Zero no Tsukaima Rough Translation by Enoylawnisk

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Zero no Tsukaima Rough Translation by Enoylawnisk

Post by onizuka-gto »

These script was translated from a Chinese translated script from the Japanese.

I'am now currewntly looking for this source, as at Baka-Tsuki we seem to have alot of Chinese-English Editors.. (^^)/


Volume 1, the bottom half of chapter 1, translated by Enoylawnisk on the Aquastar Forum


I am Hiraga Saito, second year in highschool, 17 years old.
Average at sports, average in the classroom. Haven’t had a girl friend in 17 years.
Teacher’s comment: [Hm, Saito? He doesn’t mind failure, and he is very curious. He is kinda slow though.]
Father’s comment: [You have to study hard. You’re kinda slow]
Because I’m slow, I react calmly to dangerous and weird situations. I’m a guy that can accept anything.
I just saw someone fly。But as a normal person, there is nothing else after the initial fright. This and my slowness is related.
To put it bluntly, my personality is someone who does not give deep thoughts about things。
But I like winning。Putting it that way,I’m quite similar to Louise in that way。
30 minutes ago, I, Saito was still in the streets of Japan。
My computer was just fixed,and I was on the way home。Feeling happy, because finally I can surf the net. I just registered at an internet dating site.
Maybe I could find a girlfriend。Saito hoped that this normal day would be more exciting。
But,this excitement did not come from the internet, instead, it was found on the way home.
Walking from the train station,a weird circle-like portal appeared in front of Saito。
He stopped, and looked at the portal with a glaring stare. Saito had the curiosity of a non average human。
It was about 2 meters tall。1 meter in width, like an oval mirror。No thickness。Upon inspection,the mirror was floating midair。
His curiosity got the best of him。What is this?Saito thought while staring at the unusual object。
He couldn’t figure it out。He has never seen or heard something quite like this before。
He wanted to walk around it,But his curiosity was throbbing in his body。
Saito wanted to pass through the portal。
At first, he thought about not doing that。But then thought nothing could happen if he just visited it for a second。This is his nature that always got him into trouble。
Saito picked up a rock, and threw it into the portal。
The rock disappeared。
Walking behind the portal, Saito searched for the rock。But the rock was no where to be seen
Then he pulled out his key from his pocket, and pushed the tip of the key into the portal。
Nothing happened。
He pulled it out to inspect it, but nothing had happened to the key。This is why Saito thought it was safe. Because of this thought,his curiosity for the portal grew even more。
Finally, Saito walked into the portal。
He regretted it immediately。There was pain on every inch of his body。The pain was the same as the one he experienced when he was small. His mother had bought him a device that was supposed to stimulate the brain. But as soon as he put it on and turned it on, there was a big shock to his body. Saito fell into unconsciousness, and when he woke up......
It was another world.。

[Are you telling the truth?]
Louise asked suspiciously, her hand holding the bread from dinner。
The two were sitting on chairs next to the table。
Louise’s room。12 square meters wide。The window was facing south,and the bed was placed on the west. Facing north was the door, and facing east was a wardrobe for clothing
From any angle, anyone could tell that each piece of furniture was very expensive。
Saito, who had just woken up, was dragged here by Louise。
Saito, rubbing his head, replied:
[Why would I lie?]
Saito had never hated his curiosity as much as he had now。
Stupid,If I hadn’t walked through the portal, it would be so nice right now......
This isn’t Japan。Hell, this isn’t even earth!
There are familiars,Countries that levitate on the sky. Saito had never heard of places like this in highschool。
If this place exists,What’s with that big moon in the sky?it was twice as big as the moon back on Earth。
Okay, so what if its big? Some countries might have a bigger view of the moon。
But,seeing two moons is a bit too much。Did someone add another moon into the sky while I was still unconscious?
No。No way。In other words,this isn’t Earth。
It is night time......very late into the night。Is my family worrying about me right now? Saito thought guiltily。
From the window, Saito could see the grass field he laid on a few hours ago。Beyond the grass field, there was a big mountain
On the right, there was a patch of forest。Saito sighed。These trees were completely different from the ones in Japan。This kind of lush, green forest could never be found in his home country。
Louise had told me that this school was called Tristien magic school
A boarding magic school。
Magic school!!Yaus!Boarding school!Yaus!This kind of things could only be found in movies!
But, this place isn’t earth......
[I don’t believe what you just said…]
[I don’t believe it either!]
[You said you come from another world. What kind of world did you come from?]
[A world without familiars. A world where there is only 1 moon]
[What kind of screwed up world is that?]
[I came from a world like that!]
Saito yelled angrily。
[Don’t yell. Its obvious you’re a commoner]
[Who’s a commoner?]
[You can’t use magic right?That means you’re a commoner]
[What?What’s a commoner?]
[Ugh. And you call yourself a member of this world?]
[That’s why I said I’m from another world!]
As Saito said this, Louise put her head onto the table。
There is a lamp on the table。It is emitting light。The room was illuminated by the lamp。It looks like there is no electricity。
Isn’t this made by hand?Like the ones in foreign hotels。
Made??
Yeah。This is......

[Understand what?]
Louise tilted up her head。
[This is a setup。Its setup day right?。Everyone set me up for this, right?]
[What’s a ‘setup’?]
[Someone got injured, so the show stopped。I couldn’t visit the net these few days,so you guys are playing a trick on me。Wheres the camera?] (Translator note: I’m not sure how to translate the previous part. Saito thinks he is in some hidden camera show)
[What are you talking about?]
Saito jumped across to Louise。
[Ah!What are you doing!]
He pushed away the chair,holding his body over Louise’s。
[Where is Macfeng?(???) Is he in here??]
Squashing Louise,he started to unbutton her shirt。But before he could, Louise positioned her ankle below Saito’s crotch, and brought it up. The next thing he knew, Saito was on the floor, screaming。(TN: at least this is what I think happened)
[Ah, ah, ah, ah!!!.......]
[You,You dare,to do this to a noble like me?]
Louise said angrily,while picking herself off the ground。
Under a huge load of pain,Saito thought。
This isn’t a dream。
And......,This isn’t Earth。This is some place in another planet。
[Please, I beg you]
[What?]
[Let me go home......]
[Impossible]
[Why?]
[Because we’ve signed a contract. You’re my familiar now。I don’t know which village you came from,or what world you came from,once a contract is made, it cannot be broken。
[Stop kidding me]
[Hey, I don’t want this too。Why did I summon a familiar like you?]
[If that’s the case, please let me go......]
[Are you really from another world?]
Said Louise, now every tired and confused。
[Yes]
Saito nodded his head。
[Have you any proof?]
Saito, ignoring the pain in his groin, approached his bag and opened it。
[What?What is that?]
[Laptop]
Said Saito。
The now fixed laptop started flashing。
[Hm…I Haven’t seen anything like this before。What kind of magic is it?]
[Its not magic,its science]
Saito pressed the power button, and it was turned on。
[Wahhh!~~ What is this?This is?]
Louise said in a startled voice while looking at the screen。
[The screen of the laptop]
[Its very beautiful......What kind of magic does it operate on?Wind?Water?]
[Its science]
Louise turned to Saito, Showing a stunned and naïve face。
[Science?What?Is it different from the four sides of magic?]
[Haha, yes! It’s not magic。]
Louise sat on the bed,stretching both legs and hands,said in a carefree voice:
[Mmhm....but,that doesn’t prove anything] (TN: I don’t know how to translate this either tongue.gif)
[Why?Does this world have anything like this?]
[No, but......]
[Then why won’t you believe me?]
With her long hair waving in the air,Louise nodded her head。
[Fine。I believe you]
[Really?]
Louise, in an irritated voice, replied:。
[Yes. Because otherwise you’ll never leave me alone]
[Fine,as long as you understand, it doesn’t matter。Now,can I go home?]
[No]
[Why?]
Louise, in a very irritated voice, told Saito:
[Because no magic can make a portal between your world and my world]
[Then how did you summon me?]
[I’m not too sure about these kinds of things]
Saito and Louise exchanged glances。
[I’m telling the truth! There’s no magic that can do this, because no one even knew your world existed!]
[If you don’t try summoning again, how would you know for sure?]
[The summon spell,known as ‘SUMMON SERVENT” Is a spell that summon organisms from (some place I can’t translate)。Usually it’s a creature that’s summoned. This is the first time a human has been summoned]
[Don’t say it like it doesn’t concern you。So,use that spell again。]
[Why]
[So I can go back home]
[......Impossible。‘SUMMON SERVANT’ can only summon。A spell that reverses this process does not exist]
[Just try]
[No。Now is not the appropriate time to summon。]
[Why?]
[......。To cast ‘SUMMON SERVANT’ again requires......]
[Requires what?]
[To cast it again, it requires the death of the first summoned familiar]
[What did you say!]
Saito jumped back。
[Want to die?]
[No,Its okay。]
Replied Saito. Lowering his head, the weird symbols on his hand caught his attention.
[Ah。What’s this?]
[Hm?]
[It means you’re my servant. It’s a tattoo on all familiars。]
Louise stood up, holding her shoulders。
On closer inspection,she’s actually pretty cute。(something about the legs that I cant understand),small, pointy feet。She’s not very tall though, about 1.5 meters in height.
Her eyes are just like the ones of a cat。The delicate eyebrows enhance the appearance of her delicate face. (TN: I can’t translate this part, so I made it up)
If only we had met over the online dating site。But this isn’t earth。Can’t even go home if I wanted。Sorrow flowed over Saito’s body.
[......I understand。I’ll be your familiar for now]
[What was that?]
[What。What did I say?]
[You sound like you’re not very educated in the speech manners of a familiar。You should have said: ‘If you have any discomfort, don’t hesitate to order me around’]
Louise said with her finger pointed at Saito。Even though her pose was very cute, her voice was cold and unemotional。
[So, what does a familiar do?]
Saito had seen familiars in Harry Potter before. He knew they sat on the master’s shoulders, but what they did, he forgot。
[First, a familiar is the eyes and ears of the master。]
[What?]
[That means what a familiar sees, the master sees as well。]
[Ah!]
[But you’re an exception, because I’m not seeing anything]
[Maybe you don’t have that kind of power]
Saito said in a dull voice。
[Next, a servant finds things for a master. For example, secret medicine]
[What’s secret medicine?]
[It’s the ingredients needed for a spell]
[ah!]
[I guess you can’t do that either。You don’t even know what secret medicine is……]
Louise said in an annoyed voice。
[The most important,is that the familiar must protect the existence of the master。Using all your power to rescue me from enemies is the most important task。But, I don’t think you can do that either……]
[That’s because I’m a human]
[……If you’re a real familiar, you should be able to defeat even the most powerful of monsters, but judging by your looks, you probably can’t even beat a crow in battle]
[STFU]
[So I’m assigning you things you actually can do, like cleaning and washing clothes。]
[Stop kidding。Watch, soon I’ll find a way home]
[Yeah yeah。If you did, that would be great。Because if you go back to where you came from, I can summon a more useful servant unlike you。]
[You……]
[Ugh, I’m getting sleepy。Time for bed]
Louise yawned。
[Where do I sleep?]
Louise pointed towards the floor。
[I’m not a domestic animal]
[There’s no other way。There’s only one bed]
Louise pulled the overs off of her bed。
Then,slowly, started to unbutton her shirt。
One by one the buttons became undone。
Until her underwear could be seen clearly。Saito suddenly jumped in surprise。
[Hey! What are you doing?]
Louise replied in a dull voice:
[I’m going to sleep. Isn’t changing clothes before bed a common thing in your world?]
[Then change somewhere where I can’t see you]
[Why?]
[Be,because isn’t this wrong。]
[Its not wrong at all。]
[you don’t mind if a man sees you this way?]
[Man? Where?You’re only a familiar.]
What the heck is this。Being treated like a cat or dog。Saito laid on the straws while thinking。
Doesn’t matter,I was wrong when I thought she was cute。I can’t get use to this。Be her familiar?Don’t kid me。
[Wash this by tomorow。]
Something dry flew towards Saito。
Wondering what it is?He picked it up。
It was Louise’s underwear and panties. (some comments about her panties being high quality and white)
[Why? Why should I wash your panties……I’m happy about it……but don’t joke, this kind of thing……]
Saito unconsciously stood up。Louise pulled her nightgown over her head。Under the soft candle light,Saito tried to look away from Louise’s naked body。Even though it was dark,it seemed Louise really had no problem with Saito looking at her。Saito didn’t felt shamed, being a man that had to follow every one of Louise’s orders without being treated as a human
[Who do you think is taking care of you?Who gives you food?Whose room are you living in?]
[……]
[You’re my familiar aren’t you?washing clothes, cleaning and doing my bidding is your rightful duty]
Once again Saito laid down on the straws。
Who does she think she is。 She hasn’t even once treated me like I was a man。
Arh! I want to go home! I miss my parents。
His homesickness started to show。
……Theres a way home…right?。
By this time,my family should be worrying about me right now……
If I don’t find a way home soon……
What to do? Should I try to escape?Where would I go after that?
Should I go search for help? But after Louise’s reaction, who would believe there is another world out there?
Calm down。Nothing is impossible。There’s no clues right now,and there’s no promise that I could escape this place successfully。
There’s no one here I can depend on。I can only depend on Louise。
No other solution for now。I’ll have to be her familiar。At least I have food to eat。Even though she’s an angry witch to me, I’m nothing more than a familiar to her.
She’s a snob, its true,but she’s very cute。It would be so nice if she became my girlfriend。If only we had met online。
Doesn’t matter even if I had to go out of the country to meet her。Being an exchange student is even better。I must be very naïve thinking something like that would ever happen。
At least I’m not stuck on some unpopulated island.
Okay, from now on,I’ll live as a familiar while trying to find a way home。
Having this thought, Saito fell into slumber quickly。
Whether its good or bad,Saito’s weird personality was the thing that always protected him。Any fear of this new environment a normal person would have was cut in half by Saito’s personality。
Louise swirled her finger a bit,and the light went out。
Wow, even an oil lamp uses magic。This place must really have no electricity。The darkness of the night shrouded over the room。
The two moons outside the window shown their unusual light over the land。
Mom,Saito came to a magical world。I won’t be able to come to school or study for a while。Please forgive me。
And so, Saito’s life as Louise’s familiar began。 8) :D
Last edited by onizuka-gto on Thu Aug 10, 2006 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Please note, we have added a consequence for failure.Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official test record, followed by death. Good luck."

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Post by onizuka-gto »

I have found the chniese Translation it is located here:

http://dmbbs.duowan.com/read.php?tid=82097
"Please note, we have added a consequence for failure.Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official test record, followed by death. Good luck."

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Posts: 4840
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Post by onizuka-gto »

For those too lazy to check on it i have copy and past it here:
「你是谁?」在湛蓝的天空下,一个女孩张着她水灵水灵的眼睛看着才人的脸问道。她的年龄和才人差差不多,在黑色的披风下,穿着一件白色的上衣 ,灰色的百褶裙。
她好可爱,桃红色的头发,白色的皮肤,再加上水汪汪的大眼睛,看起来很象一个外国人,不,应该就是一个外国人。一个象洋娃娃一样可爱的外国女孩,或许她是一个混血儿吧。
她穿的制服是哪个学校的校服吗?从来没有见过。
才人似乎在草地上打瞌睡,脸朝上看者天空。
穿着黑色的披风,把我当怪物一样看待的人有很多。草原向远方慢慢的伸展开,能够看见一座和欧洲明信片中一样的,石造的城堡。那简直就是神奇。(01-004)
头好疼,才人一边摇着头一边说到「问我是谁?我叫平贺才人」。
「你是哪里的平民?」
「平民?」这是什么???周围慢慢向他靠来的男孩,女孩都穿着和她一样的制服,手里拿着一个象棒子一样的东西。
我是不是不小心进了一个美国学校啊?
「路易丝,你用サモンサウァント把一个平民叫出来准备干什么啊?」不知道是谁说了这一句话,除了一直看者才人的少女以外的所有人在听了这句话都哄笑了起来。
「我只是弄错了而已」,站在才人面前的少女用象铃铛一样的声音生气的说道。
「弄错了??路易丝你好象总是弄错,不是吗?」
「真不愧是零之路易丝啊」,不知道是谁说了这么一句话,所有的人都暴笑了起来。
一直在看者才人的女孩子看起来她的名字似乎是路易丝。
总之,这里看起来不太象是什么美国学校。出现在这里的建筑物是我从来都没有见过的。
这里是电影城?现在正在进行什么电影的拍摄?才人偷偷的在心里想到
但是,这里作为电影城的话,似乎有点太大了,而且在日本有这样的地方吗?不,这应该是新建成的游乐圆吧?!可是,为什么我会睡在这里呢?
「コルベール先生!」
被称做ルイズ的女孩生气的喊到,从人群里走出了一位中年的男性。才人看到他后顿时变的不可思议起来,因为他的打扮实在是太奇怪了。
他拿着一根很大的木杖,身上穿者一件全黑的袍子,这是怎样的一种打扮啊?
简直就象是一个魔法使用者一样,这个人没有问题吧?!
啊,我明白了!这里是某种的魔法秀。
但是,如果是这样的话,这里的气氛有点奇怪
才人一下子有点开始害怕了。如果这是某个宗教团体我该怎么办?恩,很有这种可能。这些人,将正在逛街的我,不知道用什么方法让我睡着,然后把我带到了这里。
那面镜子就是他们所用的道具,如果不是这样的话,根本无法解释现在的状况。
总之,在没有弄明白状况之前,才人决定还是老老实实的呆着。
被称为ルイズ的女孩子誓死的让自己站立着,「请您再给我一次机会」「拜托了」「请一定再给我一次机会」她一边这样说着,一边挥着自己的双手。
这个女孩,长的挺可爱的,怎么会迷上了这样的宗教呢,才人有一点点替她感到了悲哀。
「什么事情,小姐」
「请,请在让我召唤一次」
召唤?
这是什么,刚才好象他们也提到了一次。
被称为コルベール先生的人,摇了摇头说到
「这是不行的,小姐」
「为什么不行?」
「这是规矩,你们在升为二年生之前都必须召唤使魔,就和你们现在做的一样」
使魔?这是什么啊?
「你们将根据自己所召唤出来的使魔来固定自己的属性,然后再向更专门的课程前进。已经被召唤出来的使魔是不能进行更改的。如果你要问为什么,是因为春天的使魔的召唤是一个神圣的仪式。不管你是喜欢还是不喜欢,你现在只能让他成为你的使魔」
「但是我从来没有听过可以让一个平民当自己的使魔的」
路易丝刚落声,周围又是一阵的哄笑,她恨恨的看了周围的人一眼,可是大家并没有因此而停止笑声。
春天的使魔召唤?这到底是怎么一回事啊?
不明白,这些人从刚才开始到底在说些什么啊?
这果然是一个新成立的宗教团体,看来我是到了一个奇怪的地方啊!我是不是被他们带到了国外,绑架,我被绑架了?
这个时候才人才真正的意识到他被卷入了一个麻烦里面。
「这是一个传统,小姐,我们不会允许出现例外的。他。。。」
中年的魔法装扮者,指了指才人
「他虽然只是一个平民,但是既然被你召唤了出来,就必须成为你的使魔。虽然从古至今没有出现过类似的先例,但是我们一定要优先执行春天使魔召唤所定下的规矩。如果不让他成为你的使魔的话。。。」
「这。。。」
路易丝很无奈的耸了耸肩膀
「好的,从现在开始继续进行仪式」
「啊?和他?」
「对,和他。你快一点,我们马上就要开始上下一堂课了。你知道为了你的召唤我们花了多少的时间吗?试了又试,好不容易召唤出了一个,好了,快点开始签约」
对啊,对啊,周围的人们也一同附和到。
路易丝非常无奈的看着才人。
这到底是什么啊?他们准备对我怎样?
「那个。。」
路易丝朝才人开了口,
「什么?」
「你必须要感谢哦!因为现在贵族要对你做的事情,普通人一辈子可能都碰不上啊。」
贵族?他们是不是有点问题啊?谁是贵族啊!你们只不过一群变态的魔法使用者的模仿者罢了。
路易丝非常无奈的闭上了眼睛
手上那着的小小的魔杖在才人的眼前轻轻点着,慢慢的唱着象咒文一样的东西
「我的名字是路易丝.佛朗索瓦斯.露.布朗.拉.瓦里艾尔,拥有5种力量的PENDAKON请赐与他祝福,让他成为我的使魔」
接着,把杖放在了才人的额头上,然后她的唇慢慢的靠近「你,你想干吗?」
「好拉,你安静一点。」路易丝生气的说道
路易丝的脸再度的慢慢靠近。
「等,等一下,你总要让我有个心理准备吧」
才人的脸因为紧张而在发抖着
「我不是说过让你安静点别动的吗?!」
路易丝用她的左手一把抓住才人的头
「?」
「恩!」
路易丝的唇和才人的唇碰到了一起。
这?!这到底是什么啊?他们所说的签约是指两个人的接吻的吗?!
路易丝柔软的双唇让才人的思维更加的混乱了。
这可是我的初吻啊!就这样在这种地方,让这样一个不知道是什么人的人给夺走了!
才人连动都动不了的瘫痪在一旁。
路易丝终于让自己的唇离开了才人
「结束了!」(to be continued)


脸通红通红的,好象有点害羞。你是不是傻瓜啊。
「应该害羞的人是我才对啊!你害什么羞啊。突然间就和我接吻!」
但是,路易丝现在是完全无视才人的存在,刚才的事情就象没有发生过一样。
这个人到底是什么人啊?好怕,我想快点回家。好想回家上网去。我刚刚在一个交友网站上注册的,好想看看有没有女孩子给我发了邮件。
「你虽然SAMON,SAUANDO连续几次都失败了,可是KONDORAKUTO,SAUANDO却完成的很好嘛」
格拉贝鲁看起来似乎很高兴的说到。
「因为他只是一个普通的平民,我和签约已经完成了。」
「如果他是一个高级的幻兽的话,签约估计是无法完成的」几个学生一边笑着一边偷偷的说到。
路易丝恨恨的看着那几个学生
「不要把我当成一个傻瓜,我偶尔也会有成功的时候。」
「真的是偶尔才会有啊,真不愧是0的路易丝啊!」
留着一头卷发和脸上留着雀斑的女孩子用嘲笑的口吻说到。
「。。小姐,洪水的蒙莫兰希侮辱了我」
「你说谁是洪水啊?我是香水的蒙莫兰希!」
「听说在你小时侯可是经常尿床的啊,看起来肯定是洪水比较适合你的」
「说的很好嘛!0的路易丝,不要忘记了你只是0而已」
「好了好了,贵族之间应该是要互相尊敬的」
中年的魔法使用者在一旁的劝到。
到底这些人在说些什么啊?什么「契约」,「KONDORAKUTOSAVANDO」的。此时,才人的身体有一些微妙的发着热。
「哇,哇,哇!!!」才人突然叫着跳了起来「好热!」
路易丝用责怪的声音骂到:马上就好了,你忍耐一下!我只是在刻使用魔石头的形状而已!
「不准刻!你想对我的身体做什么啊?!」
这么的热,你想让我老老实实的躺着那是不可能的事情。这可不是开玩笑的!
「那个。。」
「什么??」
「你觉得一个平民可以这样对贵族说话的吗?」
不过,热只是一瞬间的事情,身体马上就恢复了正常的温度。
「啊啊!!」
中年魔法使用模仿者靠近了才人,确认他的左手。
在才人的手上出现的是他所没有见过的文字。倒不如说那根本不能算是文字。看起来就象是蛇缠绕在一起,是他见都没有见过的样子。
才人也在看着自己的手,这是魔术吗?这到底是什么。
「耶!!」
才人已经分不清楚东西南北。
「这真是很希奇的石头啊!」
中年魔法使用者在旁边说到。
才人在一旁非常生气的说:你们到底是一些什么人?!可是没有任何人回应他。
「OK,大家都返回教室吧。」
中年魔法使用魔法者说完这句话后浮在了半空中。
才人张着嘴看着他,他飞了??飞在空中?!
不可能。
其他学生样子的人,也一起在空中飞了起来。
不可能,如果是一个人的话,可以解释为是魔术,可是所有的人都飞在了空中。
才人看了看四周,只有无边的草原,根本看不见任何象是机关的东西。
浮在空中的所有人都嗖的一下飞到了用石头建造的象城堡一样的地方去了。
「路易丝,你走过来吧!」
「他不用说飞,我看连都不会的吧」
「这个平民做你的使用魔真是太合适不过了。」
他们一边嘲笑着路易丝一边飞了过去。
还留在原地的只剩下路易丝和才人两个人了。
路易丝看到大家都走后,马上就开始叹气,然后走到了才人的面前大声的骂到:你到底是什么啊?!
才人中午忍受不住的爆发了「你才到底是什么人呢?这里是哪里?你们都是些什么人?为什么会飞?你们对我的身体做了什么?」
「简直是,我不管你是从哪一个乡下过来,我好心的向你解释一下吧!」
「乡下?!我看这里才应该是乡下吧,东京可比这个鬼地方好多了。」
「东京?是哪里?是哪个国家?」
「日本!」
「这是什么,我从来没有听说过这样的国家」
「别开玩笑了!为什么这些人会飞啊?!你刚才应该也看到了吧,他们飞了啊」
可是路易丝没有任何的反应,就象飞根本不是一件奇怪的事情一样。
「当然会飞了魔女们不会飞怎么可以」
「魔女?!这里到底是什么地方?」
「这里TORISUTIN!而你现在所处的是这里最出名的TORISUTIN魔法学院」
「魔法学院?」
「我是二年级的路易丝,从今天开始我就是你的主人了,你给我记住。」
才人的身体象是没有力气一样瘫了下去。他突然有了一种非常不好的预感。
「那个,路易丝小姐」
「干吗?」
「我真的是被召唤来的吗?」
「不是已经告诉你了吗?你要我说几次啊,我的口都说干了。你放弃吧,我也会放弃的。啊啊,为什么我的使用魔是这样不中用的生物啊,如果是就好了,至少也应该是」
「那个,是怎么一回事?」
「没什么,我只是在说如果这些能成为我的使用魔就好了」
「别开玩笑了,这些生物哪里存在了?」
「存在啊,怎么了?」
「你开玩笑的吧?!」才人一边笑着一边说到,但是路易丝并没有随着他一起笑。
「啊啊,你可能是没有见过吧」路易丝用非常认真的语调说到,看起来一点都不象在开玩笑的样子。才人把刚才飞在空中的景象和这里环境相结合,背后突然开始发冷,流下了冷汗。
「你们是会飞,难道你们真的是魔女?」
「对啊!如果你弄明白了,是否可以请你把放在我肩膀上的手拿开。本来呢,我是不应该和你说这些话的,因为你根本就不配。」
梦,这肯定只是一个梦!
才人一下子跪在了地上。
「路易丝」
「请用敬语来称呼我。」
「你打我一下」
「哈?!」
「你用力的打打我的头」
「为什么?」
「我想中梦中清醒过来了,从梦中清醒以后我想上网。今天早上我妈告诉我今天的晚饭是吃汉堡」
「上网?」
「啊,没什么,反正你只是我梦中一个人物罢了,不用管这么多。总之,你快点让我醒过来吧。」
「我不明白你到底在说什么,总之打你就好了是吧?!」
路易丝握紧了她的拳头。
「你动手吧!」
路易丝的表情一下子变的凶狠了起来,大概是想到很多的事情的缘故吧。
「为什么是你被召唤了来呢?」
「我怎么会知道啊?!」
「我这个堂堂VEERU家的三女儿,出生在拥有悠长历史,纯正贵族家庭的我,为什么一定要使用你这个使用魔呢?!」
「鬼才知道」
「是谁决定用接吻来作为签合同的方法的?」
「天知道!好了,你能不能快一点,我想快点从恶梦中醒过来」
「恶梦?!这应该是我说的才对」
路易丝想都没想就重重的朝才人的头打了下去
「那可是我的初吻啊!」
(to be continued)
===========华丽的日期分割线(8.04更新)=======================
平贺才人。高中二年级17岁。
运动神经普通,成绩一般。没有女友17年。无赏无罚。
老师评价[啊?平贺啊。不甘心失败,好奇心强,可是却稍微有点迟钝]
父母评价[要好好学习呀。比较迟钝呢]
正因为比较迟钝,所以遇到灾祸很少惊慌,是个无论什么都能接受的人。
刚刚看到会飞的人大吃一惊。可是作为普通人来说只是吃惊到那个程度就没事了,这和自己迟钝的性格有着很大的关系。
如果说得不好听点就是对事物不怎么深入思考的性格。
可是却非常好胜。如果这么说的话,也许就和路易丝的性格非常相近吧。
那样的才人,在短短的30分钟前还好好的在日本的东京街头。
刚刚修理好笔记电脑,正在回家的途中。心情非常兴奋。因为这样一来就能上网了。刚刚登陆了征友网站。
也许能找到女友也说不定呢。才人希望平凡的每天能刺激一点。
可是,这刺激却不是出现在网络上而是在回家的路上。
从车站返家的途中,才人的面前突然出现一面闪着光芒的镜子。
才人停了下来。目不转睛地看着。才人拥有超越平常人一倍的好奇心。
高约二米左右。宽约一米的椭圆形镜子。没有厚度。仔细一看,镜子一直浮在空中。
好奇心发作了起来。这到底是什么现象?边想着边盯着闪闪发光的镜子。
无论怎么样看都不明白。这样的自然现象即没有看到过也没有听说过。
想从旁边绕过去,可是向前一探究竟的好奇心泛滥了起来。
想从这当中穿过去试试。
原本想着不行。可是马上就觉得如果只是一下的话应该没问题的吧。这种糟糕的性格。
不管怎样随便拾了块石头试着扔了过去。
石头在镜子中消失了。
即使在镜子后面寻找,却怎么也找不到那块石头。
接着从口袋里取出了家中的钥匙。将钥匙的尖端试着插入镜子里。
什么也没发生。
拔出来确认一下,可钥匙一点变化的地方都没有。于是才人判断即使穿过也不会有什么危险。因为这么想着,于是就非常非常想穿过去看看。
结果,就和想着现在开始学习吧却捡起漫画时的心境一样。才人原想着不行却就这样穿了过去。
立刻就后悔了。受了非常严重的打击。这打击就和小的时候,说有让脑袋聪明的装置,母亲就买了回来,打开开关让电流通过身体时的所受的刺激一样。
才人昏了过去。醒来的时候发现......
那里是幻想一样的世界。

[你说的是真的?]
路易丝怀疑似地看着才人说到。手上拿着作为晚餐的面包。
两人坐在桌子旁的椅子上。
路易丝的房间。12贴左右的大小。窗户向南的话,西侧摆放着床,门位于北侧。东边放着特大的衣柜。
不管是哪一件都能看出是贵重的美术品。
刚刚醒来的才人被路易丝带到了这里。
才人来回抚摸着发痛的头回答着。先前被打的地方非常疼。
[怎么会说谎呢?]
才人从没有像现在这样痛恨自己好奇心。
你啊,如果没有穿过去就好了......
这里不是日本。连地球也不是。
有着魔法使,漂浮在空中的国家的这种地方,至少在中学的地理中没有学到过。
即使是存在的话,那么浮在夜空中那巨大的月亮算什么呀?居然是地球夜空上月亮的两倍大。
巨大的话也就算了。也许在某个国家中有那样的夜晚也说不定。
但是,有两个就太奇异了。难道在才人没有发觉的情况下增多到了两个?
不对。不可能是那样。也就是说,这里不是地球。
时间是晚上......已经连夜也深了。现在家人都在担心着我吧?这样悲伤的想着。
从窗户不止夜空还能看到先前才人睡倒在的草原。在月光的照射下,能看到草原的对面有座巨大的山。
右手边能看到郁郁葱葱的森林。才人叹着气。和在日本看到的森林完全不一样。这么宽广的常绿林在日
本根本没有。
经过像中世纪的城市一样的魔法学院的走道,来到了这里。旅行似的兴奋感浮现了出来。
石制的拱形的门,同样石质的厚重的阶梯。
这里是名为特雷丝特因的魔法学院,路易丝是这样告诉我的。
特雷丝特因魔法学院据说是全宿制的学院。
魔法学院!太棒了!全宿制!太棒了!那是在电影里才会出现的啊!
不过,这里却不是地球......
[不能相信的事呢…]
[我也不能相信这种事呢!]
[说是另一个世界,怎么样的世界?]
[没有魔法使。月亮只有一个]
[怎么会有那样的世界啊?]
[我原来在的世界就是那样的呀]
才人愤怒的叫道。
[不要大声叫。明明是平民的存在]
[谁是平民呀]
[因为你不是不会魔法的吗?那样的话不就是平民了嘛]
[什么呀?那个魔法拉,平民什么的?]
[真是的!你真的是这个世界的人吗?]
[所以说了是另外一个世界的了嘛]
才人那样说着,路易丝苦恼似的将胳膊支在桌子上。
桌子上放着套着 的煤油灯。煤油灯中放出淡淡微光。房间隐隐约约的被照亮着。好象没有电。
这不就是手工制造的样式吗?就好像以前家族旅行时去的洋房一样。
制造?
是呀。这是......
[明白了]
[明白什么了?]
路易丝抬起了头。
[是搞怀的吧。是‘搞坏节目’吧。大家联合起来让我陷入圈套的吧。是这样的吧?]
[‘搞坏’是什么呀?]
[有受伤的人出现所以一直中止了的呀。最近不能上网,就来骗我了吧。照相机在哪?]
[在说什么呢?]
才人向路易丝飞扑过去。
[啊!要干什么呀!]
撞倒椅子,压着路易丝。
[麦克风在哪?在这吗?]
压着发怒的路易丝,解开上衣的纽扣。可是胯间被狠狠踹了一脚,才人在地面上呻吟着。
[啊啊啊啊.......]
[竟,竟敢,对身为贵族的我......]
路易丝一边生气的哆嗦着,一边站了起来。
忍受着激烈的疼痛,才人想着。
这并不是梦。
而且......,这里不是地球。是另一个世界的某处。
[拜托你了]
[什么呀?]
[让我回去吧......]
[不可能]
[为什么啊]
[因为你是我的使魔,签订契约了。无论你是哪里乡下的人也好,或是别的世界来的人也好,一旦作
为使魔订了契约就再也不能更改了。]
[不要开玩笑了]
[我也是不愿意的呀。为什么是你这样的使魔呀。]
[既然这样就让我回去吧......]
[真的是其他世界来的吗?]
困恼似的,路易丝说着。
[恩]
才人点了点头。
[有什么证据给我看看]
才人忍住疼痛的胯间站了起来。接着打开小包。
[什么啊?这个?]
[笔记本电脑]
才人说道。
刚刚修理好的电脑,闪闪发光。
[确实是没有见过的呢。是什么魔法吗?]
[不是魔法,是科学]
才人打开开关。扑的一下,电脑启动了。
[呜哇啊!什么啊?这是?]
看着显现出的画面,路易丝发出吃惊的声音。
[笔记本电脑的画面]
[好漂亮啊......是什么系统的魔法启动的?风?还是水?]
[是科学呀]
一脸惊奇的样子,路易丝看着才人。露出天真的表情。
[科学?是什么系统?和4大系统不同的吗?]
[啊啊真是的!总而言之不是魔法。]
才人用力的挥了挥手。
路易丝深深的坐在了床上,晃荡着双脚。伸开两臂,满不在乎的说道。
[呜恩....不过,就这样还是什么都不明白啊]
[为什么?这样的东西,这个世界会有吗?]
路易丝噘起嘴唇。
[是没有可是......]
[既然这样就相信我呀。还不明白吗?]
长发凌乱着,路易丝点了点头。
[知道了。相信你就是了啊]
[真的?]
抱着胳膊,猛的歪着头,路易丝怒叫道。
[因为不这样说,你就会很罗嗦了的]
[算了,不管怎样能理解我就很好了。那么,可以让我回去拉?]
[办不到]
[为什么]
路易丝烦恼的告诉才人。
[因为没有连接你的世界我这边的时间的魔法的呀]
[那么为什么我会到这里来的啊?]
[这种事我怎么会知道]
才人和路易丝互相对视着。
[呜恩!真的真的是没有那种魔法的。因为根本就没有听说过有别的世界的存在]
[你不试着召唤看看当然是不行的喽。]
[召唤的魔法,也就是‘SAMON SERVANT’是召唤出哈鲁克吉尼亚上的生物的。一般都是动物幻兽之类的
人类被召唤出来这还是第一次看到的呢]
[不要说的不关自己的事一样。那么,在一次对我使用那个召唤魔法。]
[为什么]
[也许能回到原来的世界]
[......不可能的。‘SAMON SERVANT’之有召唤。将使魔送回原来地方的咒语之类的根本不存在的]
[好了你就试试看拉]
[不可能。现在是不能吟唱的。]
[为什么?]
[......。‘SAMON SERVANT’再次吟唱是......]
[是什么?]
[一定要召唤出的使魔死了以后才行的]
[你说什么!]
才人一下子镇住了。
[要不要试着死一次吗?]
[不,这样就好了。]
才人低下了头。
看着左手手背上被印上的咒印。
[啊。这个是?]
[呜恩]
[我的使魔的意思。也就是像印章一样的东西。]
路易丝站起来,抱着胳膊。
仔细看看,真的非常的可爱。高挑的腿,细细的脚尖。长的也并不是很高。大概差不多1米5左右。
眼睛就像幼猫一样。彰显傲慢气质的眉毛在眼睛上微妙的排列着。
如果相遇是在交友网上的话也许会高兴的跳起来。不过这里却不是地球。想回去却回不了。才人一下子
苦恼起来,垂头丧气的耸着肩膀。
[......明白了。那就暂时先做你的使魔吧]
[什么啊这是]
[什么呀。有什么怨言吗?]
[你好象不会使用敬语啊。应该说的是‘无论有什么事情,敬请吩咐。主人。’的吧]
路易丝得意地竖起拇指说道。非常可爱的姿势,可是说的话却十分冷酷。
[不过啊。使魔什么的,要做什么呢?]
才人问道。的确在有魔法使之类的动画片里看到有乌鸦,猫头鹰出现。不过他们都是骑在主人的肩上,具
体做什么却没有什么记忆了。
[首先,使魔被赋予了成为主人耳朵与眼睛的能力。]
[是怎么一回事?]
[就是使魔看到的东西主人也能看到。]
[啊!]
Edit: Attempt to fix thread formatting. The real problem is that phpBB2 can't handle posts larger than around 64624 bytes (at least on my local testing forum.) This is worse for Chinese or Japanese, because phpBB2 stores these internally as numeric html entities -- takes up even more precious bytes. I better stop writing now before I have to cut off more Chinese text to make this post fit ... oops, too late!
-- the_naming_game
"Please note, we have added a consequence for failure.Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official test record, followed by death. Good luck."

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Post by Da~Mike »

Uhh... you're not thinking about translating the Chinese version are you Onizuka...? :shock:

Well... I guess either way, too much Chinese or Japanese text cause my eyes to roll (or something like that).

Again, the Chinese versions already lack numerous details that couldn't be translated smoothly without borrowing words (such as honorifics) so it isn't quite the ideal source material I don't think...

Oh and even though the Chinese I learnt during my gap year (and forgot...) is just about good enough to get me through the script, I think I'll leave it to a translator. :P
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Post by onizuka-gto »

no. this was just a teaser to try and grab some of the translators a attention.

:wink:

Since most are the chinese translator types.

:P


So far none has gone for my bait. dammn.

:roll: :twisted:
"Please note, we have added a consequence for failure.Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official test record, followed by death. Good luck."

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Post by the_naming_game »

Nice job finding the Chinese version. I'll have some fun with this one. I did notice some bad romanizations, in particular, the "Summon Servant" spell. I don't have a big character vocabulary, so I could only skim for the main ideas, but it's kind of neat seeing the same sentences in Chinese.

@Da~Mike
You learned that many words in 3 months? :shock: I might have to look into a program then. I've always imagined it as mostly busywork, not bootcamp. But I should probably keep a more open mind.

By the way, I learned once, to my chagrin that "ni2 shi4 shei2?" is a pretty rude thing to ask someone on the phone! So the tone of that part at least, seems pretty close to the "anta dare?" of the Japanese. I only mention this because that phrase is burned into my head from that incident. Ah, memories.

this thread's formatting.
Is it just me, or does everything posted after all that chinese text have messed up formatting?
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Post by bicube »

Nope, I'm getting weird formatting too. There's a huge blank space to the left of the text.
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Post by onizuka-gto »

This reminds me why I hate feung sheung, always mess everything up for no appriciable affect.

:roll: :P
"Please note, we have added a consequence for failure.Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official test record, followed by death. Good luck."

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Post by Da~Mike »

the_naming_game wrote: You learned that many words in 3 months? :shock: I might have to look into a program then. I've always imagined it as mostly busywork, not bootcamp. But I should probably keep a more open mind.

By the way, I learned once, to my chagrin that "ni2 shi4 shei2?" is a pretty rude thing to ask someone on the phone! So the tone of that part at least, seems pretty close to the "anta dare?" of the Japanese. I only mention this because that phrase is burned into my head from that incident. Ah, memories.
The reason I learnt as much as I did (yet forgot a great deal of it since...) in three months is due to several reasons:
1) I took a 3 month intensive Chinese course in Beijing at the Beijing Language and Culture University.
2) Being in a country where hardly anyone understands English forces one to learn the language better (since you have to practice using it almost immediately). Plus, force yourself to watch telly in Chinese. That also kind of helps.
3) I had extra tuition classes on top of my regular classes to help cram in the bloody characters.
4) Having several language exchange partners helps but you may end up teaching them more English than them teaching you Chinese (or Japanese or Korean).
4) My greatest aid in learning Chinese: my Palm dictionary. Look up for Pleco Dict, it's absolutely brilliant.

Ah... seems like you've learnt a variant accent, probably a southern type. Instead of "shei2", I would say "shui2" and instead of "zhei", I would say "zhe" (I forgot what the tones were though... :cry: )
But yes, the degree of politeness for "你是谁?" is somewhat determined by its tone (don't forget that it already has a tone!...). Normally it is equivalent to "あんた誰"(anta dare) or "お前は誰"(omae wa dare). At worst, it could end up as "誰だ貴様?!" (dare da kisama).
In a sense, Chinese can be literally translated in to English for you to understand whether it might sound rude or not (though my experience with the Chinese language taught me that it's not quite like Japanese or English when it comes to etiquette).
So if you directly translate "你是谁?" in to English, it becomes "you is who?". Now that sounds rather crude doesn't it?

A semi-polite version to ask for a person's name (I think) would be:
"请问,你叫什么名?" (qing wen, ni jiao shenme ming? = may I ask, you call what name?) Or
“请问,你的名字是什么? (qing wen, ni de ming zi shi shenme? = may I ask, your name is what?)


But to this day, I still hate reading characters unless I absolutely have to... :P


Back to this topic…
Hmmm...
Sorry but I don’t wanna translate! :P
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Post by the_naming_game »

thread formatting.
(Breathing a big sigh of relief. Damn, that was bugging me.)

Basically, there was just too much text, and so phpBB2 never managed to store the "close quote" tag to the database. The rest is history. This just goes to show, that as much as I'm capable of over analyzing formatting issues (See the collab forum.), I realize now, it could be much, much worse.

Da~Mike --
That kind of training program sounds very very interesting. What level were you at before you got there? I assume you'd need some basic proficiency to be able to get the most out of something like that?

About pleco dict:
I'm assuming the big win for that is that, being portable, you could drill characters, etc, no matter where you were? I've done a little reading on cognitive research, and they tend agree on 20 minute sessions as an upper limit for effective learning before retention starts to drop. Basically, it advocates many small lessons as opposed to a few large ones.

So if you were using it as you went around Beijing, looking up words, doing character drills while waiting for the bus, you were probably doing just that.

Accent:
For some reason I was thinking that the accent I wrote out was the "official" accent, and so for better communication, I used that. The actual accent I use is pretty close to the "regular" one you mentioned. Though admittedly I probably DID learn a different accent, as I don't stress my r's like they do in Beijing.

To break it down,
  • "zh" -> "z", "sh" -> "s", aka "xh -> x where x = { z, s, ... are there any others? }"
  • "ren2 -> zjen2", aka "rxxxx -> zjxxxx" -- take a "j", relax your mouth, and you've got it. Or conversely, take a "z", relax your mouth, and you've got it too.
  • take out any r's that remain, and replace with various words, if the "r" happened to serve a grammatical function. "na2li3? zhe4bian1." ("where? here.") ... as opposed to that "nar3? zher4." business.
(Oops... what was I saying about it being similar? The vowels are, at least...)

Basically, it's probably a much easier accent for someone who speaks English. I find Japanese -- at least that I hear in anime -- to have an easy accent as well. By that, I mean there aren't any consonants that make your mouth boggle or anything like that. Getting things sounding native is always going to be hard, of course.
  • And I absolutely love hearing the Japanese "r-l" sound. It sounds odd in "Engrish", of course, but in "miteru", "shinjiteru", "arigatou", "Utawarerumono" (now THAT'S a fun phrase to listen to.), etc -- it's one of the nicer consonants I've heard.
"zhe", I'm pretty sure, is 4th tone, but there are times it sounds dangerously close to a 1st to me.

Characters
Maybe it's because I associate them with raw manga, OP and ED karaoke, etc -- and not hours of memorization -- that I consider them fun. Hopefully by the time I learn my 500th or 1000th, I won't be sick of them...

Politeness
"Who are you?" does sound pretty rude in English, come to think of it. But at the time I was thinking more "May I ask who this is?" or the like. My language skills don't allow me to decide the politeness of "zhe4 shi4 shui2?", aka ("this is who?") ... it's probably pretty rude as well. Come to think of it "May I ask who this is?" is formal, but it's kind of snotty and brush-off. The best thing I can think of right now is "May I ask who's calling?" ... I guess I'm just not very polite.

I spent way too much time
writing up this post, not to mention figuring out that phpBB2 bug. I started up replies to your other posts, but I'll have to finish them later. And there's always Japanese study too... not enough hours in the day, as you say.
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Post by Da~Mike »

Ah!
The thread looks much nicer now.
Nice one The naming game. :)

Okay... Whatever I'm about to type is completely irrelevant, with respect to what the topic of this thread originally was (although I am about to discuss more Chinese stuff so I guess it is still vaguely relevant...).

The Naming Game

About the training programme:
My level of Chinese before I enrolled? Very very weak!
I could recognise a few characters (less than 20) although I did learn numerous of them before due to my language exchange partners.
I was pretty much illiterate though my spoken ability was some what better.
I could say the basic survival things: greeting people, eating, telling the time, the days of the week, and basic etiquette.

If I could read and write as much as I could speak, I guess my proficiency in Chinese wasn't that weak after all. :P

But yes, it does help to have a very basic grasp of the language before going on a course like mine.

In fact, I did meet a friend from Northamptonshire in Beijing (whom I first met there) doing the same course as me. However, his Chinese was far worse than mine so yes... he didn't quite get as far but he did make a hefty sum of cash by simply recording his voice for audio books, aimed at Chinese people.
I chose not to, since I was in China to learn Chinese, not to make easy money...
Though I mildly regret that decision of mine... :P


About Pleco dict:
No, I didn't drill characters every where I went... :P
I revised characters using pen and paper before I went to bed.

What I did do, as you guessed, was to whip out that dictionary and look up the meaning of words that I didn't understand as I was going around Beijing.
Moreover, it was a life-saver when I got into situations where I had no idea how to express myself clearly. I'd search for what I wanted to say in English and show them the characters that it brought up. :P
Furthermore, if I didn't understand people, I'd ask them to write the characters into my Palm and then the dictionary would bring up the meaning in English for me (it's primary benefit is its ability to search for characters via written input as opposed using the bloody annoying radical system).
Pleco dict was brilliant in helping me both ways.


Accent:

Well...
The daft thing is that no matter where you go in China, the Chinese people will normally have the gall to say that they speak the real "putong hwa" (the standard dialect/language).
But since Beijing is the capital of China, one would assume that the people there do indeed speak the "standard dialect/language"

About "xh" and "xj", may I ask what is that supposed to be?

The main difference between the northern accent and the southern accent would be:

• Zh => Z, Ch => C, Sh => S, R => r

For the case of the "R"s, southerners don't roll their tongues as much and sometimes replace the "R" with an "L".

About it being any easier or harder... I don't think so...

While I believe I caught the gist of speaking the language, there were plenty of others who pronounced things so painfully wrong. I mean, in a sense, it would be like listening to "Engrish".
One of the biggest flaws that many people use when trying to speak a foreign language is to interpret what something sounds like in your native tongue.
To become closer to sounding like a native speaker, you simply have to mimic the way people pronounce things. No two ways about it.


Regarding Japanese, since it isn't overloaded with tones, it is generally easier for an English speaker to pronounce things properly. Though I have heard some people speak it to the extent where it almost makes my ears bleed...
A great example of people who know the language but sound nothing close to being native speakers of Japanese; search for something called "Yamato Damacy".


Characters:

The most interesting way to learn characters, I find, it to try and understand why each character represents what it does.

Easy ones would be:

人 = ren = person = a person walking

大 = da = big = a person who is holding his/her arms outstretched

火 = huo = fire = Chinese people drew fire this way?

心 = xin = heart = Chinese people drew hearts this way?

More complicated ones would be:

好 = hao = good = a girl (nu) and a boy (zi) as your children is good

家 = jia = home = a roof with a pig. Chinese people used to rear pigs in their homes (FOOD)

饿 = e = hungry = the part on the left is for food (fan), the part on the right represents yourself (wo) thus, connotes hunger


Sadly, not everything works out quite like this so, the rest you simply have to rote learn...


Despite the fact that the Japanese also use Chinese characters, their relevance isn't quite the same.
While some words have the same meaning, their pronunciation is completely different.

人 = ren in Chinese = hito in Japanese

天 = tian in Chinese = ten in Japanese

Other things have completely different meanings:

君 = jun in Chinese (means emperor) = kun in Japanese (-kun, the honorific)

大丈夫 = da zhang fu in Chinese (means "A REAL MAN!") = dai jou bu in Japanese ("ARE YOU OKAY?")

I had lots of good laughs with all the Japanese friends I made whiles in Beijing. They often forgot that they were supposed to read the characters in Chinese, not Japanese.

1000 characters huh?

Ohh... there're so much more than that... :rolleyes:

To be able to read newspaper articles, you should know at least 2000-3000 characters...


Politeness:

Too formal?? In stark contrast to their far eastern neighbours, Chinese people are actually quite rude...
In fact, I remember my course mates saying that China was similar to America and Japan was similar to Britain. :P


I too, spent far too much time typing out this post...
I think I shall shy away from my computer now and go read a book or something.


p.s. Maybe we should create another thread where we could discuss things like this in the future?
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Post by HolyCow »

Hmm oni, where did you get the chinese version? If memory serves me right I don't think there's a chinese version out yet...

A fan-made version?

Sorry for bringing this topic back from the dead, but it was too interesting to ignore.
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Post by BaKaFiSh »

HolyCow > If you want it, I have the first volume. ^_^

But it's in traditional, and I don't know which one you read. Lol.
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Post by HolyCow »

Erm, is it a fan made or did some company release it behind my back? I'm fine with either traditional or simplified.
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Post by BaKaFiSh »

Fan Made, 尖端 still has yet to release. ^^;

At least, I don't think they've released it yet.. >.>
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