I really like the literal translation feature of this newbie lesson. I for one find it useful to hear the actual English translation. For example when John says literal translation is " Go Airport" it is much easier for me to reconstruct and later ( in a speaking situation) to mentally pull the proper chinese words out of my brain. For example if the translation were " take me to the airport" it messes me up. Word order is important for me in constructing phrases too, so when I hear an English translation that's in our order - not chinese word order, it makes studying and reconstruction tougher for me.
Maybe the simple ancient beauty of the Chinese language is best for my simple mind. Thank you!
Oh...from experience...new travelers to China should leave early unless they like thrill rides or near death experiences, never never tell a Chinese taxi driver you are in a hurry...better to miss your plane.
Posted on: Taxi to the Airport
November 9, 2009 at 6:37 PMJenny and John,
I really like the literal translation feature of this newbie lesson. I for one find it useful to hear the actual English translation. For example when John says literal translation is " Go Airport" it is much easier for me to reconstruct and later ( in a speaking situation) to mentally pull the proper chinese words out of my brain. For example if the translation were " take me to the airport" it messes me up. Word order is important for me in constructing phrases too, so when I hear an English translation that's in our order - not chinese word order, it makes studying and reconstruction tougher for me.
Maybe the simple ancient beauty of the Chinese language is best for my simple mind. Thank you!
Oh...from experience...new travelers to China should leave early unless they like thrill rides or near death experiences, never never tell a Chinese taxi driver you are in a hurry...better to miss your plane.