got subtitles?

[fossil]

For those of us who don't speak Asian-type languages, could someone please provide an English translation of today's (09/15/2004) strip? And maybe ongoing translation if the dialog continues to include significant amounts of non-English conversation? Merci beaucoup in advance.

P.S.: Awwww.... Looks like, if there's trouble ahead, Mama is already on Nick's side.

[Sitouh Sinsaang]

Ki: Mom! How are you?
Mom: Pretty good, and yourself?
Ki: I'm doing great.

Nick: Good evening. How are you this evening?

Gung hei fat choi is a traditional Chinese New Year greeting, wishing prosperity and good fortune for the upcoming year.

PS: Kudos to Jeff for use of Cantonese, a wonderful language!

[Goon]

(obligatory feynmann story quote)
Oh! I knew this would happen! I speak mandarin, he speaks cantonese!

--Edit
Actually, speaking of mandarin and catonese, what are the tones in Catonese, and which are different from the ones in Mandarin (if they are)?

Also, what are the romanizations of Catonese? Which is standard?

[packy]

Kudos to Jeff for use of Cantonese, a wonderful language!

Mucho thanks for identifying the language. I could understand what was being said from context... what I was most curious about was what language was being spoken.

[jtdarlington]

Ki's mom is using Cantonese, since she's from Hong Kong. The "subtitles" are not necessarily needed, since nothing will be discussed outside English that can't be inferred from the context (and thus why I didn't provide them). However, if anyone is interested, my primary source for Cantonese was China West Exchange, which has a rather extensive tutorial on Cantonese. For the Cantonese in the strip, I used the Yale Romanization (Pingyam) used on that site.

I strongly suggest that if you don't get a reference mentioned in this story, you should try a little Google research. I had a fascinating time researching this story myself, and everything I found was through some thorough Google searches. Of course, if someone wants to do the research and link to it from the forums, that's fine. There will be some subtleties that make more sense if you know all the context, but aren't required to understand the plot.

Oh, and you didn't see this post until Friday. Got it? I'm not supposed to be online right now.

[stjen]

Despite what Jeff said/didn't say about most of the foreign language being decipherable either via Google or from the context, us "ugly/lazy americans" would still appreciate a translation whenever foreign words appear. So, can we use this thread as the semi-official strip translation thread, or create a new one and convince Jeff to make it sticky? Anyone who has knowledge of the language, upon seeing a new strip, can simply post the english translation of the strip, and the strip's date so we can go back and forth.

(The ultimate geeky thing to do would be for Jeff to fix each strip so that when you mouse over a word balloon that has foreign text in it, the translation appears in a pop-up alt-text box. Maybe in the archive...)

[jbrecken]

For the Cantonese in the strip, I used the Yale Romanization (Pingyam) used on that site.

I'm glad you did it that way, rather than use some Chinese character font.
This way, even though I can't understand what's being said, I can at least "hear" it so it feels more real.

[mouse]

(who was that masked man?)

agreed.

and you know if nick learned some chinese, he learned some japanese for ki's dad as well. i told you - he's going to totally win the guy over!

[WinterWolf]

(who was that masked man?)

<Obi Wan> That's no man......That's a Wombat.</Obi Wan>

[Sitouh Sinsaang]

I'll happily translate, either way. I can't read characters (yet), but I can speak Cantonese, and Nick used the pingyam I know.

[IS_Wolf]

(who was that masked man?)

agreed.

and you know if nick learned some chinese, he learned some japanese for ki's dad as well. i told you - he's going to totally win the guy over!

Wouldn't bet on it myself. Folks often make the same mistakes as their own parents did before them, it wouldn't surprise me one damned bit if Ki's maternal grandparents had some serious issues with their daughter seeing a Japanese guy and even marrying him.

They may have mellowed since, but initially there ought to have been a lot of resistance to such a union. Hence my suspicion that Dad will do something similar with regards to Ki having a "gaijin" as a boyfriend.

And apparently there's another connotation to that word, as opposed to the standard foreigner, means as much as barbarian apparently.

No, the Dad and Yoshi will be pricks scenario, with Ki deciding to go against her father's wishes with regards to Nick, and mom eventually scolding both Yoshi and dad seems to most likely scenario.

Mom is already taking to Nick as much as Max Espinoza (<- Lounge character) takes to rice.

[IS_Wolf]

I'll happily translate, either way. I can't read characters (yet), but I can speak Cantonese, and Nick used the pingyam I know.

Thanks, not everyone has the time to google things up.

[Limax]

I'll happily translate, either way.

Boy, that sounds like when I translated the "True Dialect"...

(No one asked me to... I was bored. )

[fossil]

Thanks, all. Oh, sure, context makes it possible to kind of figure out what's being said, but being something of a geek-of-words, I enjoy knowing what they're actually saying.

I'm liking Mama more and more. She *does* appreciate Nick.

... and a big UH-oh. Yoshi, carrying Nick's bags? Didn't someone say he might find the ring?

[Michael Brazier]

You don't think Nick will let Yoshi open his bags, do you?

Though Yoshi could mess with Nick's mind another way, by waiting until Nick says something polite in Japanese, then asking "You have eels in your hovercraft?"

However, the moment I'm waiting for is when Nick happens to walk into Yoshi's lab and sees a half-complete Velociraptor ...

[Rombobj]

You don't think Nick will let Yoshi open his bags, do you?

Probably not, but if Yoshi is unexpectedly helpful and offers to help Nick unpack, and Nick says no, then Yoshi will understand that Nick has a secret and get curious, which isn't much better.

However, the moment I'm waiting for is when Nick happens to walk into Yoshi's lab and sees a half-complete Velociraptor ...

Or Ki. She'd recognize it as well.

[Conina]

[quote="Rombobj

[jtdarlington]

So, can we use this thread as the semi-official strip translation thread, or create a new one and convince Jeff to make it sticky?

I've made this thread sticky if you want to use it for this purpose. Otherwise, let me know, and I'll unsticky this one and sticky the other one, should another one be created.

[mouse]

keep it sticky, thanks! and thanks (in advance) to all translators - like fossil, i do like to know exactly what is being said.

[stjen]

I've made this thread sticky if you want to use it for this purpose. Otherwise, let me know, and I'll unsticky this one and sticky the other one, should another one be created.

That will work quite well, thank you very much!

[fossil]

Thanks from me, too, Jeff. Or me three.

Well, no translation is necessary for today's strip -- I think Nick handled the job pretty well. How did the same family produce someone as nice as Ki and as impossible as Yoshi?

[IS_Wolf]

Thanks from me, too, Jeff. Or me three.

Well, no translation is necessary for today's strip -- I think Nick handled the job pretty well. How did the same family produce someone as nice as Ki and as impossible as Yoshi?

Quite simple. Ki takes after her mom, Yoshi after his dad.

[Shadowydreamer]

He's a teenager.

-Shady.

[Conina]

He's a teenager.

I don't recall being like Yoshi when I was a teenager.

[Michaelt]

I don't recall being like Yoshi when I was a teenager. :-?

I'm a teenager (15) now, and that does seem quite similar in action to me and some of my friends (except I tend to avoid actually breaking into computers, I intend to keep a clean criminal record).