I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

Reverse-ECCHIcation: 'Cum' | English Is Not So Easy 11

I love ZONE-tan and ZONE-SAMA and consider them to be the standard for all the art I make. The ECCHIcation series is a very exciting project for me and at the same time I was surprised at the depth of their knowledge of the Japanese language. I am sure that they have the ability to come to Japan and live there without any difficulty.

However, there are some words they deal with that I personally would rather know about English words, and I would like to explain one of those English words, "cum," this time.

It's time for our "COMING ATTRACTIONS". If you're wondering why we're not spelling the "coming" in "coming attractions" with a "u", we're better than that.

(from "ZTV News Episode 1 (April 2012)")

Once, when I was studying English for a university entrance exam, I memorized the following phrase:

"Tom, dinner is ready!" "OK, mom. I'm coming."

We learned that the reason why "I'm coming" is used here instead of "I'm going" is that English focuses on the movement of the person toward the topic: "dinner". This may sound strange, but In Japan, most people choose to say "I'm going" because they focus only on the speaker's present location (I personally believe that this difference in thinking may provide a clue to the question that will come up later, but I will leave that out of this discussion).

Incidentally, "come" used in "I'm coming" is also a well-known verb that expresses orgasm. If this is the case, then I think that native speakers take care not to use the expression "I'm coming" in their daily conversation. This is because there are many examples in my own language where the popularity of euphemisms in pornography has, in turn, made it difficult to use them in everyday conversation (bukkake, gokkun, sempai, onii-chan, danna-sama...). But here is where a serious question arises: In this case, if an English learner like me uses the phrase "I'm coming.", will it give other native speakers a sexual image of me? Will a situation arise where you smile wryly and I ask you, "Why? Did I make a mistake?" and you answer "No, but... umm..."? There is a California-born English teacher in Japan, David A Thayne, who specializes in teaching these taboos that only native English speakers know, but there are not many saviors like him in Japan!

Let's get back on track. The main theme of this article is the English word "cum". Where did you learn this word first?

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cum#English

Etymology 1: Learned borrowing from Latin cum (“with”). (e.g. This is my bedroom-cum-study!)

Etymology 2: Variant of come, attested (in the basic sense "come, move from further to nearer, arrive") since Old English. In the current sense and spelling from 1970s.

I see. "Cum" is a word with a long history, having its origins in Latin and Old English. But, "in the current sense"??

https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Cum

cum

verb ("to ejaculate") and noun ("semen"), by 1973, apparently a variant of come in the sexual sense that originated in pornographic writing, perhaps first in the noun. This "experience sexual orgasm" slang meaning of come (perhaps originally come off) is attested by 1650, in "Walking In A Meadowe Greene," in a folio of "loose songs" collected by Bishop Percy.

What English learners like me should be aware of here is that "I'm coming" is an expression used in daily conversation, but "I'm cumming" is a slang used only in pornography. In other words, if I misspelled "come" as "cum," I would be in big trouble.

My next concern is how to distinguish between "I'm coming" and "I'm cumming" when I draw ero manga. I know your honest opinion is that "it doesn't matter which phrase you use," but I'm curious to know the subtle differences in meaning between the two.

https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/49051/i-am-cumming-or-i-am-coming

There was an interesting discussion on this site:

• People can say "I'm coming/cumming" seriously, with humor, with passion, as a joke, or in all kinds of ways, just as with most phrases or words.
• To enumerate how many times last night, I have only heard or read expressions like "I came x times last night" and "How many times did you come/cum last night?" It seems to me that "cummed" is less often used.
• Maybe "cum" is a kind of "eye dialect".
• Maybe "cum" is related to the French word "écume (foam)".

What was particularly interesting to me was that "cum" is also a verb, even though it is a kind of "vulgar slang," so it has past tense, present progressive, present perfect, and past perfect tenses. For example, however, is "He cums three times every night." or "He had cummed before I did." a natural expression for a native English speaker? I would like to hear your opinion.

Conclusion

I learned that "come" began to mean orgasm in the mid-17th century, and that the word "cum" is a vulgar slang that appeared in the 70s. Some native English speakers consider "cum" to be an eye dialect for "come". The word "cum" was first spelled jokingly in pornography and became a buzzword, meaning male orgasm and semen, but now "cum" has lost its jokey nuance and has become a word used in serious situations as well.

Once again, what I am concerned about is the feelings that native English speakers have when they hear these words. For example, my native language has many "old-fashioned" words from the 70's that the younger generation would make fun of me if I used them on the street. So is "cum" an "old-fashioned" word for modern native English speakers as well? Or is "cum" already a common and widespread word, and is it considered a general verb rather than a coined word? I am interested in your opinions.

[For Japanese language learners]

As you might know, in English, orgasm is expressed as "come/cum," but in Japan, orgasm is expressed as "イく (to go / to die)". The Japanese word "イく" is also "vulgar slang" and has no orthography, but in most cases it is written in katakana イ and hiragana く to distinguish it from "行く (to go)" or "逝く (to die)". Most examples these days use "イク" as a kind of onomatopoeia, but I prefer the verb-like notation "イく (cum) /イった (cummed) /イかせる (make someone cum)" for my personal preference. As you can see, there is no correct spelling.

Also, please keep in mind that "cum" is used mainly by men, but "イく" is used mainly by women. Ejaculation is commonly described as "出す (to emit)", which is a shortened form of "精液を出す (emit semen)".

In recent years, artificial intelligence has made it possible to generate high-quality illustrations. The question that arises in this situation is: "Will artificial intelligence take away the jobs of creators?" I am neither a creator nor an artist, but I would like to write an article about my thoughts on this issue. The reason why I am writing this article is because I like English and writing is much more fun than drawing these days.

SCP-like approach

First of all, I would like to discuss this issue in an SCP-like manner, so I have constructed a world or "My Universe" in my mind regarding this issue. There are three standpoints in "My Universe". This means that no matter how much the discussion progresses, I will not be able to discuss the issue outside of "My Universe".

1. Creators: These are the ones whose jobs may be eliminated with the advent of high-performance image-generating AI.
2. Consumers: they are the ones who enjoy the creator's production. The majority of them have only an average person's level of aesthetic sense. Although they are comfortable with the fact that they are irrelevant bystanders to this issue, they are a little concerned about the possibility that AI will create works that surpass their own aesthetic sense. As this statement indicates, I belong to this category.
3. Operators: or "AI artists," are beings who have the ability to manipulate the AI to generate images.

When I would like to emphasize that they are inhabitants of "My Universe", I would label them as "1. creators", "2. consumers", and "3. operators". Thank you for your understanding. Now that I have modeled the inhabitants of "My Universe" as described above, let's revisit the issue. As a matter of fact, AI is now capable of producing illustrations of quality comparable to that of professionals, and further technological innovation is expected in the future. Assuming that within My Universe, an all-powerful AI that surpasses all human creations thanks to remarkable technological innovation will appear, I would like to consider the question, "Will AI eliminate humanity in this world?"

Pessimistic opinion

It is commonly asserted that "AI technology has already opened Pandora's box, and as the technology advances in the future, everything that humans would produce will be reproduced and creators will no longer be needed." It is interesting to note that many of these claims seem to implicitly assume that if 1. creators are to be exterminated in the future, this will be caused by an influx of 3. AI operators into the creator world. This argument is based on the natural law that an increase in supply decreases the value of a product. However, even today, there is already an oversupply of human-made products, and I hear that it is difficult to make a living as an artist. If this is the case, it seems premature to think that an oversupply will in itself cause the disappearance of artists.

Optimistic opinion

It is commonly asserted that "AI can produce the 'right' things that humans have produced in the past, but there is a power in the art produced by human suffering that AI can never emulate." If I were to force myself to question this as well, I would say, "Only humans may be able to create works that express suffering, but in 'My Universe' AI is already capable of creating works that 2. consumers cannot tell whether they were created by a human or an AI." No matter how much technology advances in the future, I think it will not be possible for AI to put their soul into something as human beings do, but they are already at the stage where they can create something that "looks like it has a soul". I have named this problem the "Ghost of the Philosophical Zombie".

Putting both opinions together, we can conclude that in the future, as the pessimists say, AI artists will replace human artists in some fields, which will lead to the elimination of human artists in those specific fields, while as the optimists say, human beings are still stronger than AI in specific fields, and such fields will not disappear in the future, so I think artists will not be completely exterminated. This is my (boring) opinion.

Has DeepL eliminated translators?

I think the translation business was the first to face this problem. There are three genres of translation: "practical translation," "literary translation," and "video translation (translation of movies and TV programs)." Currently, the performance of machine translation has improved dramatically, and its power, especially in "practical translation," needs no explanation here.

Here is a simple quiz for you. There is a joke in Japanese: "yokkora sex (よっこらセックス)". "Yokkorase (よっこらせ)" is the equivalent of *grunt*, and in Japan it is mainly used when lifting heavy objects or sitting on a chair. And "sex" is a word borrowed from English, meaning sexual intercourse. The word "yokkora sex," a compound of "yokorase" and "sex," is a vulgar word used by middle-aged men with a strong sexual appetite. How would you translate this joke into English? I am sure that this problem is unsolvable by machine translation.

(from "Yuugai Shitei Dokyusei" by kuroha)

The answer is "There we hoe." Frankly, I think the translator who came up with this translation is a genius. As a specific area in which humans can triumph over AI, literary translation work requires the ability to translate foreign language jokes in the work into one's native language, i.e., extensive knowledge of the foreign language and extremely high skills in one's native language.

From the above, I personally feel that in the world of translation, a situation similar to the (boring) conclusion of the previous section has already emerged, where "humans can win over AI in specific fields, but are still being eliminated in some areas," and I think this can be considered an analogy to some extent regarding this issue.

My dream

The topic up to this point has been the possibility that the role of "1. creators" will be replaced by "3. AI operators," but I believe that another factor, "2. consumers," should not be ignored.

A technology that I personally am intensely waiting for is the "lover robot." Even today, there are quite high-quality products on the market, but they are basically silicone dolls that do not move, and occasionally there are products on the market with a motorized waist swinging function. The use of this product is a horrifying sight to see from the side, but the current situation is that this product is being sold at a price of thousands of dollars. As a man myself, I cannot deny the fact that men sometimes show amazing adaptability as a "2. consumer" when it comes to satisfying their sexual desires, and this is also a point that feminists find offensive.

Whether or not a perfect robot will ever emerge, I hope that a conversational AI that can perform natural language processing flawlessly will emerge in my lifetime. The question of whether or not the perfect conversational AI will appear is similar to the question of whether or not there will be a philosophical zombie ghost AI that can "act like an emotional being" to 2. consumers, which I expect will come sooner. I believe that a large part of such technology will be supported by "3. AI engineers" and another part will be supported by the high adaptability of "2. consumers."

Artists who will survive

So far, "My Universe" has been structured in such a way that "1. creators" are threatened by two problems: "3. AI operators" are too good, and "2. consumers" are too adaptable. Also, a little while ago I concluded that artists can beat AI on specific fields, but will be eliminated on some. Then, in "My Universe", what kind of artists, if any, are there who will not be exterminated?

It must be said here that it is very difficult to accurately predict such an existence, even within My Universe. This is because, even if we can predict to some extent what AI technology will be able to do, it is difficult to predict what 2. consumers will come to value. Just as consumers did not need board-type cell phones before the iPhone, it is natural to assume that the value criteria of "2. consumers" will vary greatly depending on "1. creators" and "3. operators".

But even so, can we predict the "specific fields" where humans can beat AI, based on the translator analogy mentioned earlier here? I think this can be "translated" as "areas where AI cannot reach". I think of it as if one real solution is "value added other than drawing technique which is also recognizable as value to the 2. consumer". In comics, it is "story," but it is hard to say because AI for writing stories is also developing remarkably. Another example is "who painted it," when Van Gogh's paintings are mentioned in combination with his life and suffering when they are evaluated. In addition, more and more artists are nowadays disclosing their production process on YouTube. Through this process, artists have succeeded in creating the extra value of "proof that it was created by a human being." The act of "educating people on how to draw" can also be of great value.

There are so many specific examples of "value added other than technique," which I listed as "areas beyond AI's reach," that I am sure there are many more options available, and I am sure that people will step out of this narrow framework of thought and find various options in the future. In this article, I state that it is impossible to predict how "value added other than technique" will be changed by 2. consumers in the future. If this is the case, my optimistic outlook is that many of these changes will work to push 1. creators into a corner, but some will work to help them. When I explained the characteristics of "2. consumers" earlier, while many "2. consumers" are indifferent to this matter, they readily accept "art" created by "3. operators," while there are a certain number of people who have the feeling that "I prefer something created by humans, but there is no way for me to tell the difference. I wonder if my eyes are not good enough to recognize them." There must be a way for 1. creators to survive, is what I am trying to say throughout the article.

Finally, in "My Universe," I imagine a more futuristic world where "3. operators" are treated in the same way as "1. creators". This is a society made possible by the high adaptive capacity of "2. consumers," but in such a dystopia, "creation" is likely to take a form that is unimaginable to modern people. However, no matter how much AI technology advances and the value system of the "2. consumer" changes, if the "2. consumer" is the one who enjoys it, the structure of "creation" by the "3. operator" who has the same or better aesthetic sense as the "2. consumer" will never be disappeared. So I believe that human beings will never disappear from the field of "creation". In other words, my vision of the future is that even if the world comes to a point where the standard for "what is creation" is changed by the adaptability of "2. consumers," the existence of Tadashi, who has programmed robots like Baymax, will not disappear.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

I wanna be a translator! | English Is Not So Easy 10

As an English learner, I have a long history of training in English-to-Japanese translation. I have never had anyone evaluate my translations, but I would like to translate some sentences to let you know how much I love and know English.

Each chapter of Hiroshi Mori's novel "Sky Crawlers" opens with a quote from J. D. Salinger's Nine Stories. And when you go to the next page, you will find a translation by a professional translator named Takashi Nozaki. This time, I would like to challenge Nozaki as an amateur.

The mouse, I've been sure for years, limps home from the site of the burning ferris wheel with a brand new, airtight plan for killing the cat.

(De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period)

The word "airtight" can have an obscene meaning today, but in this sentence it is used in a similar way to "elaborate". ... "The burning ferris wheel"? Do mice play in amusement parks? Or is the term used to refer to the hamster's famous plaything? Anyway, this sentence seems to describe the relationship between "Tom and Jerry".

<My Translation>

ネズミってのはね、これは何年も前から知ってることなんだけど、燃え上がる回転遊具から足を引きずって退散するときにはすでに、新しい、猫を殺すための入念な計画を練っているもんなのさ

I am not a professional translator and am prepared to receive a lot of criticism from professionals. However, I always try to write texts that are similar to Japanese light novels or sound novels. This time, I translated this text in a "BACCANO!" style.

<Nozaki's Translation>

年来私は確信しているのだが、二十日鼠という奴は、燃え上がるフェリス式観覧車を後にしてびっこを引き引き家へ帰るときにはすでに、今度こそ間違いなく猫の命を奪う新手の計画を巡らしているものだ。

Umm, very "wet". First of all, one of the worst parts of my translation compared to the professionals is the omission of vocabulary. I translated "limps home" as "足を引きずって退散する (limps away)," but Nozaki translated it as "びっこを引き引き家へ帰る (limps home)". He translated this sentence much more accurately.

This is an excuse, but I believe that which sentences to omit and which to translate accurately depends on whether you are writing a subtitle, a novel, or lyrics, and that you need to choose the appropriate means for your purpose. In my case, my purpose was to write a "light novel," so I translated it very anime-ish.

What little blood he had left trickled thinly down his wrist. He ordered Omba to look away, and, sobbing, Omba obeyed him. The Laughing Man's last act, before turning his face to the bloodstained ground, was to pull off his mask.

(The Laughing Man)

The timeline is complicated, but the phenomenon seems to occur in the order "pull off the mask" -> "turn his face to the ground." Since it is extremely difficult to translate this into other languages, I have resorted to translating it as "pull of the mask" AND THEN "turn his face to the ground". The purpose of the translation is "for readers who are not familiar with the original text to enjoy his work as a work of literature," and I thought it necessary to write the text naturally as a single novel.

<My translation>

わずかに残った血が彼の腕を薄くつたって落ちていった。彼はオンバにあちらを向くようにと言って、オンバはすすり泣きながらそれに従った。笑い男の最後のショーは、彼のマスクをとることだった。そして彼は、血に染まった地面へとうなだれた

I placed particular importance on the meaning of the word "act" and replaced it with the word "show (ショー)," which is also used in Japan. I think this is an acrobatic translation, reminiscent of a scene in the movie "JOKER".

<Nozaki's translation>

今や、わずかに残っていた彼の血も、細い筋をなして彼の手首を伝って滴り落ちた。彼はオンバに顔をそむけるように命じた。オンバはすすり泣きながらその名に従った。それから、笑い男は自分の仮面をはぎ取った。それが彼の最期だった。そしてその顔が、血に染まった地面に向かってうつむいたのである。

It is apparent that professional translators also had difficulty with J. D. Salinger's complex sentence structure. To my surprise, he translated the same sentence order as I did.

Also, I replaced "act" with "show," but he translated "The Laughing Man's last act" as "それがかれの最期だった." The expression "最期" implies that he will die shortly after this. This is also a very dramatic translation.

"Well," he said, "you know how those things happen, Sybil. I was sitting there, playing. And you were nowhere in sight. And Sharon Lipschutz came over and sat down next to me. I couldn't push her off, could I?"

(A Perfect Day for Bananafish)

The speaker of this line seems to be a very handsome man. Therefore, I must use the language spoken by handsome men.

<My translation>

「なぁ」彼は言った「何でもないことなんだよ、シビル。僕はそこに座ってピアノを弾いていた。君は僕の見えるところにはいなかった。そこにシャロン・リップシュッツがやってきて、僕の隣に座ったんだ。彼女を押しのけるわけにもいかないだろう？」

In fact, I was so fascinated by the line that I bought Nine Stories and read this story. The characters in Salinger are very American and fascinating. I now have a feeling similar to a love affair with this novel.

<Nozaki's translation>

「あのね、シビル、聞けばなあんだってきみもいうようなことさ。ぼくはあそこに座ってピアノを弾いてた。君の姿はどこにもなかった。そこへシャロン・リプシャツがやってきてぼくと並んで腰かけた。押しのけるわけにもいかないだろう？」

The two translations are similar, but I am NOT cheating. Frankly speaking, the text is not so difficult that I cannot make much difference between my translation and a professional translation. However, I felt Nozaki's translation is even more archaic and handsome than mine.

Lionel was either unwilling or unable to speak up at once. At any rate, he waited till the hiccupping aftermath of his tears had subsided a little. Then his answer was delivered, muffled but intelligible, into the warmth of Boo Boo's neck. "It's one of those things that go up in the air," he said. "With string you hold."

(Down at the Dinghy)

Maybe, Lionel is talking about kites. There are a lot of difficult words and translation seems to be very difficult.

<My translation>

ライオネルは一度に話そうとはしなかった。あるいは話せなかったのだろう。とにもかくにも、彼は涙の後のすすり泣きがやむまでずっと待ち続けていた。それから、彼の口からはこんな答えが飛び出した。それはブーブークッションの首元のぬくもりに口を押し当てた、くぐもりながらも聞き取れるような声だった。

「空に高く上がるものなんだ」彼は続けた。「糸を持ってなきゃならないけど」

As you might know, the word order in Japanese is completely different from that in English. However, I try to translate as much as possible without breaking the English word order.

<Nozaki's translation>

ライオネルはすぐには口を利く気がしなかったのか、それともきけなかったのか、いずれにしても彼は、涙の後のしゃくりあげが少し収まるまで待って、それから暖かい母の首筋に顔を埋めながら答えた。それはこもった声だったけれど、言葉はとにかく聞き取れた。「ユダコってのはね、空に上げるタコの一種だよ」と、彼は言った「糸を手に持ってさ」

Bravo ... I underrated him.

Finally, I have prepared some Japanese sentences so that you can experience what it feels like to be a translator. Since I am Japanese, I am not capable of evaluating your English translations, but if you are interested, please share your translations with me in the comments section.

This is a scene from NHK's manben (lit. Comic Study) program in which manga artists Naoki Urasawa and Junji Ito refer to the beautiful women Ito draws. They are both speaking colloquial Japanese, which would be extremely difficult to translate into English.

===================

No.1

浦沢：最悪の事態に巻き込まれる美女タイプ、が非常にわかってる

伊藤：言葉遣いも、「何々だわ」とか…

浦沢：「だわ」って言いますね。ちょっと「深窓の令嬢」のような…

伊藤：ええ。

浦沢：僕もね結構、セリフ、そういうところあるんですよ。声優の皆口裕子さんが、「YAWARA!」のセリフをつけるときに、「『だわ』とかいうから、すごい恥ずかしい」って

（笑い）

伊藤：まぁそうですよね。あんまいないですよね、現実には。

No.2

浦沢：僕も『MONSTER』のときとかに、結構、医学生が使うような資料写真とか一杯使ってるときに、最初「うわ、キッツいなぁ」って思ってたんだけど、不思議なことに、じーっと見ちゃうと平気になる、っていうのありますよね

伊藤：あぁ、そうですね

浦沢：ちょっと、チラッと見えたものってのは、もうなんか、すごい恐怖として残る。恐怖を克服するには、一回じっと見ることなんだろうね。

伊藤：目が慣れちゃう

===================

Even If you use Google Translation or DeepL, you would probably get sentences that don't make sense. Machine translation can accurately translate official documents and academic papers, but it still cannot translate spoken language. I could not translate this into English because I did not know the English equivalents of some of the words they used. However, this program has English subtitles. I was very surprised at the skill of the nameless translator who put English subtitles on this program. It was a good study of English for me. If you want to know the answer to this question, please play the video found by searching "manben junji ito" on YouTube starting at the 10:00 point, or please let me know.

<My attempt; not the right answer>

===================

No.1

Urasawa: You really understand women caught in the worst situations!

Junji Ito: And language. You know, my characters use old-fashioned language.

Urasawa: That's right. I felt they were a bit like "classy daughters", right?

Junji Ito: Yeah.

Urasawa: In fact, my characters also use old-fashioned language. When the voice actress Yuko Minaguchi performed "YAWARA!" she told me, "The language is so old, it's embarrassing!"

(Laughter)

Junji Ito: I feel you. Not many women use such language in reality.

No.2

Urasawa: When I was writing "MONSTER," I was looking at a lot of pictures that medical students would look at, and at first I thought, "Ugh, disgusting!" but strangely enough, once I stared at them, I became okay with it.

Junji Ito: Uh-huh.

Urasawa: A glimpse of a scene will remain in your mind as a terrifying experience, and on the other hand, I think it is important to take a closer look at it once to overcome your fear.

Junji Ito: Because your eyes get used to it?

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

Jokes | English Is Not So Easy 9

In my article, I mentioned that it is very difficult to translate swear words in American movies into Japanese. There are other things that are difficult to translate. Jokes.

Skipper: Leopard seals! Nature's snakes.

Kowalski: Aren't snakes nature's snakes?

Skipper: How should I know? I live on a flippin' frozen tundra!

             ―from "Penguins of Madagascar (2014)"

These kinds of gags are relatively easy to translate.

<My Translation>

隊長：アザラシ。奴らは自然界の蛇だ

コワルスキ：蛇も、自然界では？

隊長：知るもんか。カチンコチンのツンドラにいるんだぞ。

But, this example is very difficult to translate:

Mike: What's the special prize, and who gets it?

Wonka: The best kind of prize is a surprise! Hahahahaha...

             ―from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)"

This is because the gag is formed by the similarity in pronunciation between "prize" and "surprise. In other words, when translating it into Japanese, it is necessary to prepare something similar in pronunciation to "keihin", which is the translation of "prize".

<My Translation>

マイク：特別な景品って何、誰が貰うの？

ウォンカ：最高の景品（keihin）は自鳴琴（jimei kin; music box）！ははははは…

I don't think anyone would laugh because it is not very funny, but I think this is an appropriate translation because no one but Mr. Wonka laughed in the movie.

Now, I would like to ask you to experience the feelings of translators. The next example is a gag from the Japanese anime "Paranoia Agent (2004)", which I saw both subtitled and dubbed in English, and both were really great.

================================

 (Middle-aged detective Ikari talks to Maromi, a stuffed animal held by a girl Sagi)

Ikari: "君はどうだい？犯人を見なかったかな？ずっと一緒にいたんでしょうね、マロミちゃん？ん？！(Sub: How about you? Did you see the attacker? I know you were there. Right, Maromi-chan! Huh?!; Dub: Well listen, so how about you? Did you see anybody suspicious? I know you were there wither. Isn't that right Maromi? Huh?!)"

Sagi: "大丈夫ですか？ (Sub: Is he all right?; Dub: Is he brain damaged?)"

(Ikari blushes.)

Sagi: "川津さんの様態 (Sub: I meant, Mr. Kawazu's condition...; Dub: I mean Mr. Kawazu.)"

Ikari: "命に別状はないそうです (Sub: He's in stable condition, Miss.; Dub: He's in stable condition, thank you.)"

================================

However, one compromise is seen in both sub and dub. In Japanese, Sagi's remark "大丈夫ですか？（be okay?) + 川津さんの様態 (Mr. Kawazu's condition)" is just a natural inversion that can be correct regardless of Ikari's reaction, implying that she is unaware of Ikari's feelings, but in English, "I meant … / I mean …" is added, making it more likely that Sagi is conscious of Ikari's reaction. This is a problem caused by the linguistic structural differences, but can we create an English that resolves the differences between the two? Is such a script possible?

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

"Do you know how hard is it?" asked Precip.24 | English Is Not So Easy 8

Not to brag, but one of the authors of the textbook I mentioned in #7, David James, was an English teacher in Japan and I took his class. His lecture was very interesting and the content was something that even a Japanese English teacher would not know. For example, he forbade Japanese students from using "get" in a sentence. The reason, he said, is that "get" sounds a little childish. And when he was lecturing on speech in English-speaking countries, he said, "The grammatical rule of quotation marks is very complicated. Beginners should not use them." However, that is a serious problem for me because one of my goals is to write a novel in English in the future.

So how difficult is it? The best way to find out is to observe actual samples. I have a book, "ZEBRA and Other Stories" by Chaim Potok, which has probably drifted to Japan after a long journey. It is a well-known children's literature in Japan, and there are few words in it that one would have to look up in a dictionary to understand. However, through the stories, the complex emotions of children who are neither children nor adults are clearly described. It is a novel that can be enjoyed from both a child's and an adult's point of view.

I have researched a number of sample conversations from this novel.

             "You always tell such sad stories," Andrea said.

             The bell rang. Mrs. English dismissed the class.

             In the hallway, Andrea said to Zebra, "You know, you are a very gloomy life form."

             "Andrea, get off my case," Zebra said.

             ―ZEBRA

One example can be found: "blah blah blah," one said. It seems that when "one said" is placed after a dialog, the comma must be placed in an odd position for me.

             At one point during the day, I astonished myself by suddenly asking Seth why his parents had divorced. … But he took two or three deep breaths and finally said, "Because of my dad's drinking. He tried to keep it from us, but we all knew."

             By the time he finished telling me that, there were tears in his eyes.

             —B.B.

His novels sometimes contain conversational sentences without quotation marks. This is a technique unique to his novels in which the reader is never told what kind of wording the protagonist uses to ask him such a question.

             "He asks if he may touch your hair."

             "What?"

             "May he touch your hair?"

             Moon took a deep breath. All those questions, and now this. Touch my hair. Well, why not? He turned his head to the side....

             "He says he likes the way your hair looks and feels," Mr. Khan said to Moon.

             —MOON

In this scene, Mr. Khan interprets the words of a boy named Ashraf. In his novels, the past tense is basically used, but "asks" and "says" are used when the characters make statements in the speaker's conversational text.

             I said to Mom and Dad over breakfast the next morning, "I had this dream last night. Joe Redhill was carrying me."

             "What do you mean, carrying you?" said Dad.

             "Over his shoulder," I said.

             "Why was he carrying you?" asked Mom.

             "I don't know."

             —NAVA

Interesting expression used here: "blah blah blah?" said/asked one. When the speech is in the interrogative form, are the verb and subject swapped? The rule remains an enigma.

             "What?"

             "Your hair, it's so long and beautiful. Did your dad have red hair?"

             "My dad's hair was blond," Isabel said.

             "Can I touch it?" Betsy asked, and without waiting for a reply, put her hand on the hair alongside Isabel's forehead. Isabel felt Betsy's fingers lightly stroking her hair and saw a strange look enter her eyes: they appeared to grow enormous, translucent, the color of watery gray ink. She ran her tongue over her lips, drew her upper lip back, and caught her lower lip between her teeth.

             "It's like silk," Betsy said.

             Isabel stepped back. "Please don't," she said.

             —ISABEL

What is the difference between "'blah blah blah?' asked one" and "'blah blah blah?' one asked"? I give up.

Mr. James is right, it seems to be very difficult to use quotation marks. I hope this article will give you an idea of the grammatical difficulties of quotation marks and the fascination of Chaim Potok's works.

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

100 Spells | English Is Not So Easy 7

In Japan, there are 100 magic sentences that must be memorized in order to learn to speak English fluently. To see the text of these 100 sentences, you had to buy the book in Japan (I have bought this book three times in my lifetime), but they are now illegally uploaded on this page.

The 100 sentences were written by a Japanese high school English teacher Hironobu Takeoka based on the advice of an English native speaker David James, and are intended for those who have already mastered basic knowledge of the English language and wish to acquire practical English skills. In other words, the basic practical knowledge of the language is packaged into the 100 sentences.

Q1. Please fill in the blank.

It (   ) dangerous to drive a car after drinking two bottles of whiskey.

An English(US) speaker in HiNative:

"is" is preferred …

https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/14428647

The answer is "would be". According to Takeoka's view, the word "would be" contains the nuance "I don't think you are the kind of person who would drink and drive," and English speakers are very conscious of whether the remark is hypothetical or not, so "would be" is more appropriate.

Q2. Please fill in the blank.

Anya has nice drums, (  ) she never lets anyone else play them.

An English(US) speaker in HiNative:

I'd say "but" …

https://ja.hinative.com/questions/12635329

The answer is "and". Because the fact that she has a good drum set has absolutely nothing to do with her letting someone else play it.

I think English used by native speakers is the most correct, but this is a great book for me.

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

You were cried by your friend???? | English Is Not So Easy 6

While it is true that if you want to know how a foreigner thinks, it is better to investigate directly how people from that country think, you can sometimes also get a glimpse of their characteristics by learning their language.

For example, in Japanese there is a sentence like this:

"昨日友達と話してたら突然泣かれちゃって。"

The literal translation of this is:

"Yesterday I was talking with a friend and all of a sudden I was cried by her."

Yes, "I was cried by her" is a meaningless expression when translated directly, and the correct translation is "she cried", but Japanese people often use this kind of expression. This indicates that the friend suddenly started crying and the speaker was very confused, "What?! I didn't tell you anything hurtful!" This phenomenon can be interpreted as a reflection of the "paranoid" nature of the Japanese, or, more linguistically, as a characteristic of Japanese language, which frequently uses "particles" that play a role similar to that of English prepositions, making it easier to create passive verbs using "by" than English.

30 Untranslatable Words From Other Languages Illustrated By Anjana Iyer.

http://redd.it/25fkk8

As the anonymous on Reddit pointed out, the German word "Schadenfreude" (malicious enjoyment derived from observing someone else's misfortune; from Wikipedia "Schadenfreude") was not in Japan, but recently a word "メシウマ" was invented. This is a slang and an abbreviation of "メシ (dinner) + ウマ (い) (delicious.)" which means "dinner is delicious while listening to someone's unhappy stories."

Did you catch a glimpse of the Japanese national character? As a Japanese, I love Japan and do not hate it, but this phenomenon is similar to our feelings toward our lovers: when we live with them, we see what we do not like, and when we look at them from a distance, we find only good points. So, finally, I would like to introduce my favorite English expressions.

Sticks and stones.

A magic spell for when you have to meet someone you are afraid of.

It's not rocket science.

A magic spell for when you are faced with a difficult problem.

serendipity

If you want to come up with good ideas, you need to think about the problem, study it, and live with it.

psychological safety

How a healthy workshop should be.

The cat is out of the bag.

Really? Where is she? <3

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

What is the one thing you hate about English language? | English Is Not So Easy 5

As a native Japanese speaker, my complaint with my native language is that it is hard to distinguish questions in colloquial Japanese. For example:

・宿題はもう終わりました（lit. '(My) homework is already over.'）

・宿題はもう終わりましたか（lit. 'Is (your) homework over yet?'）

a question can only be expressed by adding just one letter "か" at the end of the sentence. Furthermore, in colloquial speech, even this "か" is usually omitted. In other words, it becomes impossible to distinguish between a platitude and an interrogative sentence when the colloquial language is transcribed into written form. As a result, I often experience conversations like these examples:

Example 1

"宿題終わった？(Is the homework over yet?)"

"へぇ、そりゃよかった。(Oh, that's good.)"

"違う、聞いてんの。(No. I'm asking)"

Example 2

"あの映画観た？ (Have you seen that movie?)"

"ほんと？どうだった？ (Really? How was it?)"

"違う。聞いてんの。まだ観てないよ (No, I'm asking. I haven't seen it.)"

Example 3

"あれ面白い？(Is that interesting?)"

"ほんとに？変わってるね… (Really? You're weird...)"

"違う。聞いてんだヨォォォォォ (NO, I'M ASKING YOU!!!!)"

I know the root cause of this inconvenience is my pronunciation, but this is what I find frustrating about the Japanese language.

Then, what are your dissatisfactions with the English language? …Before I ask you this question, a native speaker already gave me an answer.

ghoti

Although English seems to be a very logical and organized language compared to Japanese, I was troubled by the discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation. For example, when I first started learning English, I could not write "hamburger" correctly.

HUMBURGER

HAMBURGAR

HUNBARGER

(Three muscular German guys?)

recognize

ReKoGuNizzZe

(Delicious Italian bread?)

claim

KuLaaIMu

(Delicious French cake?)

My advice to all English learners is, "Buy an electronic dictionary that can pronounce English, not a paper dictionary!"

As to why English has a particular form of pronunciation, I learned that it has undergone complex changes from its old Germanic origins, with words coming from the Netherlands and being introduced by the French, plus the presence of the Vikings and letterpress printing technology also influenced this tendency.

Incidentally, English is also known as a highly efficient language for information transmission, capable of conveying the same amount of information in short sentences. At the same time, English is known as a language with the largest number of syllables and the largest number of words in the world. It is not a good example, but a person who does not know the word "nipple" cannot guess what it means by looking at the letters, but this is not always the case in other languages. For example, in German it is "Brustwarze; Brust ("breast") + Warze ("wart")", and in Japanese it is "乳首; 乳 ("breast") + 首 ("neck")".

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

Of Which | English Is Not So Easy 4

A high school English teacher once told me, "For Japanese students, English as a subject is like science." Indeed, at my school, students who were good at science subjects tended to be good at English as well, but I did not like that idea because I thought it was too mechanical.

Indeed, there is a scientific aspect to language. For example, this is especially true when I am working on rearranging sentences according to the grammatical rules of English, as in a puzzle game.

1. That house with a flat roof is my uncle's.

2. That house whose roof is flat is my uncle's.

3. That house of which the roof is flat is my uncle's.

4. That house the roof of which is flat is my uncle's.

―綿貫陽『基礎からよく分かる英文法』、p.202

But even if it were possible to rearrange a single sentence so that it had the same grammatical meaning, I think the reality is that usually one of them is the way native speakers most often use them, and the rest are not grammatically incorrect but are not used very often in daily life. According to Prof. Watanuki, who wrote the book, the first example is the most natural, the second is a little unnatural in its use of "whose roof", and "of which" is rarely used today.

Then what about "in which"?

1. This is the restaurant in which I first met her.

2. This is the restaurant which I first met her in.

3. This is the restaurant that I first met her in.

4. This is the restaurant I first met her in.

―綿貫陽『基礎からよく分かる英文法』、p.200

According to the book, the first is still used today but sounds very polite or old fashioned, the second is grammatically correct but not often used, the third, "that … in," is relatively used, and the fourth, without "that", is the most common. However, in the English I have been exposed to, examples using the first "in which" are more frequent, and I do not recall ever seeing a sentence with a preposition like "in" placed at the end of a sentence (In German, sentences with prepositions at the end of sentences are relatively common). Is this because most of the English texts I have been exposed to are taken from papers and articles for the English proficiency test? Or has such language become extinct today?

I love English and was once good enough to become an English teacher at a Japanese junior high school. However, that was in the past and since then my knowledge of English has been declining rapidly. So, as part of my language learning, I decided to submit some simple questions and comments about English language that are not easy for me (and that I should ask on HiNative or Quora) to Newgrounds. I am not an expert in English and may be making elementary mistakes, but thank you for your patience.

Swear Words | English Is Not So Easy 3

"Bite me."

That the phrase could be meant as an insult is something I could imagine from what the three poor girls at Britain's Got Talent said to the booing audience and to Simon. However, the term still makes me think of Mavis from Hotel Transylvania.

English swear words are unique and difficult to translate into other languages. If someone says "Bite me" to me, it does not mean that they want me to bite them, nor does "fu-- you" mean that they want to have s-x with me.

Japanese translators have historically struggled with such words. I was reading The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, translated into Japanese by a translator named Takashi Nozaki, when the strange word "オマンコシヨウ (lit. let's play with pu--y??)" caught my attention. The word was used only in this novel and not in any dictionary, but when I looked up the English original, I found that it was a translation of "F--K YOU".

Until now, the most common translation rule for English-specific swear words has been "do not translate directly and replace it with another swear word," but there are a few exceptions. As I wrote in the first article, there was an American filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick, who did not allow that policy. He consequently created the opportunity for a new vocabulary of swear words in Japan.

・そびえ立つクソ（stacked s--t）

・メス犬の息子（son of a b---h）

…

An unnamed Japanese person who used to provide Japanese subtitles for Angry Video Game Nerd's YouTube videos translated "mother f--ker" as "母犯し野郎," so I think he or she was influenced by "Full Metal Jacket".

Incidentally, in Japan today, more than 90% of words classified as "English-specific swear words" are translated as "くそったれ" meaning "(You) who shit yourself!" or "畜生" meaning "Beast!"

However, it is interesting to note that if it is a gesture rather than a swear word, its origin is a little easier to learn. For example, in the United States, the gesture of raising the middle finger is considered a very offensive sign because it signifies the male genitalia. Also, in England, the two-finger salute is considered an insult. This is because in the old days, brave Robin Hoods who handled bows and arrows appealed to the guards in prison, "Cut off my fingers if you can!"

Finally, I would like to talk about such words and gestures in Japan. Before that, let me tell you that the gesture introduced here is probably not something you need to be aware of if you do not live in the Japanese cultural sphere.

はぁ？ ≒ Huh?:

(from "Usseewa（うっせぇわ）" by Ado)

This is no one's fault, but the pronunciation of the English "huh?" is similar to that of the Japanese "はぁ? (lit. WHAAAAT?!)" and this word, unfortunately, is a very offensive way of asking back. However, most Japanese know the English "huh?" so if you are a native English speaker and a learner of Japanese, there is little chance of being misunderstood.

(from "The Whispering Woman（囁く女）" by Junji Ito（伊藤潤二）)

Instead, a common way for Japanese people to ask back is "え？≒ Eh?" This is rarely used in the U.S., but I have heard that it is commonly used in Canadian English, which is influenced by French. So, please ask back in Canadian English to Japanese people.

clicking your tongue:

(from "Kimi ni aisarete itakatta （君に愛されて痛かった）" by Shiruka bakaudon（知るかバカうどん）)

In the past, there was a time when this gesture was used to express thinking about something or as a way of expressing mild praise, but today it is done only to express strong dissatisfaction or irritation. If you do this in Japan, people around you will think you are extremely angry.

making the hand bones sound:

(from "Hokuto no Ken（北斗の拳）" by Hara Tesuo（原哲夫） and Buronson（武論尊）)

This indicates to others that "I'm going to hit you now." You may have seen this in manga or anime.

making a ring with the thumb and forefinger of one hand and moving the forefinger of the other hand in and out:

No insult meant, but it does imply s-