Hi thanks for looking at my query. I recently as a joke changed some writing on the board of a friends EAL (English as an Additional Language) classroom from English to German. She liked the idea, but using Google Translate resulted in an overly formal phrasing that made it seem more a demand than a suggestion or polite request.

So my ask, if you speak (or I guess write) another language I would love to request you take a moment to translate “Please stack chairs at the end of the day” into whichever language you can help me with, it should be a polite request though.

I’m really not sure what the composition of her class is but she is a fan of languages as a whole so even if it’s not a language that is represented in her class I am sure it will be a bit of fun and a talking point to figure it out.

If you have the time and the skills to help I really appreciate it, otherwise I appreciate you taking the time to read this post. Have a fantastic day.

  • shads@lemy.lolOPEnglish
    1·
    25 days ago

    I wrote this on the board but my form was not as good as it might have been, the students corrected the mistakes I made and left me the following note: オッケー、まかせろ

    Would this be an appropriate response, or would it come across as incorrect, rude or condescending?

    先生方、ご意見をいただきありがとうございます。

    • simonced@lemmy.mlEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      I am so sorry, I didn’t receive a notification of your answers. It’s late, but I’ll answer anyway ^^

      Regarding your message to write them back, starting with 先生方 seems wrong because you’re answering to students and 先生 means teacher.
      生徒方 is not something I have heard of, and it seems waaaay too strict to address to young people.

      Regarding the tone of their message, it’s very friendly and is “slangish” even. まかせろ instead of 任せてください。
      If you want to answer in the same vibe, I would simply say: よろしくね＾＾ or something along those lines.
      For something more formal: ご協力ありがとうございます would be good IMO.

      Note: I am not native Japanese, take my advice with a fistful of salt ^^

      • shads@lemy.lolOPEnglish
        1·
        4 days ago

        Ahh my friend, nothing to be sorry about at all. I am afraid I already replied. But they seemed to take it well. I’m not a teacher myself and wanted to imply they were teaching me but not sure if that was lost in translation.