なぜ?どうして?Finished!

Like “one kind of”? I don’t see it in Jisho, but it does make perfect sense. Thank you Leebo!

Page 112 - sorry, not quite midnight yet, but I sat down to look at page 112 and the first sentence was really tough! Here’s what I think it means:

かれらには、その 時代の くらしを ずっと まもりつづけなさいと いう 教えが あります。

かれらには - to those people (the Amish) + は
その - that
時代の くらしを - old fashioned living + を
ずっと - continuously
まもり- 守る (to protect) stem form
つづけなさい 続ける (to continue) with -なさい ending (making a firm polite request)
と いう - relative pronoun - “that”
教え - teaching
が あります - exists

Using Icenando’s link I think という is example 6 - acting as a relative pronoun. AというB means “B that is A”.

So perhaps translating:

To these people, a teaching exists that they should continue and protect an old fashioned way of living.

I’d not seen the -なさい ending before. Here’s the Tae Kim link.

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The technical term is “Anabaptism”. :slightly_smiling_face:

I feel like there’s a smoother phrasing for this, but I couldn’t for the life of me think of what it is. Maybe “they teach ‘we must continue to protect our lifestyle’”. Or something.

Anyway, moving on:

そのため、 アーミッシュの 人たちの くらしは、 電気を つかう ことが なく、 家には 電話などの 通しんの きかいも ありません。

To this end, in the Amish peoples’ daily life, they don’t use electricity, and they don’t even have telephones or other communications devices in their houses.

食べものは ほとんど 自分たちで 作る 「自きゅう自足」 の 生活です。

They have a lifestyle of self-sufficiency, in that people mostly only eat what they make themselves.

また、 自動車は なく、 いどうする ときは 馬車を つかいます。

Also, they have no cars - when they travel, they use horse-drawn carts.

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There definitely is! I was just relieved to get to the other side of this sentence. Maybe we could say:

These people hold to a teaching that they should live a traditional way of life.

Thanks for sharing your translations. I have something similar although not as nicely phrased!

I’ve enjoyed having some kanji to help the last couple of pages. It’s nice when you have a word like 馬車 that I wouldn’t have a chance from the hiragana but can guess the meaning from the kanji. I liked 自給自足 although they left one of the kanji out to make that one more tricky for us!

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I heard about a relevant news story recently :slight_smile:

This has been an interesting section to read - it’s not easy to explain the Amish (and I don’t fully understand, myself).

Just to be clear, they are a particular sect of Anabaptists; not all Anabaptists adhere to this sort of lifestyle.

Guys, I made a terrible discovery…

The Kindle cloud reader app. This means I can read @ work, on top of already doing my reviews @ work.
Before, I was only reading during my lunch break but now…

Let’s see what happens first; me getting fired or finishing this book!

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Page 113

ふくそうは とても シンプルな もおで、自分たちで、ていねいに おりあげます。

Their garments are very simple, woven into fabric by [the Amish people] themselves.

さいきんでは、こうした 電気を つかない 生活を、かんきゅうに やさしい ものとして 注目する 人たちも います。

Loose translation: Even nowadays people who live a life without electricity and are kind to the environment exist. Not too confident in this translation.

I don’t quite understand the を after 生活 here… Does it link to 注目する like a translated?

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The も in this sentence seems more like “also” than emphasis to me.

Nowadays, there are also people (besides the Amish) who . . .

I think so.

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Yes, I think you are right, thank you. Otherwise I think the も would be after さいきん.

Recently, this kind of life without electricity is also observed by people as a kind/gentle thing for the environment.

This sentence saying that people have taken notice that this kind of life is good for the environment, not also partaking in it necessarily. (But that could be an implication?)

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Ah, I see. Thank you, that makes sense.

Sorry your link seems to be blocked in Europe and wouldn’t open!

The whole book has been really interesting. I’ve often found myself bringing it up in conversation, especially with the kids. Great choice @marcusp!

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Summarised version: they’re adding horse-and-cart lanes to one of the highways in Indiana because cars keep running into them.

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Page 114

Super early, but I’ve finally caught up and it’s time that I did a bit of the work…!

すまい - dwelling; house; residence; address

草で できた 島に くらす 人たちが いるの?

草で - grass + で, of
できた - ‘made/created/formed of’
島に - island + に
くらす - to live
人たちが - people + が
いる - there are
の? - informal question marker

Are there people who live on an island made of grass?

わたしたちの 家は, かたく, しっかりとした 地面の 上に たっていますね

わたしたちの 家は, - our homes + は
かたく, - 家宅, domicile; premises
しっかり - 確り, strongly (built)
とした - ???
地面の 上に - 地面の上に, on the ground
たっています - 立つ, to stand, in ている (ing) + ます (polite) form
ね - sentence ending particle

Our homes, the buildings, are strongly built and stand upon the ground, don’t they?

でも もし, 地面が ふかふかで, しかも それが 水の上だったら どうでしょう

でも - but
もし, - if, in case; supposing
地面が - ground; earth’s surface + が
ふかふかで, - soft (and fluffy!) + で
しかも - moreover; furthermore
それが - that + が, / “[the ground] will become
水の上 - water’s above (I don’t know how to write this!)
だったら - if it’s the case
どう - how
でしょう - I wonder

But, supposing the ground was soft and unstable, and furthermore that it was covered with water, what would [we] do I wonder?

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Since we are doing 114, title need updating too =)

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Nice work Marcus! Thank you for sharing that. Very helpful as always!

Jisho says that しっかり is an adverb, adverb taking と particle, or suru verb. I’m not familiar with adverbs taking a particle but I wonder if the と is that particle in this sentence, and した is past form of する. So meaning “sturdily done”?

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I’ll try to catch up at some point ;(

しっかり is not only an adverb but it is also an onomatopoeic word so when とした is added and then followed by a noun, it describes a condition or state of being (unlike other cases where adding する is used to describe an action or process).

This Nihonshock article says adding とした is a way of converting or “formatting” an adverb into an “adjective” (or adjective-like) so that it can modify the noun that follows.

How do we turn an adverb [onomatopoeic word] into an adjective? We “format” it with either とした or している. Don’t concern yourself with the meaning of とした/している here because there really isn’t one, we’re just using the formless verb する as an intermediary between our onomatopoeia and our noun.

とした is kind of the “correct” way to make an adjective usage, and している (usually abbreviated to してる) is the “casual” way, but they’re both doing the same thing: taking an [onomatopoeic word] and “formatting” it so that it can modify a noun.

Their example sentence
ごつごつ とした 手 a rugged, sturdy hand

So here, しっかりとした describes the condition or state of 地面 (not the houses).

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I think it’s more “supposing the ground was soft and unstable, and furthermore that it is water” = 水の上 doesn’t mean the water is on the ground, but rather that the houses are on the water.

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Isn’t this book amazing! I never could have imagined a second year Japanese student’s book would be so full of surprising things about the world. Who knew? :astonished:

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