Press on a word and get the pinyin and definition

[david387]

I find this very useful. I can read the paragraph, and if I encounter a word, I can quickly get the definition, as well as the pronunciation. Have you encountered any other phone apps where it works in a similar fashion?

 

And you can see here I was not sure of the meaning for 震撼. And now for practice I will write this in Chinese.

 

我觉得这个用法很好。我能读怎么文章，如果我遇到一个不知道的单词，我能快地发现单词的意思，单词的拼音。我问你如果你遇到任何类似的手机app让你用这种的方式呢？

 

在这里你能看到我不知道震撼的意思。好，现在我把这个信息，就练习翻译成中文。

 

谢谢

 

[歐博思]

Pleco.

[DavyJonesLocker]

6 hours ago, david387 said:

I find this very useful

 

What APP are you referring to David? 

Haven't seen anything better than PLECO myself although the OCR screen reader has a lot of room for improvement. Screen reader won't read a  MS word document  and OCR won't make much sense of wechat messages.

[david387]

That is someone's message in the moments section of the HelloTalk app. of course you can post anything you want in your own moments and then use that feature. 

[Publius]

Yeah, that seems quite convenient.

 

But I'd like to make some corrections to your Chinese, if you don't mind.

 

我觉得这个用法很好。我能读怎么文章阅读文章时^①，如果我遇到一个不知道的单词，我能很^②快地发现单词的意思，和^③单词的拼音。我问你如果你是否^④遇到过^⑤任何类似的手机app让你用这种的^⑥方式呢？

在这里你能看到我不知道震撼的意思。好，现在我就把这个信息，就^⑦练习翻译成中文。

 

① Don't know what you want to say. 怎么 is an adverb. It cannot modify 文章.

② You can't turn a one-syllable adjective directly into an adverb by adding 地. Chinese syntax notoriously has prosodic constraints. Monosyllabic words and disyllabic words behave differently.

③ This comma is confusing. Just use the conjunction. Or if you must, use 顿号(、) instead. It marks a shorter pause than comma.

④ You seem to be translating "I want to ask you if you...." But 如果 can only introduce a conditional clause in Chinese. A yes-no question, whether direct or indirect, is formed in Chinese by juxtaposing a negative form of the verb with the positive, e.g. 你吃没吃过饭？ or more formal and in written style 我想知道你是否吃过午饭。

⑤ This is a perfect example of the perfect aspect ("have encountered").

⑥ 种 is a classifier just like 个. It's tacked directly onto a noun. Don't let the English "this kind of" interfere with your Chinese.

⑦ Hard to explain. Only thing I can say is 把字结构 has greater affinity with the verb than the adverb 就.

 

(Off topic comment:

I've read your post about poor grammar and people's response. You know, native speakers can be very tolerant towards non-natives speaking their language. As long as they can understand you, no need to be rude, right? Foreigners have reported different responses when they speak Chinese. Roughly like this:

    Phrasebook level ---> Surprise. "Wow, you can speak Chinese?!"

    Beginner level ---> Profuse praise. "Your Chinese is perfect. How long have you been studying? One year? That's amazing."

    Conversational ---> Subtle corrections here and there, on word choices etc.

    Fluent ---> Nitpicking on your accent.

    Really advanced ---> Nothing.

At your current stage, I'd say people probably won't bother to correct you unless you insist. The problem with your Chinese is you're still translating. I don't know the remedy except read more and listen more, and maybe stick with sentence patterns you're absolutely sure are correct, in other words, don't make up your own sentences, just mimic and substitute even if you don't know the grammar. It's tough, I know, trying to express an adult mind with the language skill of a toddler. But 饭要一口一口吃，路要一步一步走. That's how we all learned our mother tongues. By copying.)

[david387]

1 hour ago, Publius said:

At your current stage, I'd say people probably won't bother to correct you unless you insist

I wrote a long reply and then I clicked the wrong button and lost everything. Haha so I have to try again. 

 

Thank you for your response. I read everything you said and I will try to review your response again tomorrow.

 

Generally speaking, at this age when someone makes corrections to what I wrote in Chinese, I am able to understand why did it. and it seems that I'm able to remember some of the recurring problems that I have and improve.

 

I know that I will be doing this for a long time and I really enjoy it and I appreciate your help.

 

 

 

[Shelley]

3 hours ago, Publius said:

The problem with your Chinese is you're still translating.

 

This. 

I found that the moment I stopped translating Chinese into English and to some degree english into Chinese, I upped my comprehension of grammar, sentence structure and meaning.

 

I wrote about it here and there were some useful comments https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/50055-preserving-word-order/?tab=comments#comment-383691

 

My reading speed improved as I didn't stop to translate into correct english and only stopped to check unknown words when needed.

 

I also found that using short sentences, worked better. Break up long english sentences into small sections, then if you want/can join them together with conjunctions etc. 

[DavyJonesLocker]

1 hour ago, david387 said:

I know that I will be doing this for a long time and I really enjoy it and I appreciate your help.

 

Without a doubt, the single most important aspect to learning Chinese in my view.  There will be a lot of ups and downs, self doubts and signposts along they way to making progress so 坚持下去 ?