Lesson 9.4 - Disappointing Translation

I realize that translation is not an exact science, but I was REALLY disappointed by the following:

In lesson 9.4:

サイズが嘘みたいにぴったりだわ！

サイズ　が　うそ　みたい　に　ぴったり　だ　わ！

is translated as:

The clothes fit me like a glove.

Thank goodness you started adding the “Lit.” button. The bones of a MUCH better translation are hiding under there. I suggest:

The size is perfect, like a lie!

There is juice in the original statement, but your translation squeezed all of the life out of it!

Shame on whoever did that!

こんにちは (Konnichiwa) AC747,

Thanks for your feedback, and sorry to hear you found this translation to be unhelpful. 

We always try to keep our translations as close to Japanese as possible, while still sounding natural in English. This allows you to both see what's happening in Japanese and understand what it's supposed to mean. For some phrases, though, the Japanese just doesn't line up with English very well! In these cases, we use looser translations so that you can understand the intended meaning and purpose of the Japanese phrase, but we also include literal translations so that you can still see what the Japanese is actually saying.

The literal field is a great place to look when you're finding the translation confusing or unhelpful. It's much closer in meaning to the original Japanese, so it's great for understanding the meaning behind each word and phrase. 

I hope this helped! 

Please let us know if you have any other questions or feedback. 

勉強を頑張ってください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!)