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Sometimes I get to talk with Japanese users on social media sites and one thing that I say to them quite a lot is:

"Please forgive my Japanese, I'm still learning" or "it's not very good".

I just want to know if I am expressing myself well enough if I say:

私の日本語をゆるしてください。まだ勉強していますから。

Does it sound ok? I would really like to know better expressions. For example, at some point I asked this:

"Could you understand what I wrote about? My Japanese is not that good, thus it might sound weird."

In Japanese I translated like this:

書いたのが理解できますか。私の日本語はまだ上手ではないからちょっと変かもしれないけど。

I don't know if 書いたの is a good choice... What do you think? Could you give some examples that sound nicer?

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  • As a learner, I'd personally prefer すみません (excuse me) instead of 許してください (forgive me) because it seems too formal in your case (social media):「すみません、日本語がちょっと苦手です。まだ勉強していますから」 (Excuse me, my Japanese is a bit weak because I'm still learning it.)
    – Andrew T.
    Commented Jun 17, 2017 at 12:28

2 Answers 2

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  • "Please forgive my Japanese, I'm still learning" or "it's not very good".
  • 私の日本語をゆるしてください。まだ勉強していますから。

To improve your translation in Japanese, I'll tell you the important points as follows:

  • Even if your Japanese is poor, it's not your Japanese but you that needs to ask for someone's forgiveness, so 「日本語が下手{へた}な私を許{ゆる}してください」 is better than 「私の下手{へた}な日本語を許{ゆる}してください」.
  • Usually we Japanese say the cause or the reason at first before saying the conclusion, so 「日本語を勉強中ですから / 日本語が下手{へた}ですから、私を許{ゆる}してください。」 is better than saying 「私を許{ゆる}してください、日本語を勉強中ですから / 日本語が下手{へた}ですから。」.

My attempts are:

いま日本語を勉強中ですので、少し下手{へた}ですがお許{ゆる}しください。or
いま日本語を勉強中ですので、少し下手{へた}ですが許{ゆる}してください。
Literally, the Japanese will be like: どうぞ私の(下手{へた}な)日本語を許{ゆる}してください。まだ勉強中です。

  • "Could you understand what I wrote about? My Japanese is not that good, thus it might sound weird."
  • 書いたのが理解できますか。私の日本語はまだ上手ではないからちょっと変かもしれないけど。
  • I don't know if 書いたの is a good choice... What do you think?

A. Ellette said 書いたもの is better than 書いたの, but I could understand your attempt in Japanese very clearly. Very good!

As I said above, it's better to say the reason or cause at first like:
私の日本語はまだ上手ではないからちょっと変かもしれないけど、書いたものが理解できますか。

My attempt is:
日本語はまだまだですのでちょっと変かもしれませんが、書いたもの理解できますか。

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  • Thank you so much! These explanations and examplesare wonderful and I will take them into account next time I'm gonna talk with Japanese users. All of them sound very well and and I knew my versions lacked something. Oh yes and I did not know what to use between 書いたもの and 書いたこと either. What difference in nuance would be? Thank you so much for the help! Commented Jun 17, 2017 at 9:26
  • @AliceB.Rabbit: もの and こと is similar. But as for the difference in nuance, もの is a thing and こと is an event. First there is a hint in the difference between them. Secondly, you have to be careful about the noun that you are going to make a topic in your conversation. In your case, 「書{か}き物{もの} something that is written 」 is a topic in your conversation. The compound word 「書{か}き物{もの} 」 has もの in it. So it is natural to say 書いたもの more than 書いたこと.
    – user20624
    Commented Jun 17, 2017 at 10:34
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The 1st one sounds pretty good to me. The only thing I feel a bit weird is 「私の日本語」. It would sound better if you have some adjective to explain your Japanese. Also, 勉強中 is usually used for "I'm learning". So, my answer would be;

私の[拙]{つたな}い日本語をお許し下さい。まだ[勉強中]{べんきょうちゅう}なものですから。

But, I personally feel, if you say this, I don't believe it because it is too good :)

For the 2nd one, "書いたの" sounds a bit casual to me, so if you are talking to your friend, it is good. If you are talking to someone who you don't know well, I would say "私の書いたことが理解できますか". The 2nd part looks perfect.

Hope it helps.

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    It seems to me that 書いたこと is a bit too abstract; perhaps, 書いたもの would be better. But, I'm not sure.
    – A.Ellett
    Commented Jun 17, 2017 at 4:43

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