So since I’ve finished the new Japanese 1, I thought I’d offer some… Criticism? Comments? Either way, take it as you will.
I like that the course was oriented kind of as if two people were having a conversation.
In Section 1-1, the phrase “へー！” being translated as “dear me!” seems a bit odd to me. As far as I’m aware, へー！ is kind of just a general expression of surprise, and can be used in places where “dear me” wouldn’t make much sense. Likewise, “dear me,” can have negative connotations to it that へー！ would not. I think that having the translation just be something like “Exclamation of surprise.” would probably convey the meaning better than a particular phrase that might not actually be the best fit.
In Section 1-4, “変わってますね！” seems to me like it’d have negative connotations if said to a person. You’re basically saying “You’re weird,” but in a somewhat polite way maybe? Granted, I might just not understand the Britishness of the given translation.
In the same section, “どんな映画が好きですか？” is “what kind of films do you like?” but “好きなマンガは何ですか？” is “what manga do you like?” This seems inconsistent to me, unless the latter is talking about a particular manga while the former is talking about genres. In which case, I think the fact that the first topic is general while the second is specific to a particular manga, rather than a kind of or genre of manga, needs to be better conveyed.
In 1-7, “週末” is translated as “a weekend,” but each week only has 1 weekend. I think “the weekend” may be better. There are many weekdays in a week, hence why 平日’s translation makes sense, but there’s only one weekend.
In 1-10, “おー、さすが日本人！” I feel like this can only really be said to a Japanese person. I feel like it’d be kind of strange to tell a foreigner this, but the translation doesn’t really convey that I feel.
In 1-12, “お味噌汁” being “a miso soup” and “しょうゆ” being “A soy sauce” seem odd. The connotation of “a -something-” is that you’re talking about one specific thing. I know that both of those refer to the general thing as well, so I feel like for both of these the “a” at the beginning of the translation can be dropped.
In 1-13, “自慢” is translated as “a boast; a pride.” Pride is not quantifiable. You cannot have “a pride” for/in something, you just have “pride” since it’s a concept.
Immediately following that is “私の自慢の父です” which is translated as “I am proud of my dad.” I might just not be understanding the connotations of the Japanese here, but I feel like this would be more like “My dad, who I am proud of.” Again, I might just not be understanding the Japanese in this.
In 1-15, what’s the difference between “頭がいい” and " 賢い" given that the former is translated here as “clever,” and I know the latter is also translated as “clever.” Like, I know the literal translation of the former is “head is good,” which, granted, there is an English phrase “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders,” which means someone’s very, like, with-it mentally.
