Dear testu-jp,
Just post in English. It's far better, even if it reaches less Hatena users.
If you read Japanese, read the translated sentences before posting. You will clearly see the on-line free translations are, generally, rubbish.
If you don't read Japanese, re-translate the sentences back to English. You will clearly see the "translation (translated text)" that you have now is a new kind of Dadaism.
If you want to use machine translation, buy some decent and frequently updated software.
If you have to use online free machine translation, at least avoid the ones developed outside Japan, such as Altavista and Google translation, because they don't know anything about the HUGE difference between English and Japanese.
And if possible, get someone to have your posts translated. Actually this is the best way. My suggestion is to use Hatena Haiku (in English). There's a 日本語を勉強しています thread or two. Or you can start a new topic there, such as 翻訳してください.
http://h.hatena.com/
Alternatively, you can post a Hatena question (on 人力検索) in English to ask someone to translate. There are dozens of bilingual users out there.
Dear tetsu-jp,
Thanks for the reply, and many thanks for your post on Hatena Haiku. It would take time to explain what I want to say, so I'll write about it in my diary.
Unfortunately, I don't think many people could understand that your question was about Hatena Ring. Eevrybody knows that Hatena Ring will be out of service in a few weeks, but "Windows VS Linux"? It's too abrupt.
And the question line says "無料のVSコマーシャル、より多くのRING機能". Word-to-word, this is "Free (無料の) VS commercial (VSコマーシャル), more (より多くの) Ring functions (Ring機能)". The Japanese for "Free VS commercial" does not read "Free or with advert": it does sound like there is something called "VS Commercial" (a company name or something) and it's free (meaning "with no charge"). And they have more Ring functions out there. You would see this does not make any sense.
The problem is not "literal or not". The machine translation between Japanese and English is not "usable" yet, with a few exceptions. Linguistically, the Japanese language does not have anything common with English. That is, you can't expect a machine can handle the language as it does with French, German or other European language. (I know there are problems with French-English translation and so forth, but these are almost nothing compared with English-Japanese translation problems.)
In most cases, it's fine to use free online machine translation to look up a word. But dictionaries are far better for that purpose.
One more thing ... this happens with Japanse speakers who does not really speak/write English. See the machine-translated English sentences below. In this case, the topic is simple and clear enough for you to see what the person is talking about, though.
http://q.hatena.ne.jp/1207572066#a818047
Okay I'll write about all this in my diary over the weekend. Oh, and I'm going to visit your blog (diary) and post a comment, too. (In fact, I've visited your diary to make sure if you are using machine translation.)
PS.
Read this example. You'll see what I mean with "Dadaism".
http://gillianjigs.tumblr.com/post/3118987
And Dadaism is a cultural movement that started in Switzerland just after WW I (1914-1919). Linguistically, they tried to break up the language and re-create a new meaning. In visual art, they broke up the notion of "fine art". Wikipedia has a neat article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada
More articles on English-Japanese translation:
"Barriers to Translation, English to Japanese"
http://www.passage.co.jp/_english/translationnotes.html
tetsu-jp:
Just one more thing... See what the first comment says? 「残念ですが、意味が解りません。」
Put it into AMIKAI or Babel Fish engine to get English "translation". (I tested with this sentence and thought both engines are okay on this occasion.)
それは、HATENA RINGサービスのありうる停止です。
あなたの意見にWINDOWS VS LINUXを与えてください！
結局、私はWINDOWSウェブサイトをつくりたいです。
通常、私はHATENA使用を続けたいです！
That is a likely stop for HATENA RING.
Please provide a WINDOWS VS LINUX to your opinion!
Afterall, I would like to create a WINDOWS Website.
Ordinarily I would like to continue using HATENA
You seem to have ignored the context of "*to* all Hatena users" in my post.
And because I don't find it's worth the time, I will not explain for you. Read it yourself.
Keep using machine translation, making people confused, and wasting your Hatena points.
You are free to do so, of course.
Time's up. I do not have a second to spend for you. Good luck.
3
3
2
コメント（10件)
http://tetsu-jp-research.g.hatena.ne.jp/tetsu-jp/
Just post in English. It's far better, even if it reaches less Hatena users.
If you read Japanese, read the translated sentences before posting. You will clearly see the on-line free translations are, generally, rubbish.
If you don't read Japanese, re-translate the sentences back to English. You will clearly see the "translation (translated text)" that you have now is a new kind of Dadaism.
If you want to use machine translation, buy some decent and frequently updated software.
If you have to use online free machine translation, at least avoid the ones developed outside Japan, such as Altavista and Google translation, because they don't know anything about the HUGE difference between English and Japanese.
And if possible, get someone to have your posts translated. Actually this is the best way. My suggestion is to use Hatena Haiku (in English). There's a 日本語を勉強しています thread or two. Or you can start a new topic there, such as 翻訳してください.
http://h.hatena.com/
Alternatively, you can post a Hatena question (on 人力検索) in English to ask someone to translate. There are dozens of bilingual users out there.
Regards,
id:nofrills
Thanks for the reply, and many thanks for your post on Hatena Haiku. It would take time to explain what I want to say, so I'll write about it in my diary.
Unfortunately, I don't think many people could understand that your question was about Hatena Ring. Eevrybody knows that Hatena Ring will be out of service in a few weeks, but "Windows VS Linux"? It's too abrupt.
And the question line says "無料のVSコマーシャル、より多くのRING機能". Word-to-word, this is "Free (無料の) VS commercial (VSコマーシャル), more (より多くの) Ring functions (Ring機能)". The Japanese for "Free VS commercial" does not read "Free or with advert": it does sound like there is something called "VS Commercial" (a company name or something) and it's free (meaning "with no charge"). And they have more Ring functions out there. You would see this does not make any sense.
The problem is not "literal or not". The machine translation between Japanese and English is not "usable" yet, with a few exceptions. Linguistically, the Japanese language does not have anything common with English. That is, you can't expect a machine can handle the language as it does with French, German or other European language. (I know there are problems with French-English translation and so forth, but these are almost nothing compared with English-Japanese translation problems.)
In most cases, it's fine to use free online machine translation to look up a word. But dictionaries are far better for that purpose.
One more thing ... this happens with Japanse speakers who does not really speak/write English. See the machine-translated English sentences below. In this case, the topic is simple and clear enough for you to see what the person is talking about, though.
http://q.hatena.ne.jp/1207572066#a818047
Okay I'll write about all this in my diary over the weekend. Oh, and I'm going to visit your blog (diary) and post a comment, too. (In fact, I've visited your diary to make sure if you are using machine translation.)
Best Regards,
id:nofrills
Read this example. You'll see what I mean with "Dadaism".
http://gillianjigs.tumblr.com/post/3118987
And Dadaism is a cultural movement that started in Switzerland just after WW I (1914-1919). Linguistically, they tried to break up the language and re-create a new meaning. In visual art, they broke up the notion of "fine art". Wikipedia has a neat article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dada
More articles on English-Japanese translation:
"Barriers to Translation, English to Japanese"
http://www.passage.co.jp/_english/translationnotes.html
"Japanese-to-English Translation Pitfalls"
http://www.ginstrom.com/translation/translation_pitfalls.php
このアンケートの質問文が意味不明であるという点について、
投稿主さんを説得してください。
私はなんだかんだ難癖つけてるやな奴だと思われてるかもしれないので。
（Flickr経由で個人的にやりとりしてます。）
SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP!
And to all Hatena users: DON'T ANSWER IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION.
Just one more thing... See what the first comment says? 「残念ですが、意味が解りません。」
Put it into AMIKAI or Babel Fish engine to get English "translation". (I tested with this sentence and thought both engines are okay on this occasion.)
あなたの意見にWINDOWS VS LINUXを与えてください！
結局、私はWINDOWSウェブサイトをつくりたいです。
通常、私はHATENA使用を続けたいです！
That is a likely stop for HATENA RING.
Please provide a WINDOWS VS LINUX to your opinion!
Afterall, I would like to create a WINDOWS Website.
Ordinarily I would like to continue using HATENA
That doesn't seem to make much sense to me.
And because I don't find it's worth the time, I will not explain for you. Read it yourself.
Keep using machine translation, making people confused, and wasting your Hatena points.
You are free to do so, of course.
Time's up. I do not have a second to spend for you. Good luck.