Please help -- Is this right?

GoldCoinLover · 6 Feb 2005

貴方は私の名前を正しく表記しました。 = Ahh, you and I names surely declare shimashita.'
私の名前は「永島宏幸」です。 = My name means "long island", and "large fortune."
うっ・・・・英語は・・・中学生以下です。= [my] japanese is middle high school level because (its inferior).
英語の翻訳は文明のに頼ってます。 = My english translation is from my cultural ability (favor).

--
The above is something I figured out with my rudimentary japanese skills and looking up kanji. I introduced myself on the Introduce section of the japanese section of these forums.

bentenmusume · 6 Feb 2005

GoldCoinLover said:
Please help -- Is this right?

No, it's not even particularly close.

貴方は私の名前を正しく表記しました。 = Ahh, you and I names surely declare shimashita.'
私の名前は「永島宏幸」です。 = My name means "long island", and "large fortune."
うっ・・・・英語は・・・中学生以下です。= [my] japanese is middle high school level because (its inferior).
英語の翻訳は文明のに頼ってます。 = My english translation is from my cultural ability (favor).

貴方は私の名前を正しく表記しました。
You wrote my name correctly. (i.e. Nagashima-san is telling you that you wrote his name with the proper characters.)

私の名前は「永島宏幸」です。
My name is "永島宏幸" (Nagashima Hiroyuki, written with those characters).

うっ・・・・英語は・・・中学生以下です。
Urgh... my English is... at the level of a junior high student or worse...

英語の翻訳は文明のに頼ってます。
I'm relying on "civilization" for English translation.
(i.e. this is a reference to the fact that he's using [man-made] automated translation software to translate his posts into English)

GoldCoinLover said:
The above is something I figured out with my rudimentary japanese skills and looking up kanji. I introduced myself on the Introduce section of the japanese section of these forums.

This may come off as cruel, but I need to say it.

What you're doing here isn't going to help you learn Japanese. You're lacking something very important -- namely, even a rudimentary understanding of Japanese sentence structure. Japanese isn't just a bunch of kanji slapped together to create some random, abstract meaning.

I mean, go back and read over your 'translation' of the original text. Does it make any real sense in English? If an English translation sounds like nonsense, it's usually a good sign that that's _not_ what the original Japanese meant.

If you're really serious about learning the language, I suggest that you get yourself a textbook and start from page 1. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble and wasted effort.

okaeri_man · 6 Feb 2005

GoldCoinLover said:
私の名前は「永島宏幸」です。 = My name means "long island", and "large fortune."

tee hee, thats funny.

If an English translation sounds like nonsense, it's usually a good sign that that's _not_ what the original Japanese meant.

that's a good point there jt. since when is "shimashita" an english word?

Hiroyuki Nagashima · 6 Feb 2005

JTさん、解説をしていただき
ありがとうございます。
Thank you for commenting.

文章を口語体で筆記したため
ケヴィンさんには、だいぶ迷惑をおかけしました。
Because I wrote a sentence in a colloquial style, I troubled Kevin considerably.

「貴方は私の名前を正しく表記しました。」
"You wrote my name justly".
「私の名前は「永島宏幸」です。」
My name is "Hiroyuki Nagashima".
=多くの人が私の名前を漢字で「長島」と書きます。
ケヴィンさんが私の名前を漢字で「永島」と正しく書いたので
わたしは、大変うれしく思いました。
ですから、私の正しい漢字の名前を書きました。
Many people write my name as "長島" in a kanji.
Because Kevin wrote my name as "永島" in a kanji justly, I thought very delightfully.
Therefore I wrote my name of a right kanji.

「うっ」
=絶句=「わたしの弱点(英語力に対しての)話題のため言葉に詰まる。」
is at a loss for words for a weak point (for English) topic of me.
「英語は・・・中学生以下です。」
=「私の英語のレベルは中学生以下なので恥ずかしいです。」
Because I am lower than an English level of a junior high student, my English level is shameful.
「英語の翻訳は文明のに頼ってます。」
=私は翻訳ソフトを使用して英文を翻訳しています。
I use translation software and translate an English sentence.

上記のような意味でした。
It was a meaning such as the above. :sorry:

GoldCoinLover · 7 Feb 2005

jt_ said:
No, it's not even particularly close.

貴方は私の名前を正しく表記しました。
You wrote my name correctly. (i.e. Nagashima-san is telling you that you wrote his name with the proper characters.)

私の名前は「永島宏幸」です。
My name is "永島宏幸" (Nagashima Hiroyuki, written with those characters).

うっ・・・・英語は・・・中学生以下です。
Urgh... my English is... at the level of a junior high student or worse...

英語の翻訳は文明のに頼ってます。
I'm relying on "civilization" for English translation.
(i.e. this is a reference to the fact that he's using [man-made] automated translation software to translate his posts into English)

This may come off as cruel, but I need to say it.

What you're doing here isn't going to help you learn Japanese. You're lacking something very important -- namely, even a rudimentary understanding of Japanese sentence structure. Japanese isn't just a bunch of kanji slapped together to create some random, abstract meaning.

I mean, go back and read over your 'translation' of the original text. Does it make any real sense in English? If an English translation sounds like nonsense, it's usually a good sign that that's _not_ what the original Japanese meant.

If you're really serious about learning the language, I suggest that you get yourself a textbook and start from page 1. You'll save yourself a lot of trouble and wasted effort.

Thank you. I will go to the library and read. I am new to learning japanese, and am trying consideribly hard to translate some sentences where I responded in a japanese section of these forums.

I do understand basic japanese structure. I do not understand the kanji sentences yet. I understand most of the particles (wa, o, ga, etc) but could you please explain what "made" means in japanese?

Thank you.

PS: I realise that kanji aren't just slapped together. I don't know many kanji at all so please forgive me.

One more request, how would I say in japanese : "I want to help you learn english.". I love teaching, I don't know much japanese but I still feel I have the effort to help.

bentenmusume · 7 Feb 2005

Hiroyuki Nagashima said:
文章を口語体で筆記したため
ケヴィンさんには、だいぶ迷惑をおかけしました。
Because I wrote a sentence in a colloquial style, I troubled Kevin considerably.

永島さん、

ご丁寧な説明ありがとうございます。ケビンさんもきっと勉強になったと思います。

永島さんの文章には問題がないと思いますので、どうか気になさらないで下さい。

ケビンさんはまだ日本語を始めたばかりらしくて、まだ文法などがあまり分かっていない様ですね。
やはり辞書で単語を調べても、言葉と言葉の「つながり」が分からないと、文章の意味を
理解するのは非常に難しいことですね。というより、無理に近いと思います。

ですから一応彼に言っておいたのですが、本当に日本語を読めるようになりたいのなら、
やはり教科書を買って、その１ページから勉強するのですね。きついことを言って
しまったような気もしますが、やっぱり彼は今の調子では、効果のない勉強法で
情熱を無駄にしてしまいそうですからね。

では、これからも永島さんから色々勉強させていただきたいと思っていますので
よろしくお願いします！

GoldCoinLover · 7 Feb 2005

jt_ said:
永島さん、

ご丁寧な説明ありがとうございます。ケビンさんもきっと勉強になったと思います。

永島さんの文章には問題がないと思いますので、どうか気になさらないで下さい。

ケビンさんはまだ日本語を始めたばかりらしくて、まだ文法などがあまり分かっていない様ですね。
やはり辞書で単語を調べても、言葉と言葉の「つながり」が分からないと、文章の意味を
理解するのは非常に難しいことですね。というより、無理に近いと思います。

ですから一応彼に言っておいたのですが、本当に日本語を読めるようになりたいのなら、
やはり教科書を買って、その１ページから勉強するのですね。きついことを言って
しまったような気もしますが、やっぱり彼は今の調子では、効果のない勉強法で
情熱を無駄にしてしまいそうですからね。

では、これからも永島さんから色々勉強させていただきたいと思っていますから
よろしくお願いします！

This is as far as I could go:
Thank you for the polite explanation. Mr.Kevin thinks he is studying hard.
Mr-永島, ..

Damicci · 7 Feb 2005

Are you just plugging this stuff into a translator or are you actually noting down the kanji (stroke order VERY IMPOERTANT - and the hiragana)? How are you going about studying?

I am also studying Japanese solo i had a friend teaching me but she taught me basics so i know hiragana and katakana some kanji but from all the studying i have been doing I can only read some kanji couldn't write it for the life of me.

GoldCoinLover · 7 Feb 2005

Damicci said:
Are you just plugging this stuff into a translator or are you actually noting down the kanji (stroke order VERY IMPORTANT - and the hiragana)? How are you going about studying?

I am also studying Japanese solo i had a friend teaching me but she taught me basics so i know hiragana and katakana some kanji but from all the studying i have been doing I can only read some kanji couldn't write it for the life of me.

I'm plugging it into a translator in order to understand what each one means seperately; and after that I use a dictionary for multiple kanji. Yes, I do take note of what the kanji and look at the details like brush strokes. (Although I don't see how the order of the brush strokes is important. Please explain further..)

I don't have every single hiragana and katakana memorized, but I'm working on it. I try to write things in hiragana and katakana; and some simple kanji (not kanji compounds; those are too hard for me) like 私, which means I. It can also mean "my", or "myself."

So 私のなまえはケビです。means "My name is Kevin."
But depending on the context, 私 can be used in several other ways as well with the personal pronoun such as "myself."

Damicci · 7 Feb 2005

Well I know every japanes eperson that see sme write something cringes when i don't get the stroke order correct it's just respect for the language I think. I also mentioned learning all the hiragana and katakana b4 learning Kanji because then you'll' be able to read the kanji in on-yomi kun-yomi forms and probably have a better understanding of why you should and shouldn't use kanji in some sentences. You don't need to CRAM a bunch of kanji together in a sentence if your just learning. especially if you don't know if that is the correct kanji in the first place, hence being able to recall the original hiragana and write it in it's simple form 1st. Jus tmy 2 cents.........

I am still beginner, I can barely read 3rd grade japanese child books. but if i can't remember a kanji atleast i can write out the hiragana for it.

bentenmusume · 7 Feb 2005

GoldCoinLover,

Just some free advice: don't get too kanji-obsessed too quickly. Yes, if you want to become proficient in reading Japanese, you're eventually going to have to learn a bunch of kanji. However, that being said, just learning kanji by itself is is not going to help you learn to read one bit.

GoldCoinLover said:
I do understand basic japanese structure. I do not understand the kanji sentences yet.

You say you understand basic Japanese structure, but in another post of yours, you didn't seem to know what "shimashita" is, and didn't realize that a sentence ending in "ka" is a question. I'm not trying to insult you here -- I know that you're just starting, and everyone has to start somewhere. But these are very basic grammar points, and if you don't understand this stuff, learning all the kanji in the world isn't going to help you actually read Japanese.

I really suggest that you get a textbook (like a college textbook, not just a dictionary or phrasebook) and start reading it through from Lesson 1, page 1. I think you'd find that a lot of these questions that you have now would be answered.

P.S. regarding stroke order: "respect for the language" may be part of it, but two other ways it will help you are 1) it'll keep your handwriting legible and 2) you'll need to be able to count strokes properly if you ever want to use a kanji dictionary to look up unfamiliar characters.

Mike Cash · 7 Feb 2005

jt_ said:
GoldCoinLover,

P.S. regarding stroke order: "respect for the language" may be part of it, but two other ways it will help you are 1) it'll keep your handwriting legible and 2) you'll need to be able to count strokes properly if you ever want to use a kanji dictionary to look up unfamiliar characters.

Another very important thing, and one which I never see mentioned, is the fact that when you start to "slur" your strokes together the slurred strokes will resemble Japanese people's slurred strokes. It'll make your stuff look more natural, and it will help when attempting to decipher handwritten Japanese.

GoldCoinLover · 8 Feb 2005

jt_ said:
GoldCoinLover,

Just some free advice: don't get too kanji-obsessed too quickly. Yes, if you want to become proficient in reading Japanese, you're eventually going to have to learn a bunch of kanji. However, that being said, just learning kanji by itself is is not going to help you learn to read one bit.

You say you understand basic Japanese structure, but in another post of yours, you didn't seem to know what "shimashita" is, and didn't realize that a sentence ending in "ka" is a question. I'm not trying to insult you here -- I know that you're just starting, and everyone has to start somewhere. But these are very basic grammar points, and if you don't understand this stuff, learning all the kanji in the world isn't going to help you actually read Japanese.

I really suggest that you get a textbook (like a college textbook, not just a dictionary or phrasebook) and start reading it through from Lesson 1, page 1. I think you'd find that a lot of these questions that you have now would be answered.

P.S. regarding stroke order: "respect for the language" may be part of it, but two other ways it will help you are 1) it'll keep your handwriting legible and 2) you'll need to be able to count strokes properly if you ever want to use a kanji dictionary to look up unfamiliar characters.

Actually, I did know that when a sentence is ended with "ka" it redirects that sentence as a question. What I was asking you was, was what that sentence said. I think "shimashita" is a verb, I'm not sure.

Damicci · 8 Feb 2005

shimashita would be a past tense form of suru - to do but from the sentence it is probably part ov another ver that ends with su I myself cannot read the kanji

ex.
suru - to do
shimashita - did/done
話す－ hanasu - to speak/say
話しました－ hana"shimashita" - spoke/said

Please help -- Is this right?

GoldCoinLover

後輩

bentenmusume

原点回帰

okaeri_man

Tadaima!

Hiroyuki Nagashima

TAN

GoldCoinLover

後輩

bentenmusume

原点回帰

GoldCoinLover

後輩

Damicci

先輩

GoldCoinLover

後輩

Damicci

先輩

bentenmusume

原点回帰

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

GoldCoinLover

後輩

Damicci

先輩

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