(Untitled)

[wottie]

Hey guys,

Trying to translate the phrase "我是一个很开朗，很开心 - 偶尔会有点不开心 - 可是我想我还是一个很幸福的人呀！" (a quote from the movie Spider Lilies) and I'm having trouble finding exact words for 开心 and 幸福. To me the latter doesn't quite read "content", but if I translate the former to "happy" I can't really think of an alternative. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance! ♥

Comments

[blah_x_infinity]

I think "幸福" could be translated as "lucky" in this case. It would be a lot less redundant.

[wottie]

You're right, the original phrasing does come off a bit redundant, and that's sort of the main problem I was having with it - that in Chinese it sounds slightly childish/redundant but in English it's just redundant enough to not make much sense. Thanks for the suggestion! ♥

[ladylyris]

Blessed for the latter, maybe? Joyful?

[wottie]

Ooh, I like both; will consider them. Thank you!

[cosplaymemories]

I'm a very open, very happy, occasionally-a-bit-unhappy, but-I-think-I'm-still-a-very-fortunate person.

[wottie]

I like fortunate a lot, though I was also under the impression "幸福" is about happiness too. It's a great word though, thanks for the suggestion!

[cosplaymemories]

Well, you can't translate word for word, from Chinese to English. XD

[kurodatenshi]

"我是一个很开朗，很开心 - 偶尔会有点不开心 - 可是我想我还是一个很幸福的人呀！"

"I'm very cheerful and happy - occasionally a little unhappy - but I believe I am still a very blessed/lucky/fortunate person!"

[wottie]

Ooh, cheerful is something I hadn't considered for 开朗 - I was going with 'outgoing' but in retrospect that doesn't really fit the tone of it. Thanks for the suggestions!

[kurodatenshi]

No problem :) Yup 开朗 doesn't mean outgoing. 外向 would be a more appropriate word for outgoing.

[wottie]

Damn Chinese has too many words, haha! I always get a bit confused because so many of those words don't translate exactly - like 开朗 or 热情 (one of my chinese exchange students told me once that I was hot, and I got all flattered for a second there before realising she meant 热情) Anyway, cheerful sounds really good, thanks for that!