This is an archive of the JD Translation Challenge, which we do regularly on JD’s Twitter. Why don’t you take the challenge too?
We have also listed the answers (translations) from our followers and feedback from Japanese members, so check it out when you are done with your translation.
Table of Contents
Translation Challenge
“Is there a good tempura restaurant around here? I would like to eat freshly fried crispy tempura.”
Translate it into Japanese.
(See the tweet on Twitter.)
Example answers
「ここらへんにおいしい天ぷら屋さんはありませんか？揚げたてのサクサクのてんぷらが食べたいんです。」(Friendly polite)
「ここらへんに美味しい天ぷら屋さんってあるかな？揚げたてのサクサクのやつが食べたいなぁ。」
「この辺に美味しい天ぷら屋さんってあるかな？揚げたてでサクサクのやつが食べたいんだけど。」
Key phrase
揚げたて
“freshly fried”
「ポテトは揚げたてが一番おいしいです。」
“French fries taste best when they are freshly fried.”
*When you attach it to a noun, it would be「揚げたての」+Noun.
サクサク
(onomatopoeia for being) “crispy”; “crunchy”; “flaky”
「このお菓子は外側がサクサクしていてすごくおいしいね。」
“This snack has a crispy outside and is very tasty.”
*When you attach it to a noun, it would be「サクサクな」+Noun.
Answers from our follwers
Click to read the feedback.
Great as always!
It’s not unnatural at all to say it as it is, but I think most of us would say it without omitting “な” (サクサク”な”天ぷら). Just FYI
It’s just FYI and yours are okay but we tend to say it with “な” after サクサク when you put it before nouns (サクサク”な”天ぷら)
Two things: 1 – 「の」, the end of an interrogative sentence, is used when you want someone to tell you more about a word or idea he/she has said or to confirm it. So, it sounds like you said “really?” after someone said that there is a good tempura restaurant around here.
I’m not saying it’s grammatically wrong but keep it in mind If you just want to ask if there is a good one, ask without 「の」: この辺にいい天ぷらレストランがある？
2- 揚げたばっかり”の”天ぷら It’s better with “の” There is another word with the same meaning, 「揚げたて」. Japanese people often use this one, so it’s good to remember it as well.
Other than those, your translation looks awesome! Good job!
Nice! There is no mistake but one thing I’d like to tell you is 「かしら？」is not used much in daily conversation today, except for older women. And many Japanese people would imagine rich old women when they hear this word. You can use 「かな？」instead
I love the「あのさぁ」vibe!
One thing, when we say tempura restaurants in Japanese, we say 「天ぷら屋」or 「天ぷら屋さん」 (I think the former is more appropriate for the tone of your sentence!)
You can also say 「天ぷらのお店」, too, but there are two possibilities when you say it: you could be talking about a restaurant or about a delicatessen! So people might direct you to the delicatessen.
「食感のいい揚げたての天ぷら」is a very good translation! Bravo!
Special thanks to all who participated!
