Please help me to read this English sentence:

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Some news about the election has appeared on Canadian news stations already. They mainly concentrate on how such a change in Japanese politics will affect the balance of power in the region (especially concerning North Korea and China). Based on early indications, I conclude most of the opinions I've seen are based on the fear of the unknown that comes from a lack of control of the political landscape. Fifteen years of same-party policies can establish some bad habits, as your examination of the LDP's pamphlet shows.

Hi, Koir! Thanks as always.
The political landscape. Hmm. I’m sure Japanese politicians have never had that. Still Japan is peaceful. There’s no need to worry about it.
Fifteen years of same-party politics didn’t establish many bad habits. It’s almost 53 years. Once, in 1993, LDP fell from power, and then, in 1994, they marched back into power. They had taken control the government for 38 years before that. So it’s almost 53 years.

I didn’t know Canadian people know of Japanese general election.

Most of the revisions, again, were to move around or merge ideas together to aid in quicker understanding of concepts. The main change made was to change the sentence that contained "flaming" to a description of the time needed to understand the central ideas of the LDP's pamphlet.

Hope that helps, Yuri.

Thank you for understanding my concepts, Koir.
And thanks for the great revision as always.

[rafif]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi, I'm Yuri from Japan.
I cant't understand this sentence:
"How does a belief in luck change the way a person reacts to good or bad fortune?"

What does "a belief in luck" mean?
Does it mean like "to believe that I'm happy" or "to believe that there are lucky people and unlucky people" ???
Anybody, help me, please.
Thank you!

Ohayou yuri chan,

As far as I'm concerned ,this sentence shows a a philosophical point of view there are people who believe in luck like in studies some people say that they succeed because of luck and based on that their visinos and ideas about forutune change ,they may accept the fortune because they say I have a bad luck and so on but if they don't nelieve in luck their failure will be unacceptable and becuase of that you find a lot of people commit suicide ..

For me as a person I don't believe in luck coz work is everything and ,of course God's will,is surrounding the entire universe.

Hope it helps

[YuriTokoro]

Hi.
Could you correct my English?

"To Praise the Members of Your Family"

You are not expected to praise the members of your family when speaking or writing in Japanese. However, this seems to be a little difficult to understand to some American people. (I don’t know about people from other countries.)
One of my American friends has started studying Japanese. He wrote me something in Japanese, and he always said his wife is beautiful. This sounded very strange to me.
In Japanese, we say about our own family modestly. If you praise them, you sound a kind of rude.
When I warned him not to praise his wife, he insisted that was his manner.
He didn’t understand that he should say things in Japanese way when speaking in Japanese, or learning foreign languages is learning foreign cultures. He ended up giving up studying Japanese.
Nevertheless, many young people read Japanese manga and know Japanese culture nowadays. I believe this is great. Studying Japanese might be easier to them.

Thank you.

Nagoyankee, thanks for the first sentence.

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Hi.
Could you correct my English?

"To Praise the Members of Your Family"

You are not expected to praise the members of your family when speaking or writing in Japanese. However, this seems to be a little difficult to understand for some American people. (I don’t know about people from other countries.)
One of my American friends had begun studying Japanese. He wrote me something in Japanese, and he kept calling his wife beautiful. This sounded very strange to me.
In Japanese, we speak about our own family in a modest way. If you praise them, you sound sort of rude.
When I warned him not to praise his wife, he insisted that was his choice and writing style.
He didn’t understand that he should use the Japanese style when speaking in Japanese, as learning any foreign language is connected to learning the foreign culture. He eventually gave up studying the Japanese language.
Nevertheless, many young people read Japanese manga and know much about Japanese culture from them. I believe this is a great thing. Studying Japanese may be easier for them.

Thank you.

Nagoyankee, thanks for the first sentence.

Impressive, Yuri. Not a lot of revisions needed this time, mainly *minor* word changes.

It's interesting to learn that family members are not to be praised too much in writing or speaking Japanese properly. In the Western world, it's somewhat of an accepted thing that Canadians do not brag too much about accomplishments, or call attention to ourselves just to be praised. We just do what we can, what we are able; be it serving the cause of peace, or teaching others something they wish to know.

I read the part about young people learning Japanese ways of speaking and aspects of culture, and the first thing that came to mind was the "Naruto" manga...it may be my age speaking, but I don't think many young people are learning much from that. It may just be my jaded view about the younger generations speaking.

Great work, Yuri!

[snbzk]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

One of my American friends has started studying Japanese.

Because you said he already gave up, this should be "One of my American friends started studying Japanese" (without 'has'). "has started studying" means that he started studying and is still continuing to study.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Impressive, Yuri. Not a lot of revisions needed this time, mainly *minor* word changes.

Koir, thanks as always. Thanks for the great revision.

It's interesting to learn that family members are not to be praised too much in writing or speaking Japanese properly. In the Western world, it's somewhat of an accepted thing that Canadians do not brag too much about accomplishments, or call attention to ourselves just to be praised. We just do what we can, what we are able; be it serving the cause of peace, or teaching others something they wish to know.

I see.
What about this? If some people say one of your family members has achieved some great things. What would you say?
Japanese people would say, “Not really”, or “It’s not that great.”

Anyway, Japanese people would never say “my beautiful wife”, even if she is a real beauty. If a man says like that, people would think he is mad, or he must be joking.

I read the part about young people learning Japanese ways of speaking and aspects of culture, and the first thing that came to mind was the "Naruto" manga...it may be my age speaking, but I don't think many young people are learning much from that. It may just be my jaded view about the younger generations speaking.

I have heard this when I watch some TV program. A Japanese teacher who was teaching Japanese language in America said that her students hadn’t understood when she explained Japanese people didn’t say enough words to tell what they thought in the past. However, they are getting to know that because they read Japanese manga. So I thought people who read manga would understand what Japanese people do.

Do you love Naruto?

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by snbzk

Because you said he already gave up, this should be "One of my American friends started studying Japanese" (without 'has'). "has started studying" means that he started studying and is still continuing to study.

Thank you, snbzk!
Japanese language doesn’t have perfect tenses, so knowing when to use a perfect tense is too difficult for me!
The perfect tense means he is still continuing to study. OK. Thank you very much!

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

I see.
What about this? If some people say one of your family members has achieved some great things. What would you say?
Japanese people would say, “Not really”, or “It’s not that great.”

Maybe I would just shrug my shoulders. It's hard to explain, but as I grow older, I see actions as they occur in the present. They are separate from what others describe in the future.

Perhaps to make it clearer, I recall how I felt when I wrote stories in the past (mainly fan fictions based on the Diablo computer game or later stories based in Dungeons & Dragons). I would write these stories concerned mainly on keeping the sentences readable and the visual imagery uncomplicated. People would read these stories and tell me how much they appreciated them, but to me they were just stories I told that I would like to read. Years later when I would read these stories, it was hard to believe that I wrote them and not someone else.

Do you love Naruto?

Not in the slightest, Yuri. I brought it up mainly as a example of a well-known manga/anime in the Western world. It was my intention to say that a large amount of teens who would read this manga have an incorrect idea of Japanese culture. They would take this fantasy setting and believe it to be reality, which is untrue.

[YuriTokoro]

Originally Posted by Koir

Maybe I would just shrug my shoulders. It's hard to explain, but as I grow older, I see actions as they occur in the present. They are separate from what others describe in the future.

Shrugging your shoulders. That’s one of the best ways to confuse Japanese.
You may see people shrug their shoulders in some manga, but they tend to shrug when they don’t like or approve of something.

Perhaps to make it clearer, I recall how I felt when I wrote stories in the past (mainly fan fictions based on the Diablo computer game or later stories based in Dungeons & Dragons). I would write these stories concerned mainly on keeping the sentences readable and the visual imagery uncomplicated. People would read these stories and tell me how much they appreciated them, but to me they were just stories I told that I would like to read. Years later when I would read these stories, it was hard to believe that I wrote them and not someone else.

Sorry, I don’t understand.
If I read your story and say it’s wonderful, what would you say?
Would you shrug your shoulders? How would you express it?

Not in the slightest, Yuri. I brought it up mainly as a example of a well-known manga/anime in the Western world. It was my intention to say that a large amount of teens who would read this manga have an incorrect idea of Japanese culture. They would take this fantasy setting and believe it to be reality, which is untrue.

Really!? I didn’t know Naruto was that popular or they still believed there were ninja in Japan. It’s too shocking.
I have seen some signs of Ninja Schools, but they are never like Naruto.
Is it because of Sho Kosugi?

[Koir]

Originally Posted by YuriTokoro

Shrugging your shoulders. That’s one of the best ways to confuse Japanese.
You may see people shrug their shoulders in some manga, but they tend to shrug when they don’t like or approve of something.

That was the first thing to come to mind. I suppose my reaction would be to find out how the great thing my family member had done would benefit people, and what they could now do as a result.

Sorry, I don’t understand.
If I read your story and say it’s wonderful, what would you say?
Would you shrug your shoulders? How would you express it?

I would be glad you liked it, of course. Stories are meant to be shared, and have as many different meanings as there are readers of it. Again, my perspective was as a writer of the stories people liked, so it's vastly different from a reader's perspective.

Really!? I didn’t know Naruto was that popular or they still believed there were ninja in Japan. It’s too shocking.

Young people believe in many things being real, until they grow old like I'm doing.

I have seen some signs of Ninja Schools, but they are never like Naruto.
Is it because of Sho Kosugi?

I had to consult Wikipedia to read about Sho Kosugi. It's my opinion that he may not be well-known to Western audiences, much less anime/manga fans.

The only ninja-like anime I remember watching a few times is "Ninja Scroll", so I may not have much experience with actors or directors in that movie genre.