Comments on "Eight Ways to Say You" Jaxon

 I definitely think translating a language to another language that has a totally different language system and strong cultural context is not an easy thing. I know what 塾 is since we also have them in China, but since many English-speaking countries don't have such schools, they didn't invent the word. I thought footage could be a good way to do translation while keeping the text as original as possible, but I recalled my memories reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Count of Monte Cristo with average 3 footage per page to tell me all the knowledge about Paris and Italy, and then I found the footage didn't help me very much since the culture is too different. Now I know The process of recreating the sentences and replacing the words can be important in translating. Especially for humor like wordplay that can be hard in another language, it tests the skills of the translators of the knowledge for both of the languages.

In Chinese, we also have plenty of ways to say "you" or "I" for different social levels or politeness but nowadays, we seldom use them even in written languages to show that the society is equal. 

The idea of English focus on "clarity" and Japanese focus on "subtlety" is interesting. I remember we talked in class that the language itself doesn't matter for "clarity," and so far, from what I have read in Japanese, I also don't find the sentences themselves being "vague." I feel from daily conversations to literature works, "implying" is an important part of Japanese. People need to "read the room," and for literature, to think behind the text to get things authors want to convey is fascinating. The different groups of readers' reading habits might also be considered for translators.

"Direct translations of English into Japanese, therefore, often appear crude and abrasive, insulting the reader’s intelligence with their bluntness, while direct translations of Japanese into English are often frustrating to read because they come across as emotional, even childish, and without any point or conclusive ending. " I'm very interested in translating English to Japanese, too, about the idea of insulting readers; intelligence. The skills of not only translating the meaning of the sentences but also translating the feeling of the literature style like vagueness or clarity are unique in literature translation.