The cnet128 Thread

[cnet128]

Ja, ja, ich sprech' ein bisschen Deutsch ^^

Actually, when I started at uni, my course wasn't Linguistics and Japanese Studies at all - it was Japanese Studies with German. I studied German all through my seven years of high school, and I intended to keep that up at uni. However, the uni course ended up, er, annoying me quite a bit.

The language section of it was all right, easy enough though not exactly enjoyable, but we also had to study modules on German literature and German history. Writing essays on German literature was excruciatingly painful but manageable, but when it came to the History side of things... I don't know, I'm just absolutely useless when it comes to that stuff. In the lectures, it just all went in one ear and out the other, and when it came to actually writing an essay... I kind of sat there in front of my computer, and thought "Er... yeah." I just didn't have the faintest idea what the hell I was doing.

So yeah, I somehow managed to switch course to Linguistics and Japanese Studies halfway through my first year - which was quite a feat to manage, I can tell you. But yeah, I have a fair amount of experience with German ~_~

 

[galeno]

I`d say than that you sprecht more deutsch than me. I studied it in high school too, but only for two years. And since that was six years ago, i`ve forgotten quite a bit.

Be forced to read that painful philosophical german authors must be painful, On the other side it`d be awesome to read authors like Schopenhauer from the original.

I assume you don`t like studying history then? It is the subject I love the most.
I`d give up on the essays, not the history.

Question: What kind of trick do you use to change course halfway? Do you speak any more languages?

 

[cnet128]

Nope, no other languages really. Just those two. And, er, English.

As for the course changing... well, that was just a lengthy process involving sending emails back and forth between various people, going to various people's offices, filling in odd forms, and so on. And after it was all sorted out, I got called in to see the person who apparently should have been in charge of the whole thing, who said that if I'd gone through him, he probably wouldn't have approved it, but since it was already sorted out, there was nothing he could do.

So yeah, I think I was kind of lucky there ~_~

 

[galeno]

How can I search kanji in a searchbox, considering I can't type the kanji in my keyboard?

Cnet: Don't you think deutsch is easier than nihongo? Will you translate to deutsch too?

 

[richvh]

You choose one or more kanji radicals from a chart, and then are presented with a list of kanji that contain them. You then choose the kanji you are interested from that list, and it goes into your search box.

 

[cnet128]

Cnet: Don't you think deutsch is easier than nihongo? Will you translate to deutsch too?

Easier? Well, that depends. It's probably theoretically easier to learn for an English speaker, because it's so much more similar to English in so many ways. But I personally find Japanese somehow more logical and satisfying to actually use/comprehend.

Plus in Japanese, there's no fiddling around with all those ridiculous genders, cases, persons, and general conjugation madness that plague not only German, but most European languages in general. (English itself manages to evade that a little by not having gender for nouns, but promptly makes up for it in sheer irregularity all over the place.) In Japanese, when you conjugate something, it's to modify the actual meaning, not because the nouns fall into this arbitrary category and that arbitrary category so the language says you have to.

I don't know, having spent a while with both languages (and significantly longer with German...) it still feels kind of like when I try to say something in German I'm struggling against the language to say what I want to say, whereas Japanese makes it feel far more natural.

 

[Gouki ZX]

Thanks for answering my previous question so I'll ask another.

Have you read the one shot that appeared in this summers Akamaru Jump called the Grandchild of Nurari Hyon ? And if so, what are your thoughts. I think its one of the best things I've seen in jump and there's even rumors that it may get a proper serialization.

 

[cnet128]

No, I didn't read it. I don't really tend to read oneshots at all as a rule, to be honest. Of course, if it does get a serialisation, I daresay I'll check it out

 

[galeno]

Can you tell me a good japanese text processor?
Have you ever read/watch Rurouni Kenshin?
I've download Embalmilg (also from Watsuki) right now.
It's a 50 page 1st chapter, but would please consider translating it?

Your parents were okay with you college choice? I mean, studying nihongo...
(anyone who actually studies japanese get the "you're insane" reply, so I can't imagine doing a Japanese course on U...)

 

[cnet128]

"You're insane"? I don't know about that. Studying Japanese seemed like a pretty sensible choice to me. I mean, languages are a good kind of degree to have, and they're also my strong point, and I just love the language in general, so... I think I'd've had to be crazy not to study it. The whole spending-a-year-abroad thing will no doubt be something of a challenge, and sure, my parents (and myself) were a little worried about that, but... hey, that's just what makes the whole thing interesting, now, isn't it!

As for Embalming, well, there's already a translation up for that, and at a glance it didn't seem much like a series I'd be interested in, so I think I'll pass on that one.

And no, I've never read or watched Kenshin. Couldn't really tell you a good Japanese word-processor either, offhand. I've never really had a use for one thus far. And even if I had, it would probably be a Mac program, so probably not much use to you unless you happen to be a Mac user.

 

[galeno]

No, I'm not a Mac user. Are you?
Of course a language degree is good. I'm not talking about that. I'm talkig about the fact that it is the Japanese language, with whole sets of different characters and kanji.
That's why people find weird... french, german, italian, spanish... all fine, but chinese, japanese? You're insane...

some should happen with someone that decides to study russian , or arabic.

---

about Embalming, I just can't trust any translation made by someone who admittedly doesn't know english very well... sure the editor correct the errors, but if you don't know the target language, how can you come up with the perfect translation?

 

[richvh]

Word and Open Office Writer will both handle Japanese text - Word has some advantages when it comes to handling furigana.

JWPce is designed as a word processor for Japanese text, but it is really bare bones compared to the above mentioned programs - almost more like a text editor. It does have redeeming features, like built in (Edict based) dictionary, kanji lookup by various methods, etc.

 

[cnet128]

Yes, I am a Mac user (I'd hardly be using Mac programs if I wasn't )

And hey, if people have some crazy bias against languages with awesome writing systems, then that's just their loss!

 

[galeno]

I dont't know.. .. you could just use Macs at college, and pcs at home...
Your parents were ok with your choice then?

My mother was against my choice for journalism, because I was considering studying computer sciences...

D'you have any siblings?

 

[cnet128]

Oh, yeah, my parents are plenty supportive.

And yep, I have siblings. Two brothers. One sixteen-year-old, and one six-year-old. Assuming I've got their ages right, of course (I forget my own age sometimes...)

 

[luisalirio84]

hmm ever considered widening your uh translation selection? everything except xxxholic is shounen :x do you read mostly shounen?

 

[cnet128]

What I read is what I translate, and what I translate is what I read.

 

[luisalirio84]

dude .. are you like refreshing this thread by the minute >_< that reply was way too fast :P so i will infer then that you don't read seinen/josei :x minus xxxholic .. forget that shoujo genre let's not go there >___>''

uh damn i'm bored. delete this if you like. i can't think of any questions.

 

[cnet128]

I just have this thread set to email-update me when there's a reply... and I automatically get updated when I get a new email... so yeah, I tend to know fairly quickly when somebody responds to this thread

 

[Bomber D Rufi]

Yo cnet128, just wanted to say thanks for covering most of SJ when you translate. I really look up to you for being able to translate that much stuff every week! I have my hands full with just Gintama.

I guess my question is, as a fellow translator...what are some of the nuances that are tough for you to deal with? I've been teaching myself Japanese for going on....4 years now? And i'm still having problems recognizing Kanji without furigana on top...so i guess whats tough for me is handwritten text, and currently in Gintama the characters are in a MMORPG, where the text bubbles have no furigana. What's tough to you? And...do you like Gintama?