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  3. Poetry & Literature

找到自己的一片天

English translation: Make your own way

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase:找到自己的一片天
English translation:Make your own way
Entered by: Lee Kin Yan Megan

03:07 Jun 21, 2016
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature
Chinese term or phrase: 找到自己的一片天
This is from a summary of a short movie for a competition, talking how young people all wanted to leave their hometown, trying to 找到自己的一片天. From Chinese to English.

anything similar would work - paraphrase is okay, no need to be literal translation.
Lee Kin Yan Megan
Hong Kong
Local time: 14:07
Make your own way
Explanation:
This should have rendered the essential meaning of the original.
Selected response from:

Frank Zou
China
Local time: 14:07
Grading comment
Thank you. I think like what Michael said in the peer comments, this is the most straightforward translation for it.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3seek their own place in the sun
Michael Lickorish
3 +1Make your own way
Frank Zou
4find their place in the world
Sharon108 (X)
4find out your own destiny
Intotheworld
3in quest/search of the greener pasture of their own.
tanglsus
3discover a realm of promising future by striving on their own
Bruce Guo


  

Answers


15 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
seek their own place in the sun


Explanation:
The phrase comes from geopolitics (the sun never went down on the British Empire so the German emperor wanted "a place in the sun"), but it is used more generally to refer to finding your own space to grow and gain prominence.


    Reference: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/English/other/1120177-to_find_a_pl...
    Reference: http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a%2F+place+in+the+sun
Michael Lickorish
Australia
Local time: 15:37
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 12
Notes to answerer
Asker: Thank you! This is great too, just that in this context for this article, non-geopolitic translation/phrase is preferred. :)


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jinhang Wang
2 days 6 hrs
agree  Rachel McGuffin: "find my own place in the sun"
2 days 10 hrs
agree  David Lin
3 days 4 hrs
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17 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Make your own way


Explanation:
This should have rendered the essential meaning of the original.

Frank Zou
China
Local time: 14:07
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 16
Grading comment
Thank you. I think like what Michael said in the peer comments, this is the most straightforward translation for it.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Michael Lickorish: I agree, "make their own way (in the world)" is the most straightforward translation.
1 day 8 hrs
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34 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
find their place in the world


Explanation:
ex: Helping students find their place in the world

ex: How to Find Your Place in the World After Graduation


    https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/helping-students-find-their-place-in-the-world/2012/09/23/64552334-029a-11e2-8102-ebee9c66e190_story
    Reference: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/how-to-find...
Sharon108 (X)
United States
Local time: 02:07
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
Notes to answerer
Asker: thank you! I think this works well in terms of translation and meaning, just that the selected answer "make your own way" have a more "active role" hinted in it, which is more preferred in this context.

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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
find out your own destiny


Explanation:
reference only

Intotheworld
United States
Local time: 02:07
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 4
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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
in quest/search of the greener pasture of their own.


Explanation:


供参考

tanglsus
United States
Local time: 02:07
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 8
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1 day 17 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
discover a realm of promising future by striving on their own


Explanation:
FYI

Bruce Guo
China
Local time: 09:07
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese, Native in EnglishEnglish
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