Learning Japanese

Today I took my first course in Japanese language and my teacher gave me a bilingual book for Japanese language beginners. I skimmed it all and started wondering why the authors only use rarely used English terms to translate new Japanese words.

For example, Hazukashii (恥ずかしい) = ignominious, shoddy, opprobrious.

I looked at the first page and found that the authors names are written in Katakana, and they are English native speakers. Why do they do so ? I am afraid I may make listeners laugh if I accidentally say something like "I am ignominious because I...."; the listeners if they are not native speakers or are not good at the English language will have a hard time to figure out what I mean.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ledidas

Why do they do so ? I am afraid I may make listeners laugh if I accidentally say something like "I am ignominious because I...."; the listeners if they are not native speakers or are not good at the English language will have a hard time to figure out what I mean.

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I wouldn't worry. In a friendly context most natives have a lot of sympathy for people who are struggling to learn their language. Besides what sounds corny in one language may be the exact appropriate word to use in another.

But do you have a modern dictionary? When I searched for Hazukashii on the net it means "shy ashamed embarrased".

I'd stop using that dictionary right away, sounds like bombastic bullshit. Or the dictionary is old and the usage has changed. Those definitions seem downright incorrect. Unfortunately, as I've learned, horrible ineffectual textbooks do exist in this world. It absolutely baffles me why some authors out there have published educational material at such truly poor pedagogic quality. But I guess sometimes reputation and business concerns also factor in to writing a book.