Every person who studies Japanese learns the four fundamental pillars of the language: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The fifth pillar that nobody tells you about, however, is translation.
Sure, you might assume that anyone who knows two different languages can easily translate one to the other. They know them, after all, it should be simple ... right?
Nope, not the case. And I’ve heard many stories about how this presumption has led to more than a few awkward situations in the workplace. Even the most fluent among us have been called into a meeting by a superior to interpret for a client and, in the moment, accidentally caused insult by speaking too casually to them.