Here's a few tips for those wanting to translate stuff from Japanese to English. I randomly got the idea to make this topic after translating some video comments on Nicovideo. I have some decent Japanese-English translating experience, since I've taken Japanese classes in college for three years--but I'm sure I don't have all of the smartest methods. So feel free to post your own tips as well.
Some of these tips could help beginners in Japanese. Others are geared toward those who are intermediate at Japanese (like me), who know the basics of Japanese grammar and a decent amount of vocabulary and expressions, but don't know enough to translate the average Japanese article without tools.
These tips might even help you learn Japanese!
(1) Typing Japanese
To look stuff up in Japanese, it'll often help if you can type Japanese.
Windows Vista/7, Windows XP, Mac OS X: Go here. The linked page is for Windows Vista/7, but at the top of the page there's links to instructions for XP and Mac.
Once you get it set up and get the hang of the basics, don't forget about the step "Japanese Language Bar shortcuts"/"Japanese Language Switching Shortcuts"; this can save you a lot of time. You can also change the shortcuts. (For example, in Windows Vista/7: click the little arrow on your language bar to bring up the menu, choose Settings, and go to Advanced Key Settings.)
Notes on certain symbols/characters:
- 「」 are typed with '[' and ']'. These are basically Japanese quote marks.
- small kana can be typed with 'l' or 'x' followed by something. For example, ぃ is 'li' or 'xi'.
- づ can be typed with 'du'.
- 々 can be typed with 'onaji'.
(2) Rikaichan
This is a browser plugin, applicable at least for Firefox and Chrome. When you have it enabled, then when you mouse over a Japanese word, a dictionary entry will appear. It's a really convenient alternative to looking stuff up in a dictionary.
Firefox (you need to download the plugin as well as the Japanese-English dictionary file)
Chrome port (Rikaikun)
I think there may be an alternative or something similar for Safari, as well, but I'm not sure.
Usage (Firefox): to activate Rikaichan for a webpage, click the little gray smiley icon on the bottom right of the browser window; it should turn into a red smiley icon. Click it again to deactivate it. When activated, you should be able to mouse over any kanji, hiragana, or katakana and see a dictionary entry appear. It mainly only helps when you mouse over the beginning of a "word" as opposed to the middle, so it helps if you know enough about Japanese to discern where the start of a word is. If you don't: as a rough rule of thumb, if more characters are highlighted in a single dictionary entry, it's more likely to be what you're looking for. (3 highlighted characters is better than 2, 2 is better than 1, etc.)
Rikaichan will only work on text that the browser recognizes as text. If the text is in an image, Rikaichan won't pick it up.
(3) Dictionaries
If Rikaichan doesn't meet your need for any reason (text as images, text isn't on a webpage, need more info than what Rikaichan's entry provides, don't have Firefox or Chrome, etc.), try a dictionary. Denshi Jisho is the one I use most. To be honest, I haven't tried other dictionaries enough to give them a fair assessment; however, a lot of online Japanese-English dictionaries use EDICT as their word database, so the main difference between these dictionaries will be the search features, site layout, and stuff like that.
Tips on Denshi Jisho (probably applies to other dictionaries too):
- You can search Japanese words with Japanese characters or romaji (Japanese spelled with English letters).
- Words, expressions, and sometimes phrases can be searched.
- There's a "Common words only" checkbox to narrow down search results; this will often help because the dictionary has a lot of extremely obscure stuff, but other times it might hide what you're looking for. Also, the dictionary isn't the ultimate authority on what's common or not, so take that with a grain of salt.
- Sample sentences with English translations help to get a better handle on a word's meaning, and how to grammatically use a word. These sentences and their translations aren't always correct, though, so don't rely on them if there's just a couple of samples. Try Google searching for more examples on usage, or to get an idea as to whether an expression is common.
- If you put a conjugated verb in the Japanese search box, it'll often recognize this and search the standard verb form instead (which tends to help).
- Use "Kanji by radicals" to search for a kanji character by identifying its parts.
(4) Furigana Injector
This browser add-on will make furigana (small hiragana) appear over kanji to indicate their pronunciation. This can speed up the process of looking up or learning words with kanji.
For Firefox, at least (haven't tried with Chrome), you will also need to install the HTML Ruby add-on to make the furigana actually appear over the kanji. Otherwise, the furigana will appear in parentheses beside the kanji, which may make reading a bit weird.
Furigana Injector for Firefox
HTML Ruby for Firefox
Furigana Injector for Chrome
Usage (Firefox): using Furigana Injector on a page is similar to using Rikaichan. Click the 振 icon at the bottom right of your browser window. Click it again to turn it off for that page. If activated, a green check mark should appear over the icon, and the kanji on the current page should have furigana over it... that is, all kanji except:
a. The list of kanji to not show furigana for, found in the Furigana Injector options. You can add or remove kanji from this list as you see fit, depending on your kanji reading level.
b. Any kanji in link text, unless you've checked "Include text inside links" in the options.
To access Furigana Injector options, right-click the 振 icon and select Options.
To access HTML Ruby options, right-click the little 'RUBY' icon at the bottom right of your browser window and select Options. These options mainly deal with the display details of furigana: line spacing, furigana size, etc. As you might imagine, furigana injection can really mess with webpage layouts, so playing with the options might alleviate that.
A couple of other important notes:
- Furigana Injector can't be activated on every page that has kanji; on these pages, the green check mark won't appear even if you click the 振 icon. I'm not sure, but I think this simply happens when the page only has kanji from the don't-show-furigana kanji list.
- Avoid using Furigana Injector on pages with personal or confidential information. From the Privacy Policy from the Firefox download page (next to the "Add to Firefox" button): "Please note that from version 2.0 the text is processed on a remote server. Simply do not use Furigana Injector on pages or paragraphs or sentences that have personal information."
(5) Google
If something isn't in the dictionary, try Google. Search the word, expression, phrase, smiley, etc. along with "英語" (English) or "意味" (meaning). You may find a Yahoo-Answers-esque page with the answer you need. You'll probably need some Japanese reading ability to make sense of the search results, though. Alternatively, you could just include "English" or "meaning" in the search and hope there's an English language page that happens to discuss that particular word.
As mentioned in the dictionary tips, a Google search for a word, expression, or phrase may help you get a handle on how to use it grammatically, as well as a rough idea on whether it's in common use or not.
(6) Google Translate
If you're lazy or don't know enough Japanese to make use of the above tips. Automatic translation is known for not doing very well between English and Asian languages, though.
Some of these tips could help beginners in Japanese. Others are geared toward those who are intermediate at Japanese (like me), who know the basics of Japanese grammar and a decent amount of vocabulary and expressions, but don't know enough to translate the average Japanese article without tools.
These tips might even help you learn Japanese!
(1) Typing Japanese
To look stuff up in Japanese, it'll often help if you can type Japanese.
Windows Vista/7, Windows XP, Mac OS X: Go here. The linked page is for Windows Vista/7, but at the top of the page there's links to instructions for XP and Mac.
Once you get it set up and get the hang of the basics, don't forget about the step "Japanese Language Bar shortcuts"/"Japanese Language Switching Shortcuts"; this can save you a lot of time. You can also change the shortcuts. (For example, in Windows Vista/7: click the little arrow on your language bar to bring up the menu, choose Settings, and go to Advanced Key Settings.)
Notes on certain symbols/characters:
- 「」 are typed with '[' and ']'. These are basically Japanese quote marks.
- small kana can be typed with 'l' or 'x' followed by something. For example, ぃ is 'li' or 'xi'.
- づ can be typed with 'du'.
- 々 can be typed with 'onaji'.
(2) Rikaichan
This is a browser plugin, applicable at least for Firefox and Chrome. When you have it enabled, then when you mouse over a Japanese word, a dictionary entry will appear. It's a really convenient alternative to looking stuff up in a dictionary.
Firefox (you need to download the plugin as well as the Japanese-English dictionary file)
Chrome port (Rikaikun)
I think there may be an alternative or something similar for Safari, as well, but I'm not sure.
Usage (Firefox): to activate Rikaichan for a webpage, click the little gray smiley icon on the bottom right of the browser window; it should turn into a red smiley icon. Click it again to deactivate it. When activated, you should be able to mouse over any kanji, hiragana, or katakana and see a dictionary entry appear. It mainly only helps when you mouse over the beginning of a "word" as opposed to the middle, so it helps if you know enough about Japanese to discern where the start of a word is. If you don't: as a rough rule of thumb, if more characters are highlighted in a single dictionary entry, it's more likely to be what you're looking for. (3 highlighted characters is better than 2, 2 is better than 1, etc.)
Rikaichan will only work on text that the browser recognizes as text. If the text is in an image, Rikaichan won't pick it up.
(3) Dictionaries
If Rikaichan doesn't meet your need for any reason (text as images, text isn't on a webpage, need more info than what Rikaichan's entry provides, don't have Firefox or Chrome, etc.), try a dictionary. Denshi Jisho is the one I use most. To be honest, I haven't tried other dictionaries enough to give them a fair assessment; however, a lot of online Japanese-English dictionaries use EDICT as their word database, so the main difference between these dictionaries will be the search features, site layout, and stuff like that.
Tips on Denshi Jisho (probably applies to other dictionaries too):
- You can search Japanese words with Japanese characters or romaji (Japanese spelled with English letters).
- Words, expressions, and sometimes phrases can be searched.
- There's a "Common words only" checkbox to narrow down search results; this will often help because the dictionary has a lot of extremely obscure stuff, but other times it might hide what you're looking for. Also, the dictionary isn't the ultimate authority on what's common or not, so take that with a grain of salt.
- Sample sentences with English translations help to get a better handle on a word's meaning, and how to grammatically use a word. These sentences and their translations aren't always correct, though, so don't rely on them if there's just a couple of samples. Try Google searching for more examples on usage, or to get an idea as to whether an expression is common.
- If you put a conjugated verb in the Japanese search box, it'll often recognize this and search the standard verb form instead (which tends to help).
- Use "Kanji by radicals" to search for a kanji character by identifying its parts.
(4) Furigana Injector
This browser add-on will make furigana (small hiragana) appear over kanji to indicate their pronunciation. This can speed up the process of looking up or learning words with kanji.
For Firefox, at least (haven't tried with Chrome), you will also need to install the HTML Ruby add-on to make the furigana actually appear over the kanji. Otherwise, the furigana will appear in parentheses beside the kanji, which may make reading a bit weird.
Furigana Injector for Firefox
HTML Ruby for Firefox
Furigana Injector for Chrome
Usage (Firefox): using Furigana Injector on a page is similar to using Rikaichan. Click the 振 icon at the bottom right of your browser window. Click it again to turn it off for that page. If activated, a green check mark should appear over the icon, and the kanji on the current page should have furigana over it... that is, all kanji except:
a. The list of kanji to not show furigana for, found in the Furigana Injector options. You can add or remove kanji from this list as you see fit, depending on your kanji reading level.
b. Any kanji in link text, unless you've checked "Include text inside links" in the options.
To access Furigana Injector options, right-click the 振 icon and select Options.
To access HTML Ruby options, right-click the little 'RUBY' icon at the bottom right of your browser window and select Options. These options mainly deal with the display details of furigana: line spacing, furigana size, etc. As you might imagine, furigana injection can really mess with webpage layouts, so playing with the options might alleviate that.
A couple of other important notes:
- Furigana Injector can't be activated on every page that has kanji; on these pages, the green check mark won't appear even if you click the 振 icon. I'm not sure, but I think this simply happens when the page only has kanji from the don't-show-furigana kanji list.
- Avoid using Furigana Injector on pages with personal or confidential information. From the Privacy Policy from the Firefox download page (next to the "Add to Firefox" button): "Please note that from version 2.0 the text is processed on a remote server. Simply do not use Furigana Injector on pages or paragraphs or sentences that have personal information."
(5) Google
If something isn't in the dictionary, try Google. Search the word, expression, phrase, smiley, etc. along with "英語" (English) or "意味" (meaning). You may find a Yahoo-Answers-esque page with the answer you need. You'll probably need some Japanese reading ability to make sense of the search results, though. Alternatively, you could just include "English" or "meaning" in the search and hope there's an English language page that happens to discuss that particular word.
As mentioned in the dictionary tips, a Google search for a word, expression, or phrase may help you get a handle on how to use it grammatically, as well as a rough idea on whether it's in common use or not.
(6) Google Translate
If you're lazy or don't know enough Japanese to make use of the above tips. Automatic translation is known for not doing very well between English and Asian languages, though.
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