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[Deleted member 17706]

Is it better than iOS? The one in iOS 7 pisses me off. It was better before :\

Ever since iOS 7, the piece of shit consistently forgets my dictionary settings and removes Japanese from the registered dictionaries. It gets extremely annoying. I can't wait to be off iOS within the next couple of months.

I can't speak on the breadth of the dictionary entries, but I find the Kindle version to be very nice, indeed. As far as I can tell it only comes with デジタル大辞典 by default, although I think you can add dictionaries to Kindle. Just not sure how.

 

[CornBurrito]

You just have to log into your Kindle with your Amazon.co.jp account and you will have access to any books purchased on Amazon.co.jp. You can even download them and switch back to your Amazon.com account and the books will still be there (although you lose the Whispersync functionality, of course).

What year is your Kindle? I think only 2011 or 2012 models and beyond have Japanese support.

I will say, though, I sure wish the Kindle was around when I first started studying. The ability to just highlight a word and get the reading and dictionary definition is just fantastic.

2012 or 2013 Paperwhite. Anyway thanks. I'll log in via my kindle and see if that works.

Edit: Looking online, it seems you actually need to be a resident of Japan and have a Japanese credit card to purchase ebooks from Amazon.co.jp

 

[Aizo]

I'm concerned that I may screw up a lot of words when I say things in the progressive tense to my Japanese friends. Can one drop the い from any verb in progressive?
例：「そうか！あの人知ってる！」　rather than 知っている.
So, my question is whether this is precisely the case for all verbs. And this is just for colloquial use, yes?

I should really go back over a bunch of basic stuff that I've forgotten. My conversational skills are so basic. I have the vocabulary, but I have trouble putting it all together sometimes. One thing I don't remember is how to know whether or not a verb is going to get a っ in it's -て form. This is one thing that I think I usually get right just because it sounds right to me, but... I feel that I'll surely mess up in the future with verbs I don't know. Is it all う verbs ending in つ、く、and う？

 

[KtSlime]

It's very common to drop the い in the progressive. 知っている→知ってる, it is even written that way in books and manga, etc.

If you are being formal I wouldn't do it, but I have seen even います changed to just ます in this use.

What do you mean by verb endings? All verbs ending in う end in う. If you mean do all verbs end in the sound 'u', yes. And they come from every member of the ウ行, although there is only one verb belonging to ぬ, that's 死ぬ.

 

[Aizo]

It's very common to drop the い in the progressive. 知っている→知ってる, it is even written that way in books and manga, etc.

If you are being formal I wouldn't do it, but I have seen even います changed to just ます in this use.

In books? Really? Huh. Interesting.

What do you mean by verb endings? All verbs ending in う end in う. If you mean do all verbs end in the sound 'u', yes. And they come from every member of the ウ行, although there is only one verb belonging to ぬ, that's 死ぬ.

Hmm? No, I mean the classification of う-verbs (also known as 五段 or Class 1 verbs) as opposed to る-verbs (一段 ). Perhaps my question was unclear, but that whole paragraph was relating to a single topic.

I was asking about when to add the small つ　when conjugating verbs into the participle/-て　form.

 

[KtSlime]

In books? Really? Huh. Interesting.

Hmm? No, I mean the classification of う-verbs (also known as 五段 or Class 1 verbs) as opposed to る-verbs (一段 ). Perhaps my question was unclear, but that whole paragraph was relating to a single topic.

I was asking about when to add the small つ　when conjugating verbs into the participle/-て　form.

Sorry, now I think I get your question. It's verbs ending in つ、る(五段、例：分かっ&#12383、and う. Verbs ending in く turn to いて・いた.

 

[Aizo]

Sorry, now I think I get your question. It's verbs ending in つ、る(五段、例：分かっ&#12383、and う. Verbs ending in く turn to いて・いた.

Good, good. It's as I thought. Thank you.

 

[Desmond]

To those who are studying Japanese at University, is it your Major? Or just a class?

I'm majoring in Japanese and Spanish translation. I had my Japanese Translation final yesterday. Went much better than I'd expected. Had to translate a piece from Kitchen by Banana. Tomorrow morning is my Spanish Translation final. I have language exams for the two on two consecutive days next week. Sometimes studying two languages can be a pain.


@Alabastre, i'm the opposite, I'm not too bad at conversing, but my vocab is limited.

 

[Kansoku]

How does one go about learning names?

 

[CornBurrito]

How does one go about learning names?

What do you mean? Learning how to pronounce them from the Kanji? Or learning what series of sounds are commonly grouped together to form what Japanese people would recognize as acceptable names?


Also, which sentence is more "natural":

犬が一匹いましたが死にました。
犬が一匹いました。でも死にました。

Or are both equally natural (or are neither natural constructions)?

 

[KtSlime]

Count me in on good ways to learn names too, I just make flashcards off of top baby names, but there has got to be a better way.

CornBuritto: as to your question, maybe neither. The second one sounds maybe better for the pause because losing a pet is sad, but I bet many would prefer to use なくなりました over 死にました.

 

[Kansoku]

What do you mean? Learning how to pronounce them from the Kanji? Or learning what series of sounds are commonly grouped together to form what Japanese people would recognize as acceptable names?

Kinda how to pronounce. I mean. there's often kanji in which their name pronunciation have nothing do do with with their regular readings. For example, 米津 (Yonezu). I know that 米 can be read as よね, but 津 reading have nothing to do with ず. Plus, there's a lot of reading of that name alone. I know that even Japanese people might read some name wrong tho.

So I should just brute force them, use falshcards and put the kanji and it's name readings, or there's a better way?

(Also, how can i input names on the Windows IME? Some names work, like 山本, but that example I had to copy from Google.)

 

[KtSlime]

Kinda how to pronounce. I mean. there's often kanji in which their name pronunciation have nothing do do with with their regular readings. For example, 米津 (Yonezu). I know that 米 can be read as よね, but 津 reading have nothing to do with ず. Plus, there's a lot of reading of that name alone. I know that even Japanese people might read some name wrong tho.

So I should just brute force them, use falshcards and put the kanji and it's name readings, or there's a better way?

(Also, how can i input names on the Windows IME? Some names work, like 山本, but that example I had to copy from Google.)

Look up 人名用漢字 and 宛名.

 

[CornBurrito]

Count me in on good ways to learn names too, I just make flashcards off of top baby names, but there has got to be a better way.

CornBuritto: as to your question, maybe neither. The second one sounds maybe better for the pause because losing a pet is sad, but I bet many would prefer to use なくなりました over 死にました.

Ah so I take it なくなりました is a euphemism like the English "passed away?" Anything else it is used for?

 

[KtSlime]

Ah so I take it なくなりました is a euphemism like the English "passed away?" Anything else it is used for?

To lose something. It depends on the kanji, 無くなる lose an inanimate something 亡くなる to lose an animate something.

 

[Desmond]

I'm trying to learn names too.

For girls names, I've decided to just get a list of all the AKB48 members. There's a lot so it will be good variation. To the guy who said something about 津。Ive seen it a few times romanised as zu. It's づ in hiragana.

Like 大津、志津香、Ozu, Shizuka.



A question, is there any difference between ーてみる or ーようとする if I want to say "I try X"?

 

[I'm an expert]

A question, is there any difference between ーてみる or ーようとする if I want to say "I try X"?

Yes.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

I need to answer a bunch of questions, like this:

おなまえけ?

If I try to translate it to so I can pronounce it, I get it to "O na ma e ke?"


But I for the life of me can't figure out what it means. I tried bibelfish and other dictionaries, but they give me tons of meanings for each Hiragana!
I just started, and I can't even figure out what the question means:I



How do I figure it out without a physical dictionary right next to me?

 

[Tenck]

I need to answer a bunch of questions, like this:

おなまえけ?

If I try to translate it to so I can pronounce it, I get it to "O na ma e ke?"


But I for the life of me can't figure out what it means. I tried bibelfish and other dictionaries, but they give me tons of meanings for each Hiragana!
I just started, and I can't even figure out what the question means:I



How do I figure it out without a physical dictionary right next to me?

なまえ is name. It's asking what your name is.

 

[CornBurrito]

なまえ is name. It's asking what your name is.

I never did see a question sentence end with け。

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

なまえ is name. It's asking what your name is.

Thanks mate.


But how do I figure out what the all the other questions are, if I can't use a dictionary?

Does お by itself mean, Hi or hello?


Edit: or rather, I am not sure how they want me to figure this sort out. I know how to say them, thanks to my Hiragana poster with how they are pronounced, but I have no idea how I am going to learn what they mean in english.(im just starting out learning)!

 

[CornBurrito]

Thanks mate.


But how do I figure out what the all the other questions are, if I can't use a dictionary?

Does お by itself mean, Hi or hello?

Think of it like English. "a" is a word. But the "a" in the word "cat" doesn't have its own meaning. At your level, they are likely giving you individual words. お in this context is basically a politeness marker. なまえ means "name" so おなまえ just makes it politer when asking someone for it.

The け I have no idea where it is coming from. Are you sure you didn't mean "ka" か?

Edit: or rather, I am not sure how they want me to figure this sort out. I know how to say them, thanks to my Hiragana poster with how they are pronounced, but I have no idea how I am going to learn what they mean in english.(im just starting out learning)!

Most individual hiragana do not have their own meanings, much like most individual letters in English don't have their own individual meanings.

The basic ones with their own meanings that I know of are: か、が、を、に、で、は、と。

But yeah that's context dependent. Not every か is going to be used to mark a sentence being a question.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Thanks mate.


But how do I figure out what the all the other questions are, if I can't use a dictionary?

Does お by itself mean, Hi or hello?


Edit: or rather, I am not sure how they want me to figure this sort out. I know how to say them, thanks to my Hiragana poster with how they are pronounced, but I have no idea how I am going to learn what they mean in english.(im just starting out learning)!

Would you mind linking me to the online class you're taking. The stuff you've been posting has me highly suspicious of it.

 

[I'm an expert]

C'mon Zefah.. couldn't you have let it play out a little longer.. it was getting good.

 

[KtSlime]

I never did see a question sentence end with け。

It probably should be っけ, it is a sound made when people are trying to remember something.

But as you mentioned, it could be a typo and should be か.

Vigilant Walrus: お is a prefix attached to certain nouns to make them prettier, and to show respect. Only use them for things that don't belong to you.

私のおべんとうです WRONG this sounds odd and might even be considered rude.
あなたのおべんとうです　OK.

There are however some words where the お has become part of the word and should always be said regardless of who's it is because it is showing respect to the greater idea of that thing, such as お茶 (tea).

Don't worry about it you'll get the hang of it, just remember that sometimes a noun will have an お in front of it.

 

[CornBurrito]

It probably should be っけ, it is a sound made when people are trying to remember something.

Vigilant Walrus: お is a prefix attached to certain nouns to make them prettier, and to show respect. Only use them for things that don't belong to you.

私のおべんとうです WRONG this sounds odd and might even be considered rude.
あなたのおべんとうです　OK.

There are however some words where the お has become part of the word and should always be said regardless of who's it is because it is showing respect to the greater idea of that thing, such as お茶 (tea).

Don't worry about it you'll get the hang of it, just remember that sometimes a noun will have an お in front of it.

Not sure if this was my teacher being overly cautious, but she had a small rant about us making sure we never address anyone as あなた because it can be construed as rude. Though I think she did say it was fine with peers, but that you should still just use their name.

 

[KtSlime]

Not sure if this was my teacher being overly cautious, but she had a small rant about us making sure we never address anyone as あなた because it can be construed as rude. Though I think she did say it was fine with peers, but that you should still just use their name.

Yeah, don't use あなた if you can avoid it. I just used it for contrast in the example.

 

[Desmond]

Yes.

Which is?

lol

Thanks by the way, I really appreciate the replies. I wish there was an active thread like this for Spanish.

 

[I'm an expert]

Which is?

lol

Thanks by the way, I really appreciate the replies. I wish there was an active thread like this for Spanish.

I have pointed you in the right direction! Go down the path!

 

[KtSlime]

Which is?

lol

Yes there is a difference, the listener will expect different outcomes depending on which one you use. Look it up in a grammar book, it will be abundantly clear which one you should use in which case.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Would you mind linking me to the online class you're taking. The stuff you've been posting has me highly suspicious of it.

It's an online course at my community college. I have to take an exam this summer, and then move on to regular classes on a higher level.

I just don't get it. He is not clear about anything at all!

Think of it like English. "a" is a word. But the "a" in the word "cat" doesn't have its own meaning. At your level, they are likely giving you individual words. お in this context is basically a politeness marker. なまえ means "name" so おなまえ just makes it politer when asking someone for it.

The け I have no idea where it is coming from. Are you sure you didn't mean "ka" か?
.

Hmmm. Ok, thanks for explaining that Corn, but I just don't understand why the book (Genki 1 workbook) doesn't explain that.

Here is half of the questions I have to answer (but before I can answer them I have to find out what they mean. But it's like our teacher assumes that we already know them??):

Most individual hiragana do not have their own meanings, much like most individual letters in English don't have their own individual meanings.

The basic ones with their own meanings that I know of are: か、が、を、に、で、は、と。

But yeah that's context dependent. Not every か is going to be used to mark a sentence being a question.

Ok, that's good to know that does Hiragana have their own meaning by themselves. But since they don't space out sentences in Japanese, how do I know how many signs will have to form a word? Should I just assume that all the above Hiragana, are stand-alone, while all the others become a word when there are two of them or more?

And then I memorize every combination in my head?

I tried using an online dictionary for ; なま , なまえ and なまえけ , but nothing came up. It just said "associated name" on some of them. But then I don't really know by my own learning how to figure out how to name or other words.

If I couldn't ask you guys, and had no teacher to ask, how would I understand ? I feel like I am missing something!





everyone - thanks for your help! I have a really long road ahead of me!

 

[I'm an expert]

ha bro.. ha.. lol

 

[CornBurrito]

Hmmm. Ok, thanks for explaining that Corn, but I just don't understand why the book (Genki 1 workbook) doesn't explain that.

Here is half of the questions I have to answer (but before I can answer them I have to find out what they mean. But it's like our teacher assumes that we already know them?

Just a note... there is no "ke" in that first question. It is a "ha" which is being used as a particle so it would be pronounced as "wa" おなまえは?　Basically means "and your name is...?"

Ok, that's good to know that does Hiragana have their own meaning by themselves. But since they don't space out sentences in Japanese, how do I know how many signs will have to form a word? Should I just assume that all the above Hiragana, are stand-alone, while all the others become a word when there are two of them or more?

And then I memorize every combination in my head?

Well that's somewhat what Kanji is for. Helps a lot to parse crap.

But without Kanji, yeah, just build up vocab and you'll learn how to parse it. Especially with such short sentences.

Forexamplethissentencehasnospacesbutyoucanprobablystillreadit.

And NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Do not assume those Hiragana I listed are stand alone. You'll soon learn when they do stand alone by building up vocab.

 

[KtSlime]

Vigilant Walrus

Did you copy and paste or type it yourself? は and け are different characters and have different meanings and sounds.

As to knowing, it is pretty easy when you get katakana and kanji in the mix, and you will get a feel after you have been exposed to a lot of Japanese. Sometimes even native speakers have to read something twice and think about it both ways and pick which one makes more sense in that particular case, it is a skill and you will get used to it. Think of it like read and read in English.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

ha bro.. ha.. lol

 

[I'm an expert]

Let these things play out lol! It's more fun.

 

[PKrockin]

I never did see a question sentence end with け。

$20 says it's supposed to be は.

Edit: damn, why did none of these posts load? lol

 

[I'm an expert]

$20 says it's supposed to be は.

Pretty easy to bet when we already know the answer..

 

[CornBurrito]

Let these things play out lol! It's more fun.

Hey now, we've all been there.

 

[Desmond]

I have pointed you in the right direction! Go down the path!

Yes there is a difference, the listener will expect different outcomes depending on which one you use. Look it up in a grammar book, it will be abundantly clear which one you should use in which case.

Ok. Thanks guys. Here we go.

 

[I'm an expert]

Hey now, we've all been there.

I'm not hating at all, there just doesn't need to be a race to answer every beginner question. Let them figure it out and learn a bit.

 

[CornBurrito]

I'm not hating at all, there just doesn't need to be a race to answer every beginner question. Let them figure it out and learn a bit.

Yeah I understand.

Also... shit Vigiliant Walrus I just noticed you said that the Genki 1 Workbook didn't explain anything. Well yeah, the workbook isn't meant to explain stuff. The textbook is! Get reading that textbook!

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

$20 says it's supposed to be は.

Edit: damn, why did none of these posts load? lol

Yep.


Im an expert - I don't think I would have figured this out on my own. I've been stuck with this for the last 5 hours, using every possible dictionary I could find. Once you start reading over your same flaws you become word blind.

I'm sincerely helpful for this. Using it with は gives understandable translation in several dictionaries.





Does anyone know any big common word lists, were I can practice words like house, star, love, and so on? like those common words that happen a lot.



Cornburito and you others, thanks a lot! I really appreciate the assistance. I have had no real explanation or guidance from my teacher, so this has been extremely helpful!!

 

[CornBurrito]

Does anyone know any big common word lists, were I can practice words like house, star, love, and so on? like those common words that happen a lot.



Cornburito and you others, thanks a lot! I really appreciate the assistance. I have had no real explanation or guidance from my teacher, so this has been extremely helpful!!

Do you have the Genki textbook as well as the workbook? Everything in the workbook is going to be in the textbook. That will also help you build some basic vocab.

 

[Zoe]

Japanese is one of those classes where you can't skip out on the textbook. Swallow the costs and buy it, pronto.

Also, download the hiragana writing sheets here and practice them every day until you get it down.

 

[CornBurrito]

It might also be worth recording yourself speaking/reading something in Japanese, uploading it to soundcloud, and then and posting it on GAF for people to listen and judge your pronunciation/intonation/etc... helps a lot if you are taking mostly internet based classes and won't have a native speaker/teacher to help you. I know some other user did it in the past

 

[PKrockin]

You said you have no teacher to talk to, but I have to imagine your online instructor is obligated to help answer your questions after doing the assigned reading. It's what teacher are for. If not, I'd demand my money back.

 

[Cranzor]

Yeah, if you have the textbook, the introduction explains the basics of hiragana. The questions in the workbook also only use vocabulary and grammar that you should have learned in the textbook. The o before namae, the word namae itself, and the particle wa are already taught in the textbook by the time you should be trying out that question in the workbook.

 

[CornBurrito]

If I want to describe a class as "difficult, but interesting" would I say

難しいですがおもしろいです

or

難しいがおもしろいです

Basically, can I drop the first desu?

 

[KtSlime]

If I want to describe a class as "difficult, but interesting" would I say

難しいですがおもしろいです

or

難しいがおもしろいです

Basically, can I drop the first desu?

Yes, you can. How strong do you want that 'but' to be, が is probably the weakest. Have you learned about のに yet?