I have no one to talk Chinese

If I saw this sentence on its own I would think it said “No one spoke/speaks Chinese with me”. Is there any way to make ok4rm's meaning clearer, or do we just have to add some explanation? Is this another one of those “Why does English require such distinctions when the meaning is essentially the same” things?

目前我周围没有人能跟我说中文。 ——is this Engnese? Is it closer to what ok4rm would like to convey? Or

因为我周围没有会说中文的人，目前没有机会说。——did I make it worse? Could this work?

Or should we just quit being so anxious and get used to 没有人跟我说中文 simply working best here?

你的句子"目前我周围没有人能跟我说中文。"和"因为我周围没有会说中文的人，目前没有机会说。"都很好。

你说得对，“没有人跟我说中文”没有给出语境，回答太简单了。

Thanks for the reply Jiaojie--hope that‘s helpful to ok4rm.

大家好，

sorry that I missed this discussion in September. I was kind of 很忙.

What I originally meant was somethign like "I cannot find anyone with whom I could talk in Chinese" but as a beginner I feel this sentence might be too complicated for me.

BTW, in the meantime I found a nearby 中国饭馆 so after few visits the personnel already know I am learning Chinese and are very helpful.

I always prepare few sentences for conversation before I go there. They are very nice and talk with me. Very often they soon use a phrase I have never heard of, but that's also fine, I so often learn entirely new things :-)

Sorry, I missed this answer in September :-)

Amateur Radio is "the licensed hobby" (as contrary to CB a.k.a. Citizen Band). For amateur radio you need to pass examination, then you obtain license from your national authority and get a valid international radio callsign - for instance, OK4RM ;-) You may also construct and use homebrew (self-built) experimental equipment.

For CB, you must use only certified, compliant equipment, but you need no license and can go on-air immediately. You are free to identify your station by whatever you like. So there is a basic difference between the two.

Thank you all for help,

Jindra (OK4RM)

Prague

在美国我们也说 “Ham Radio” 我看过 Ham Radio 翻译了 业余无线电。 ( ye4yu2 wu2xian4 dian4 ). 有SKYPE 的以前 这是 一个 国际免费的长途联系 方法。

Definitely not "地下“。 Ham operators are not pirates operating outside the law, and they don't broadcast entertainment and are not allowed to engage in commercial activities. So they are amateur not in the sense of not being experts, but more like "unpaid", sort of like college athletes in the US. They are hobbyists, but are often very important community members in times of natural disasters. I wonder if China licenses amateur radio operators and allows unrestricted sale of equipment. Seems I remember in the old days that customs declarations warned against bringing in radio equipment.

Ooops! Talking about pirates did not even come to my mind... There seems to be some fundamental misunderstanding as to what is "amateur radio". Well, I am used to it :-)

@jennyzhu: when you asked "unlicensed" I thought you meant "CB" or PMR (Public Mobile Radio, "walkie-talkie") because usually there is one "general license" for the whole country and anybody can legally use CB on its basis. So for CB there is no personal license needed. To lay people it looks like "free" or "without-license" service because nobody bothers them with any fees, exams or other paperwork.

Sorry, I frankly did not want to get so deep into technical and legal matters. The problem of getting the right name in Mandarin is that radio people understand their industry terminology in a very precise way, while the rest of population of course does not (and the same applies to other scientific or technical communities).

Well I'll be darned! Radio amateurs do call themselves 火腿 in China. I actually have no idea how the word "ham" came to refer to amateur radio operators. "CQ" is what they say when they are open to contact from anyone else on the frequency. Maybe a play on "seek you"?

http://www.hellocq.net/forum/index.php

I did see the term 业余无线电 on this site referring to amateur radio.

Ooops! Really? Well, that's really 好笑 hǎoxiào. Ham? As "Schinken" in German? Oh my...

Thanks for the link. I'll try to read something :-)

As for HAM radio name, there are some traditional stories, such as that it is abbreviation of three operators' names in the first (U.S.) radio club. Another story says it was derogatory name for amateurs who jammed ("hammed") wide spectrum of frequencies in times when "hams" were still operating spark transmitters while professional stations were using much cleaner vacuum tube oscillators.

电子管 diàn zǐ guǎn - vacuum tube

Fascinating. I think the second explanation sounds more plausible. I'm not sure what a spark transmitter is, although I could imagine it causing interference. This explanation might also give another clue into the origin of "spam." (The meat product described as "pork shoulder and ham." I think there are some CPod lessons on spam and viruses, btw.

Hello Therapist, are you still there? :-)

Sorry, I missed all your replies in September - shame on me...

I don't quite agree with the "amateur" = "still a beginner" part, although 爱好 ài hǎo sounds quite accurate.

Amateur Radio is a special kind of radio service, means "not commercial" and "experimental". In fact many radio amateurs are highly qualified professionals :-) engineers working for companies like Motorola, Nokia, etc.

Perhaps I should ask officially at Chinese official communication authority... after all _they_ are the guys in charge of issuing the licenses, so they know how they call them in Mandarin.