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how bad is this japanese translation 2008/8/31 02:19
Context: i used online En-Jp translator; i am not sure if it came out correct; can somebody please read this back in English. thanks and appreciate.

これはオフィスからのあなたの同僚である。
月曜日は休日である、従ってオフィスは閉鎖している。
私は私の個人的なIDからこの電子メールを送っている
(私の秘密の電子メールアカウント。)
すべてをありがとう。
それはたくさん意味した。
私は偽りなく私達の友情を認める。
この日本人は間違っている。 ;

by kpr  

... 2008/8/31 11:56
First of all, the tone is quite oppressive (it is not in "polite" speech, and somehow it came out like bossy talk or a government official making an official statement), not friendly at all.

When it comes to the substance, translating it back into English would not convey how bad it is, because it is "literal," back in English it does not sound strange at all, while it sounds quite wrong in Japanese.

If the repicient knew English (or knew that you used an online translator to do the translation - which I'm sure they will notice), it would be "understood" - the recipient would be constantly translating it back into English, though - except for the 6th through 8th lines.

The 6th line "it meant a lot" in English, I suppose, simply does not translate word-to-word into Japanese. The recipient, if he/she did not know the ENglish expression, would wonder "what is IT in this sentence?"

The 7th line could be a problem too... who wants to be told in this "official" tone that "I certainly (unmistakenly?) admit our friendship"?

The 8th line says "This Japanese person is wrong," so this one is completely wrong - I guess the online translator thought "this Japanese" to mean "this Japanese person" instead of "this Japanese language (that I'm using)."

I strongly advise against sending these sentences to your colleague :)
by AK rate this post as useful

. 2008/8/31 15:45
Well, it's not THAT bad, except for the last line.

Usually machine translation seem to work better E to J than J to E, and as mentioned, if the reader has some kind of knowledge of the English language, it is quite easy to guess the original meaning of this particular text.

To avoid complications when using machine translators, you should try to clarify words and be specific as possible, use basic English and write in short sentences. For example, instead of writing "this is your colleage" you should write "this writer is your colleage" or "I am your colleage." The following is the "impression" (not the literal meaning) you get when you read the Japanese text on issue;

This thing is the colleage of yours sent from the office.
Mondays are day-offs. Therefore offices are closed.
I am sending (my secret email account) this email from my personal ID.
Thank you for all.
The thing meant many.
I with no lies acknowledged our friendship.
This Japanese person is making a mistake.

But apparently the following is what you meant;

This is your colleage from the office.
Monday is a holiday. So the office is closed.
I'm sending this email from my personal ID (it's my secret email account).
Thanks for everything.
It meant a lot.
I truly felt our friendship.
This Japanese text is probably wrong, right?
by Uco rate this post as useful

thanks to both 2008/9/1 00:04
Guys:

appreciate all your help. I was worried the translation was off but i am encouraged how you spelled word-to-word as to what i meant in English. i am feeling better as the reader does have reasonable English knowledge.....

thanks again for all the help.
by kpr rate this post as useful

. 2008/9/1 10:52
Don't trust machine translation as I mentioned in another thread.
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+54762

by meringue4 rate this post as useful

Still learning - practice 2008/9/6 16:32
これはオフィスからのあなたの同僚である。
kore - this wa - place/person ofisu - office no - owning word anata - you with possessive, becomes yours ....? some kind of situation by the circular kangi or roof, ....aru is

月曜日は休日である、
Getsuyoobi, Monday, wa (time word at),
従ってオフィスは閉鎖している。Haitte - run ofuisu - maybe office, wa- at gate with large at the bottom of the symbol?

And so on.

Find 2 kangi words too hard as yet..



by Rhubarb rate this post as useful

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