Hi again,
1. せっかく習った漢字は忘れないようにしましょう。
Translation given: "Please try not to forget kanji which you have spent considerable time and energy to learn."
しましょう is a probable/volitional form, right? I don't recall seeing this translated as an imperative before. Is this essentially the same usage that's often translated as "let's (try not to forget)...", or is something different?
2. Sometimes when reading sentences with no surrounding context, I for some reason mentally translate -ます as an instruction or imperative. For example, I looked at 言葉の意味がわからないときは辞書をひきます and mentally translated it as "When you come across a word you don't know, look it up in the dictionary" (the translation given is "When I come across words ...".) Is my translation feasible? I'm guessing not, but I'd just like to check...
3. 作文の題は自由ですから、あしたまでに書いてきてください。
Translation given: "Please write a composition by tomorrow on any topic you desire."
I understand this fine except for から. What meaning does から have here?
4. 先生にアドバイスを求める/アドバイスをしてもらう
This is a heading for a lesson describing ways of asking advice, giving opinions, etc.
What does してもらう mean? I assumed something to do with receiving (though I don't quite understand what して adds). However, this would give something like "Requesting advice from your teacher / receiving advice", which seems odd. I'd expect the contrast to be between receiving and giving advice. How would you translate this heading, and what meaning is して adding?
5. Said while looking at a restaurant menu:
ちょっと高いけど、おいしいことはおいしいらしいですよ。
I am a bit hazy about this idiom. Does the part after the comma literally mean something like "as for its being delicious, it looks delicious", which we might translate simply as "it all looks delicious" or similar?
6. In the word キャッシュカード, is the vowel sound in カー exactly the same as the vowel sound in キャ except held for longer? (I mean in the regular Japanese pronunciation, not the pronunciation if one were deliberately trying to mimic the English way of saying it. I have chosen this word as exemplifying my own bad habit of pronouncing Japanese vowel sounds differently depending on how I imagine they would sound if in English words.)
1. せっかく習った漢字は忘れないようにしましょう。
Translation given: "Please try not to forget kanji which you have spent considerable time and energy to learn."
しましょう is a probable/volitional form, right? I don't recall seeing this translated as an imperative before. Is this essentially the same usage that's often translated as "let's (try not to forget)...", or is something different?
2. Sometimes when reading sentences with no surrounding context, I for some reason mentally translate -ます as an instruction or imperative. For example, I looked at 言葉の意味がわからないときは辞書をひきます and mentally translated it as "When you come across a word you don't know, look it up in the dictionary" (the translation given is "When I come across words ...".) Is my translation feasible? I'm guessing not, but I'd just like to check...
3. 作文の題は自由ですから、あしたまでに書いてきてください。
Translation given: "Please write a composition by tomorrow on any topic you desire."
I understand this fine except for から. What meaning does から have here?
4. 先生にアドバイスを求める/アドバイスをしてもらう
This is a heading for a lesson describing ways of asking advice, giving opinions, etc.
What does してもらう mean? I assumed something to do with receiving (though I don't quite understand what して adds). However, this would give something like "Requesting advice from your teacher / receiving advice", which seems odd. I'd expect the contrast to be between receiving and giving advice. How would you translate this heading, and what meaning is して adding?
5. Said while looking at a restaurant menu:
ちょっと高いけど、おいしいことはおいしいらしいですよ。
I am a bit hazy about this idiom. Does the part after the comma literally mean something like "as for its being delicious, it looks delicious", which we might translate simply as "it all looks delicious" or similar?
6. In the word キャッシュカード, is the vowel sound in カー exactly the same as the vowel sound in キャ except held for longer? (I mean in the regular Japanese pronunciation, not the pronunciation if one were deliberately trying to mimic the English way of saying it. I have chosen this word as exemplifying my own bad habit of pronouncing Japanese vowel sounds differently depending on how I imagine they would sound if in English words.)