Question for our Asian friends..

no clue about a book...good luck!!

i speak mandarin and i went on an engineering trip to china for the first time a few years ago and i was worried b/c i didn't know technical terms. but this is what i learned from the trip-they know all the technical terms, in english, so you don't have much to worry about.

 

Sorry don't know of any translation book that would help. I was in Shenzen in February and had a lot of trouble discussing technical matters. I speak some Mandarin but only basic stuff and so while they knew the english technical terms they would throw them in Mandarin sentences so you would have to know the context. I work in architecture and urban design so there are many terms that are already in Mandarin that they would use instead of the English term.

I would definately recommend relying on a translator because even if you can find Mandarin technical terms and basic Mandarin you still need to know the proper usage and sentence structure for those terms and since Mandarin is tonal its hard to learn a Chinese from reading the Pingying and then making sure you're pronouncing it right.

 

There is a program by King Soft I believe it is pretty good for translating.

www.kingsoft.com but not sure if you can read it.

 

WHY DID YOU SAY "Asian" friends if you wanted only the ones that knew or learned CHINESE? I mean, if you say "Latino" friends or "Latin American" friends, you would want all the ones that know SPANISH... not the same in ASIA, though... you know? You'll get someone who says: "I am not CHINESE! I am JAPANESE!!!" <- Carlos Mencía (at the Improv this weekend).

But back to the topic at hand... EASY-to-LEARN Conversational CDs are available to listen and pronounce (not READING, but LISTENING and REPEATING) while you're in your car, or in the bus... from your local library! Cantonese? Maybe. I learned "some" French this way.

I must say, I still 'ate dee fganch.

 

the badminton championships are this week i think. asian domination.