Talking Babelcarp ?

Talking Babelcarp ?

Just a thought... would any of the group (who do not speak Chinese) find a
'talking' bablecarp useful ?

While I use Babelcarp extensively (and appreciatively) , I'm constantly
wondering if I am interpreting the words/phrases properly. if we could say
type in 'Shu' to get the description as we usually do, what if you could
also click a button and hear a sound bite of the correct (or more common)
pronounciation.

Obviously a lot of work for someone, but do others on the group think that
this feature may be useful ?
--
Cheers
Mal
Oz
http :// maloz.bigblog,com .au/index.do

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

"Mal from Oz" <draconust@hotmail,com > writes:

> Just a thought... would any of the group (who do not speak Chinese) find a
> 'talking' bablecarp useful ?
>
> While I use Babelcarp extensively (and appreciatively) , I'm constantly
> wondering if I am interpreting the words/phrases properly. if we could say
> type in 'Shu' to get the description as we usually do, what if you could
> also click a button and hear a sound bite of the correct (or more common)
> pronounciation.
>
> Obviously a lot of work for someone, but do others on the group think that
> this feature may be useful ?

First of all: In the absence of a Pronounce button on the Babelcarp
page, you can find everything you need to know about Mandarin
pronunciation here:

http :// www .zein.se/patrick/chinen8p.html

Actually, I'm tempted to say that most of the hard work is already
done, since virtually all the Mandarin phrases in Babelcarp's database
are now annotated for tones. Not that I've looked yet, but somehow I
think that somewhere on the Web there must be a site that'll generate,
say, an MP3 file that pronounces a Pinyin phrase for you. It would be
kind of robotic, because it wouldn't parse the phrase, but especially
for short phrases, not too bad. If there is such a thing out there,
then I should be able to work it in. Assuming, that is, people really
want it...

/Lew
---
Lew Perin / perin@acm.org
http :// www .panix,com /~perin/babelcarp.html

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

On Apr 20, 7:11 am, "Mal from Oz" <dracon...@hotmail,com > wrote:
> Just a thought...   would any of the group (who do not speak Chinese) find a
> 'talking' bablecarp useful ?
>
> While I use Babelcarp extensively (and appreciatively) , I'm constantly
> wondering if I am interpreting the words/phrases properly. if we could say
> type in 'Shu' to get the description as we usually do, what if you could
> also click a button and hear a sound bite of the correct (or more common)
> pronounciation.
>
> Obviously a lot of work for someone, but do others on the group think that
> this feature may be useful ?
> --
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz http :// maloz.bigblog,com .au/index.do

Check out some of the selections from tea seller teaspring,com . There
is a speaker icon that plays a recorded voice for many of them.
Also Clouds , the author of First Lessons In Pu-erh Tea has a cd on
his to do list that will accomplish the same.

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

On Apr 20, 7:11 am, "Mal from Oz" <dracon...@hotmail,com > wrote:
> Just a thought...   would any of the group (who do not speak Chinese) find a
> 'talking' bablecarp useful ?
>
> While I use Babelcarp extensively (and appreciatively) , I'm constantly
> wondering if I am interpreting the words/phrases properly. if we could say
> type in 'Shu' to get the description as we usually do, what if you could
> also click a button and hear a sound bite of the correct (or more common)
> pronounciation.
>
> Obviously a lot of work for someone, but do others on the group think that
> this feature may be useful ?
> --
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz http :// maloz.bigblog,com .au/index.do

On this Chinese-English dictionary site you can find pronounciations.
You can try searching for single syllables if you can't find the
entire Chinese word.
http :// www .mdbg,net

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

On 2008-04-20, TokyoB <dragonwelltea@gmail,com > wrote:

> On this Chinese-English dictionary site you can find pronounciations.
> You can try searching for single syllables if you can't find the
> entire Chinese word.
> http :// www .mdbg,net

Check out http :// nciku,com also. Great site, and very helpful for
looking up characters / tones / pronounciation in a variety of different
ways (there's even a way to draw characters in and get selection of
possible matches).

Keep in mind that, even within Mandarin, there are differences in
pronounciation from region to region (a lot of audio courses pronounce
everything with a Beijing accent). And once you start talking about
other languages / dialects, things get even hairier.

w

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

On Apr 20, 8:28 pm, Will Yardley <&...@no.spam.veggiechinese,net >
wrote:
> On 2008-04-20, TokyoB <dragonwell...@gmail,com > wrote:
>
> > On this Chinese-English dictionary site you can find pronounciations.
> > You can try searching for single syllables if you can't find the
> > entire Chinese word.
> > http :// www .mdbg,net
>
> Check out http :// nciku,com also. Great site, and very helpful for
> looking up characters / tones / pronounciation in a variety of different
> ways (there's even a way to draw characters in and get selection of
> possible matches).

I'm happy to learn about nciku,com ! For my own character-
pronunciation needs (actually less important now that I'm studying
Chinese), I've used the pronunciation guides on
http :// www .xuezhongwen,net /chindict/chindict.php Just type in the
pinyin (with or without tones), find the right characters, click, and
listen! It won't do phrases, but you can get each character and
string them together yourself.

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

Appreciate the responses.... will look into all the suggestions made. I've
also got a 'Learn Madarin in 15 Minutes a Day' CD/Book at home which will
also help wih some of the basics.
Whilst this should assist with simple everyday (touristy) type scenarios, I
just don't want to sound like a tosser if I mispronouce simple tea related
things ;-)

Cheers
Mal
Oz



"Mal from Oz" <draconust@hotmail,com > wrote in message
news:3yFOj.3330$ko5.1129@news-server.bigpond,net .au...
> Just a thought... would any of the group (who do not speak Chinese) find
> a 'talking' bablecarp useful ?
>
> While I use Babelcarp extensively (and appreciatively) , I'm constantly
> wondering if I am interpreting the words/phrases properly. if we could say
> type in 'Shu' to get the description as we usually do, what if you could
> also click a button and hear a sound bite of the correct (or more common)
> pronounciation.
>
> Obviously a lot of work for someone, but do others on the group think that
> this feature may be useful ?
> --
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz
> http :// maloz.bigblog,com .au/index.do
>

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

Check out iciba,com , for individual words. They got Chinese
pronunciation on there. Just click on the speaker icon. Very simple.

This should be the entry for tea:
http :// dict.iciba,com /%E8%8C%B6/

And under that entry there are many words that start with the
character "cha".

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

On following the links kindly shared by you all, I came across this site -
so far finding it very useful...

http :// www .uvm.edu/~chinese/pinyin.htm

--
Cheers
Mal
Oz
http :// maloz.bigblog,com .au/index.do
"Mal from Oz" <draconust@hotmail,com > wrote in message
news:3yFOj.3330$ko5.1129@news-server.bigpond,net .au...
> Just a thought... would any of the group (who do not speak Chinese) find
> a 'talking' bablecarp useful ?
>
> While I use Babelcarp extensively (and appreciatively) , I'm constantly
> wondering if I am interpreting the words/phrases properly. if we could say
> type in 'Shu' to get the description as we usually do, what if you could
> also click a button and hear a sound bite of the correct (or more common)
> pronounciation.
>
> Obviously a lot of work for someone, but do others on the group think that
> this feature may be useful ?
> --
> Cheers
> Mal
> Oz
> http :// maloz.bigblog,com .au/index.do
>

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

In terms of learning Chinese terms for tea, I'd be less interested in
a pronunciation guide than I would a categorized list of tea-related
vocabulary words. E.g., a list of oolongs (with characters, pinyin,
and english), a list of puer terms, a list of tea producing regions, a
list of commonly used tea adjectives, a list of tea-related verbs,
etc. If anyone knows of anything like this, I'd be interested in it.
My goal would be to eventually read a bit more online about tea in
Chinese. I could, of course, look up words in a dictionary, but my
dictionary probably wouldn't have all of the necessary specialized
terms.

cha bing

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

On Apr 27, 1:05 pm, cha bing <bb092...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> In terms of learning Chinese terms for tea, I'd be less interested in
> a pronunciation guide than I would a categorized list of tea-related
> vocabulary words. E.g., a list of oolongs (with characters, pinyin,
> and english), a list of puer terms, a list of tea producing regions, a
> list of commonly used tea adjectives, a list of tea-related verbs,
> etc. If anyone knows of anything like this, I'd be interested in it.
> My goal would be to eventually read a bit more online about tea in
> Chinese. I could, of course, look up words in a dictionary, but my
> dictionary probably wouldn't have all of the necessary specialized
> terms.
>
> cha bing

cha bing, we may have what you desire -- or something like it -- at
CHA DAO. see the post at
http :// tinyurl,com /3ykkbv -- in composing which i had constant
recourse to babelcarp and other lexical sources. [i also picked the
brains of at least half-a-dozen native speakers -- which,
unsurprisingly for those who study language, often made things less
clear. or at least, let us say, less simple to account for in a simple
list. language is like a many-faceted gem, constantly turning -- and
with every turn it refracts the light in a new and different way. and
this would be true even if tea culture were not such a long and
nuanced tradition; even if the chinese-speaking world were not so
ancient and populous.]

i should note that i consider this handlist a work in progress. its
last revision, i see, was in july; but i have had a particularly
eventful year, and thus less time than i would have liked for such
projects. but helpful colleagues and friends have noted [a few]
details here and there that should be changed, and when i get the
chance, i will make those. overall i would say the work is pretty
accurate. one can always add more tea destinations! and if you saw
niisonge's list of teahouses -- just in beijing -- you will get some
idea of the massive scope. in revising the 'destinations' portion, i
will try to stick to places i myself have visited and/or places that
come with high recommendation from trusted sources.

i like your idea of 'tea adjectives' and 'tea verbs' and such. these
are perhaps underrepresented in the handlist, though you will find
some in section 8. that's a direction in which i could try to expand
the thing in the future. meanwhile, i hope you find helpful what's
already there.

best to all,
corax

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?


> cha bing, we may have what you desire -- or something like it -- at
> CHA DAO. see the post at http :// tinyurl,com /3ykkbv

This is great. Thanks. This ought to keep me busy for a while, but I
will note two things: (1) it would be helpful to have both the complex
and the simplified characters; also, (2) in some words you indicate
tones--it would be useful if this was done in all words. Could it also
be useful to have Cantonese pronunciation? Maybe for HK, but I don't
know cantonese at all so I am inclined myself to stick with mandarin.
Other than that, the list is pretty much exactly what I was looking
for. I'll be sure to bookmark it.

cha bing

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?

[corax]
cha bing, we may have what you desire -- or something like it --
at CHA DAO. see the post at http :// tinyurl,com /3ykkbv

[cha bing]
This is great. Thanks. This ought to keep me busy for a while, but I
will note two things: (1) it would be helpful to have both the complex
and the simplified characters; also, (2) in some words you indicate
tones--it would be useful if this was done in all words. Could it also
be useful to have Cantonese pronunciation? Maybe for HK, but I don't
know cantonese at all so I am inclined myself to stick with mandarin.
Other than that, the list is pretty much exactly what I was looking
for. I'll be sure to bookmark it.

[corax]
glad you find this helpful so far. it can always use refining. as for
the chinese characters, i did offer traditional hanzi for taiwan teas,
and simplified for the rest, but i can see the usefulness of having
both versions for all. for some time now lew has been updating
babelcarp in this way [as with the addition of tones] and both of
those changes would also be worthwhile for this handlist. as for
expanding it to cantonese -- whew -- that would be a fairly gigantic
project! but maybe somewhere down the road. meanwhile, thanks for all
your feedback, in this and your previous message.

Re: Talking Babelcarp ?


>Could it also be useful to have Cantonese pronunciation? Maybe for HK, but I don't
> know cantonese at all so I am inclined myself to stick with mandarin.

Just to interject here, I speak both Cantonese and Mandarin, and I
would say, that putting in Cantonese pronunciation is possible, but
not so practical. Mandarin is the official language of China, and it's
now becoming more and more necessary to communicate in Manadarin even
in HK. Mandarin has 4 tones, so it's much easier to deal with. Not so
with a Cantonese transliteration. There are something like 9 different
tones. And then there are different methods of transliteration - not
one, unified standard. So assuming you got the pronunciation correct,
you still have to get the tones correct too to make it work. So it's
much more difficult. It's a very ancient language, in many ways, quite
unlike Mandarin. But Mandarin is so much simpler and straight-forward.