Ad.Welcome to join the group
urcto
March 15, 2009, 02:24 PM posted in General DiscussionDo you find that you are not sure your grammar and word usage is right, and you need a native teacher to correct your Chinese writing?
Join this group! I will try my best to find out your problems in your composition, and explain them in English.
Do Chinese here want to improve your English?
Join this group! To explain Chinese in English is quite different from in Chinese. This is a very good way to Improve your English!
dunderklumpen
April 04, 2009, 09:33 AMHi BeijingStrong,
I'm glad you are interested in Sweden. I will send some links to you. Please let me know if you don't receive them in a few days.
urcto
March 15, 2009, 05:03 PMHi,dunderklumpen.
(Do you have a shorter nickname? Or could I call you dunder, klumpen or other short ones?)
That's all right.You can post your composition everywhere you like.
dunderklumpen
March 16, 2009, 11:37 PMHi urcto,
谢谢你帮我。
Niether my elementary level of chinese nor my mind does permit the story to be told word-by-word, so what follows is not the whole truth. It is fairly true :)
不好意思。我今天去过问那个人。她上次说话的意思我都误会了! 她说："有的中国人觉得大眼睛很好看，大眼睛是什么呢？金鱼的眼睛大。"我觉得她以为我不知道"大眼睛"是什麼意思，所以跟我说说金鱼的眼睛。我以为觉得有长得像鱼的眼睛就是好的意思。我脸红了。
Regarding 去过问: I want to write "went to see [that person] to ask" but I realize it can also mean "go to get involved with [that person]", right?
叫我dunder可以。
urcto
March 17, 2009, 02:47 AMHi,Dunder!
your Chinese writing is pretty good.
不好意思。我今天去问那个人了。她上次说的我都误会了! 她说："有的中国人觉得大眼睛很好看，大眼睛是什么呢？金鱼的眼睛大。"我想她是以为我不知道"大眼睛"是什麼意思，所以跟我说一下金鱼的眼睛。我就以为长得像鱼的眼睛就是好的意思。我脸都红了。
little problems, no big deel!
In fact, most Chinese think 大眼睛很好看！
dunderklumpen
March 17, 2009, 08:22 PMHi urcto!
那个女人是从中国北方来的。
Little problems, no big deal!
There are two corrections I do not understand.
1. 我想她是以为 (我觉得她以为). Why xiang3 and shi4?
2. 说一下 (说说). 说一下和说说不一样吗？
urcto
March 18, 2009, 09:08 AM我只是觉得这样写读起来会更顺口，并不是说你错了。
dunderklumpen
March 24, 2009, 09:25 PMHi urcto,
我想她是以为...
I think I understand why 想 xiang3 is better than 觉得 jue2de in that sentence now. I'm not sure how to explain it though: Let's say I went to the north pole and then told you about the ice mountains, the stars and the white snow. Maybe you would think it seems that the north pole is a beatiful place. Then you could say "wo3 xiang3 the north pole hen3 mei3" (I imagine the north pole is a beautiful place) dui4bu4dui? So, xiang3, in this case means imagine, guess, assume.
If you went to the north pole yourself, you would (maybe) find out for yourself that it is a beautiful place. Then "wo3 jue2de the north pole hen3 mei3" would be appropriate, dui4bu4dui? Here, wo3 jue2de would mean I think, my opinion is, I feel, I consider.
So, in the case of 我想她是以为...: I don't know if she talked about the fish because of that she 以为什么什么。 I just guess (imagine, assume) that she did it because she 以为什么什么. Therefore it is better to use xiang3 (think, imagine, assume) instead of jue2de (think, feel, consider, (know),...).
怎么样啊?
urcto
March 25, 2009, 08:56 AMVery good,Dunder! I just took my examination this morning, and I think I did very good(just I think). It is a few days I did not come here. I am sorry. And my PC seems there is something wrong, and it cannot work normally. But I will still try my best to help you.
urcto
March 15, 2009, 04:41 PMI was going to bed but found you had post your writing:
有一个(有一个人 is ok,but you should say "有人" for short. Chinese writing pursues conciseness.And Chinese is always not so accurate in quantity.)人告诉我在中国男人可以跟女人说：你的眼睛长得像鱼的。那一(here leave '一' out)个人还说前面的说法就是好的意思。怎么会吧(change '吧' into '呢')？如果我自己（leave ‘自己’out）跟瑞典女孩子说：你的眼睛长得像鱼的，她觉得我得罪了她（她会觉得我冒犯了她）。为什么鱼的眼睛就是好的意思？
Well done!A good work!
But who told you that "a maiden's eyes are like a fish's" was good to a maiden?I never heard that. I heard only "死鱼眼(dead fish's eyes)" which means one's eyes look spiritless.
dunderklumpen
March 27, 2009, 11:39 AMHi urcto,
thanks for your reply. No need to be sorry. I really hope your examination went well. Was that the big, very important, final exam I heared chinese students must take?
About your computer:
I don't know if you use any anti-virus software, but this one is quite popular among my friends: http://free.avg.com/
The basic version is free. I also use spybot search&destroy (free) to find spyware and such. If that doesn't help I use Hijackthis which also is a free software. It produces logfiles that you can copy/paste in certain forums 在网上. That way, other people can read the logfile and help you figure out if there are any virus or malware in your computer.
BTW, if you have time, I'd be glad to know about the construction: ...help you figure out if there is 什么什么 (or not). How do you say that in chinese? I guess "如果" is not right in this case?
dunderklumpen
March 28, 2009, 03:50 PMHmm, I feel that I was a bit unclear last time.
如果 is used when describing cause and effect, right? 比如：如果下雨了就穿雨衣。 (If it starts raining, put on a rain coat.)
Cause: 下雨了
Effect: 就穿雨衣
Thus, 如果=if. However, in the following sentence "That way, other people can read the logfile and help you figure out if there are any virus or malware in your computer." there is no cause nor effect. Therefore I guess that "if" can't be translated to 如果. So, the question is how to say "...help you figure out if...". Maybe " help you figure out whether...or..." is better english.
mzwang123
April 02, 2009, 04:28 AMTo dunder :
Yes,you are very right.The word "if" means "是否" in the above sentence.You are talent for Chinese.
The sentence translate into Chinese:那样的话，别人能读你的日志文件来帮你弄清楚你的机器上是否有病毒。
mzwang123
April 02, 2009, 04:42 AMTo urcto:
NOD32 is a very good anti-vius software.My major is computer software theory.There have free 30-day trail.If you have any problems about the PC, especially about software ,I believe I can give you a best solution.
beijingstrong
April 02, 2009, 01:43 PMDear dunderklumpen
如果 is origined from Buddhism, describing cause and effect,but in modern Chinese language 如果 have lost its initial Buddhism meaning and have been replaced by expressing supposed conditions.
如果=suppose
You can interpret 如果 into "if","whether",and so on, but "if" have two meanings; the one is "如果" and the other is "是否" or "有没有".
BeijingStrong
MSN: beijingstrong@hotmail.com
dunderklumpen
April 02, 2009, 09:21 PMHi mzwang123 and beijingstrong,
Thank you for helping me with 是否. 多谢你们. I hope that I have understood how to use 是否 properly. The long sentence (别人能读...) was very difficult in grammar and word order. My level is still too low. Let me try a short sentence:
-Why do you watch the weather forecast?
-因为我想知道明天是否会下雨了。(因为我想知道明天有没有雨。)
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Since I am not a native english speaker I am not sure whether to correct your sentences or not. There is a risk I may mislead you both. However I did notice some small mistakes. If you ask me I will try to correct them.
mzwang123
April 03, 2009, 03:53 AMto dunder:
因为我想知道明天是否会下雨了了了。There is no the word 了. The sentence 因为我想知道明天有没有雨。is right .
There is a holiday duo to the Tumb Sweeping Festival(清明节).So I come here again until Apr 6th. I am very glad to want to make a friend with you.If you have anyproblem,contact me.
beijingstrong
April 03, 2009, 07:43 AMDear dunderklumpen
You are a Swedish I learn from your biography, so English is also your second language. Therefore, I don not mind that you make mistakes in your sentences in English.
Could you understand our Chinese-style English expression? I hope that will not affect your understanding Chinese language grammar.
I once read an article about Sweden welfare system, which has been attracting me. Perhaps, the socialism country the ideal country in human society Carl Marx defined seem to be built in Sweden due to her welfare system. I would like to know deeply about your motherland.
Could you e-mail me some documents or articles about your nation's welfare system or websites introducing it in English ? I would appreciate your warm heart.
BeijingStrong
MSN: beijingstrong@hotmail.com
Beijing Time: 15:44PM
davidkaneda
March 25, 2009, 09:20 AM@urcto thanks for making this group. about your computer, there are a lot of viruses out these days. i was reading about it in the newspaper. hope it isnt too serious!!
dunderklumpen
March 15, 2009, 04:15 PMself-deleted