User talk:RandomAir BGM/Archive 1

Your Translations
Hi, this is Damesuke. I checked and corrected your contributions. I can see you study Japanese hard and do your best making translations. However there are not a few mistakes in your translations and romaji transliterations. Mostly misreading of omitted subjects, and misreading of direct and indirect objects. You know, translating other people's words brings responsibilities. A translator is not someone with some knowlege about launguages. He/She should rather be a bilingual person who speaks both the source and target languages fluently. Don't take me wrong. You still have a way to go on Japanese. I suggest you learn more, and I'm waiting for your coming back as a skilled translator. Thank you for the reading. Damesukekun (talk) 12:54, October 7, 2018 (UTC)

RandomAir BGM (talk)Response (RandomAir BGM):

Thank you for your message. I will keep studying Japanese as hard as I can and improve my Romaji transliteration. I realized they do seem a bit funny. I get confused with the "nda", "shi", "ndesu", "tte", "suki", "ai", "ndakara", "no", "tto", "wo/o", "teru" and many other direct objects, conjuctions, and imperative formed prefixes/suffixes. But the question isn't "Why am I doing them wrong?" . The question is "How do I get them right?" . Do you have any advice for me?
 * んだ is a contraction of のだ and is added to the end of a sentence to show that you are explaining something or, in a question, asking for an explanation. Everyone transliterates it differently. I've seen したんだ written as shita n da, shita nda, shitan da, shitanda. The problem is that Japanese don't put spaces between their words so that's impossible to know what is considered a word or what is a phrase. I suspect that the majority of Japanese speakers themselves don't even know. (My guess is that shita nda is the correct one but don't quote me.)
 * し is added to the end of each clause to make a list of clauses that expound some situation that the speaker has faced. Sometimes there's only one clause but they still put し to give the feeling that there could be more to it.
 * んです is a politer way of saying んだ.
 * って tte is a quotation particle. It can be used the same way as と or as a contraction of something like と言って (or と思って if it's not spoken aloud). I always write both と and って as separate words, just like any other particle.
 * If you mean 好き, i'ts a な adjective. What is the problem specifically? Any examples that you find difficult?
 * By ai do you mean 愛・会い・合い・相・藍 lol? What is the problem specifically? Any examples?
 * んだから is んだ followed by the word から. から kara follows a clause to show that what happened is the cause of something else, either what is stated immediately next, or what was stated before, or something understood from context. NB から has many other uses. Note だから dakara at the beginning of a sentence is a compound word meaning "Therefore".
 * の no is a bunch of different words that sound completely the same. It can confusing and (in rare cases) ambiguous but I think you get used to it with lots of practice. Any specific examples you have trouble with?
 * っと I've never heard of this. What's the sentence?
 * を follows the object of a verb (basically a case-marking particle). It is most commonly pronounced o. In a few songs you will hear it pronounced wo but it makes no difference to the meaning. If in doubt, just write o as a separate word.
 * -てる・-でる are contractions of -ている・-でいる. E.g., している shite iru→してる shiteru, 急いでいる→急いでる. Just transliterate it as -teru/-deru. Note that いる is an inflected verb in its own right, so similarly していた shite ita contracts to してた shiteta, etc.
 * Everything else ... you need to study Japanese grammar, e.g., try working through the material here. You can look up plenty of example sentences with English translations here.


 * Hope this helps. (I hope I haven't made any mistakes ...) ElectricRaichu (talk) 22:00, October 9, 2018 (UTC)
 * (Response)
 * (Response)
 * (Response)


 * 1) I always think words like "くれたんだ ( kuretan da") is actually "(kureta nda"). I sometimes have issues with "Bakari / ばかり" too, and I always think that -ja and -na go together with "Bakari" like this: "Bakarija, bakarina". Thanks for appealing me with the "nda" though <3
 * 2) I knew that already. I just have issues on whether I have to separate "shi" from some words like "Shitetanda >> Shi teta nda" .  And for "shitete", I think it is "shi tete".
 * 3) I mean in like " Sukina ndesu" and "Erai ndesu ka?"
 * 4) I understand.
 * 5) I am confused with how I transliterate it: "Daisukidayo / 大好きだよ", "Sukida yo / 好きだよ", "Sukinamono / 好きなもの", "Sukina koto / 好きなこと".
 * 6) I am confused with using the "愛" and "会い", transliterating it. I think it's: "Aishiteyo / 愛してよ", "Aishiteruyo / 愛してるよ", "Aisareru / 愛される", and "Kiminiaitai yo / 君に会いたいよ".
 * 7) Let's take a sentence: " Kitto doko ni ite mo tsunagatte iru ndakara / きっとどこにいても繋がって要りンだから ". Is this what you mean?
 * 8) "Kiminokoe" meaning.
 * 9) "Motto / モット?" " Chotto / 一寸? "
 * 10) I understand. Instead of wo, I always write "o" instead.
 * 11) I understand.
 * 12) Thanks for the websites. Anyway, should I write "また明日 " in Roman letters as "Mataashita?" And what does "手タ / teta" mean, and serve for in terms of grammar?

OK, let's go through some of those issues one at a time ...

Some of the questions you're asking are reasonable, but many are basic ones about grammar that you need to have under your belt before you can even go about transliterating Japanese. I recommend you study Japanese for a while. As you learn something, go back over lyrics you've looked at in the past and see if you can see examples of what you're learning, and maybe see if you can correct mistakes you made. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. ElectricRaichu (talk) 04:08, October 11, 2018 (UTC)
 * 1) くれたんだ is くれた plus んだ. Like I said, everyone transliterates it differently, so write it kureta nda if you like. (We need to get to the bottom of this from a Japanese grammarian or lexicographer, but unfortunately I don't know anyone.) ばかり is a word in its own right. Why do you want to join it with anything? E.g., 今終えたばかりだ Ima oeta bakari da; 建前ばかりじゃない tatemae bakari ja nai.
 * 2) In してた, してた shiteta is a contraction of していた shite ita, where して is an irregular inflection of する and いた is an inflection of いる. し is part of a word. It is not a separate word. You need to get a solid grasp of Japanese grammar!
 * 3) 好きなんです suki na ndesu is a politer or more formal way of saying 好きなんだ suki na nda. The only change is replacing da with desu. It means the same thing but you're just speaking deferentially.
 * 4) 好き is an example of a class of words with adjectival meaning, i.e., they describe a quality of something. They can be used as predicates, e.g., 猫が好き neko ga suki, "cats are likeable"="I like cats", but can be used in adjectival clauses using な, e.g., 好きな猫 suki na neko, "the cat which I like", or in past tense using だった, e.g., 好きだった猫 suki datta  neko, "the cat which I liked". There is no reason to join the adjective suki with the verb na. They are two separate words. 好きだよ suki da yo is using 好き as a predicate, but expressing emphasis or insistence, e.g., 好き suki, "I like/love it"; 好きだよ suki da yo, "I really do love it!" 大好き daisuki is another adjective that behaves like 好き but the meaning is more intense, "greatly like", "love a lot".
 * 5) 愛 ai is a noun meaning "love". There is a compound word 愛する aisuru (from 愛 + する) which is a verb meaning "to love". 愛する inflects irregularly like する does, e.g., 愛した aishita "loved", 愛される aisareru "be loved". 会う au is an unrelated verb. It means "to meet" and its inflections include 会い ai (e.g., 会いに行く ai ni iku "go to see someone"), 会いたい aitai, "want to meet/see [someone]", 会った atta, "met", etc. Understanding this comes directly from knowing the vocabulary and the grammar! If you don't know this, then you'll have a hard time trying to work with Japanese at any level.
 * 6) どこにいても繋がっているんだから doko ni ite mo tsunagatte iru nda kara "Wherever you are (or I am), we are connected, so [something follows]". から kara is a separate word that shows that something follows from what comes before. For example, consider "Hang in there. 'Cause you know I'll be thinking of you." The English word "'Cause" is at the beginning of the clause would have exactly the same function as から at the end an equivalent Japanese clause.
 * 7) By "kiminokoe" I think you mean 君の声 kimi no koe, "your voice". の no is most commonly a particle that tells you, e.g., in a phrase A no B, that A describes B or is related to or owns B in some way. In this case, 君 "you" owns 声 "voice", so it means "the voice which you own", i.e., "your voice". 最後の日 saigo no hi, "the final day" means that 日 "day" is described as 最後 "final", so "the day that's final", i.e., "the final day". To be asking questions that are this basic means that you don't have enough grasp of Japanese grammar to be able to undertake the task of transliterating! NB の has several other meanings but ask me again after you've mastered enough grammar to be able to understand them.
 * 8) っと is not a word on its own right. ちょっと chotto, もっと motto, ずっと zutto, are adverbs. I haven't studied their etymology (although it might be quite interesting to find out how these words came about), but they might very possibly be combinations with the particle と. However, as far as transliteration goes, treat them as a single word. If in doubt, consult a dictionary. There are several online dictionaries. Probably the easiest to use are weblio and goo. Sanseido and Obunsha publish really good paper dictionaries too if you can get your hands on one somehow.
 * 9) また明日  mata ashita is an expression with two words, mata "again" ashita "tomorrow". In English we would say "See you tomorrow". 手タ does not mean anything.
 * 1) また明日  mata ashita is an expression with two words, mata "again" ashita "tomorrow". In English we would say "See you tomorrow". 手タ does not mean anything.
 * 1) また明日  mata ashita is an expression with two words, mata "again" ashita "tomorrow". In English we would say "See you tomorrow". 手タ does not mean anything.
 * 1) また明日  mata ashita is an expression with two words, mata "again" ashita "tomorrow". In English we would say "See you tomorrow". 手タ does not mean anything.

My (late) Response:

(But wait, then what does "えらいんですか? / Erai ndesu ka?" mean?
 * 1) 1. I've just noticed "bakari" only is subject to "-na" and "-ja" in sentences like "違うのに君のことばかりなんだ / Chigau no ni kimi no koto bakarina nda." It's a word on its right in sentences "嫌いってばかりじゃつまんあい / Kirai tte bakari ja tsumannai" where the verb is first.
 * 2) 2. That was stupid of me. I should've known "shi" is not supposed to be separated from its words like "shiteta". I guess I should have learned more transliteration than translations. Thanks.
 * 3) 3. I always thought "んです" was pretty much the same as "です" . I was wrong. Thanks for the lesson. :D
 * 1) 4. I always knew that "って" should be a separate particle.
 * 2) 5. 好き is not just a な adjective. It is also a だ adjective in short sentences like "好きだよ / Sukida yo" and a です adjective in sentences like "私はリンゴが好きです / Watashi wa ringo ga sukidesu". Just saying.
 * 3) 6. The only problem I had with these words was transliteration issues. The rest I understood.
 * 4) 7. I am grateful for that. I was wrong thinking "dakara" and "ndakara" meant the same thing. Sheesh...
 * 5) 8. What the? I learned that months ago. Of course it is so basic. I mean that I wanted the English translation for that sentence .... Or to make it clear: 君の毛一つでこんあも変われるって
 * 6) 9. Thank you for the explanation.
 * 7) 10. Noted.
 * 8) 11. I will include "-teru" together with every word than.
 * 9) 12. I think 手タ does mean something. For example I have heard in lots of Vocaloid songs, so let me take a sentence from another song "きっと捜してた未来が流れ混む / Kitto sagashi teta mirai ga nagare komu." Translate it and please tell me what does "てた" serve for.

Sorry for the late response. Responding takes me a lot of time and I am in high school so I hope this doesn't affect the speed of your responses.

Don't worry about the late response. This is a hobby, so relax and do it when you can! In answer to your latest questions... Also, please get a good grasp of the Japanese language before you publish your translations on the main pages of the wiki, like study and practice for at least for another year. The questions you are asking are reasonable, but they're such basic and fundamental ones that it shows you don't have a good enough grasp of Japanese to be able to write accurate translations.
 * ばかり can work in a sentence in many, many different ways. You can look through these sample sentences to get some idea of how it's used.
 * I think the nuance of えらいんですか can vary with context. Maybe ask someone more knowledgeable, but it could mean something as different as
 * "Is it because they're well-respected?" or
 * "Who do you think you are!"
 * To say (1) 好き is a な adjective and (2) 好き is a だ adjective is saying exactly the same thing. Go study the grammar behind this class of words first and then ask if you can't understand something.
 * 手タ does not mean anything. Where did you get that from? That's like asking what does "hand evening" mean in English! Try looking it up in an online dictionary and you'll see nothing comes up!
 * 捜してた is a contraction of 捜していた sagashite ita. 捜す = "search", "will search". 捜していた = "am/is/are searching". 捜してた is a contraction, e.g., "I'm searching", "you're searching". This is basic grammar that you should have under your belt before you try understanding complex sentences like きっと捜してた未来が流れ混む.

However, I still encourage you to practice, because unless you do, you won't improve. There's a blog feature where you can publish your translations and ask for feedback. You can also join Anime Forum where you can ask for help in the Lyrics Discussion section.

Above all, be patient with yourself. It will take time, so don't expect perfect results instantly.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 22:45, October 25, 2018 (UTC)

My Response:


 * 1) 1. Thanks. I never had trouble understanding how ばかり can be used.


 * 1) 2. As far as I know, I think えらいんですか? means something like, "How is this?" or "How do you like this?" right?


 * 1) 3. How do you think 大好きだよ is transliterated? Just asking.


 * 1) 4+5. Contractions...contractions...contractions.... they are everywhere in Japanese.

Fine. I will take a decent amount of time to study more, learn more words, and basic stuff before I translate in the main pages. But I have remarks:

1. After I post my translations in my blog posts, can you please review them and tell me if they are accurate or not?

2. The day I'm confident enough that I know enough Japanese to translate, I will start replacing old translations with no warning.

RandomAir BGM (talk) 17:01, October 26, 2018 (UTC)At least I responded early this time.

Describing someone as えらい means that they are excelling or great or remarkable in what they do. In describing a situation, it means that it's extreme. Have you got yourself access to a dictionary that you can understand? You need one if you want to understand a foreign language (I even use a dictionary for English let alone Japanese). In a pinch, you can use jisho.org, but really it better to buy yourself one by an authoritative publisher.

大好きだよ is a sentence made up of the following words. The first word is the adjective 大好き daisuki "greatly liked, loved". The next word is だ da which, while not everybody uses it like that, gives the preceding noun/noun clause/na-adjective an assertive tone. The final word is よ yo which gives the sentence an emphatic tone, kind of like "I really want you to know this". I'll let you figure it out from that.

Contractions are common across different languages including English: I'm, they're, you'd, haven't, can't, he'll ... You're just so used to them you don't notice them. With practice, they'll become second nature in Japanese too.

Sure I'll be happy to review your translations as I have time available. If it helps you to improve, it's worth the effort. Just put a message on my talk page with a link to the blog post.

No, please do not replace translations without warning. Saying that comes across as arrogant (hopefully you didn't intend to sound like that, but it does). Other people need to judge your skills, not yourself. For the forseeable future, please first post an explanation why your translation is better, e.g., point to irreperable mistakes in the existing translation, or things you've worded in a better way, or how your translation is more faithful to the original Japanese, etc. One day, when you're sufficiently knowledeable and experienced, and you've earned others' respect by demonstrating qualities like trustworthiness, skill and humility, then you can do whatever you think is best. And like I said before, be patient with yourself. It's great to see you set yourself high goals, but be prepared to take the time and effort you need to get there!

By the way, how are you studying Japanese? What resources are you using?

ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:43, October 27, 2018 (UTC)

Response by RandomAir BGM:

No, I do not have a dictionary by my side. I guess I am going to have to get one. And I still am a little confused with how "ndesu" is used.

I also have complained about contractions in English. Spanish was my first language (I am of Cuban descent), and it is totally free from such contractions, so just understand I am not used to them. I have been studying English at school for 8 years, and of course I got better with it.

Start with my "KiLLER LADY" by Gumi, translation. I will post it in your talk later.

Sorry for being that way. It is just so frustrating that I have only Saturday and Sunday to post videos. I want to find a way to promote my (neutral) translations in a faster way. Forgive me for bugging too much.

I have a few more questions:

本当は / Hontouha meaning? I know it means "In reality / actually", but what is its full purpose.

よろしければ / Yoroshikereba meaning?

ほんとの気持ち / Hontonokimochi purpose?

大事な / Daijina meaning?

微笑む / Hohoemu meaning?

言わなきゃ / Iwanakya meaning?

RandomAir BGM (talk) 01:43, October 27, 2018 (UTC)

So Spanish doesn't have contractions? I didn't know that. Actually my first language was Greek and it doesn't have many either. You're doing well with English then! Now your questions ...

本当は Hontoo as a noun means "truth, actuality" (dictionary). は wa as you should know by now is a topic marking particle. Together, the phrase literally means something like "I'm going to talk about actuality". Yes, in English we might say, "Truth is ...", "Actually ..." It suppose it's purpose is to let the listener know that you're about to clarify something, or reveal something relevant that hasn't been stated yet, or admit your real thoughts or feelings.

よろしければ comes from the polite adjective よろしい "[is] good, all right" (dictionary). It's a conditional form ("if ..."), so it's a polite way of saying "if it is all right with you", "if you like", "if you don't mind" (examples). For example, when you said "I have a few more questions" above, the polite thing to do is to first say よろしければ.

ほんとの気持ち honto no kimochi is three words: ほんと honto is a casual way of saying 本当 hontoo. の has a variety of usages, but here it makes ほんと an adjective, so ほんとの means "true, actual". 気持ち kimochi means "feeling(s)" (dictionary). So altogether it means "true feelings", "what you really feel".

Look up the meaning of 大事 here. Look up how な is used here. And 微笑む. I don't mind helping you but you need to learn to do what you can by yourself!

For 言わなきゃ iwanakya, you need a good grasp of grammar. It's a contraction of 言わなければ iwanakereba. First study (1) how Japanese verbs work, (2) how to negate verbs, and (3) how conditionals work, and then ask me if you still have questions. Actually, it can sometimes be a contraction of the longer phrase 言わなければならない, so (4) you'll need to look that up too.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 03:16, October 27, 2018 (UTC)

Oh, I am absolutely sorry for forgetting to tell you my resources. Well I use (https://www.duolingo.com/), most of all, (https://www.linguee.com/), (https://www.thejapanesepage.com/) , and (https://www.japanesepod101.com/) to learn new words, ways to write sentences, pronunciation etcetera...etcetera...

Thanks for the dictionary. I have just learned all the words you told me.

I am sorry If I am pestering you, but can you translate these few sentences and tell me what they mean:

起算木偶僕たちの針を戻せるのなら

手をのばしても届かなくて霞んでゆく

きっと空の飛び方何て誰も教えてくれなかったよ

Don't think I'm using you as a guide. Damasukekun doesn't help people learn, Amandelen doesn't know a lot of Japanese. So I'm out of options here. RandomAir BGM (talk) 14:00, October 27, 2018 (UTC)

Duolingo looks interesting. Keep it up, but please also work through the grammar section of guidetojapanese.org as it covers a lot of material that you need to understand to be fluent. 101 have a lot of good material that I learned a lot from when they were publishing some of their podcasts for free. Now you have to pay for most of it, but if you can afford it, it's very worthwhile. In answer to your question, I suffer from CFS, OSA and insomnia ... so with all three together I'm often wrecked.

起算木偶僕たちの針を戻せるのなら is not a complete sentence, but let's piece together the words that are there: Now when faced with a sentence like this, you need to identify these parts of speech and figure out their relationship. Usually start with the verb, in this case 戻せる. What do the other words tell us? Well what comes before を is what is being put back, namely 針. The の before the 針 tells us that it's talking about not just any random 針, but specifically our 針. So putting it together, 僕たちの針を戻せる means "able to put back our needle" (maybe refering to the hands of a clock?).
 * 起算 kisan means reckoning from a point of time (examples). Sorry I can't understand what it means here.
 * 木偶 deku literally is wooden doll or puppet, or figuratively someone useless or stupid.
 * You can look up 僕たち, の and 針 yourself.
 * を marks the object of a verb, usually what something or someone is doing something to.
 * You can look up 戻す. 戻せる is what's called the potential form of 戻す and means "is able to 戻す".
 * [something] のなら basically means "if it is the case that [something]".

What about the other words? The ending is easy once you know what [の]なら means. It changes the meaning to "if it is the case that [you or someone] is able to put back our needle".

The begining is a bit harder. 木偶 is a noun, and so is 僕たち. What are the possibilities for understanding two nouns, one straight after the other? One possibility is that the first one describes the second (e.g. 電話 is telephone, 番号 is number, so 電話番号means "number relating to telephone", i.e., phone number). Another possibility is apposition, where one noun identifies the other, i.e., not just tells you something about it, but actually says who/what it is. Here I think it's apposition: "we" and the "blockheads" are the same people.

That leaves 起算 which I have no idea how it fits.

OK, now let's move onto 手をのばしても届かなくて霞んでゆく. Start with pulling it apart: You can look up what those words mean individually.
 * 手
 * を
 * のばして - て inflection of のばす
 * も
 * 届かなくて - て inflection of とどかない which is negative of とどく
 * 霞んで - て inflection of かすむ
 * ゆく - same as いく

Now how do the parts fit together? It's a bit more complex because there are three main verbs, so the sentence is made up of three clauses. Since て-form of verb followed by も is a conditional construction, も belongs to the first clause. ゆく is being used as an auxiliary verb, i.e., it changes the tense of the main verb, so 霞んでゆく needs to be understood as a single phrase. So our clauses are: So we've worked out the clauses and what they mean individually. How do they relate to each other? So altogether, "even if you reach out your hand", then what will go wrong? "You won't reach what your aiming for", plus, or as a result, "it will go on getting hazier".
 * 手をのばしても: を relates 手 to the verb のばす, i.e., it's the object of the verb, what someone is nobasu-ing. So it's referring to someone reaching out with their hand.
 * 届かなくて: It's a single verb, but it's negative, so it means "does/will not reach".
 * 霞んでゆく: It's かすむ but it's tense is changed by the te+ゆく construction so it means it will "go on getting blurry/hazy as time goes on".
 * In the first clause, the て inflection followed by も makes it a conditional with the sense that it's not enough for something to happen, "even if you reach out your hand" [then something won't go as expected].
 * The second clause ends in just て, so it means that what this clause describes will be supplemented or followed by what the next clauses says.

I have to go out now so that's all I can do for now. How about you have a go at the third one and tell me what you think. Identify the words one by one, figure out what the main verb is, and relate the bits to the verb. Things you need to know are how くれる works and what 飛び方 means. ElectricRaichu (talk) 02:10, October 30, 2018 (UTC)

For a moment, I thought you were sick. I had suffered from such illnesses in the past you don't ever wish to experience. I almost died on St. Lurie's Children's Research Hospital in Chicago because of an unknown disease I had, the doctors couldn't find about. The fevers I had gone through were insane (104 F - 107 F). I had lasted a total of 19 days with that illness at home, and got cured 2 days after being in that hospital, miraculously. I also once got a sudden flu exactly on my 14th birthday.....stuff happens to us.

Now for the translation.

きっと空の飛び方何て誰も教えてくれなかったよ

(Kitto soranotobikata nante dare mo oshiete kurenakatta yo)

きっと = For sure, I'm sure, surely.

空の飛び方 = How to fly through the sky??

誰も = Nobody, no one.

教えて = To show you how to do something, to teach??

くれなかった = ?

よ = (particle) talking to you, etc.. It's everywhere you know.

So summing things up I think the full translation is:

I'm sure flying through the sky is a topic nobody would want to teach me.

Thanks for the translations and summing up. By the way, how are you feeling? Where have you been resting?

By the way, if you can, explain what this verse in "キララ" by CHiCO with HoneyWorks means:

真っすぐに花は咲き　空を目指し迷わない

Don't forget to check my "KiLLER LADY" translation if you have time.RandomAir BGM (talk) 23:14, October 30, 2018 (UTC)

Sorry to hear you were so sick that time. We can be grateful for modern medicine. In earlier centuries, you probably would have died. I'm feeling better today, but everything varies a lot from day to day.

Great, you figured out most of the words. The main point you didn't explain is what's called parsing the sentence, working out its structure. Since the object marker を is replaced by 何て, it makes it a little harder since you have to work out from the meaning of the words that 空の飛び方 is what is being taught/explained. 誰も is the one who is (not) teaching.

The only word you didn't get was くれる which is why I gave you that link. It usually means "[you/he/she] gives [to me]". It can also mean "[he/she] gives [to you]". (NB It can't mean "I give you/him/her" or "you give him/her". You need to use あげる for those.) Now you to need memorize verb inflections in Japanese. Since you're a Spanish speaker, you should be familiar with verbs changing for various reasons. In Japanese, verbs get changed for reasons that are mostly different to Spanish ones, but if you work through how to negate verbs and past tense, you should be able to figure out that 教えてくれなかった means "did not give me [the act of] teaching" (or possibly "didn't give you ...").

The key to understanding 真っすぐに花は咲き　空を目指し迷わない is as usual to identify the clauses, i.e., the main verbs and the words related to them. In this case they're 咲く, 目指す and 迷う. The inflection of the first two is what's sometimes called the "masu stem". It can be used to combine clauses into a sentence, sort of like joining them with "and" or with ";" in English. 真っすぐに means "straight", i.e., not bending or changing direction and probably applies to the first two clauses. は tells us that 花 is the topic of the sentence, i.e., "I'm going to tell you about flowers now". を tells us that 空 is the target of the 目指すing. So you break it up like this:


 * 真っすぐに花は咲き -- as for flowers -- in a straight direction -- they bloom -- and


 * 空を目指し -- aim -- for the sky -- and


 * 迷わない -- do not lose their way

I'll get onto your translation when you stop asking questions that take me a long time to explain so I have time to get to it ... However, I hope it's worth me going into these details instead of just translating these sentences for you so you learn how to do it yourself. After all, that's your aim, right? ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:59, October 31, 2018 (UTC)

I took penicillins, Tylenol, Motrin... It didn't work at all. Like I said, I was cured miraculously, by myself, my own body.

In quick response to your responses: Thanks for the remark. I missed "Kureru". And thanks for the translation of the verse. Have you heard that song too?

I currently have no questions left. All I have to say is thank you, and I await improvement in the future. And sorry for confusing you with "えらいんですか?" I actually wanted the meaning of "偉いんですか?" I also didn't want the meaning of "手タ". I wanted the meaning of "てた". Kanji and Hiragana are more different then I'd imagine. I am very, very sorry for the confusion.RandomAir BGM (talk) 02:15, October 31, 2018 (UTC)

There is no difference between えらい and 偉い. What I said before about えらい applies equally to 偉い. The only difference is how you write the word, not the meaning of the word. In English, I can write 4, four, FOUR, IV, iv or (4) and they mean the same thing. Similarly in Japanese you can write a word in multiple ways, e.g. akai "red" can be written  赤い, 朱い, あかい or アカイ and it means the same thing.

However, kana and kanji are not interchangeable as you have discovered. I tried to find something on the internet for you that explains the complicated Japanese writing system but I couldn't find anything easily, so I'll outline the basics.

Japanese has three broad classes of words: native words, Chinese borrowings and borrowings from other languages (just like English speakers use Spanish words like fiesta or macho). This is a brief outline and Japanese writing is much more complicated than this. If I come across any websites that describe it better, I'll let you know. ElectricRaichu (talk) 08:11, October 31, 2018 (UTC)
 * Native Japanese words.
 * As you know, you can write a word phonetically using kana, and many words are written that way, e.g., です. However, when a kanji exists with the same meaning, they often substitute it. E.g., いぬ "dog" can be written using the kanji 犬. When you come across 犬 as a word by itself, you pronounce it as if you wrote it いぬ and it means "dog".
 * With inflected words, you use the kanji for part of the word and write hiragana for the rest of it. So みる "see" is written 見る. When it changes to past tense, for example, you write みた as 見た. 見 represents the mi- part and the hiragana is used for the bit that changes, -ru, -ta, etc.
 * Unfortunately they go overboard with this and one kanji can be used for multiple words. E.g., 空 can be そら or から, 空く can be あく or すく, 空しい is むなしい. You have to work out from context which one it is.
 * Similarly, the same word can be written with different kanji, e.g., kiku "hear/listen/ask" can be written 聞く, 聴く or 訊く. Sometimes the meaning is slightly different depending how you write it, e.g., 聞く can mean "hear", "listen" or "ask", but (I think) 聴く only means "listen" and 訊く only means "ask".
 * Words adopted from Chinese.
 * These are obviously written in kanji, e.g., 本 hon "book", 空間 kuukan "space".
 * Most kanji have both a Japanese pronunciation and a Chinese-based one, so you need to work out from context which one it is, e.g., in 空を飛ぶ, 空 must be sora, but in 空間を開ける "make space", 空 must be kuu.
 * Words taken from other languages. These are usually written in katakana (but there are exceptions). E.g., アップルパイ "apple pie" (from English), パン "bread" (from Portugese).

I didn't know Japanese had a lot of adopted words. And was confused to whether Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana were the same thing or not. Next time I have a question, I will ask. Thanks for everything. I will also learn what I can by myself. RandomAir BGM (talk) 12:03, October 31, 2018 (UTC)

Last questions: I still need a proper clarification of how "ndesu" is used. It can't mean "nda" in sentences like "君の中の私はなんですか？ / Kimi no naka no watashi wa na ndesu ka?" and as for "君じゃなきゃダメなんです / Kimijanakya damena ndesu" After this, I mean it. I won't probably have any more questions until December or so. Then you could finally check my blog afterwards, that is, if you feel alright. RandomAir BGM (talk) 20:50, November 1, 2018 (UTC)

Japanese has several levels of politeness in speech. When talking to your friends and family, you speak in casual Japanese. When to strangers, seniors, or in business, you use polite speech. When talking to customers or people in a position of greater authority, you use honorific speech. Adding んです is polite speech. Adding んだ is casual speech. I suppose you could add のでございます or something like that for honorific speech but I'm only guessing, it's beyond my expertise.

君の中の私はなんですか has nothing to do with んだ/んです. The question なんですか nan desu ka means "what is [it]"? In this sentence, なん is the word for "what" and is unrelated to んです. It can be confusing because なんですか can also be na ndesu ka, where な is a special word that means "[which] is", but that must follow a noun or na-adjective. In this sentence, there is nothing between XXXは and なんです so I would interpret it as なん "what" + ですか (polite) "is it?" Compare these: 君じゃなきゃダメなんです. So here there is a na-adjective ダメ before the な so な means "is". It's dame na "[it] is no good" + ndesu, not nan "what" + desu. In this sentence, んです is the polite way to say んだ (I have no idea why you think it's not ...). It means "I'm explaining to you that it has to be you." Also check out this dictionary.
 * 私なんですか Watashi na ndesu ka? "Are you saying it's me?" (e.g., "Do you think I'm to blame?") The noun 私 is followed by な so な means "is".
 * 私はなんですか Watashi wa nan desu ka? "What am I?" 私は makes a self-contained phrase, so there is no noun etc. before な so it must be なん "what".

Please make sure you look up words in a dictionary before you trouble others about them. I only explained this one in detail for you because it's a little complicated so you might not catch the differences due to what part of speech it is (verb, noun, etc.). Make sure you make an effort to check online resources first, such as weblio, kotobank, jisho.org and alcElectricRaichu (talk) 01:45, November 2, 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for the point. "君の中の私はなんですか ?" was a tricky sentence, as like you said, is possible to change the "watashi wa nan desu ka?" to "watashi wa na ndesu ka?" Thanks for all these answers, and we'll talk again after my blog is reviewed. See you until then ! :D RandomAir BGM (talk) 15:40, November 2, 2018 (UTC) Yes I appreciate that you'd have trouble with those, which is why I explained them, as ndaro[u] and nja derive from nda, so a dictionary will only list the base form, nda. That's why you need to get a solid grasp of grammar, so that when you see ndaro, or nja, you immediately realise they are an inflection of nda. I'm sure all the dictionaries I linked to above will say the same thing. Anyway, feel free to keep asking anything, but do your best to figure it out first.

The main point is that watashi wa na ndesu ka would be grammatically incorrect which is why the other interpretation is what you'd assume. Unlike other verbs that can form a clause on their own, the verb na must be preceded by a noun or a word that behaves like a noun to form a valid clause. But yes, if you're looking at words individually, since Japanese don't put spaces between their words, there's more than one way to break it up, and you need consider what constraints grammar, meaning and context (in that order) apply to the sentence to figure out which is most likely.

I found this verb chart that you might find helpful. You need to memorize it! As an exercise to help you learn it, pick your favourite songs, find the verbs, and use the chart to work out how each verb was inflected. For example, in KILLER LADY, you can work out that 付き合い is the conjunctive form of 付き合う, and きれない is the negative of きれる. ElectricRaichu (talk) 04:08, November 3, 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for the chart, answers, advice, and everything. It is really touching to see how hard you are trying to help me with Japanese. Studying it is much harder than I have ever expected,  and it is bold to see how you are helping me as if it was nothing. Was studying Japanese easy for you? Or do your languages have similar structure to Japanese that make it easier to learn? How come Indonesians and Thailandians learn Japanese so easily? RandomAir BGM (talk) 21:44, November 3, 2018 (UTC)

No, Greek is closer to Spanish than to Japanese. (Actually there are a few Greek words that have made their way via English into Japanese, and some Japanese sounds are more similar to Greek ones than English ones, but that's all pretty minor.) Maybe growing up bilingual helped me realize that there are different ways to express an idea/act/feeling, so learning a third language was adding one more. But, no, learning a new language is not easy, especially one so radically different from European languages and with a ridiculous writing system. I wrote this short post about 10 years ago. However, most Japanese verbs are regular, there aren't so many sounds, and sentence syntax is much simpler (basically particles usually follow what they refer to, the verb comes at the end of a clause, and modfier clauses simply precede what they apply to).

I don't mind helping out. In fact I enjoy teaching. I work part time as a high-school tutor (mostly maths, but I've done a bit of science and computing too). I'd like to teach Japanese, but there's not much demand for it. ElectricRaichu (talk) 22:31, November 3, 2018 (UTC)

Well, saying that, do you know any Spanish? How do you know it's close to Greek? By the way, I don't know any Greek, just in case you are wondering.

The real reason I am trying to learn Japanese is because I feel like their media is better than the media around me, and also, I wish to go to Japan one day, for tests, and to see if I fit with them. By the way, English isn't an easy language to learn. I have learned it for 9 years, and still have issues with its weird structure, and lack of verb. Of course, Spanish and English share absolutely nothing (unlike German and French). As far as I know, Spanish and Japanese share almost nothing either, but have semi-similar accent, contain related phrases like "yo", "no", and "de". But if someone wants to learn Spanish, I suggest them to learn the Castillian pure version of Spanish and not the spoiled, re-worded trash of Mexican Spanish.

My level currently is how I can read full Vocaloid and Japanese song titles, read a few of the lyrics, and sing-along. My goal is to know the Japanese I need to know without taking too many years. I will never give up. Now, tomorrow you could finally check my blog, I will have another translation on Monday posted. That's 2. RandomAir BGM (talk) 03:02, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

Spanish and Greek are similar in many ways because Greek and Latin are similar and Spanish comes from Latin. They may be only a small overlap in vocabulary, but the syntax and grammar would resemble each other a lot more than they do Japanese. Yes English grammar is different again, in fact, I would call English grammar quite complicated. But since both English and Spanish draw a lot of vocabulary from Latin, I imagine there would be many words that are similar.

Anyway, I finished reviewing your translation of the Hachiouji-P's song. There are some lines I think you've translated well, but there are some mistakes too, so please have a look.

As for Spanish songs, we'll see what Amandelen says, but since you're a native Spanish speaker and relatively fluent with English too, I think translating Spanish songs would be great contribution you could make. Actually I was about to suggest it myself. Please don't forget to identify yourself as translator at the bottom (I used to forget to do it too) so other people know where the translation came from.

If you want to improve at translating, you need to expand your vocabulary of both source and target languages. That means you need to read lots of good quality literature in both Spanish and English (and Japanese since you're learning that too).

ElectricRaichu (talk) 01:20, November 9, 2018 (UTC)

Up to now, all my translations will have mistakes. Be it little or many, until I become fluent in that language. I have another blog by the way. Anyway, are you listening to any new Japanese (not Vocaloid) music? If so, then which artists?

RandomAir BGM (talk) 04:45, November 9, 2018 (UTC)

New section
I'm starting a new section because I don't want the old one to get too long to be useful.

It looks like Amandelen is happy with you translating Spanish songs. That would be a great help if you could!

Yes I noticed your new blog. I'll get to it when I have the chance. If I haven't started in a few days, then feel free to leave a reminder on my talk page.

It's only natural that when you're starting, your translations won't be perfect. Every skill in life is a process of learning, and making mistakes and learning from them is part of the process. With translation, it's important to understand the vocabulary, grammar and idioms of both source and target languages, and these will take time to acquire. That's why I said earlier to be patient with yourself.

Like I said earlier today, a good way to develop your translation skills is to read widely good quality material in all three languages. Gradually, over time, you'll pick up new words and meanings, new expressions and idioms, and a better understanding of how grammar works. And don't assume you know Spanish as well as you think you do! There's always opportunity for deeper understanding of your native language.

Here are some simple Japanese stories that you might like to try. It will give you an appreciation for the kind of language used in narrative, which differs a bit from conversational Japanese. Song lyrics draw from both styles, so the more you're familiar with, the better you understand.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 09:24, November 9, 2018 (UTC)

I am grateful for the stories, but I don't know so much Japanese to read them. I just know basic words, and particles and grammar. Tomorrow and in Sunday, I am excited to post a couple of videos with new translations! And again, are you listening to any new Japanese music? If so, what artists? (Vocaloid not included)

RandomAir BGM (talk) 23:30, November 9, 2018 (UTC)

I'm not saying to read them all. Pick one that seems interesting and work through it. Look up the words you don't know and try to figure out the story. At first, it's very difficult, but as your vocabulary develops, it becomes easier.

New Japanese music? Only randomly and occasionally. My favourite vocalists are ShounenT, 96neko, Kobasolo, Amatsuki, Ito Kashitaro (there's more but I can't remember them all), and I listen to HoneyWorks songs too. Was it you that mentioned Megumi? I started listening to her too, she sounds good!

BTW I'm working on Mister Darling now since I like the song and you requested a sub, so I might not get to your blog until that's finished. But I don't get some bits ... I might need help ...

ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:12, November 10, 2018 (UTC)

That's what I'm trying to do. But I'm saying that some structure is tough to know. But like you said, with time of practice, I indeed think I will prosper with those stories. They look cute. It is also adorable that a teen as old as me has too read those first-grader books. But no, really, I am good with that.

Yes it was me. Megumi Nakajima is a very good singer. I've known some beautiful songs, like her "Odyssey", "Watashi No Sekai", and "Saturday Night Question". I don't have so many too have a favorite, but my constantly listened artists are indeed her, Aimer, Nogizaka46, Mrs. Green Apple, HoneyWorks, and Little Glee Monster. I am soon going to start listening to OnePixcel, and Shoko Nakagawa.

I never liked the Vocaloid versions that much to be honest. I am completely fine with the original version by CHiCO. If you are having trouble with some parts, a machine translator could come in handy (for words, not sentences). At least I use it when I have trouble with little parts, but for single words ONLY. They are not good at translating full sentences, as Japanese (and other Asian Languages) contain a very tricky structure that may confuse the translator, causing a poor result. Again, I do that for tiny words, and they have strange words in their database that make it useful. What do you say?

RandomAir BGM (talk) 01:52, November 10, 2018 (UTC)

Ha, ha, yes it feals a bit demeaning to me too having to learn from children's stories but I've learned so much Japanese from material directed to children. I've also read children's novels and manga in Japanese. I especially enjoyed Kusaka Hidenori's Pokemon Special manga series, but I found some parts very difficult to understand. When I started, I had to look up every second word in the dictionary and there was so much confusing slang. But bit by bit, I found it worthwhile and over the years it markedly improved my Japanese.

Yeah I usually prefer Sana's or Chico's vocals too. Vocaloids can be difficult to get to sound good and a lot depends on the skill of the person doing the tuning. Like I can't stand it when some producers get them singing so fast that they exceed their abilities, but strangely enough, some of those songs are very popular.

With automatic translators, the real problem is the information that different languages require you to present. What I mean is that in any language, you have to answer certain questions in order to phrase something, but each language asks different questions.

For example, in Greek and Italian (and I expect Spanish too), you often have to indicate gender, e.g., you can't say simply "it is red", you must choose one of "some masculine thing is red", "some feminine thing is red" or "some neuter thing is red". So it's impossible to ensure that an isolated sentence "It is red" will be correctly translated from English to Greek/Spanish/Italian/etc. In Japanese  you have to choose one of "Is red", "Is politely red" or "Is honorably red" depending on who is talking to whom and their relationship and the degree of deference required. That information is simply not there in the English sentence so it is impossible to guarantee that it's translated correctly.

Having said that, I use google translate on rare occasions if I'm really stuck because sometimes there's something in their database that is difficult to find in a dictionary. However, I don't rely on it. I always try to find an alternative source to back up what it says.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 02:31, November 10, 2018 (UTC)

I don't rely a lot on Google Translate either. I use Bing Translator more, because I've done long-sentence tests with them, and surprisingly, Bing Translator does less mistakes. It's words are not so vague when they translate too. But it's still unrecommended to use as a song translator. I can thank that translator too. I've learned several words with it

RandomAir BGM (talk) 05:29, November 11, 2018 (UTC)

My point is that each language expresses certain information that other languages do not. This makes automatic translation impossible without sufficient context.

I will try to get my Mister Darling sub done for Nov 23. If I miss November, it might have to wait until Jan 11 since I have other videos already scheduled for dates in between. ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:39, November 13, 2018 (UTC)

I still have questions about some other Japanese related stuff. But I'd best save them for later. What do you think?

RandomAir BGM (talk) 02:17, November 13, 2018 (UTC)

If you have any questions about Mister Darling, please ask them as soon as you can. If it turns out you've got something right and I'm wrong, I'd rather know before I upload the subs.

If you have any other questions about Japanese, feel free to ask as well. If I'm too busy, I'll just take longer to answer.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 04:20, November 13, 2018 (UTC)

Well, I don't have any questions specifically about Mr. Darling. It's funny that at this point, there's no way I would have something right and you wrong. Be careful with YouTube copyright claims though.

And I have a few questions of speaking the language and 1 word.

1. Why do the pronunciations sound cute?

I suddenly find myself to be giggling that sounds like "yo", "tte", "kirai", "dakara", "suki", "dakedo" and "shite" sound appealing to me. They are heard so frequently in songs that they've started to get very cute. And also adopted words like "Kisu shiin/Kiss scene ", "Komyunikeeshon / Communication". Even the word "kawaii" itself is cute! Is this weird or does it happen when learning a new language?

2. Did I find out the meaning of "Iwanakya"?

It means, "I gotta say / I have to tell you something". Does that mean that in "Just Be Friends?" . Or is there more to it?

I don't have enough time for more questions. I'll ask more tomorrow. Respond while you can. ^-^ No rushing.

RandomAir BGM (talk) 05:00, November 13, 2018 (UTC)

Don't stress too much. It's a hobby. Take your time and relax. School and other duties take priority.

Having said that, I hope I don't have to deal with a copyright claim, I once had to do that before and they said it would take a month to resolve.

Ha ha yes I find that words sound pleasing to me too. Wow, "kawaii" sounds kawaii to you? First time I've heard that!

Sometimes I wish words of one language would be used in another, like Japanese ちょっと would be perfect as an Italian word and Greek μακάρι would be great as a Japanese word and 無事 would be a good English word.

言わなきゃ is short for 言わなければ which literally means "If [I/someone] does not say". Ending a sentence, it implies that something bad will happen if you don't say whatever it is, so it ends up meaning that you have to say it. The full expression is 言わなければならない, but ならない is understood if it is left out.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 02:49, November 14, 2018 (UTC)

New section #2
It's time to start a new section, because I don't want the first too get too long. My talk page is going to be messy if I do.

Who said anything about copyright claims? I have lots of experience of that. And no you don't have to wait 30 days for the appeal to win. The owner has 30 days to respond, before the claim expires. He/she can respond in a minute if they want.

They all are heard at such a constant rate, it gets stuck in a cute way in your head. I giggle so hard sometimes. Kawaii is cute to me because of the way it is written and its pronunciation. As well the other words and phrases I mentioned. You should understand. (Or not?)

I agree with that. They wouldn't lose themselves in another language, I bet.

So I was right? (With Iwanakya?)

What do they use those words so much? It can get funny. RandomAir BGM (talk) 04:23, November 14, 2018 (UTC)

So claims can be resolved quickly? I didn't know. When I challenged one once, YouTube said it can take up to 30 days. Thanks for telling me. I've finished the sub so I'll upload it when I get the chance in the next couple of days. We'll see what happens.

And make sure you don't upload videos if you do not have either a license or permission from the producer! That's illegal, and inconsiderate as well, and you could end up getting your YouTube account closed.

Yes, 言わなきゃ (without an explicit conclusion following) means "[I] have to say [something]". I'm pretty sure that's what it means in Just Be Friends. You'll also sometimes hear 言わなくちゃ. Similarly 行かなきゃ or 行かなくちゃ means "[I] have to go".

ElectricRaichu (talk) 08:07, November 14, 2018 (UTC)

Well, yes, we can just see what happens, and talk about it.

They don't take down videos if you upload without permission. They take down videos if you dispute their claims away without permission. I don't do that. I just agree with the claim and move on. You should read more about DMCA takedown notices, and not confuse them with normal copyright claims. It's not illegal, if you are not making money out of it (which when it gets a claim, you can't) and sharing it with Japan. Your account gets terminated if you get 3 copyright takedown notices (not claims) on your channel. That's why I told you to read more before even thinking about rights on the site.

Thanks for clearing it up. It is better off as "I gotta say". When I come across any Japanese grammar / word questions I'll ask again. :D

RandomAir BGM (talk) 13:59, November 14, 2018 (UTC)

What is happening with copyright claims is that YouTube have negotiated a system with copyright owners that gives uploaders permission to use their stuff in exchange for royalties from ads, and copyright owners can also place restrictions on where the video can be shown. What stops it being illegal is this negotiated system (which seems to work most of the time). Copyright owners, however, do not have to agree to YouTube's terms and apparently some of them do issue takedowns. (Since the system is not without its problems, I make sure I have some license to rely on or get explicit permission before I upload anything.)

Yes, "I gotta say" is very colloquial and matches the colloquial tone of 言わなきゃ. I would probably write "I've gotta say" to keep it grammatical. Some judgement is required to match the tone of the translation with that of the original lyrics.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:59, November 15, 2018 (UTC)

Well, I try to get permission, and they never respond. So what's the point? I can simply just upload and get a harmless claim that won't affect my account. If the copyright owner would really not want their content to be used in YouTube, then they would block videos with their content worldwide. Which if they don't do that, then they nicely agree with users to use their material, in exchange for putting their ads in those videos.

I've been waiting for this. I'll be making a HoneyWorks pop quiz for you! Would you like it this Friday or tomorrow? It'll be fun. (And alerting too.)

RandomAir BGM (talk) 02:18, November 15, 2018 (UTC)

The HoneyWorks went up OK, just blocked in Japan as you said. Hopefully I'll get time soon to look at your next blog.

Pop quiz? I can try it, but I probably won't score that well ...

ElectricRaichu (talk) 08:00, November 16, 2018 (UTC)

You like HoneyWorks, so you should do good enough. Great! But before you take it:

Do you transliterate 気づけば as "Kidzukeba"? And do you transliterate こっち and 一人ぼっち as "Kotchi" and "Hitoribotchi"?

Don't force yourself. Take this quiz only if you wish.

No cheating! Don't use lyric sites, videos, internet, or even this wiki to find answers! I wish for your best honest answers in this quiz.

If you are going to respond to this, please do so in this section, and not on the Pop Quiz section.

You have until Monday.

Ready? Scroll down to take it!

RandomAir BGM (talk) 02:23, November 17, 2018 (UTC)

HoneyWorks Pop Quiz
Would you mind moving the quiz to the forum, or maybe a blog? It's very long and not really a communication about the wiki, and gives everyone a chance to contribute if they wish. ElectricRaichu (talk) 09:19, November 17, 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for the tip, and rule. It has been removed from here and moved to ([//vocaloidlyrics.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:RandomAir_BGM/HoneyWorks_Pop_Quiz https://vocaloidlyrics.fandom.com/wiki/User_blog:RandomAir_BGM/HoneyWorks_Pop_Quiz]). Don't you feel like you forgot to respond to an earlier question?

To prevent others from cheating, send me your answers via (galnatan789@gmail.com), a backup email I check daily.

Good luck with it!

RandomAir BGM (talk) 18:54, November 17, 2018 (UTC)

Deletion of a few speech in this page
I suddenly decided to delete a few of our discussions in this page because I am trying to save my talk page for what's useful from now on to.

A bit busy for a while
I have been preparing what I need to do to upgrade my computer software which is why I've been relatively inactive the last couple of days. Hopefully, once everything's settled down, I'll have some more time to get back to reviewing your translations. ElectricRaichu (talk) 04:47, December 10, 2018 (UTC)

I can wait. No need to hurry. Just keep doing the upgrade. And by the way don't confuse "software" with "hardware". Hardware is the program keeping your entire computer running which may be in this case, what you're talking about), and software is a small program you can use, like your video editor or converter. RandomAir BGM (talk) 03:49, December 12, 2018 (UTC)

No I'm careful not to confuse them. (FYI I used to be a university computer science lecturer lol.) Finally I've reinstalled the operating system, restored my files, and downloaded some of the applications I use, but there are lots of issues ... like the calendar program is really buggy now when the old version used to work fine. I haven't tried the latest video editor yet ... I really hope it works!! ElectricRaichu (talk) 07:29, December 12, 2018 (UTC)

Undid your deletion to the Kokuhaku Rival Sengen song
did you have a reason for deleting the link to descentsub's sub of the honeyworks rival song? it seems ok to me so i undid your change, but please let me know if there was a good reason to delete it. ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:02, December 23, 2018 (UTC)

Well, it is a good translation, I don't deny that. But since it's a bit old and with your translation in that page, what's the point in having the link there? By the way, how do you undo? Are you an admin too? RandomAir BGM (talk) 03:39, December 23, 2018 (UTC)

The point of having the link is that someone can click on it and read the subs while the song is playing, which you can't do easily using this wiki. I don't think the age of a translation matters.

I'm not an admin, anyone can undo an edit. You just go select "History" instead of "Edit" and find where it says "undo". Very helpful if someone has vandalized a page, or if you've accidentally mangled something! ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:30, December 24, 2018 (UTC)

I guess you have a point. I just thought it'd be organized that way. That closes this section, I guess. RandomAir BGM (talk) 03:15, December 24, 2018 (UTC)

Amegula
Hey,

I just wanted to thank you separately on your talk page because I appreciate you defending me ^^. This person is very clearly a troll so I just blocked them. I hope you have a nice day =). Amandelen (talk) 15:35, December 27, 2018 (UTC)

You're welcome. I just want this wiki to remain as clean as possible, and have these trolls take their profanity elsewhere, instead of here. I guess its never done to say Merry Christmas, so Merry Christmas! :D RandomAir BGM (talk) 20:19, December 27, 2018 (UTC)


 * Merry Christmas to you too ^^. Amandelen (talk) 20:27, December 27, 2018 (UTC)

Some feedback on STATIC
Started having a look at your translation of STATIC. I've only looked at half of it, but a lot of it is a not too bad, although I found some issues (below) and the English is not very polished (but I hope that will improve with experience and effort). That's as far as I got, but I hope it helps. To help you polish your English, I think it would help if you spent some time reading good quality modern English prose. Does your school library have novels you can borrow? ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:31, December 29, 2018 (UTC)
 * 見る影も無い means literally "there's not even a shadow to see" which is a hyperbolic way of saying that someone (or something) has degenerated into less than a shadow of what they were before. "You're losing understand of your own bare shadow" is neither correct rendering of the Japanese, nor valid English.
 * すってんころり モロに転んだりしたりしながら. モロに means that you get hit directly, front on. I'm not sure where you get "entirely" from. I would say something like "fall flat on your face". It's also nice to capture the -tari -tari which tells us that there are other associated things happening also: "While you're falling flat down on your face and all that,"
 * 誰もあなたの涙など これっぽっちも見たくないから. It might be helpful to include これっぽっちも in the translation, "Nobody wants the slightest to see ..." or something like that.
 * その痛みごと どこか遠くまで飛んでゆけ. The phrase 飛んでゆけ applied to pain is like "pain, pain, go away", telling someone as part of growing up to accept and ignore pain. Here, however, it sounds like they're telling the person to go away and take their pain with them. I think your translation to this line is OK, just letting you know the background, as it can influence your choice of words.
 * "(etc..)". People don't talk like that. "etc." is mostly used in written English and has particular connotations when used in speech. Plus you've put it in the wrong place. など refers to 声, while you've made it refer to "worthless, weak".

I translated this song because it was one of the very first Vocaloid songs I heard in my life, and I was 13, and I think it's cute with its sharpness. Now, about the translation:

- I knew it had something to do with that the "shadow".

- This line was very difficult to interpret properly. I got "entirely" with the モロ and discarded に and used it as a particle describing falling down. I guess it was a red alert right there. - A bit of re-wording wouldn't hurt.

- I know! I'm sure this line should've been okay.

- Where does it go then?

Yes, my school library does have novels I can borrow, but in reality, I don't like reading at all. It is really irritating and I am not good at comprehending books, and I remember when I was little I was commanded to repeat the same chapter again and again for that. Tch... (I do enjoy reading the chemistry, geo, and history books in my class though, and they are much easier to grasp.) I am still doing good with English. I am doing literature, grammar and spelling. I just hope the rest of the translation is good. RandomAir BGM (talk) 01:27, December 29, 2018 (UTC)

Yes the すってんころり verse is complicated. It sounds more like colloquial speech rather than verse to me. I think the key is first to get a grip on the meaning of the phrases individually, and then read it all again while you let the phrases flow, and see what meaning you absorb from that. I think you did surprisingly well considering.

Where does the pain go? It's just a saying. The pain fades eventually on its own most of the time, and meanwhile you learn to ignore it. Warning: This type of advice applies to situations when you understand what's causing the pain, you can deal with it, and you know that it will heal on its own. If the pain is serious or its cause is unknown, it's a bad idea to ignore it!

What you're doing sounds good, as any reading and study of grammar and literature helps you improve, but if you' want to be able to translate into good sounding English, then you do need to make a bit of an effort. At your age I didn't like reading much either but my high school librarian encouraged me and it took a bit of effort at first but soon it got easier. If a whole novel is too much, start with a collection of short stories, or some poetry. Anyway, it's just a suggestion. ElectricRaichu (talk) 05:28, December 30, 2018 (UTC)

Science Girl feedback
I started looking at your translation but as you say the song is difficult since neither of us is/has been a Japanese highschooler. I suspect there are some dirty jokes in there that I'm missing. Like I get how the kanji of 乳鉢 "mortar" literally means "milk bowl", a reference to her breasts. Anwyay, I'll leave the discussion on my talk page, so please have a look every now and then. I'll do some more when I get more time. ElectricRaichu (talk) 02:59, January 9, 2019 (UTC)

Song Request (Not Vocaloid)
https://youtu.be/SgG5JlUA48E It's not vocaloid, but would you consider translating this song? :) it's really cute/catchy and i think the lyrics are fairly simple :3 - AngelChu

What's the song's title? What's the artist? I don't speak Chinese. (Started learning it 3 weeks ago though) RandomAir BGM (talk) 01:23, January 12, 2019 (UTC)

Here the title and lyrics. Give it a go, see how you go with it! ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:17, January 14, 2019 (UTC)

Thanks! Next Saturday! Happy New Year! :D Wish me luck learning Chinese too. When I grow up, I want to go to China. RandomAir BGM (talk) 00:57, January 14, 2019 (UTC)

Started Learning Chinese
Yeah, so 4 weeks ago I started watching learning videos and doing Duolingo lessons on Chinese. With just 4 weeks of fresh learning, I can see Chinese has very easy grammar and structure. The only hard thing will be reading and writing the language. Speaking it will be of moderate difficulty since I know Spanish. The pure sounds will give me an advantage in Chinese accents, arrows, pinyin and all that. C-pop also sounds nice! I will update this section in June on my status with the language. RandomAir BGM (talk) 02:28, January 14, 2019 (UTC)


 * Great to hear, good luck! Hey I know you've only just started but do you know how to romanize 不地川, the name of the lyricist of Confession (or any other of the Chinese names)? Do you know of any reliable ways to do it online? ElectricRaichu (talk) 07:05, January 17, 2019 (UTC)
 * I don't know yet how to romanize Chinese. Give me at least 2 months and maybe I'll know. And about "Tomodachi Yori Daijina Hito", I'll have the video ready this Saturday, and I hope the song is not copyrighted, because I don't see a single video on YouTube with that song. RandomAir BGM (talk) 14:04, January 17, 2019 (UTC)

友達より大事な人
I'm getting to like the song now, cute and catchy. Nice to see you try a translation. Most of it is good, but there are some mistakes. It might be a good idea to get a translation checked BEFORE you make any hard subs!! Have you joined Anime Forum? If you go to lyrics discussion in the Anime Lyrics sub-forum, you can try asking for reviews.

Anyway, some feedback on your translation: Hope this helps. I'm half asleep so I hope it makes sense. ElectricRaichu (talk) 01:11, January 22, 2019 (UTC)
 * 1) 秘密の涙は無しにしよ → "I'll put an end to [someone's] secret tears". I'm not sure whether it's "my" or "your" tears I'd have to think about it I'm really tired right now ...
 * 2) 晴れた空見上げたら A matter of interpretation but I'd say "when I looked" rather than "if ..." Also hard to put into English but 晴れた suggests that the rain is over, i.e., some trouble has passed.
 * 3) 中身がなくても → "Even if they don't say much"
 * 4) ありがとうじゃ足りないほど　ありがとうが溢れてるよ is one sentence. the bit ending in hodo indicates the degree to which the second bit happens. She's brimming with so much gratitude that merely [saying] "thank you" is insufficient [to express the emotion]. Here's some material Google brought up you can work through and here's some more.
 * 5) 教えてくれるから Not sure what you mean by "the right way". It refers to him telling her about her true self (see previous lines).
 * 6) 私よりも私のこと知ってることわかってるよ → "I know that you know me better than I do myself." While 私のこと literally translates as "my things", in English we just say "me" or "about me". わかってる refers to all of 私よりも私のこと知ってること. The listener is doing the 知ってる and the speaker is doing the わかってる.
 * 7) 遠回りの旅 A matter of interpretation but I think it's referring to the detours in life's journey. 思い出が増えていく is an indicative, not an imperative sentence, i.e., it's simply declaring what will happen, not a wish to make it so.

Thank you for correcting. I'm half-asleep now too, so all I'm going to say is that these mistakes look like they easily slipped in. I haven't had translation proofreading for a while because of stuff IRL that are slowing me down, (sometimes even getting in my way).

And today please give a quick check at the BGNOYH translation, and tell me what you think of the line in the song "Ippun Ichibyou Kimi to Boku no".

RandomAir BGM (talk) 03:53, January 22, 2019 (UTC)

Sorry can't do much today. Plus with all the goings on IRL I've lost track of what people have asked me to do. Could you please leave a message on my talk page with a list of songs that you have translated that you would like me to review? That would help me a lot. Only don't add any more until I finish those. ElectricRaichu (talk) 00:35, January 24, 2019 (UTC)

I wanted to respond to this yesterday but of course, IRL problems can never lose to get in my way. Anyway, I prefer to leave the list here then in your talk page. So about a week ago, I made a LyricsTranslate profile. I translated 6 songs. Since I am going to do a hard sub of Panda Hero , I want you to check the Panda Hero translation first. If you've heard Megumi Nakajima's "Watashi no Sekai ", then I suggest you check that one first and then "Panda Hero". But most importantly before you do all this, can you first finally tell me if the line "忘れない一分一秒君の言葉" translates to, "This minute and second I can't forget, are your words".

Also note that I corrected some parts of my "Boku ga Namae o Yobu Hi" translation. I realized it did have some subject mistakes.

Re: Blog Deletion
Sure no problem. It should be done now. I hope you have a nice day =). Amandelen (talk) 18:55, January 25, 2019 (UTC) Also remove them from my selection please. RandomAir BGM (talk) 19:13, January 25, 2019 (UTC)


 * Sorry, I'm not quite sure what you mean. Could you explain a bit further? Amandelen (talk) 19:57, January 25, 2019 (UTC)

Oh, when I click on blog, I still saw the links to the pages there, but never mind. They just disappeared. Thanks for deleting them. RandomAir BGM (talk) 20:04, January 25, 2019 (UTC)

Rinnada yo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYBrF2JTlKs Hi sorry to bother you again, idk how harder this song is but if you have time could you consider translating this song too? :) - Angel Chu

You're not bothering. Don't worry. I'll publish the translation this Sunday on LyricsTranslate. I'll do the video next Saturday because I have another video I want to do tomorrow. Can you also give me the lyrics? RandomAir BGM (talk) 22:04, January 25, 2019 (UTC)

The lyrics should be in the description? If it's not loading for you, i could copy/paste it to a google docs form in a bit :3--Angel

Oh, sorry I couldn't notice. Sunday. Peace :D RandomAir BGM (talk) 22:19, January 25, 2019 (UTC)

Oops, I'm afraid this one will be delayed a little, there are so many time-consuming events IRL. RandomAir BGM (talk) 22:04, January 27, 2019 (UTC)

Male/Female language
Interesting question. "Atashi" is a stereotypically feminine version of "watashi" that you'll sometimes find in manga/anime (I don't know about movies etc. I haven't seen that many but I suspect it's the same), but I don't think people use it in real life. I've never heard of males using it. It would make them deliberately sound effeminate. Have you got specific examples?

"Ore" is characteristically masculine although not all men use it, just ones that want to seem tough. You wouldn't use it in a formal or polite situation, and I've never heard of a female speaker saying it. "Boku" is also masculine in tone but not abrasive like "ore" and, although my experience of real-life Japanese is limited, it might be more popular with younger than with older people. I think a female referring to herself as "boku" would sound like a woman trying to act like a man.

In songs, usage is different. Both "watashi" and "boku" are used as general-purpose pronouns in songs, and I suspect that the word chosen is to fit the rhythm of the song. I'm pretty sure I've come across a song or two that uses both words based on what fits the rhythm of the particular line it's in. Similarly, "kimi" and "antata" are used interchangeably probably for the same reason. If they want a speaker in a song to seem particularly masculine or feminine, I have heard "ore" and "atashi" respectively, but they're not that common in my experience.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 03:04, January 29, 2019 (UTC)

In this music video, the male singer used "atashi" in about 3:16-3:18. I think he is singing from a girl's point of view right?

In this music video, the female singers used "boku" and "kimi". Why?

And by the way, when I researched more about "ore", I found out that a long, long time ago, "ore" was used by females too.

In HoneyWorks' "Fiancée " and "Gimme Gimme Call ", I hear a lot of "ore", but not by females.

RandomAir BGM (talk) 13:57, January 29, 2019 (UTC)

In SID's video, I have no idea why he said "atashi". I could hardly follow the lyrics. Probably he's quoting something the girl is saying, or possibly he's trying to act girly for some reason.

In answer to your question about Nogizaka's song, "boku" and "kimi" are used to mean "I" and "you" respectively. If you mean why were those particular words chosen, in songs "boku" and "watashi" seem to be used interchangeably, as do "anata" and "kimi". In fact I find "boku" and "kimi" tend to be used more frequently. Only a guess, but maybe songwriters started using them when they wanted a two-syllable word to fit the rhythm better than their three-syllable counterparts and they gained popularity.

In all languages, it's common for words to change connotation and even meaning over time. According to this wikipedia article, until about 1300 it meant "you", then gradually shifted to mean "me" used by both sexes, but female use declined by 1900 or so, so not that long ago. I think "boku" has changed its usage too.

What, Ahonosakata has a youtube channel? Great! Anyway, in Fiancée, from a quick hearing, I think he says "ore" to emphasize his masculinity and therefore his fitness as a husband. Don't know about the other song, it seemed too boring to listen to so I didn't get to the part where they say it.

ElectricRaichu (talk) 02:34, January 30, 2019 (UTC)

Oh, thanks for the info.

I don't think Gimme Gimme Call is boring! It's pretty catchy! It's better than Mr. Darling & Fiancée for me. And that video is an edit from the full version. I want to know the reason for "ore" in that song.

By the way, if there's time today, please give the translation of "Boku ga Namae o Yobu Hi" a quick check before the WIP is removed in February. I updated the translation last week, because it contained subject mistakes (fyi I did not watch the video to get the point of views of the male and female).

RandomAir BGM (talk) 13:33, January 30, 2019 (UTC)

Please don't remove any WIP unless the reason for it has been resolved. If it's because the translation needs review, then leave it there until someone that we know is qualified enough removes it. The translation is still available for reference, just people need to be aware that it might contain mistakes. ElectricRaichu (talk) 02:55, January 31, 2019 (UTC)

I heard that some old ladies in animes/Japanese movies use the word "ore". Is it okay for them?

RandomAir BGM (talk) 13:47, February 6, 2019 (UTC)