LANGUAGE PAQ
What languages do you speak?
しゃべる言語は？
Short Answer: English >> Japanese >>>...>>> French >>>Latin
Long Answer: English is my first language, as is typically the case for those born and raised in America. I vaguely self-studied Japanese as a child and took a few weekend classes, then started over from Japanese 101 (well, we called it 1A) in college and studied hard-core for 3.5 years, then moved to Japan in July 2012. People here tell me my Japanese rocks, but Japanese people are extremely easily impressed by foreigners speaking their language. In my experience, people begin squealing with delight at "konnichiwa," so I'm not sure how seriously I should be interpreting their praise. I also theoretically learned French in middle and high school. Theoretically. I went to France recently and learned that theoretically doesn't really fly with real French people. Also, for some reason my brain kept trying to speak Japanese, which was met with much surprise and confusion by the French people trying their best to speak English to me. We were also taught Latin in school for six whole years. Needless to say, I have not had much of a chance to practice since then.
英語はネイティブです。子供のころから日本語に興味ありましたが、大学生のころから真面目に勉強し始めました。大学で三年半勉強してから、２０１２年に日本へ引っ越してきました。日本人と会話する時に、「日本語上手」と言う場合が多いですが、まだ「こんにちは」しか言っていない時にも「日本語上手」と言ってくれるので、本当に意味あるかどうかは微妙ですね。これからも勉強して一生懸命頑張ります！昔はフランス語もラテン語も勉強しましたけど、練習ができていないので、ほとんどしゃべれなくなってしまいました。
Is your Japanese text usually a direct translation of your English text?
このブログでは、英語を日本語に直訳していますか？
No.
しない。
Why?
なんで？
Lofty Answers: Because no matter how amazing your translation skills might be (and mine are not really that amazing anyway), a direct translation between Japanese and English is always going to sound bizarre, awkward, and sometimes just plain silly. The languages are structurally (and perhaps culturally) complete opposites. A better strategy seems to be to decide on a topic and then contemplate what I want to say to Japanese people in Japanese separately from what I want to say to English-speakers in English. In addition, there are many things I want to explain to Japanese people about America and about English that would obviously be wasted on other Americans. Similarly, sometimes I will want to tell Americans what it's like to live in Japan -- but then when I write the Japanese, my goal will be to explain what it is like for me, as a foreigner, to live in Japan. The nuance of my intentions are different, and it affects the content.
Not-So-Lofty Answers: I like to ramble and drift a bit in my writing (in English). This is not as much fun in Japanese because I am almost certain it would end up completely incomprehensible. I tend to be much more straight-forward (shorter) in the Japanese simply because it is much easier for me. Also, to be perfectly honest, there are some things I will say in Japanese about America that I don't feel like writing in English and dealing with all the opinions on what I've said. Sometimes I want to start a forum for discussion, but sometimes I just want to state a fact or give my own opinion without becoming troll-bait, which can be very tiring. If you've ever posted anything on the internet ever, I know you can relate.
誰でもなんでも直訳すると、変な文章になります。なぜなら、日本語と英語とでは、文章構造や文法や文化や会話仕方の違いが多すぎて大きすぎるので、仕方がないですね。後は、日本人に言いたいことは、英語で書きたいことと違います。言いたいことが似っているのに、言いたいニュアンスが違う時もあります。たとえば、日本生活をアメリカ人に説明したいけど、外国人の私の日本生活を日本人に説明したいです。やっぱり、言いたいことがちょっと違いますね。あとは、日本語は難しいので、早く疲れちゃいますよ。笑。
Case in point!!!
Does this mean that some of your posts may be in only English or only Japanese?
じゃ、時々英語だけのポストや日本語だけのポストをUPしますか？
Yes, very good.
はい、そうです。
Can I correct your writing?
ブログの文章を修正してあげたらどうですか？
My English? No, thank you lol.
日本語の文章を修正してくれたら感謝しますよ！遠慮なく書いて下さい！
If I am fluent enough in both Japanese and English to read this whole sentence, ブログの翻訳していない文章やポストを翻訳してあげたらどうですか？
Of course, be my guest!
Will you pay me?
Yes, but instead of currency, you will be paid in karma.
And a little translator's credit at the end of the post. :)
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