Translating: A stranger showed me around town.

[GenjiMain]

Hi guys,

In my textbook this phrase is translated as "知らない人が町を教えてくれました", which as I understand more strictly translates as "A stranger taught me the town". Is there a reason why 案内する not used here? It feels odd, particularly when 案内する is one of the verbs taught in this chapter.

Thanks.

 

[diligentcircle]

I don't know the answer since I'm not familiar with the word 案内, but I'd just like to note that 教える is used more broadly than the English word "to teach". It can be used when referring to someone telling you about themselves, for example. It's also a rather common word, far more common than "to teach" is in English.

Basically, what I'm saying is that 教える in this context shouldn't "feel odd", because it isn't. It's perfectly in-line with how it's typically used.

 

[Toritoribe]

Hi guys,

In my textbook this phrase is translated as "知らない人が町を教えてくれました", which as I understand more strictly translates as "A stranger taught me the town". Is there a reason why 案内する not used here? It feels odd, particularly when 案内する is one of the verbs taught in this chapter.

Thanks.

It's understandable, but uncommon. 教える can be used in that context, but 町を教えてくれました indeed sounds awkward. Other particles 町について教えてくれました or 町のことを教えてくれました is more common for 教える. Even with these particles, 教える usually doesn't have a nuance of "to show around" since it's more likely for a situation explaining about the town by words, mostly with watching a video or photos. Is that really a translation given by the textbook?

 

[GenjiMain]

*facepalm* I did a typo in my notes. It was みち (道) not まち (町). Sorry about that.

 

[nice gaijin]

That sounds alright then, more like "taught me the way/path." This is used more specifically for getting directions somewhere than being shown around though.

 

[GenjiMain]

That sounds alright then, more like "taught me the way/path." This is used more specifically for getting directions somewhere than being shown around though.

I imagine it is in the context of the stranger showing the speaker the roads via a map, similar to what Tori said.

 

[Toritoribe]

It's typically used when getting the way to somewhere, as nice gaijin-san wrote. It's usually for a single place, for instance, when asking "Where is the post office?" or "How can I get to the station？".

Unlike 知らない人に道を教えてもらいました, 知らない人が道を教えてくれました somewhat has a nuance that the stranger talked to the speaker voluntarily, so what comes to my mind is a situation where the speaker was looking around with a map, and a stranger said "Do you need directions?" to him/her.