I couldn't help but read over the shoulder of a Chinese National in the train today. She was reading some form of translated thesarus, the ones where fanciful English words are translated to Chinese.
The book looked as if it was printed in China, which I could tell from the quality of the paper, the fonts (anyone who has read old Chinese novels translated to English would know what these are).
I admired her tenacity, of learning English through what was essentially a dictionary.
However, as I peered over her shoulder.... *face palm*
Polygraph - "poly" - duo (many), graph - xie (write); polygraph (fu xie ji) - (photocopier)
and not:
Polygraph - lie detector.
With the rubbish standards of books they are reading, it is no wonder why they are not improving. I work with several Chinese nationals and they drive my pressure up sometimes with their "understanding" - or lack thereof. I can't blame them for not knowing better which books to buy, but....
oh well.
The book looked as if it was printed in China, which I could tell from the quality of the paper, the fonts (anyone who has read old Chinese novels translated to English would know what these are).
I admired her tenacity, of learning English through what was essentially a dictionary.
However, as I peered over her shoulder.... *face palm*
Polygraph - "poly" - duo (many), graph - xie (write); polygraph (fu xie ji) - (photocopier)
and not:
Polygraph - lie detector.
With the rubbish standards of books they are reading, it is no wonder why they are not improving. I work with several Chinese nationals and they drive my pressure up sometimes with their "understanding" - or lack thereof. I can't blame them for not knowing better which books to buy, but....
oh well.
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