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[RangerBAD]

Hey could someone help me translate this sentence from the manga よつばと?

The situation is: yotsubato and another girl talking about the air conditioning in the room and yotsubato is asking the girl why she doesn't use it. The girl answers:

できるだけクーラーは使わないようにしてるの

So while I get what she is saying, the ようにしてるの part is a mystery to me. Theoretically I know how ように modifies what comes after it, but translation like "like" or "so that" don't make sense to me...Is she just asking if Yotsubato knows that you shouldn't use the cooler as much as possible? Or is she just stating that she herself knows that you shouldn't use the cooler all the time?

She's made a decision not to use it, even though she can. I've read that chapter and she's concerned about Global Warming. ようにしている is "make a point of ~". The の is just is んです. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

Also, the "と" is a particle. Yotsuba is her name.

 

[JimPanzer]

She's made a decision not to use it, even though she can. I've read that chapter and she's concerned about Global Warming. ようにしている is "make a point of ~". The の is just is んです. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me.

Also, the "と" is a particle. Yotsuba is her name.

thanks! my mistake was I took the してる for 知ってる and not for the て form of する + いる. For ようにしている there's even an entry in the dictionary of basic japanese grammar...

 

[Nakho]

Does anyone recommend the Japanese Graded Reader apps from White Rabbit Press?

 

[Resilient]

2 days out, not gonna lie feeling shook as hell. like a nervous confidence. shiet!

 

[urfe]

2 days out, not gonna lie feeling shook as hell. like a nervous confidence. shiet!

You're doing N1, yeah? Good luck! I'm sure you'll do great.

 

[urfe]

How did the test go for all JLPT takers?

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Took the N2 in Gifu. Got about 4 hours of sleep the night before as I was in Aichi on Saturday with my dance team recording the 掛け声 and whatnot for our new song and we didn't get back until 2 AM.

Language Knowledge: Just a few questions where I felt a bit unsure, even after coming back and spending some time on it; and a couple of kanji/vocab problems where I just straight up didn't know the word (I remember 納める, I think there might have been one or two more). Two of the "rebuild the sentences" questions struck me as rather tough, and I'm not 100% confident that I got them right.

Reading was pretty easy, though I had to force myself to focus on some of the writings, as they were rather dry.

Listening was not too tough, but my focus kept wandering. At least twice I spaced out completely and was left trying to piece together what was being discussed before the next question began. Then the final, two-part question was a bit of a mess with two students comparing schools and I missed a couple key phrases.

Pretty sure I passed. The only way I didn't is if I bombed the listening (which is shamefully possible). Either way, it's onwards to the N1 for me next time.

 

[RangerBAD]

Spork's in a Boy Band?

 

[chrizzz09]

Hey guys, been reading for quite some time here.

Currently studying Japanology and Sociology in Germany and am writing my application for a year abroad at Rikkyō University. Have 4 semesters of language courses behind me and am on N3 level.

But I have one question about a Japanese proverb: 晴耕雨読 "Work the fields on a fine day, study on a rainy day."

I wanted to use this to start my application and write something like: "...after studying for the past years, I now want to challenge/improve my abilities and 'Work the field' in Japan..."

(Well not in this exact wording, but you get my intention - also my application is in german, so please excuse my english grammar mistakes)

But I'm not so sure if the meaning of this proverb can be even used in my case...

Hope someone can reassure me, or warn me before making a big mistake.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Hey guys, been reading for quite some time here.

Currently studying Japanology and Sociology in Germany and am writing my application for a year abroad at Rikkyō University. Have 4 semesters of language courses behind me and am on N3 level.

But I have one question about a Japanese proverb: 晴耕雨読 "Work the fields on a fine day, study on a rainy day."

I wanted to use this to start my application and write something like: "...after studying for the past years, I now want to challenge/improve my abilities and 'Work the field' in Japan..."

(Well not in this exact wording, but you get my intention - also my application is in german, so please excuse my english grammar mistakes)

But I'm not so sure if the meaning of this proverb can be even used in my case...

Hope someone can reassure me, or warn me before making a big mistake.

The proverb is not meant to be taken literally. It's used to describe a return or retreat to a simpler life--one away from the bustle and complications of living in a city or crowded society. It's supposed to invoke a bucolic scene of spending one's days working the fields and reading. Quite a different picture to what you might experience studying hard at a university in Tokyo.

 

[Kurita]

Currently studying Japanology and Sociology in Germany and am writing my application for a year abroad at Rikkyō University. Have 4 semesters of language courses behind me and am on N3 level.

Hey! That's where I'm going this year!

 

[chrizzz09]

The proverb is not meant to be taken literally. It's used to describe a return or retreat to a simpler life--one away from the bustle and complications of living in a city or crowded society. It's supposed to invoke a bucolic scene of spending one's days working the fields and reading. Quite a different picture to what you might experience studying hard at a university in Tokyo.

Thanks! I had a suspicion that it's not really fitting... May I ask if you know some proverbs that can be used in my case? Or maybe an internet site where I can find some fitting quotes/proverbs for "studying hard / wanting to improve oneself" etc?

Edit: Okay I found some other proverbs, would be cool if you/anyone can tell me if those are okay:

虎穴に入らずんば虎児を得ず.

井の中の蛙大海を知らず。

門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む。

EDIT2:

Ok, I'm settling with the third one: 門前の小僧習わぬ経を読む “An apprentice near a temple will recite the scriptures untaught.” Meaning the right environment can transmit knowledge and skill. I think that fits good with the whole point of wanting to go there to further develop my Japanese skills and to do research for my bachelor thesis.

Hey! That's where I'm going this year!

Nice! I would be there next spring semester, if I would get the place

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Spork's in a Boy Band?

It's technically yosakoi, a traditional dance style using naruko (wooden clapper things), but our group is a bit more wild than the really traditional stuff. Here's a video from before I joined I joined the team in April, but I haven't actually performed yet, due to spraining my knee in the leadup to what should have been my debut festival last month.

 

[Nakho]

Does anyone have an Anki deck with all the vocab from the Genki books? All I see on Google are people complaining about this or that deck being broken or missing stuff...

 

[RangerBAD]

It's technically yosakoi, a traditional dance style using naruko (wooden clapper things), but our group is a bit more wild than the really traditional stuff. Here's a video from before I joined I joined the team in April, but I haven't actually performed yet, due to spraining my knee in the leadup to what should have been my debut festival last month.

Like in Hanayamata? Or in Golden Time.

 

[Resilient]

How did the test go for all JLPT takers?

Took N1 in Canberra; only about 15 odd took N1. Walked out feeling OK about it. Listening went fairly well so I was happy with that, a few I had to take a punt on. Listening was definitely easier than the Language Knowledge section.

As for the rest of it, biggest think I took out of it was that I need to learn a shit load more words. Grammar was fine but the lack of vocab potentially killed me a in a few zones. you really just need to know everything lol. All I can do is stay on the path I'm on at the moment while adding some stuff. Mainly reading a bigger range of books, not just news/novels/magazines. Need to see some more styles of writing. If I failed, not really fussed, there is always December.

as with anything you never stop learning, and that's why i'm doing this i guess; to just keep learning. thanks to all the people that helped out over the last year, really appreciate all of it.

 

[_Ryo_]

The kanji won't stay in my head, even if I write them like 50 times, a week later they're forgotten. I think I have a problem with short term memory. :/

 

[RangerBAD]

The kanji won't stay in my head, even if I write them like 50 times, a week later they're forgotten. I think I have a problem with short term memory. :/

Reading. You need to see the word a lot. The more kanji you write, the easier it is to remember how to write it too.

 

[I'm an expert]

The kanji won't stay in my head, even if I write them like 50 times, a week later they're forgotten. I think I have a problem with short term memory. :/

Youre writing them 50x a day, every day, right?

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Like in Hanayamata?

Apparently? I've never heard of it, but it does seem to be about yosakoi. Now I kind of want to check it out...

 

[chrizzz09]

The kanji won't stay in my head, even if I write them like 50 times, a week later they're forgotten. I think I have a problem with short term memory. :/

Try learning them/ seeing them more in context of a sentence. This helped me immensly.

 

[Kilrogg]

Youre writing them 50x a day, every day, right?

Made me chuckle.

Spoiler

He's right though. Kanji all day erryday, baby!

 

[Spring Drive]

Somehow I'm taking less time to review my Anki Cards, now. I was learning 5 new cards a day in Core 10K and today I did 30 just fine. I hope it stays that way

 

[Jintor]

Took N1 in Canberra; only about 15 odd took N1. Walked out feeling OK about it. Listening went fairly well so I was happy with that, a few I had to take a punt on. Listening was definitely easier than the Language Knowledge section.

As for the rest of it, biggest think I took out of it was that I need to learn a shit load more words. Grammar was fine but the lack of vocab potentially killed me a in a few zones. you really just need to know everything lol. All I can do is stay on the path I'm on at the moment while adding some stuff. Mainly reading a bigger range of books, not just news/novels/magazines. Need to see some more styles of writing. If I failed, not really fussed, there is always December.

as with anything you never stop learning, and that's why i'm doing this i guess; to just keep learning. thanks to all the people that helped out over the last year, really appreciate all of it.

I thought overseas tests were only in dec? Must have been mistaken

N3 was rough. Probably fine on kanji, maybe fine on reading/grammar, listening... might have been bad.

 

[Kurita]

I thought overseas tests were only in dec? Must have been mistaken

N3 was rough. Probably fine on kanji, maybe fine on reading/grammar, listening... might have been bad.

Depends on the country.
For instance in France I only had the December session, but in Germany or England there's also the July one.

 

[Resilient]

yeah like Kurita said. this was the first year they did a July test in Aus tho. Canberra and Brisbane only. road tripped up. Canberra is a sad, boring shithole but it was kind of relaxing in a way.

 

[Resilient]

quick dirty double post.

What are people listening to atm? Podcasts and stuff.

Also do you guys read any blogs in particular? I need to start reading more "stuff" and fluff. i've been reading too much clean stuff. as in nice and neat, not a lot of slang, proper structure.

 

[Forkball]

I have a subscription to Japanese Pod 101. It has a breadth of topics and while the dialogue is more standard Japanese, it does make attempts to sound natural and conversational as well.

 

[Brawly Likes to Brawl]

quick dirty double post.

What are people listening to atm? Podcasts and stuff.

Also do you guys read any blogs in particular? I need to start reading more "stuff" and fluff. i've been reading too much clean stuff. as in nice and neat, not a lot of slang, proper structure.

Still watching Nihongo no Mori's videos on Youtube, really good for native listening practice. There's also a show on itunes called "Bilingual News" where two friends talk about current events in both Japanese and English.

As for blogs, I just read Ameba posts of my favorite actors.

 

[Kilrogg]

quick dirty double post.

What are people listening to atm? Podcasts and stuff.

Also do you guys read any blogs in particular? I need to start reading more "stuff" and fluff. i've been reading too much clean stuff. as in nice and neat, not a lot of slang, proper structure.

Would that there were any good Japanese podcasts out there. Hiikii Biikii is just too lazy with the sound quality, really hurts my ears.

 

[Nakho]

Does anyone know how I can listen to the NHK radio in Japanese online? I can only find the English and other non-Japanese languages ones. My listening level is nowhere near being able to understand it, but I want some background noise while I study, to get a feeling for the flow of the language.

 

[Edzi]

I'm just gonna make a quick introductory post here so that I have the thread subbed. I studied a years worth of college level Japanese in college about 3 years ago, and I really want to pick it up again. Hopefully seeing this thread in my sub list will motivate me to actually use it and study.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Does anyone know how I can listen to the NHK radio in Japanese online? I can only find the English and other non-Japanese languages ones. My listening level is nowhere near being able to understand it, but I want some background noise while I study, to get a feeling for the flow of the language.

This is the podcast feed I use for NHK.

 

[Nakho]

This is the podcast feed I use for NHK.

Thanks! I don't understand what's written on it yet, so can you tell me if there is an option to listen to the radio live? I've only found recorded shows so far.

 

[Kurita]

quick dirty double post.

What are people listening to atm? Podcasts and stuff.

Also do you guys read any blogs in particular? I need to start reading more "stuff" and fluff. i've been reading too much clean stuff. as in nice and neat, not a lot of slang, proper structure.

Not listening to anything in particular right now aside from my usual radio shows hosted by musicians (The King's Place, School of Lock...)

For reading well I follow a lot of Japanese people on Twitter/Instagram so it's a good way to read some casual Japanese

 

[I'm an expert]

I'm just gonna make a quick introductory post here so that I have the thread subbed. I studied a years worth of college level Japanese in college about 3 years ago, and I really want to pick it up again. Hopefully seeing this thread in my sub list will motivate me to actually use it and study.

It won't

 

[Edzi]

It won't

Well yeah, obviously not as a primary motivator. I'm already going to be studying, just wanted to poke my head in here since I saw it on the front of OT.

 

[Resilient]

expert stop picking on the new blood

thanks Brawly, that's exactly the kind of thing i was looking for. thank you!

Kurita i think you've mentioned those before. thank you. did you end up finishing yutori?

Kilrogg, no idea what you said. but yeah hiikii biikii is ear torture. hotcast seem to have fixed up their shit though.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Thanks! I don't understand what's written on it yet, so can you tell me if there is an option to listen to the radio live? I've only found recorded shows so far.

Ah, it's recordings of the four daily broadcasts (morning, noon, afternoon, and evening) and then the "News Journal" where they go more in-depth on important topics with guests and such. I don't usually listen live, and when I occasionally do I do so on an actual radio. I usually listen to the morning broadcast (朝7時NHKけさのニュー&#12473 because it fits nicely into my commute, and sometimes the evening (夜7時NHKきょうのニュー&#12473 and/or journal (夜10時NHKジャーナ&#12523 ones.

Kilrogg, no idea what you said. but yeah hiikii biikii is ear torture. hotcast seem to have fixed up their shit though.

"Would that there were" is a very wistful way of saying "it sure would be nice if there were," but that's really a topic for the Learning English |OT|. Also, I thought Hotcast and other TBS Radio podcasts were shutting down?

 

[Resilient]

Ah, it's recordings of the four daily broadcasts (morning, noon, afternoon, and evening) and then the "News Journal" where they go more in-depth on important topics with guests and such. I don't usually listen live, and when I occasionally do I do so on an actual radio. I usually listen to the morning broadcast (朝7時NHKけさのニュー&#12473 because it fits nicely into my commute, and sometimes the evening (夜7時NHKきょうのニュー&#12473 and/or journal (夜10時NHKジャーナ&#12523 ones.



"Would that there were" is a very wistful way of saying "it sure would be nice if there were," but that's really a topic for the Learning English |OT|. Also, I thought Hotcast and other TBS Radio podcasts were shutting down?

i knew TBS were going down, but i never listened to anything other than Hotcast and they're still going for the time being albeit a little shorter at 15-25min lately.

also, WTF! I'm Australian, and even though that sounds like a British expression, I've never heard it in my life!!

sorry Kilrogg

 

[Nakho]

Ah, it's recordings of the four daily broadcasts (morning, noon, afternoon, and evening) and then the "News Journal" where they go more in-depth on important topics with guests and such. I don't usually listen live, and when I occasionally do I do so on an actual radio. I usually listen to the morning broadcast (朝7時NHKけさのニュー&#12473 because it fits nicely into my commute, and sometimes the evening (夜7時NHKきょうのニュー&#12473 and/or journal (夜10時NHKジャーナ&#12523 ones.

That's great anyway! Thanks for your help.

 

[b4mv]

Hey guys, your determination is inspiring. I'm going to spend 6 hours driving tomorrow. I'm curious if there is something I can listen to during that ride to take my first lesson in Japanese. I've never attempted to even learn a language before, but I do a ton of driving every day and wanted to know if it's playable to use that time for learning a language.

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[RangerBAD]

i knew TBS were going down, but i never listened to anything other than Hotcast and they're still going for the time being albeit a little shorter at 15-25min lately.

also, WTF! I'm Australian, and even though that sounds like a British expression, I've never heard it in my life!!

sorry Kilrogg

Australians don't care about Shakespeare, I guess.

 

[Valkerionseven]

Hmm, can anyone help me translate a friends Tanabata wish. Mine is obviously on the right haha, we wrote these at our favorite bar while drinking (hence the weird curve in mine and amazingly sloppy hiragana haha. I kinda got the jist of hers from other people talking about it, but I can't read some parts of it.

Also yes I know I wrote や instead of よ haha. I was about to take it off but everyone said it was funnier with や since its old Japanese or something.

 

[Resilient]

自習室１３室のみんなが全員医師国家試験に合格しますように。

じしゅうしつ１３しつのみんながぜんいんいしこっかしけんにごうかくしますように。

 

[Kilrogg]

i kn speekz engliche gaiz, kn u?

 

[Kurita]

Hmm, can anyone help me translate a friends Tanabata wish. Mine is obviously on the right haha, we wrote these at our favorite bar while drinking (hence the weird curve in mine and amazingly sloppy hiragana haha. I kinda got the jist of hers from other people talking about it, but I can't read some parts of it.



Also yes I know I wrote や instead of よ haha. I was about to take it off but everyone said it was funnier with や since its old Japanese or something.

"I wish everybody from study room 13 (I guess that's where they study) will pass the National Medical Practitioners Qualifying Exam" (I had to google what the common translation for the exam name was haha)

 

[Resilient]

i kn speekz engliche gaiz, kn u?

I'm gonna speak to you in weird English expressions exclusively from now on

 

[Valkerionseven]

Thanks, I knew it was something about medical school and a test but din't know the kanji for it lol. A lot of my drinking buddies are the students/recent grads from the medical university down the street.

 

[TickleMeElbow]

Just some quick and probably obvious advice.

If you're learning kanji, practice reading things that are in physical print. I fucked that aspect up (I can only read and write at like a fifth grade level without furigana), and have been coasting through college/jobs relying on that "insert furigana" shit to translate documents....but now it's severely limiting my job prospects. Got an offer to translate a book written in like 1920 or some shit, which would've made me pretty legit. However, it was a physical copy, and I could barely read the first page lol. I can speak and understand most things at a native level, but that doesn't help me at all with books from the 1920s. Man I felt like a fraud when that shit was presented to me. Had to turn the offer down. Way above my level.

Also, you've probably heard this before, but find some sort of specialization (medical, law, finance, chemistry, etc). I've had jobs where I had to translate documents for periodontists (various gum diseases and dental implant procedures), or human resource offices (bunch of technical legal babble), and had to denshi jisho like half the vocab words because I had no idea wtf they were in Japanese (or English actually....haha). Took forever.

One time I got rejected from a $40 an hour interpreting gig, because I didn't know how to interpret the technical processes behind manufacturing plastic car parts. Another time I mildly pissed off some execs from a Japanese insurance company, because I didn't know how to interpret various insurance/financial terms in Japanese. My dumbass had to keep looking shit up on my phone during the meeting lol. Like damn, I barely knew wtf the American execs were talking about in English. I don't know jack shit about the inner workings of insurance companies. That wasn't really my fault though, as the guy who hired me initially said it was only going to be a tour of the building (which I got through just fine).

So yeah, if you want the dope gigs, it's best to specialize in something and get hired at a high paying company, instead of doing what I did, which was mostly translate random shit that came my way while never being an expert in any one subject.

But you guys probably know that already lol.