[[`Y u m m y]]

thank you everyone on the opinions between Mandarin vs. Cantonese!! ^__^
(omgoodness, I can't believe my friend didn't tell me Cantonese had 9 tone -___- I would have died taking that class. aha, )

I didn't even know there's 9 tones. I guess people doesn't notice since they always speak that language.

[Psychotic Otaku]

i have a question
if I wanted to say something in the past tense, would I use �了�
or does it depend on the verb?
like for example
he was a cute boy:
'他是可爱少年了'

[[`Y u m m y]]

^ There's no tense in chinese. It just stays the same. If you want it to be like past tense, you say yesterday, last night, this morning, etc.

[renjitehsmex]

Can someone write for me the name in Chinese characters

"Fan Keu Cheun"

lol

it might not be correct because I don't know which characters you are talking about.
范克群

[Silent Tears]

i have a question
if I wanted to say something in the past tense, would I use �了�
or does it depend on the verb?
like for example
he was a cute boy:
'他是可爱少年了'

You can use 曾经 as a past tense for your sentence

he was a cute boy = 他曾经是一个可爱的少年

So that means he's not cute anymore xD

[andsharonx]

google translator says 梦魇, like what vvn said, but its pronounced meng4 mo2 in chinese which is literally dream demon.

Well It is read as Meng4 Yan3. It is like a nightmare or a feeling that when you sleep, you are being pressed down by someone. Well, basically it is due to tiredness.

oh gahh...i saw the 'gui' like part and thought it was 'muo'. Sorry, my bad!!

Aww tysm guys (:

[Psychotic Otaku]

oh okies ^^
thanks for the help~!

[vc1188]

btw, u guys reckon learning mando through a uni is effective? i only have minimal mando knowledge, and basic canto knowledge. i'm considering taking up a chinese (mando) major in uni and hoping to be somewat fluent by the time i graduate. any1 have experience and know if u'd be able to understand chinese media??

I don't have a perspective of someone learning from scratch, from the very basic fundamentals, but I think by taking the class consistently every day you will learn a lot. Watching Chinese TV/movies and listening to Chinese (news, music, etc.) will definitely help. You just have to surround yourself with the language and you'll learn quickly. That's what helped me with Spanish.. and my mom picked up Hokkien/Taiwanese just by watching the soap operas

I also think if you have the chance.. STUDY ABROAD! in China or Taiwan or some other Chinese-speaking country. Live with a host family too.

[1TYMRMYVZT]

Hey. ^^;
Can someone tell me if 沈首恬 is an appropriate name for a girl?
And... what does it mean? >.<;

[schadenfreud1c]

as a native cantonese speaker taking a mandarin course in college, i am going crazy!

Mandarin is such a beautiful dialect but my tongue refuses to adhere to the tones! Writing it is not a problem as it's the same characters but everything is so formal! I miss my "ah"s and "la"s.


*pokes mandarin book* why didnt my mommy make me take chinese school in mandarin when i was younger

[tomatotooty]

well, my mom is a cantonese and we speak perfect mandarin (: my grandma picked up chinese later and it sounds funny. i guess its harder when you pick up cantonese before chinese. but you can master both chinese and cantonese.. its possible:D

[★jace★]

Hey. ^^;
Can someone tell me if 沈首恬 is an appropriate name for a girl?
And... what does it mean? >.<;

if we look at each character individually, 首 means first while 恬 means quiet/tranquill.

as for whether its an appropriate name...to me, the 首 part is a tad weird, but hey as long as you like it...

[1TYMRMYVZT]

if we look at each character individually, 首 means first while 恬 means quiet/tranquill.

as for whether its an appropriate name...to me, the 首 part is a tad weird, but hey as long as you like it...

Ohhh. I see, I see. Okay then. >.<;
Thank you very much! ^-^

[miss scarlett]

Hii!

I'm thinking of taking a Mandarin class over the summer this year (over Japanese ) and was wondering which was harder to learn, Mandarin or Cantonese. My friend who speaks Cantonese said Cantonese was easier because Mandarin had a lot of different accents when pronouncing it. I asked a second person who spoke both Cantonese and Mandarin, and she said Mandarin was easier because Cantonese uses a lot of slang.

Some input please? ^___^

Cantonese is MUCH hard to learn. Your friend said Cantonese is easier because she speaks it, lol.
I'm a native Cantonese speaker and even I have to admit that Cantonese can probably be the most difficult language to learn for a foreigner.
Not only are there different tones, they are all slang. They way how you speak and write are completely different. Cantonese is composed of slang.
Mandarin is different as the way how you speak and write are the same.

[KateLove]

I made a topic on Cantonese but the mods deleted it .. so I suppose it belongs here?

Anyways I'm thinking about learning Cantonese because it's my long-term boyfriend's
1st language? (though he speaks English fluently; so that's not the issue) I would just like to
learn Cantonese since he said it would be awesome if I learned. His father doesn't speak
much English so it'd be nice to be able to talk to him too. (We're basically like already Husband/Wife).

Anyways just looking for others on the subject ... any information advice?? I got the following
questions in my other topic.

"What are you"?
Well I believe I am Human ... but if you mean nationality I'm American and if you mean
race then Irish, French, Japanese

"What languages do you speak"?
English is the only fluent language I know ... but I studied German all through HS & have been studying
Korean for 3 1/2 years ... so basics on both of those.

"Why don't you learn Mandarin first"?
Well seeing as learning Cantonese is so I can speak to my boyfriend and his fanily in Canto ... there's no
real point in learning Mandarin (My BFs Mandarin is just OK)

I made a topic on Cantonese but the mods deleted it .. so I suppose it belongs here?

Anyways I'm thinking about learning Cantonese because it's my long-term boyfriend's
1st language? (though he speaks English fluently; so that's not the issue) I would just like to
learn Cantonese since he said it would be awesome if I learned. His father doesn't speak
much English so it'd be nice to be able to talk to him too. (We're basically like already Husband/Wife).

Anyways just looking for others on the subject ... any information advice?? I got the following
questions in my other topic.

"What are you"?
Well I believe I am Human ... but if you mean nationality I'm American and if you mean
race then Irish, French, Japanese

"What languages do you speak"?
English is the only fluent language I know ... but I studied German all through HS & have been studying
Korean for 3 1/2 years ... so basics on both of those.

"Why don't you learn Mandarin first"?
Well seeing as learning Cantonese is so I can speak to my boyfriend and his fanily in Canto ... there's no
real point in learning Mandarin (My BFs Mandarin is just OK)

[PDURRR]

http://www.cantonese.ca/

heres a good way to start
with the basics
i'll try to find some other stuff

[remmy]

KateLove Cantonese is a very tonal language so it might be hard to pronounce the words correctly at first. Do you want to learn how to jsut speak it or do you want to learn how to write in Chinese too?

[infinityyy]

Cantonese is MUCH hard to learn. Your friend said Cantonese is easier because she speaks it, lol.
I'm a native Cantonese speaker and even I have to admit that Cantonese can probably be the most difficult language to learn for a foreigner.
Not only are there different tones, they are all slang. They way how you speak and write are completely different. Cantonese is composed of slang.
Mandarin is different as the way how you speak and write are the same.

Gah, that's crazy! Aha,
I'm really bad with the accents.. I tried saying something in Mandarin to my fluent friend and she said I sounded like a really "Americanized" Mandarin speaker. If I tried Cantonese.. omo, ahahaha. I think I may have to just stick with trying to learn Mandarin and then just pick up some Cantonese basics on my way.

---

I was wondering if someone can help translate these magazine scans/comics for me (and the whole Battle thread )
They're adorablee~
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1729/14kc1.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8805/15ip0.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6356/16pj1.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4497/17iz2.jpg

credits to this thread : http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?sho...191814&st=0

There were a lot more scans, but those four were already a bunch T__T
If anyone can translate them (what's being said in each box/bubble) it'd be really great!
Even translating just one would be awesome.
Thank you nonetheless! ^__^

(Btw, do any of you guys know Battle? They're a Korean group doing promotions in China right now.)

[Deziel]

I don't have a perspective of someone learning from scratch, from the very basic fundamentals, but I think by taking the class consistently every day you will learn a lot. Watching Chinese TV/movies and listening to Chinese (news, music, etc.) will definitely help. You just have to surround yourself with the language and you'll learn quickly. That's what helped me with Spanish.. and my mom picked up Hokkien/Taiwanese just by watching the soap operas

I also think if you have the chance.. STUDY ABROAD! in China or Taiwan or some other Chinese-speaking country. Live with a host family too.

About the media thing... The soaps help ALOT... even though I don't know ALOT of mandarin, but through watching mandarin drama (and reading some of the chiense characters) I can talk to someone, and understand... given that they speak slowly. xD If not, I catch a word or two of what they were saying and improvise on that.

OT: I always wanted to go study in Taiwan or something... but their math scares me... Even though I am 'smarter' than the average joe, I don't think I can take on the math in china. x-x

[Silent Tears]

Gah, that's crazy! Aha,
I'm really bad with the accents.. I tried saying something in Mandarin to my fluent friend and she said I sounded like a really "Americanized" Mandarin speaker. If I tried Cantonese.. omo, ahahaha. I think I may have to just stick with trying to learn Mandarin and then just pick up some Cantonese basics on my way.

---

I was wondering if someone can help translate these magazine scans/comics for me (and the whole Battle thread )
They're adorablee~
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1729/14kc1.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8805/15ip0.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6356/16pj1.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4497/17iz2.jpg

credits to this thread : http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?sho...191814&st=0

There were a lot more scans, but those four were already a bunch T__T
If anyone can translate them (what's being said in each box/bubble) it'd be really great!
Even translating just one would be awesome.
Thank you nonetheless! ^__^

(Btw, do any of you guys know Battle? They're a Korean group doing promotions in China right now.)

I'll try to do one by one
and sorry I don't really know Battle

The first URL :
-first row-
RYU: We must show our best in China!
KIHYUN: Hyung, don't you think I'm PERFECT enough?
OTHERS: ?!!!

RYU: TaeHwa, I hope you can lead us
TAEHWA - I thought you are the leader of us......
RYU: #$%&%$
CHRIS - Eating by ignoring others

-second row-
RYU: Firstly, we need to diet and work out, transcend HWICHAN's tricep muscles!
KIHYUN: Hyung, I can't stand it anymore!!!
HWICHAN - showing "sparkling" tricep muscles
TAEHWA - chocolate...chocolate......

-third row-
??: Actually my body looks nice......As for my face, I believe that everyone has their own judgement!
??: I won't let them see my little tummy again while dancing!
??: **sorry i can't see those words ><**

The second URL :
-first row-
RYU: Second, learn Mandarin so we can have better exchange with our fans
??: Let me see what's the meaning of "marches forward courageously"
Ah! I found it! huh?Why isn't there a translation of Korean!!! T_T
??: Who's this? Our fans!
??: The translation of BATTLE in Chinese is lords it over -proud-

-2nd row-
??: Before I start to learn, I must find a cute pen just like me to improve my study efficiency
KIHYUN: my fans told me, a good memory is inferior to the rotten pen(?), but...It's so difficult to write Chinese words T_T
??: We must watch TV to raise our language feeling! What is this? **bla bla, hard to translate ><**

The thrid URL :
-first row-
RYU: Once more, to the person whom we meet for the first time, we certainly must demonstrate the beautiful warm smiling face
?? - O MO NA
BATTLE - smiling practising

-2nd row-
LIO - Practice excessively, convulsions on his face! -stiff~-
??: To conquer a wide range of our fans, except being cute, we must demonstrate our side as a MAN

-third row-
??: I'm enough for you to rely on......
??+?? - CEO & famous male model
LIO: I've work so hard on my "self-confident" thigh muscle
??: Basketball skills small case!

The fourth URL :
-first row-
??: The last one is the most important! Everybody certainly must feel our sincerity!!
BATTLE: Do you want to elope with us?
??: RYU hyung, you're getting stronger and stronger nowadays! Scary!
RYU: Huh? Am I?
OTHERS: Oh so scary! Scary! (refers to RYU)

Hmm, that's all......
SO sorry that I did a really rough translations
And i don't know the member names (escapes~~)