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分かり合うための第一歩

English translation: the first step towards understanding each other

01:54 Feb 19, 2016
Japanese to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Japanese term or phrase: 分かり合うための第一歩
Dear ProZ members,

I have a little doubt about this sentence.

いつまでも逃げちゃだめだ。分かり合うための第一歩！

Context: two people argued over a very trifling matter, and one of them is trying to reconcile with the other one.

Translation attempt 1: "I can't run away forever. It's the first step to understand ourselves!".
Translation attempt 2: "I can't run away forever. I have to make the first step so that we can understand ourselves!".

I don't understand if 第一歩 refers to 逃げちゃだめだ or if the two sentences are completely separated.

Thank you very much!
Riccardo91
Italy
English translation:the first step towards understanding each other
Explanation:
I'm not sure if the said sentence is uttered towards the other party or to somebody else (or to himself). Just for the sake of illustration, let me assume it was said to the other party. Then, I would first translate it as "We shouldn't keep on avoiding each other. We need to take the first step towards understanding each other." Then, I would edit it later to avoid repeating "each other". I would probably change the ending to "the first step towards reconciliation" or something like that because the purpose of understanding each other is to achieve reconciliation.

逃げる can be translated as run away. But it is also possible to render it as avoid. It is used when you run away from something you don't want to face.
See 3. below.
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/166643/meaning/m0u/

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Note added at 8 hrs (2016-02-19 10:14:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My interpretation may have been influenced by your 2 renditions. But when I look at the original text now, the second sentence may refer to "stop avoiding each other" - that's the first step towards reconciliation. If there is no mention about a concrete action to take later in the text, this interpretation may be more plausible. Without the context, it's a bit hard to tell.
Selected response from:

Port City
New Zealand
Grading comment
Thank you very much, it was really helpful!

The character is saying the sentence to himself. If both interpretations are possible, I guess the second one is the correct one, since later in the plot we see he organized a birthday party for his friend, and that is probably the "first step" he's talking about.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5The first step toward mutual understanding
tracyamf
3the first step towards understanding each other
Port City


  

Answers


2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
the first step towards understanding each other


Explanation:
I'm not sure if the said sentence is uttered towards the other party or to somebody else (or to himself). Just for the sake of illustration, let me assume it was said to the other party. Then, I would first translate it as "We shouldn't keep on avoiding each other. We need to take the first step towards understanding each other." Then, I would edit it later to avoid repeating "each other". I would probably change the ending to "the first step towards reconciliation" or something like that because the purpose of understanding each other is to achieve reconciliation.

逃げる can be translated as run away. But it is also possible to render it as avoid. It is used when you run away from something you don't want to face.
See 3. below.
http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/166643/meaning/m0u/

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2016-02-19 10:14:14 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

My interpretation may have been influenced by your 2 renditions. But when I look at the original text now, the second sentence may refer to "stop avoiding each other" - that's the first step towards reconciliation. If there is no mention about a concrete action to take later in the text, this interpretation may be more plausible. Without the context, it's a bit hard to tell.

Port City
New Zealand
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 6
Grading comment
Thank you very much, it was really helpful!

The character is saying the sentence to himself. If both interpretations are possible, I guess the second one is the correct one, since later in the plot we see he organized a birthday party for his friend, and that is probably the "first step" he's talking about.
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11 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
The first step toward mutual understanding


Explanation:
The verb wakari + au means to meet and come to understand literally.

tracyamf
United States
Local time: 20:34
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Port City: While your translation is all right, your explanation is not. 合う here means "each other". In fact, it can be used in "avoid each other" as in 避け合う.
13 hrs
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