"我们怎么样提高汉语水平？"
Translation:How do we improve our Chinese proficiency?
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Got busted for translating 水平 to "level" last question. Said I should have put "skill". So thia question I translated it to "skill". Wrong. Should have said "level"...
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I did the opposite here. I put "skill" (or something similar) and got wrong for not putting "level". It seems the two (plus "skill level") are somewhat interchangeable.
Previous question I wrote "level" and it corrected me to skill. Now VISE VERSA!!!! AHHHHHH!
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In one answer proficiency is wrong, corrected to skill, in this one only proficiency is offered. I feel like I'm playing a game with rules that keep changing.
Really 水平 means level. In relation to some things this level means skill level, in relation to other things it is a different kind of level (technology level, developmental level, difficulty level, proficiency level, profit level, seniority level etc.)
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Sorry, but you don't "improve a level"! It sounds very strange to me in English. You can "raise a level", you can "advance your level" or "advance (with)in your level". Also, you cannot "improve your proficiency"! You're either "proficient" or you are "not proficient".
But you can "improve your skills" or simply "improve your Chinese"!
Actually not correct in English. Frequent correct usage as cited in dictionaries is the phrase "level of proficiency" which clearly implies it can be improved.
Since we are quibbling about English, what is correct is to 'raise' your level and not to improve it. Sea levels aren't improving, but they are rising. Although to improve your level isn't a complete howler, it is still shoddy English.
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"Improve your level" doesn't sound wrong to me but I agree "improve your proficiency sounds wrong" though not because proficiency is binary either yes or no, after all "more proficient" doesn't sound wrong.
...
Now I hit this one a few days later and this time I agree "improve your level" does sound wrong (-:
@johnsark: My mind connects "advance your level" to meaningless metrics like Duolingo's XPs, lines of code, and man-months.
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Last time it corrected me from "can" to "do". This time I used "do" and it corrected to "can".
By saying 都可以, I'm pretty sure she means skill, level, and proficiency are ALL acceptable translations for 水平
"how are we going to improve our chinese level" was rejected but I reckon it's ok
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This is a beta course and as such we're participating in the development as long as we keep contributing missing translations.
That's my question! Why is the 样 there? Does it give the sentence a slightly different meaning?
Without the 样 it reads more like "why should we improve our Chinese proficiency? " you need the set phrase 怎么样，which means "by what means?" in this type of sentence. (in a different type of sentence it means "what do you think ? Or "how's that?). Sometimes 怎么 (without the 样）means why, but a different type of why than 为什么。you can kind of think of the difference as a how/why compared to a what/why.
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Actually, it sounds rather unnatural without it. Both the given translation and 怎样, which is more colloquial, are better.
How can we improve our Chinese? or How can we get better at Chinese? =more idiomatic.
for those who are reading the comments:
How can we improve our Chinese? - is accepted now
I wrote, "how do we improve our command of chinese?" This should be accepted; plenty of English-speakers say "command of [language]".
A thing I noticed about it is that Chinese glyphs actually formed in parts, if you separate them it might become easier to understand.
No. The Chinese says "level," after all.
Then again, my goal is proficiency, not knowledge. Or the ability to divine correct provider intentions.
我住在秘鲁, 我用谷歌翻译. I am from Peru, and I use Google translate with Duolingo.
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That's great, but take note that it isn't the always accurate (and it isn't the most accurate in the first place!).
In my field, J-E translation, we call it Giggle Translate—always good for a laugh.
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"how do we improve Chinese proficiency" should be accepted: since "we" are asking it is understood that it's "our" level that has to be improved, otherwise it should have been an affirmation, not a question... am I wrong?