Are you proficient in Mandarin? Here's a challenge.

[dalaowai]

I'm currently translating a documentary about the John Frum Movement (from English to Chinese) as one of my assignments.

I'm stuck on a few sentences. This paragraph is about native tribal men who go swimming in different areas, and this particular bay is filled with sharks. The men want to go swimming here, however they are discussing whether or not they see any sharks. One man wants to swim there but his friends tell him not to. The narrator then says "Shark Bay is one to miss"

Two other expressions that I'm having a hard time with is describing a nearby volcano. "Although it is not a big volcano, it packs a sky high punch."

the other one is that a man was near an active volcano, he decided to turn back as it was getting dangerous. The narrator then says "And not a moment too soon."

How could I translate these? I've been stuck on these for a while. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks！

[dalaowai]

Anybody? It's my first translation piece and wow, it's much harder translating than it looks. I now have respect for those people that make the subtitles for pirated DVDs. haha

[simonlaing]

"Shark Bay is one to miss"

is a type of idiom proverb so you might use a similar contraction in China

鲨鱼弯不游泳游不了，

it packs a sky high punch."

它打得非常强拳

And not a moment too soon."

the context makes this one weird. the literal meaning is done in enough time, but from context it means good that they have not taken more steps it would be dangerous..

还走几步就边危险

anyway, the last one is judgement call I think.

have fun,

Simon:)

[Chao Liang]

To simonlaing:

Your translations are all wrong! Because I am Chinese, i can't understand your translations, so you must be wrong

Your last sentence may be right, because i can understand, but it is: 还走几步就变危险, not 边危险, 边 is not a verb, ie: 路边

To dalaowai:

Because my english is very good, so I can't understand the three sentances means, can you explain it using simple english words? Maybe that i could help u:D

[chenpv]

To Chao Liang,

I think Simonlaing's translations are all good.

The first one should be read in this way, '鲨鱼弯/不游泳/游不了' , with a stop every 3 characters. Also notice the word play on '弯' - one can not swim in a waterless bay.

The second one is just perfect '白話', how come you don't understand?

The third one has some traditional literary style, which could be read like '还走几步/就边危险'. '就' means 'to approach' here.

Hope it helps, Chao Liang.

PS: I am not so sure I get the meaning of this...

Because my english is very good, so I can't understand the three sentances means

[adrianlondon]

PS: I am not so sure I get the meaning of this...

He means he doesn't understand the three original sentences very well as his English isn't very good.

Yeah, I know that's not what he typed, but, well, his English isn't very good ;) I find it quite useful sometimes, this chinese ordered English stuff ;)

[Chao Liang]

To chenpv:

Today I think it a long time, now i can put my ideas here, hope u can look it and give some comments.

1. Shark Bay is one to miss

鲨鱼弯不游泳游不了, through your explain, i finally know the mean of "弯", but it should be "湾". "弯" is verb or adj. in chinese, not a noun, "湾" is a noun meaning "bay". And "不游泳" and "游不了" are the same meaning, you can't use it two times in one sentence.

So i think the sentence should be translated to "鲨鱼湾不能游泳", i think the narrator could say "You can't swin in Shark Bay".

2. it packs a sky high punch

I looked for OXFORD dictionary, "pack a (powerful, real, etc.) punch" have 2 means:

1> (of a boxer) to be capable of hitting sb very hard

2> to have a powerful effect on sb

For "它打得非常强拳", i think it's explained by the 1st, but the 2nd mean is right for that sentence!

So I think "it packs a sky high punch" will be translated to "但是它威力无穷". "威力无穷“ is adj., it means "powerful effect". Maybe you can't understand, because your chinese level just likes my english level:D. But if let you translate some chinese sentence you know to english, i think you can do it very well, because your mother language is english, so you can use it freely, so do i.

3. And not a moment too soon

i think "还走几步就变危险" is ok, or "再走几步就变危险" is ok, "不久/马上就危险了" is ok, you can choose it by yourself.

To adrianlondon:

That's why i come here, on one side i can improve my english, on the other side i can also try my best to help chinese learners, so i think the way to improve my english is fun!

[dalaowai]

Thanks everyone! Your help is greatly appreciated!

[studentyoung]

"Shark Bay is one to miss"

is a type of idiom proverb so you might use a similar contraction in China

鲨鱼弯不游泳游不了，

鲨鱼湾——留连者无返——切勿下水！

2. it packs a sky high punch

I looked for OXFORD dictionary, "pack a (powerful, real, etc.) punch" have 2 means:

1> (of a boxer) to be capable of hitting sb very hard

2> to have a powerful effect on sb

For "它打得非常强拳", i think it's explained by the 1st, but the 2nd mean is right for that sentence!

So I think "it packs a sky high punch" will be translated to "但是它威力无穷". "威力无穷“ is adj., it means "powerful effect". Maybe you can't understand, because your chinese level just likes my english level:D . But if let you translate some chinese sentence you know to english, i think you can do it very well, because your mother language is english, so you can use it freely, so do i.

打了威猛劲道的一拳

3. And not a moment too soon

i think "还走几步就变危险" is ok, or "再走几步就变危险" is ok, "不久/马上就危险了" is ok, you can choose it by yourself.

危险就在不远处 / 危险将至

Thanks!

[Chao Liang]

To dalaowai:

You're welcome! ^-^

----------------------------------

To studentyoung:

1>

" 鲨鱼湾——留连者无返——切勿下水！" I think it may be more complex, how do you think "鲨鱼湾——切勿下水！"？ Though "留连者无返" is deleted, they are the same meaning. Do u think?

2>

"打了威猛劲道的一拳?" It can be described to volcano? I think it is described to man. So "但是它威力无穷" is the right answer.

3>

"危险将至" is better answer than mine. Great!