User Comments - needtutor
needtutor
Posted on: Choosing a Room
December 17, 2011 at 2:35 PMokay, thanks !
Posted on: Choosing a Room
December 16, 2011 at 12:15 AMfor standard room, can we say 标准房 (biaozhunfang) , instead of 标准间（biaozhunjian) ? Would that sound weird or foreign ?
Posted on: Choosing a Room
December 16, 2011 at 12:02 AMHonest question: Do true non-smoking rooms even exist anywhere in China ?
As of right now, I truely doubt that there are any real non-smoking places anywhere in China, but I could be wrong.
China smells like cigarette smoke
Posted on: National Stereotypes
December 12, 2011 at 2:26 PMokay. Well, here is something to consider: Why is that when you go to Google Translate and type in "assume", none of the 16 Chinese entries are 认为 or 觉得 ？
I also checked a couple of other sources and didn't see either 认为 or 觉得 when I searched "assume" .
I think it's because "assume" has a different connotation than "to think" and "to believe". Thinking is based on logic, whereas "assuming" is taking a preconceived notion and banking on it to be true, until proven false.
Posted on: National Stereotypes
December 12, 2011 at 10:48 AMHi,
I think that the word "assume" has a different connotation than "认为“ and "觉得”， because "assume" means to : suppose or think something without any proof.
So, while “人为”，“觉得” and "assume" all basically mean "to think/believe" , the significant difference in usage of "assume" is that it's used when someone thinks something based on little or no information.
For example, lots of westerners assume that most/all Chinese people play pingpong and drink tea every day, but this is actually not true at all. Westerners merely "assume" that Chinese people play pingpong and drink tea every day based on distant, outdated rumors , which in this case are the "little or no information" .
So, do you still think that 认为 and 觉得 can be used to express "assume" and "assumption" ? If not, do you think there are any more suitable Chinese words ?
Posted on: National Stereotypes
December 12, 2011 at 4:04 AMI'm a white guy, and Chinese people usually assume I'm an American. Chinese people also always assume that white people speak English.
How do I say "assume", as in the context I gave above ?
Posted on: 给力
December 18, 2011 at 11:52 PMI have a question about the usage of
只可意会不可言传
I learned this phrase a while ago, and I used it the other day but I don't know if I used it in the proper context. I was having a conversation with my Indonesian-Chinese (印尼华裔）friends about how I think that Indonesian-Chinese people look different than Chinese people who grew up in China. They wanted to know how specifically and I said "这个很难说，只可意会不可言传 ” , but I'm not sure if this usage was correct.
应该怎么讲呢？有没有更好的说法表达“我看得出来在印尼长大的华人长得跟在中国长大的中国人有些不一样，但是我说不出来有哪些不一样 ”。 有没有什么成语可以表达 ？