He finally did it! As you have probably heard, Leonardo DiCaprio was awarded an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Revenant. Congratulations!
\nLet’s grab this opportunity to learn how to talk about the Academy Awards in Chinese!<\/p>\n\n\n
In China, if you use the official name for the Academy Awards, \u7f8e\u56fd\u7535\u5f71\u827a\u672f\u4e0e\u79d1\u5b66\u5b66\u9662\u5956, a lot of people might not know what you are talking about. Instead, the Chinese usually just call it the Oscars: \u201c\u5965\u65af\u5361\u91d1\u50cf\u5956\u201d or \u201c\u5965\u65af\u5361\u201d for short. So you can ask your Chinese friends if they watched the Oscars in the following way:<\/p>\n\n\n
In this year\u2019s awards, perhaps the biggest news is that Leonardo DiCaprio was awarded for Best Actor. Leonardo DiCaprio’s full name in Chinese is \u83b1\u6602\u7eb3\u591a\u00b7\u8fea\u5361\u666e\u91cc\u5965 [l\u00e1i \u00e1ng n\u00e0 du\u014d\u00b7 d\u00ed k\u01ce p\u01d4 l\u01d0 \u00e0o]. Wow, that’s long! And difficult!<\/p>\n
But don’t worry, this is the transliteration of his English name, but the Chinese usually don\u2019t call him that. Instead, they use the much shorter \u201c\u5c0f\u674e [xi\u01ceo l\u01d0]\u201d or \u201c\u5c0f\u674e\u5b50 [xi\u01ceo l\u01d0 zi]\u201d. Because the transliteration of Leonardo DiCaprio’s name in Taiwan is \u201c\u674e\u5965\u7eb3\u591a [l\u01d0 \u00e0o n\u00e0 du\u014d]\u201d (yes, it’s different from mainland China!), some people mistakenly thought that his surname is \u201c\u674e [l\u01d0]\u201d, a common surname in China. Chinese people often call people using \u201c\u5c0f [xi\u01ceo] + surname\u201d to indicate that they are close. For example, if someone\u2019s surname is \u201c\u738b [w\u00e1ng]\u201d, you can call him \u201c\u5c0f\u738b [xi\u01ceo w\u00e1ng]\u201d to show that you are close friends. So fans started calling Leonardo DiCaprio \u201c\u5c0f\u674e\u201d to express how close they are with Leonardo DiCaprio. The effect is even greater if you add \u201c\u5b50 [zi] \u201d at the end, and makes it sound like someone who lives just next to you. <\/p>\n
Leonardo was awarded for Best Actor this year. Best Actor in Chinese is \u201c\u6700\u4f73\u7537\u4e3b\u89d2 [zu\u00ec ji\u0101 n\u00e1n zh\u01d4 ju\u00e9]\u201d, and the winner is called \u5f71\u5e1d [y\u01d0ng d\u00ec] \uff08emperor of movie actors\uff09. There are of course also the female equivalents, \u6700\u4f73\u5973\u4e3b\u89d2 [zu\u00ec ji\u0101 n\u01da zh\u01d4 ju\u00e9]\uff08Best Actress\uff09and \u5f71\u540e [y\u01d0ng h\u00f2u] \uff08queen of movie actors\uff09.<\/p>\n
The Oscar statuette in Chinese is called \u201c\u5965\u65af\u5361\u91d1\u50cf\u5956 [\u00e0o s\u012b k\u01cej\u012bn xi\u00e0ng ji\u01ceng]\u201d, and because the trophy looks like a golden person, it is also called \u201c\u5c0f\u91d1\u4eba [xi\u01ceo j\u012bn r\u00e9n] \uff08small golden person\uff09\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ok, now we know at least two ways to express that Leonardo DiCaprio was awarded an Oscar for Best Actor in Chinese:<\/p>\n\n\n
\u5c0f\u674e [xi\u01ceo l\u01d0] has been an Oscar \u63d0\u540d\u8005 [t\u00ed m\u00edng zh\u011b] \uff08nominee\uff09many times, but it is the first time he is actually awarded a \u5c0f\u91d1\u4eba [xi\u01ceo j\u012bn r\u00e9n] for his performance in the movie \u300a\u8352\u91ce\u730e\u4eba\u300b [hu\u0101ng y\u011b li\u00e8 r\u00e9n] \uff08The Revenant\uff09. Of course, the winner makes a \u83b7\u5956\u611f\u8a00 [hu\u00f2 ji\u01ceng g\u01cen y\u00e1n] \uff08acceptance speech\uff09. Let\u2019s take a look at some part of Leonardo’s acceptance speech.<\/p>\n\n\n
You can watch \u5c0f\u674e [xi\u01ceo l\u01d0]\u2019s entire acceptance speech with Chinese subtitles on Sina video<\/a>. His Chinese \u7c89\u4e1d [f\u011bn s\u012b] \uff08fans\uff09are also happy about the news. Let\u2019s see what they had to say.<\/p>\n\n\n Chinese fans are of course eager to watch \u300a\u8352\u91ce\u730e\u4eba\u300b [hu\u0101ng y\u011b li\u00e8 r\u00e9n] \uff08The Revenant\uff09, but unfortunately the movie does not premiere until the middle of March in mainland China.<\/p>\n If you enjoy this lesson, don\u2019t forget to \u70b9\u8d5e[di\u01cen z\u00e0n] (like) our Facebook<\/a> and follow us on Instagram<\/a>. Thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n