Learning Japanese Hurdle: Translations
Early on in my learning Japanese studies I took aim at a number of resources that bashed using Romaji as a learning tool. Their contention; "It wasn't Japanese. You would never use it.". My retort; it doesn't matter, native English speakers would transcribe Japanese into Romaji in their heads anyway. Might as well teach them to do it in a way that will help. And, if they are hearing and seeing Romaji in their heads when they learn Japanese... is it still "not Japanese"?
What bothers me as I progress in learning Japanese, however, is something far worse no one seems to complain about. Translations. While teaching Japanese, the sentences are often translated into something more natural for English speakers. Thus, words are added, changed, removed or re-ordered from the Japanese. Use a flash card like Anki with the Human Japanese deck and you'll quickly see what I mean.
My problem? Hate to sound like a hypocrite, but, it isn't Japanese. And, in an even more fundamental way than Romaji isn't. Telling me that "Kyou akai ringo wa suki desu" means "I like red apples today" doesn't train me to listening and process a Japanese sentence in the sequence it was provided. Something almost necessary, especially for longer sentences. While something like "Today, red apples, enjoy will" sounds like something Yoda would say, it firstly isn't unintelligible, and secondly, there is nothing to stop you from ALSO including a "proper" translation after the fact.
The point is... you need to learn to think and process language in the same way it is delivered by the natives if you truly want to learn it. If you take every sentence and translate it properly into the native equivalent you add overhead.
You should always provide the literal translation first. It is important to know exactly how the words are being used and sequenced when you're learning the language. It may also be important to provide a proper translation as well. But, in many cases, I think it is not necessary. It also has the effect of "muddying" the learners mind with mental tricks and translations which don't work universally. Heck, even the individual word translations don't work like their English counterparts in all scenarios. Adding "syntactic fluff" to sentences as well only compounds the problems.
An example of the words breaking things. Again, using Anki, there is a deck in which it says a child is timid. The part of the Japanese for this was "ki ga chisai" or "his spirit/temperament was small/little". Without the literal translation however (and eve preferably an explanation) you don't get any idea about how to use timid or other similar personality traits in a conversation. The provided translation only teaches you how to say, exactly, that a person is timid. It isn't useless, but it is super close.
Anyway... the point of this rant. If you're learning Japanese, or another language and you notice that the translations aren't always a perfect fit with what you think you're reading in the new language, spend the time to try and learn the literal translations on your own. And, try and think in that way as much as possible. Even, if possible, attempt to adjust your speaking in your native tongue (as far as is intelligible) in daily conversation to more closely align with the language you're learning.
For instance, why does it matter in my Apple example if "today" comes at the start or end of the sentence? Both are perfectly valid English. Since Japanese people like putting days, months and the likes at the beginning of sentences and that doesn't break anything in English... if you train yourself in English like that as well, it should make your Japanese translations more automatic as well. And by focusing more on the literal translations should also help acclimate you.
What bothers me as I progress in learning Japanese, however, is something far worse no one seems to complain about. Translations. While teaching Japanese, the sentences are often translated into something more natural for English speakers. Thus, words are added, changed, removed or re-ordered from the Japanese. Use a flash card like Anki with the Human Japanese deck and you'll quickly see what I mean.
My problem? Hate to sound like a hypocrite, but, it isn't Japanese. And, in an even more fundamental way than Romaji isn't. Telling me that "Kyou akai ringo wa suki desu" means "I like red apples today" doesn't train me to listening and process a Japanese sentence in the sequence it was provided. Something almost necessary, especially for longer sentences. While something like "Today, red apples, enjoy will" sounds like something Yoda would say, it firstly isn't unintelligible, and secondly, there is nothing to stop you from ALSO including a "proper" translation after the fact.
The point is... you need to learn to think and process language in the same way it is delivered by the natives if you truly want to learn it. If you take every sentence and translate it properly into the native equivalent you add overhead.
You should always provide the literal translation first. It is important to know exactly how the words are being used and sequenced when you're learning the language. It may also be important to provide a proper translation as well. But, in many cases, I think it is not necessary. It also has the effect of "muddying" the learners mind with mental tricks and translations which don't work universally. Heck, even the individual word translations don't work like their English counterparts in all scenarios. Adding "syntactic fluff" to sentences as well only compounds the problems.
An example of the words breaking things. Again, using Anki, there is a deck in which it says a child is timid. The part of the Japanese for this was "ki ga chisai" or "his spirit/temperament was small/little". Without the literal translation however (and eve preferably an explanation) you don't get any idea about how to use timid or other similar personality traits in a conversation. The provided translation only teaches you how to say, exactly, that a person is timid. It isn't useless, but it is super close.
Anyway... the point of this rant. If you're learning Japanese, or another language and you notice that the translations aren't always a perfect fit with what you think you're reading in the new language, spend the time to try and learn the literal translations on your own. And, try and think in that way as much as possible. Even, if possible, attempt to adjust your speaking in your native tongue (as far as is intelligible) in daily conversation to more closely align with the language you're learning.
For instance, why does it matter in my Apple example if "today" comes at the start or end of the sentence? Both are perfectly valid English. Since Japanese people like putting days, months and the likes at the beginning of sentences and that doesn't break anything in English... if you train yourself in English like that as well, it should make your Japanese translations more automatic as well. And by focusing more on the literal translations should also help acclimate you.
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