Let's Translate It: よつばと！

Here is the second installment of August's Japanese lessons. Today we will take a look at a raw page of Yotsubato!. I did some research and this came up as a good beginner manga to read in Japanese.

Yotsubato! Volume 1 front cover

Prerequisites

• Hiragana and Katakana
• Some Kanji

Here is a page from chapter 1 in the first volume. We will take each cell, state the romaji then translate it as best as we can. Please remember that I am learning with you. I probably won't get the translation at 100%. But as each of these lessons go on, my skills (as well as yours) will improve, raising the amount and difficulty of the context.

Click on the image to see a bigger screen

Navigation

We will be going from right to left in an up down pattern. So Cell #1 will be the one on the top right, Cell #2 is the top left, cell #3 is bottom right, etc ...

Translation

Cell #1:

Jumbo: Have you been well?
Yotsuba: Ah! Stop it!

Jumbo: Genki ni shitetaka?
Yotsuba:Uah! Yameru!

Cell #2:

Koiwai-San: Where's Yanda?
Jumbo: He had some business come up. That guy is no good.

Koiwai san: Yanda wa?
Jumbo:A-aitsu you ga haittekara koneette. Aitsu dame dawa.

Cell #3:

Yotsuba: Jumbo, you've gotten bigger since I've seen you last!
Jumbo: Oh? Where did you learn that saying?
Koiwai san: Oh well. Jumbo will just have to do two people's worth or work.

Yotsuba:Jumbo shibaraku uchi ni mata ooki kunatta!
Jumbo: O? Doko de oboeta sono serifu?
Koiwai san: Maa ii ka. Jumbo ga futaripun hatarakushina.

Cell #4:

Jumbo: No way. Not happening. I'm not working like that!
Koiwai san: Please work...
Yotsuba:I will work!

Jumbo: Sonna! Goto wa nai! Ore wa hatarakanai!
Koiwai san: Hataraite kure...
Yotsuba:Yotsuba ga hataraku!

Cell #5:

Jumbo: Oh! That's great Yotsuba! Your dad is no good eh?
Yotsuba:My dad is no good!

Jumbo: O! Eraizo Yotsuba! To chan wa dame dane!
Yotsuba: To chan dame da!

Related posts:

Lesson 1: Translate the blog's title