Japanese Help Questions/Translations

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

How would you say "I already sent an message to Mao at her SoftBank account saying~"? 「～ってメッセージをもう真央さんのSoftBankのアカウン� ��に送ったのよ」?

I'm sure I'm gonna need a good bit of help with this

That is a good attempt except the word アカウント and the very ending.

More naturally, though, you could have said:
「～～ってメールをもう真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスに� ��ったんだけど。」

Most naturally,
「～～って、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送って� ��んだけど。」

Selecting the right tenses are WAY more difficult than many learners seem to think, and I would bet my last dollar that you have seen the だけど ending before.

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by masaegu

That is a good attempt except the word アカウント and the very ending.

More naturally, though, you could have said:
「～～ってメールをもう真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスに� ��ったんだけど。」

Most naturally,
「～～って、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送って� ��んだけど。」

Selecting the right tenses are WAY more difficult than many learners seem to think, and I would bet my last dollar that you have seen the だけど ending before.

Waaah O: You're so right about verb tenses! So is there ever time where it's right use 送った? What's the difference between 送った and 送ってる here?

Rather than write a bunch of questions, here's the message I'm attempting to send;
"Good evening Emiko, you doing alright? Sorry I've been so slow. Though I already sent a message to Mao at her SoftBank account thanking you guys for talking to me in Japanese and asking how much longer you guys are gonna be in Alabama and stuff. When are you guys going to Atlanta? Later~"

「詠美子さん、こんばんは。　お元気？　とても遅くて すみません。　＞＜　でも、私と日本語で話してくれて ありがとうってとか、どのくらいアラバマに滞在するか って、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送ってるんだ� ��ど。　いつアトランタに行くの？　ではでは～」

I know that 「とか」 is out of place but it's the only way I can think of to say "and stuff" (I mean, imply that I said more than just the stuff I directly mentioned here in the message I sent Mao earlier)

Ack, this message sounds awkward (even in English) cuz it's so short. >< But I wanna send a quick message since they're not gonna be here much longer. D: Thanks as always.

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

Waaah O: You're so right about verb tenses! So is there ever time where it's right use 送った? What's the difference between 送った and 送ってる here?

You can use 送った if you are writing a story, essay or compo but not in a casual email to a friend. This is what I meant when I said "Use almost no dictionary forms for sentence endings." in my previous post. 「送った」 at the end of the sentence gives absolutely no character or life to your writing.

送った = sent
送ってる　＝　送っている ＝　既に送っている　= have already sent

I've met many learners who seem to have been taught that 送っている means "to be in the middle of sending" = present progressive, but that is simply not true. The action of sending has already been performed, which is clear from my use of the word もう.

Rather than write a bunch of questions, here's the message I'm attempting to send;
"Good evening Emiko, you doing alright? Sorry I've been so slow. Though I already sent a message to Mao at her SoftBank account thanking you guys for talking to me in Japanese and asking how much longer you guys are gonna be in Alabama and stuff. When are you guys going to Atlanta? Later~"

「詠美子さん、こんばんは。　お元気？　とても遅くて すみません。　＞＜　でも、私と日本語で話してくれて ありがとうってとか、どのくらいアラバマに滞在するか って、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送ってるんだ� ��ど。　いつアトランタに行くの？　ではでは～」

I know that 「とか」 is out of place but it's the only way I can think of to say "and stuff" (I mean, imply that I said more than just the stuff I directly mentioned here in the message I sent Mao earlier)

とても遅くて すみません　＞＞　（すごく）遅くなってごめんね

とても used in an informal context sounds formal and the same goes for すみません. It isn't something college-age girls say to each other unless someone has done something really bad.

Brush up on the use of the magic verb なる.

ありがとうってとか　＞＞　ありがとうとか
滞在するか って　＞＞　滞在するのかって. Sounds mean without the の.
When you name two or more specific examples, it actually sounds better if you used とか's all the way. >>> 滞在するのかとか

[Chess]

I have an assignment due tomorrow that needs a little bit of Japanese translating. It's not necessarily required to be advanced level of translating and doesn't need full kanji, less kanji = better.

Could anyone give me a hand? A native speaker would be great.

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by Chess

I have an assignment due tomorrow that needs a little bit of Japanese translating. It's not necessarily required to be advanced level of translating and doesn't need full kanji, less kanji = better.

Could anyone give me a hand? A native speaker would be great.

Um, this looks like a post Masaegu and the other native speakers on here would usually ignore. You need to be a little more specific and show some of your own work on this assignment Masaegu is more of a teacher than just translator

[StonerPenguin]

Thank you again masaegu! I just have one last question before I can send this message off;
「～どのくらいアラバマに滞在するのかとか、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送ってるんだけど」
That doesn't look right but maybe that's because I'm doing literal translation stuff in my head... I feel like maybe a 「って」 or something should go there since I'm trying to say "I sent a message saying~"

Sorry to make you help me every step of the way on this, but I just wanna be understood and not sound mean/unfriendly (thanks for the info on using 「のか」 BTW) I don't wanna sound in Japanese the way MMM sounds in English...

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

Thank you again masaegu! I just have one last question before I can send this message off;
「～どのくらいアラバマに滞在するのかとか、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送ってるんだけど」
That doesn't look right but maybe that's because I'm doing literal translation stuff in my head... I feel like maybe a 「って」 or something should go there since I'm trying to say "I sent a message saying~"

Sorry to make you help me every step of the way on this, but I just wanna be understood and not sound mean/unfriendly (thanks for the info on using 「のか」 BTW) I don't wanna sound in Japanese the way MMM sounds in English...

In informal Japanese speech, grammar gets butchered or one could say, instead, that a different set of "grammar" is used.　You should never forget the fact that Japanese had long been a spoken language without a writing system. Its traits as a spoken language are still pretty much conspicuous.　

Literal translation would not work, either. If it worked (and if you translated from English everytime you wanted to say something in Japanese), you won't be able to say anything that would sound natural and informal.

If you want to change the phrase above, you could say:
「～どのくらいアラバマに滞在するのかとか、真央さん のSoftBankのアドレスでもう訊いてるんだけど」

I myself had not used 訊く because, from your description, I figured that the most important thing that you wanted to express was the fact that you had tried to contact them, not the specific questions themselves.　

[Chess]

Oh yes, thank you for correcting me. I have my sample regarding my assignment:

The Fireworks Festival was usually being held during summer, the celebrations are held for over a month and peak periods are weekends. The fireworks festival is usually done in the past as a form of ceremony to bid good harvest.

The assignment is kinda long, and I'm having difficulties because I lack the knowledge regarding verbs. T-T

[StonerPenguin]

Originally Posted by masaegu

In informal Japanese speech, grammar gets butchered or one could say, instead, that a different set of "grammar" is used.　You should never forget the fact that Japanese had long been a spoken language without a writing system. Its traits as a spoken language are still pretty much conspicuous.　

Literal translation would not work, either. If it worked (and if you translated from English everytime you wanted to say something in Japanese), you won't be able to say anything that would sound natural and informal.

If you want to change the phrase above, you could say:
「～どのくらいアラバマに滞在するのかとか、真央さん のSoftBankのアドレスでもう訊いてるんだけど」

I myself had not used 訊く because, from your description, I figured that the most important thing that you wanted to express was the fact that you had tried to contact them, not the specific questions themselves.　

Yes, you're right. The message I'm trying to get across is that I contacted them earlier. So it's alright to use とか like that? I just wanted a quick check to make sure that's right and not confusing I think I'll send it off the way I had it before;
「詠美子さん、おはよう。　お元気？　すごく遅くなっ てごめんね。　＞＜　でも、私と日本語で話してくれて ありがとうとか、どのくらいアラバマに滞在するのかと か、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送ってるんだけ� ��。　いつアトランタに行くの？　ではでは～」

[masaegu]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

Yes, you're right. The message I'm trying to get across is that I contacted them earlier. So it's alright to use とか like that? I just wanted a quick check to make sure that's right and not confusing I think I'll send it off the way I had it before;
「詠美子さん、おはよう。　お元気？　すごく遅くなっ てごめんね。　＞＜　でも、私と日本語で話してくれて ありがとうとか、どのくらいアラバマに滞在するのかと か、真央さんのSoftBankのアドレスにもう送ってるんだけ� ��。　いつアトランタに行くの？　ではでは～」

That use of とか is completely natural.

You might want to change the period at the end of the longest sentence to 「・・・」 because you are clearly leaving something unsaid. (That something = the fact that you have not heard from Mao.)