三十八度ぐらい / 合格しながら / いくらわが子のため... / 心のゆとり

[eeky]

Hi,


1. Talking about a child who had a cold at the time of an exam:

お母さんに「三十八度ぐらいで何ですか。皆頑張ってい るのよ。」と励まされたのです。

I assume 三十八度 is the child's temperature.

a) What does 何ですか mean in this context? Could it imply "it's nothing"?

b) What is the purpose of 皆?

c) What is the overall message? Is the mother being sympathetic (like "chin up!"), or basically saying "stop complaining and go and take your exam"?


2. It's previously been said, as far as I can figure out, the child was unable to complete an exam because of illness (頭痛で答えを書くどころでなく). Later:

志望校に合格しながら、ずっと緊張と腹痛に苦しんできたの です。

My attempted translation "During the process of trying to get into his chosen school, (the child) has suffered throughout from tension and upset stomach."

Is this right? I am a bit unsure what 合格しながら could mean, since 合格する supposedly means "pass an exam". Firstly I'm not sure how ～ながら works with something "instantaneous" like passing an exam, and secondly it seems from what was said earlier that the child actually didn't pass the exam.


3. いくらわが子のためと思っても、情報に振り回された親 自身が不安に駆られていると、子供に思わぬ心の傷を負 わせてしまいます。

I am struggling with this. My attempted translation: "However much we think about (the care of) our children, when parents are battered by emotions and driven by worry, they end up being made to bear the hurt of (imagining that) they are uncaring about their children."

I would be grateful if someone could correct this as necessary.


4. 特に、受験に関しては親が心のゆとりを失いがち。

My translation: "In particular, when it comes to [their children's] exams, parents tend to lose ????"

What does 心のゆとり mean? Could it be something like "lose their perspective / sense of proportion"?

 

[Toritoribe]

1) a)
Yes.

b)
the subject of 頑張っている

c)
the latter

2)
～ながら also means ～にもかかわらず.

２ 名詞、動詞型活用語の連用形、形容詞型活用語の連体形などに付く。内容の矛盾する二つの事柄をつなぐ意を表す。…にもかかわらず。…ではあるが。「学生―読書もしない」「知ってい―答えない」「狭い―も楽しく暮らす」

ながら - goo辞書

3)
The subject of 思う is parents.
That's not わが子のためを思っても. わが子のためと思って（何かをして）も might be more understandable.
情報 means information, not emotion.
思わぬ means "unexpected".

4)
心のゆとり means "calmness/broad-minded".

 

[eeky]

Thanks Toritoribe

1b) So does 皆頑張ってい るのよ mean "Everyone is making an effort"? "Everyone has to make an effort"?

2) Are we saying the child did actually get into the school, so must have passed the exam, despite 頭痛で答えを書くどころでなく?

3) Sorry, I do not understand いくらわが子のためと思っても if it doesn't mean roughly what I said. Unfortunately I don't understand わが子のためと思って（何かをして）も any better than the original.

Also, what is 親自身? Is it one compound?

 

[Toritoribe]

1)
The former; everyone who takes the exam.

2)
Yes.

3)
even if parents do something(e.g. pep talk) thinking it's helpful for their child

parents themselves

 

[eeky]

3. Is わが from the perspective of 親? I thought わが normally included the speaker in its scope (i.e. described something that the speaker somehow had a part in owning). Could the tone be something like "we parents..." in English?

I should know 情報; obviously I misread it, but I can't figure out now for what. Is there a word for "emotion" that looks a bit like 情報, and starts with the same kanji 情? I know there's 情感, but 感 does not look massively similar to 報. Not that it's unknown for me to mistake one kanji for another one that actually looks nothing like it!

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, it's written from the perspective of the subject 親自身, so わが refers to "parents'". There's no implication of "we parents".

情動 or 情緒?

 

[Mike Cash]

1. The concept of shared misery is key here. The mother is telling her child that everybody is suffering in some way (and struggling through it regardless) due to the exam, so his merely running a temperature doesn't make him any different than all the others who are putting forth their effort to overcome whatever their particular difficulty is, and who will all show up for the exam. It is not unusual in a group endeavor setting to see a distinctly individual concern treated dismissively or outright smacked down, as everybody has something that applies just to them. If everybody were to bring up their own particular thing and expect special dispensation or consideration, then you have a situation of きりがない and if an attempt were made to accommodate everybody's individual thing, then you have a situation of はじまらない. So people are expected to keep their own problems to themselves, suck it up, and join everybody else in getting on with the task at hand.

Mild fever? Slap a mask on him and send his butt to school.

(Try asking a Japanese worker how many "sick days" or "personal days" he gets on his job each year. But be prepared to sit down and explain just what "sick days" are and why anyone would have them).

 

[Elizabeth]

3. いくらわが子のためと思っても、情報に振り回された親 自身が不安に駆られていると、子供に思わぬ心の傷を負 わせてしまいます。

I am struggling with this. My attempted translation: "However much we think about (the care of) our children, when parents are battered by emotions and driven by worry, they end up being made to bear the hurt of (imagining that) they are uncaring about their children."

I would be grateful if someone could correct this as necessary.

子供に思わぬ心の傷を負わせてしまいます。

I think this is saying when parents waste themselves away with worry it is the child who is ultimately forced to bear the scars.

親のほうもいつも試験のことばかり考えっていなければ ならないんで、らくではないのよ。

でも、本当に、子供がかわいそうではねー！無理にいい学校に入れて、後で困るんだからね。

 

[Glenn]

3. Is わが from the perspective of 親? I thought わが normally included the speaker in its scope (i.e. described something that the speaker somehow had a part in owning).

It should be safe to think of 我が as 自分の, e.g., 我が家 = 自分の家.