Hey everyone I started first trying to translate dramas but that proved a bit too hard for me. So right now to get some vocab I just translate songs, I also then do some shadowing (yes I know sometimes pronunciation is different in songs)

Anyway I'm almost done with the second paragraph (I don't know any music terms)

右肩(Right shoulder) by 前田敦子 (Maeda Atsuko)


右肩 ---> Right shoulder Literal lyrics

思い出すよ 今も…
Even now, I recall

恋と気づいた夏を…
In the summer love was realized

トケイソウの花が
Passion flowers…

日向に溢れた道
are flooded on a road in sunshine

晴れ渡った空に
Clear weather crosses over in the sky
入道雲がもくもく
Big clouds of smoke
あっと言う間に増えて
And just like that it increased
なぜだか不安になったの
Somehow I became anxious

I'll finish this in a couple days, I'm working on Genki and other things at the same time.

Somebody already translated it. Translating isnt going to imrpove your japanese. Focus on understanding and thinking in japanese

.

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:My way or you're doing it wrong.

This is the most ridiculous post I've seen on Koohii to date.

Edit: I've translated two of my favorite songs so far. As long as you SRS what you don't know--vocab-wise--it's as effective as most other native sources IMO. There's the added bonus of the fun had while trying to sing along with the song. >:3

[Zgarbas]

Ah man, Japanese songs sound so silly when translated. It's a good initiative, don't listen to the haters ^^.

That being said, it's a bit too literal for the cloud part. Line-by-line it's okay (aside from the clouds of smoke; that's just a term for a particularly large type of cloud), but overall it loses any sort of meaning. Something like
"In the clear sky
Big clouds slowly
grew in number before I knew it
And I grew uneasy for some reason. "
would be better, I think.

.

it's already been done
https://www.google.com/search?q=migikata...eda+atsuko

p.s. thanks for putting words in my mouth. *snip*

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=180

Courtesy

This website is a labour of love, animosity or competition will not be tolerated.

1 week ban. Only 13 posts and the second time you've posted nonsense.

You cannot translate songs without a good understanding of two key grammatical points.

The first is inverted syntax. Don't assume every line is a sentence; usually they're not. The first two lines are one part, with the syntax inverted.
思い出すよ 今も…恋と気づいた夏を…
Normally this would be Xを思い出す (I remember X), but the Xを has been put second. This can be done in speech also but it's much more common in song lyrics.

The second is modifying clauses, which you have to know for all Japanese, not just song lyrics. The basic idea is that a sentence followed by a noun makes that sentence modify the noun. So 恋と気づいた夏 is a noun phrase, "The summer when I realized love" (or maybe "when I realized I was in love")

The most common mistake beginners make in trying to translate song lyrics is making each line a stand alone sentence.

(I actually sort of agree with howtosavealife -- part of studying is doing what you find fun, but trying to translate things into English at the beginner stage is not the most efficient way to study, especially when you are depending on corrections from others to get large parts of the translation right. Although it helps a lot if there's already a translation to compare yours against; that way you don't have to rely on others to check everything you do. You can just compare your translation with the other one and ask about parts you're not sure on.)

Thanks for all the corrections. I dont know how to quote certain parts of what everyone said but, to start off id like to point out that my skill in grammar is absolutely horrible. Im really only doing this for the sake of being able to sing with the song and grab some vocab from it with minimal understanding.

Yes i realize im not supposed to translate line by line, some sentences are connected. I didnt realize theres some sentences where you have to add some words there, thats good to know. Ill adjust it a bit more, maybe instead of line by line i put maybe full sentences together and make it sound more grammatically correct in....english

[Zgarbas]

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:it's already been done
https://www.google.com/search?q=migikata...eda+atsuko

p.s. thanks for putting words in my mouth. *snip*

Please don't insult other forum members.

That being said, everything's been done. Some people have even dared to improve their elocution so as to not sound insolent and discouraging, but that hasn't stopped anyone else from trying to improve themselves.

I think howtwo's right about focusing on comprehension, although it could've been said with more tact :p

Still, translating/analysing lyrics and subtitles will assist with comprehension before you actually get to listening. It's clearly not completely useless, but it'd take up a smaller percentage of your time, relative to actually listening to the music/drama, and using your farmiliarity of the content to help make sense of it in real time. The grammar and nuance should reveal itself gradually with every repetition.

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:it's already been done
https://www.google.com/search?q=migikata...eda+atsuko

p.s. thanks for putting words in my mouth. *snip*

Because somehow "Translating isnt going to imrpove your japanese" is something you can prove, eh? Let's see the studies. Give us links. If you can't, try qualifying your post with an "in my opinion" or be prepared to have others interpret your post in the exact manner my alteration of your words illustrates.

Xanpakuto Wrote:Thanks for all the corrections. I dont know how to quote certain parts of what everyone said but,

You click where it says "Quote" on the right above the post you would like to quote. Then you can delete other parts of the post that you aren't replying to directly. Look at the brackets around the word 'quote', you just have to keep all of that there and you can change what is inside the quotes.
To quote multiple users in one response, you can make a new quote by typing the brackets like you see for the first quote, or open a new tab of the thread and click quote and then copy and paste that to your post in the first tab.

Here's more info: http://forum.koohii.com/help.php#bbcode

PS If that's not what you were asking, sorry I misread your post.

Chigun Wrote:

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:it's already been done
https://www.google.com/search?q=migikata...eda+atsuko

p.s. thanks for putting words in my mouth. *snip*

Because somehow "Translating isnt going to imrpove your japanese" is something you can prove, eh? Let's see the studies. Give us links. If you can't, try qualifying your post with an "in my opinion" or be prepared to have others interpret your post in the exact manner my alteration of your words illustrates.

Must we really say 'In my opinion' before every statement? How about if there is no link to a qual/quantitative study or some kind of research, then you can assume it's a subjective opinion?

tashippy Wrote:

Chigun Wrote:

howtwosavealif3 Wrote:it's already been done
https://www.google.com/search?q=migikata...eda+atsuko

p.s. thanks for putting words in my mouth. *snip*

Because somehow "Translating isnt going to imrpove your japanese" is something you can prove, eh? Let's see the studies. Give us links. If you can't, try qualifying your post with an "in my opinion" or be prepared to have others interpret your post in the exact manner my alteration of your words illustrates.

Must we really say 'In my opinion' before every statement? How about if there is no link to a qual/quantitative study or some kind of research, then you can assume it's a subjective opinion?

First post in the thread. Three sentences. A blunt statement shooting down what the OP was doing. Perhaps I am alone in getting irked by this?

For the record I have no interest in dragging this out, but I will respond as necessary.

No, you're right. I see your point.
I was suggesting that any statement not backed up with a link to a study on this forum is mere opinion, so it would be redundant to say 'in my opinion'. Upon reviewing your post, I see that it's relevant since he is refuting the translation activity entirely in terms of its usefulness for language leraning.

Maybe translating songs aren't the best use of my time.....but is it fun? It definitely is
Hey I get to sing with the the song and get some nice vocabulary from it.

(In my opinion) translating songs is ok. Not because you want to remember the translation but because you want to remember the vocabulary and meaning(s). Once you are fine with those (vocabulary and meaning(s)), you can focus on actual understanding of Japanese, which should be your final goal.

One more thing. It happens to me sometimes, but it may be that my initial translation/understanding of a song is rough and superficial. If however, I listen to the song multiple times this understanding gets better/deeper. I guess other people may experience something similar as well.