J44xm said:
Could I ask for a literal translation of this? I'm sure not what the change signifies.
Elizabeth said:
The first sentence is "I haven't tried doing it until now."
Elizabeth is very close.
"I hadn't tried doing that until now."
What is different? Well, let's go step by step.
Your original sentence,
means, "I didn't do this until now." By first adding the みる, so that the sentence becomes
今まで，これをしてみませんでした。
you add the idea of "trying" something that Elizabeth so eloquently related.
Finally, by changing the tense to past progressive, so that the sentence becomes,
今まで，これをしてみていませんでした。
you bring in the idea that you "hadn't" tried (writing in Japanese) until now.
J44xm said:
I understand your changes here. I'm glad to know that です would work too, but I assume that なります is more natural?
Elizabeth said:
If I want to learn Japanese, it is very necessary to write it (?)
Does this sound more natural in Japanese than English ?
Very important or just necessary, maybe?
Anyway, if you can find another way around "totemo" normally you would leave out the ことが and just go with 書く必要があります。
There is a lot of confusion, even among Japanese themselves, about the proper usage of なる, primarily in terms of keigo. That is not the issue here, but the point is that なる is more tricky than it seems at first glance. It sounded quite natural to me in this context, which is why I used it.
I think the Japanese and English both sound natural: "If one wishes to learn Japanese, it becomes quite necessary to write in Japanese."
It may just be a stylistic thing, or I could be wrong, but in this case 書く必要があります sounds to have a slightly different nuance to it.
J44xm said:
"Until March, I am waiting for Yamasa's reply." My original sentence was something like "I have to wait until March to find if I'll be accepted to Yamasa." Now that I think about it, though, I'm not waiting on Yamasa but on Japan's Immigration Bureau. (I must have been more tired than I thought last night.) So what I'm trying to say, now, is this: "I have to wait until March to find out from the Japanese Immigration Bureau if I will be issued a student visa." That sentence is above my level, but dissecting it will be beneficial.
Also, I didn't know which word to use for "reply" (as in a reply of acceptance from a university or, now, government), as there are a surprising number of words in WWWJDIC that mean "reply."
Elizabeth said:
入国管理局による(書類、就国ビサ)調査結果を通知され るのを三月まで待たなければなりません。
Maybe ? Most likely you will hear and be sent your eligibility certificate directly from the institute, not Immigration, no? I'm sure it is at least decipherable.
For the original sentence, perhaps, 今は，3月にヤマサから返事が来るまで待っています。
For the new version, I think that Elizabeth's version is quite comprehensible, if not a little complicated. To keep it simple, how about this? 今は，日本の入国管理局からビサの許可を待っています。 I realize I left out March. I did this to keep it simple, but if you want March in there, I'll rewrite it for you.
J44xm said:
(2) I was trying to say that I believe that my application will be accepted. WWWJDIC says: "受け付ける(P); 受けつける 【うけつける】 (v1) to be accepted; to receive (an application)." However, it seems that I tried to conjugate a naturally passive verb into the passive form, right? That's far too careless. I must be more careful.
It has been a long time since I learned the verb 受け付ける, but I don't think it's passive. It is transitive, however, so in that sense your usage was not technically wrong. But, I think that the meaning of accept that you are looking for is in the sense of being allowed admission to school, and not just that they will receive and consider your application. As I understand the meaning of 受け付ける, in this context it would just mean that they will consider your application.
So perhaps, 絶対に入学させてくれると思います。
「とても好きでした。」 I didn't realize that was legal grammar, though it does make sense, now that I look closely.
The reason I added that was because 好きでした。 just seemed too short. It needed....something, you know?
僕をたすけて、どうもありがとうございました。 This was a decidedly poor showing on my part and it's a bit embarrassing, honestly. みなさん、ごめんなさい。 Thank you very much for your patient and useful comments, Mikawa Ossanさん.
No problem! If you've only been studying for a few months, then I think your current ability is quite impressive! It was an excellent first try at a journal entry. Much better than I would have been able to come up with after I had only been studying Japanese for a few months!
Honestly, you had very few actual mistakes. Keep up the good work, and good luck at Yamasa! It's just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I live, so if you need any help getting set up that the school doesn't provide, I'll try to lend you a hand!