[delacroix01]

Since there is this thread, I guess I should also ask a question I've always wanted to ask. In English, simple past tense is usually used in narration. However, whenever I read Japanese light novels, I always see that present forms are often used. With my current level, I can only guess that it's because the concept of "tense" is very different in Japanese, and more precisely, the inflection of verbs is based on a completely different system. In fact, in all of the Japanese guides and textbook I've read so far, verbs are taught as "forms", not "tenses". And even though the explanations may be very clear, it's still a long way for me to get a thorough comprehension on this aspect, so it's quite hard whenever I tries to translate parts of light novels into English. I want to ask if I can use simple past when translating Japanese narrations into English. I feel like present forms are used just fine in Japanese novels, but it would sound odd if I use simple present in my English translation. Sorry to ask this, but I'm not a native English speaker, so I don't have the sense that native speakers do, even though I can use English just fine in communication. I think if I can make this clear, it will help me a lot with my studying.