# Favor Needed from Japanese Speaker **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 5, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favor-needed-from-japanese-speaker/488361 "2009-03-05T03:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favor-needed-from-japanese-speaker/488361/1 "2009-03-05T03:46:52Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favor-needed-from-japanese-speaker/488361/2 "2009-03-05T03:53:04Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favor-needed-from-japanese-speaker/488361/3 "2009-03-05T04:03:26Z")
Gah, I don’t know if I can get a PM either. I don’t think I can. I guess…is my email address visible to people? I just changed the setting…so I hope this works. I’m a dork. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favor-needed-from-japanese-speaker/488361/4 "2009-03-05T04:15:49Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > 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? 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.