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[kubus]

Nothing useful to contribute, but just want to say

jesus christ emailing my (native) Japanese teachers in Japanese is terrifying

Am I alone in this? I have no trouble talking to them even though I make a bunch of mistakes and can never find the right words/phrasing, but emailing......... Brrrr

I guess I'm really scared that they'll judge me and laugh at my mistakes . Really need to get over this fear because it's also preventing me from being social with other Japanese people. I once talked about it with another Japanese teacher and she said that we foreigners are "too proud" to make mistakes . I guess she is right.

I actually spent 4 hours on writing this email, and it's only like 200 characters or something. Argh!

 

[RangerBAD]

Nothing useful to contribute, but just want to say

jesus christ emailing my (native) Japanese teachers in Japanese is terrifying

Am I alone in this? I have no trouble talking to them even though I make a bunch of mistakes and can never find the right words/phrasing, but emailing......... Brrrr

I guess I'm really scared that they'll judge me and laugh at my mistakes . Really need to get over this fear because it's also preventing me from being social with other Japanese people. I once talked about it with another Japanese teacher and she said that we foreigners are "too proud" to make mistakes . I guess she is right.

I actually spent 4 hours on writing this email, and it's only like 200 characters or something. Argh!

They would be shitty teachers if they laugh at you. I would think it's more embarrassment than pride.

 

[urfe]

Nothing useful to contribute, but just want to say

jesus christ emailing my (native) Japanese teachers in Japanese is terrifying

Am I alone in this? I have no trouble talking to them even though I make a bunch of mistakes and can never find the right words/phrasing, but emailing......... Brrrr

I guess I'm really scared that they'll judge me and laugh at my mistakes . Really need to get over this fear because it's also preventing me from being social with other Japanese people. I once talked about it with another Japanese teacher and she said that we foreigners are "too proud" to make mistakes . I guess she is right.

I actually spent 4 hours on writing this email, and it's only like 200 characters or something. Argh!

Japanese are also notorious for this in English, well, or so they say.

Mispeaking a language is making yourself vulnerable, and people (especially guys it seems) don't like that.

Something to get over as soon as possible, as your ability to grow exponentially.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Nope - this is "my family is California". You want to say kazoku wa california ni sundeiimasu.

Worth noting that "Kazoku ha California" can be sufficient if the context is there. Like if he said, "Watashi wa New York ni sundeimasu" and immediately followed up with "kazoku had California desu," it'd be fine for the most part. Of if the listener asked "kazoku to issho ni sundeimasu ka?" he could easily reply with something like "ie, kazoku ha California desu."

Although it's probably better if he just says the full sentence properly until he's more confident in the language.

 

[Jintor]

I have such huge problems with determining when context exists

 

[m3r4]

I have such huge problems with determining when context exists

Then ask. You want to be understood - what else is there to communication?

 

[Jintor]

Then ask. You want to be understood - what else is there to communication?

being insulted by 13 year olds

 

[m3r4]

Ask until they have to ask. Then answer directly. If there is no reaction, pose the next question.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

One of the most important parts of becoming good at Japanese (or any language, I imagine, but definitely Japanese) is learning how to "read the atmosphere" as it were. Unfortunately, this requires lots of experience and knowledge of the culture and society, so it's not something that can really be picked up reading a text book.

 

[bigmit3737]

Nothing useful to contribute, but just want to say

jesus christ emailing my (native) Japanese teachers in Japanese is terrifying

Am I alone in this? I have no trouble talking to them even though I make a bunch of mistakes and can never find the right words/phrasing, but emailing......... Brrrr

I guess I'm really scared that they'll judge me and laugh at my mistakes . Really need to get over this fear because it's also preventing me from being social with other Japanese people. I once talked about it with another Japanese teacher and she said that we foreigners are "too proud" to make mistakes . I guess she is right.

I actually spent 4 hours on writing this email, and it's only like 200 characters or something. Argh!

Just post in on Lang-8 and natives will correct it for you .

 

[Valkerionseven]

So I'm having a weird issue, well not weird I guess just need a better explanation for pronouns I guess is what they are?

Basically hope someone here can give a quick and dirty, easy to remember explanation of the differences in and using/when to use: kono, sono, ano and kore, sore, are.

It's weird because I'm getting the answers right on the examples but not really 100% on the why its right exactly. Just one of those things I guess, but really would like to make it more clear if possible.

 

[dani_dc]

Any good beginner's podcasts to listen on my way to work (around 30 minutes)?

Barely got time to study now a days, and I'd like to make use of my downtime.

 

[muteki]

So I'm having a weird issue, well not weird I guess just need a better explanation for pronouns I guess is what they are?

Basically hope someone here can give a quick and dirty, easy to remember explanation of the differences in and using/when to use: kono, sono, ano and kore, sore, are.

It's weird because I'm getting the answers right on the examples but not really 100% on the why its right exactly. Just one of those things I guess, but really would like to make it more clear if possible.

The way I remember the difference between ～の and ～れ is the ～の is used when modifying a noun, whereas the ～れ is stand alone. This car, that car vs. simply this or that.

 

[Jintor]

Ko = "This"
So = "That"
A = "That Over There"

Now the difference between "~no" and "~re" can be effectively thought of using the の particle if you think about it for a second. この[noun] is therefore "This's [noun]" (This [noun]), その is "that's [noun]" (That noun), あの is "that over there's [noun]" (That noun over there).

Meanwhile, これ、それ、あれ all effectively replace the [noun] entirely... or at least they would in English. So instead of "that [noun]", it's the same as just saying "That".

Like, その本。"That book". But instead... それ。"That" (referring to a generic 'thing', but from context, it's a book. Or a door. Or an idea. Whatever).

 

[stump sock]

So I'm having a weird issue, well not weird I guess just need a better explanation for pronouns I guess is what they are?

Basically hope someone here can give a quick and dirty, easy to remember explanation of the differences in and using/when to use: kono, sono, ano and kore, sore, are.

It's weird because I'm getting the answers right on the examples but not really 100% on the why its right exactly. Just one of those things I guess, but really would like to make it more clear if possible.

this is as succinct and clear as I've seen it demonstrated

 

[Valkerionseven]

Yeah I get the relative distance thing like something "something near me" "something near you" "something away from both of us" I guess I was/am confused at when to use what.

If I understand right for example:
(Are) That building over there. but when being specific (Ano) That library over there.

Both are buildings but since I was specific about which type I would use Ano instead of Are?

 

[muteki]

Yeah I get the relative distance thing like something "something near me" "something near you" "something away from both of us" I guess I was/am confused at when to use what.

If I understand right for example:
(Are) That building over there. but when being specific (Ano) That library over there.

Both are buildings but since I was specific about which type I would use Ano instead of Are?

It would be more (あ&#12428 That over there. The "building" in your first example is unstated and comes from context. あれ followed by a noun is incorrect.

 

[stump sock]

wouldn't it still be あの because you're noting that it's a building?

あの建物

if you just gestured towards it or indicated it without actually giving it a noun it would be あれ right?

 

[Valkerionseven]

wouldn't it still be あの because you're noting that it's a building?

あの建物

if you just gestured towards it or indicated it without actually giving it a noun it would be あれ right?

Thats the way I was thinking about it, but did not explain properly in my example. I dunno still a bit confused I guess but thanks for the help guys, more helpful than the book I'm using but still will need to revisit this a few times before its clear for me.

 

[Pixeluh]

Any good beginner's podcasts to listen on my way to work (around 30 minutes)?

Barely got time to study now a days, and I'd like to make use of my downtime.

Japanesepod101? A lot of people recommend that. I personally don't listen to any podcasts though. maybe hop onto the Japanese Itunes and look around to what might interest you.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Thats the way I was thinking about it, but did not explain properly in my example. I dunno still a bit confused I guess but thanks for the help guys, more helpful than the book I'm using but still will need to revisit this a few times before its clear for me.

If you're talking about something for the first time and you need to state what it is, you use この・その・あの. For example, このペンはあかいです。(this PEN is red)

If you're pointing at something, or the thing you're discussing is already the subject of the conversation, you use これ・それ・あれ. For example, これはあかいです。(this is red)

So これ・それ・あれ are analagous to this / that / that over there; while この（ぺン）・その（ぺン）・どの（ぺン） are equivalent to this (pen) / that (pen) / that (pen) over there, and require a noun.

EDIT: some more simple, contrasting examples.

これは赤いペンです。(kore wa akai pen desu) This is a red pen.
このペンは赤いです。 (kono pen wa akai desu) This pen is red.

そのえいがはおもしろかったです。(sono eiga ha omoshirokatta desu) That movie was funny/interesting.
それはおもしろかったです。(sore wa omoshirokatta desu) That was funny/interesting.

あれは私のうちです。(are wa watashi no uchi desu) That is my house.
あのいえはわたしのです。(ano ie wa watashi no desu) That house is mine.

 

[deadfolk]

Hi Guys,

I am currently using the Anki flashcards from japaneselevelup.com, and there are a couple of sentences I'm not 100% sure on the translations for. Could someone more experienced than me please give me some pointers?

1) この事は誰にも言わないと思う。
My translation: "I don't think anybody talks about this thing."
Is that right? It seems accurate to me, but it's a weird sentence.

2) 友達がたくさんいて皆が好きだ！
This has me confused.
友達がたくさん: "Friend a lot"
いて: ???
皆が好きだ: "Everyone likes"

If the いて here is a form of いい, I guess this could mean something like "My friend is very good and everybody likes him."

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[muteki]

Hi Guys,

I am currently using the Anki flashcards from japaneselevelup.com, and there are a couple of sentences I'm not 100% sure on the translations for. Could someone more experienced than me please give me some pointers?

1) この事は誰にも言わないと思う。
My translation: "I don't think anybody talks about this thing."
Is that right? It seems accurate to me, but it's a weird sentence.

2) 友達がたくさんいて皆が好きだ！
This has me confused.
友達がたくさん: "Friend a lot"
いて: ???
皆が好きだ: "Everyone likes"

If the いて here is a form of いい, I guess this could mean something like "My friend is very good and everybody likes him."

Any help would be much appreciated.

The first one seems right to me, the "thing" would be whatever came previously in context. Actually the below is better, given that the "anybody" is the target, not the subject.

I think いて here is the te-form of いる, and is saying that (there are) a lot of friends, and that (they are) all liked.

 

[Kilrogg]

1) この事は誰にも言わないと思う。
My translation: "I don't think anybody talks about this thing."
Is that right? It seems accurate to me, but it's a weird sentence.

An accurate translation would be "I don't think he/she/they will tell anybody about this" in my mind.
に is the particle that indicates direction, and も is the particle you often add to mean either "all" or "none" (depends on whether the verb is affirmative or negative). So 誰に means "to whom", 誰も means "everyone/no one", and 誰にも means "to everyone/to no one/to anyone". Makes sense?

2) 友達がたくさんいて皆が好きだ！
This has me confused.
友達がたくさん: "Friend a lot"
いて: ???
皆が好きだ: "Everyone likes"

If the いて here is a form of いい, I guess this could mean something like "My friend is very good and everybody likes him."

Any help would be much appreciated.

いて is the て-form of いる, which means "to be" (as in, "be physically somewhere/in a state"). In this case, the first part means "I have a lot of friends", the second part means "I love everyone", and the て-form links the 2 clauses. So the complete sentence translates to "I have tons of friends, and I love everyone/all of them."

As you might have guessed, がいる is the equivalent of "I have" or "there is", depending on context. You just put an adverb between が and いる to be more specific (I have a lot of...).

 

[deadfolk]

Thanks! That makes perfect sense now. I don't know why I didn't even think of いる.

I find this happening a lot - I know the parts but sometimes fail to spot them. I suppose that will just come with experience.

 

[Kilrogg]

Thanks! That makes perfect sense now. I don't know why I didn't even think of いる.

I find this happening a lot - I know the parts but sometimes fail to spot them. I suppose that will just come with experience.

Don't worry, it definitely will .

 

[Inquisitive_Ghost]

Thanks! That makes perfect sense now. I don't know why I didn't even think of いる.

I find this happening a lot - I know the parts but sometimes fail to spot them. I suppose that will just come with experience.

Oh god, I do this and it's awful. Earlier this year I had a worksheet with "なりたがって" in it and I stared at it for like an hour, getting hopelessly frustrated because I thought the が was a particle, and the only "なりた" that comes up in dictionaries is the place, and that was obviously not correct.

I finally realized it was the ~たい form of なる when the desire belongs to someone else and wanted to punch myself.

 

[Ants]

So I independently of this thread sought out some resources to learn hiragana. Right now I'm using tofugu and it seems really, really effective. It hasn't taken very long at all for me to learn the vowels and the k, t, and s columns. Maybe 2 hours of working at it. It's looking like i'll have hiragana knocked out in no time.

Is there any recommendation for how to proceed once I'm confident in my grasp of hiragana?

And I was thinking of playing some video games once I have a strongish grasp to help reinforce it. In particular, I was thinking of trying Japanese Harvest Moons, because I love that franchise and the localizations change a hell of a lot. The games seem to use primarily hiragana, and what else they use is grade school level, at a glance. Would JapaneseGAF have any other recommendations for games that are good to start learning with?

 

[TheSporkWithin]

And I was thinking of playing some video games once I have a strongish grasp to help reinforce it. In particular, I was thinking of trying Japanese Harvest Moons, because I love that franchise and the localizations change a hell of a lot. The games seem to use primarily hiragana, and what else they use is grade school level, at a glance. Would JapaneseGAF have any other recommendations for games that are good to start learning with?

Honestly, prepare yourself for a real struggle when playing games in Japanese. The average Japanese second grader is going to have a vocabulary much much larger than you're likely to have without at least three years of language study, so expect to be using the dictionary a lot. Moreover, the grammar will often be above your understanding. I find that by the end of Genki 2, or JLPT N4, you have enough working grammar to understand 95% of what's said in non-RPGs/VNs (but nowhere near enough vocabulary). Until you've gotten your studies to that level it's going to be immensely frustrating, as you'll be dealing with both grammar and vocabulary you don't understand.

Until your grammar skills are stronger, you may want to just play some really simple games where you don't need to read in order to progress, and just get some repetition from reading level select and menu screens.

That said, some games are really excellent for acquiring and reinforcing vocabulary if you're willing and able to stick with it.

Harvest Moon may be good, but I don't know if they actually have Furigana. The newest one doesn't, I'm pretty sure.

Animal Crossing has furigana and you can pick up a ton of vocabulary from all the items and neighbors. Be warned that very few of them speak "textbook Japanese" so you'll be dealing with a lot of casual speech and different "accents." You can get by pretty well without understanding everything though, so it's a pretty good immersion game.

Yokai Watch is pretty good too. Lots of dialogue, aimed at kids so it's very simple, and the game is dead easy so you don't need to put too much time into understanding the tutorial popups if you don't want to.

TLDR: Play games with no "required" reading for now, get Animal Crossing if you want a challenge.

 

[stump sock]

my kingdom for some furigana in the Ryu Ga Gotoku series...

but no, I don't believe the Harvest Moon games use furigana at all, nor do I think they'd be a good learning tool really. If you just want to play the japanese versions, I can't imagine they'd be that hard to fumble through without understanding the text.

 

[Ants]

I wouldn't be too afraid of having to reference a dictionary a lot. I used to play Castlevania games and look up the names of monsters I didn't know the mythology of, and learn about that. Same with SMT/Persona now (although those have fewer particularly obscure demons/Personae).

That being said, I'm sure anything like that is a long way off. I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

 

[Fugu]

And I was thinking of playing some video games once I have a strongish grasp to help reinforce it. In particular, I was thinking of trying Japanese Harvest Moons, because I love that franchise and the localizations change a hell of a lot. The games seem to use primarily hiragana, and what else they use is grade school level, at a glance. Would JapaneseGAF have any other recommendations for games that are good to start learning with?

I know what you're thinking with this but I honestly don't think it's that great of an idea. I actually tracked down the original Japanese Harvest Moon (牧場物&#35486 for explicitly this purpose around the time leading up to me writing the N3.

The result was pretty close to what TheSporkWithin said. While I could usually understand what they said grammatically (my comfort level with spoken Japanese is a fair bit weaker than with written Japanese, so that was a factor too), it was a serious vocabulary overload. Sentences would go by where all I could grasp were the particles, and even though I'd write all of the new words down and memorize them, they were coming at me at such a pace that I either had to choose between learning and playing the game until eventually I decided that neither were happening at a reasonable enough pace for it to be worth my time. I passed the N3 at a time where I could hardly comprehend Harvest Moon without a dictionary.

Having said that, I'm not down on the concept as a whole; I would just say you should pick a game that doesn't actually have that much dialog because you are going to be bombarded with so many new words anyway. If you're at the level of unambiguously not fluent -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- you really have to take on new words at a manageable pace, and that doesn't really happen with especially verbose games.

On that note, I would say give A Link to the Past a shot. I was able to play that (with the assistance of a dictionary) without much trouble and that was much earlier in my Japanese learning career.

 

[urfe]

So I independently of this thread sought out some resources to learn hiragana. Right now I'm using tofugu and it seems really, really effective. It hasn't taken very long at all for me to learn the vowels and the k, t, and s columns. Maybe 2 hours of working at it. It's looking like i'll have hiragana knocked out in no time.

Is there any recommendation for how to proceed once I'm confident in my grasp of hiragana?

And I was thinking of playing some video games once I have a strongish grasp to help reinforce it. In particular, I was thinking of trying Japanese Harvest Moons, because I love that franchise and the localizations change a hell of a lot. The games seem to use primarily hiragana, and what else they use is grade school level, at a glance. Would JapaneseGAF have any other recommendations for games that are good to start learning with?

My advice is play a game you've played before many times in English where it's okay if you don't understand everything, and you still know what to do. I see game playing more as "output" than "input" and should be more about using Japanese for fun and motivating you to study more, as opposed to actual serious study itself.

"Output" is definitely a very important part of language study, at least to me.

 

[_Ryo_]

To learn Hiragana (a long long long time ago) I used a very strange fan game.... It was called Knuckles in China Land. Don't remember why, exactly but it really helped. Here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLPFebXe3bk

 

[Deleted member 17706]

That being said, I'm sure anything like that is a long way off. I'm probably getting ahead of myself.

I disagree that you can really "get ahead of yourself" when it comes to studying materials. Even if the material is way too hard, you can still spend the time to look everything up and learn a ton. Personally, I feel that the approach of "I'll try that when I get better" is a fast track to never getting much better.

 

[Ants]

So I started LttP JP (or should I say zeruda no densetsu: kamigami no toraifoosu) a couple minutes ago because why not try something small to test the waters.

I just spent like 10 minutes trying to figure out what the hell "watashi ha" means when apparently it becomes 'wa' when following 'watashi', even without a dakuten (not to mention that that doesn't happen with a dakuten). Of course the very first kanji I find in the wild causes one of the few exceptions to all the rules I just learned.

 

[Fugu]

So I started LttP JP (or should I say zeruda no densetsu: kamigami no toraifoosu) a couple minutes ago because why not try something small to test the waters.

I just spent like 10 minutes trying to figure out what the hell "watashi ha" means when apparently it becomes 'wa' when following 'watashi', even without a dakuten (not to mention that that doesn't happen with a dakuten). Of course the very first kanji I find in the wild causes one of the few exceptions to all the rules I just learned.

The particle romanized as ha or wa is written はand read わ.

There's a couple more of these:
wo/o = write を, read お
he/e = write へ, read え

These are basically the only exceptions to the rule that everything is pronounced as it is written. The other one that I can think of is the small ヶ, which is read like か and used to distinguish between, for example, three months (三ヶ&#26376 and March (三&#26376.

 

[Ants]

On that note, I would say give A Link to the Past a shot. I was able to play that (with the assistance of a dictionary) without much trouble and that was much earlier in my Japanese learning career.

My advice is play a game you've played before many times in English where it's okay if you don't understand everything, and you still know what to do.

I just wanna say this advice is way more sound than I took it to be at first glance. I realized that doing this is akin to starting with a picture book. Thanks for the good advice, all!

 

[GalacticAE]

Hey guys, my goal is to be able to read and understand written Japanese because I enjoy a lot of their pop culture and I'd like to be able to not have to worry about things getting localized and translated. I understand basic grammar rules along with katakana, hiragana and some elementary kanji so far.

What are some quick learning techniques to drill kanji during down time? Like some sort of quick quiz or randomizer with all the essential kanji i can do passively whenever i want. Would you recommend learning radicals and their meanings and pronunciations first? I picked up yotsubato volumes in japanese too recently. Should I be constantly referencing and re-reading them until I can read them on my own?

Are there any gaming news sites that use furigana too?

 

[Inquisitive_Ghost]

What are some quick learning techniques to drill kanji during down time? Like some sort of quick quiz or randomizer with all the essential kanji i can do passively whenever i want.

I don't know what the best technique is, but just for this, do you have an Android device? An app called "Akebi" has been invaluable to me. It lets you either grab groups of kanji sorted by JLPT level or make your own groups, and then have it quiz you by showing you the meanings and readings and demanding you draw it. Most of the quiz things I've found have been the reverse, where it gives you the kanji and asks for the readings, but I find being forced to write it gives better retention. Of course you can always grab some other application and quiz yourself both ways.

 

[GalacticAE]

thanks dude this app is great.

 

[Valkerionseven]

To learn Hiragana (a long long long time ago) I used a very strange fan game.... It was called Knuckles in China Land. Don't remember why, exactly but it really helped. Here's a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLPFebXe3bk

Hahaha wtf, I would love a game like that but seriously rofl.

 

[dani_dc]

Japanesepod101? A lot of people recommend that. I personally don't listen to any podcasts though. maybe hop onto the Japanese Itunes and look around to what might interest you.

I'll give it a look thanks.

Wasn't listening to any podcasts myself, but with the 10 minute train +20 minute walk to work I figure it'd be worth to give some use to that time.

 

[AtomskEater]

Hey guys, my goal is to be able to read and understand written Japanese because I enjoy a lot of their pop culture and I'd like to be able to not have to worry about things getting localized and translated. I understand basic grammar rules along with katakana, hiragana and some elementary kanji so far.

What are some quick learning techniques to drill kanji during down time? Like some sort of quick quiz or randomizer with all the essential kanji i can do passively whenever i want. Would you recommend learning radicals and their meanings and pronunciations first? I picked up yotsubato volumes in japanese too recently. Should I be constantly referencing and re-reading them until I can read them on my own?

Are there any gaming news sites that use furigana too?

Regarding Yotsubato (or any other manga/short book), personally I'd read until I was tired, taking notes of any new words or grammar points, then when I picked it up again I'd try re-reading up to the point I had stopped before + however longer I could go before getting tired, until I reach the end of the book. Helps to work as a review and build up some endurance for extended reading. You'll be pretty sick of whatever volume of Yotsuba& you're on, though.

Really I don't think there's a wrong way to do it, as long as you're trying to take time to understand what's being said.

As for gaming websites with furigana, I don't know of any. But I do recommend getting Rikaikun/Rikaisama for your browser, essentially it's a program that'll display the reading and definition of Japanese words you hover over. Just don't become overly reliant on it.

 

[Ants]

But I do recommend getting Rikaikun/Rikaisama for your browser, essentially it's a program that'll display the reading and definition of Japanese words you hover over. Just don't become overly reliant on it.

I got Rikaichan a while back, is there a difference between Rikaichan, Rikaikun, and Rikaisama I should be aware of?

 

[Kilrogg]

I got Rikaichan a while back, is there a difference between Rikaichan, Rikaikun, and Rikaisama I should be aware of?

Rikaikun I think is the Chrome plugin. Rikaichan is the most comprehensive. Rikaisama, for me at least, is all about having the pronunciations and pitch accents.

 

[Fugu]

Yotsuba& is such a great learning tool. Anyone who wants to get started with (or get better at) reading should read that.

 

[_Ryo_]

What are some good apps to learn vocabulary on android?

 

[Fugu]

What are some good apps to learn vocabulary on android?

Well, the obvious answer to this is AnkiDroid.

 

[muteki]

Well, the obvious answer to this is AnkiDroid.

Be prepared to fall into an endless abyss of flashcards.

The KanjiBox developer has mentioned the possibility of an Android port but I don't think that has materialized yet. The web UI should be usable though.

Kanjibox is pretty great for vocab drills, though I don't like the JLPT lists and the lack of all common EDICT words in the dictionary is annoying, at least.