Lost in Translation
When you study English,/you may be tempted to translate English into Japanese.// A professor of translation studies from Canada/gives a warning.//
1
　　You find yourself/wanting to say something in English.// However,/the words just don’t come into your mind.// You want to say “Mata ashita” in English,/but you don’t know how.// You want to be understood completely.// What do you do?// Well, you may simply ask your bilingual friend,/“How do you say ‘Mata ashita’ in English?”// She will answer,/“See you tomorrow.”// The problem is solved.//
　　The expression “How do you say ... in English?” is so useful/that you may want to use it/every time you are at a loss for words.// There’s nothing wrong with that,/but the assumption behind this question/could be wrong.// Japanese expressions/may not always have exactly corresponding expressions in English.// And the same is true for English.// English expressions/may not have exactly corresponding expressions in Japanese.// As you will see,/translation sometimes fails.//