For context, this is how I started the note in English so I had something to work with:
> Every day when I come home from work, I’m so tired that I can’t do anything, including talking or thinking. This is not because of you; you have done nothing wrong at all. It’s just because of work. I don’t do anything physical, but it’s still very difficult for 10 hours straight. My head stops working and even my body becomes exhausted. I just want you to know that I love you and appreciate you always being by my side.
I pared it down from there so I could use words I knew (in combination of what Google Translate gave me) and this is the “final draft”:
> わたしはしごとからかえってくると、まいにちほんとうにつかれきって、なにもはなせないじょうたいになってしまっています。あなたがわるいわけではなく、むしろわたしがつかれすぎていることがげんいんです。しごとでからだてきにはなにもしていませんが、10じかんものあいだ、むずかしいもんだいをかいけつしつづけるということは、せいしんてきにとてもつかれます。つまり、あたまがはたらかなくなり、からだもくたくたになってしまうのです。あなたをあいしていますし、あなたがそばにいてくれることにかんしゃしています。
I would like to convey emotion better, but I’ve _always_ had a problem trying to translate (no pun intended) the western version of that to Japanese, so this is the best I’ve got. Honestly, that’s not the most important. I just want to know if this makes sense grammatically and if the main point is understandable.
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**Backstory:**
My wife is Japanese; she’s fluent in English, and I’m a terrible learner, so my Japanese skill is basically non-existent. I can understand some words in conversation (and I can write those words in hiragana), but I’m basically non-functional when it comes to having an actual conversation in Japanese — beyond the level of _maybe_ a toddler.
I’ve been feeling bad about coming home from work and basically being completely and totally exhausted. I don’t do anything physical, but there is a _lot_ of difficult problem solving (or rather, _attempted_ problem solving, because it’s more about moving towards a goal than solving problems all day, but it’s difficult to explain that…) and I feel really bad that I’m unable to even hold a conversation (in English) when I get home. Some days, I come home and go straight to bed because I’m incapable of anything else.
I told this to my therapist who suggested I write a note for my wife — in her native language — explaining this, and how she hasn’t done anything wrong and isn’t to blame for me _not being present_ when I arrive. So here I am.
As I mentioned, I _only_ know hiragana (with an occasional kanji from the names of physical places, like 川). I used a _lot_ of Google Translate to take the words I wanted to say from English and tried to structure them in a way that I believe is grammatically correct. I don’t know any fluent Japanese speakers, but I know one other person who is a little better at it than me; he took a look and said it looked okay to him from what he could gather…
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I greatly appreciate any and all feedback, even if it’s just to say “wow, please never write this again.”
2 comments
I’m only a learner, but I was able to follow along and understand most of what you wrote. I imagine more advanced or native speakers will be able to comment more substantially about things that aren’t quite right or could be improved. That said, I think there’s something to be considered in there about keeping it in your own words, even if they’re imperfect, instead of having someone help with polishing it up.
That said, the last sentence doesn’t have any “I want you to know” nuance to it, at least to me. But again… is it that important to fix up?
While not perfect, it does make sense, and I think your wife will understand what it is you’re trying to say. I hope you two can find the balance that you need.
If it helps, know that you definitely aren’t alone in feeling this way. My husband and I sometimes have similar fights too, as his company is black and he works major “free” overtime which renders him too tired to do much at home. Although he does help me on his days off