Name: Difficult Chinese Words to Translate
Uploaded: 2017-08-16T01:57:44.000Z
Duration: 6 min 39 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

To-infinitive

Today I want to talk about some Chinese words 
that are very hard to translate into English.

Translation requires certain skills and knowledge.

Being good at Chinese and English doesn't 
equal to a good translator.

Translation is an ability developed through 
a long time of training and experience.

There are just some words in Chinese that are 
very hard to translate into English.

First, the word has too many meanings 
under different circumstances.

So there isn't an exact corresponding word 
in English

Second, the concepts of the word might not 
exist in foreign countries.

Therefore, it is hard to translate the word 
due to cultural differences.

I've collected some Chinese words that are 
difficult to translate,

and I'm just going to translate them 
no matter how bad the translation is.

Well I mean, to "explain", to explain in English.

In English, that is "I'm rooting for you".

It's even hard to explain it in Chinese, 
you know what I'm saying?

How about you tell me what exactly does 
"靠杯" mean?

For example, you can tell someone to 
stop "靠杯".

Or you can describe a person as "靠杯".

And there are many Facebook pages that 
belong to "靠杯" series.

There is really no such a word in English 
that contains those meanings.

When "靠杯" is used as a verb, it means 
"抱怨".

In English it could be "complain", 
"whine", or "grumble".

Thus if you want to tell a person to stop 
"靠杯" or "抱怨"

If you want to describe a person as "靠杯",

How the hell am I supposed to do with it?

Ok, so if we want to describe a person 
as "機車",

But there is more to that, which is 
the meaning "funny".

Alright, annoying and funny at the same time.

It's just hard to translate into something 
that is easy to understand.

Let's break it down, filial means son and daughter.

Why is it hard to understand? Because even 
if you translate in this way,

it's still hard for foreigners to get it,

It's probably not very common in 
foreign countries.

In western culture, kids are eager to 
be independent.

They don't usually live with their parents 
when they become adults.

They gather with families only on important 
holidays and festivals.

Alright, this word can also be used in 
many situations.

But the most common one is to 
express appreciation.

I work hard and upload videos on time 
every week.

There might be people want to say 
"辛苦了" to me.

there MIGHT be people who want to say 
that to me

If you want to express "謝謝一個人付出的努力"

you could say "thanks for your hard work".

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Difficult Chinese Words to Translate

matter

common

wrap

interpret