℃-ute has finally started an Ameba blog, which means that fans outside of Japan finally have an opportunity to comment on ℃-ute’s updates. Unlike GREE, which required a Japanese cell phone to sign up for, anyone with an e-mail address is able to register with Ameba. There still exists a major hurdle for fans who don’t speak Japanese to overcome, though. Every comment posted on the ℃-ute blog, or any other Hello! Project idol blog for that matter, needs to be approved before it’s published, and comments in English or with a large amount of English are almost guaranteed not to be approved. That leaves fans who don’t speak Japanese with only two options: not comment, which is unacceptable after having waited 5 years for this opportunity, or use translation software such as Google Translate, which is notorious for its unreliable and incomprehensible translations. However, I hope that with this guide I can help everyone get some extra mileage out of Google Translate and craft a great comment for ℃-ute’s blog.

Tip #1: Be simple

The simpler your English, the more likely Google Translate is going to be able to churn out a translation that makes sense to a Japanese person. Avoid using slang, idioms, and compound sentences. Think about how you might talk to a child or someone just learning English. For example:

“My name is Jared. I live in America. I love Maimi-chan. I want to see ℃-ute’s concert.”

A sentence like that is very hard for Google Translate to mess up, and the translation it gives is very easy for Japanese people to understand.

“私の名前はジャレッドです。私はアメリカに住んでいます。私は舞美ちゃんが大好きです。私は℃-uteのコンサートを見たい。”

Of course, if you don’t speak Japanese, you won’t know if the translation it gave you is good or not. In that case, you can…

Tip #2: Check your translation

All you need to do is copy the Japanese text it gave you, and plug it back into Google Translate and see what it says in English. When I try that with the above example, the translation I get is:

“My name is Jared. I live in the United States. I love Maimi-chan. I want to see a concert of ℃ -ute.”

It gets a little clumsy at the end, but it’s perfectly understandable. If what you get is complete gibberish, though…

Tip #3: Be flexible

One of the amazing things about our language is that there’s a million different ways to say the same thing. If the translation you get is bad, try tweaking your wording or think of a completely different way to say what you want to say.

Let’s say that you want to express your excitement for seeing ℃-ute’s latest music video. A phrase like “I can’t wait to see ℃-ute’s new video.” is the first thing that pops into my mind. However, Google Translate gives me this:

“私は℃-uteの新しいビデオを見るために待つことができない。”

What that says is that I literally am unable to wait for ℃-ute’s new music video, and therefore won’t be seeing it.

Another way to phrase it is “I’m looking forward to seeing ℃-ute’s new music video”. That gives us:

“私は℃-uteの新しいミュージックビデオを見て楽しみにしています。”

While it’s still rough, that translation is much better, and the message is sure to get across to the girls. Another way to word it would be “I want to see ℃-ute’s new music video.” Use your creativity and don’t get frustrated if takes you awhile to find the best way to word something.

Now that you have your comment and are ready to post…

Tip #4: Put a little English on it

While I said earlier that Ameba won’t approve posts written entirely or mostly in English, they will approve posts with a little bit of simple English in them. When I comment on the Hello! members’ blogs, I like to bookend my comments with phrases like “Good morning!” and “See you later!”. Things like “I love you” and “Thank you” and other simple English phrases that even most non-English speakers know should be acceptable, and will add a fun little extra to your comment. If you’ve added some and your comment isn’t approved, just remove the English and post again, and make a note for next time you comment.

Now that we’ve been empowered, let’s make the most of it and show our girls the passion of the fans overseas! Hopefully these tips will be helpful, and if you want some more help with comments, 910 Percent has posted a guide as well, which includes some great Japanese sentences you can use in your comments (particularly number 11…). Happy commenting!