PS
I'm sorry for jumping to wrong conclusions though and hurting the TL's feelings. I sure could've presented my original concern in less arrogant, more respectful and friendly manner. I'll try to keep it in mind in the future.

It wasn't my feelings that got hurt. I'm chill, yo. x)

Therefore, I think that "I haven't yet worked here for half a year, and I'll feel bad for the manager... but I'm going to quit" works a lot better.

No.

At the very least, this certainly resolves the ambiguity about the duration aspect and the now time.

There isn't one.

The possible time skip hypothesis simply cannot survive in this case, at all.

There isn't one. It's legit cus you don't understand the sentence.

and you have to WTF how things come to this weird time skip

You don't. It's just you.

Man, don't you know anyone fluent in English you could ask? Sure, there's been like at least 3 English speakers who told you that the sentence is fine, that it's just you, but if that isn't sufficient, can't you just find and ask someone you would actually trust?

All Morinaga Milk stories take place in the same universe. It's a magical realism / urban fantasy thing where little demons exist whose task is to prevent girls from communicating with each other. Hijinks (and tears) ensue.

All Morinaga Milk stories take place in the same universe. It's a magical realism / urban fantasy thing where little demons exist whose task is to prevent girls from communicating with each other. Hijinks (and tears) ensue.

Well we can't just have characters being happy, now can we? ;p

last edited at Aug 11, 2016 2:39PM

Sorry to add fuel to the fire but I was one of the people who also got confused by that phrasing. It's not inherently wrong nor bad English but it certainly can induce confusion. I think it has more to do with your expectation of the story (as in, whether you saw it coming and therefore understood it better) rather than fluency of the language.

Perhaps it could be replaced by something like "Even though I have yet to work for half a year" or even "Even though I've only worked here for less than half a year."

Sorry to add fuel to the fire but I was one of the people who also got confused by that phrasing. It's not inherently wrong nor bad English but it certainly can induce confusion. I think it has more to do with your expectation of the story (as in, whether you saw it coming and therefore understood it better) rather than fluency of the language.

Perhaps it could be replaced by something like "Even though I have yet to work for half a year" or even "Even though I've only worked here for less than half a year."

Both of those sound really awkward and unnatural to me though. The best alternative I can think of to clear up any apparent ambiguity would be "Even though I've worked here for less than half a year" and I'd still be more inclined to the original translation personally. Not that I know what the original line in moon is.

Has the line confused any native English speakers?

I don't know about wrong or unnatural, but both suggestions seem much more formal than something a teenage girl would say, even a fairly mature one.

Sorry to add fuel to the fire but I was one of the people who also got confused by that phrasing. It's not inherently wrong nor bad English but it certainly can induce confusion. I think it has more to do with your expectation of the story (as in, whether you saw it coming and therefore understood it better) rather than fluency of the language.

Perhaps it could be replaced by something like "Even though I have yet to work for half a year" or even "Even though I've only worked here for less than half a year."

Both of those sound really awkward and unnatural to me though. The best alternative I can think of to clear up any apparent ambiguity would be "Even though I've worked here for less than half a year" and I'd still be more inclined to the original translation personally. Not that I know what the original line in moon is.

Has the line confused any native English speakers?

Or maybe just add "yet" at the end, like ""I haven't even been working here for half a year yet."

I don't know about wrong or unnatural, but both suggestions seem much more formal than something a teenage girl would say, even a fairly mature one.

Yea, agreed.

last edited at Aug 11, 2016 3:39PM

I don't know about wrong or unnatural, but both suggestions seem much more formal than something a teenage girl would say, even a fairly mature one.

And Hina's not even mature, she just looks older than she is.

Good gawd, this shite never ends...=_="

The original text is "まだ半年も働いてないのに". Let's break this shit down, alright?
[ ] shows words added to make sense in English.

"まだ" means "not yet".
"半年" means "half a year".
"も" is a particle that roughly translates of "even/as well/also".
"働いてない" is the negative present continuous form of "働く", thus it means " [am] not working".
"のに" means "although/in spite of".

"まだ半年も" becomes "[not] even half a year yet".
Add the rest to that, "まだ半年も働いてないのに", and the straight translation becomes "Not [been] working [here] [for] even half a year yet". From the context, we know that Hinako is talking about herself, thus " [I] [have] not [been] working [here] [for] even half a year yet.", and turning that into more proper and fluid everyday English, we get, "I haven't even worked here half a year".

And no, that's not ambiguous. <.<

last edited at Aug 11, 2016 4:24PM

I don't know about wrong or unnatural, but both suggestions seem much more formal than something a teenage girl would say, even a fairly mature one.

And Hina's not even mature, she just looks older than she is.

My point was even if she was fairly mature, she'd still be unlikely to deliver the suggested line(s).

If nothing else, Ropponmatsu, this is an interesting peek into the mechanics of translation.

If nothing else, Ropponmatsu, this is an interesting peek into the mechanics of translation.

Japanese is one of those languages that make sense when you know what it means, but if you try to explain it, it sounds really damn weird, lol. I did my best. >_<

Good gawd, this shite never ends...=_="
...
And no, that's not ambiguous. <.<

I'm here to deliver! :D

It's not that I found it massively ambiguous or anything. I was only confused for half a second as I continued reading the next boxes and then retroactively understood the correct meaning almost immediately. It's perfectly good English and it flows well, better than all the alternative suggestions.

But if you weren't pre-computing what's supposed to be happening and you just see this line "I haven't even been working for half a year", it has more than one possible meanings and you don't necessarily default to the right one. This did happen to me if only for a fraction of a second and I just wanna put it out here when several are outright saying there's absolutely no possible confusion.

Of course translators have to weigh between faithfulness, flow, possible unintended meaning etc. etc. and settling on the chosen phrasing is perfectly fine. Not here to diss on them or anything. Just discussing.

But if you weren't pre-computing what's supposed to be happening...

This is probably where the confusion comes from for a non-native speaker. English likes to make a lot of things somewhat vague and then has you do a lot of "pre-computing": expecting you to draw a lot from from context plus assuming you already know some very non-intuitive rules and informal conventions.

English is a cruel, schizophrenic mistress.

last edited at Aug 11, 2016 5:59PM

Add the rest to that, "まだ半年も働いてないのに", and the straight translation becomes "Not [been] working [here] [for] even half a year yet". From the context, we know that Hinako is talking about herself, thus " [I] [have] not [been] working [here] [for] even half a year yet.", and turning that into more proper and fluid everyday English, we get, "I haven't even worked here half a year".

And no, that's not ambiguous. <.<

LOL, I totally agree actually! Please note the use of Perfect Simple in your fluid everyday example ;) Also note you skipped のに which links two sentences in Japanese and gives quite some context.

Out of curiosity, are all native speakers here British or American?

Canadian.

Irish. and I will be peeved if you call me British.

Irish. and I will be peeved if you call me British.

Surely.

Irish. and I will be peeved if you call me British.

Surely.

It's a thing that happens from a place of ignorance rather than malice, but it peeves me none the less.

takachi posted:

Add the rest to that, "まだ半年も働いてないのに", and the straight translation becomes "Not [been] working [here] [for] even half a year yet". From the context, we know that Hinako is talking about herself, thus " [I] [have] not [been] working [here] [for] even half a year yet.", and turning that into more proper and fluid everyday English, we get, "I haven't even worked here half a year".

And no, that's not ambiguous. <.<

Also note you skipped のに which links two sentences in Japanese and gives quite some context.

They didn't. It is translated as "I haven't even worked here half a year." While " Despite not having worked here half a year." is more direct translation, the one that was used works perfectly fine and is easily understandable. I didn't read the chapter and I understood what the sentence was supposed to mean no problem. Also I personally would add "yet" at end of it, but that is just my preference.

last edited at Aug 11, 2016 7:56PM

Canadian.

Also Canadian. And I happen to know, so is Nezchan. Odd coincidence, what?
Incidentally, I believe (at least some) Chinese educational authorities have decided to standardize on teaching Canadian English because it's the most . . . neutral. Words pronounced closest to dictionary, a nice compromise between the various American and British Englishes.

Irish. and I will be peeved if you call me British.

Surely.

It's a thing that happens from a place of ignorance rather than malice, but it peeves me none the less.

Tried to make a joke, but I screwed it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM2K7sV-K74

last edited at Aug 11, 2016 9:44PM

Irish. and I will be peeved if you call me British.

Surely.

It's a thing that happens from a place of ignorance rather than malice, but it peeves me none the less.

Tried to make a joke, but I screwed it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM2K7sV-K74

Oh wow, I missed that completely, sorry! Now I feel like a dope.

Canadian.

Same.