alekk Posted September 25, 2007 at 04:33 PM Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 at 04:33 PM Hi all, I just came back from a 3 months long stay in Taiwan, and a friend gave me a letter at the airport, but he wrote it in chinese(traditional). Unfortunately he did not translate it to me .. Could anyone help me ? many Thanx, Alekk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muyongshi Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:39 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:39 AM Hi! Alex?? (literally ai li ke si) Time has gone by really fast, (I) still remember the first day's [lit. sight or scenery] when I greeted you at the airport and now at the same place sending you off from taiwan. Were your two months of travel good? I hope you liked it here. This period of time I did not think of you as a foreigner but as a friend as we went (lists all the places you went and things you did) together. I also hope that you will like (confirmation on this part please... looks like 会喜欢 to me) and remember me your friend! If you have a chance come to Taiwan again and I (will) go to France to see you, I want to ski (snow ski)! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuxoar Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:40 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:40 AM Here is a rough translation.... I didn't bother translating the place names, I figure you should know them. And there is some sport that I couldn't figure out.. It's a start anyway! ===== Hi, Dearest Alex! Time really flies! I still remember the first time I came to the airport to pick you but, but now it's time to send you back home again. Where the past 2 months of traveling enjoyable? I hope you like this place! During our time together I took you as a good friend, not just a "foreigner". We went to so many places, Fu Sheng, Kunting, Ba Xian Amusement Park, KTV, some sport?,night clubs, motorcylcing, etc,etc. I also hope you will like and always remember me! Hope you can come back to Taiwan! I really want to go to France and see you, I wanna ski! Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuxoar Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:42 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:42 AM a testament to how efficient this board is, 2 translations both posted within one minute of each other, lol good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wontonsoup Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:56 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:56 AM in taiwan, they write with traditional chinese, why did this guy write 机, instead of 機? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muyongshi Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:57 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 02:57 AM Ha! Didn't even notice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mi3gai4rui4 Posted September 26, 2007 at 04:21 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 04:21 AM I've been told some simplified chinese characters actually existed first as written shorthand, because a lot of common characters (like 机）are very complicated in traditional. I would think, though that in letter writing one would be formal and use the complicated version, but I guess not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
in_lab Posted September 26, 2007 at 04:40 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 04:40 AM KTV, some sport?,night clubs, motorcylcing, singing, pool, night clubs, ferris wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted September 26, 2007 at 06:26 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 06:26 AM in taiwan, they write with traditional chinese, why did this guy write 机, instead of 機? Out of laziness. Too many strokes to write 機. There are a few simplified words used instead of traditional Chinese characters, like 國(国), 會(会), 靈(灵), 豐(丰), 體(体), etc. Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted September 26, 2007 at 06:53 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 06:53 AM He also seems to write 'R且' for 而且. I might be seeing that wrong, would be a really interesting abbreviation, never seen that before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted September 26, 2007 at 07:43 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 07:43 AM He also seems to write 'R且' for 而且. I might be seeing that wrong, would be a really interesting abbreviation, never seen that before! Iit never comes to me that I can use R for 而. It sounds neat and concise! However, it's not R he writes. It's the right part of 歡. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted September 26, 2007 at 07:49 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 07:49 AM You're right, I did see it wrong then. I kind of expected that :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted September 26, 2007 at 08:09 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 08:09 AM Is "老外“ miswritten as “若外” in the letter？ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted September 26, 2007 at 08:18 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 08:18 AM Is "老外“ miswritten as “若外” in the letter？That's what I thought when I first looked at it, too. But if you look closely, you will see that it's only the two bottom strokes meeting where they shouldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muyongshi Posted September 26, 2007 at 09:39 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 09:39 AM This is fun...people need to post more letters with poor handwriting so we can all do this again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted September 26, 2007 at 10:09 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 10:09 AM Don't know what your standards are, but I don't consider that bad handwriting at all. We're only misreading it because we're a bunch of foreigners not used to Chinese handwriting. But it was nice picking it apart all the same :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted September 26, 2007 at 10:12 AM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 10:12 AM I would imagine that that is not his actual handwriting though. This looks as if he slowed down because the addressee was a foreign friend (for once this word makes sense). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted September 26, 2007 at 04:30 PM Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 at 04:30 PM The handwriting is very good. Regarding 'R且' , I have seen 'G肉三明治' in Taipei and I liked it a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdn_in_bj Posted September 27, 2007 at 01:45 AM Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 at 01:45 AM I would imagine that that is not his actual handwriting though. This looks as if he slowed down because the addressee was a foreign friend (for once this word makes sense). I agree. I think he purposely made it easy to read - it looks like it was written by a child. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted September 27, 2007 at 01:43 PM Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 at 01:43 PM it looks like it was written by a child I don't think so. But it doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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