Not to be pessimistic, but if you’re relying on Google translate for communication I can’t see it working out too well…
Looool
We used it solidly for the first two years of our relationship, but we combined it with real effort to learn each others languages, which gave us even more in common to work on and discuss. It was a relationship that grew on language lessons I guess, but started with a cliched love at first sight and a desire to understand each other better.
They are now much more fluent in English than my ‘cute wrong’ Japanese, but we are at the point where language is no obstacle anymore to conveying personality and sharing deeper thoughts. We still obviously reach for Google to translate the odd idiom or word, so it remains part of our relationship – it’s strange to think of a tool in that way, but I guess it helped us bond deeper in quite an upfront way, with it’s immediacy helping the process of understanding each other, in both language and personality for that matter. We are in our 6th year living together now.
There you are – a serious non-sceptical answer.
上
I did in the beginning of my relationship with my wife. She ended up learning English so we communicated that way for years then I ended up learning Japanese and she forgot English so that’s where we are now.
I was study buddies with my wife in college back in the states, she was originally in the ESL program before going into normal college courses so I spent 4 years helping her learn English and getting us both to graduation the same year. In the time she became fluent in English and I went Japanese night school. Now here in Japan the language dynamic is somewhat reversed as I solidify my skills.
But for a good 1-2 years we used Google translate to help stay on the same page.
Being from Boston though it was hard explaining “Go F*ck yourself” was a term of endearment. Didn’t come across in Google translate.
I have no judgement call on folks using Google translate in a relationship, I do think the longer it goes on can cause chronic relationship issues though. How long is too long to use Google translate, not sure if I know the answer.
I did that in my early 20’s with a guy when my Japanese was shit. We lasted 5 months.
Lol that’s crazy. You don’t need to speak the same first language but you should mutually share a language to communicate in (obviously), otherwise it would get annoying QUICKLY. With mostly difficult words, my Russian girlfriend can struggle a little and when it happens a lot in one period, it obviously can get a little frustrating (except when the translator provides hilarious Victorian era words). I cannot imagine it if she didn’t speak decent English at the start & this doesn’t sound like a good idea – but if you have your heart set on it and feel it’s the right decision, then just figure out a way to make it work and always communicate. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Good luck 🙂
Bruh
Hah it’s the pure definition of unreliable narrator. Cue my wife left me, my electricity got cut off Japan is so racist
I’d say that communication is about more than building up conversational phrases and vocabulary. Communication also means understanding, adapting to, and embracing different cultural communication styles. So, Google Translate will only go so far, and not very far at that.
I’d be weary. I have a friend who has a language gap with her husband. She’s fluent in English and he speaks basic conversational level. They met in the 90s, so pre Google Translate. Their relationship was entirely in English in the beginning, though now she’s picked up conversational Japanese through living here. Her Japanese is probably close to the same level as his English now. Fine for daily life, but struggles to express complex ideas.
The spark notes version is that they’ve been having trouble with financial communication recently. They don’t really have enough shared language to sit down and discuss the details of their mortgage. Neither of them have high enough language abilities in each other’s language for that
I can’t imagine that would end well. Google Translate is a disaster when it comes to Japanese.
In the mid 90s, my Japanese date and I used a Sanseido Daily Concise (printed) dictionary to communicate when we first met. It took two hours have a “conversation” that would normally take 15 minutes. Neither of us had an electronic dictionary at the time.
mostly? probably not a good sign unless one or both are committed to actively learning the other language. using it to translate particular/more difficult vocab? can be just fine
I used to date a guy where we mostly used google translate, basically the internet went out once and we were fucked 😂
17 comments
Don’t tell me this is an actual thing …
Not to be pessimistic, but if you’re relying on Google translate for communication I can’t see it working out too well…
Looool
We used it solidly for the first two years of our relationship, but we combined it with real effort to learn each others languages, which gave us even more in common to work on and discuss. It was a relationship that grew on language lessons I guess, but started with a cliched love at first sight and a desire to understand each other better.
They are now much more fluent in English than my ‘cute wrong’ Japanese, but we are at the point where language is no obstacle anymore to conveying personality and sharing deeper thoughts. We still obviously reach for Google to translate the odd idiom or word, so it remains part of our relationship – it’s strange to think of a tool in that way, but I guess it helped us bond deeper in quite an upfront way, with it’s immediacy helping the process of understanding each other, in both language and personality for that matter. We are in our 6th year living together now.
There you are – a serious non-sceptical answer.
上
I did in the beginning of my relationship with my wife. She ended up learning English so we communicated that way for years then I ended up learning Japanese and she forgot English so that’s where we are now.
I was study buddies with my wife in college back in the states, she was originally in the ESL program before going into normal college courses so I spent 4 years helping her learn English and getting us both to graduation the same year. In the time she became fluent in English and I went Japanese night school. Now here in Japan the language dynamic is somewhat reversed as I solidify my skills.
But for a good 1-2 years we used Google translate to help stay on the same page.
Being from Boston though it was hard explaining “Go F*ck yourself” was a term of endearment. Didn’t come across in Google translate.
I have no judgement call on folks using Google translate in a relationship, I do think the longer it goes on can cause chronic relationship issues though. How long is too long to use Google translate, not sure if I know the answer.
I did that in my early 20’s with a guy when my Japanese was shit. We lasted 5 months.
Lol that’s crazy. You don’t need to speak the same first language but you should mutually share a language to communicate in (obviously), otherwise it would get annoying QUICKLY. With mostly difficult words, my Russian girlfriend can struggle a little and when it happens a lot in one period, it obviously can get a little frustrating (except when the translator provides hilarious Victorian era words). I cannot imagine it if she didn’t speak decent English at the start & this doesn’t sound like a good idea – but if you have your heart set on it and feel it’s the right decision, then just figure out a way to make it work and always communicate. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Good luck 🙂
Bruh
Hah it’s the pure definition of unreliable narrator. Cue my wife left me, my electricity got cut off Japan is so racist
I’d say that communication is about more than building up conversational phrases and vocabulary. Communication also means understanding, adapting to, and embracing different cultural communication styles. So, Google Translate will only go so far, and not very far at that.
I’d be weary. I have a friend who has a language gap with her husband. She’s fluent in English and he speaks basic conversational level. They met in the 90s, so pre Google Translate. Their relationship was entirely in English in the beginning, though now she’s picked up conversational Japanese through living here. Her Japanese is probably close to the same level as his English now. Fine for daily life, but struggles to express complex ideas.
The spark notes version is that they’ve been having trouble with financial communication recently. They don’t really have enough shared language to sit down and discuss the details of their mortgage. Neither of them have high enough language abilities in each other’s language for that
I can’t imagine that would end well. Google Translate is a disaster when it comes to Japanese.
In the mid 90s, my Japanese date and I used a Sanseido Daily Concise (printed) dictionary to communicate when we first met. It took two hours have a “conversation” that would normally take 15 minutes. Neither of us had an electronic dictionary at the time.
mostly? probably not a good sign unless one or both are committed to actively learning the other language. using it to translate particular/more difficult vocab? can be just fine
I used to date a guy where we mostly used google translate, basically the internet went out once and we were fucked 😂