I’ve got a big favor to ask and I’m hoping I can find someone willing to help out.
I’ve got a little complicated situation going on right now with family members in Japan. It’s a little touchy and I need to write a letter to someone. Problem is…my Japanese is remedial at best and they speak no English whatsoever. So my favor is…is anyone who’s fluent in Japanese willing to translate a single letter for me? It’s not long at all, just two short paragraphs. If anyone is able to do this, I would greatly appreciate it. I’d rather not post the letter here so could you PM me please?
And on a related note…a question for anyone who’s well versed in Japanese customs/etiquette. In doing a bit of letter writing research, it seems that you NEVER open a letter with anything but comments about the weather. How true is this? My letter is a bit serious (and the first contact I’ve had with this person) and it seems a bit…weird…to start off talking about the weather. Would I be forgiven for forgoing this custom because I’m a foreigner or would it be best to just do what’s ‘proper’ and talk about the weather?
I don’t think I can recieve PM’s so I’m just here to answer the second part. It’s not really true, that’s a bit of a misunderstanding. Very often a letter will start of with the “spring is almost here, isn’t it.” or something like that in the same way we might start a letter with “I hope you and your family are well” but it’s not a must.
Almost anything would be forgiven for you being a foreigner. Most of the time, people don’t blink when I butcher Japanese. For the record, Word 2007 (and maybe 2003, although I can’t remember) can insert the appropriate seasonal opening automatically for you.