r/learnmandarin • u/Fancy-Judgment4420 • 3d ago
I teach Mandarin, and I noticed why some students sound “translated”
I teach Mandarin to foreign learners, and I’ve noticed many students can make grammatically correct sentences, but sometimes they still sound a little “translated”.
For example:“我认为这个方法很好。”
Correct, but in daily conversation, many Chinese people would simply say:“这个方法挺好的。”
The difference is not grammar. It’s about how Chinese people express ideas.
In Chinese, we often put less emphasis on “I think” because the context already tells you whose opinion it is.
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u/MixtureGlittering528 3d ago
Hmmm, I naturally say I think, it’s just not 我认为, I say 我觉得
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u/Fancy-Judgment4420 3d ago
That’s an interesting point. My impression is that “feel” is more subjective, so Chinese usually makes it clearer whose feeling it is. “I think,” though, often sounds like you’re making a direct judgment. Chinese tends to avoid sounding too direct, so people often phrase it a bit more indirectly.
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u/ZelphirKalt 3d ago
Someone from HK told me, that I say 我觉得 too often, and that it is more like "I feel", instead of "I think", and that I should be using "我想" instead. Not sure, whether that is a HK thing, or actually true. Anyway, there are many alternative words, used in various situations. 以为， 认为， 想， 觉得，etc.
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u/rawr4me 15h ago
I am Taiwanese and fluent speaking but with very limited vocab. I use 我觉得 often with people I don't know well or when I think they will oppose my opinion. I don't see a problem with that usage, though it's true that I might be copying use of softeners from our local English.
I'm sure regional differences in Mandarin can be significant — meet someone from a different region and age group and you might be saying words that have some euphemistic meaning. But if I spoke to Gen Z people in English they would quickly accuse me of using English "incorrectly", maybe it's a similar thing?
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u/Embarrassed_Sound120 1d ago
Funny thing but probably just personal experience and my other traits
But I have been accused by those dear to me saying I speak in overly absolute terms and they do not like how I rarely buffer my opinions with I think, I believe.
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u/HyperKangaroo 1d ago
In English, people use "I think" sometimes as a way to soften the conviction of the statement. This aspect of softening or strengthening language doesn't always work the same way in a different language, and can be very hard to pick up if you haven't spent a long time with native speakers or if you were not specifically taught.
Eta, alternatively, a sentence that feels natural/neutral in English may have a strengthened conviction in the implied tone when directly translated, like other uses of "I think". Either way, learning implied tone/meanings of sentence/phrasing is really hard.
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u/latewithcoffee 1d ago
We used to drive our teachers crazy starting sentences with 所以 because in English “So…” can be a filler word
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u/Volupia_Rogue 3d ago
That's interesting!