#improving Japanese fluency with ところだ

[plague-of-insomnia]

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, Manga, Volume 1, Ch 1, Pages 1-2 — Translation & Vocabulary

I am slowly working my way through the first manga volume and taking meticulous notes to help improve my reading fluency.

I’ll share some of my notes here on tumblr for anyone who may be interested/find it helpful. (I have not included any notes about particles or individual kanji.)

Please keep in mind I am self study and while I have done my best to ensure accuracy, it’s possible I could have made some mistakes.

Below the vocab I’ll include the resources I regularly use.

I shouldn’t need to say this, but this whole process has taken a lot of time and energy, so please respect that. Don’t take credit for stuff that isn’t yours, but feel free to use this if you find it helpful for your own learning process. (Or you’re just anxious for the official English release.)

~~ This is a series: {Part 1} {Part 2} {Part 3} {Part 4}~~

~~#~~

Manga Title: 宝石商リチャード氏の謎鑑定

Original Japanese:

いまだかつてこんなに美しい人間におれはお目にかかつたことがない

いわゆるあれを本気で信じるところだつた

人助けから始まる運命のなんちゃらをー

My Translation:

I’d never seen someone so beautiful before. From the moment I saved him, I began to believe that such a thing as “fate” truly exists.

~~#~~

Vocabulary

宝石商 (ほうせきしょう) - jeweler, jewelry shop {宝石 alone means gem, jewel}

鑑定 (かんてい) - judgment, expert opinion, appraisal

(い)まだ - as yet, not yet

かつて/かって - once, before, never before, first time, still not happened

こんなに - so, like this, in this way

美しい (うつくしい) - beautiful

人間 (にんげん) - person, human being

おれ (俺) - I/me (masc)

お目にかかる (おめにきる) - to meet or be recognized by someone of higher status {usage in this sentence is past tense)

こと - thing, incident, occurrence, situation; something the speaker doesn’t feel close to; pretending to {this word occurs a lot in this chapter}

ない - nonexistent, not had; indicates negation (inexperience); verb negating suffix

いわゆる (所謂) - so-called, so-to-speak, what it’s called

あれ - that (distant in space, time, psychologically); something understood without directly naming it; that person (same or lower status); “down there” (slang for genitals); period/menses (slang); expression of surprise or suspicion

本気 (ほんき) - seriousness, truth

信じる (しんじる) - to believe (in), place trust in, confide in

ところ + だ - place, site, address, one’s house, part, space, room; as a result; about to, on the verge of + “to be”/state of being

人助け (ひとだすけ) - act of mercy, helping someone else

始まる (はじまる) - to begin, to happen (again), to originate (in), to date (from)

始める (はじめる) - to start, to begin, to originate; to open or establish (a business); to start (doing something)

運命 (うんめい) - fate

なん* - difficulty (難); what, how many, large number of, euphemism for genitals/sex, you-know-what, je ne sais quoi (何); soft (軟)

ちゃら* (ちゃ-) - (can also be written in katakana) forgiving a debt, getting even

*see reblog

~~#~~

Primary Resources

Keep in mind this list isn’t inclusive. It’s simply the apps, sites, and books I use most.

I’ve listed them roughly in order of how much I use them.

Dictionaries:

Shirabe Jisho (iOS app) - my #1 most used japanese app. The dictionary doesn’t have everything, ofc, but it’s available offline, allows you to search in various ways (including drawing kanji), gives sentence examples, and allows you to create word lists and flashcard sets

Kanji Learner’s Dictionary (iOS app) - a good back up for looking up kanji and finding compounds; can also help with lookalike kanji

Nihongo Japanese Dictionary (iOS app) - my backup when I need to confirm or can’t find something in the SJ app

http://thejadednetwork.com/sfx/ - Sound effect and action dictionary, helpful for manga

Romanjidesu.com - online only, but useful, especially if you need to look up sentences or phrases, since the translator will link to the entries. Also will explain inflections for verbs, etc to help you understand and recognize root words, etc.

Translators:

Romanjidesu.com - breaks down sentences by word, then click to access the dictionary entry, but don’t rely on the actual translation

DeepL Translate - no dictionary but the best machine translator I’ve found (and it’s free and fast); great if you’re stuck or want to confirm your own translation/interpretation

Google Translate - definitely not great for Japanese, but can help catch misspellings/look alike kanji sometimes