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steven (Offline)
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Posts: 544
Join Date: Apr 2010
01-05-2011, 02:24 AM

I'm not exactly sure about this, but it seems like you're taking a very English-languagy phrase and trying to turn it into Japanese.

Specifically, I'm talking about the "It's better to know than to wonder" phrase you used. Maybe it's me being overcautious, but I'd try to avoid using ~方がいい towards people I don't really know or with people who are clearly above me. Unless it's being used in a very general sense or in some kind of agreement with what that person is saying, then I feel it might have a slight condescending nuance. While I'm sure you could argue that "it's better to know than to wonder" is a very general phrase that is applicable to everyone you are assuming that of the reader/listener in a situation that indicates you should probably play it safer than that.

I find myself agreeing with Masaegu about your Engilsh though. While it looks fine at first glance, there are a lot of little problems that could probably supersede qualifications.

"I'm not sure if this is the kind of qualifications your looking for"

If you say "qualifications", then you should generally say "these are" instead of "this is". If you do switch "this is" to "these are" then you should also change "kind" to "kinds".

As far as "then vs than" goes. I've read before that you can apparently get away with either one, although I much prefer "than" in this situation as it just seems better. Upon reading that "then" can be itnerchanged with "than", I immediately thought it was one of those things that so many people mess up that it just became accepted over time... nevertheless I'd play it safe and use "than" in this situation.

Back to the translation, the phrase "悩むよりは知る方がいいと思って" seems to put the speaker above the listener (even if it's just to a minor degree). I'm not saying this is a good alternative, but maybe thinking along these lines would be safer--
伝えさせて頂けれ(ば/たら)と思(って/います)。。。
That would be in reference to you telling the person your (or whomever's) qualifications.

While I'm not sure how natural the phrase I just typed was, I think the thinking behind it might be a little more sound. Telling the listener that one thing is better than another is in a sense like force feeding them your way of thinking, which may not always be appropriate. What I wrote, to put it kind of abstractly, is like letting the listener know you are receiving from them--humbly, the means to convey your qualifications. In other words, you aren't assuming any actions on the listener (at least with that kind of speech you wouldn't be). Furthermore, the actions that you take are humble and below the listener as not to impose upon them.

Of course I don't know the writers' or the readers position so it's a little hard to tell. However, I think that in general more care should be taken as to not just impose actions on people who you don't know, are not too familiar with, or are above you.

"In this case, it's better for who? (you or the writer?)
「悩むよりはお伝えした方がいいと思いまして。」?"
As far as this goes, it seems as though the writer is saying it would be better to just say what he or she wants to say than to worry about it.

Also I don't think there's the need to say あなた all the time... or これが. あなた is basically rude-- and is a definite indicator of the speaker being above the listener. Saying これが too much is redundant. Instead of saying "This is ....", just say "It's ~~~" (<-- the Japanese version of course, as saying "It's 何々" to start off some English with is kind of incorrect).

Last edited by steven : 01-05-2011 at 02:28 AM.
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