Need Translation Help!　(Intermediate+)

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Reply #1 - 2008 November 17, 3:38 am
kfmfe04 Member
From: 台北 Registered: 2007-10-21 Posts: 487

These are grammar examples from JLPT2 that I am having a hard time translating:

1. 考え得るかぎりの手は尽くしたが、問題の解決には至らなかった。
2. この仕事は努力しただけ成果が現われるので、やりがいがある。

Thanks in advance.

Reply #2 - 2008 November 17, 6:27 am
theasianpleaser Member
From: 神戸市 Registered: 2008-09-04 Posts: 231

1. You thought of every way to solve the problem but you can't do it.

2. This job is worth doing because you can see the results from just trying.

That's as close as I think it is.

Reply #3 - 2008 November 17, 8:58 am
kfmfe04 Member
From: 台北 Registered: 2007-10-21 Posts: 487

Excellent!  TYVM.

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Reply #4 - 2008 November 17, 9:41 am
KristinHolly Member
From: Boston Registered: 2008-07-21 Posts: 148

I would suggest using the first person pronoun (I) for the first sentence unless you have a context that suggests otherwise.  TheAsianPleaser's translation of the first sentence gets the main point across, but it is loose.  I might say something more like, "I tried everything I could think of, but I didn't reach a solution to the problem." or "I tried everything I could think of, but I couldn't solve the problem."

In the second sentence, だけ means something like "as much as."  I don't know that the following is the best translation, but I think it suggests what だけ is doing here:

The more effort you put into this job, the more results you see, so it's rewarding.

Reply #5 - 2008 November 17, 5:27 pm
kfmfe04 Member
From: 台北 Registered: 2007-10-21 Posts: 487

Thank you, KristinHolly, for your perspective and detailed explanation.

This just shows how difficult it is to do good translation!

Reply #6 - 2008 November 17, 7:30 pm
theasianpleaser Member
From: 神戸市 Registered: 2008-09-04 Posts: 231

I was reading both versions(mine and KristinHolly) and as soon as saw KristinHolly's sentences I thought, "Wow!  That is exactly how a Japanese person would say that."

It just reminds how people(in this case, Japanese people) with limited exposure to native speakers say things slightly differently.  Sometimes I forget this since the Japanized English is what I hear most often.

Quite interesting.

Last edited by theasianpleaser (2008 November 17, 7:30 pm)

Reply #7 - 2008 November 17, 10:35 pm
wrightak Member
From: Tokyo Registered: 2006-04-07 Posts: 873 Website

KristinHolly wrote:

The more effort you put into this job, the more results you see, so it's rewarding.

I think this gets the idea of the sentence across and is a natural translation but I'd like to add my thoughts, which I hope help. From the point of view of producing Japanese (rather than understanding it), I would translate "The more effort you put into this job, the more results you see" as

「この仕事は努力すればするほど、成果が現れる」

Or more generally, "the more..., the more...." is translated as 「・・すればするほど・・」.

In this case, だけ can be replaced with 分（ぶん） and the sentence retains the same meaning. だけ generally acts as a limiter for whatever proceeds it. In my mind, I view it as a word which draws a boundary around something and says "as much as this, but no more". So the idea here is that if you put in an amount of effort, results will appear for that amount. KristinHolly's translation implies proportionality between effort and results, which is implicit but not explicitly stated. Not really a big deal though.

It's also worth pointing out that the second sentence is conversational and the first sentence isn't.

Also, if you're looking to pass the JLPT, I don't think that translating everything is a great idea. It's better to understand the sentence rather than be able to produce a close equivalent in English.

Reply #8 - 2008 November 18, 4:58 am
kfmfe04 Member
From: 台北 Registered: 2007-10-21 Posts: 487

wrightak wrote:

It's also worth pointing out that the second sentence is conversational and the first sentence isn't.

Didn't catch that.  How can you tell?

wrightak wrote:

Also, if you're looking to pass the JLPT, I don't think that translating everything is a great idea. It's better to understand the sentence rather than be able to produce a close equivalent in English.

I understand that - what I couldn't understand were the two sentences.  I usually go for short, clear examples when learning grammar, but when those two examples came up, I had no idea how to take them apart.  With everyone's help, I have a much better grasp of what's going on now.

Thanks!

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