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rdearman
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby rdearman » Sun May 20, 2018 10:22 am

They still send you to Lackland AFB?
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby rdearman » Sun May 20, 2018 12:04 pm

ロータス wrote:
rdearman wrote:They still send you to Lackland AFB?


Yep. Air Force only has one BMT location so I'm going to have to endure Texas summer Dx

Yeah, I went in the summer too. A looonnnngggg time ago. But on the brightside, it seems they don't make you do pushups as punishment anymore.
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Axon
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby Axon » Tue May 22, 2018 3:13 pm

Whoa, very surprised to be mentioned in another log!

The first thing was corrected by a native - I meant to say "not as bad as I expected it to be" but clearly used the wrong word. It should just be "没有我想得那么难写."

The second, yes, it's just a filler word there. The third, I had mentioned several entries back that I had a friend who was also studying Spanish, so I meant it as a reference to him. 那个is also a very common conversational filler that's crept into my writing thanks to lots of WeChat.

I wasn't exaggerating when I said very little of my little entry was natural - I'm very much inexperienced with writing in Chinese. But I'm glad the vocabulary could be helpful for you at least!
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smallwhite
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby smallwhite » Wed May 23, 2018 3:38 am

I'm not native in Mandarin but hopefully advanced.

ロータス wrote:至少写西班牙语没有我希望的难写。At least writing in Spanish is not my desired/wish... 的难写? Difficult to write? Difficulty writing?

Assuming we were indeed trying to say "Spanish is not as hard to write as I had hoped",

Either:
写西班牙语没有我希望的
Writing Spanish is not as hard as I hope(d)

or:
西班牙语没有我希望的难写
Spanish is not as hard to write as I hope(d)

or other variations.

ロータス wrote:我现在写的是关于那个语言。Does "那" mean 'and... now' here?


This "那" means "so" and in this case works just like "It's been raining all day. So, what shall we do this evening?". It means "in this case" but often you just say it as a filler and you don't really mean "in consideration of this case that I have just stated".


ロータス wrote:我的那个学西班牙语的朋友真的进步了。Why is "那个" there? Does it have to be place there or could it have been left out?

"我的学西班牙语的朋友" feels like a general non-specific "My friends who learn Spanish";
"我的那个学西班牙语的朋友" feels like "That friend of mine who is learning Spanish" or "You know that friend that I mentioned who is learning Spanish? He".

So, just as in English, the 2nd version makes more sense in this case. The friend had previously been mentioned.

The first version does not refer to any specific friend:
My friends who learn Spanish call me Alba.
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby smallwhite » Fri May 25, 2018 2:58 am

ロータス wrote:
... confusing but mostly understandable. Like, "我拿了一本安徒生的童话故事看了起来。" Maybe it's the double 了 but I don't know what 看了 is doing here.

In my part of the Chinese world we use "起来" a bit differently but AFAIK in your sentence it means:

我拿了一本安徒生的童话故事看了起来
I tooked a Andersen fairy tale book and started to read.

我拿一本安徒生的童话故事看起来。
I tooked a Andersen fairy tale book and started to read.

(I know it's not "tooked").

I believe you can also say:

我拿了一本安徒生的童话故事,並看了起来。
I tooked a Andersen fairy tale book, and started to read.
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby smallwhite » Fri May 25, 2018 4:42 am

ロータス wrote:
The hard part for me is knowing when there are these unspoken words or tense changes. I have seen a few sentences that have an 'if' in the translation but no 'if' word in the original sentence.

You mean "Had I known, I wouldn't have gone"!
Subject-verb inversion = if.

Or "Seek and you will find".
This one is the same as in programming:
IF ( ... ) THEN { ..... }
( ... && ..... )

are both IF-THEN statements.
If seek, then will find.
Seek and will find.

ロータス wrote:Maybe it's the double 了 but I don't know what 看了 is doing here.

ロータス wrote:For "我拿了一本安徒生的童话故事看了起来。" do you assume the 'and' because there is a second verb?

It's hard for me to describe what went on inside my brain without some point of reference. How did you originally interpret the sentence?
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby Axon » Sat Jun 09, 2018 2:53 pm

Well done! Where are you taking these online tests?
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby smallwhite » Sat Jun 09, 2018 3:44 pm

> Going over it again with a pop-up dictionary makes so much more sense now. Except for this sentence:
> 请 进 。 你 找 我 有 什么 (__事情___)?

Please enter。You seek me have what(__matter___)?

= Please enter. What is the matter? / What is the matter that you're coming to me for?
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby eido » Tue Jun 19, 2018 10:32 pm

ロータス wrote:Got hit with the Open General call x.x I'll be joining rdearman as someone who experiences Texas heat during basic training Dx

Only good news is that locs as a hairstyle is going to be approved in July.

Really seeing a lot of new words in Upper Elementary. Mostly common words so not too bad. Would like to finish this and LowerInt before I ship.

So does that mean they're taking you for a basic position? Like, er, what is it... Private something or other?

And 'locs'. Is that the long hairstyle I see in Bing Images?
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Re: Reading 普通话

Postby smallwhite » Thu Jun 21, 2018 2:26 am

ロータス wrote:... do the sentences seem 'natural' or 'native-like'? As in, do these look like sentences you would see in comics/novels or a textbook?

I can't tell. Written Mandarin never sounds completely natural to me.
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