User Comments - si1teng2

Posted on: English Grammar Difficulties

“摸底考试”用英文是"diagnostic test."

Posted on: The Legend of the White Snake (Part 3)

灵芝在美国用日文的名字："reishi" mushrooms. 在任何健康食品店找得到。也不贵。

Posted on: The Wives of Gay Men

Exactly! Well said hongtongxian. This also happened several years ago with a translator using movie subtitle methods for lesson translations (I've been a faithful poddie for quite a while!). Choosing broadly contextually equivalent expressions is the best method for a person who is NOT interested in learning the language, but only in understanding the gist of the dialogue.

The problem is how to translate slang and colloquialisms fluently AND make them useful for the language learner at the same time. (It is especially problematic when dealing with colloquial expressions, because then the translator tends to pick slang expressions from his or her own particular region or subculture.) I don't think it is always possible to do both, and when there is a conflict the translator should keep mind that the movie subtitle method has a very high likelihood of leading to learner confusion rather than clarity. As a learner, I would prefer a literal translation (with a brief in-text explanation) to fluency of reading.

Posted on: Sales Part 3: Handling Difficult Leads

I really like the natural conversational feel to the dialogues in this series (including confusions, hesitations and incomplete sentences). The obviously 'acted' tone of other dialogues makes them feel somewhat unnatural and a little stilted. I do appreciate the expressiveness of the actors (though it tends to follow acting conventions rather than natural expression). But I find the more natural tone of this series to be easier to listen to and interpret. Please, more dialogues with this natural delivery!

Posted on: Beware of Professional Beggars

You're right, Adamplax. The 'professional beggar' is an urban myth. It spreads because people want to believe it. It helps assuage the conscience of those who feel uncomfortable about extreme social inequality, so they can rationalize their unwillingness to help those who have been eaten up and spit out by the system. ("No need to help. It's entirely their own fault for being so lazy and greedy.")

Posted on: The Mysteries of 而 Revealed

RJ, I think that's one of those popular misattributed quotations (like those endless Einstein 'quotes' that are spread through everyone's favourite social website). I don't remember ever coming across anything like it in the Analects, and it runs counter to Confucian philosophy, which is that being committed to living a good life is a heavy burden that ends only with death!

Posted on: Hello and Goodbye

Thanks, RJ. So, it would mean "Are you OK?"

Any native Chinese speakers want to step in here and confirm who is right? Would you use "nihao ma?" as a greeting? Thanks!

Posted on: Hello and Goodbye

Really? That's interesting. Just to clarify, I'm talking about the question "nihao MA?" with the addition of the 'ma' 吗 question particle at the end. Is that what you've heard? I've been told by Chinese people that the question sounds weird ("Are you good?").

Posted on: Hello and Goodbye

By the way, it's worth reminding learners not to use "níhǎo ma" 你好吗？as a greeting. Textbooks teach foreigners to say it, but it isn't actually used by Chinese people! They think it's a weird thing that foreigners say. (I have no idea why they teach it if no one uses it. The whole thing is completely bizarre!)

Posted on: Say It Again, Please

I think 朗诵 lǎngsòng is a kind of performance: interpreting a poem aloud. Niàn 念 is used for ordinary types of reading aloud or pronouncing.