FinalFan18 Posted April 15, 2011 at 05:32 PM Report Posted April 15, 2011 at 05:32 PM I'm looking for parallel english-chinese texts. I've been using www.project-syndicate.org for Chinese and English articles to get a feel for the syntax of chinese. Any other good sources for online parallel texts? Also, I've been using Mandarinspot.com to annotate chinese texts but when working with Project Syndicate articles, sometimes the advertisements end up covering half the text once it has been run through MandarinSpot. Any better annotation devices online? I'm looking for something where I can just highlight a word/character and get the pinyin and translation, preferrably a free or cheap program too. any ideas? Quote
c6ray Posted April 16, 2011 at 08:36 AM Report Posted April 16, 2011 at 08:36 AM Any other good sources for online parallel texts? This interlinear Bible uses an easy to read large font for the 汉字。 1 Quote
Scoobyqueen Posted April 17, 2011 at 07:25 AM Report Posted April 17, 2011 at 07:25 AM I am not sure the Bible gives a good feel for (even) standard English syntax. Are you looking for something like the Njstarword processing tool. This programm provides translation of each word and I think pinyin as you move the cursor over it plus other features. It is available on trial and cost around 50-80 dollars last time I looked. I hope Iunderstood your question. 1 Quote
c6ray Posted April 17, 2011 at 09:04 PM Report Posted April 17, 2011 at 09:04 PM I am not sure the Bible gives a good feel for (even) standard English syntax. You are right that neither of the English Bible versions on that site give a good feel for modern standard English syntax. The King James Version is 400 years old. It is not suitable for English learners. But it is suitable for many English native speakers for use as a parallel text because as the most popular English Bible, it is a familiar text. The Bible in Basic English is a version made specifically for speakers of English as a second language. Besides having only a 1000 word vocabulary, it appears to avoid complicated syntax. But I believe this is an advantage for beginning learners of English. More advanced learners could look for another modern English translation; there are many. One nice thing about using the Bible for language learning is that when you get ready to study a more obscure language you may find audio for a portion of scripture. Audio for the entire New Testament or even the entire Bible can be found online for the most popular languages such as Mandarin Chinese. 1 Quote
c6ray Posted April 18, 2011 at 07:56 AM Report Posted April 18, 2011 at 07:56 AM when working with Project Syndicate articles, sometimes the advertisements end up covering half the text once it has been run through MandarinSpot. Any better annotation devices online? That MandarinSpot looks pretty cool. Maybe you just need an ad blocker for the Project Syndicate site. Although I didn't try that because I didn't find any Chinese articles there...when I have more time I'll look harder. Quote
New Members aijidan Posted April 18, 2011 at 04:21 PM New Members Report Posted April 18, 2011 at 04:21 PM I use a series of books from the "foreign language teaching and research press" (外语教学与研究出版社) (fltrp.com) The series is called "书虫 牛津英语双语读物" (Bookworm - Oxford english bilingual reading material) They are intended for Chinese students studying English but work the other way round, too. There are various levels available, simple stories such as Robinson Crusoe etc. Available in major bookstores in Mainland China. Cheers Aijidan Quote
jbradfor Posted April 19, 2011 at 02:33 PM Report Posted April 19, 2011 at 02:33 PM Similar to the previous, you might want to consider looking at the Foreign Langage Press. They have a number of Chinese classics translated into English, with both versions. Quote
Glenn Posted April 21, 2011 at 02:05 PM Report Posted April 21, 2011 at 02:05 PM In an amazing coincidence, I just came across this blog: http://www.eva.sg/ The author is Taiwanese, has good English, and is living in Japan. She writes in Chinese and English. It looks like she writes manga, and uploads them in both languages as well. Quote
pancake Posted April 22, 2011 at 06:55 AM Report Posted April 22, 2011 at 06:55 AM Using the Bible to study like that is great if you're a Christian, I suppose. I tried to read the Bible once, but I am afraid it's just a terribly dull book, punctuated by bits of JHVE sanctioned genocide. Ironically, reading the Bible actually turned me off Christianity. Now, I'm not a Communist either, but I picked up Mao's little red book (mandarin and English) for 10 kuai. Can't beat that price, and at least the material is still sort-of relevant considering that 毛泽东思想 is ostensibly still party doctrine. 1 Quote
character Posted June 21, 2011 at 04:13 PM Report Posted June 21, 2011 at 04:13 PM Chinasprout has a number of bilingual books of Chinese classics. There are fan translations online of a number of wuxia novels. Quote
Guest realmayo Posted October 13, 2013 at 11:48 AM Report Posted October 13, 2013 at 11:48 AM Came across a new book of Chinese short stories with English parallel text: Short Stories in Chinese: New Penguin Parallel Text (New Penguin Parallel Texts) by John Balcom http://www.amazon.co.uk/Short-Stories-Chinese-Penguin-Parallel/dp/0143118358 seems good so far Quote
Geiko Posted October 13, 2013 at 07:39 PM Report Posted October 13, 2013 at 07:39 PM I'm reading that book right now! It may be above my level, it took me one whole week to read the first story, 哦，香雪, and I had to search and learn many new words, but once you've acquired the new vocabulary, it's easy to read, sentence structure is not too complicated. As soon as I bought that book I thought it would be interesting to use those short stories for the Story of the Month project... Quote
roddy Posted October 14, 2013 at 11:53 AM Report Posted October 14, 2013 at 11:53 AM Same book has been mentioned here also. Quote
Guest realmayo Posted October 14, 2013 at 12:55 PM Report Posted October 14, 2013 at 12:55 PM Ah -- I did a search for Balcom but nothing came up. Quote
roddy Posted October 14, 2013 at 01:31 PM Report Posted October 14, 2013 at 01:31 PM Odd, is it coming up for you now? That's how I found the topic to link to. This one doesn't show up on Google as it hasn't been indexed yet, but that one does. Quote
Guest realmayo Posted October 14, 2013 at 08:25 PM Report Posted October 14, 2013 at 08:25 PM When I first did the search it was from google.com, <chinese-forums.com Balcom> -- I failed to prefix with "site:". I've never got the google search from within chinese-forums to work in the past and just checking now it still doesn't work for me. Anyway I should have done the non-google search because that brings up the result (and this page too now). Quote
roddy Posted October 14, 2013 at 08:43 PM Report Posted October 14, 2013 at 08:43 PM That does bring up the page, albeit quite far down the page (although Google serves up very different results for the same query these days). Right, now to message you and figure out why Google search isn't working for you... Quote
roddy Posted October 15, 2013 at 10:22 AM Report Posted October 15, 2013 at 10:22 AM Problem traced to a browser plug-in. Quote
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