kkoma Posted January 30, 2007 at 12:04 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 12:04 PM nin2 zhi1 dao4 yi1 ben3 hao3 han4 yu3 zi4 dian3 ma5? wo3 xue2 hui4 zhong1 wen2 he2 xu1 yao4 bang1 zhu4, suo3 you3 zhong1 gao4 shi4 you3 yong4 de5. qing3 gai3 zheng4 suo3 you3 cuo4 wu4, xie4 xie4 dui4 hui2 fu4 de5 ren2 min2 Quote
skylee Posted January 30, 2007 at 01:03 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 01:03 PM If you are familiar with hanyu pinyin, you could use this tool to type chinese characters (no installation is required, just type, cut and paste) -> http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/webime2.php?ime=mand_simp Chinese people are used to reading in Chinese characters, not pinyin. Quote
HashiriKata Posted January 30, 2007 at 01:39 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 01:39 PM Chinese people are used to reading in Chinese characters, not pinyin.Although I'm not Chinese, I also find reading the above simple few lines a major task, and it's even less easy when the tone marks are in numerals. I'm aware of a school of thought advocating replacing Chinese characters with pinyin. These people should go back to step one to relearn their trade, I think. PS: Of course what I'm saying is not directing at kkoma. With skylee, I assume kkoma didn't have access to the writing tools. Quote
anonymoose Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:02 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:02 PM What kind of dictionary are you looking for? Monolingual? Chinese-English? English-Chinese? Go to any chinese bookshop and you're bound to find a large range of dictionaries to choose from. As for monolingual dictionaries, the Xinhua Cidian is my preferred one, as it contains nearly all characters you are ever likely to come across. Sometimes I run into obscure characters that cannot be found in less comprehensive dictionaries. However, by far my most used dictionary, and the best I have seen of its kind (in my opinion) is the A New Century Chinese-English Dictionary. It is also very comprehensive, containing even very obscure characters, with English translations, and plenty of example sentences. Quote
HashiriKata Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:08 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:08 PM Sorry for having to rush away without replying to the real question. By "han4 yu3 zi4 dian3" do you mean monolingual Chinese dictionaries? I've seen many Chinese dictionaries recommended here but most of them are not monolingual. I use one monolingual myself but it's only for Chinese primary school children, so it won't be of much use to you. I also use one called "现代汉语词典" and it is a 双解-type (I don't have it with me at the moment to give more precise details but it is well known and can be searched in this forums. Try a search on "Chinese dictionary" here as well, there may be some good recommendations that I'm not aware of). PS: Just noticed that you want recommendations of "zi4 dian3" but all the ones mentioned so far are "ci2 dian3" ! Quote
kkoma Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:38 PM Author Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:38 PM Thank you for all the help provided. Yes, I did have the Chinese writing tool available, but because i am native English, I prefer to use pinyin. I prefer to use pinyin because it is easier to read back. (if I needed to make any adjustments to my topic) Regards, kkoma Quote
adrianlondon Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:55 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 02:55 PM Pinyin convention, as far as such a thing exists, is to use tone marks not numerals, and to group the characters into words. So ... ni3 hao3 should be nǐhǎo. In my opinion, you should just write 你好 like everyone else. Or, even better (what with this being an English language forum n all, apart from the dedicated language bits), "hello". Quote
Shadowdh Posted January 30, 2007 at 03:40 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 03:40 PM Characters are so much easier to read... (and I am also a natvie english speaker)... as for a good CE-EC dictionary try the oxford either the pocket version (but it is in no way going to fit my pocket or the pocket of anyone I know) or the really small version which while small packs alot in and is really really useful for those long train journeys... both can be found easily... Quote
Koneko Posted January 30, 2007 at 03:55 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 03:55 PM Collins' Chinese-English dictionaries are not too bad either! At least, I helped them to compile some entries when I was in Edinburgh. (sh) K. Quote
kkoma Posted January 30, 2007 at 04:11 PM Author Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 04:11 PM Shadowdh, if you don't mind me asking, how long have you been learning Chinese, and how old are you? Regards, kkoma If this is any better: 您知道一本好汉语字典吗？ 我学会中文和需要帮助，所有忠告是有用的。 请改正所有错误，谢谢，对回复的人民。 Quote
Koneko Posted January 30, 2007 at 04:39 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 04:39 PM 您知道一本好汉语字典吗？我学会中文和需要帮助，所有忠告是有用的。 请改正所有错误，谢谢，对回复的人民。 That's definitely better than Hanyu Pinyin! Don't worry so much about the grammar. Everyone makes mistakes! That's how we learm. K. Quote
Ding Yiyi Posted January 30, 2007 at 11:59 PM Report Posted January 30, 2007 at 11:59 PM I would suggest the Oxford Pocket Edition CE-EC Dictionary. It packs in as much as one would like to carry around, if you want something that's completely comprehensive I'd suggest an electronic dictionary like Wenlin, and if you aren't into the idea of paying $200 for it there are some great online dictionaries listed here: http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/8195-best-of-chinese-study-tools-studying-chinese-online-and-off Quote
Shadowdh Posted January 31, 2007 at 02:18 PM Report Posted January 31, 2007 at 02:18 PM Hi there, I am in my second year at uni... so about 18 months... and I am now 34... I have brown eyes and like long walks on the beach... Quote
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