Ryu - Reading comments

 From Terry’s "A Live Dog", I found his emphasis on how Japanese and English speakers express things differently in the same situation quite interesting. He gave the example of how Japanese people might say “itadakimasu” before eating, while an English speaker would say nothing at all. I realized that I do use that phrase when I'm back in Japan with my family but don't really say it when I'm outside of Japan. It also really made me think about how much context and cultural habits shape communication. Another interesting point was his view that translators often need to omit unnecessary details to make a translation readable/understandable. He mentions that while a Japanese text might include excessive repetition, translating every bit of it would make an English reader lose interest quickly, and I can definitely see how that would be a challenge.

From Riggs’ "Notes from Interlingual Hell", one thing that caught my attention was the idea that translating essays from Japanese to English is often more like rewriting the text than directly translating it. I had never considered how much restructuring might be necessary just to create a logical flow in English. Another point I found interesting was Riggs' description of how metaphors often don’t survive the translation process. A metaphor that works beautifully in Japanese might or often sound awkward or overly sentimental in English, so it has to be replaced or reworked, which I imagine could sometimes change the entire feel of a piece.