抒情 (shu1 qing2) music. 抒 - shu1: to pour out 情 - qing2: emotion, feeling So if you have that kind of "emotional-pouring" music, send it over! =) As for "This problem you mention..." did you ask him a question in your previous email to him? I don't think he's saying it "suddenly changing your mind." He's saying that it's a really difficult question, so he'll think more about it and get back to you. 脑筋转 - means to think...so 脑筋急转弯 - means to really think hard....so he's really thinking hard over your question. Hope that's helpful!
franch
June 21, 2007, 04:38 PMFp00n, with all due caution, I think Yves is right: 脑筋 nǎo jīn = brains, mind ; 转弯 zhuǎn wān = to turn back, revert ; 急 is used as an adverb here, meaning "hastily, suddenly" : 急转 jí zhuǎn : to change abruptly. As for 抒情 it means sentimental, lyrical. So any Chinese music could fit in, lol. Italiana, thanks for opening your mail to the community, it's been most useful to me. Keep your penpal uncapped :)
italiana
June 21, 2007, 10:20 PMThanks so much guys!!! Coudl you help me just one last time? He just replied as: 为什么我回复R，系统不把内容给我？ No more questions after this!!! I think I've worn everyone out with all my questions!!! Thanks again, Angelea
italiana
June 21, 2007, 10:20 PMOh and franch, were you saying that I should post all the letters he sends?
azerdocmom
June 22, 2007, 01:30 AMAngelea, It may be helpful for some poddies to go through the exercise of reading a native Chinese's written correspondence. But, I am of the strong opinion that (out of respect for privacy) that you should not do this without explicit permission from your penpal; that is, if you haven't obtained it yet : )
italiana
June 22, 2007, 10:31 AMYes, I agree on that too.
italiana
June 21, 2007, 01:12 PMThanks....I wonder what he means by "This problem you mention looks like "suddenly changing your mind","??? Hmm....Thanks again!
italiana
June 22, 2007, 11:16 AMSo he wants pop music with action....any suggestions??
henning
June 22, 2007, 11:18 AMSystem of a Down?
dave
June 22, 2007, 11:31 AMWhy didn't you guys tell her about the marriage proposal?
italiana
June 22, 2007, 11:58 AMHuh????
franch
June 22, 2007, 02:26 PMHenning, SoaD is indeed pumped up with tears and rosewater. He's expecting soppy music, for Julio's sake :) Dave, I think he hasn't been that explicit... let time carry on its rewards - lol _
excuter
June 22, 2007, 10:48 PMMy favorit song is kryptonite from 3Doorsdown (hopefully I wrote the bandname correct )
juliequebec
June 22, 2007, 11:33 PMDear Angelea, There is a great website where you can copy-paste and get a good translation for Chinese texts, here it is : www.chinese-tools.com/tools/annotation.html it is very useful. Julie
italiana
June 23, 2007, 01:06 AMFranch and Dave, you guys are joking right?
excuter
June 22, 2007, 10:55 AM为什么我回复R，系统不把内容给我？ I think that means he can not send you any content and he don´t know why and asks you for help. 抒情 is temperamental so he want´s musik with action I guess (ahh I love ChinesePera-kun it makes things much easyer)
goulnik
June 21, 2007, 01:03 PMHere's my take : Cara Angelea， I reply to your letter in a hurry, please forgime me for not writing in English. This problem you mention looks like "suddenly changing your mind", I have to think it over, will let you know next time. I already wrote down your address, I am translating mine into English, I will give it to you next time. The music you gave me is quite good, I particularly like the 2nd track, seriously. Do you have emotional/moving [??not sure about that one] music? if so please send it to me. Oh, by the way, I'm really sorry, can you tell me what to pay attention to when writing international letters (enveloppes) in English? How do you write the address (could you send me a postcard so I can see how it's done) Thanks PS next Sunday our school organizes final exams, so I'm not sure I will be able to go on the net very often. In the meantime, please bear with me if I can't reply to you by post. As soon as our exams are over, I'll have time to communicate with you. Sorry! Your Chinese friend Zhouwei