Need help writing something in Chinese

[trisha2766]

Hello! (This is my first time posting here, and I'm not sure if I chose the right section to ask this in - so please forgive me if I should have posted elsewhere.)

This probably sounds silly, but I want to make a t-shirt that says something like:

"I'm learning Chinese. Please talk to me, I need the practice."

I don't know exactly how to say it, but this is what I've come up with so far:

(And I'll write it 3 different ways, because I'm not sure how writing tone marks or characters works on forums like this either.)

Wo3 xue2 xi2 Han4 yu3.

Qing3 ni3 shuo1 wo3.

Wo3 yao4 lian4 xi2.

Wǒ xuéxí Hànyǔ.

Qǐng nǐ shuō wǒ.

Wǒ yào liànxí.

我 学 习汉语.

请 你 说我.

我 要练 习.

Things I'm not sure about how I'm trying to say it are:

1) Should I use Han4 yu3 or Pu3 tong1 hua4? Could 'Hanyu' imply a different dialect than Mandarin?

2) It seems like something should go between the 'shuo' and the 'wo' in the second line, but I have no idea what. gen1 , yi4qi3?

3) Is 'yao' the word I should use for the last line or would xiang3 (想) be better?

Or am I completely wrong and need to start all over with it?

Thanks for your patience!

[darni]

我在学习中文,请和我对话,我需要联系

wo zai xue xi zhong wen,qing he wo dui hua,wo xu yao lian xi

[fanglu]

You should use 练习 (practice) not 联系 (make contact).

If you use 汉语 it will be clear you mean Mandarin. If you use 中文, it might not be so clear.

Other than that I agree with darni.

[leeyah]

You can't say:

请说我。

because it's the wrong word order in Chinese. There's this phrase 跟 。。。说(话), so:

"I'm learning Chinese. Please talk to me, I need the practice."

我学习中文。请跟我说话，我需要多多练习。

wǒ xué xí zhōng wén 。qǐng gēn wǒ shuō huà ，wǒ xū yào duō duō liàn xí 。

汉语 & 中文 both refer to Mandarin, so you can use either of these. Actually I've heard 中文 used more often as in: 他懂中文。 or 你会中文吗?

[trisha2766]

Thanks for all your replies!

I hadn't thought of using 在/zai, that makes sense.

I've never heard of 需/xū and its not in my little dictionary. What does it mean?

leeyah - what does the duō duō/多多 mean in this context? That I need a lot of practice? (Which is of course true!)

[Hofmann]

I don't want to discuss this: Technically 中文 is Chinese writing and 漢語 is spoken Chinese. 漢語 doesn't specifically refer to Mandarin (which is 官話). What you're learning is 普通話 and 白話文.

[imron]

You might consider a better dictionary then Online ones like nciku work quite well.

Here it's part of the word "需要" which means "need to"

[trisha2766]

Hofmann - if you don't want to discuss this it is ok, but actually that is what I thought too, so I had thought maybe I should use 'Pu3 tong1 hua4'/普通话 instead. But does 普通话 only refer to spoken Mandarin? Or the way that it is written too?

imron - I know the dictionary I have is bad (and small). I need to get another one, but I wanted to kind of take my time and make sure I get one that I really like and is good.

I've been learning through the NPCR books, and so far into book 2, 需/xū has not been taught yet.

Its not clear to me though what the difference is between 要 and 需要 - are they used in different contexts or is there some subtle difference in meaning?

[trisha2766]

Are there any political issues or sensitivities surrounding the use of 普通话 vs. 汉语? Like, is it ok for someone who isn't Chinese (like myself) to use 普通话? Is there any issue with Taiwan? In one of my books it says 普通话 is used for Mandarin in PRC but that in Taiwan the word guo2 yu3 is used. I recently started taking a Chinese class at a Chinese school where there are people from both PRC and Taiwan. Would someone from Taiwan be offended by me wearing a shirt with 普通话 written on it?

Maybe this would be better discussed as a separate thread elsewhere? Would a moderator mind if I started a new thread about this? Sorry, I'm new here and I don't want to cause any problems.

I seem to have a knack for making something that should be simple into something much more complicated!

[imron]

In this context 要 means want, and 需要 means need. Compare:

I want the practice

I need the practice

As for dictionaries, online dictionaries like the one I linked to above are an excellent resource and can be used in the interim until you find a good dictionary. For good dictionaries, personally I would recommend Plecodict, however if you're not interested in an electronic dictionary then I always liked the Oxford Chinese-English dictionaries.

Re: threads - new threads are free and we definitely encourage people to start new ones if they want to start discussing a separate topic. That being said, there are many existing threads on issues/differences between Mainland and Taiwan (both from a political and a language perspective), so you might want to try searching first to see if there is an existing thread that already covers this topic.

As for being offended, I can't imagine anyone would be, and definitely no more/less than they would be by you using simplified characters rather than traditional.

[leeyah]

what does the duō duō/多多 mean in this context? That I need a lot of practice?

Yes. Repetition of adjectives is often used for emphasis. It's one of those things which make Chinese a very logical language ^^

[trisha2766]

imron - thanks! I see it better now - I definitely should use 需要. I book marked that online dictionary too. Until recently all my studying of Chinese has not involved a computer at all. I was sort of amazed when I came here to read all about electronic flash cards. I still use ones made from index cards! Stacks of them organized into little boxes! I'm not anti-technology or anything either. Just never thought of it. I have a little Oxford Chinese-English dictionary - the really small one. It is very handy to grab in a hurry and carry around, but it is limited in the number of words it has. And actually it does have 需要 in it, I guess I missed it somehow when trying to find it before.

I did some searches here for differences between Mainland and Taiwan and stayed up pretty late last night reading. Some interesting stuff. Although repetitive at times. And you are right, I am already going to be using simplified characters.

leeyah - thanks I just wanted to make sure I understood fully why you used it that way.

So what I think I will do is this:

我在学习汉语。

请跟我说话。

我需要多多练习!

I decided to stick with 汉语 over 普通话 because other people who are also learning might be more likely to recognize 汉语 . As far as I can tell, most books don't teach the term 普通话 until much later. I think that altogether with using simplified characters and everything else it will be clear to people that I mean Mandarin. In the U.S. anyway. If I were to be in southern China and wear it, maybe it wouldn't be that clear.

Thanks again for all the help!

[michealgong]

我正在学汉语（I'm learning Chinese.“正在”referring that you are doing sth currently）

需要多多联系(i translate the third sentence before the second to let others know the reason why you need communicating with them immediately.)

请别介意与我交谈(in this sentence i did't ask others to talk to me apparently,as i want to say it euphemistically.)

it's my first time posting here.i am sorry for all the improper things i have made here:roll:.

[Yahui]

Here is My concise translation.

"I'm learning Chinese. = 我在学汉语

Please talk to me, ＝请跟我说

I need the practice." ＝我需要练习

You can't say "……说我"，It's a wrong word order in formal written Chinese.In fact, as 说 means " talk" here, you need to put some preposition before it like 跟 or 对.

However, 说我 is popularly used in oral Chinese，which specally means" criticize me".

[iriszhc]

Hum, the chinese translations so far are alright, but... I would say these translations are a bit stiff and lack a friendly touch. Probably I would put something like 帮我练练中文吧，正在学呢。(Help me practice my Chinese. I'm learning it.) on a T shirt as this sounds more colloquial and easy-going.