Help me answer this support question in Japanese.

November 11, 2011 6:32 AM

Help me answer this support question in Japanese.

I have a trivial Facebook app that helps people find their numerical Facebook ID. I get support requests sometimes in foreign languages. Usually it's easy enough to plop into Google Translate and then provide a simple sentence in english and then my own language. It was actually a question in Chinese that let me know I needed to update it so it would work again. A simply reply of "try again" once I fixed it seemed to satisfy the emailer.

So here's one that GTranslate is choking on:

ソーシアルプラグイン設置のためにID取得をしたいのですが、私は現在mobile phone またクレジットカードはいま所持していません。mobile phoneは家内のではできないのですか？

I can't make heads or tales about the Google translation:

I want to get ID for Social installed plug-in, now I have a credit card mobile phone does not now possess. mobile phone in the cottage Why can not I?

Is this a question about a mobile version of my app? There is none, but if you view the site in mobile (at least on iPhone) it works fine, but it does not have a specific mobile version. plug-ins, credit cards, mobile phones, cottage -- I don't understand how any of these might apply to my app.

Can you help me translate (and if possible, answer) this question?

posted by artlung to Writing & Language (8 answers total)

Best answer: I think the person wants to get an ID number or something for installing your social plugin, but s/he doesn't have a mobile phone or a credit card. S/he wants to know if s/he could do it with their mobile at home.

Do you charge for your app? I get the feeling this person wants to pay you...
posted by monocot at 6:41 AM on November 11, 2011

Best answer: Huh...I think the person is asking, more or less:

"I want to get an ID for the social plugin, but I don't currently have a mobile phone or credit card. Can I use my wife's?"

The word Google is reading as 'cottage' is probably '家内,' ('kanai') which in this context I believe is almost definitely 'wife.'
posted by dubitable at 6:44 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: I don't charge anything at all. Literally the only thing the app does is check if you're logged in and give you a number. That number can be used for websites that use Open Graph Protocol to help a person "claim" a site to manage.

Does Facebook in Japan require a paid mobile phone or something? Could there be context I'm missing?
posted by artlung at 6:51 AM on November 11, 2011

Best answer: Does Facebook in Japan require a paid mobile phone or something? Could there be context I'm missing?

Well, the thing that occurs to me, which I ran into before I had a "real" phone in Japan, is that many services do validation using mobile phones here--especially using the weird (to me) special phone email addresses they have on all the accounts. It's a super mobile-phone dependent technology culture. For example, to get a Yahoo Japan or Mixi account you need (last I checked) a mobile phone email address to confirm it. I don't believe Facebook's Japan site does, however--it's all the same site as far as I know, just with localization/internationalization tweaks.

So it's possible this person is not particularly clear on how your app works.
posted by dubitable at 6:56 AM on November 11, 2011

Response by poster: One last bit of context - I created a WordPress plugin (hosted on the WordPress plugin site) that does some of the Open Graph stuff. I link to this little FB app inside that. But the WordPress plugin directory does not require auth, installing plugins doesn't require auth.

So here's a stab at an answer:

I am sorry, I do not speak Japanese so cannot help you very well. I do not charge anything for what-is-my-user-id app on Facebook. In case you are asking about my plugin for WordPress, I do not charge for that either.

If you are having trouble with your Facebook account or have questions about how to use Facebook, please contact Facebook Support.

With GTranslate:

申し訳ありませんが、私は日本語話さないしていますので、非常によくお手伝いをすることはできません。私はFacebook上で何- IS -私- user - idのアプリケーションのために何を充電しないでください。あなたがWordPress用の私のプラグインについては求めているケースでは、私はどちらかそのために充電しないでください。

あなたのFacebookアカウントに問題があるやFacebookを使用する方法について質問があるしている場合は、Facebookのサポートにお問い合わせください。

Usually I provide both chunks of text.
posted by artlung at 7:21 AM on November 11, 2011

Best answer: Huge disclaimer: I am not a native speaker and my level is still pretty intermediate. Comprehension is one thing, but a native (or much more experienced with Japanese) speaker is going to do a much better job of crafting a good response. That said, I'll give it a shot...hopefully a real speaker can jump in and fix what I've written. I've made this super simple, but based on your original English.

(By the way, is your app called "what-is-my-user-id?" Google was attempting to translate that literally into Japanese, which sounds weird as it is. If that's not the name let me know.)

申し訳ありませんが、私は日本語で話せないので、あまり手伝うことができません。しかし、私の「what-is-my-user-id」のアプリは無料です。Wordpressのプラグインも無料です。

Facebookの使い方またはアカウントの質問として、Facebookのサポートにお問い合わせください。

Again, dunno how great a translation it is but I feel like it's a bit better than Google's at least...
posted by dubitable at 7:41 AM on November 11, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Oh, that second sentence you may want to add "Facebook" to make it clear, like so:

しかし、私の「what-is-my-user-id」のFacebookアプリは無料です。
posted by dubitable at 7:44 AM on November 11, 2011

Response by poster: The final. Thanks everyone, and especially dubitable:

申し訳ありませんが、私は日本語で話せないので、あまり手伝うことができません。しかし、私の「what-is-my-user-id」のFacebookアプリは無料です。Wordpressのプラグインも無料です。

Facebookの使い方またはアカウントの質問として、Facebookのサポートにお問い合わせください。

I'm very sorry but because I cannot speak Japanese, I am unable to help very much.  However, my "what-is-my-user-id" Facebook app is free.  The Wordpress plug-in is also free.

If this is regarding how to use Facebook or account questions, please contact Facebook support.

posted by artlung at 5:37 AM on November 12, 2011