[languagehacker]

Originally Posted by masaegu

This is a thought-provoking point that I feel is one of the reasons why studying foreign languages can make one a better and more insightful person. It almost gives you a sixth sense, or a third eye, so to speak. I think that native speakers of any language would tend to think they know more about their language than those who are studying it as a foreign language. While this may be true in some areas of language, I think that there is an area where advanced non-native speakers may have an advantage for being able to analyze in a more objective manner.

Agreed. When I started learning Japanese, I looked at it like I was installing a new operating system into my brain. Learning a language is useful in ways that are not obviously related to language. Just look at Noam Chomsky.

かわいい人 would definitely mean "cute girls" there. "Pretty girls" would be closer in nuance. In novels and song lyrics, many writers use 女 or 男 and let you read them as ひと by proving furigana. おんな has the connotation of "broads", so it is not very often used in real life or creative writing.

Thanks, I learned something new!

I am stunned by the line "Little lies were replacing our connection to each other." How do you do it!?

Glad to hear it had an impact on you!
If the original Japanese is something metaphorical and I have to think really long and hard about what it means and how to capture all of its meaning in the translation, then something like that can result.

I've always liked saying things that have an impact on people. In middle school, high school, and college I would get in trouble for it, and I've been banned in many forums on the Internet for it countless times as well. I think I've found a way to do it again without getting in trouble. The only thing I have to worry about is some companies like Sony who don't want their videos put up on Youtube.

It says that she wants to see him on her last day in Japan. She is flying to a place far away enough to give her an image of jumping off the cliff (so to speak) for her irrevocable mistake (of leaving the country and her love). It is like the rumination and anguish the night before execution. It also says "From the context, it is difficult to imagine this would be a domestic flight."

No. That "another person's" translation is horrible. You know that, dontcha? Shiina is in Tokyo and the guy in Fukuoka. 来てなんてとても云えない means "I am in position to ask him to come."

So does that mean that after coming back and visiting him, she went back to the airport by herself, but didn't leave immediately? It might make sense if she visited him and then left that town to stay in a hotel or somewhere for a few days before finally leaving on an airplane.

Something else came up:

さよならを告げた あの日の唇が一年後
どういう気持ちで いまあたしにキスをしてくれたのかな

I originally thought this was talking about her wondering how it would feel to her to be kissed, but this is actually saying that she wonder how her boyfriend feels to kiss her, isn't it?