The-difference-between-English-and-Chinese

ThedifferencebetweenEnglishandChineseHavingbeenlearningEnglishforalmost8years,IhavereallyfoundsomedifferencesbetweenEnglishandChinese.Herearesomeofmyfindings.First,therearesomeliteraldifferencesbetweenthetwolanguages.Thedifferencescanalsobedividedintotwotypes.Oneisrelatedtothewordsthemselves,andtheotherisaboutthemeaningsofwords.YoumayhavenoticedthatsomeEnglishwordschangeaccordingtothepersonandtense.Theyareverbs.AndmostnounsinEnglishneedtochangetheirformswhentheyrefertotheplurality,WhileChinesecharacterslackchangesinform.WhenweneedtotellastoryhappenedinthepastinChinese,wejustneedtomarkitwithapasttimepoint,suchasyesterday,severaldaysagoorlonglongago.Wedon’tchangetheformsofthewordsatall.TheotherpointisthatsomeEnglishwordshavemorethanonemeaning,sodoChinese.ButusuallythemeaningsofEnglishcanhardlyconformtotheChinese,Thuscausingmuchdifficultyandchallengetothetranslation.Hereisoneexample:--ThisisanorderfromBush!--Idon’tcareitisfrombush,treeorgrass.Yes,youunderstandthemeaning,sodoI.butwhenbeingacquiredtotranslateitintoChinese,Ifeeltoohardformetomakeit.Second,bylearningEnglish,IfindtheBritishthinkdifferentlyfromtheChinese.Generallyspeaking,anEnglishsentenceisusuallymuchlongerthanaChineseone.Englishfeaturesinclearsubject,clearpredicateandyoucanfigureoutthefunctionofeachmemberofasentencewithoutmuchdifficulty.Well,asaChinese,havingbeenlearningChineseeversinceIwasborn,Ican’tpickoutthesubjectorpredicateeasilyfromanygivenChinesesentences.IwillgomadifItrytoanalysisChineseusingtheskillsIhaveacquiredfromlearningEnglish.Third,thereisadifferenceinculturebetweenBritishandChinese.AndIthinkitistherootwhyEnglishisdifferentfromChinese.Forexample,in60sto70slastcentury,thesouthKorean,SingaporeandChina’sHongKongandTaiwanwerecalled“thefourAsiantigers”.ButifyoutranslateitdirectlyfromChinesetoEnglish,itwillbe“thefourAsiandragons”.IfanEnglishmancomesacrossthetermforthefirsttime,hemaybeshockedandmistookitforanothermeaning.Forthedragon,whichisthesymbolofstrength,speedandvigor,representsevilinwesternculture.Andtheimageoftigerinwesternpeople’smindsconformstothesecharacteristics.SoitisthefourAsiantigersratherthanthefourAsiandragonsinEnglish.Andsuchexamplesrelatedtothedifferencesbetweenculturesarecountless.WhenIwasanEnglishbeginner,IwastoldthatChinesewasmuchcomplicatedanddifficultthanEnglish.Ididn’tbelievethatthen.Butnow,severalyearslater,especiallyaftertakingthetranslationcourseandfindingitreallyhardtofinishthetranslationexercisesIamdeeplyconvincedthatChineseissomethingIstillcannotmanagewell.