Here’s a site with speeches from various conventions & conferences translated to Chinese and other languages by volunteers, a sample one, http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/chi_hans/mike_rowe_celebrates_dirty_jobs.html Under About this talk, on the right, click on Open interactive transcript to see the speech in Chinese. Click on any part of the speech to hear it in English, pretty neat!
Speech Translations
November 19, 2009 at 12:28 pm (Language, Translation, commercial, culture, learning)
Forgive “恕”
May 31, 2009 at 6:38 pm (Language, Translation, learning, musings)
Tags: chinese
A thought-provoking essay on what forgiving really means: In Chinese, the word forgive is made of two characters meaning “as ” or “such as” and “heart.” Maybe to forgive someone, we really gotta look into our heart.
Good Translation on WWD’s Chinese Edition
May 19, 2009 at 5:08 pm (Language, Translation, commercial, learning)
Tags: Translation
I really like how easy it is to switch between the English and Chinese versions, what a great way to learn translation and both languages. Check it out.
The article below wasn’t able to use the title pun from the English version in Chinese, which works out in the end, imho forced puns are better left out.
穿上 Lim 的服装外出：Phillip Lim 推出三款产品
Phillip Lim 充满乐观。他说，“我们并不担心经济状况。虽然一切并非完美无暇，但在这些时候已经做到了尽可能的完美。”
Lim 的积极态度得到了一些强劲数字的支持。据 Lim 介绍，2008 年的批发总额超过 4,000 万美元，预计 2009 年将在此基础上增长 15%。
与此同时，今年秋季的亚洲销售较 2008 年秋季增长 40%，欧洲则增长了 110%。仅在意大利，这一系列就新增了 32 家零售客户。
Out on a Lim: Phillip Lim’s Three Product Launches
Phillip Lim is optimistic. “We’re not fearful of the economy,” he says. “Not everything is perfect, but in these times, it’s as perfect as it can be.”
Some strong numbers back up Lim’s positive attitude. Wholesale figures for 2008 totaled more than $40 million, according to Lim, with projections for 2009 upping that by 15 percent.
Meanwhile, sales in Asia grew by 40 percent this fall over fall 2008, and in Europe, 110 percent. In Italy alone, the line picked up 32 new retail accounts.
Source: http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/out-on-a-lim-phillip-lims-three-product-launches-2132774
New Literature in Translation: Five Spice Street
April 14, 2009 at 1:40 pm (Language, Translation, literature)
Zeping Chen’s translation of Can Xue’s Five Spice Street just came out, can’t wait to get it!
Five Spice Street cover
Why do readers think writers have to be beautiful too?
April 11, 2009 at 9:42 pm (Language, culture, literature, musings)
A popular thread on Tianya (China’s biggest intenet forum) reveals what some supposedly beautiful writers really look like. Many commenters claim to be totally disillusioned and disappointed.
In a related note, does beauty grarantee happiness? Many people seem to assume that if a woman was attractive, she wouldn’t be left alone long enough to gain the necessary focus for her writing. Therefore, an unattractive woman would be so miserable and alone that she can channel her bitterness into brillant words?
One comment that caught my eye:
“这也是好事。写作某种程度上是慢性自杀，能拥有尘世幸福的话，大部分人是不愿意受那份罪的。这也许也是不少人成名之后，创作力就式微了的原因吧。”
Translated:
“This might be a good thing. Writing is a form of extended suicide in a way, so if someone could be happy in life, most wouldn’t want to suffer to write instead. This may be why many writers lose their creative genius after gaining fame.”
A bit morbid perhaps? Also somewhat true. Writing is a kind of extraction of life. When you’re enjoying a good life where every desire is fulfilled, the lack of yearning takes away some of the longing necessary for distilling good writing.
A Better Sentence?
July 12, 2008 at 8:24 pm (Language)
Tags: Work in Progress
Should I translate
我在那里为谁过着他们不知道的童年。
as “Whose childhood was I living in? A childhood that no one knows. “
OR
“Whose unknown childhood was I living in?”
The second version is more succinct.
Learning Chinese The Phonetic Way
June 6, 2008 at 10:12 am (Language, learning)
Tags: chinese, Language, learning, phonetic
Remember when people did this for English learning?
“Thank you very much” became “三块肉给妈吃 (Three chunks of meat for mom to eat).”
Who knew there were enterprising people who built a similar course for Chinese-learning too? Funny… You’ve got to see the approximations the creators came up for Chinese words…
