Seems someone else writes Chinese like me!
trevorb
June 21, 2010, 08:56 AM posted in General Discussion
zhenlijiang
June 21, 2010, 03:02 PMTrevorb it's hardly your fault it took you a while to figure out how to post! You publish a post first. When you go in to Edit it, then you'll have all the tool bar options there (and also be able to Save as Draft--makes no sense, but that's how it is now).
Tvan there isn't an equivalent in Chinese for this English noun "ride", as Jenny and John say in this lesson. We need a workaround for that sentence.
tvan
@zhenlijiang, thx for the link and, as usual, good memory! Or course I have sources, but I hate to go the them without at least trying first.
trevorb
真奇怪， lets hope it is a transition stage
zhenlijiang
不客气！Oh I'd like to take a stab at it too. Am doing something else at the moment though. This type of bad translation is always about utter insensitivity to the way the original language (English here) works, isn't it.
trevorb
June 21, 2010, 08:23 PMI did wonder about putting the English into google translate and see if it comes out with the Chinese! Haven't had the time to do it yet though ;-)
xiao_liang
Comes out as:
警告：旋风过山车是一种高影响乘坐。任何人与背部，颈部或心脏问题，不能坐这车程。没有怀孕的人应该坐。就用双手按住
Close, but no cigar.
tvan
I think that I 乘坐 suffers from the same problem as 骑, namely that it's a verb. Maybe 警告：旋风是个高影响的过山车。
trevorb
Actually I'm pretty pleased about that, it goes to show all the effort of learning the language is yet to be replaced by a machine....!
There must be a noun for this type of thing how about 玩车？ A pure guess that my windows ime just happened to exactly produce what I wanted when I typed that in so it may be valid...
zhenlijiang
June 22, 2010, 03:02 AMHow about 剧烈--an adjective I see can be used to modify things like exercise and pain--to express this "high-impact"? I'm pretty sure 高影响 doesn't work here, though 影响 might be used somehow to warn people of "effects" or "consequences".
tvan
So, "警告：旋风是个剧烈的过山车。" I could buy that. Certainly seems like an improvement over the original.
tvan
@changye, 这个句子是个广告还是个警告？
zhenlijiang
Yes good question--Changye? I suppose it could easily be either, depending on what you follow it up with?
trevorb
I think it is clearly a warning. High impact here means high stress on the body...maybe thats a route?
tvan
Hi trevorb. I think it's pretty obvious that the English is a warning; what I meant was, "Is the (@changye's) translation more suitable for an advertisement or a warning?"
trevorb
I think Changye's sounds more advertisement than warning (assuming my chinese is good enough to understand it!).
BTW: Does anyone else have a problem doing the rearranging sentences exercise using Chrome?
changye
Hi tvan
That is merely an objective explanation of the roller coaster, so I think it can be used as a warning, but it's too explanatory for advertisement.
trevorb
June 22, 2010, 07:18 PMJust to make it easier here is the text
The cyclone roller coaster is a high impact ride.
Any person with back, neck or hear problems should not ride this ride.
No pregnant person should ride. Hold on with both hands.
tvan
June 22, 2010, 07:37 PMAnyway, for the next sentence,which is even more unintelligible:
背部(Back)，脖子(neck)的任何人(any people)或者(or perhaps)心脏(heart)问题(problem)应该不(must not)骑(sit astride)这骑(this ride)。
Wow! I have to drink a lot to write like this!
tvan
June 21, 2010, 01:32 PM@Trevorb, great example! (BTW, for the lazy, here's a live link.) Actually, I'm not sure how I would translate it. For example, in English the first sentence reads "The Cyclone Roller Coaster is a high impact ride, whereas Chinese it reads:"警告：旋风(cyclone)过山车(roller coaster)是高的影响(is a high influence)骑(ride). As the author of the post points out, 骑, is a verb, not a noun, (unless one is referring to the cavalry). However, I'm not sure what the equivalent word in Chinese is. I would probably prefer 冲击的 over 高影响, but that's probably just my "Zhonglish." I would definitely move the adjective particle 的 to follow 高影响/冲击.
Well, I've embarrassed myself enough now. Anybody else?