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The Challenges of Protecting the Environment: An English-Chinese Practice Passage
The following is an original text written by me about environmental issues. It can be used as a consecutive interpreting practice, or as study material for IELTS writing or NAATI interpreting training. Enjoy! The Challenges of Protecting the Environment 环境保护的挑战 Carl Gene Fordham 傅君恺 Firstly, it must be said that tackling environmental issues should […]
Cryptic Chinese Quiz
This week’s quiz is a cryptic (隐晦的含义) one. The following 14 words have been translated literally (character-by-character) from Chinese into English. Your challenge is to see if you can guess the original Chinese word, as well as the idiomatic English translation. You get double points if you can guess both languages. electric brain immortal palm […]
12 Illicit Drugs in English and Chinese
The following is a list I’ve collected of the most common illicit drugs in the West, including both the English names, and Chinese translations and pinyin. This collection should be useful for translating and interpreting students practicing in legal, police and medical contexts. I would recommend you learn all of this vocabulary if you want […]
Random Word Trivia Quiz Part 3
Here’s another one – I’m on a roll! See how many you can get right – and you get bonus points if you can guess the translation into your second language. 1. You’re famous for doing bad things. (adjective) 2. You can hear the sound of people having sex. (noun) 3. You’re obsessed with […]
Random Word Trivia Quiz Part 2
Now let’s see how you go with Part 2 of the Random Word Trivia Quiz Translation Challenge. Remember, your goal is to guess both the English and Chinese expression for each question. You get double points if you can guess it in your second language! 1. Someone who stays inside home a lot, plays […]
Translation Challenge: Random Word Trivia Quiz
It’s random word trivia quiz time! See how many of these you can guess – one point for English, one point for Chinese. 1. You have dry skin on your hands after so many years of hard work. (noun) 2. The skin on your finger on the side of your nail is peeling back […]
A Detailed Guide to One-Character Verbs in Mandarin
The following is a comprehensive outline of 90 per cent of the advanced one-character verbs you’ll encounter in written and spoken Mandarin. Criteria for inclusion: 1. The verb must be able to function by itself as one-character or with a complement. Compounds will not be included. 2. The verb must either have both an original […]
49 Trades, Crafts and Occupations in English and Chinese
The following is a glossary of trades (手艺), crafts (工艺) and occupations (职业) in English and Chinese. Basically it’s a run-down of the most common courses you can study at TAFE (or any technical college around the world). The name of the trade/occupation is provided, along with the position title. Professions (e.g. law, medicine, accounting, […]
12 Basic Cohesive Devices in Formal English Writing (with Chinese translation)
I wrote this blog entry mainly for my Chinese students who have trouble with some basic cohesive devices in English – e.g. firstly/at first, lastly/at last, finally/ultimately, etc. However the word and sentence translations here I’m sure will also be helpful for Chinese learners. This is not supposed to be a comprehensive list of formal […]
Essential Disability Vocabulary in English and Mandarin
Today’s topic is disabilities, and Bo and I have presented here a pretty good outline of the most important vocabulary items you’ll need in interpreting in disability contexts. If you have any additions please let me know in the comments section!
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