Miniguide to Autotranslate: Usage and potential pitfalls

[Sylkis]

Ok.. I think I need a proper guide, Because I'm in Masamune and we are the Gaijin here.

So are most of us in this thread! I think...

I don't know what people currently use or want to use that is possible, so I can't make a full guide right now.

If everyone could make a list of requested phrases that may go toward to the creation of one.

[LineageRazor]

The phrase "Take care" is rather bizarre that it's become a general non-warning way of saying goodbye in English now.
Whereas the words themselves do convey a cautionary advice to them. It's just the way language evolves I guess.

I think it's pretty much accepted in English as shorthand for "Take care of yourself", a general wish of good health when saying goodbye.

I remember it was common in FFXI for players to string together complete nonsense in Autotranslate just because it sounded phonetically correct in English. (May) (bee) was a common one. To be fair, they were likely doing it to be snarky, not because they honestly expected it to translate to anything meaningful. :P

[Sylkis]

There's a few requests for new phrases, I'll make a new thread if you guys can think of some more.
- {Sorry, I need to leave now.}
- {Have you seen it?}
- {I'm engaging.}

Ones related to the current dictionary and this thread will be edited into OP

[Niqote]

There's a few requests for new phrases, I'll make a new thread if you guys can think of some more.
- {Sorry, I need to leave now.}
- {Have you seen it?}
- {I'm engaging.}

Ones related to the current dictionary and this thread will be edited into OP

For facilitating joining a party/learning a different strategy when one becomes the 'popular' one.

{I am very familiar with this battle}
{This is my alternative character} - (When you just want to grab a clear on your alt to progress to the next battle eg. Extreme primals that lock out others)
{The reward I would like is:}
{Please place a waymark}
{This is a tactic I am unfamiliar with}
{Let me try again}
{Thank you for the advice}

I use auto translate exclusively to form naughty sentences.

There are two kinds of servers/people

[Sylkis]

For facilitating joining a party/learning a different strategy when one becomes the 'popular' one.

{I am very familiar with this battle}
{This is my alternative character} - (When you just want to grab a clear on your alt to progress to the next battle eg. Extreme primals that lock out others)

These two are pretty much the same thing, but one of them is needed for the dictionary

{The reward I would like is:}

{I want:} -> {欲しいもの：}
"The thing that I want:"

{Please place a waymark}

two options:
{waymark} {please use it.}

{Please set enemy marks.} -> {マーカーを設定してください}
This one says "Please use markers". It might be possible to use this, depends if JP use the word "marker" to mean only enemy markers.
{waymark} is actually "field marker".

{This is a tactic I am unfamiliar with}

You can't expect an autotranslated response for this one, so you might as well say "This is a fight I am (still) unfamiliar with" (being better than "this is my first time"). JP players will actually say they are unfamiliar with fights even if they have done it before and do it fine.

{Let me try again}

Depending on the context, you might be able to substitute something else like {please wait.} , you will need to give an example of this usage

{Thank you for the advice}

I think {Thank you.} is sufficient for this.

[Sadana]

Hm... Yes, but there's a difference in English between "No problem" as in "I did this for you and you don't need to thank me" and "No problem" as in "It's ok. I don't mind that a mistake was made."

We also need all the stuff that starts with "The" to have the "the" removed from the auto translate phrase book. >< There's like three or four tabs for dungeons and it's awful tedious to click through them all. Noooo clue why they left that in there. (example: "The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak" instead of "Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak" which would pull up the dungeon's name right away. >< )

[Sylkis]

Hm... Yes, but there's a difference in English between "No problem" as in "I did this for you and you don't need to thank me" and "No problem" as in "It's ok. I don't mind that a mistake was made."

We also need all the stuff that starts with "The" to have the "the" removed from the auto translate phrase book. >< There's like three or four tabs for dungeons and it's awful tedious to click through them all. Noooo clue why they left that in there. (example: "The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak" instead of "Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak" which would pull up the dungeon's name right away. >< )

Actually I found one.
{Don't worry about it.} -> {気にしないでください。}
It seems to fit both situations.

[Sadana]

Actually I found one.
{Don't worry about it.} -> {気にしないでください。}
It seems to fit both situations.

Awesome! Thanks for finding that one!

TBH Japanese people aren't that bad in English. My language input are 99% of the time in EN and I play full screen, so I'm usually lazy to go out and change IME to type in Japanese. Usually I'd just say "I'm sorry" and they would reply "np".

Some of them even use "wb" when I return from a 90k. Most of the basic net abbreviations, they can understand.

Well, kind of like people in the States, you get some who are fluent at more than one language and many that aren't. I've met both on Atomos.

[Khyra]

Awesome! Thanks for finding that one!
Well, kind of like people in the States, you get some who are fluent at more than one language and many that aren't. I've met both on Atomos.

Yeah it varies widely. Most Japanese only learn English in school (previously about 6 years worth, now they get a little more exposure earlier). The older they are the more likely they are to have forgotten it, unless they work in a job where they would use it (like at a hotel). Conveniently for FFXIV, most will be better at reading and writing than speaking (since the tests prioritize vocabulary and grammar over conversation).

But the majority of Japanese I know could not, for example, easily read and follow this entire thread. (When I'm in Japan I'm mostly in a more rural/suburban area with very few foreigners, so most people have no day to day use for English. My wife is Japanese and her English is getting pretty good, but most of her family and friends have difficulty with it. Especially when speaking.)

On the other hand, if you went to Tokyo and mostly stayed in foreigner-friendly areas, or hung out with college students at a top university, your impression will be very different

[Ooshima]

Hm... Yes, but there's a difference in English between "No problem" as in "I did this for you and you don't need to thank me" and "No problem" as in "It's ok. I don't mind that a mistake was made."

TBH Japanese people aren't that bad in English. My language input are 99% of the time in EN and I play full screen, so I'm usually lazy to go out and change IME to type in Japanese. Usually I'd just say "I'm sorry" and they would reply "np".

Some of them even use "wb" when I return from a 90k. Most of the basic net abbreviations, they can understand.