[LANGRAGE] Articles are hard
Posted: 10 Dec 2009, 18:17
There are some English language quirks that your average Japanese person has trouble with -- even people with a firm grasp of the language. One of these is the difference between definite and indefinite articles (the, a). Japanese has no equivalent of "a" or "the", so using them properly is very tricky. Sometimes the wrong one is used ("Would you like to go see the movie with me?", when the conversation to this point had mentioned nothing about any movie) and sometimes an article is included where it shouldn't be ("I visited the France last week.")
I just had a funny example cross my desk on a cross-check of a translation for a client. The client is a cultural anthropology organization that often has us translate their reports and newsletters. This particualr report was on the restoration of Japense lacquerware utensiles -- in this case, a dining set including a bowl and some teacups from the mid 14th century. In this case, an article was *omitted* where it should have been placed, leading to a completely different sentence than what was intended:
"There was white crack in the bottom of the bowl."
In all seriousness, articles are very easy for native speakers but they are incredibly tricky for people whose native languages don't have them.
I just had a funny example cross my desk on a cross-check of a translation for a client. The client is a cultural anthropology organization that often has us translate their reports and newsletters. This particualr report was on the restoration of Japense lacquerware utensiles -- in this case, a dining set including a bowl and some teacups from the mid 14th century. In this case, an article was *omitted* where it should have been placed, leading to a completely different sentence than what was intended:
"There was white crack in the bottom of the bowl."
In all seriousness, articles are very easy for native speakers but they are incredibly tricky for people whose native languages don't have them.