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Editing needed

 
 
Reply Thu 4 Nov, 2004 06:59 am
Please edit the para below:

In the context of global economy, the culture exchange between China and the West has been going frequently. It is a great duty for the current scholars to introduce the marrow of Chinese culture to the West while the essential parts of the western culture have continuously been introduced to China. There are about 35,000 kinds of ancient classical Chinese works in China, so far only 0.2% of which has been translated into foreign lauguages. Some Chinese scholars think the most beautiful part of Chinese culture is 300 Tang Dynasty Poems...
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Type: Discussion • Score: 1 • Views: 530 • Replies: 6
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stuh505
 
  1  
Reply Thu 4 Nov, 2004 07:37 am
it's not that bad as it is

Quote:
In the context of global economy, the culture exchange between China and the West has been going frequently.


the information exchange may have a frequency, but you're talking about culture exchange which seems like more of a continuous thing to me...

Quote:
It is a great duty for the current scholars to introduce the marrow of Chinese culture to the West while the essential parts of the western culture have continuously been introduced to China.


use heart instead of marrow

start this sentence with "while the essential" and move the beginning part to the end, to show rationale

Quote:
There are about 35,000 kinds of ancient classical Chinese works in China, so far only 0.2% of which has been translated into foreign lauguages.


break into two sentences before so far and put a comma after so far, change which to this
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oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Thu 4 Nov, 2004 08:21 am
Thanks Stuh.

The events of culture exchange between China and the West have been happening frequently?
0 Replies
 
Wy
 
  1  
Reply Thu 4 Nov, 2004 08:45 am
Hi Ori,
You know that there are many ways to express yourself in English. I would tend to say something like this:

The cultural exchange between China and the West is surging. While the essential parts of Western culture have been continually introduced to China, current scholars strive to introduce the heart of Chinese culture to the West. There are masses of classical Chinese works available, of which only a minuscule portion have been translated into foreign languages. Some Chinese scholars think that a group of 300 Tang Dynasty poems is the most beautiful part of Chinese culture...

I'd leave the global economy out of it; I think it's a non sequitur (something that doesn't follow): "In the context of global economy, the Tang Dynasty poems are beautiful..." You'd have to say something like, "In the context of the global economy, the export of Chinese culture to the West is bringing in immense amounts of money..." Otherwise you're not talking about the global economy.

And 35,000 kinds of Chinese works? Or 35,000 ancient Chinese works? Seems like a lot of kinds, but a reasonable number of documents.
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Piffka
 
  1  
Reply Thu 4 Nov, 2004 10:46 am
Re: Editing needed
Hi Oristar!
I changed just a few of your words and corrected that one mistype. Does this sound OK to you?

In the context of the global economy, cultural exchanges between China and the West grow more frequent. It is a great duty for the current scholars to introduce the marrow of Chinese culture to the West as the essence of western culture has been introduced to China. There are 35,000 ancient classical Chinese works, of which less than one percent have been translated into foreign languages. Some Chinese scholars think the most beautiful part of Chinese culture is the collection of 300 Tang Dynasty Poems.


The Long & Pedantic explanation:
___________
Many times, foreign speakers don't catch when to have an article (the, a, an) in front of a noun. Here:

original =In the context of global economy, the culture exchange between China and the West has been going frequently.

a "the" is needed even though there is but one global economy. Also, rather than saying an exchange is "going," it makes more sense to say "it is ongoing" -- "it has increased" or "it is strong." The word "exchange" already describes a movement (going) and so your choice of verb (has been going) doesn't give the reader any more information than would have come from the word "exchange."

By changing your phrase to "cultural exchanges between China and the West grow more frequent" - the exchanges become plural (which they are) and brings in the idea that they are increasing.

revised =In the context of the global economy, cultural exchanges between China and the West grow more frequent.
__________

original =It is a great duty for the current scholars to introduce the marrow of Chinese culture to the West while the essential parts of the western culture have continuously been introduced to China.

The only change is to say "as" rather than "while" -- can I explain why?
Hmmm. Either one works grammatically since they are both common dependent markers/ conjunctions (here's the list of them) "after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while."

The "while" say only it is for a timeframe. The similar "as" has a slightly more specific time frame (at the same time) and also implies that the cause is the same. The definition of "as" is -- To the same extent or degree; equally. The definition of "while" when it is a conjunction is -- As long as; during the time that, at the same time as.

revised =It is a great duty for the current scholars to introduce the marrow of Chinese culture to the West as the essence of western culture has been introduced to China.
____________

original =There are about 35,000 kinds of ancient classical Chinese works in China, so far only 0.2% of which has been translated into foreign lauguages.

Wy doubted that there are that many "kinds" -- kinds being categories such as novels, poems, short stories, essays, etc. I'm also assuming you meant individual works, books or manuscripts. By pulling the word "about" from this sentence, it emphasizes them more. Don't worry, no one will say to you, but wait, there are actually 35,021 works.

The sentence could be divided into two sentences at the comma, or it can be made into one as it is revised below. If you did want to divide it into two, the second sentence should be written:

So far, only 0.2% of these have been translated in foreign languages.

You need that comma to separate the parenthetical comment "so far" and the verb should be plural.

If you wanted to go into a little more depth and add some other fact to each of these, like 35,000 ancient works that are still read and enjoyed today. and "less than one percent of these works have been translated, mostly into either English or German, where the statistical 0.2% is made clearer by being made less accurate. (Goofy, huh?) Note, it is a little redundant to say translated into foreign languages -- what else would they be translated into?

revised =There are 35,000 ancient classical Chinese works of which less than one percent have been translated into foreign languages.

____________
original =Some Chinese scholars think the most beautiful part of Chinese culture is 300 Tang Dynasty Poems.

I added the words "the collection" so that the singular "is" doesn't equate to 300 poems, but to another singular, i.e. "part is collection" rather than "part is 300 poems." We tend to avoid that construction even though it may be grammatically correct. It might be good to add another adjective like "revered" or "well-known" or well-loved... or maybe not. Depends on your audience.

Alternately, yYou could say the most beautiful part of the Chinese literary culture -- since there are also architecture, painting and other wonderful Chinese cultural aspects to consider. Very Happy (If you did that, be sure to add the defining article "the.")

revised = Some Chinese scholars think the most beautiful part of Chinese culture is the (well-known and well-loved) collection of 300 Tang Dynasty Poems.
0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Fri 5 Nov, 2004 10:58 am
Thanks, Wy and Piffka.

I prefer Piffka's edited version, especially she got the exact meaning of the 300 Tang Dynasty Poems. Very Happy

"About 35,000 kinds"(sic), your doubt sounds reasonable.

Piffka's rewriting is very cool; I highly appreciated that usages of "cultural exchanges", "grow", "essence" etc.

Yes, Piffka hit it - the collection of 300 Tang Dynasty Poems is best known in China.
0 Replies
 
Piffka
 
  1  
Reply Fri 5 Nov, 2004 01:52 pm
Thanks, Oristar. Wink

Looking forward to reading those Tang Dynasty Poems someday.
0 Replies
 
 

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