User talk:Akiha

Some suggestions for your English :)

Shamisen no longer crawls into my bedding in the middle of the night. That tells me that Spring has come, which is several months that I like best in four seasons. More importantly, I do admire the more accurate ability of plants to sense and adapt to the environment, than that of the cat. All of cherry blossoms which have blossomed out here and there is just going to paint the blue, April sky with falling blossoms, as if they've discussed when to do it. Even the sun seems as if it's preparing for summer. But even though the sun is scorching, the winds that blow down from the mountains are still chilly, reminding me of the altitude of this city I inhabit.

Some suggestions...

That tells me that Spring has come, which is several months that I like best in four seasons.

This sounds very strange in English, but I think the meaning is clear. I would suggest: "That tells me that Spring has come, which is my favorite of the four seasons."

Reason: "several months" does not fit into "four seasons" - but one "favorite" season fits into "four seasons"

"All of cherry blossoms which have blossomed out here and there is just going to paint the blue, April sky with falling blossoms, as if they've discussed when to do it."

The word "blossom" is used many times. This is not wrong, but it sounds strange. I would suggest: "All of cherry flowers which have blossomed here and there are going to paint the blue, April sky with falling petals, as if they've discussed when to do it."

Reason: It is strange to say "the blossoms have blossomed" - that is redundant. Instead, we can say the "flowers have bossomed." Also, we can say "falling petals" instead of "falling blossoms" because the whole flower does not fall.

Thank you. But minor edits can be done by yourself because this site is a wiki! I check the page periodically, so just to edit the page informs me.

--Akiha 05:41, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

"All of cherry flowers which have blossomed here and there are going to paint the blue, April sky with floating petals, as if they've discussed when to do it."

I don't like this sentence at all. It changes the meaning entirely. Secondly it now doesn't fit with Kyon's words beforehand.

He is making statements and remarks about the changing of seasons. Your new translation changes this so that he is now talking about the future. All of cherry flowers...are going to paint the blue... Also it speaks of cherry flowers, which if they exist at all (I don't think they do) are surely not large enough, or grow in such quantities to enough to paint the sky with anything. Typical anime whenever it mentions sakura petals (or blossoms, as the original translation took them as), these are falling off the trees in large amounts. The original translation of "cherry blossoms bloom as if they've discussed the way they're going to paint the blue, April sky with floating petals", does paint this typical picture. When talking of flowers, Smidge was just giving an example of how the word "bossomed" is used in English, rather than saying what should be used in the translation.

Well, he asked for tips on his English, so that's what I did :p (I didn't want to edit the main page until it was "blessed off") Also, "flower" is a synonym for "blossom" as both a noun and a verb. Cherry trees do indeed grow flowers. What did you think made the trees that color? Smidge204 09:04, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

I don't think of them as quite synonymous, I associate a flower more with being a plant growing in the ground, and blossoms as the growth on trees. Maybe it's just me, but when I first saw the sentence, this is the context I took it in, and it wouldn't even have occurred to me to take it as the flowers on trees. I wouldn't call apple blossom, "apple flowers" for example. (Even though, yes they strictly are).

--Shadowfall 09:20, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

Good thing they make these books called "dictionaries", then. Maybe you should pick one up sometime.

blos·som (noun): 1. A flower or cluster of flowers. 2. The condition or time of flowering: peach trees in blossom. 3. A period or condition of maximum development. (verb) 1. To come into flower; bloom. 2. To develop; flourish

I realize I'm being a prick about it, but the edit you made actually strays farther from the original wording than what we started with. If you "don't think" it should be worded a certain way, find out and be prepared to defend the change. Please don't take it personally, though... I always get pissy about larger edits. Smidge204 09:41, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

I was browsing through recent changes, and hopefully I am not too late to defuse this, without starting something else...

Smidge: as you may well know, dictionaries do not often say very much about cultural patterns and natural usage. A quick "googlefight" reveals "cherry blossom" as an overwhelming favorite, by an approximately 50:1 ratio, either in plural or singular form. Google is of course, not my only reason, but I merely mention it as a quick, easily understandable quantitative measure. While you ARE technically right, "cherry blossom" is pretty much the term to use if you want people to not wonder about the wording choice.

In short, it is more "natural" sounding to most people. To accede to this could quite possibly be called conformist, yet writing is a mixture of conforming and defying expectations. If you defy expectations, you're calling attention to that particular place. Is there anything particularly special about the flowers/blossoms in that passage? And as a matter of pure opinion, using "flowers" instead of "blossoms" seems like a strange way to draw attention, unless you're trying to subtly say something about the narrator's English usage.

And if you realize you're being a prick, well, that's actually a good thing. If you can realize it before you even begin, that's even better of course. I'm kind of wondering right now about my own conduct. But practically speaking, your point gets across much more clearly without bringing emotions into it. It does suck when the other person is obviously wrong and refuses to admit it, but even then, the best you can do by insulting is make them feel like shit and make you feel slightly better, as well as better than them, and leave the entire thing at an impasse.

--The naming game 11:42, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

Nice, asking me not to take it personally when you've just flamed me by telling me to go and buy a dictionary. Word it how you like then, I don't see why I should defend or try to contribute anything if you're going to take that tone.

Sorry for having to put this on your userpage Akiha ._.;

Shadowfall: you really shouldn't take it personally, since I doubt Smidge has anything against you personally. Extrapolating from myself, I'd just say that everyone has occasional blind moments and also moments of extreme clarity. And sometimes we can't tell which is which. It just happens, and the best thing is to just pay attention to the constructive part only, thus "feeding" only that part. I'm not exactly the best one to be giving advice, as I have a much harder time doing this during face to face confrontations. But happily, I actually DID follow my own advice for something that happened today. Hooray!

--The naming game 11:42, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

Supplementary information from my Japanese Dictionary.

Strictly, cherry blossoms in Europe and America are called "cherry blossom" because they are for the fruits collection on the other hand, cherry blossoms in Japan are called "cherry flower" because they are for the flower appreciation.

(Original: 厳密には欧米の桜は果実採取用だから cherry blossom, 日本のは花観賞用なので cherry flower)

First of all, sorry for updating "blossoms" to "flowers" without permission. I didn't notice the reason to post it here instead of the wiki page. I was careless.

I think my sentence-level edit hasn't to be adopted. It was translated before my guideline is created, which is to skip minor mistranslations. To be strictly, there is many part such this. So I'm particular about it personally.

I don't have any idea which is better between "blossoms" and "flowers".

--Akiha 11:22, 19 April 2007 (PDT)

Cultural differences

draft. just ignore this..

• haruhi novel : delibrately break grammar and length sentences to be difficult to read
• English novel : do not the thing Japanese one do???