About Translating

[Kirvee]

Hi! I'm new, though I'm not really here to discuss much.

I just want to know, is it possible for me to just submit a translation I make from transliterated lyrics without having to take that test?

I tried it and although I'm fairly decent at my Japanese (I'm still learning), there's too much kanji (I can only write 6 and recognize at most 8 or 9 or them) so I wouldn't have been able to pass it unless I whipped out my Kanji de Manga books or even my Japanese-English dictionary.

I could read some of it, but I work better if I see the romanized version for translating, but the way the "rules" are written out in the submit page makes it confusing.

I just want to translate some songs. My Japanese vocab is pretty good.

[Datenshi]

This is totally up to the powers that be to decide (i.e. the mods), but to offer my personal opinion, translating without a full grasp of the kanji of the lyrics you are working on probably isn't such a good idea. A lot of lyrics make use of kanji oriented wordplay, not to mention the vast amount of synonyms (love 愛、indigo 藍、meet 会い、lovers meeting 逢い、fit 合い = "ai") that will potentially trip you up as you go along.

But again, that's just my two cents and I have no authority here, so let's wait until a mod shows up ^___^;.

[Rizuchan]

I definitely agree with Datenshi. I know from experience, because way back when I first tried 'translating' things, I thought I had a fairly good grasp of the language but couldn't read any kanji either. I still kept all of those translations and now every time I translate something I'd translated back then, I compare them and usually come across a million horrible mistakes.

However, I believe the secondary queue is for people such as yourself to submit lyrics.

If you're good with grammar and you think the only thing holding you back is the kanji, what I'd recommend is using the romaji to identify the words and then look up all of the kanji in a dictionary to double check. I know that sounds horrendously tedious, but that way not only will you be thorough and more accurate, but you'll also learn your kanji in no time.

[LavaBug]

Well...I rather say no, sorry, but the tests are there for a reason...
(So we can be sure you are knowlegdeable enough in Japanese - just your word won't do I'm afraid...)

[AzureDark]

Maa, usually I'm the one getting people through, and if I don't see the candidate being competent at kanji it's a straight fail.

I'm sorry but you need to learn your kanji. In the past, I was like you, I hated kanji, but I had to learn it for my love of the language and soon enough, I began to build more of my kanji knowledge. The ultimate test for me will come next week when I am about to be tested with a paper equivalent to JLPT "1.5" as my sensei rates it.

But yea, try and learn more kanji if you want to become a submitter, just kana and a vocabulary of Japanese in romaji are not enough.

[Kirvee]

I definitely agree with Datenshi. I know from experience, because way back when I first tried 'translating' things, I thought I had a fairly good grasp of the language but couldn't read any kanji either. I still kept all of those translations and now every time I translate something I'd translated back then, I compare them and usually come across a million horrible mistakes.

However, I believe the secondary queue is for people such as yourself to submit lyrics.

If you're good with grammar and you think the only thing holding you back is the kanji, what I'd recommend is using the romaji to identify the words and then look up all of the kanji in a dictionary to double check. I know that sounds horrendously tedious, but that way not only will you be thorough and more accurate, but you'll also learn your kanji in no time.

That's what I meant.

My dictionary provides all possible kanji for any word, and it displays Japanese words in romaji so look up is extremely simple.

But if the mods say no then fine, I'll just translate them myself for my website only.

[MiKowaii]

Wait, if you have a dictionary, then where's the problem? Just use it on the test - it's not like you need to do it some amount of time...

Jeez, I passed the test after 3 months of learning Japanese... or something like that... The thing is, it kinda helps you remember kanji ¦3

[Kirvee]

I considered that, but wouldn't that be the same as cheating on an important test? True, they have no way of knowing whether or not I used my dictionaries, but it'd still technically be like cheating on a real test, don't you think?

[MiKowaii]

The test isn't about how fluently you use Japanese, but if you are able to tranlate. Even professional translators often use kanji dictionaries, because for some gaijin it's kinda hard to remember 10,000 different signs and their combinations...
We need to remember, that translating isn't just reading the kanji, but also interpreting it, and understanding grammar.

To put it bluntly, IMO, that is, the test is like strainer - to get rid of the guys, that have absolutely no idea what they're reading/writhing, which lessens the burden on administrators, who either way need to check every translation for bugs (and somethimes - sense...). Not official test of Japanese, Lv 2...

¦3

[LavaBug]

Well, of course, you can look all that up in a dictionary, but honestly, what good does that to you when, your translation will (maybe) still be missing a - or the major point or is plain wrong because you don't study Japanese long enough to get certain implications, or some meaning in the wording due to your lack of experience when they are not in the dictionary.
I remember when I tried translating stuff after 2 classes Japanese, certain I could do it, because I have a dictionary and some knowledge of grammar.
But now - some years later- I must say that I was not at that point yet
(and sometimes, I'm still not sure I am now).

Just passing the test is only half the prize, we may still reject submissions for being errorous.

Of course, if you want to practise, you can post your translations, and ask for someone to check it.