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\n<\/div>\n

| <\/p>\n

It\u2019s very hard to understand Japanese in the beginning because the structure of sentences is so completely different from English. So, unlike learning French, Spanish, or other languages with quite similar grammar to English, you can\u2019t just plug foreign words into a sentence pattern you\u2019re already accustomed to. Instead, you have to remember both new words AND new word order at the same time, which can be too much for some people.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we think there is some benefit to beginners of direct word-for-word translation of Japanese sentences into English, that is, translating the words of a sentence into equivalent English, but leaving them in exactly the same place. A simple example, just to make it clear what we mean:
\u79c1\u306e\u6bcd\u306e\u540d\u524d\u306f\u30d1\u30c8\u30ea\u30b7\u30e3\u30fc\u3067\u3059\u3002
I\u2019s mother\u2019s name (topic) Patricia is.<\/p>\n

Doing this frees your brain from having to think about all the new vocabulary, and lets you focus just on the sentence structure. Thus you can internalize the format of Japanese sentences, and get used to putting the verb at the end, for example, by getting used to thinking like that in English first.<\/p>\n

And it can actually be kind of fun to try to translate Japanese sentences into Japanese-structured English sentences! Thinking in English but with a new grammatical paradigm is like a brain twister.
Of course, we don\u2019t recommend doing it for ever, as at some point you\u2019ll obviously want to start combining Japanese grammar and Japanese words to make real Japanese sentences. However, it\u2019s a good technique in the beginning of your study, to smooth you into the process of thinking in a new layout.
Here are a few more examples, to help you along:<\/p>\n

English sentences changed into Japanese layout (this is actually harder than translating a Japanese sentence directly into English.)
I have no idea why my dog bit your son. Maybe because he\u2019s delicious.
Why I\u2019s dog (subject) you\u2019s son (object) bit (question) completely know not. Maybe delicious because.<\/p>\n

Could you put the Ken figurine down? I don\u2019t want you getting your dirty fingerprints all over it.
Ken figurine (object) put down give not? You\u2019s dirty fingerprints (object) attach want not.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t understand you sometimes. You\u2019re like a little boy with these toys. You know it\u2019s just a TV show, right?
Sometimes understand can\u2019t. Toys (object) having child look like. Just\u2019s TV show that understanding, right?<\/p>\n

Japanese sentences translated directly to English words
\u5317\u6597\u306e\u62f3\u304c\u5b58\u5728\u3057\u306a\u3044\u4e16\u754c\u306b\u306f\u751f\u304d\u3066\u3044\u3051\u306a\u3044\u3002
Hokuto no ken (subject) exist don\u2019t world in living can\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u30d1\u30b9\u30bf\u3068\u305d\u3070\u3001\u3069\u3063\u3061\u304c\u597d\u304d\uff1f\u3042\u305f\u3057\u306f\u3069\u3063\u3061\u3082\u5acc\u3044\u308f\u3002
Pasta and soba, which (subject) like? I (topic) both hate (feminine).<\/p>\n

\u304a\u307e\u3048\u3001\u4ffa\u306e\u8a71\u3061\u3083\u3093\u3068\u805e\u3044\u3066\u3093\u306e\uff1f
You (derogatory), I\u2019s talk properly listening (question)?<\/p>\n

And so on and so on.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

| It\u2019s very hard to understand Japanese in the beginning because the structure of sentences is so completely different from English. So, unlike learning French, Spanish, or other languages with quite similar grammar to English, you can\u2019t just plug foreign words into a sentence pattern you\u2019re already accustomed to. Instead, you have to remember both…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nGenki Japanese and Culture School - Benefits of Direct Translation Between Japanese and English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/benefits-of-direct-translation-between-japanese-and-english\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genki Japanese and Culture School - Benefits of Direct Translation Between Japanese and English\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"News and commentary from GenkiJACS, a Japanese language school in Fukuoka, Japan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/benefits-of-direct-translation-between-japanese-and-english\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GenkiJACS Japanese School\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/genkijacs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-09-23T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/genkijacsfukuokaschool.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/benefits-of-direct-translation-between-japanese-and-english\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.genkijacs.com\/blog\/benefits-of-direct-translation-between-japanese-and-english\/\",\"name\":\"Genki Japanese and Culture School - 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