Some questions.

[Tensei]

Yeah, I suspected びっくりさせて as being "make people surprised" before heading off to school but I didnt really have time to post my revelation. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Im still waiting for a translation on そういうときはおいしいっていうんだって、タカトは教えてくれた。 The most I can make out of this sentence is something like "At that time you said it was delicious, but Takato....taught me..." or something...I dunno.

It cant be "At that time you said it was delicious" though, because like I mentioned before, the person the speaker is talking to DIDN'T say it was delicious...he said he hated it.

Oh, and in the 4th thing again, why does it need to be 言われた? I don't really even understand passive tense all that well in ENGLISH, so passive in Japanese is also lost on me.

[Brody]

I can add something about passive tense use in Japanese. I seem to see more and more that the passive is rarely translated across. Thus, if it's in passive in Japanese, it may not usually be translated into English as the passive. It's just a matter of what's natural in the language, not necessarily what's correct, so it's kind of hard to give a concrete rule as to when to use what.

For example, in this book I'm reading, I came across this sentence:

愛しているって言われても、これほど胸が苦しくなることは無かっただろう。

Literally it would be, "Even if I was told (by her) "I love you," it wouldn't have made my heart hurt/ache this much."

Yet, to make it natural in English, I would translate it as, "Even if she said I love you to me, my heart wouldn't have ached this much."

It's all a matter of what sounds natural. So in your example, it looks like it would literally be "I was told" used in the context of "so and so told me." Literally maybe it would make more sense to use a verb like 教えてくれる (he told me), but again, it's just what's natural.

Don't worry too much about passive. I think it's just something you need to be aware of and learn it all in context.

[Tensei]

Oh, ok.

Im still waiting for a translation though....

[redclaire]

always when u present urself, u add "onegai shimasu"...

what does that means?

thanks

[Tensei]

Well, it can be used in a variety of ways, but it basically means "Please do a favor (for me)"

[Brody]

[I deleted most of this post because on further review, I think I gave some inaccurate information. Sorry!]

And redclaire, think of "onegai shimasu" as being an equivalent of "please." It's not really exactly the same, but it's a good association. Type it into www.alc.co.jp (in Japanese) if you want to see some examples.

[Higurashi]

Context...hm...ok. (Note: This is my JPod account. Im Tensei)

Guy #1 (the speaker) is eating bread that was given to him by Takato. Guy #1 drops bread, guy #2 picks it up, eats it, says something I couldnt understand (and I cant type it out because it sounded too slurred for me, as usual) and keeps eating more bread. Guy #1 asks guy #2 if he likes Takatos bread, and guy #2 says he hates it, but he keeps eating it. Eventually guy #1 says "いっぱい食べるね。　そういうときはおいしいっていうんだって、タカトは教えてくれた。and guy #2 calls him annoying.

You know its kinda funny how once I know the words to something, things I couldnt hear before suddenly become clear. Im always like this with songs, both English and Japanese. Ill listen to a song, any language, and most of the time Ill only be able to understand half of it. Then Ill look up the lyics and suddenly lll hear it perfectly next time. The first time I heard that bikkuri sasete thing it sounded like "blarghbikkurigghffhhasasno" to me but now it sounds clear.

[Brody]

So I'm gonna say that the two guys are whining.

I confused myself and forgot that だって is a colloquial way of saying も, so the sentence will come out something like, "But Takato told us it was going to be good!!!"
I still don't understand the context, but perhaps that is why they keep eating it: they expect that it will eventually get good. So when guy #2 has just about finished it, guy #1 says, "You're gobbling it down, aren't you? Takato told us it was going to be good!!!"*whining*
So, overall, I think that it would fit like that. You said that they are eating it even though they hate it, so I think they are disappointed that it is not good like they were told it would be.

Does this work in the story?

[Bueller_007]

So I'm gonna say that the two guys are whining.

I confused myself and forgot that だって is a colloquial way of saying も, so the sentence will come out something like, "But Takato told us it was going to be good!!!"
I still don't understand the context, but perhaps that is why they keep eating it: they expect that it will eventually get good. So when guy #2 has just about finished it, guy #1 says, "You're gobbling it down, aren't you? Takato told us it was going to be good!!!"*whining*
So, overall, I think that it would fit like that. You said that they are eating it even though they hate it, so I think they are disappointed that it is not good like they were told it would be.

Does this work in the story?

Same as you, I really don't know what they're saying here. The double って is confusing me.

My guess is that it means:
"You sure are eating a lot. At times like these [i.e. when you eat a lot of something], Takato taught us that we should say it is delicious."

Again, I have no idea. It's just a guess.

[Airth]

This whole thread feels like it's getting out of control. I have a sneaking suspicion that even the people who created the programme in the first place have no idea what they are talking about. With that said, I would agree with Bueller and translate it as -

Takato told me that when we eat until we're full we should say it's delicious.

In other words, he's having a go at him for saying that he hates it and yet continues to stuff his face.

[Tensei]

Im pretty sure Bueller got it right.

I was gonna make a video of the whole conversation so you could see the context but Im pretty sure Bueller (and Airth) got it right based on my observations.

Im pretty sure its not a frustration thing. Thanks anyways Brody.

I have a sneaking suspicion that even the people who created the programme in the first place have no idea what they are talking about.

What, the people who made the tv show that i got the clip from you mean? Um....if you say so.

[Tensei]

Question. Im trying to say "If I could speak Japanese I would like to become a Japanese teacher."

Off the top of my head, Im thinking 私は日本語を話せば日本語の先生になりたい。

これでいい？ Normally I wouldnt question such a basic, beginner sentence, but the thing is "日本語の先生がなりたい” doesnt really mean "I would like to become a Japanese teacher." It just means "I want to become a Japanese teacher." meaning a literal translation would be "If I could speak Japanese I want to become a Japanese teacher." and that doesnt make sense.

Now, in English you have to add 'would' to 'want' to make the connection to the previous statement of 'If I could' but I think in Japanese the would is implied since its all in one sentence anyways. I want to make sure this is right, however. Plus, the tense seems a little bit..awkward...like Im saying "Because I cant speak Japanese, I dont want to become a Japanese teacher." I thought about this for a while and Ive come to the conclusion that even though it kinda sounds that way, the way I put it is still correct. In English. Maybe not Japanese. I dunno.

[Jason]

Question. Im trying to say "If I could speak Japanese I would like to become a Japanese teacher."

Off the top of my head, Im thinking 私は日本語を話せば日本語の先生になりたい。

According to Yookoso, you can't use the 〜ば conditional to express an "if...I want to..." idea. You should use 〜たら

私は日本語が話せたら、日本語の先生になりたい。

but the thing is "日本語の先生がなりたい” doesnt really mean "I would like to become a Japanese teacher." It just means "I want to become a Japanese teacher." meaning a literal translation would be "If I could speak Japanese I want to become a Japanese teacher." and that doesnt make sense.

It makes sense in Japanese. It means what you want it to mean.

Plus, the tense seems a little bit..awkward...like Im saying "Because I cant speak Japanese, I dont want to become a Japanese teacher." I thought about this for a while and Ive come to the conclusion that even though it kinda sounds that way, the way I put it is still correct. In English. Maybe not Japanese. I dunno.

You're overthinking it. It works fine.

[BrodyMcK]

You could also add something like だろう to get the sense of "would." While "would" doesn't translate exactly into Japanese, the nature of "would" is to add a hypothetical aspect or degree of uncertainty to the sentence. There are ways to do this in Japanese, such as だろう or と思う. I'm still investigating this idea of "would" as it translates into Japanese, so I must admit I don't have a definite grip on it myself. Yet still, it is somewhere along these lines.

Also, I don't know if you would refer to yourself as 先生. That's kind of a term of respect, so when referring to yourself, you should use a humble, neutral term. Maybe 教師 would be better?

And I think it has to be になりたい not がなりたい, being as 先生/教師 is a noun.

You've got the idea on the right track; your sentence is mostly correct. Don't worry too much about the "would" idea. I think you could have said your sentence to a Japanese person and they would have been able to understand it.
How long have you've been studying? It took me a lot of time before I could use that kind of construction...

[Brody]

By the way, the above post is mine (Brody), in case the mck was too confusing. I just signed up for a subscription and I had to create another account. Wish I could combine them...