The Japanese Lesson Thread: Post yer ?'s

Post your questions here. I'll do my best share the knowledge, although be warned that teaching Japanese is totally different than speaking it.

Things I don't know: names of verb tenses and particles of speech... in Japanese OR English, so try to avoid those. I generally just memorized what things should sound like... I highly recommend it. On that note, here's some general pointers.

HOW TO POST JAPANESE:
Make sure your browser is set to Japanese Encoding (SHIFT-JIS), then hit the reply button. Then double-check that it's still in SHIFT-JIS. Also needs to be in Shift-JIS (or auto-detect for some systems) to read the characters.

0: STUDY!!!

1: Throw out class 1, 2, 3 verb lists. It's crap. Conjugating verbs is EASY in Japanese (much easier than English). As before, memorizing will make your speaking much more fluid, so you don't think, "oh, that's a class 2 verb - I'll conjugate it like this" in the middle of a thought. These were introduced to me after my 3rd year (on my exchange trip) so obviously, I ignored them. Did fine without them.

2: Go above and beyond the call of duty. Learn each chapter you cover in class inside and out. Get good enough that you can explain it to people that are falling behind. Then, get a headestart on the next chapter.

3: Flash cards for 20 minutes a day = huge vocabulary. I can't explain it any clearer than that. Wanna REALLY expand that vocab? Do it for an hour a day.

4: If you can write the kanji, then you can DEFINITELY read the kanji. Not writing can take you very far. I can't write with my hands to save my life now... it's a joke. It looks like a mentally challenged Japanese persons writing. BUT, when I was studying, I learned to write the new kanjis, not read them. At that time (my study abroad) I could probably write 1000-1200 kanjis on demand. Now maybe 100 if I'm lucky. /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

5: If you watch anime, watch the same episode 3-4 times. Believe me... it helps. I subtitled stuff as a hobby many years ago with my shit-hot Amiga 1200. After watching something a minimum of 4 times, I had several phrases (not words) memorized. These are very useful.

6: If you watch anime, talk like the real people*, not the robots.

*real people do not include (people with spikey hair, the professors, any non-homonid, or any young male. Generally, comedy or drama stuff is a much better learning tool than big robots.

7: Don't talk like a girl, unless you're girl. Also avoid the homophobic 100% male talk as well, lest you be laughed at.

8: Remember that VF moves are not included in most Japanese peoples vocabularies.

 

shitsumongaaruyo!

I have a LOT of trouble memorizing Kanji. I feel like I'll memorize them good for a test and get them all right, and then have them fade into obscurity the next day, unless it's so common that you'd never forget it. Like taberu or something.

Any other tips for memorizing those characters that you NEED to know but seemingly never use in class ?

sigh, natsuyasumini, nihongoworenshushitaindemo, jikanganai...

on another note, you can't fricking type Japanese in this forum... damn it! I typed all that romanji in Japanese first, and then when I previewed it, it was all code =(

 

I've wanted to learn Japanese (R/W) for a very long time, but the closest university to me that offers it is University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and that is over an hour drive away. I've tried books and such, but without an actual instructor that I can hear and watch I tend to get very lax. I've always been very proficient in languages and speak Spanish with a very passable accent. Having a Puerto Rican girlfriend helps with that /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif. Any programs either online or book/audio based you would recommend to someone interested in learning to at least speak Japanese.

 

It's tough... I recommend finding a Japanese friend =)

Without someone to practice with it'll be quite difficult, and I've had minimal luck with audio tapes and CDs and stuff.

 

KTallguy:

You acn post Japanese here. Read the original post.
‚±‚ê‚Óǂ߂é‚Å‚µ‚傤‚©?

As for memorizing the kanjis -- learning to write them is the best way to make them stick. That, and you need to learn. Try some Japanese web pages. There's thousands of game pages that you can practice on. As I've stated before, if you want the newest news, go to www.g-rev.com. I'd recommend using a paper dictionary rather than an online one... it will help you not to be lazy.

As for learning Japanese from a book, you need to read and hear a LOT if you're not going to take a class. It's possible, but difficult.

 

‚¾‚ÄÂÂA‚ ‚肪‚Æ‚¤ÂÂI I think I finally figured it out =)

‚±‚ê‚ÃÂÆ’eÆ’XÆ’g‚Å‚·‚ËÂÂB

¡ÂÂCâ₡‚­‚‚©‚ê‚Ä‚æÂÂA‚ÂÈÂÂA‚¨‚â‚·‚ÂȂ³‚¢‚æÂÂB

 

omedetou!!!
chotto ukagaimasuga antawa nansaideshouka??

 

gomennasai, shigotode nihongo wo kakemasen...

'ukagau' wa wakarimasen, demo, boku wa nijuuichi sai. Boku no tanjobi ni kinou da. <--- (Is this correct?)

 

&#20282;&#12358;&#12392;&#12399;&#35686;&#35703;&#12391;&#12377; /versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I don't know what the deal is, i'm entering japanese(Japanese (Shift-JIS)) , but all that is coming out is the crap up above. /versus/images/graemlins/mad.gif Tallguy your post is mostly correct. Just remember that 21 years old is, "nijuuissai"

 

‚½‚ñ‚¶‚傤‚Ñ‚¨‚ß‚Å‚Æ‚¤ Æ’PÙCÆ’gÂÂ[ƒ‹ƒKÂÂ[Æ’C‚³‚ñÂÂI /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

Souka nijuuissa ni narimashitane /versus/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Antano tanjoubiwa kinou deshitane->omedetou


chotto ukagaimasu to iunowa
imiwa shitsumon ga arimasu sorede....
chotto otazuneshimasu ga....
wakatte irunokai?

 

http://japanese.human.metro-u.ac.jp/mic-j/home-e.html

 

minasan! arigato... (finally I can drink)

sono 'message' sukoshii wakarimashita...

demo, ima wa hanasemasen yo.... shigoto o shimasu ne ?

 

chotto ukagaimasuga ...
means:
can I ask you a question...

 

great thread guyz, whey, practice japanese on my home website.. ^^

i have a couple of questions already ^^

1. does'nt "chotto" mean "a little"?, how does it fit in with the sentance "chotto ukagaimasug"?

2. i'm having trouble writing words in japanese like these:

. itu
. tukue
. ikimasita
. hosii

the reason i ask is that both katakana and hiragana alphabets do not have the sound "tu", or "si", would the speling not change? e.g "tu" still has a "tsu" symbol, or "si" still has the "shi" symbol?

3. do you have any specific pages on kanji?

thx

(boku no nihongo ga $%%$$£$*!! /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif)

 

1.expression

2. roumaji is
ta chi tsu te to
sa shi su se so

ja ju jo
hya hyu hyo
mya myu myo
nya nyu nyo
rya ryu ryo

3.about kanji I dont know

 

hey, about number 2, i was really asking about the misterious "tu" and "si" used in:

. itu (i-tu)
. or hosii (ho-si-i)

even as you mentioned the sa and ta rows, there is no sign of "tu" or "si" anywhere, how would these sounds be spelt?

thx for the rest btw.

 

chotto ... has a lot of meanings...

Like when Ohtsuka_Akio_fan (onamaiwa ? bokuwa Kenan desu.) says chotto ukagaimasuga, it's like chotto means... 'could I bother you to', or 'a little time for'. It's polite right ?

You would write ikimashita, not ikimasita... it's a shi sound, and it would be tsu, not tu.

Kono websito wa totemo omoshiroii -->
Nihongo no jishou!


Ohtsuka_Akio_fan:

otazune wa wakarimasen ... gomen ne, boku no 'vocabulary' wa warui ...

Curasu de, 'I have a question' wa 'shitsumon ga aru', demo, totemo 'polite' ne?

 

tu=tsu
si=shi
chotto=in this case is a softening word, making the whole the whole phrase less abrupt.
ukagaimasu is the polite formal form of the verb kiku(to ask, to listen) i.e. keigo, specifcaly kenjougo.
/versus/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

Understood
you have to write kakataka "te" and small "u" the
same for "ti"(te and small i)

and for "si" it is "su" and small "i".
Sorry I cannot write hiragana-katakana on my PC to show you!

watashino nippongowa mada hetadesuyo!
watashiniwa mada narau kotoga takusan arundesukara!