Please help me translate this beginning text!

[Sean93]

Hello,.

I've very recently started studying chinese out of a book with casette tapes, and after every few lessons there is a "snowball" text that lumps all the characters you've learned so far into a paragraph for you to read. I've just reached the first one, and I don't get it! I understand the individual characters, but it doesn't seem like they should go together. I began translating and I came up with "My teacher is China's name man. His book method is very good," After that I can't get much of anything. Am I missing something obvious?

Here is the text:

我 的 老 师 是 中 国 的 名 人。他 的 书 法 很 好，是 文 字 学 大 师。他 的 老 大 是 大 学 生， 学 文 学， 书 法 也 很 好。他 的 老 二 是中 学 生，书 法 不 怎 么 样。 没 人 说 他 汉 字 写 得 好 看。不 过，他 的 语 文 很 好。他 的 看 小 人书， 小 说，汉 余 也 说 得 很 好。

　 在 中 国，小 学 生 人 人 都 学 书 法。我 的 看 法 是：中 国 书 法 好 看，不 好 学。

[skylee]

Take a look at this thread -> Another Translation help request

[stoney]

I suggest you look for words not just characters.

我的 / 老师 / 是 / 中国 的 / 名人。

my / teacher / is / (a)Chinese / famous person

他的 / 书法 / 很好，

his / calligraphy / is very good

是 / 文字---- 学 / 大师。

(he) is / a character----ology /master

My teacher is very famous in China for his calligraphy.

He is a master of Chinese characters

... something like that

Perhaps it's better not to string your paragraph out into single characters; keep them all together.

Get a dictionary for your computer and other good dictionaries

Some dictionaries don't give all the meanings for a word, so sometimes you have to try a few before things make sense.

[Sean93]

Thank you! My problem was that the book didn't teach me certain expressions. For instance, I didn't know that "名 人" means "famous person," "书 法" means "calligraphy, or "老 大" means "Eldest son," etc.

I think I understand it all now, except for the phrase "书 法 不 怎 么 样" Can someone help me with that?

[trien27]

汉 余 也 说 得 很 好。 余 is the wrong charcter. Should be 汉语也 说 得 很 好。= [His / Her] Chinese is spoken very well.

[Sean93]

汉 余 也 说 得 很 好。 余 is the wrong charcter. Should be 汉语也 说 得 很 好。= [His / Her] Chinese is spoken very well.

Thank you, I must have made a typing mistake.

I also know what 怎么样 means now, so I guess I don't need help anymore. Thank you all!

[williams]

Let me translate this text completely.

我的 老师 是 中国的 名人。

My teacher is a famous person in China.

他的 书法 很好，是 文字学 大师。

His calligraphy is very good，and he is a character ology master.

他的 老大 是 大学生，学 文学，书法 也 很好。

His eldest son is a university student,study literature,and is good at calligraphy too.

他的 老二 是 中学生，书法 不怎么样。

His second son is a middle-school student,his calligraphy is not very good.

没人 说 他 汉字 写的 好看。

Nobody said that his charater-writing is good.

不过，他的 语文 很好。

But His Chiese(a subject in middle-school) is very good.

他的 看 小人书，小说，汉余 也 说得 很好

(this sentence has a lot of mistakes

1,他的+看 is a wrong collocation.他的should collocate a none.but "看look" is a verb,so the character "的" is not exist in this sentence.

2,"汉余"'s "余" is a wrong character,it should be "语language".

3,"得"should be "的".

so the right sentence is:

他 看 小人书，小说，汉语 也 说的 很好。)

He read picture book,novel,and his Chinese is very good too.

picture book:a type of book for children in China.there is a picture on a leaf,and a group of character under the picture to explain it.it's director-chanslate is:children's book.There's no picture book in China recently.if you like picture book,you must search it in antique street.

在中国，小学生 人人 都 学 书法。

In China,every primary school student study calligraphy.

我的 看法 是：中国的 书法 好看，不好学。

In my opinion:the Chinese calligraphy is fit for looking,not fit for study.

Are you clear?~!

[renzhe]

3,"得"should be "的".

Are you sure? Doesn't it refer to the verb 说 here?

[imron]

I agree that it should be 说得很好.

[skylee]

I second that. Though 說的很好 is common enough.

BTW, williams is unusually authoritative in this and other threads -

• "Are you clear?~! "
  
• "Now I solve your problems"
  
• "Is the first question clear?"
  
• "Is the second question clear?"
  
• "is the last question clear?"
  

[imron]

So are mistakes such as its vs it's, your vs you're, and there vs their vs they're

A Chinese learner would lose marks on a test for using 说的很好。

[HashiriKata]

BTW, williams is unusually authoritative in this and other threads -

"Are you clear?~! "

"Now I solve your problems"

"Is the first question clear?"

"Is the second question clear?"

"is the last question clear?"

It does look like williams meant it that way but it's more like s/he needs more time to get used to writing in English.

[Scoobyqueen]

BTW, williams is unusually authoritative in this and other threads -

if he is German that might explain it. Many Germans just translate directly into English (the direct "authorative" style scared me a bit when I first moved here )

[Sean93]

Thank you all! I am quite clear now.

[williams]

I don't know how to quota sth.

quota:

3,"得"should be "的".

Are you sure? Doesn't it refer to the verb 说 here?

in #9

My Mistake

You're good at Chinese grammar.

and 说得 is absolutely right.

If it's a subject,I was wrong.

But if it's a message send to Chinese.I was right.(Every Chinese know what's it mean)

I'm not German,I'm Chinese,and I'm study English.so I don't know if some experssion is not polite.If I have impinged someone,My apologize.

[stoney]

imron I agree that it should be 说得很好.

skylee I second that. Though 說的很好 is common enough.

However, I wonder if “的“ is possible.

Instead of saying he speaks Chinese very well can you say his chinese is very good

ie 他的汉语很好 ????

williams is German?? I thought he is Chinese:conf

Anyways, I don't think williams is being " unusually authoritative " just trying to be helpful.

Welcome to the forum williams

[HashiriKata]

can you say his chinese is very good

ie 他的汉语很好 ????

Yes, you can, and "他的汉语很好" is fine.

[imron]

But note that the 的 here has a different grammatical function than the 得 of the previous question. In the second sentence 的 indicates possession (i.e. his Chinese is very good). In the first sentence 得 is used to describe a verb (i.e. he speaks Chinese very well). When you are describing a verb you should use 得 and not 的.