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Basically, I'm trying to say: "At that time I learned more about Chinese culture."

Google Translate told me: 那时我对中国文化有了更多的了解。

Pinyin: Nà shí wǒ duì zhōngguó wénhuà yǒule gèng duō de liǎojiě.

My attempt was: 当时, 我学习了更多关于中国的文化.

Pinyin: Dāngshí, wǒ xuéxíle gèng duō guānyú zhōngguó de wénhuà.

Does my version sound abnormal?

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  • 1
    Most of the higher-voted answers are incorrect. Google Translate's version means "At that time (after some events) I got a better understanding of Chinese culture.", whereas yours means "At that time (during some period), I studied more China-related culture." Google is idiomatically correct, whereas yours is totally different.
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 4:41
  • It sounds like 当时 is more like what I was looking for then. I was trying to say (3 months ago, in China, I learned more about Chinese culture).
    – Adrift
    Commented Jan 14, 2023 at 16:12
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    Yup that's right! Since you are viewing that period of time as a finished period, you would use "当时", and based on that Google Translate's version also doesn't work for you. You would want something like "当(我在中国)时, 我就对中华文化得到了更多了解。". Note that although "中国" is fine, what you actually want is "中华", which refers to the broader notion of "Chinese people" rather than just "China". You also want "得到了" because you want to say that you obtained it during that period. Note that "learn about" is an English phrasal verb meaning "understand more of", and you cannot split it up into "learn" and "about".
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 8:21

10 Answers 10

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This is really interesting.

If you translate "At that time I learned more about Chinese culture." using Google, the result is indeed 那时我对中国文化有了更多的了解 as you said.

However, if you try "At that time I studied more about Chinese culture.", the result will be 那时我更多地学习了中国文化, which is closer to you attempt: 当时, 我学习了更多关于中国的文化, because they both use the word "学习".

I would say, Google translation is very smart to catch this subtle difference between "learn" and "study".

"Study"'s meaning is somehow narrow, so is that of 学习，which is why they are mapped to each other.

"Learn"'s meaning could be wide. Any approaches that provide you with knowledge can be considered as "learning", that means it is too wide to be mapped to 学习, therefore Google uses 了解。

With that said, you attempt doesn't sound 100% normal.

Unless you indeed want to emphasis that you studied in a school or from books, a better translation should be 那时（那段时间）, 我了解了更多的中国文化.

(Note I used 那时 instead of 当时，so does Google translation. That is because 当时 refers a very short period of time. Like, 我当时愣住了, meaning I was stunned for only a couple of seconds. But here I guess you want to say you were learning throughout a period of time).

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  • The only correct answer out of 7 answers so far...
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 4:35
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Both sentences are good, and actually they are quite similar for Chinese native speakers. The main difference between using 学习 and 了解 here is: 学习 is more inclined to know the culture by deliberately searching the Internet, looking for corresponding materials etc., whereas 了解 is more inclined to know the culture by Knowing through life does not feel like learning so deliberately. But anyway, they are similar.

Just another tip for your sentence. If you are not talking about many cultures in the context (such as comparing differenct cultures) it can be more concise: 当时，我学习了更多的中国文化。(omit the 关于)

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As a native chinese speaker, I would say that a viable translation would be:

从那时起，我对中国文化有了更多的了解 cong na shi qi， wo dui zhong guo wen hua you le geng duo de liao jie

at that time: 从那时起 learned more： 更多的了解 about Chinese culture： 对中国文化

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  • So "duì" in this example will mean "about"? I've never heard it had such a definition.
    – Adrift
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 14:55
  • @Adrit, yes, here "duì" means 'for/towards/about', like I have feelings for you. 我对你有了感觉
    – J.S. Taylor
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 1:55
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The biggest problem to me is "关于中国的文化". This is not "Chinese culture". It is "culture about China" which is not correct.

"Chinese culture" is "中国文化" or "中国的文化".

Others are acceptable.

To elaborate, "learn about Chinese culture" is structured as "learn about (Chinese culture)". However, in "学习关于中国的文化" is structured as "学习(关于中国的)文化". This is a word to word translation, however the sentence structure is different in Chinese and English.

"learn about" is an idiom in English, but there is no idiom "学习关于" in Chinese. Use "学习" alone is enough.

The Google translation "有了....(更多的)了解" is better. "learn" and "learn about" are different, translate them both into "学习" cannot tell the difference. "学习" is more like "learn" but not "learn about". The Google translation is more like "learn about".

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  • Very good insight! I like to hear native speaker opinion. I guess Google Translate is not always proper, which is hard for someone with not much access to native speakers. I guess I can use this site to make sure I don't sound strange. 非常感谢!
    – Adrift
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 14:50
  • @Adrift: Google Translate is often wrong, but so are the answers on this site.......
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 13, 2023 at 4:43
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"At that time I learned more about Chinese culture." - "当时, 我学习了更多关于中国的文化."

I prefer your sentence over the Google translation with minor changes.

  • 其时(at that time), 我学到了(learned)更多(more)有关(about)中国的文化(the Chinese culture).

Translate back to English, the Google sentence "那时我对中国文化有了更多的了解." will be "At that time I got/had more understanding of the Chinese culture.", which is somewhat different than what you wanted to say.

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  • “学到了更多有关中国的文化” sounds very unnatural (perhaps even ungrammatical) to me. As mentioned in fefe’s answer, the only way that this sentence could hypothetically be parsed would be “(有关中国)的文化”, which is semantically odd. In addition, 其时 sounds very stiff and literary. I prefer 从那时起，我对中国文化有了更多的了解 by a far margin.
    – L. F.
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 15:13
  • @L.F. My preference was based on what the OP wanted to say, learning (学习) and understanding (了解) are two different things, google didn't get it right, though the sentence was quite good. OP wanted to say "At that time I learned more about Chinese culture." The sentence implies he already knew some Chinese culture previously, but at that time (a special occasion), he learned more than what he had learned before. 其时 vs 从那时起, You can verify with your Chinese friend or teacher to see which translation is closer to the original sentence.
    – r13
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 18:47
  • As fefe stated in their answer, "learn" (学习) and "learn about" (了解) are different if we were to make these minor semantic distinctions, which I think are fairly moot in comparison to the ungrammaticality of 学到了更多有关中国的文化. Something like 了解了更多中国文化 or 学到了更多有关中国文化的知识, on the other hand, might work, but 对中国文化有了更多的了解 is definitely my first intuition as a native speaker. Again, I'm valuing naturality (a subjective measure, of course) over minor semantic distinctions here. And the formality of 其时 is jarringly incongruent with the rest of the sentence; 那时 might work better.
    – L. F.
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 19:03
  • @L.F. No objection to 其时 can be replaced by 那时 or even 当时, but 从那时起(since then) is way off the original meaning. 這裡是汉典對"了解"的釋義 -zdic.net/hans/%E4%BA%86%E8%A7%A3
    – r13
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 20:30
  • @L.F. 其时 [词语解释] 1.那时;当时。 2.犹言正当时;正是时候。- zdic.net/hans/%E5%85%B6%E6%97%B6
    – r13
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 20:35
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I think both translations are OK. It really depends on what you want to emphasis.

  • If you want to emphasis on the learning process, the better one would be "当时, 我学习了更多关于中国的文化.".
  • If you want to emphasis on that you possessed the knowledge, the better on would be "那时我对中国文化有了更多的了解。"
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Both are correct, and I prefer the Google Translated one, which sounds a bit more native.

That is because, "那时" means at that time while "当时" means at that moment. It's a little odd using "当时" because learning more about Chinese culture seems to be a long term achievement.

And the word "有了" in sentence 1, implies that 'learning' was caused by something or someone after that. "学习了更多关于中国的文化" focuses on the fact that you've learned more Chinese culture, the reason and motive are irrelevant.

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  • Good insight, 多谢!
    – Adrift
    Commented Jan 12, 2023 at 14:54
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不从翻译的角度：

  1. 第二句感觉就像是更强调“学习”这个行为(action)，而第一句更像是你通过学习或者经历了什么而从中获得的“影响”(affected by)
  2. 如果第二句的“学习” => “学到”，意思和第一句差不多
  3. 第一句的“那时”后面最好加个“，”表示停顿
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  • Native speakers often do not pause after "那时".
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 9:38
  • native speakers 好像不常说”那时“吧？好像用的比较多的都是“那时候”、“那个时候”、“在那个时候”、“从那时起”···吧。印象中“那时”好像更多用在“written Chinese”中，所以加个停顿
    – Ericy
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 10:20
  • I think it's dialectical. Samples show that both with and without comma are common.
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 15, 2023 at 13:28
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As a Native Chinese ,I think your version has the same measing with google Translation, no difference between them .

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  • Definitely wrong.
    – user21820
    Commented Jan 16, 2023 at 18:45
  • Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please edit to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Commented Jan 18, 2023 at 2:21
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首先表达一下我学习英文时候也有相同的意思, 很头痛... "At that time I learned more about Chinese culture."

  • At that time: 当时, 那时候, 甚至翻译成“从那时起”也说得过去（结合语句环境）
  • Chinese culture：中国文化
  • I learned more about：直译就是“我学会了/了解了更多...” 其实您的答案都是对的，没必要去扣怎么更好，必须放在使用中被别人影响才知道怎么更顺一些。

扩展： about翻译成“dui”，也就是对/对于的，确实说得过去，因为我学习是about翻译成“关于”， 关于：引进某种行为的关系者 --http://xh.5156edu.com/html5/237205.html

learnd：学习了/学过了/学会了/理解了/了解了 这些也有很多相近的词： 体会,感觉,领会,知道,醒悟,感悟,顿悟,觉悟,清楚,理解,参透,悟透,明了; 知道; 明晰; 了然; 清晰,明确; 明晰; 恍然,豁然等等 有一些是常用语，那词那么多人们都用吗？ 是的。 那每个人都会用到所有词吗？ 不会，看个人习惯，但是能懂什么意思就够了。但是用更精准的词在某些场合显得有文化，for me 平时交流还是直白点舒服一些

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