Answer archive
14日3月2013年
Hey Sensei, I need to say this in Japanese for a class project. Here's what I want to say, will you translate it please?
Hey Sensei, I need to say this in Japanese for a class project. Here's what I want to say, will you translate it please?
I'm sorry to have to say this, but I can't. I can't do your work for you. It's cheating. More importantly, it's stealing... and it's me stealing from you.
Your projects and homework are the only opportunities you have to learn and use Japanese. Part of that learning (a big part, actually) includes looking up Japanese that you don't already know and composing new sentences with the rules you've learned. That's translation. If I do it, I get some practice, but you get nothing. You don't learn any Japanese, and that's the whole point of the assignment in the first place.
What I can do is direct you to the Study Center page of this site, which links to multiple dictionaries that should help you find the words and grammar you need with minimal frustration. If you have any trouble using these tools, let me know and I'll be glad to walk you through each one.
Don't get overwhelmed, and don't give up -- remember, the ultimate goal of everything you do in Japanese class is learning Japanese. It's not about your grade, not about your GPA. Just learning. So relax, do your best, and learn!
Your projects and homework are the only opportunities you have to learn and use Japanese. Part of that learning (a big part, actually) includes looking up Japanese that you don't already know and composing new sentences with the rules you've learned. That's translation. If I do it, I get some practice, but you get nothing. You don't learn any Japanese, and that's the whole point of the assignment in the first place.
What I can do is direct you to the Study Center page of this site, which links to multiple dictionaries that should help you find the words and grammar you need with minimal frustration. If you have any trouble using these tools, let me know and I'll be glad to walk you through each one.
Don't get overwhelmed, and don't give up -- remember, the ultimate goal of everything you do in Japanese class is learning Japanese. It's not about your grade, not about your GPA. Just learning. So relax, do your best, and learn!
4日3月2013年
Hey, I was wondering: how you would say "get ready for school"and "clean up the house"? I was also curious about what Japan is like with immigrants; is it similar to America?
Hey, I was wondering: how you would say "get ready for school"and "clean up the house"? I was also curious about what Japan is like with immigrants; is it similar to America?
As far as I am aware, there is no set expression for "get ready for school", so the literal translation would be:
With Kanji: 学校へ行くの準備します
No Kanji: がっこうへ行くのじゅんびします
Romaji: gakkou (h)e iku no junbi shimasu
Transliteral: school going to prepare
Translation: "prepare for going to school"
Junbi means "preparation" (noun) and shimasu is simply "to do", so we are composing the verb "prepare" by adding two words together: junbi shimasu, "to do preparation". This is actually very common in Japanese, like benkyou shimasu ("to do studying"), or denwa shimasu for "to call (on the telephone)" or bideo ge-mu shimasu for "to play video games". Usually when you verb a direct object, you need the particle を (w)o between them, but with the verbshimasu, it becomes optional. Ergo:
benkyou (w)o shimasu = benkyou shimasu
(both are correct, the second is more common)
Since the invention of the vacuum cleaner, Japanese has adapted the word souji (which originally just meant "sweeping the ground") to include all kinds of housecleaning. Like above, it's paired with shimasu to become a verb that means "to clean up":
With Kanji: 掃除します
No Kanji: そうじします
Romaji: souji shimasu
Means: to clean up (the house, your bedroom, the garden, etc.)
Example: どようびのあさ、うちのそうじします
Romaji: doyoubi no asa, uchi no souji shimasu
Transliteral: Saturday morning do the cleaning up of the house
Translation: "On Saturday morning, (I) clean up the house."
Wow, Japan's attitude to immigrants... that's a good question. It's kinda different from how we think of immigrants in the USA. I could write a huge essay about this (and a lot of people have, actually), but I'll bet you'd prefer the short version for now, so here's the basics about Japan and immigrants as I understand it:
Problem 1: Japan has a declining birth rate. For a country's population to remain steady over time, every woman has to give birth to an average of two children. Raising a child in Japan is expensive, so many married couples only have one child, or even choose to have no children at all. Because of this, Japan actually needs immigrants to live and work (and get married, and have more children) in much of the country. HOWEVER...
Problem 2: ...Japan has a complex history with many of the countries in Asia. The Japanese army invaded many of them during WW2, and killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Koreans (among other countries). The nations haven't forgotten this, so relations between Japan and its neighbors are still very strained. There are groups within Japan, too, that still believe other Asian nations are inferior and that people from those nations are less intelligent or less capable than native Japanese. Immigrants from these countries generally only come to Japan because they are desperate for a job.
Result: Japan sees "immigrants" very differently based on where they come from. This part is similar to the United States. If somebody immigrates to the USA from Canada or England, people here generally don't care... but if they immigrate from Mexico or Pakistan or Iran, some people treat them differently (and often, poorly). In Japan, if you are clearly Western in origin, the Japanese will treat you very well because you are different, but in the "good" way that they see on television and in movies. However, if you are from China or Korea or any of the Pacific island nations (like the Philippians or Indonesia), you are not generally treated with as much special care. Some right-wing Japanese (the equivalent of Republicans here in the USA) even promote racism and prejudice against immigrants from other Asian nations within the government.
So Japan as a nation needs immigrants to survive, but its history makes it dislike many of the countries that those immigrants come from. This is only a broad generalization, however: remember that every individual is different, and most people around the world just want to make friends and get along. :3
With Kanji: 学校へ行くの準備します
No Kanji: がっこうへ行くのじゅんびします
Romaji: gakkou (h)e iku no junbi shimasu
Transliteral: school going to prepare
Translation: "prepare for going to school"
Junbi means "preparation" (noun) and shimasu is simply "to do", so we are composing the verb "prepare" by adding two words together: junbi shimasu, "to do preparation". This is actually very common in Japanese, like benkyou shimasu ("to do studying"), or denwa shimasu for "to call (on the telephone)" or bideo ge-mu shimasu for "to play video games". Usually when you verb a direct object, you need the particle を (w)o between them, but with the verbshimasu, it becomes optional. Ergo:
benkyou (w)o shimasu = benkyou shimasu
(both are correct, the second is more common)
Since the invention of the vacuum cleaner, Japanese has adapted the word souji (which originally just meant "sweeping the ground") to include all kinds of housecleaning. Like above, it's paired with shimasu to become a verb that means "to clean up":
With Kanji: 掃除します
No Kanji: そうじします
Romaji: souji shimasu
Means: to clean up (the house, your bedroom, the garden, etc.)
Example: どようびのあさ、うちのそうじします
Romaji: doyoubi no asa, uchi no souji shimasu
Transliteral: Saturday morning do the cleaning up of the house
Translation: "On Saturday morning, (I) clean up the house."
Wow, Japan's attitude to immigrants... that's a good question. It's kinda different from how we think of immigrants in the USA. I could write a huge essay about this (and a lot of people have, actually), but I'll bet you'd prefer the short version for now, so here's the basics about Japan and immigrants as I understand it:
Problem 1: Japan has a declining birth rate. For a country's population to remain steady over time, every woman has to give birth to an average of two children. Raising a child in Japan is expensive, so many married couples only have one child, or even choose to have no children at all. Because of this, Japan actually needs immigrants to live and work (and get married, and have more children) in much of the country. HOWEVER...
Problem 2: ...Japan has a complex history with many of the countries in Asia. The Japanese army invaded many of them during WW2, and killed hundreds of thousands of Chinese and Koreans (among other countries). The nations haven't forgotten this, so relations between Japan and its neighbors are still very strained. There are groups within Japan, too, that still believe other Asian nations are inferior and that people from those nations are less intelligent or less capable than native Japanese. Immigrants from these countries generally only come to Japan because they are desperate for a job.
Result: Japan sees "immigrants" very differently based on where they come from. This part is similar to the United States. If somebody immigrates to the USA from Canada or England, people here generally don't care... but if they immigrate from Mexico or Pakistan or Iran, some people treat them differently (and often, poorly). In Japan, if you are clearly Western in origin, the Japanese will treat you very well because you are different, but in the "good" way that they see on television and in movies. However, if you are from China or Korea or any of the Pacific island nations (like the Philippians or Indonesia), you are not generally treated with as much special care. Some right-wing Japanese (the equivalent of Republicans here in the USA) even promote racism and prejudice against immigrants from other Asian nations within the government.
So Japan as a nation needs immigrants to survive, but its history makes it dislike many of the countries that those immigrants come from. This is only a broad generalization, however: remember that every individual is different, and most people around the world just want to make friends and get along. :3
