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I am not sure about the first part of

「中３の２５％、短文も理解困難」　

Do you read 中 as ちゅう here? 25% of 3 would be 0.75% if I am not mistaken. Therefore does it mean something like 「around 0.75% of the population does have trouble with reading and understanding short sentences」? But then... wouldn't one just write 0.75% in the beginning?

Risa
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1 Answers1

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yes, you read 中 as ちゅう , and 中３ as ちゅうさん

中３ is a shorthand way of writing 中学校3年生 which is (Japanese) Junior High School 3rd graders or in other words, 9th graders.
so 中３の２５％ would be "25% of (Japanese) 9th graders"

so the full translation of

「中３の２５％、短文も理解困難」

is

"Twenty-five percent of 9th graders have difficulty understanding short passages."

Thanks to @Mars and @Eiríkr Útlendi for suggesting the more accurate word choices.

After all this editing, I realized one final point that can be made: in the expression 短文も理解困難, も carries the meaning "even", so the most apt translation would be:

"Twenty-five percent of 9th graders have difficulty understanding even short passages."

ericfromabeno
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    It's a complicated language after all =) – user134593 Nov 30 '18 at 22:16
  • heh. For a second I thought your comment was a reference to my answer, then I realized you were referring to how many 3rd graders have trouble reading. I also just realized that nowhere in that sentence does it explicitly say "Japanese" students... so it could actually be a reference to some other country... – ericfromabeno Nov 30 '18 at 22:42
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    Localizing the text further, for a US context, 中３ = 9th graders. I don't think I've ever heard (read) the phrase "junior high school third graders" before -- and, in fact, "third graders" is so specifically a reference to elementary school that the juxtaposition is most confusing. Combine that with the wrinkle that some counties only have two years of junior high school (I think usually 7th and 8th grade), things can go even further off the rails. :) – Eiríkr Útlendi Nov 30 '18 at 22:57
  • @ericfromabeno it's a reference to both ;) – user134593 Nov 30 '18 at 23:14
  • @user134593 This sentence is hard because it is written in a very peculiar style, which is that used in headlines in mass media. Note that English mass media use a similar style too, in which they omit copulas and articles, say "something to do something" instead of "something will do something," and so forth. – Pteromys Dec 01 '18 at 04:00
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    @EiríkrÚtlendi To make things even more potentially confusing, some school districts in the US also consider 6th grade to be part of Junior High (also sometimes referred to as "middle school"). I don't know how prevalent it is, but that was the case for me ca. 2006 :) – ZeroKnight Dec 01 '18 at 05:38
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    I'd also note that 短文 doesn't necessarily mean short sentences. This probably refers to tests or academics, so the better term is probably "short passages" – Mars Dec 01 '18 at 05:56
  • what in America would be "highschool freshmen" is basically inaccurate except with respect to which year of schooling counting from the bottom. JHS != HS. – virmaior Dec 01 '18 at 06:43
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    I can reword that if it confusing internationally. I was speaking from my personal experience. I think "9th graders" will probably be the least confusing choice... – ericfromabeno Dec 01 '18 at 07:04
  • School grades are notoriously hopeless to keep track of cross-nationally; ‘ninth grade’ may be obvious to an American, but to a Frenchman, for example, it’s guesstimation (because in France, they begin in sixth grade at age 11 and then start counting down – there is no ninth grade). Ages are a much better indication. How old are Japanese 中３ students generally? Wikipedia indicates approx. 14–15 years old; that would be an easy gauge for anyone, anywhere. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Dec 01 '18 at 11:18
  • hmm... however that mode of thinking divorces the grade level from the issue, when I think it's actually important to the meaning of the sentence. It's not noteworthy that some 15 year old children have a hard time reading short passages... It's noteworthy that some children have a hard time reading short passages even after 9 years of schooling. – ericfromabeno Dec 01 '18 at 11:25