Learning Japanese From Zero

[Sonjaconjota]

She also puts a raw egg on her rice, which seems disgusting to me as an American (besides the natto also looking disgusting), but eating raw eggs isn't just a Japanese thing. I went to a Georgian restaurant in NYC two weeks ago and one of the dishes they served had a raw egg on it (I didn't eat that one, but other people did).

My boyfriend likes to watch a Japanese youtuber called Experience JAPAN. He does travel videos in Japan with a lot of emphasize on food (and trains ). Every time he puts a raw egg on his rice or in his noodles, he mentions for his international viewers that this is very normal in Japan, that eggs are safe there through sterilization and that thus there is no salmonella in Japan.
EDIT:
I find it disgusting, too, any eggs that aren't cooked through thoroughly. But I think it's more of a visual thing for me, because I don't have a problem with allioli or desserts with egg white.

[garyb]

I can't help but think the end of the meetup could be a blessing in disguise if it means you have to find an alternative where you actually speak Japanese: from what you've said, the work meetups sounded barely better than nothing. Still, it's a shame just for the social aspect, and as you've said it's not easy to find such an alternative. I'm very lucky that my town has an in-person Japanese meetup which, by all accounts, is serious and the level is pretty high; it'll be a long time before I feel ready to go to it, but it's something to aspire to!

IMO lessons on something like iTalki would be the best option since you'd be forced to speak (especially after paying for it) and one-to-one speaking can help build up the confidence for groups, but indeed the cost could add up quickly. Even a lesson or two per month where you have to speak could be far more useful than a weekly meetup where you can avoid it, and the lessons should reveal weak points that you can work on in between.

I'm sure I had a raw egg on rice at least once in Japan and I didn't really bat an eyelid, but I'm used to things like carbonara and tiramisù with non- or barely-cooked eggs and I've had steak tartare with the egg on top too. I do choose quality eggs if I'm making things like that though, not just the standard supermarket ones. Coffee on ice cream is also not unusual in Italy: affogato al caffé. I suppose they're European things... I still can't get into the idea of mixing your coffee with your cereal at breakfast, as done in France and Italy and likely other places, though. These things are better separate.

[Sizen]

To be fair, I remember reading that an egg that has been properly washed before eating only has a 1/20000 chance of having salmonella in North America. There is a higher risk if the shell has come in contact with chicken feces, so it’s important to wash the shell before cracking it open, especially if you’re intending to eat it raw.

If you mix the egg into hot rice, it does cook a little too, though I don’t know how that affects the safety. It is super delicious, though.

[golyplot]

Frieren

Near the end of tonight's episode of Frieren, I noticed Linnie use the word "indou" (last words recited to the newly departed; requiem​), an interesting coincidence since I'd only learned that word earlier today thanks to Ace Attorney.

In particular, "indou" is one of the words in the letter that Pearl misinterprets, a part in Ace Attorney I finally just got to today. It's always interesting when you run into newly seen words a second time soon afterwards like this.



Also, in a previous episode, there's a scene where Stark asks Fern to be less polite with him, as she keeps calling him "Stark-sama". She responds by calling him "Stark" with no honorifics and uses really blunt-sounding language, to which he responds, complaining about the "tameguchi". I think that in the Japanese dialog, he said that he meant for her to use "-san" or "-kun" instead, but of course there's no real way to translate this stuff into English.



I also noticed that after killing the demon who tried to kill her, when Frieren says "that's one down", she says "ippiki" in Japanese, using the counter for small animals, a sign that she (correctly) sees the demons as just wild beasts, even though they look and talk like humans. I guess that's another nuance that couldn't make it through translation.


Ace Attorney

An interesting translation difference I noticed today. When Pearl mentions that Morgan's letter included a photo, which is usually enough to channel someone, Larry says "...Pretty weird, huh? ".

In the Japanese, Phoenix mentally responds that Larry was doing "tekito aizuchi". In the English version, he just thinks "Like Larry knows anything about this stuff!)" instead. Come to think of it, English doesn't really have a good word for "aizuchi". It's interesting, since it seems like a common concept that you'd expect to have a word for, but in English, we just have to say it in a roundabout way instead.




Sanpo Android

I watched a second Sanpo Android video this morning. This time, she visits the Taj Mahal. Of course, her being in India means that there was a lot of English (and Indian languages), but it was still pretty interesting, just to see what India is like. There were a lot of interesting sights in the video, so I'll just mention a few:

First, her train is delayed and she sees tons of people just sitting on the floor of the train station, camping out while they wait. The trains also look very different from anything I've seen before - more crowded and also with benches for sleeping.




For some reason, the Taj Mahal prohibits books and headphones in addition to the less surprising stuff like food. Why on earth would they ban books?!

She also visits a shockingly run-down mall. The most amazing part is that it is seemingly somehow still operating, even though the whole place is trashed and broken.

[bolaobo]

That run-down mall reminds me of some malls I saw in China when I got away from the city center. I actually kind of enjoyed exploring them! Must be a thing in rapidly-developing countries.

[golyplot]

Good news everyone. I put a hold on the Japanese edition of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets vol2 all the way back in early April, but for some reason the hold never came in. Last week, I noticed that the book was listed as "available" despite me having put it on hold over a month prior, and started repeatedly trying to call the library, but never got through to anyone. Anyway, yesterday afternoon, I finally managed to talk to someone at the library, and they called over and had them find the book and told me my hold would be ready soon. I have no idea why they sat on it for over a month without doing anything, but at least that's over with now.

In the meantime, I'm still just reading the webnovel Akiramenai. Speaking of which, I couldn't sleep Friday night and was up for hours and read three chapters while trying to fall back asleep, passing the halfway mark.
---


「和真って確か、去年誰かと付き合ってフラれてたよね？」
「ふ、フラれてねぇよ！」
「あれ、そうだっけ。フったの？」

Here Aota asks Kazuma if he'd been dumped, and then if he dumped his girlfriend. I'd previously seen the word "furareta" (to be dumped) several times in other web novels (and in particular even the title of one early one I read), but I'd never seen "futta" before. I was pretty proud that I realized "hey, furareru sounds like a passive or intransitive pair, furu must be the opposite version", though to be fair, the context made it pretty easy.

---

「……『冷めた』って」
"...She said she 'lost interest.'"

I was surprised to see ChatGPT translate "冷めた" as "lost interest" here, since I would have guessed that they broke up because she was "cold" or something. But Jisho says it means "to cool off (excitement, temper, etc.)", so ChatGPT probably was right here as usual.

---

「……もしかして、『逆ナン』ってやつですか？」

Even when Aota just goes out for coffee, he can't help but have the staff fall madly in love with him as well. I learned the new word 逆ナン (reverse "nanpa", a woman who hits on men).

---

Godot:
It's like they say, "Idiots are too stupid to catch even a simple cold."

I'd previously seen the "idiots can't get colds" thing in several different anime, and thus realized that it must be a thing in Japan, but it's still weird to see it every time it shows up, including today in Ace Attorney. I looked it up and sure enough, TvTropes even has a page about this phenomenon.

[golyplot]

Akiramenai


「でも、目悪かったっけ？」
「ううん。母さんの伊達眼鏡。勝手に借りてきた」

I vaguely recalled the word 伊達 from Wanikani, but Wanikani just taught it as "elegant". However, it can apparently also mean "doing something just for show", as it is here, where it means "fake glasses".


ただ、やっぱり少し窮屈そうだ。

Incidentally, in this chapter, Sakuraba wears a facemask and fake glasses in order to avoid being recognized. He comments at one point that the mask is uncomfortable, which I guess is nice validation that Japanese people think so too. I remember wearing them a lot during the COVID times, but they were always uncomfortable. I'm surprised he didn't mention the problem of his mask making his fake glasses fog up. As someone who wears glasses, that was always the biggest problem with masks, and it was hard to ever completely fix it.


「いーいーの！　座ったら話しづらくなるもん。ふたりで立っとこ？」

The first train that they take is relatively crowded and only has one seat open. Sakuraba suggests that Yuunagi take the seat, but she wants to stand with him so they can talk more easily. This line stood out to me because of the common saying that it is very rude to talk on the trains in Japan.

Of course, this is obviously not always the case. Anime do sometimes show characters holding conversations on the train, though usually when the cars are relatively empty (which conveniently means less people to draw and block the view of the characters anyway). But I also remember that on my final train ride back as I left Odaiba at the end of my trip last year, there were several Japanese men discussing plans for a bounenkai right next to me, and that was a fairly crowded train.

---

Frieren

ep12 had a hidden joke that I only noticed due to my knowledge of German (Stolz means "proud" in German). It's kind of funny how often German turns out to be useful when watching anime. Though in the case of the Gun Gale Online arc in Sword Art Online, knowing a bit of German ruins what's supposed to be a twist (gee, maybe the assassin is the guy whose name means "death" in German).



ep12 also has a scene where Frieren is shown turning pages in the normal right-to-left order. I couldn't believe it at first because every single previous image of book pages turning showed them turning left-to-right, the way you would when reading a Japanese book, which has the opposite page order than the West. It was always very baffling because it's not like this is a Japanese setting.

Not only is the setting the Standard Medieval Fantasy Setting, but they even explicitly show that the writing is English. I assumed that this was just one of those weird things you're supposed to overlook, so it's even stranger when they suddenly switch it up and actually show people turning pages in the correct direction for once. WTF?



This episode also shows a second character saying "the passage of time is cruel", which is practically the thesis of the series. Or at least the early part - the most recent episodes have been more of a straight fantasy, like the story arc where they battle demons in Granat.

[golyplot]

ChatGPT Is A Big Fat Failure That Can't Be Trusted For Translation

As previously mentioned, after reading each chapter of Akiramenai, I've been asking ChatGPT to translate each chapter so that I could actually understand the story. I assumed that ChatGPT was advanced enough that it would do a reasonable job of translation and not be subject to the frequent hallucinations and omissions that I ran into in the past with DeepL. And up until now, I hadn't noticed any major problems.

However, with ch49, something strange happened. There was one particular line from the story that I remembered and I got confused when I couldn't find it in ChatGPT's translation. After carefully comparing the two, I discovered that ChatGPT just straight out skipped over 11 lines. (For the sake of posterity, I've copied ChatGPT's entire response at the end of this post, along with the section of the chapter that it omitted.)

As far as I can tell, it didn't hallucinate anything, it just omitted an entire section of the story, with the translation skipping straight from the line before to the line after. In particular, this chapter features Sakuraba confronting Yuunagi after seeing her with a guy the previous day, and she explains that it was just her brother. However, ChatGPT skipped over the entire part where she explains this making it a bit strange.

It's pretty frustrating to discover that ChatGPT still can't be trusted to do translation. (I mean I knew prompt injection is an issue, but that's not applicable when translating regular stories). I guess I'll just have to go back to Google Translate instead. I mean, ChatGPT's translations clearly weren't perfect in the past, as it occasionally obviously messed up pronouns the way that Japanese->English translations tend to do, but I never imagined that it would just leave out entire sections of the input like this.

This was a longer than normal chapter, which makes me wonder if it was a context window limitation. However, it's still mysterious because in that case, you would expect it to leave out either the beginning or end, not some random part in the middle. In any case, the takeaway is that ChatGPT still can't be trusted for translation, even in non-adversarial contexts.

Edit: Man, I'd forgotten just how rough Google Translate still is. I like how it translated "「え」" as "picture". On the other hand, at least it didn't skip the section that ChatGPT did. With Google Translate, the translation is obviously garbage, but at least you can still figure out what it's probably supposed to say based on the translation. Whereas with LLMs, the output is usually natural English and it's usually accurate, but you can never know if/when it does make a mistake.

---

In other news, ch49 also contained the word "yakimochi" (jealousy). I found that word especially interesting because it also means "roasted rice cakes" (i.e. yaki+mochi), and it seems kind of weird and random that it would have the secondary meaning of "jealousy".

It also contained the word 品位, notable as it was a word I previously encountered on the practice JLPT (more on that later) and looked up. Funny how new words you see sometimes pop right back up like that.

---
4989 American Life

Ever since the early days of learning Japanese, I've been listening to Japanese podcasts in the background when doing other things. I almost never pay conscious attention to any of it, but occasionally one bit will stick out at me.

Recently, I noticed Utaco say that American vending machines are an "undameshi". I remembered the word "kimodameshi" (test of courage) with "kimo" meaning "liver", and that "un" can mean "luck", and suddenly realized that it was probably "test of luck". I was really proud that I managed to rapidly recognize an unknown word with no context like that.

Incidentally, this afternoon, I heard a bit where she mentioned fireworks setting off car alarms in her neighborhood, something that sometimes happens in my neighborhood too.
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Frieren

In ep14, their carriage is suddenly carried off by a flying monster. What I couldn't get over is how the horse just sticks straight out to the side like the carriage is a rigid plastic toy. I'm not an expert in carriage physics, but it just seems to me like there's no way those little wooden beams could possibly support the weight of a horse. And also the roc is probably not holding the carriage at its center of mass either, given the weight of the horse.

And then it gets worse if anything after they crash, as the horse somehow ends up sticking straight up, which also implies that the magic stick somehow holding it to the cart wasn't rigid after all.





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　そう言った桜庭くんは、なんだか悲しんでいるような、恥ずかしがっているような、怒っているような、とにかく、ものすごくかわいい顔をしていた。


　桜庭くん……もしかして……？


「いや、さっきも言ったけど、べつにいいんだよ僕は。ただ、そういう行為自体は君の品位を下げてしまうというか、そうならそうと言ってくれれば、僕との関係はあっさり切れるわけだし、なにもそんな隠れる必要は」


「桜庭くん！」


「……」


「違う！　違うの！　それね、この人！」


　桜庭くんに、スマホの画面を見せた。

　メッセージアプリに登録されている連絡先、その『家族』フォルダの中のひとり。

　顔写真と、名前。


「遊薙奏汰！　私のお兄ちゃん！」


「……は？」

On the Tuesday following the date with Sakuraba-kun,

I messaged him again and we chatted in the classroom after school.

"Ahh, I wish we had taken more photos on our date."

"...But it was fun, so we should go somewhere else again, right? Right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

...

In our previous date, various things happened.

Somehow, things felt a bit awkward towards the end on the Ferris wheel.

But it was a wonderful date because I held hands with Sakuraba-kun for the first time, and he protected me. It made me realize that Sakuraba-kun is really kind. There's no doubt about that.

...But there's no doubt, right...?

...

For some reason, Sakuraba-kun seems gloomy today...!

Or rather, a little scary!

Huh, why?

Did I do something...?

But we didn't meet at all yesterday, and today is the first time we're seeing each other...?

Why...?

"Hey, Sakuraba-kun? Is something wrong?"

"N-no."

...No good.

Sakuraba-kun was sitting at his seat by the window, staring blankly at the outside scenery. The evening sun was casting a surreal color on his fair skin.

Hmm, Sakuraba-kun even with a frown looks cool...

No, that's not it!

"Hey, what's wrong? You're usually quiet, but not like this, right?"

"...Maybe."

That's right!

Sakuraba-kun is cool and calm, but he would usually smirk or look amazed!

And his face is so wonderful, I love it.

Especially recently, we've been getting along better and Sakuraba-kun has been treating me more kindly... So, what happened today?

"Um, Sakuraba-kun... I give up. What's wrong? Tell me..."

I gathered my courage and moved in front of Sakuraba-kun.

Resting my elbows on the desk, I looked up at Sakuraba-kun from below.

It's unpleasant to become awkward over something unclear like this. Of course, it might not be my fault, but if there's something bothering Sakuraba-kun, I want to hear about it. And if I can, I'd like to help.

"Are you hiding something from me, Yunagi-san?"

"Huh?"

H-hiding something...?

There are plenty of things I'm hiding!!

But, which one?

Did he find out I peeked at the message from Mikura-san?

Or that I secretly smelled Sakuraba-kun's pillow?

Or that I got a picture of Sakuraba-kun in a yukata from Aina-chan?

Which one is it?!

Ugh... I have too many suspects...

But, probably just one... right?

Ugh, what should I do?!

If I confess and it turns out to be something completely different!

I'll be digging my own grave for no reason!

...

But Sakuraba-kun seems upset...!

What? W-what if he's hiding something, and he ends up hating me...?

But if I confess, he might hate me for that too... What should I do...?

"Um... um..."

"..."

In the end, I couldn't say anything, and Sakuraba-kun looked down at me with a pained expression.

I'm sorry, Sakuraba-kun... I don't have the courage to confess...

But Sakuraba-kun, after staring at me for a while, softened his expression and said,

"No, it's nothing... I mean, if you just openly tell me instead of hiding it, I'll understand... It's just..."

"Huh..."

...W-what?

W-what does that mean?!

No, this way, I'll never know what Sakuraba-kun wants to say...

I have to brace myself and say it!

"Um, Sakuraba-kun..."

"...What?"

"I-I'll be honest... I have several suspicions... or rather, I have many secrets... but... except for what Sakuraba-kun noticed, I'd prefer to keep them hidden... C-could you tell me what happened...?"

After saying that, I put my face on my arms on the desk and silently prayed to God.

I didn't know what to ask for, but I was filled with embarrassment and anxiety.

"Yesterday..."

Y-yesterday?

"...You were at the shopping mall near the station."

Huh...?

"Uh, y-yeah, I was! W-why do you know?"

Certainly, I went shopping near the station yesterday.

But why does Sakuraba-kun know about it...?

"...And you were with a guy, right?"

Sakuraba-kun said that with a somewhat deflated voice.

His mouth was opening and closing, and he blinked several times, remaining silent for a while.

I didn't tell Sakuraba-kun, but I have a brother.

He's handsome, born from the same parents as me, not very social, but he gets along very well with his little sister.

And yesterday, I bumped into my brother on his way back from college at the station, and we ended up shopping together. Sakuraba-kun must have seen that...!

"...Forget about what happened today."

"N-no!"

"Forget it! This is just... Ugh..."

Sakuraba-kun buried his head in his arms and slumped onto the desk.

Sakuraba-kun, who is usually composed, is so flustered.

The reason is probably...

"Could it be that Sakuraba-kun... is jealous?"

"N-no..."

"Liar!"

"N-no! I just... If you found someone else you liked, I thought we should break up quickly... I didn't cheat!"

"I don't like anyone else! I won't break up! Hey, is it really not jealousy? Really?"

"Ugh, enough! I said let's drop it!"

"Sakuraba-kun!"

"Stop it!"

After that, we shouted at each other like children for a while, getting angry and laughing.

Sakuraba-kun got jealous.

I was truly, helplessly happy about that.

If someone does that to you, you can't help but hope.

Sakuraba-kun will probably say "stop," but it's no use.

I love you, Sakuraba-kun.

I love you so much.

I can do my best again from tomorrow.

And from now on, I have to be careful not to cause any misunderstandings.

"I'm going home!"

"Aww. Oh! Then, today, I'll go shopping with Sakuraba-kun!"

"Don't need to."

"Oh, you don't need to be shy!"

"I'm not shy. I'm going home."

"Aww, Sakuraba-kun!"

But sometimes, it's nice to make him jealous.

...Just kidding.

[JLS]

Curious, golyplot, what made you really want to do Japanese?

[golyplot]

Curious, golyplot, what made you really want to do Japanese?

The main factors were a) Japan is enormously influential culturally, especially among people of my age and b) I wanted to try a hard exotic language for the challenge and to see what it's like to learn a non indo-european language.