Translating Lyrics Advice

arqnohikari

7 billion humans. She must know I exist
So there are Songs That Have no English Lyrics;
But have Romaji & Kanji Lyrics...


I have made three translations before; but they were more just;
Translate The Kanji And Arrange the words to make reading Sense..
If there is a right way to translate a song please let me know.. :uh..:
and any advice is given a thank you..

:dote: Small list;
Minami Kuribayashi ~ Beginning
Minami Kuribayashi ~ koko ni attane
Mikuni Shimokawa ~ Aiiro No Sora No Shita
Suara ~ Tsubomi - Blue Dreams
Saeko Chiba ~ Melody ( Only Romaji )
Yoko Ishida ~ Bokura no Kiseki
Yoko Ishida ~ Negai
More...
Translating would help me learn Japanese Double time since some characters I can memorize.

thanks for the help :sohappy:
 
Well ..

1. Make sure you're fluent or near fluent in language to which you're translating. Having a bit of imagination when it comes to language helps as well.

2. Know Japanese grammar. And this takes shitty long time. What you did so far works in many cases, but the problem is that in Japanese just one different kana changes a whole meaning of the sentence.

I've translated few doujinshis in the past (well i still do) and i though i've done a great job, but i told the group to get someone to proofread my translation because i was not sure. When i got the script back i was facepalming quite a lot.
So basically if you're not sure of your Japanese grammar and you're still learning i suggest you find someone who is and would be willing to proofread after you and explain you the mistakes you've done.
But than again i know this is the best way for me to learn something; to learn from my mistakes. It's up to you to figure out what's the best way for you.

Also you'll have to be more specific to get more advices, generally speaking there is not right way to translate songs, there is not right way to translate anything to begin with. It's art of adaptation and arrangement in language :)
 
whenever i get iffy on a word i would use a online dictionary. but i guess i always wanna get it to close to the Romaji as Possible.
but as i look further into it i see alternates. but i don't what is missing.

example; Breakthrough by Coming Century ( worked on )
end of 1st chorus;

Aratana hikari motome Never gonna give up.
新たな光求め ~ Request a new light
求め motome = request
alternates--
seek;
sought;
demand;
required;

so i tried "Seek" turned into 'Motomeru'.
then tried 'sought' it turned into 新たな光を求めて Aratana hikari wo motomete "Seeking a new light"

I know を = wo/o is one of those "Markers" like wa,ni,ga,no ...
i don't think marker hurt the sentence at all... :uh..:
i don't know much on their Conjugations. but i have good memorizing skills. although i have been studying for about 6-7 months.. :blood: brain hurts..

if i am still confusing. let me know..
 
^ I started learning Japanese by translating lyrics too. I've been practicing for about a year now, and I've gotten much better. So rest assured that you'll get better with time! :V:

When を or "wo" (I type it as "o" myself) is used between a noun and a verb, the translated phrase has the verb then the noun. Like 光を探す (hikari o sagasu) - it's technically "light search" but because of the を, it translates as "searching for light".

As Keiri explained to me, the "te" form of verbs, like 求めて (motomete) can be used as a casual imperative. Basically it's an order. I would translate 新たな光求め as either "(I am) seeking new light", or "(you must) seek new light".

Having the を left out is basically just a shortening. Sometimes I see comments on videos like この歌最高! (kono uta saikou!), which is a shortened version of この歌は最高! (kono uta wa saikou!). People fluent in Japanese would probably add in the "wa", which is just a marker for the topic, "kono uta". A shortening like that in lyrics was probably done just to save room.

Keiri is much more knowledgeable than I am, but I think she's normally not online much. But if you need any advice or help, let me know and I'll see what I can do! :sparkleguy:

EDIT

Also, have you posted your translations anywhere? I'd like to read them, so I can correct anything you've done wrong.
 
here is the Lyrics For
Suara - Tsubomi ~ Blue Dreams(Flower Buds ~ Blue Dreams)
Romaji & Kanji From Jpopasia.com

Verse 1;
Futari, narande, te wo tsunaida sora ni
ふたり並んで 手をつないだ空に
Two People, Side by side, holding hands in the sky

Mirai kasane chikau ano chiheisen
未来重ね誓う あの地平線
Repeated that vow the future horizon

Kaze ga yasashiku fukinuketeku you ni
風がやさしく吹き抜けてくように
Do Like the winds gently blowing through

Bokura asu he to toketetta
僕ら明日(あす)へと溶けてった
We were to melt tomorrow

Nagareteku toki wa tada
Shizuka ni kimi wo mimamotte
流れてく 時代(とき)はただ
静かに君を見守って
When just an era, the flowing
Quietly watching over you

Kanashimi mo, sayonara mo
Aoi namida mo, tsuyosa ni naru um
悲しみも「さよなら」も
碧い涙も 強さになる um
Also "goodbye" sadness
strength becomes azure tears Um

Chorus;
Bokura YUME kakeru tsubomi
Kotae sagashi ikiteku
僕らユメ翔ける蕾
答え探し生きてく
Our Dreams buds Soaring
Do live searching for the answer

Hokori takaku saku hana ni
Itsuka wa nareru to, shinjiteta in the blue dreams
誇り高く咲く花に
いつかはなれると 信じてた in the blue dreams
The flowers bloom proudly
and someday can become, I believed in the blue dreams

Verse 2;
Kigi no sukima ni koboreta hikari suji
木々の隙間に こぼれた光筋(ひかりすじ)
the streaks of light were spilled into the gap between the trees

Mirai shimesu michi ni ryoute hirogete
未来しめす道に 両手広げて
Spread my arms to showing the future road

Shiroi kotori ga tobi habataku you ni
白い小鳥が 飛び羽ばたくように
Flap Like a little white bird flying

Bokura jiyuu wo motometeta
僕ら自由を求めてた
we were looking for freedom

Tsutaetai kimi to ita
Hitotsu hitotsu no omoide ni
伝えたい 君といた
ひとつひとつの思い出に
I want to tell you was with
The memory of each and every

Itoshisa mo, arigatou mo
Sono hohoemi mo tsuyosa ni naru um
愛しさも「ありがとう」も
その微笑みも 強さになる um
Also "thank you" also the love
also strength becomes its smile um

Chorus 2;
Bokura yume kakeru tsubomi
Aoiro no ima wo mau
僕らユメ翔ける蕾
青色の今を舞う
Our dream buds soar
now Dancing in the blue

Hitamuki ni kaoru hana wa
Dareka wo omotte hokorobita cause you have dreams
ひたむきに香る花は
誰かを思って 綻びた cause you have dreams
Fragrant flowers are earnest
Cause you have dreams that someone else thought breached

Chorus 3;

Bokura YUME kakeru tsubomi
Omoi wo uta ni nosete
僕らユメ翔ける蕾
想いを詩(うた)に乗せて
Our Dream buds soar
the feelings put into Song

Massugu ni aruki nagara
Kagayaki tsuzukeyou shinjiteru ano hi kara in the blue dreams
まっすぐに歩きながら
輝き続けよう 信じてる あの日から in the blue dreams
We all walked straight
Believe that from that day will keep shining in the blue dreams

here to how the song is..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHoYm6LSkt4
i do a lot of lyrics video :XD: thanks for help :sohappy:
 
^ Thanks for the lyrics!

Looking at them, I can say that you need a lot more practice with your grammar. (Sorry to be so blunt.) I'll try correcting them and pointing out what you're doing wrong, okay?

Now first of all, you need to pay attention to what I call "noun-modifying clauses". There's a good example of that in the first line. Because the claus "te o tsunaida" comes before the noun "sora", it modifies "sora" and becomes sort of a description. Instead of "holding hands in the sky", it can be translated as "in the sky where we held hands". It's the same for "futari, narande". I'd translate the whole line as "in the sky where we stood side by side and held hands".

(As a note, "futari" can be translated as a sort of "we", if using "we" works better than using "two people".)

The same thing applies to the next line. Since "mirai kasane-chikau" comes before "ano chiheisen", the clause modifies the noun. "Ano" is another description of "chiheisen", making it "that horizon" instead of just "the horizon", but it doesn't change the modification of the previous clause. So I would translate that as "that horizon that repeats our vows to the future".

In the third line, you just need to get rid of the "do" part. "Like the wind that's gently blowing".

In the fourth line, there's something that I find a little confusing myself, the "e to" thing. I'm not sure what it means, but it's commonly used, and I think that it's just another way of putting an "into" in the translation. "We were dissolving into tomorrow".

The next line has a good example of one of the uses of "toki". I find that when "toki" is used after a verb, it usually means "when", and shouldn't be translated as "time" or "era". In this case, it would be "just when we were flowing", or something like that.

"Tada" is a little confusing, but it basically means "just" or "only", so you can stick it in wherever it fits in that line. All in all, I'd translate that as "just when we were flowing, I was quietly watching over you".

Now in the next lines, "mo" (which has a lot of meanings) means "both". You can tell because it's repeated so much. And because "ni naru" comes after "tsuyosa", it's "becomes strength". So I'd translate it as "Both sadness and goodbyes/ and also blue tears, turn into strength".

There's another noun-modifying clause in the next part, with "tsubomi" modified by "bokura yume kakeru". This is a little confusing, because there aren't any markers, but you can infer that it's probably along the lines of "bokura no yume o kakeru tsubomi", which should translate as "the buds that soar along our dreams" or something similar.

The next part is pretty well done, but it sounds a little awkward. "Are alive and searching for the answer" might sound better.

Another noun-modifying clause - "hana" modified by "hokori takaku saku", which would be "the flowers that bloom with great pride".

The next part is a good example too. "Naru", or its different form "nareru" here, can have a lot of meanings. Since there was a mention of flowers in the previous line, the meaning of "bearing fruit" is probably the best one to go with. Now, because it's the "nareru" form, it has the implication of "being able to". "To", coming after "nareru" like it does, means "if" or "when". So the entire two lines (leaving out "shinjiteta" and the part afterward) would mean "if the flowers that bloom with great pride/ someday bear fruit".

Because the end of the second line has the English in it, it's pretty much open to interpretation. To connect it with the previous part, I would translate it as "they'll do so (the flowers) in the blue dreams that I believed in".

So, my translation for the first line and chorus:

In the sky where we stood side-by-side and held hands
There was that horizon, repeating our vows to the future
Like the wind that's gently blowing
We were dissolving into tomorrow
And when everything was flowing
I was just quietly watching over you
So both sadness and goodbyes
And even blue tears turn into strength

The buds that soar along our dreams
Are alive and searching for the answer
If the flowers that bloom with great pride
Someday bear fruit, it'll be in the blue dreams that I believed in

(I changed a few things to sound better.)

I'll post my analysis of the next line and chorus ASAP, hopefully tomorrow :sparkleguy:
 
No worries for you being blunt, i need a good smack in the head with knowledge :XD:
Thank you so much though This Helps A lot. i can usually Comprehend what is said when reading the romaji through words i do know.

i know that when it comes to the Japanese language the nouns describe the verb... the verb basically goes last in a sentence..

i'm writing notes.... well back to the grammar board.

Oh and Clap of hands to you For those Saeko Chiba Lyrics. I am a fan of her music :dote:
once i learn better grammar this should be a little easier.

lives are saved through the Words Of Music :hero:
 
^ You're welcome! And thanks! :bow:

I'll try to post the next part of my analysis soon... :bow:
 
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