User Comments - changye

Posted on: Harry Potter

我不爱看中文小说的理由很简单，就是难懂。小说散文等文学跟新闻杂志相比还是更难读。为了提高汉语能力，有时我也很不情愿地阅读小说中很小的一部分，不过看完一本中文小说对我是个根本不可能成就的大事。举世闻名的哈利波特系列小说，不用说了，当然我都没看过。

外文翻译过来的中文小说比较容易看懂，可是我还是不喜欢这些翻译小说，因为小说中到处都是音译成中文的外国人名和地名，简直是莫名其妙，我受不了。那么，日本小说翻译来的中文小说怎么样？幸亏人名地名都跟日文原著一样，我这个日本老头也很容易看得出谁是谁。

但很可惜这种作品也还是有一个很大的缺陷，就是说日本文学一般具有的感情细腻的文笔风格很难翻译成中文。比如，日本小说里的人物对话有一个特征。男人和女人，或者是老人和年轻人说话时的风格有明显的不同。

日语还有尊敬语和谦虚语的区别，语尾的变化也很丰富，会话语体十分复杂并且细腻，所以作家能够把人物微妙的心理完美地表现出来。对日本人来讲，读翻译成中文的日本小说就是最不合适的选择。以日文享受日本文学当然还是最妥当。

汉语具有很多优点，其中最重要的是”简而深”。每一个汉字，每一条成语，四个字的背后都有很精彩的历史故事和传说。中国有一篇叫”三字经”的古典儿童读物，其中都是三个汉字组成的句子，而且每个句子都有很深的含义。日文里虽然也有很多汉字，但是这种生动而简洁的文笔技巧就是我们日本人绝对学不到的。

三字经
http://www.panming.com/szj/szj.htm
http://baike.baidu.com/view/10702.htm

Posted on: Instant Noodles

Hi sideshowbob,

Please look up "ji", "qi", and "xi" in your dictionary. I guarantee that you will feel VERY happy about learning Chinese!

Posted on: Instant Noodles

Hi billm,

I hope you enjoyed having a full course dog dinner. Did you have dog meat 饺子 (jiao3 zi) then? It is not so bad. I know that dog eating is a somewhat controversial issue in Western society, but at least I think that man-eat-dog should be more civilized than “dog-eat-dog”. And in that sense, dogs might be much more civilized than human beings, because in reality dog generally does NOT eat dog!

Posted on: Instant Noodles

I think that “随便你” and “随你的便” almost equal to “suit yourself, so be it” in English, and it is probably not necessarily (and always) a friendly way of suggesting, so it might be more appropriate to say 你决定吧 or 你自己决定吧 when you would like to mean “It’s up to you”. You can say “全靠你了” to mean “It all depends on you.”

自己决定 zi4 ji3 jue2 ding4
全靠你了 quan2 kao4 ni3 le

Posted on: Instant Noodles

Hi a1pi2,

You are right. And they say that Ando Momofuku didn't get a process patent for his invention because of the belief. Just a great guy.

Posted on: Instant Noodles

Hi auntie68,

＞　方便你 ie. "whatever you wish"

Let me butt in. I think it is 随便你 (sui2 bian4 ni3), or 随你的便, but not 方便你 (fang1 bian4 ni3). The phrase 方便你 means "accomodate you" or something like that, though I myself have never used the expression before. Your explanations on 无所谓 is very helpful, thank you!

Posted on: Instant Noodles

The world’s first commercial product of instant noodle, チキンラーメン(Chicken Ramen), was invented by the Japanese company 日清食品 (Nissin Foods) in 1958, and its founder is a Taiwanese-Japanese, 安藤百福（Ando Momofuku, 呉百福）、who passed away last year.

Nissin Foods, the biggest instant noodle manufacturer in Japan, also invented the Cup Noodle in 1971. The world’s largest instant noodle company today is 康师傅 (kang1 shi1 fu) in Taiwan, which is fairly understandable considering the history of instant noodle.

Chicken Ramen
http://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/product/lineup/brand_1.html

Cup Noodle
http://www.nissinfoods.co.jp/product/lineup/brand_2.html

Posted on: Instant Noodles

方便碗面 (fang1 bian4 wan3 mian4)... cup noodles
Just saying 碗面 would also be OK.

I think that the most popular flavour of instant noodles in China may be 红烧牛肉 (hong2 shao1 niu2 rou4), or stewed beef with brown sauce, though I don't like it very much.

The price range (bag) here in China is 1 ～ 4 yuan (say 0.15 ～ 0.6 USD), and I usually buy 2 - yuan instant noodles made by 康师傅 (kang1 shi1 fu), a famous Taiwan manufacturer.

碗面 is of course more expensive, but it is a very important meal when you travel on a train. And if you wish, 狗肉(gou3 rou4)方便面, dog meat instant noodles, is also available here.

Posted on: Regional Accents Part II

Hi tvan and cassie,

If this song was sung in Japanese, I would definitely think it is a Japanese enka (演歌). And probably the same goes for Korean people. I believe that they would think that it is a Korean enka. And therefore, of course I like this song, 爱拼才会赢. Thank you, guys.

Posted on: 旧金山

Hi guolanusa,

The phrase 不由得 is a little tricky.

不由得佩服 = 不禁佩服
= can't help but admire（e.g. 我不由得佩服他）

不由得不佩服 = 不得不佩服 = 不能不佩服
= have to admire（e.g. 不由得我不佩服他）

In both cases, 我 admire 他.