Lecture 2 常用数字表达在线视频

Hello everyone

Welcome back

I’m your lecturer Catherine

In last lecture

we talked about the differences

between English and Chinese

in expressing numbers

Do you still remember how to convert numbers

from English to Chinese or from Chinese to English

The technique is called “点三杠四法”

which refers to the skill

of grouping every three or four numbers

based on the fixed rules of reading numbers

in the two languages

However

conversion of numbers is not all you need to learn

In interpreting

there are some other expressions related to numbers

For instance

verbs describing trends

usually go together with numbers

Words like “increase, improve, decrease”

are frequently used

to express the fluctuation of prices

grain output

GDP

volume of trade and so on

If an interpreter uses the same word

to express a similar meaning every time

it can be monotonous

and also reflects the interpreters’ poor vocabulary

Let’s look at this example

全年合同外资金额为1,535亿美元

增长33.4%

实际使用外资606亿美元

增长13.3%

If we interpret this sentence into

The annual volume of contracted foreign capital

is USD 153.5 billion

an increase of 33.4%

and actually utilized foreign capital is USD 60.6 billion

an increase of 13.3%

The word “increase” is used twice

Undoubtedly

this makes the target language a bit dull

Some other words and expressions share

similar meanings

like “go up， grow，rise and ascend”

So we can change the target language into

The annual volume of contracted foreign capital

is USD 153.5 billion

an increase of 33.4%

and actually utilized foreign capital

is USD 60.6 billion with a growth of 13.3%

Veteran interpreters

know how to change their vocabulary

to enrich their target language

In this lecture

I’ll introduce four categories

of commonly used expressions for figures

First

describing a trend

In describing an upward trend

these words and expressions are available for you

among which

“jump，rocket，soar，surge and skyrocket”

describe an unusually higher level

The choice of words

should depend on a specific context

Here’re two examples to show an upward trend

The number of enrolments

increased significantly between 2005 and 2010

Production rose from 800 units in May

to 1000 units the following month

To describe a downward trend

you can employ these expressions

decline

decrease

fall

drop

go down

plummet

plunge and slump

plummet and plunge mean to fall or drop suddenly

in amount or value

for example

Prices of Model X dropped significantly

once Model Y became available on the market

Company profits decreased in 2013 by 15%

To describe a stable trend

we can use the following expressions

Maintain

remain

stay

constant

stable

steady and unchanged

Sometimes

we add an adverb after a verb

to describe how something happens

These are typically used ones

sharply

rapidly

quickly

steeply

considerably

significantly

substantially

steadily

gradually

moderately

Second

describing multiples

To describe multiples

we can use the following expressions

times as many/much as

For instance

The students of our school

are twice as many as those of 1980

times bigger/larger/smaller than

The lecture hall is six times bigger

than our classroom

times the size/width/length of

The newly-built school

is four times the size of the previous one

Third

describing fraction

It’s useful to know

how to read and say simple fractions in English

In English

cardinal numbers are used as numerators

while ordinal numbers as denominators

When the numerator

equals two or is bigger than two

a plural-s needs to be added to the denominator

Fourth

describing percentage

one hundred percent

百分之百

zero point four percent

百分之零点四

three point zero five percent

百分之三点零五

thirty three and one third percent

百分之三十三又三分之一

Up to now

we’ve talked about the skill of converting numbers

and four types of commonly

used expressions for figures

Here’s an example for you to practice

In the course of 25 years

between 1978 and 2003

China’s economy

grew by an average annual rate of 9.4%

with its GDP

foreign trade and foreign exchange reserves

jumping from USD 147.3 billion

USD 20.6 billion and USD 167 million

to over USD 1.4 trillion

US851.2 billion and USD 403.3 billion respectively

China now is the world’s

6th largest economy and 4th largest trader

This is the suggested target language

In interpreting

you may encounter various

kinds of expressions for figures

Whichever it is

it’s important to get the accurate number

in the source language and convert it

into the corresponding target number

To interpret figures accurately

you need to practice a lot

Always remember

practice makes perfect

In next lecture

we’ll learn how to interpret numbers

in sentences or texts

Be prepared and come back for more