# Maybe you should look for a better school!



## yuechu

大家好！

I have a Chinese friend who is teaching English at a language school in China. She's not happy there though. The salary is low and she is too busy.
I wanted to suggest to her "Maybe you should look for a better school!". Does anyone know how to say this in Chinese (in this context)? (It doesn't have to be a literal translation 直译, 意译 is also good!)

Thanks!


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## SimonTsai

roughly correct:
也許你應該換間學校。
也許你應該到其他學校。

more accurate:
也許你應該試著找，看有沒有比較好的學校。
也許你應該找找看有沒有比較好的學校。


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## yuechu

Hello, SimonTsai! Thanks for your reply! 

Oh, I didn't realize that 间 can be used in this context. So it's not just for rooms, eh? Can it be used similarly to 一家?
How about something like "你还是找更好的学校吧"? (Does 还是 sound right here?)


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## SuperXW

^
间/家/所 can all be measure words for 学校. 
你还是找更好的学校吧 is also very natural, except that 对 may be a typo of 的.


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## Skatinginbc

A: 我們學校待老師不怎麼好.
B: 或許你該找個更好的學校. (恐怕你得找個更好的學校; 你還是找個更好的學校吧)


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## NewAmerica

Skatinginbc said:


> B: 或許你該找個更好的學校. (恐怕你得找個更好的學校; 你還是找個更好的學校吧)



    “更好的学校”？哪不是说现在的学校够好？但你挑剔呀，想另谋高就喽。

     因此，为了避嫌（挑剔），可以用平和的说法：“那你找家好点的学校？” （言下之意就是现在的学校稀松平常，马马虎虎）


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> “更好的学校”？哪不是说现在的学校够好？


是!!  A是當局者, 可以發牢騷, 批評自己的工作環境.  B是提供建議的人, 不好意思直話直說.

A: 我住的公寓太吵.
B: 你想找好點的房子?
A:  (心想: 是說我當初條件不足, 才住在現在這個爛地方?)

A: 我住的公寓太吵.
B: 你想找更好的房子?
A:  (心想: 真會說話, 沒影射我當初條件不足.)


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## SimonTsai

SuperXW said:


> 家/所 can all be measure words for 学校.


一家學校 would not work for me.

@yuechu 
一家公司
一間公司 widely accepted albeit not perfectly correct
一所公司

一家餐廳
一間餐廳
一所餐廳

一家醫院
一間醫院 widely accepted albeit not perfectly correct
一所醫院

一家大學
一間大學 widely accepted albeit not perfectly correct
一所大學


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## fyl

间 is used in TW or HK. In mainland Mandarin I won't use it for anything other than a room (well, assume I didn't forget something).

一家学校 isn't good to me too (compared to 一所学校).
#5 找个更好的学校 sounds perfect (even better than 找所更好的学校) to me.


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## SimonTsai

fyl said:


> #5 找个更好的学校 sounds perfect (even better than 找所更好的学校) to me.


Yes. And in Taiwan, 也許你應該換間學校 may be slightly more colloquial than 也許你應該換所學校.

But note that 也許你應該換個學校 might not work, not absolutely wrong, though.

@yuechu, you are right to think that 間 should be used just for rooms. The reason why it is also accepted for a company, a school, a hospital, or even a small house, perhaps, is that they all have rooms: office rooms, class rooms, patient rooms, and a living room, a bed room, and a bath room.

Normally, when someone says 一間公司, I think of office rooms.

But 一間大樓 sounds absolutely rather weird; 一棟大樓 is how most Mandarin natives do it.


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## NewAmerica

Skatinginbc said:


> 是!!  A是當局者, 可以發牢騷, 批評自己的工作環境.  B是提供建議的人, 不好意思直話直說.
> 
> A: 我住的公寓太吵.
> B: 你想找好點的房子?
> A:  (心想: 是說我當初條件不足, 才住在現在這個爛地方?)
> 
> A: 我住的公寓太吵.
> B: 你想找更好的房子?
> A:  (心想: 真會說話, 沒影射我當初條件不足.)



 比较我的句子：“那你找家好点的学校？”

  关键在于你用了“想”字，结果引起相关的不愉快的联想。



SimonTsai said:


> 一家學校 would not work for me.



     “这家学校”、“那家学校”是大陆经济发达地区最常用的说法。
     看来台湾不接受这种说法，但同理，“这间学校”或“那间学校”在大陆发达地区听起来也有点怪怪的。


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## SuperXW

By the way, 座 is occasionally used as the measure word of 学校 too, but it should be used only when you want to emphasize the physical appearance of its campus and buildings, because 座 is to describe large structures on earth.
E.g. 你看见那座学校了吗？(Do you see that school?)


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> “这家学校”、“那家学校”是大陆经济发达地区最常用的说法。


三通前, 我在臺灣便聽過這說法, 對我而言, 並不陌生. 我想, 應是 dying out, 在臺逐漸失傳 (被本土化的"間"驅逐排擠).


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## SimonTsai

Skatinginbc said:


> 三通前, 我在臺灣便聽過這說法, 對我而言, 並不陌生.


I am really surprised.


Skatinginbc said:


> 我想應是 dying out, 在臺逐漸失傳.


This is possibly true. I am a 20-year-old.


SuperXW said:


> 你还是找更好的学校吧 is also very natural, except that 对 may be a typo of 的.


With due respect, I disagree.


yuechu said:


> 你还是找更好的学校吧"? (Does 还是 sound right here?)


The sentence itself is good yet not applicable to the scenario that you provide, to me.

Below is the usual case in which someone might say this:

李先生原先是位高中教師，教授英語，因一次課堂上被學生頂撞，情緒失控，甩學生巴掌。學生的家長到校控訴；校方為平息風波，解聘李先生。

中年失業，李先生四處尋找工作，多半是教師職缺。在一次面試，他向面試官說明履歷：畢業自國立台灣大學外國語文學系。

面試官：「優秀。想請問你失業的原因？」
李先生：「......」
面試官：「你請說，我在聽。」
（李先生如實已告。）
面試官：「對不起，我想我們學校可能不適合你，(所以) 還是請你找更好的學校。」​
(a) 還是請你找更好的學校
(b) 請你還是找更好的學校
(c) 你還是找更好的學校吧

(a) and (b) are more polite than (c) is.


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## philchinamusical

I'd say "找（一）家/所/个好一点的学校吧".

"好一点" literally means a little bit better. But in daily practical communication, it means "better", like:
"找个好一点的男人吧"
"换家好一点的餐厅吧"

Besides, "间" is not used for "学校" nowadays. "所" and "家" are commonly seen, as "个/個"。


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