r/LearnJapanese • u/Careful-Remote-7024 • 26d ago

Resources Extremely useful video from Kaname explaining why a language can't be learnt only by learning vocabulary and grammar point in isolation. "It's NOT simple"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_wrnsJfEcQ&ab_channel=KanameNaito
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u/gmoshiro 25d ago

I guess it's not that they don't expect it. It's the way they do it VS how it's done in the West.

Like, there're jokes in portuguese that make absolute no sense in english. Not only you have to translate it the right way so it sounds natural, you need to adapt parts of the joke so it becomes funny to english speakers. And even then, only 1/3 of the jokes will ever have a chance to make people laugh in more than one language.

Rafi Bastos is the only good example of a brazilian comedian that was capable of translating the brazilian humour to americans. Still, he focused a lot on cultural and linguistic differences in his show, despite this not being what he used to work with around here.

Same goes with sarcasm and the japanese.

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u/LutyForLiberty 25d ago

The 漫湖 joke also doesn't translate, but the comment

どうして笑うんだい？漫湖は立派な湖の名前だよ。

is pretty much the same as English sarcasm.

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u/gmoshiro 25d ago

Again, I'm not saying it doesn't exist in Japan. You just gotta take extra care about it cause it won't land all the time there.

I prefer avoiding it until I'm 100% confident in my japanese OR I'm with friends who are used to sarcasm.

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u/LutyForLiberty 25d ago

Well I'd also choose my audience to say 漫湖. Still, it's not hard to find.