じゃないですか / 魚、箸、 算数、 自分の国の言葉 / という

[eeky]

Hi,

1.

学生: この作文、書き直した方がいいでしょうか。
先生： わざわざ書き直さなくてもいいんじゃないです か。

Translation given:
"Do you think I should rewrite this composition?"
"I don't think you have to take the trouble to rewrite it."

I know I've asked a lot of similar questions before, but in this case is "I don't think..." the most faithful translation of んじゃないですか?


2. The author has been talking about a theory that children who apparently dislike fish actually don't dislike the fish itself, but just find it difficult to eat because they are not adept at using chopsticks. Then comes this:

箸がいろいろなものを食べるための基本であるように、 国語はいろいろなことを考えるための基本だと思います 。

All I can get out of this is something like "I think that just as chopsticks are the basis for eating all kind of things, so language is the basis for thinking about all kinds of things."

Could this be right? First of all I thought ように should mean "in order to", but that seemed to make no sense. Mind you, my translation scarcely makes sense either.


3. The next sentence is:

算数が嫌いだと答える子供は、実は算数の問題の文章が よく理解できないということがけっこう多いんです。

My translation: "In many cases, children who say (lit. answer) that they don't like arithmetic actually don't understand arithmetic problems very well."

OK?


4. The next sentence:

つまり、自分の国の言葉だからこそもっとしっかり勉強 しなければいけないと思うんです。

I thought this meant: "I think, in other words, that precisely because it is one's own language, one should study it (i.e. one's own language) all the more thoroughly."

I have zero idea how this relates to what's previously been said, and I feel I have completely failed to understand this passage.


5. 実際に街に出て走りながら身につける技術というものも ある。

My translation: "In reality, there are also skills which one learns while one is out driving on the streets."

Obviously I have encountered という many times, but I'm far from sure I always understand it. In cases like this, I tend to think of it as mostly a grammatical device -- to connect 技術 with ものもある -- without adding much actual actual meaning. Is this reasonable? Does it also have some sense of emphasis perhaps? How would you write the sentence with minimal change but avoiding という?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
Yes.

2)
Yes, ように means "just like/just as" here, as you translated.

3)
Yes.

4)
Because one's own language is the basis for thinking about all kinds of things, one should study it.

5)
It would be OK to interpret it as 実際に街に出て走りながら身につける技術もある in this case.

 

[nekojita]

4) Question of my own: does 算数の問題の文章 refer to word problems like "Suzy has three apples and Billy has eight apples, how many apples are there in total?", or just the phrasing of questions in general?

I can only parse 文章 as being in there because they're talking about not understanding the question (as opposed to not knowing how to do the math). That makes more sense when you have those two sentences stuck together.

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, you are correct. 算数の問題の文章 refers to "Japanese sentences in arithmetic problems".

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe. The connection between children having difficulty eating fish with chopsticks and the importance of studying one's own language continues to elude me.

 

[Toritoribe]

If you can't use chopsticks well, you would have difficulty to eat fishes and therefore might become to dislike fishes. Similarly, if you don't have enough ability to use/understand your own language, you might not be able to understand the sentences in arithmetic problems and therefore might become to dislike arithmetic. Your own language is basis for thinking about all kinds of things just as chopsticks are the basis for eating all kind of things. So, I think you should study hard your own language.