A paragraph about Hoi An

[rukkhamula]

Hi, would appreciate some help with the following. I've tried to translate it, but I've lost the sense at several points, which I indicate with question marks.


Ngày nay, về với Hội An, chúng ta vẫn còn thấy những dãy phố cổ gần như nguyên vện. Đó là loại nhà hình ống xuyên suốt từ phố no sang phố kia. Lúc chiều buông, trước mỗi hiên nhà lại thấp thoáng những chiếc đèn lồng đủ màu sắc, tô điểm thêm cho bảo tàng sống này những nét thi vị, cổ kính.


My rough attempt is:

These days, regarding (về với?) Hoi An, we still see several rows of nearly untouched ancient streets. There is a type of cylindrical (ống xuyên?) house continually (suốt?) crossing from (no?) one street to the other. When in the afternoon (buông?), in front of each house (hiên?), appearing and disappearing (thấp thoáng?), coloured lanterns of sufficient/many (đủ?) colours, make more beautiful this living museum of many ancient and poetic features/characteristics.

Thanks for any help to make this understandable.

[chiefsmoke]

my attempt:
These days, returning to Hoi An, we will see several rows of nearly untouched ancient streets. They are the cylindrical kind of house (xuyên suốt: connecting and passing through) connecting from one street to the other. In late afternoon (buông: falling down, when afternoon coming down), in front of each house (hiên: is like a small empty area in front of each house where people can gather up, it is either outside the gate or within the boundary of the gate and the house) vaguely appear (thấp thoáng: appear and disappear alternately, this adjective has to do the the gleaming lights of the lanterns which flashing vaguely from far away) lanterns with various different colours(đủ: meaning of enough, sufficient amount or many) marking poetic and ancient features to this live museum.

[english-learner]

Hi, would appreciate some help with the following. I've tried to translate it, but I've lost the sense at several points, which I indicate with question marks.


Ngày nay, về với Hội An, chúng ta vẫn còn thấy những dãy phố cổ gần như nguyên vện. Đó là loại nhà hình ống xuyên suốt từ phố no sang phố kia. Lúc chiều buông, trước mỗi hiên nhà lại thấp thoáng những chiếc đèn lồng đủ màu sắc, tô điểm thêm cho bảo tàng sống này những nét thi vị, cổ kính.


My rough attempt is:

These days, regarding (về với?) Hoi An, we still see several rows of nearly untouched ancient streets. There is a type of cylindrical (ống xuyên?) house continually (suốt?) crossing from (no?) one street to the other. When in the afternoon (buông?), in front of each house (hiên?), appearing and disappearing (thấp thoáng?), coloured lanterns of sufficient/many (đủ?) colours, make more beautiful this living museum of many ancient and poetic features/characteristics.

Thanks for any help to make this understandable.

Because you're an English native speaker I dare not to translate for you. The better thing that I should give you the right meanings so that you translate it yourself

First, I think "nhà ống" is an architectural term. So nhà ống may not be "cylindrical house" Because the house is not like a tube. My opinion is true or false? But "dãy nhà ống" is a row of attached - houses in which every house is not wide but long to the rear


Về với =go back to/ come back to/ return to/ get back to....(somewhere)
gần như nguyên vẹn = nearly be kept intact
Lúc chiều buông = at the end of the afternoon/ at dusk/at twilight

Thấp thoáng = appear and disappear. However, I think in this context "thấp thoáng" can be translated "appear vaguely" or "(appear) here and there"

đủ màu sắc is meant "nhiều màu sắc" or multi-coloured
hiên nhà = verandah

Bảo tàng sống = live museum or lively museum

ancient and poetic features = những nét thi vị và cổ kính

[vietnamese4u]

Your translation is very good, just there's a wrong word is "về với" -> "come back to"

[rukkhamula]

You have helped a lot with your contributions.

I'm still not quite sure what the 'cylindrical house' is that is mentioned in the article, so I'm not sure how to translate that exactly. But you have filled in all the other lacuna - for example, now I know that 'chiều buôt' is late afternoon or dusk. I also didn't know that 'đủ' can mean 'many' in certain contexts.

The best translation of 'bảo tàng sống' would be 'living museum'. 'Lively' has a different meaning in English.

Thanks very much to everyone!

[vietnamese4u]

lol I don't know either what "nhà ống" (cylindrical house) looks like... perhaps I haven't ever seen it (haven't come to Hoi An)... wait a bit... let me google for it...
Ah, here is the result:
http://images.google.com.vn/images?h...mages&aq=f&oq=
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/66/16...3341d94c_b.jpg
In my opinion, "nhà ống" is "nhà hộp" in southern

About the word "đủ" in "đủ màu sắc", that is the way of calling of northern people. In southern, we usually prefer to call that is "nhiều màu sắc". FYI, "đủ" = "enough/ full/ adequate/ sufficient"

[vietnamese4u]

"chiều buông" is usually used in literature because it sounds like poetry.
In informal conversation, we just use "chiều tối / chạng vạng tối / nhá nhem tối"

[rukkhamula]

Ah, thank you for the pictures of the houses. In English, we would just use the word 'narrow' to describe this style of house. The word 'cylindrical', which is the direct translation from the Vietnamese, is never used in this context.

[english-learner]

Ah, thank you for the pictures of the houses. In English, we would just use the word 'narrow' to describe this style of house. The word 'cylindrical', which is the direct translation from the Vietnamese, is never used in this context.

I have been to Hoi An several times.Rows of Nha ong in Hoi An formed by attached-narrow, long houses. The town is small, peaceful with many foreigners in the street in the evening.