website Posted September 19, 2004 at 07:22 PM Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 at 07:22 PM I don't have these phrases in my textbook and it's 3:20 AM now. If people could translate some or all of these phrases into Pinyin, I am sure many Mandarin learners in this forum would be delighted. I want to compile a handy resource guide of Chinese phrases. I just don't know how to construct these sentence into workable translations. I'm a big list-maker. I keep lists of words and phrases that I want to use, but don't know. "I can't deal with it." "Have I got a deal for you." "What is the deal with this book?" "Dealing with a tense situation." "Big deal." "So what?" "nerd" "makes you look old" "pull yourself together, man" "I got my wish." "have the last word" "shoot the breeze" "walk around" Qu sanbu??? "have the last word" "get up to speed" "hard as nails" "as clean as this" "pillar of society" "talk about me" Shuo dayue wo??? "take it" "fill in the form" "do me a favor" "cross the street" "wised up to their old tricks" "body hair is a big turn-off" "We look down on beggars." "open-mind" "small-minded" "tune out" "not yet" "long way to go" "semi-conductor" "long way to go" "gaps in my Chinese" "making slow, but steady progress" "bad impression" "trust me on this" Xinren wo zai zhege??? "makes you look old" "keep in mind" "don't be late" Bu yao ni wan??? "Do you mind?" "What about me?" "That's it, I've had it." "That's it, that's the one." "common-sense" "What about it? "This kind is for cats." "throw money around like there's no tomorrow" "drum up support" "I had better go." "under construction" "on the condition that he does" "sack lunch" Bao wufan??? Dai wufan??? "sold out" "hard to say" "take a picture of you" "just put it on" Gang fang ta zai??? "wind up the clock" "ask directions" "go around the block" "write it down" Xie ta xia??? "plug it in" "What happened?" "dressing room" "classified ads" "3rd world country" "try it on" "bear in mind" "touched a nerve" "cover the same old ground" "talk about it" "Does it matter?" "break the law" Huaile falu??? "You are way off base." "kick the bucket" "goof-off" "drive a hard bargain" "long time, no see" Hen jiu, bu jian??? "run up a tab" "keep tabs on" "ulterior motive" "out of shape" "be patient" "physical training" "live broadcast" "start somewhere" "the bigger the better" "proud of you" "stick to it" "spill your secrets" "ask her out on a date" "good for you" "make us into fools" "force my hand" "May you live in interesting times." "That is just not the case." "time is tight" "flat broke" "full speed ahead" "give me a hand" "grim-reaper" "make an effort" "step up to bat" "run into a brick wall" "tongue tied" "go ahead of me" "make my day" "take care" "cut the grass" "couch potato" "social outcast" "struck out" "stick out" "Cut it out!" I'm sorry the lists is so large and I hope you can understand. I'm hoping people can help eager learners here. I'm tired of being hindered by my lack of Chinese in conversations and needing to come up with a fast work around. I can usually get my meaning across, but it takes twice as long as it would in English. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted September 19, 2004 at 08:55 PM Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 at 08:55 PM website I remember you said you've been learning Chinese on and off for 7 years, you have access to a chinese girlfriend, and you live in China. Yet, you cannot really converse in Chinese, nor understand what others say to you; all you hear after 7 years of learning is still "xin din ching chong". Might I point out that you've been learning it the wrong way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xuechengfeng Posted September 19, 2004 at 10:24 PM Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 at 10:24 PM nor read the characters, which makes people write out pinyin with the pesky blah1blah3 wah2blah1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beirne Posted September 19, 2004 at 11:56 PM Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 at 11:56 PM I'm sorry the lists is so large and I hope you can understand. I'm hoping people can help eager learners here. I'm tired of being hindered by my lack of Chinese in conversations and needing to come up with a fast work around. I can usually get my meaning across, but it takes twice as long as it would in English. This is an awful lot of work. Since you are in China and have been having a hard time learning the language, it might be a good idea to hook up with someone there who wants to learn English and have them help you with the phrases as you help that person with their questions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeijingSlacker Posted September 20, 2004 at 03:40 AM Report Share Posted September 20, 2004 at 03:40 AM How many long lists have you posted here? This may sound mean, but even if you could use this forum as your free tutoring/translation service, it would be much more beneficial for yourself to study Chinese in a systematic way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffkhan Posted September 21, 2004 at 03:28 AM Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 at 03:28 AM I would be delighted if I could have translations of even just a few of those phrases. Just a few. I wouldn't want anyone to go to the trouble of translating the whole list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevelyan Posted September 21, 2004 at 07:50 AM Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 at 07:50 AM "This kind is for cats." --> Zhei4 zhong3 shi4 gei3 mao1 de. Please let me know when the entire list is translated. I am looking forward to using some of these phrases in my daily conversation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted September 21, 2004 at 02:54 PM Report Share Posted September 21, 2004 at 02:54 PM Website - your email account is full and the new password you requested bounced back to the forums admin account - you are probably reading this wondering how you can log in. Email admin@chinese-forums.com with an email address that works and I'll give you the new password. I don't have these phrases in my textbook Who does?! At some point you've got to get the grammar and vocabulary to put your own sentences together. Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek_frappa Posted September 28, 2004 at 09:26 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 at 09:26 PM This may sound mean, but even if you could use this forum as your free tutoring/translation service, it would be much more beneficial for yourself to study Chinese in a systematic way. i agree. don't be afraid to ask a Chinese speaker in person about these phrases... when they say it. repeat it to yourself. then try to write it down and use it later. :-) be disciplined. drill yourself in your spare time. try to think in chinese. avoid thinking in english. wo yao mai SHU. wo yao mai ZHEI BEN SHU. wo yao mai LIANG LIANG QICHE. wo yao mai DONGXI. learn the patterns, then you can make your own phrases. please consider this advice. it may help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek_frappa Posted September 28, 2004 at 09:29 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 at 09:29 PM Who does?! At some point you've got to get the grammar and vocabulary to put your own sentences together. ya~! don't wait until you NEED chinese. practice now!! ask lots of grammatical questions. Grammar and Vocab. not Phrasebook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
website Posted September 28, 2004 at 11:40 PM Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 at 11:40 PM Some people may disagree, but I think people cannot just study grammar to learn a language. Language learners also need to learn phrases. I doubt phrases like "bust a move" or "over the hill" are in many textbooks. Grammar can only take language students so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldc Posted September 28, 2004 at 11:52 PM Report Share Posted September 28, 2004 at 11:52 PM Grammar can only take language students so far Yes, but the point is, it's taken us a lot further than you seem to have got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted September 29, 2004 at 12:00 AM Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 at 12:00 AM You're right - grammar, like learning set phrases, can only take students so far. You need a mix. Roddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beirne Posted September 29, 2004 at 02:09 AM Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 at 02:09 AM Some people may disagree, but I think people cannot just study grammarto learn a language. Language learners also need to learn phrases. I doubt phrases like "bust a move" or "over the hill" are in many textbooks. Grammar can only take language students so far. OK, here are some more comments: I get the impression that you have had trouble with Chinese, even after years of study and living in China. A lot of the phrases you ask for are really beyond your current needs. You don't need to know "kick the bucket" when si3 will do. Once you decide to postpone idioms, you can use your grammar skills to to figure you how to translate the base meaning of the phrases. A number of the phrases really are simple statements or can be found in the dictionary. "Not yet" is hai2 mei2 you3,. Semiconductor, ban4dao3ti3, is in the dictionary. As I said earlier, you should make friends with a Chinese there in China and ask them these questions. You asked for translations of 114 phrases. Estimating an optimistic 30 seconds per phrase, you are asking for someone to spend 57 minutes translating phrases for you. I looked at some of your other posts. I can see you are still learning a lot of basic Chinese. A better way to ask questions is to limit your query to a single question and explain what you have tried to do so far to figure it out. You have done that in some of your other posts. Also, find a teacher while you are in China. Take advantage of your situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted September 29, 2004 at 03:42 AM Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 at 03:42 AM Whatever he's doing in China, I don't think learning Chinese is one of his objectives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek_frappa Posted September 29, 2004 at 03:47 AM Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 at 03:47 AM Whatever he's doing in China, I don't think learning Chinese is one of his objectives. i was thinking the same thing ... here's a few phrases that may also help... "xiao xin dianr" ... or "don't pk law" .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek_frappa Posted September 29, 2004 at 03:50 AM Report Share Posted September 29, 2004 at 03:50 AM website, you may need to move further from Hong Kong if you are going to learn mandarin very well... SZ counts as HK, in my humble opinion... just something to think about... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
website Posted September 30, 2004 at 10:13 PM Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2004 at 10:13 PM Thanks for the comments. I have made up a lot of phrases when speaking if I don't know the exact translation of something. I just wanted to add some phrases to my vocabulary so I could be more precise. Ironically it is a little difficult to learn Chinese in China. I have an English TV channel, the Internet, and my GF speaks nearly perfect English. I know this isn't entirely true, but it seems like the only two types of Chinese people here are the ones who speak good English and the ones who don't know any. The English speakers don't want to speak Chinese and I can barely understand the Chinese speakers. BTW, I don't expect one person to translate the whole list, but I was hoping people could each translate at least a couple of phrases. If this forum isn't for helping people learn Chinese then what is it good for? I could walk outside and ask a bunch of random people, but I don't that's very polite or efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geek_frappa Posted October 1, 2004 at 12:52 AM Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 at 12:52 AM If this forum isn't for helping people learn Chinese then what is it good for? you make a good point. we are here to help each other. I could walk outside and ask a bunch of random people, but I don't that's very polite or efficient. another good point. does anybody have any recommendations about how to solve this problem? i was thinking maybe pointing at things at small shops is a good choice, but i'm guessing the shop owners are speaking cantonese there, huh. hmmm ... you pose a good question, website. i'll think about this for a while and come up with an answer, i hope. i am sure other members will have better answers... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beirne Posted October 1, 2004 at 01:16 AM Report Share Posted October 1, 2004 at 01:16 AM i was thinking maybe pointing at things at small shops is a good choice, but i'm guessing the shop owners are speaking cantonese there, huh. hmmm ... you pose a good question, website. i'll think about this for a while and come up with an answer, i hope. I was in China for two weeks in 2001 and although I was part of a tour group I found Chinese to speak with, although i was in Beijing and Xian so I was in a Mandarin-speaking area. Some of the people were: A woman who followed me along my walk on the Great Wall so that she could sell me books at the end of the trek. People in the hospital where I spent the night after getting hypothermia. Lots of people selling stuff to tourists. Cab drivers, including one who couldn't find the Beijing Hard Rock Cafe from Tianenmen Square, and another who didn't know how to get back. I'll admit that like website, I didn't watch much Chinese TV because I can't understand it either, I could converse in Chinese, though, once I got used to the person's accent. It just took going out and doing stuff. I suspect that website doesn't want to spend his time buying Rolex and waving Mao watches, but if I could find people to speak to while travelling with a group of American tourists, website should be able to do the same. It may be better for him to learn Cantonese, though, if he is going to stay in Shenzhen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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