The best Chinese I’ve read by a westerner

[Kenny同志]

I couldn’t believe my eyes; the posts were written by a non-native speaker (David) of Chinese! His Chinese is apparently way better than most Chinese!

[rezaf]

How many years has he been studying Chinese?

[James Johnston]

David Rockell

Excellent translations, reasonable rates

Account type Freelancer

Experience Registered at ProZ.com: Sep 2000.

About me

At Global Language Forum Translations we specialize in Travel and Tourism, Advertising and Marketing, Finance, Business, Arts, Technical, Science, TV and Film

I have 7 years experience as a translator, in that time completing numerous projects. I hold a B. Ling (Chinese) and have studied and lived in China for over 8 years. My English editor John has worked in a wide range of jobs, and has degrees in Commerce and Physics.

For more details contact david@china-translate.com

Well, he's been registered as on the translation forum since 2000 and the post was written in 2002. If he wrote his description when he first registered that's 9 years as a professional translator. Plus he has a degree in Chinese.

I don't find it too intimidating, but then I'm not capable of judging the beauty of Chinese writing.

[roddy]

I find it more worrying that even on a professional translation forum a foreigner can't write Chinese without people going all gooey-eyed with wonder.

[Kenny同志]

Roddy, I might have overreacted, but I was really impressed by his near-native Chinese fluency. I’ve seen writings by many foreigners, but few as good as his.

PS: I am expecting that a Chinese book by a foreigner might hit the market in the near future, say, in ten years.

[Guest realmayo]

His Chinese is apparently way better than most Chinese!

I was really impressed by his near-native Chinese fluency

矛盾！

[Kenny同志]

Well, it’s an understatement. Maybe, I shouldn’t have been so stingy with my compliments. By the way, Andre Maurois thought Englishmen are more conservative except that they use understatements on themselves.

A quote from him

“An Englishman will say ‘ I have a little house in the country’; when he invites you to stay with him you will discover that the little house is a place with three hundred bedrooms. If you are a world tennis-champion, say ‘Yes, I don’t play too badly’. If you have crossed the Atlantic alone in a small boat, say ‘I do a little sailing.’”

[xianhua]

Can I just clarify, is this the best writing you have seen by a westerner or foreigner?

Also, I'm not sure where English modesty (a dying art I may add) comes into the situation.

[calif90071]

I don't know, I do think it is quite an accomplishment for a foreigner (especially a non-Asian foreigner) to become that fluent in Chinese, since it truly is an alien language in comparison to English, French, Italian, etc. It would take a foreigner many years of living in China, and probably quite a bit of additional practice as well, to become that competent. However, some say that the only indication that someone is truly fluent in a language is if they can masterfully create some sort of composition in that language; that has not happened with Chinese yet.

Who here will be the first? ;)

[Kenny同志]

Can I just clarify, is this the best writing you have seen by a westerner or foreigner?

Yes, it is.

[Guest realmayo]

By the way, Andre Maurois thought Englishmen are more conservative except that they use understatements on themselves.

Or, in Korea, 650 soldiers being attacked by 10,000 Chinese; the nearby Americans asked how things were, and the British guy said "A bit sticky, things are pretty sticky down there". The Americans figured this sounded like things weren't too bad and didn't send any help!

[rob07]

I’ve seen writings by many foreigners, but few as good as his.

What do you think of this:

昨夜朱楼梦，今宵水国吟．

岛云蒸大海，岚气接丛林．

月本无今古，情缘自浅深．

汉南春历历，焉得不关心.

[xiaocai]

What do you think of this:

昨夜朱楼梦，今宵水国吟．

岛云蒸大海，岚气接丛林．

月本无今古，情缘自浅深．

汉南春历历，焉得不关心.

Very good. Not to mention she was only 15 when she composed it.

[Kenny同志]

Well, I know nothing about poetry. But I admit, as a native speaker, I can't compose as good a piece as this.

[rob07]

Xiaocai has busted me - the poem in my last post was one of the poems from the 红楼梦, a classic Chinese novel. For the purposes of the novel, the poem is attributed to a fictional 15 year old blonde foreign beauty. The characters in the novel say: "难为他！竟比我们中国人还强。"

Serious question though, is it just as good as the other poems in the book or did 曹雪芹 try to add any kind of foreign or uncultured flavour to it? I'm not able to tell.

[xiaocai]

I could only enjoy poems as much as an average high school student does (well that is the level my Chinese education is up to), and therefore have no idea if it would sound a bit foreign or even a bit uncultured to a true poet or not. Also I could vaguely tell the difference between a 打油诗 and a 好诗, but that's it and there is no way I can compare this to other poems in 红楼梦 and point out straight away which one is superior to the other...

Anyway back to the topic. I think what is the best is rather objective, and I think it might be better put as "my favourite" or something similar, IMHO. I agree that his Chinese is good but it may not be the style that everyone can appreciate. Personally I'd like simple Chinese with just enough 成语 and whatnot (but used appropriately) that flows well, which sounds easy but not many Chinese native can do now, including myself.