User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Hiring a Courier
February 7, 2008 at 11:13 AMHi nicolas, Sorry, I forgot to mention that. I am sure that 上班/下班 versions would be OK for asking a waiter about opening or closing time, but I think that they could be used in a broader sense than 开门/关门. For example, using 下班 should be recommended when you ask a female co-worker on a date. 你几点下班？ 晚上有空吗？
Posted on: Hiring a Courier
February 7, 2008 at 7:51 AMHi nicolas, 几点开门? for opening time. 几点关门? for closing time.
Posted on: 东京
February 7, 2008 at 2:57 AMHi auntie68, Your beautiful island and its president are, of course, newsworthy enough to be mentioned in major Chinese websites, such as 百度百科 and Wiki中文版. It seems to me that the name of Singapore’s leader is nicely transliterated into 中文by using suitable Chinese characters. There is a trick I want to show off! If you would like to find how to write foreign names or things in Chinese, you should search by “English keywords” first on Chinese search engines, preferably you should select “中文网站”, not “所有网站”. This trick always works well for me. Sellapan Rama Nathan 塞拉潘·R·纳丹 (se4 la1 pan1, na4 dan1) http://baike.baidu.com/view/274734.htm http://www.google.cn/search?hl=zh-CN&q=Sellapan+Rama+Nathan&btnG=Google+%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2&meta=lr%3Dlang_zh-CN&aq=f p.s. My hangover is never over.
Posted on: The Fourth Tone
February 7, 2008 at 2:06 AM春节快乐！ Perhaps, the next tone lesson would be about the “fifth” tone, “轻声”, and after that 入声 (ru4 sheng1) may come. I have just told my chubby dog that today’s walk has been cancelled due to safety risks, i.e. firecracker sounds.
Posted on: Chinese New Year Plans
February 6, 2008 at 11:20 PMThe Chinese way to Happiness (福). 1) Upside down 福 2) 倒福 (dao4 fu2) 3) 到福 (dao4 fu2) 4) 福 arrives.
Posted on: 东京
February 6, 2008 at 3:32 PMHi boboyoru, I am already tipsy now, so “theoretically” my English must be better now than those used in my previous posting, but actually not. Typing is a little difficult for me now. Btw, as to how to pronounce foreign names, that is usually based on what is called the principle of reciprocity. For example, if Korean people read our names with our pronunciation, Japanese also read Korean names with their pronunciation. That is why 毛泽东 is “mou-taku-tou”, not “maozedong” in Japan, and our prime minister 福田 is “fu2 tian2” in China, but he is not “hukuda” there. Unfortunately, this reasonable principle has been gradually undermined in Japan. Nowadays Japanese newspapers and TV stations tend to use local pronunciations for Chinese names. So, 胡锦涛 is called “hu-jintao” now even in Japan, but strangely 毛泽东 remains as “mou-taku-tou”. Japan should keep the principle of reciprocity for Chinese names. Every kanji already has several readings, and you should not increase them anymore. My old mother perhaps know how to read 胡锦涛 with Japanese readings, but it is difficult for her to remember “hu-jintao”.
Posted on: 东京
February 6, 2008 at 1:27 PMHi auntie68, I forgot one thing. There is actually no small number of Japanese people who have a large English vocabulary, but their “word power” is often biased toward big words and contains a lot of “Japanglish words”. In other words, they do not know sufficiently how to effectively use basic words such as “get”, “take” and “have”, although they definitely know “paleontology”, “anthropology”, and “ophthalmology”, just like me. Perhaps I know a considerable amount of words, but without knowledge about their collocations. I am afraid that even drinking beer cannot quickly improve the quality of my vocabulary. So, 好好学习天天向上！
Posted on: 东京
February 6, 2008 at 12:26 PMHi auntie68, That famous (or notorious) ＣＣＴＶ春节联欢晚会 has just started here in China, and of course, another bottle of Budweiser for celebration! Wow, it seems that I have nicely misinterpreted your message, which ironically proves again that Japanese is not good at comprehending English….joking! Anyway, the best way to speak a foreign language fluently would definitely be drinking a few bottles of beer, preferably pricey ones. The more you drink, the eloquent you can speak! Now, let me go back to春节晚会. My friends are waiting for me. Thank you for your thoughtful reply! A happy new year!
Posted on: 东京
February 6, 2008 at 10:55 AMHi auntie68, 春节快乐，恭喜发财，工作顺利，健康长寿，and 学习进步！I have just eaten a lot of 饺子 I made with some Chinese friends of mine and drunk a few bottles of Budweiser. My chubby dog is enjoying beef jerky and mill. I have to agree with your observation. Generally speaking, English spoken by Japanese people is being highly “localized”, just like many foreign cuisines in Japan. I think that there are three primary reasons for that. Firstly, the pronunciation of Japanese language is fairly simple. Our mother tongue has a small number of vowels and consonants, and this is why most Japanese have poor listening comprehension and speak English clumsily. Secondly, a flood of imported words, poor transliterations mainly from English, and what is called “Japanglish” have ruined Japanese’s sense in English. For example, “nighter” means night baseball games in Japan. Thirdly, you almost never have a chance to meet with and speak to foreign people, especially in rural areas in Japan. Consequently, most Japanese people do not have strong motivation to keep learning foreign languages. Honestly, I can endlessly think of more reasons, such as a poor education system, lack of native teachers, characteristics of Japanese people, and so on. In a sense, they are all excuses for not being a good English speaker. Interestingly, English skills are not necessarily vital for your success in Japanese companies. On the contrary, you could end up being a mere capable and handy interpreter just due to your perfect command of English! Anyway, you can say for sure that Japanese people are NOT good English speakers, but at the same time, I would like say “modestly” that economically Japan has been performing not so badly for its people’s poor English. 春节 has come, so please let me wish upon a star. If, of course it is a big if, Japanese people could speak fluent English and TALK LOUDER, Japan might be able to hold a slightly more important position in the world. Selamt tahun baru, dear auntie68!
Posted on: 东京
February 7, 2008 at 12:11 PMHi henning, “维持生活” should be translated as “manage to live” or “survive” as you wrote above, and let me leave detailed explanations to auntie68. Please read her last two comments, which are very educational as usual. Now, here is an answer to your question about “artificial hibernation”. I guarantee you can find anything you want in Tokyo, as long as they are “strange and funny”. Click the link and get a good night’s sleep. Caution. Sleep time in the capsule might not be long enough to take you to Mars, Jupiter or more distant stars and planets. And smoking in the capsule is strictly prohibited by Starfleet regulation. Bon voyage! ………., Picard. http://images.google.co.jp/images?um=1&hl=ja&lr=&newwindow=1&q=%E7%9D%A1%E7%9C%A0%E3%80%80%E3%82%AB%E3%83%97%E3%82%BB%E3%83%AB&btnG=%E3%82%A4%E3%83%A1%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8%E6%A4%9C%E7%B4%A2