This is a discussion topic for the N2 Lesson 2 reading passages.
Just read through the readings for L2 today, and I’m curious how people translated the following passage from the first reading.
画質が悪いことを言い訳にしているけど、写真を撮ることに自信がないことには、うまくならないとわかっているよ
The English translation for the reading translates it as “I’m not confident in my picture taking skills, so I usually blame the camera for taking bad pictures.” However, this seems to lose the nuance of the ないことには grammar point.
Before reading the translation, I interpreted this more as “Although I use the bad picture quality as an excuse, I realize that I won’t get better unless I have more confidence.”
Curious to hear other’s thoughts!
Hey @nminer!
As you mentioned, the original translation did not have the nuance of ないことには, we have changed the translation to ’ Even though I use the bad picture quality of the camera as an excuse, I am aware that, unless I become more confident, I won’t get better at taking photos. ’
Thank you for bringing this to our attention!
1 Like