This past Friday morning my Mandarin teacher cancelled our lesson due to an early March east coast U.S. snow. She sent me the message entirely in Chinese characters and I understood what she wrote without using Google Translate. I have a program in which I can write in pinyin (English alphabet entry of words that sound like Chinese characters – type in ni hao and you get what looks like 你好 – it works pretty well as long as you know the pinyin).
What I thought I wrote in Chinese characters to my Mandarin teacher:
“Morning Grace (Jie Hua is her Chinese name),I understand. Next Monday I am going to the New York office. Is next Friday possible?
Mark”
After I sent it I thought to copy and paste what I thought I wrote in Chinese characters into Google translate.
This is what I got:
“Early Jie Hua
Hydrogen. The nest (Monday) came up with the New York office. Next Friday could that be?
Horse off”
Here’s a warning for you. Be careful with Google translate. The application is very good (and free) but don’t, don’t, don’t, rely on it for an accurate translation.
只是说- Just sayin’
The Way I See It - Mark Kolier 
Someone once had the phrase “Out of sight, out of mind” e-translated. The result: “Invisible, insane.” Which may point to some of the problems inherent in idioms or any kind of figurative language, especially in American English.
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Thanks Hallie. Actually that translation is better than the one the ended my note – Mark – Ma ke – Horse off!
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