I have a question about japanese.
Whenever I try to translate a japanese sentence myself, it always turns out wrong.
For example, in english, we would say : "Your english is good." although 'good' here may not be perfect english but its what is usually said.
On the other hand, in japanese, they use the term 'skilled'.
英語が上手ですね。
[Your] english is skilled, isn't it?
They also like to use 'desu ne' alot which translates to "isn't it?" I guess japanese like alot of confirmation.
That reminds me. My pastor lived in a french only speaking area in quebec for 6 years. He learned to speak french fluently, and talked about Jesus and christianity in french. He is very helpful with me learning japanese, because he knows how different languages are.
He says, in french, there is no "How are you?" saying. He said you'd be literally asking them if they were feeling OK. The same way is in japanese. But you can say like "whats happening?" in french.
He also says there are different sayings in french that aren't in english, and visa versa. In english, we say "It's raining cats and dogs." when it's raining hard. In french, they say "It's raining nails." he said.
When I don't use a translator, and I try to translate something, taking in the usage of the particles, it still, I get it totally wrong.
Its frusterating.
He said anything is possible and it just takes alot of effort and practice.
He said he had to learn 11 months of french in a normal 24 month period.
He also lived in a french only speaking enviorment
もしあなたが、招待していたら、 私は日本語の先生に なれただろうに
I'm curious about this sentence because of the word "if", I have no idea how you say "if" in japanese.
Thank you elizabeth san
And thank you everyone else, for being so nice.