NON-NATIVE SPEAKER FALLACY

It is a fallacy to think that just because a literal translation of Japanese is easily understood by Japanese readers, it will also be highly intelligible to other (non-Japanese) non-native speakers of English. In Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Europe, many English language publications are read and understood by people who do not speak English as their first language. The Japanese language shares structural characteristics with very few other languages. Retaining or imposing such structure on English results in text that is difficult to read and understand for all but those who can “see through” the English to the original Japanese construction.

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