It's time you unlearnt the habit of translating from English into Chinese

As a fresh-faced student in my first ever Chinese class in college, I vividly remember one pep talk our professor gave us.

“The grammar in Chinese is easy, just like English!”

I am sure he said this with good intention. After all, we were about to take on the “world’s hardest language”.

But, boy was he wrong.

Whilst basic Chinese sort of mimics English word order, the more you progress with Chinese the more you realise, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Looking at the hilarious translation fails in Chinese restaurants is enough proof!

Now—as a teacher I am shocked that lot of students do bumble through Chinese deluded by this idea that you can translate from English into Chinese and that Chinese people will still understand what you’re saying.

Just because Chinese people nod and say they understand you, doesn’t mean they actually do! （look up 客套话）

My thinking is our habit to create strange sentences in Chinese originates from the fact that in English we are more relaxed about sentence formation.

As a language that is used for international communication, English has been consistently changed and adapted by non-native speakers.

We are used to seeing strange word pairs!

Chinese, however, is a little different…

Experimentation with sentences doesn’t go down well. Chinese is full of set phrases or 固定搭配. Essentially, words that were so frequently used together, that they have became the go-to expression!

But, when a Laowai starts to experiment, like they do in English, the result is google translate Chinese.

So, how do you avoid this?

Put quite simply, stop translating from English into Chinese. Stop experimenting for the love of God, and use the expressions already set for you by Chinese people themselves!

For example: A very Chinese way to talk about being hungry is “我肚子饿”.

From an English perspective this sounds ridiculous.

“My stomach is hungry”. Of course it is your stomach and not any other organ that is hungry!

Translating from English you wouldn’t have cared to mention the stomach, however it is a key part of an authentic expression in Chinese.

We all know how important eating is in China!

It’s not important to analyse why this is the case, just see it as a unique quirk of the Chinese language.

I have found that if you approach these differences with open-minded curiosity rather than frustration, you will absorb it much quicker.

Next time you speak Mandarin, you don’t need to be innovative. Instead, be mindful.

Observe structures and patterns that native speakers use and adapt it in your own speech.

If you want to learn this skill, saving yourself years of pain and time, then this is exactly what we teach you in our speaking courses!

We’ve taught over 170 students who suffered with the same problem as you. They had great written and reading skills, yet when it came to understanding fast-paced native speech in tv or in real life they were totally stumped.

You deserve to feel as confident listening and speaking as you do reading or writing Chinese. After all, the best way to understand a people and its culture is through speaking!

We’ll help you get there

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