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Chinese to English: Expressing Love in China [First section] General field: Social Sciences Detailed field: Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc.
Source text - Chinese 在中国的文化里，所有的关系好像都不怎么擅长直接表达爱！
因为中国人内敛的特性，不管在亲人，爱人还是朋友之间， 大部分中国人都不太善于说“我爱你”三个字，开口说我爱你总会觉得有点别扭。有不少夫妻一辈子都没有对对方说过：“我爱你”，我将近60岁的父母就是活生生的一对例子。
因此当中国人说“我爱你”的时候，一般都是分场合和对象的。
Translation - English In Chinese culture, it would seem that there are no relationships that are used to directly expressing love.
Chinese people are intrinsically reserved by nature. So regardless of whether you’re talking about relatives, spouses, or friends, Chinese people are not good at saying the three words “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you).
Saying “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you) aloud will always feel a little uncomfortable for the Chinese. Many husbands and wives go their entire lifetime without speaking the words “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you) to their partner. My almost 60-year old parents are a living example.
Therefore, when Chinese people say “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you) it depends entirely on where they are and who they are saying it to.
Family Relationships
When expressing love and concern, the overwhelming majority of Chinese households will choose other words than “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you). Most are not used to gestures such as a hug. Most use indirect means to express their love to family members.
Between Siblings
Between siblings, the word 爱 (aì, love) is virtually never spoken. To show that they care, siblings usually ask how life has been recently. Or when saying goodbye, they might use the phrase “走了啊” (zǒu le a, I’m going now). Adding the sound 啊 (a) to this sentence adds no extra meaning, but makes the tone more affectionate.
This phrase is suitable to use with every family member. It subtlety shows care and an unwillingness to part with them.
Between Children and Parents
Like between other family members, in normal circumstances children and parents are simply not used to saying “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you). However, there is one case where these words are spoken.
When a child is still young, the mother will often say “妈妈爱你!” (Māma aì nǐ!, Mummy loves you!) or “妈妈好爱你” (Māma hǎo aì nǐ!, Mummy loves you so much!). If it’s a father, 爸爸爱你!” (Bàba aì nǐ!, Daddy loves you!).
Habitually in everyday life when we express “I love you”, we’ll add a form of address like 妈妈 (māma, mummy) to the start of the sentence. Saying it without this addition would seem a little overdramatic and may take the other person off-guard.
Children would use 妈妈 (māma, mummy) or 爸爸 (bàba, daddy). Once grown up, you can say 妈 (mā, mum), 爸 (bà, dad) or 老妈 (lǎomā, mum), 老爸 (lǎobà, dad). The latter pair are more casual and mean you’re on good terms with each other.
“我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you) is suitable between couples, not family members. I can’t imagine what reaction my Dad would have if I said this while making direct eye contact. However, if I said “老爸我爱你” (Lǎobā wǒ aì nǐ, I love you Dad) it would be much easier for him to accept and understand.
Between Parents
There is a very great proportion of elderly husbands and wives who have been together for a lifetime, yet the wife has never heard the husband speak the words “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you). Does this mean they’re not in love with each other? Not really.
This generation’s expression of love is less apparent than the younger generation. They incline towards using real actions to express love. For example, inviting their other half to a dinner date, gifting a present, or going to the cinema. Anything that people in love like to do together. They just won’t say “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you).
So in this case, it’s very easy to create misunderstandings where the wife feels unloved or feels that the husband is not romantic enough. If the man can, for example, help share household chores each day, using real actions to take care of show gratitude for what she has done for the family, then the woman won’t care to hear those three words “我爱你” (Wǒ aì nǐ, I love you).
If the man fails to show his love through action or make her feel his love, then conflict will arise.
Chinese to English: Casual-style Vlog Subtitling General field: Other Detailed field: Education / Pedagogy
Translation - English I don't know if you've realised, recently I've slowly begun
to avoid film topics related to
anxiety about your appearance or anxieties in general
Because I think that stage of my life has passed
I don't need to use this keyword to create more topics
but before there were a few voices inside those films
that were trying hard to make me understand
Ella—you're change is because you met Scott
Yeah, including my current state of mind— all because of meeting Scott
Hello hello
This week should have been a film edited by Scott about our travels
but he got ill halfway through so that film couldn't come out
and so I'm here to share a few recent thoughts
What's it like when your partner is utterly brilliant?
When I'd just gotten together with Scott we'd do lots of
outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing, mountain climbing
Sightly extreme stuff
and a few people around me asked
do you like these sports because you've been influenced by Scott？
When I talk to others I'll say something
and other people might indirectly look for evidence
of whether I think that because of Scott, so I've been influenced?
And through showing our films other people think I've had new changes
but people will also say it's because of Scott
Because I've I'm so lucky and I met him so I became a better person
Slowly I felt uncomfortable
because it's like I'm someone without my own thoughts or views
All my changes, my good transformations
and even my hobbies are because I have a brilliant partner
and I only have them because I was influenced by him
So at the beginning when I ran into these kinds of problems
my inner self would resist and be defensive
I'd say "It's not, I also blah blah blah"
Right now, yeah people will still ask me this kind of question
But I'm calmer
I'll admit that yes, Scott has been a good influence on me
I think this is the facts
because he's made me a better person, he's given me lots of
opportunity to do things
So I won't deny that
and I don't think there's anything embarrassing about that
On the contrary I'll feel very proud
because if your partner can help you improve yourself
isn't that something you can be proud of?
but I will also try to distinguish myself
Yes, I can't negate the influence he's had on me
but I also can't negate the changes that I've helped myself make
I actively chose to be influenced by him
and I also have my own thoughts and brain
I think separating those things is most important
Whoever's had this experience too can raise a hand
Before there were some comments that were pretty interesting
They said that they concluded that without exception in international couples
with Chinese people and westerners together
it's normally the Chinese person who has been influenced more than the westerner
Maybe what they meant is that
Chinese people don't have self confidence
so they think western culture is good and were influenced more
But I think this depends
If you say that that person has lots of intrinsically good qualities and stuff
then I naturally want to learn from them
I think that for people to learn good things is very natural
It's an instinct
And it doesn't mean that simply because they're not Chinese I need to learn from them
No matter whether Chinese or whatever kind of thing they are
as long as they are brilliant then they are good
That makes me want to learn
The most frightening thing is after hearing these voices
you think this is something to be embarrassed about
It's something humiliating
and you don't want to be influenced or learn new things
This point is
Finding a dream romance isn't just
as simple as meeting the right person
If you think about, if everybody thinks
I want to wait for the right person
I want to meet someone, meet someone brilliant
then naturally our relationship will fly to another level
We'll be at a perfect level in the relationship
If everyone thinks like that
then who's going to be the one that has the potential to influence others?
To save people?
If none of us are that person
and waiting to be saved
then... then what?
For example, a simple question
which is also something I came to last night whilst talking with a friend
Since being with Scott, I very rarely ask a question
which is the most popular question girls would ask their boyfriend or husband
and that's "Do you love me?"
Before when I was with other guys I asked them this question
and pretty frequently
At that time it was really through a lack of feeling secure that I asked it
but since being with Scott I've basically never asked it
Very rarely
Because I believe that if you don't believe yourself you deserve to be loved
then no matter how hard your partner loves you
No matter how hard they try to make you know they love you
you'll always be looking for more evidence
Evidence that they don't love you
So what's the core?
At the core is that I believe I'm worthy of love
This is my transformation
If I wasn't active
If I didn't want to change
I didn't want to become better
Then no matter how hard that person tried I'd be stuck struggling at the same level
They'll also feel worn out
There might be a day where they'll feel
it's not okay, they can't go on
I accept his love, I'll also give him love
This back and forth you know, like this
you'll love easily without tiring
Waiting for the right person is important
but our own ability to love is also important
You can't have one without the other
So how can we negate our own abilities?
This makes me want to recommend a book
I've been reading the last few months called The Art of Loving
One exquisite point within says that
love is a skill
Not everybody is born with this skill
It's not that you know how to do it without study
It really needs to be studied
to grow
It needs to be considered thoroughly to be achieved
If you don't have this skill
the books says it's like
you're a heart-begger looking for love
I want love, but I'm unable to give it to other people
Right now if there's still people indirectly asking me
Ella, when you do this or that
or think this, is it because you've been influenced by Scott?
If it is, I'll say it is
If it's not, I'll say it isn't
I won't suddenly think
that being influenced by Scott is something to be shameful of
and I won't really think that
I don't have my own thoughts
I'll be resolute that my brain is my own
Lastly I want to leave you with a question
We all know that good relationships need attention
You want someone who can help you grow
then we should ask ourselves, can I be the one to help them grow?
Okay, bye bye!
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Experience
Years of experience: 4. Registered at ProZ.com: Feb 2021.
Through visiting to China to make a film, I met my wife, learnt the language and have since lived in and out of China. Currently I am making films for the China-related YouTube channel, Fragrant Mandarin and various Chinese social media channels.
My translation experience is mainly in subtitle translation/creation for my own films, though I have now had a few opportunities to work on articles.
I have also written extensively (in English) for a variety of industries including: Chinese learning, photography, hiking and travel.
Please see below for example translations on environmental-related film subtitle projects: - Unbelievable flooding in South China: https://youtu.be/O5_BmrAzfRw - Rock Climbing and overdevelopment: https://www.skypixel.com/videos/the-view-over-the-concrete
Keywords: Chinese, climate, Chinese learning, film, subtitles, education
Expertise