(2016-04-09, 4:35 pm)pm215 Wrote:

(2016-04-09, 3:25 pm)satanael Wrote: What does Hなお仕事 mean?

Hな : indecent/sexual/dirty/etc (it's a na-adjective, compare エッチな which you probably know if this is representative of your viewing material :-))
お : honorific/polite language/etc prefix
仕事 : work/job

Thank you very much.

I was reading this page on NHK easy on 介護 and couldn't quite understand one of the itens of the survey.

「国などの制度を利用しても十分な介護ができない」

I have no idea idea what they mean by 国などの制度. 制度 seems to have a very specific meaning here and I don't quite get why they decided to use など here either.

From http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160405...41000.html:

バスを企画した会社の丸木勇人さんは、「試験運行を重ねて知名度を上げて、日本に来た個人旅行客が誰でも乗れるようなバスにしていきたい」と話していました。

I don't understand the second part of the quote -- I was told it means that the head of the person organizing the bus' trial run eventually want to "make it a bus that anyone traveling to Japan can ride."

I don't get how to understand that from the sentence structure, though. So, individual parts that I think I understand/me mentally trying to work through this --

日本に来た個人旅行客 - Would be "tourists coming to Japan on personal travel" (I think in contrast to those coming via tour groups, who would already have transportation organized).
日本に来た個人旅行客が乗れる, I guess, would be "...Tourists can ride."
ようなバスにしていきたい -- Want to make it a bus like whatever is described in the phrase preceding ような.

日本に来た個人旅行客が誰でも乗れる - I think it's the 誰でも that's throwing me off, maybe, especially since it's after が. I had learned that it meant anyone, but in this case it looks like it means "any tourist"? I'm assuming that が is not actually marking the subject here (and maybe vaguely recalling something about it being used instead instead of です in relative clauses?)

(2016-04-09, 7:25 pm)FlameseeK Wrote: I was reading this page on NHK easy on 介護 and couldn't quite understand one of the itens of the survey.

「国などの制度を利用しても十分な介護ができない」

I have no idea idea what they mean by 国などの制度. 制度 seems to have a very specific meaning here and I don't quite get why they decided to use など here either.

国などの制度 = "services such as those provided by the goverment."
The whole sentence translates to something like:

Even making use of services such as those provided by the goverment I could not give sufficient care.

(2016-04-09, 7:46 pm)Saginaim Wrote: From http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20160405...41000.html:

バスを企画した会社の丸木勇人さんは、「試験運行を重ねて知名度を上げて、日本に来た個人旅行客が誰でも乗れるようなバスにしていきたい」と話していました。

I don't understand the second part of the quote -- I was told it means that the head of the person organizing the bus' trial run eventually want to "make it a bus that anyone traveling to Japan can ride."

I don't get how to understand that from the sentence structure, though. So, individual parts that I think I understand/me mentally trying to work through this --

日本に来た個人旅行客 - Would be "tourists coming to Japan on personal travel" (I think in contrast to those coming via tour groups, who would already have transportation organized).
日本に来た個人旅行客が乗れる, I guess, would be "...Tourists can ride."
ようなバスにしていきたい -- Want to make it a bus like whatever is described in the phrase preceding ような.

日本に来た個人旅行客が誰でも乗れる - I think it's the 誰でも that's throwing me off, maybe, especially since it's after が. I had learned that it meant anyone, but in this case it looks like it means "any tourist"? I'm assuming that が is not actually marking the subject here (and maybe vaguely recalling something about it being used instead instead of です in relative clauses?)

日本に来た個人旅行客が  <- が is marking the subject of the clause it is in.
誰でも乗れるようなバス  <-  <- A bus which anyone can ride
にしていきたい」 <- The "I want to happen" part

誰でも is making 旅行客が乗れるようなバス clause stronger. So, like:  A bus tourists can ride.  Which tourists? Anyone.

Just read this article on NHK, which begins like this:

ことしの大型連休は、平日を２日休むといちばん長くて１０日の連休になります。

Everything that comes after the comma is kind of confusing to me.  I understand this is supposed to be a description of the holiday (Golden Week, right?), but I'm not sure I get it. Are they trying to say it'll be an extended holiday this year (which I suppose will include May 2 and 6), turning the whole thing into a 10 day holiday, i.e. from Apr 29 until May 8?

EDIT: NVM, just watched the video again and the show it the calendar, apparently it's exactly what I thought.

That is, if you take two weekdays off. Say it's from Tuesday to Sunday: you'd have to take Monday off to make it nine days and either the preceding Friday or the following Monday for ten.

(2016-04-10, 4:03 am)Vempele Wrote: That is, if you take two weekdays off. Say it's from Tuesday to Sunday: you'd have to take Monday off to make it nine days and either the preceding Friday or the following Monday for ten.

The preceding Friday is one of the public holidays (the 29th) so you get that for free. You'd take the Monday 2nd and Friday 6th (with 3rd/4th/5th being public holidays) to get the 10. I think the point the article is making is that the days of the week the holidays fall on this year is the arrangement that gives you the longest possible run of holidays, assuming you take leave to fill in the gaps between public holidays but don't tack any leave onto the ends.

赤点が続いて、教師に、親に怒鳴られても笑顔を保つ兄。

Does this mean he kept smiling in spite of those yelling at him?

Just finished reading this NHK easy news article on 日食 and would like to ask a few question. Here's the tricky bit:

北海道は晴れた所が多くて、札幌市では日食を見ることができました。午前１１時１８分に太陽の５％が見えなくなりました。

The first sentence isn't particularly tricky, but it's more of a question regarding the way it was phrased. From what I get, they're saying many places in 北海道 were clear (i.e. no 日食), but that it was possible to see it in 札幌市, correct? Wouldn't something like like 多くても sound a little more natural in that it shows the actual contrast? Is this NHK trying to make the sentence simpler?

Now, the second sentence is the part that sounds really odd to me. Are they actually saying that in 札幌市 it wasn't possible to see 5% of the sun? That's what I understand, yet that's so insignificant that I can't understand why they would say that. This also makes me ask myself why they said that it was possible to see the 日食 in 札幌市 in the previous sentence. If it's something else, well I don't know what it is.

It would make more sense to say that only 5% of the sun could be seen, but that's not what seems to be written there. Or maybe that it was possible to see 5% of the 日食, but the fact that they said 太陽の５％ also rules this out imo.

Hello FlameseeK! I think I found something that might be of use

Quote:On the morning of the 9th, Japan had a solar eclipse that blocked part of the sun. In Hokkaido, there were many areas with clear weather, such as Sapporo, where the solar eclipse could be seen. At 11:18 a.m., 5% of the sun was blocked.

or

Quote:On March 9th, a solar eclipse in which a part of the sun could not be seen occured. Hokkaido has many spots with clear weather, so the solar eclipse could also be seen in Sapporo city. At 11:18 AM, five percent of the sun could no longer be seen.

Source: /r/NHKEasyNews

EDIT: I wanted to look further into the event so I googled and found this image:



If you look at the bottom right corner where it shows the eclipse time for Sapparo, at 11:18 JST, the sun is barely covered; the 5%.

Hope this helps

Oh okay, cool. Thanks for the link!

It does make sense that the solar eclipse would be easier to see if the weather is clear, but that didn't even cross my mind because this kind of stuff doesn't happen often. Obviously, the fact that I'm reading in Japanese is the biggest challenge, because I immediately understood what they meant when I read the English translation.

If all news items have posts like that, it'll probably be easier to look things up and I won't have to flood you guys with so many questions to confirm stuff.

I actually suck at reading news. I usually stick to weather or the occasional entertainment news as those are manageable. Also (though some might think this is bad but...) I like to find the same news topic in English to confirm what I am reading is correct. I do this when I watch Japanese shows too as I watch them raw. You can see an example from my most recent post in the N3 thread as a example.

(2016-04-10, 1:22 pm)Kuroro Wrote: 赤点が続いて、教師に、親に怒鳴られても笑顔を保つ兄。

Does this mean he kept smiling in spite of those yelling at him?

Yea, basically.

Just stumbled upon a new expression on NHK Easy News and there seems to be a little bit of confusing on /r/NHKEasyNews, so I decided to ask it here. This was about the consequences of an earthquake.

岩手県や宮城県の海の近くでは、今までの１年で地面が約１０ｃｍ動きました。

What does 今までの１年で mean? "So far this year"? Or maybe "within the time span of a year" (the final day of this time span being today)? Or is it something else?

If anyone is curious, here's a link to the post on reddit. The expression was actually used twice in the artcile.

(2016-04-10, 11:20 pm)FlameseeK Wrote: Just stumbled upon a new expression on NHK Easy News and there seems to be a little bit of confusing on /r/NHKEasyNews, so I decided to ask it here. This was about the consequences of an earthquake.

岩手県や宮城県の海の近くでは、今までの１年で地面が約１０ｃｍ動きました。

What does 今までの１年で mean? "So far this year"? Or maybe "within the time span of a year" (the final day of this time span being today)? Or is it something else?

If anyone is curious, here's a link to the post on reddit. The expression was actually used twice in the artcile.

Within the past year.

(2016-04-10, 11:20 pm)FlameseeK Wrote: What does 今までの１年で mean? "So far this year"? Or maybe "within the time span of a year" (the final day of this time span being today)? Or is it something else?\

It's describing the period of time from one year ago until now. You can say 'the preceding year' or 'the past year' to convey the same in English.

Sorry, but I'm still confused. Does that include this year as well? Because from what you guys are saying, it sounds like it's only about the previous year, but "from one year ago until now" makes me think not only about what happened in 2015, but also what's taken place in 2016 so far.

It means a 1 year time period not a calender year. e.g. 12feb 2015 to 12feb 2016 or something

Thanks RandomQuotes

I can't quite understand the second sentence of this news article. I'm posting the first sentence just for context.

（日本に旅行に来た外国人がスマートフォンなどで、観光やレストランなどの情報を簡単に知ることができる便利なウェブサイトができました。）

インターネットでレストランなどを紹介している「ぐるなび」や、東京急行電鉄や東京メトロなど２１の会社と東京都がつくりました。

The biggest issue here is grammar, which seems relatively different from most grammar explanations I see out there. I have several doubts, but I'd rather make sure I understand the message clearly before I try to make sense of how everything was put together.

I find the non-simple version simpler:

外国人旅行者向けの新たなサービスは、情報サービス会社の「ぐるなび」や「東京急行電鉄」や「東京メトロ」など、２１の企業や自治体が、まず、東京と関東地方の一部で１３日から始めました。

(2016-04-14, 6:46 pm)FlameseeK Wrote: I can't quite understand the second sentence of this news article.

インターネットでレストランなどを紹介している「ぐるなび」や、東京急行電鉄や東京メトロなど２１の会社と東京都がつくりました。

Minus all of the descriptive fluff you get:

ぐるなび　や　東京急行電鉄　や　東京メトロ　など　２１の会社　と　東京都　が　つくりました。

Guru-nabi (an internet company which introduces restaurants), Tokyo Subway, Tokyo Metro Subway, 21 companies in total AND the Tokyo Metropolitan government made it.

How do I read the word 世捨人? せしゃにん?
Here's the sentence where I found it:
人類種に残されてる領土で田舎って…そりゃもう世捨人じゃねぇのか

That aside, what does it mean when I find a line of dots next to a compound or a whole sentence? Like instead of the corresponding furigana there are just black dots.

(2016-04-22, 8:48 am)Kuroro Wrote: How do I read the word 世捨人? せしゃにん?
Here's the sentence where I found it:
人類種に残されてる領土で田舎って…そりゃもう世捨人じゃねぇのか

That aside, what does it mean when I find a line of dots next to a compound or a whole sentence? Like instead of the corresponding furigana there are just black dots.

I'm not sure, but my best guess would be that it's either a typo or a weird way of writing 世捨て人 which is read よすてびと.

As for the dots, they function like bold or italics in English.  Essentially, they just emphasize the word.