- Forum >
- Topic: Chinese >
- "他家的环境很舒服。"
"他家的环境很舒服。"
Translation:The environment of his home is cozy.
32 Comments
I put "The environment of his house is comfortable" and it was accepted. Now if only I knew what this English sentence is supposed to mean.
Yes fellow humans, the environment inside this structure is within acceptable parameters.
1222
My first thought was the environment around the house rather than in it. If in, then perhaps 'home,' is better than 'house.' Parallel with the question of inside or out, is the question of whether we are talking about the natural, physical environment principally outside the house or the psychological or emotional environment in the home. Did anyone try: His home environment is cosy. Still, whether inside or outside, none of the possible direct translations I can come up with sound very natural in English. A psychologist or social worker might speak about one's home environment, but would I be likely to say that of my neighbor? Hm.
The sentence is admittedly difficult to translate due to its ambiguity but it is common and usually relates to the inside and/or outside of someone's home which you have visited.
I believe 环境 relates to the physical surroundings and tangible environment rather than the situation or circumstances of a family etc. That being said, I am not a chinese social worker.
As ever, when it comes to duolingo, we needn't concern ourselves with how usual or "natural" sounding the English version of the sentence is. Chinese and English are different languages and the things people say in them reflect different ways of seeing the world, that's part of the beauty of learning other languages. Our job is to translate as a means to learning so it doesn't matter how unlikely the English version of the sentence is so long as it is a grammatically correct translation of the original sentence that is as direct as possible.
The problem is that sometimes we just fail to understand that direct translation. I agree with you about "usual or natural" part, it doesn't even hurt me if the translation is not grammaticaly correct (as long as correct one is also accepted) - the one thing I want to understand is what does the chinese senence mean.
So these usual English versions just work as explanations. It would be perfect to have both somehow,
Thank you for your explanatios
Honestly, if you would say to me in English 'the environment in his home is cosy', I probably wouldn't be quite sure what you mean... This sentence is very clumsy.
Well, I dont understand what they mean - at least I don't without the long explanations given in the comments.
True. It doesn't make sense. As a contributor can't you tell them to do something about those numerous litteral nonsensical translations?
Is the Chinese talking about the inside of his house, or the area around his house?
I'd say the inside of his house, especially furniture/decor. Although the English translation is really awkward, the Chinese sentence is quite natural/common. To talk about the area around his house, we say 他家周围的环境
My personal walking, talking dictionary says the sentence means "His house/home is cozy". If the Chinese sentence needs to be translated literally, I would suggest translating "huanjing" (lit. "environment") somewhat metaphorically into something like "atmosphere" or "feeling".
atmosphere works better than environment - atmosphere is within confines, while environment surrounds something
But atmosphere is intangible and 环境 is tangible. The sentence means more like the furnishings and layout. Such as having a comfy sofa and rugs. It's not about how the family get on with each other.
Such an awkward sentence. "His home is cozy" or "his home is comfortable" sounds a lot better if the meaning is that the inside of his home is pleasant. If it refers to the surrounding area, then cozy doesn't work at all.
The 他家 Word Bank tile is silent, they always stay silent for the entire lesson. Defective network code? Humbug. Reported [The audio does not sound correct] 2019 June 12th Wednesday Opera 60.0.3255.141 Mac OS X 10.11.6 64-bit.
"cozy" is the standard American -- and apparently Canadian -- spelling; hence the spelling used by the majority of English speakers. Hence it should be used here. Also, "cozy" fits the pronunciation better; at a time when millions of English-speaking adults ar functionally illiterate, the relevant people should not be able to, in good conscience, choose the spelling "cosy" over "cozy". The basic premise, namely that the less-transparent the orthografy, the harder and more laborious it is for children to learn to read and write, and the more likely people ar to fail to learn it properly, is a well-documented fact, not an opinion.
both cosy and cozy should be accepted (as they are) - it is the Chinese lesson after all :-)
