Lesson transcripts with literal Chinese-English translations ?

Sue
May 01, 2009, 07:02 PM posted in General Discussion

I often found literal translations of Chinese into English helpful for the learning process (in for example my grammar books by Yip Po-Ching and Don Rimmington). e.g. ta chidao shi bu dui de, he shouldn't have been late (lit. he arrive late was wrong). Chinesepod doesn't offer this in the text transcripts. Is it not thought useful ? What do other poddies think ? Does anyone ever translate literally so that the Chinese syntax is more obvious and thus easier to learn ?

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tvan
May 01, 2009, 07:23 PM

Sue, you raise a good point.  I think everyone does what you point out above, i.e. literally sort through sentences.  A translation is definitely a crutch; it also avoids misunderstandings.

As you say, a literal translation is good for learning syntax.  However, it's better practice looking up characters yourself.  I'll have to think about it.