128 replies to this topic

[janz]

cool, is 酷(ku4). it's a translated word, both meaning and sound are close to english. it's a prefect translation.

i never thought about the translation for homecoming when i was in high school. what do people do? i wasn't very active in high school, lol.

Chinese Club should translate to 中文俱乐部, chinese as in language. the short way is 中俱部. if chinese as anything or everything in chinese, maybe you should consider chinese culture club 中国文化俱乐部.

"You shi ma?" is not right.
"Ni hao ma" sounds very strange to me as a northerner. when you pronounce "ma" you actually pronounce it something between "me" and "mo"(both "me" and "mo" in pinyin, not english pronunciation). or simply "ni hao". you also can say "ni3 zen3 me0 yang4"(你怎么样 how are you) . note:this "ni3 zen3 me0 yang4" is not as formal as english, so you can use it like hi.

"What did you do this summer?" ni zhe ge xia tian zuo le xie shen me 你这个夏天做了些什么.

cell phone, 手机(shou3 ji1, hand phone) or 移动电话 (yi2 dong4 dian4 hua4, mobile phone, this one is rarely used in chatting since it's too formal)

[Shadowfax]

I just came back from my school's homecoming game. It was just like a normal game, but with more people watching and cheering. Oh, and the half time show..

[Ghost_of_Han]

Well Shadowfax I was hoping that if there was a word you would know it (because your in High School). I asked my Chinese Teacher and there is no word for it she said.

Homecoming was created for People who guradated to come back to that School in Homcoming week. And then like Shadowfax said we then have games in honor of it, have a dance and so on.

[janz]

校友会. school friends meeting(or use week 校友周). 校友 means people who guradated from this school.

[Ghost_of_Han]

你的电话号码什么？
Is that how you ask "Whats your phone number?"

[janz]

你的电话号码是什么？

[Ghost_of_Han]

你写字写得快吗？
You write characters quickly?
我写得快。
I write quickly.

你妹妹唱歌唱得好吗？
Your sister sings songs good?
我妹妹唱得不好。
My sister sings no so well.

你哥哥打球打得好吗？
Your older brother good at playing ball?
我哥哥打得好。
My older brother is good at playing ball.

她跳舞跳得怎么样？
You dancing or what?
我跳舞得行
Me dance, ok.

你说中文说得怎么样？
You speak Chinese well?
我说得好。
I speak it well.

你的老师念课文念得怎么样？
Does your teacher read the lesson to you?
我的老师念得好。
My teacher reads the lesson well.



I think once the zenmeyang was thrown in there I was off on the translations. What are the corrections? PS. I typed all this accepect for the Chinese Questions.

[janz]

你写字写得快吗？
You write characters quickly?
我写得很快。
I write quickly.

你妹妹唱歌唱得好吗？
Your sister sings songs good?
我妹妹唱得不好。
My sister sings no so well.
不好= no good, 不太好=not so well. i think.


你哥哥打球打得好吗？
Your older brother good at playing ball?
我哥哥打得很好。
My older brother is good at playing ball.


她跳舞跳得怎么样？
You dancing or what?
我跳舞跳得还行.
Me dance, ok.

你说中文说得怎么样？
You speak Chinese well?
我说得很好。
I speak it well.

你的老师念课文念得怎么样？(how well does your teacher read the lesson to you.怎么样=how well/good)
should be 你的老师给不给你们念课文?
Does your teacher read the lesson to you?
我的老师念得很好。
My teacher reads the lesson well.

i added some 很(very), otherwise those sentences sound strange to me. sorry, i can't explain it.

[Xeenslayer]

Sorry, I don't have a chinese input program on my current system, so I shall have to participate in the discussions using English and PinYin...

A suggestion to help you improve, GOH, is not to use the common and uncreative "hao3" or "bu4 hao3". You could use substitutes like "cha4" (meaning bad) or "bu4 cuo4" (meaning not bad). There're thousands of descriptive words to use in the language. I guess you'll have to read more to familiarise yourself with them. Reading is a very, very good way to improve your language skills. Especially for such a confusing (for those who're new to it) language like Chinese, it's hard to teach "grammar". In fact, we don't really bother about grammar. We say what we feel is right. There are various ways of arranging and expressing the same meaning using the same words. You will be able to know them if you read. Also, check the dictionary. It's a very good and fast way to learn. =)

[Tyler]

*cough* I seem to have found someone at school who I am interested in *cough*

I'm more worried about the prenounciation than anything.
Hi, would you like go to watch a movie at the theater and catch something to eat afterwards?
Ni hao ?????????

[Xeenslayer]

Aahh.... Hehehe...

Well, first of all, a greeting doesn't always have to start off with a "ni3 hao3". It's too formal in this case if you want to get a girl to go out with you. I'm not an expert at wooing girls, but maybe I can help you out with the translation.

First, to sound more friendly, you could just say "hi" instead of "nihao". In Chinese pinyin that would be "hai4".

You could then go on and ask if she wants to go out to a movie with you by asking:
"bu4 xiao3 de2 ni3 shi4 fo3 yao4 he2 wo3 yi1 kuai4 er qu4 kan4 xi4?"
(I wonder if you mind going out for a movie with me?"

"huo4 zhe3, wo3 men2 ye3 ke3 yi1 kuai4 er chi1 dun4 fan4"
(Or, we could just go out for a meal.)

"wo3 qing3 ke4!"
(I'll treat you to it!)

[Tyler]

Of cource but I heard that you are to try to be extremly formal in chinese language or it often comes out wrong is that true?

[Xeenslayer]

Well, no... What makes you think so?? Plus, trying to sound formal will spoil a date for sure. IMO in this case, being friendly is more important than correct syntax.

[Ghost_of_Han]

Well thank you Xeenslayer, I had known the word "bu cuo", but I didn't know the word "Cha" (well I knew it meant tea, but not the meaning you knew). If you want to have chinese Characters here's a nice program for them:

http://www.simtel.ne...rs.php?id=79194

[Xeenslayer]

Thanks for the link. =) Actually, I just got NJStar this morning and am already using it.

Anyway, here's the word I meant, in case you haven't checked it out yet: 差