I often reply under Japanese posts, and I always assume users will use a translator as I do, but maybe in the context of a Japanese instance or conversation this may look rude?
I’m not sure about other places, but in mod comments on Nexus it’s fairly standard to just reply in your native language and have the other person translate.
You’ll often see discussions with one half in English and the other in Chinese, for example.
Yeah, this is the way. It’s better to let the other person do the translating, rather than presenting maybe your ideas by using a translator. It would be like running everything you post through an AI first. Best to give as much intent as possible
Nie mam pojęcia czemu my mielibyśmy to wiedzieć. Może zapytaj tych Japończyków?
Listen here you little… well done
Pierogi?
I often see people reply in other languages, even under English posts (usually in German over here).
Not really.
In Asia, people often just comment in their own language. Though, English is preferable for easier translation. Unless some extreme nationalist, most people simply happy to interact with you.
Just remember that it could be misunderstood, especially with sarcasm or joke.
I’ve seen Japanese artist deleted their account because they mistaken a joke towards their art as hate comment.Happy cake day
Jokes never translate well. Even between somewhat-related languages, like western European ones. Best to just not.
More than that Japanese people have a completely different sense of humor from the stuff you usually see in the West. Even a fluent but non-native speaker will have a lot of their jokes fall flat simply because the Japanese and Western conceptions of a joke are very different. In what way? I have no idea, still trying to figure it out. I don’t know if that gap is that big in other cultures, but definitely best to just not.
Even if people are talking in English, it still can display cultural difference. Especially nowadays we get Singaporean English, Indian English, Asian English, etc.
For example, a word in English Asia have neutral meaning, but in American English it is a slur. Unfortunately a lot of Western people does not realize this and tried to “standardize” the language. People should learn contextual language instead of policing from their own cultural mindset. Especially, billingual or trilingual people often code-mixing language.
I’ve seen Japanese artist deleted their account because they mistaken a joke towards their art as hate comment.
Yikes! I wanted to comment that it would be clear that you’re using a translation service of some kind if you reply in a different language from the post, and the other part might take that into consideration — but clearly that isn’t a given.
Hey, happy lemmy anniversary, I’m glad you’re here!
Are you learning japanese? You might enjoy trying. Duolingo has a free tier which is annoying but the annual sub is reasonable if you look for offers.
Firefox will offer translations. On both sides.
Given the choice between not knowing an answer and having to translate it (using a built-in browser) the choice is obvious.
Taking offence is a choice.
For learning japanese I would not recommend Duolingo, people often recommend using The Moe Way, Tae Kim and Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly. I’m just a beginner, but I tried learning with duo and it was not good. Learning using The Moe Way was way more faster and logical
While I agree, the best practice is one you can do regularly. If duo’s gamification helps you keep actively studying, then while maybe not the best way, it’s better than nothing.
Ideally the best use of duo is minimally, as a springboard to keep you doing other more immersive studying.
I don’t study Japanese. I suggested the most popular app.
Je ne pense pas
Hmmm… I thought it would be rude, but considering the consensus here, people speaking other languages should just respond using their languages to English comments and posts. There are way more non-English speaking people on the planet than English speakers. It would make the fediverse truly international if people did what you did!
Thanks for possibly starting a movement :)
drawing your conclusions from Lemmy demographics??
Mer chönd das scho probiere, aber denn müsst mer ja di ganz Ziit en Übersetzer zur Hand ha, wär denn doch nöd die best UX würdi säge. Das würd d’Neuakömmlige nur no meh verschüüche.
That’s not a language, it’s a dialect and nowhere near standard. I think there’s quite a difference between responding in a language that can be translated by existing translation tools vs whatever offshoot of a dialect you wrote that in. After all, people from the UK will respond in English, not Cockney, Geordi, Brummie or whatever else. And they don’t write words how they sound when spoken, which is what you’re doing.
Surprisingly your text was translatable by DeeplL
As to the UX, I don’t see the problem. Lemmy allows you to select which languages you want to see and if people consistently respond in a language you don’t wan to see, you can always block them. It’s a pity Lemmy doesn’t allow deselecting “Undetermined” because it would turn this into a non-issue.
The point is that languages without large speakerbases might consider barging in with the most recognized languages rude, while languages with similar status might find it normal.
I just used the TWP plugin to translate that comment inline and got, “We could try it, but then we’d have to have a translator on hand the whole time, which wouldn’t be the best UX, I think. That would only alienate newcomers even more.”
Is that not correct?
That’s perfect, exactly what I meant to say.
Neat!
My only complaint with the TWP translator - it doesn’t tell me the language/dialect that it translated from. Mind telling me what dialect (of what language) you wrote in?
Swiss/Allemanic German. Specifically I speak Zug’s dialect.
I tried translating something before posting it to the same language (Thai) and apparently nobody understood what I was talking about. But enough people understood English, so at least some people would have understood me if I just posted it in English. The others could try translating.
Responding in English, if this is your language, is not Anglo domination. A lot of people learn English as a second language, so many know it. If you translate to Japanese and post it, then when people translate it to English, or Spanish, whatever, it will make no sense whatsoever.
When I traveled to France, a Middle Eastern family came into the restaurant and asked for the English menu. They couldn’t read the French menu. But they knew enough English. That’s when I realized that restaurants in France offered English menus, not for Westerners, but because more people in the world were likely to understand it rather than French.
I post in English. Translating from English to Spanish is better than English to Japanese to Spanish.
いや、大丈夫だよ。
Honestly though, I think it depends on the context. I think it’s generally OK on open multilingual platforms especially with mixed audiences.
I see lots of English comments on Japanese vocaloid videos, for example, and I think most content creators enjoy having fans from abroad.
Ich_iel gets “mad” about it, but when they say “sprich Deutsch” just respond with “macht mir” and they get confused.
I’ve had more conversations than I can count with people I would never be able to talk to in person, all using our own native languages.
The original posts are in English, people comment in their native language, and I use a translator, then respond in my own language. Is the translator perfect? No! Neither is theirs.
With the way most translators I’ve used work, it’s easier for the non-native speaker to try translating, since the translator might try and use different words that entirely change the meaning, but likely list possible alternatives. A native e speaker will understand the alternatives while a non-native speaker probably won’t.
That’s my thought process anyway.
Never had anyone who wasn’t pearl-clutching or virtue-signaling complain about it. And I’ve had tons of conversations with people I’d never have talked to otherwise.
YouTuber Takashii just uploaded a video of street interviews in Japan on the topic of what tourists should/shouldn’t do in Japan.
at least one person said that in Japan, foreigners should try to speak Japanese. some people might see a Japanese
threadinstance as a little piece of Japan. especially since English language education there is not on a high level.and monolinguals outside the Anglosphere do sometimes complain that their languages are being replaced/invaded by English.
that said, i think fediverse users (if that’s where you’ve been replying) are less xenophobic than general population.
just remember that in Japan if one wants to complain about another’s behavior, it’s common to go to one’s home turf or filter bubble to do so rather than speaking to the offender directly.
Don’t do this in !ich_iel@feddit.org
https://feddit.org/post/2221909?scrollToComments=trueIf you answer in the language you know best, it’ll be easier to others to understand or translate, especially if it’s English.
You could translate your message to match the language of the comment, but if you don’t know the language, how can you know if it conveys your message correctly?
Overall, I’d say it depends on the specific community. If you try to inject yourself into a conversation in a Japanese language community, it may indeed come off as rude or ignorant.
The best solution may be to post in both languages?
This seems very rude. I see foreigners do this all the time. they take over subreddits that aren’t designed for them.
Just use a translator and state it in your post. You can literally do this with a simple right-click in firefox. Enough with the anglo domination.
Also ich würde behaupten, dass es in der Tat nicht sehr cool ist einfach in einer anderen Sprache zu antworten.
