Support NeoGAF

[Sitrus]

Chiming in to induce some more headaches for us all, or maybe not since this is just basic stuff that sounds very natural.

疲れているから寝る。

This has the same meaning as the other examples, but adds a nuance of being tired at that point in time. Your state of being is that of being tired, therefore you want to sleep.

 

[Kilrogg]

It depends. Generally speaking, it's more formal/literary style than "から" but it's definitely not a 100% thing depending on the context.

In regards to the debate above, I'd just go with "疲れたから寝る" or some variant. It doesn't seem right to say "寝たい" when you're expressing your intent to go to sleep. People would just reply, "じゃあ、寝たら？"

If you just want to say you've become sleepy (due to whatever), one good option could be "眠たくなってきた”（ねむたくなってきた）.

I agree with you. Something about that 寝たい was rubbing me the wrong way, but I was at work and didn't give it more thought.

If it were me I'd just be more emphatic and go あぁ、疲れた。寝るわ。lol

 

[bigmit3737]

Can someone explain why America needs to monitor China's AIIB (I think it's a multinational investment bank)? It seems Japan is dragging America into Japan/China conflict.

And the new defense treaty America signed with Japan is including 尖閣諸島 to fall within the range of the treaty right? Does this mean there is going to be a war regarding the ownership rights of this property?

Thanks.

 

[Jintor]

I agree with you. Something about that 寝たい was rubbing me the wrong way, but I was at work and didn't give it more thought.

If it were me I'd just be more emphatic and go あぁ、疲れた。寝るわ。lol

わ？

 

[Mik2121]

わ？

I can't explain you exactly and literally what it means, but it's like the ね or よ... maybe not the 100% exact meaning, but then again I never learnt that at school and just picked it up while living here.

 

[Kilrogg]

わ？

From what I know of it, it's a bit like よ. However, while よ kinda emphasizes the fact that you're telling someone about something (you're giving them a piece of information), わ emphasizes the statement itself. In more extreme cases it sounds a bit like saying "fuck it, I'm going to sleep", or "that's it for me, I'm going to sleep" to me, though it's not nearly as strong as either of those expressions. It's not aggressive per se.

At any rate, it has a slightly more manly vibe to it than something like よ, if that makes any sense. Which is kinda tricky by the way, because there's another わ that you'll hear much more often at the end of sentences, but that one is reserved for women. It very much sounds feminine, and it can even be combined with よ or ね　>> わよ / わ. I can't remember if you can even say わよね though.

In anime or games, while you will often hear men say 行くぞ" or 行くぜ as a stronger, more colloquial, more manly way of saying 行くよ, women will most likely say 行くわよ instead, because that's the strongest form of emphasis a woman can use while retaining this sense of femininity (ah, Japan and gender roles...). But that helps demonstrate my point that the わ I used is different from either this わ or よ.

TL;DR: Men's わ is roughly equivalent to よ, but the emphasis is put on the action rather than the listener/the fact that you're saying this to someone, so it's not a complete synonym of よ, and it's less commonly used. AND it's different from women's わ.

 

[Grep]

Sorry for bumping out of Mars,

but is it reasonable to expect that a motivated learner of Japanese, can deal with Jap visual novels in 2 year time?

I am learning Swedish atm (so cant start with new language), but wanted to start with Japanese at the end of the year, and need to mentally prepare

I have access to many materials posted in this thread.

Thx for reply

 

[urfe]

Can someone explain why America needs to monitor China's AIIB (I think it's a multinational investment bank)? It seems Japan is dragging America into Japan/China conflict.

And the new defense treaty America signed with Japan is including 尖閣諸島 to fall within the range of the treaty right? Does this mean there is going to be a war regarding the ownership rights of this property?

Thanks.

Sengakus have always been a part of the treaty. Japan pays billions for American bases and Japanese people (especially in Okinawa) bear the burden hosting American troops. Seems a bit unfair Japan has to bear that for decades and then America would not uphold its part of the deal (but the deal is mainly to stop a war anyways I'd say).

American monitors the bank I'm assuming because it's a threat to the American based WB and the current balance of power. Id say it has little to do with Japan.

As an aside, Abe's reinterpretation of the constitution is seen as a way to drag Japan into America's conflicts.

(Don't mean to imply that I'm for the post-war security alliance, just that an American revision of their "duty" in it seems unfair. It'd be different if they left Okinawa and gave back the 25% or so of the island they control. Perhaps this could be (or is?) its own thread though.)

この話題は日本語と関係がなかったが、私は上記の通りに考えております。
国際関係に関してもちろん様々な意見や考え方があると思います。私の意見は絶対に正しいと思いません。

疲れた。眠たい。

 

[Aizo]

I remember hearing men use わ in the Kansai region, but it's really only feminine in Kantou, isn't it?

Sorry for bumping out of Mars,

but is it reasonable to expect that a motivated learner of Japanese, can deal with Jap visual novels in 2 year time?

I am learning Swedish atm (so cant start with new language), but wanted to start with Japanese at the end of the year, and need to mentally prepare

I have access to many materials posted in this thread.

Thx for reply

If you really love visual novels that much. You'll need some really strong motivation if you want to learn enough Japanese to read well. I think a lot of people who try to learn for video games eventually give up, because it isn't worth it to them. If your motivation is that great, and you can study every day, then go for it.

 

[bigmit3737]

Sengakus have always been a part of the treaty. Japan pays billions for American bases and Japanese people (especially in Okinawa) bear the burden hosting American troops. Seems a bit unfair Japan has to bear that for decades and then America would not uphold its part of the deal (but the deal is mainly to stop a war anyways I'd say).

American monitors the bank I'm assuming because it's a threat to the American based WB and the current balance of power. Id say it has little to do with Japan.

As an aside, Abe's reinterpretation of the constitution is seen as a way to drag Japan into America's conflicts.

(Don't mean to imply that I'm for the post-war security alliance, just that an American revision of their "duty" in it seems unfair. It'd be different if they left Okinawa and gave back the 25% or so of the island they control. Perhaps this could be (or is?) its own thread though.)

この話題は日本語と関係がなかったが、私は上記の通りに考えております。
国際関係に関してもちろん様々な意見や考え方があると思います。私の意見は絶対に正しいと思いません。

疲れた。眠たい。

I made this post here because most of the news I'm reading is in Japanese and I'm trying to get a clear understanding of what's going on and see if I interpreted everything correctly.

The new agreement allows 自衛隊　to attack even in circumstances outside of self defense and allows 自衛隊 to move about freely. If I read correctly, Japan couldn't attack without being attacked first, but now that stipulation has been removed.
This allows Japan to attack when America is attacked but does it also allow Japan to attack first.

"しかし、これまで東アジアと太平洋にとどまっていた日本の自衛隊の後方支援の範囲が全世界に広がり、日本が直接攻撃を受けなくても武力行使をすることができるようになった点など"


And if I remember correctly, at the recent conference where Abe made his speech,
there seemed to be tension between him and the Chinese international relations diplomat regarding 尖閣諸島　and AAIB. Abe said he's not happy with AAIB and he needs them to be more transparent or something along those lines. And I think it was during this same conference that a Chinese official said that those islands belong to China (It could have been a different conference though).



"【北京＝川越一】中国外務省の洪磊報道官は２８日の定例記者会見で、日米が防衛協力のための指針（ガイドライン）の再改定で合意したことについて、「日米同盟は中国を含む第三国の利益を損なわないよう保証するべきだ」と述べ、中国の海洋進出を警戒する日米を牽制（けんせい）した。

　洪報道官は、米側が新たなガイドラインを発表する前に、中国側に通告してきたことを明らかにした上で、尖閣諸島（沖縄県石垣市）をめぐる問題について「厳正な立場」を米側に伝えたと強調。「いかなる者が何と言おうと、何をしようと、（同諸島が）中国に属するという事実は変わらない」と従来の主張を繰り返した。"


If I'm understanding this carefully, America gave Chinese a heads up before they officially announced the pact and Obama also treaded carefully in his speech when talking about the checks toward IAAB. Abe doesn't seem to be treading as carefully, or maybe that's just my misunderstanding.


Thanks!

 

[Pixeluh]

Did anyone have a problem with writing? I've been studying JP for about ~ 2 years on my own and still can only write very basic sentences. I'm not hardcore studying for the JLPT or anything of the sort, but I'd say my knowledge is ~n3 - ish ? I know most n5-n3 grammar but they aren't actively used in my head. I read the grammar, examples, and try to write them out but looking back I can't really recall them. I can't actively use the grammar in my every day writing it seems.

Anyways, when it comes to writing I can only do basic sentences. (Think " My cat got sick. Today it was cloudy. My dinner was X. I took a shower." ), ect.

Is there anyway to get over this? I would love to make my writing better. :/

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Is there anyway to get over this? I would love to make my writing better. :/

Read more.

It's really that simple. Read more Japanese books, articles, manga, games, whatever.

Might be helpful to buy some JLPT study books, too, so you can have somewhat of an "official" source form which to learn grammatical structures.

 

[Pixeluh]

Read more.

It's really that simple. Read more Japanese books, articles, manga, games, whatever.

Might be helpful to buy some JLPT study books, too, so you can have somewhat of an "official" source form which to learn grammatical structures.

I'm trying to get through some books at the moment. I'm in the mist of going through An Intermediate Approach To Japanese & Tobira. Tobira is a bit too hard for me actually. :/

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I'm trying to get through some books at the moment. I'm in the mist of going through An Intermediate Approach To Japanese & Tobira. Tobira is a bit too hard for me actually. :/

I think the best approach is to just power through things that you feel are too hard. With a dictionary and the Internet, it's unlikely that you'll encounter much that you absolutely can't make sense of. It will be a slog at first, but you'll learn a ton and the satisfaction that comes with that should encourage you to keep at it. That's how I approached it at least.

 

[Aizo]

That sometimes works, but if you are reading fiction when you're not advanced, it can be difficult. I tried reading スプートニク恋人 by Murakami Haruki a bit ago, and the metaphors confused the hell out of me.

 

[Jintor]

Well, I mean, you still gotta aim for an appropriate level of reading.

NHK Easy is doable now since the grammar usage is limited (vocab is every-expanding)... what's really fun is tweets, lol

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Well, I mean, you still gotta aim for an appropriate level of reading.

I guess I just don't agree with that so much, but everyone has to find what works for them.

Brute-forcing seemingly impossible material can be an effective way to quickly raise your personal "appropriate level of reading."

The quicker you can get to real stuff that Japanese people read rather than study materials aimed at foreign learners the quicker you're going to pick up higher level and more natural Japanese.

 

[Jintor]

Right, and especially with Rikaikun it's a lot easier than you'd think, but we don't all have infinite willpower and my brain just shuts down if it sees a page it thinks is 'too complicated' for it.

Stuff just beyond your comprehension level but where you don't feel like you're just banging your head against a wall is what works for me.

 

[dog$]

While stuck in my truck on the job this morning, I followed a banner ad to cooori.com. Signed up for the free trial and dove right into the program. It seems nice, and it's good to have something which actually works on my phone (Nokia Lumia whateverthehell).

Does anyone else use this or have something better to recommend?

 

[Jintor]

Coori and wanikani are okay, just make sure you set aside the time to do it. Personally it was easier for me to stick to anki, but I was already established in my routine by then

 

[Splash Wave]

My work schedule is such I can no longer take the Japanese class I was taking, which sucks. I still want to keep learning, though, so I'm wondering if I can get some self-teaching recommendations. My knowledge of the language is highly limited. I have a working knowledge of Hiragana/Katakana, but I want to raise my proficiency. Any workbook recommendations would be very much appreciated. I also know a few basic intro conversations, phrases, numbers, time, and food-related sentences.

It's hard to get more specific than what I've said above; I just want beginner-level book recommendations. I already own Japanese for Busy People, but is there anything better out there?

Are there any podcasts I should check out?

 

[Sitrus]

My work schedule is such I can no longer take the Japanese class I was taking, which sucks. I still want to keep learning, though, so I'm wondering if I can get some self-teaching recommendations. My knowledge of the language is highly limited. I have a working knowledge of Hiragana/Katakana, but I want to raise my proficiency. Any workbook recommendations would be very much appreciated. I also know a few basic intro conversations, phrases, numbers, time, and food-related sentences.

It's hard to get more specific than what I've said above; I just want beginner-level book recommendations. I already own Japanese for Busy People, but is there anything better out there?

Are there any podcasts I should check out?

I mostly learned Japanese grammar from the books Genki I and II in addition to listening to the free lessons on japanesepod101. Also, Obenkyo on Android to learn Kanji. Having a friend who spoke Japanese helped a lot though, but you should be fine just searching among the sites recommended in this thread. And by writing a speech for the Japanese Embassy where I live

 

[urfe]

My work schedule is such I can no longer take the Japanese class I was taking, which sucks. I still want to keep learning, though, so I'm wondering if I can get some self-teaching recommendations. My knowledge of the language is highly limited. I have a working knowledge of Hiragana/Katakana, but I want to raise my proficiency. Any workbook recommendations would be very much appreciated. I also know a few basic intro conversations, phrases, numbers, time, and food-related sentences.

It's hard to get more specific than what I've said above; I just want beginner-level book recommendations. I already own Japanese for Busy People, but is there anything better out there?

Are there any podcasts I should check out?

Japanese for Busy People is good enough. Genii may be better (not sure, I used the Busy People series), but the three Busy People books give you elementary Japanese (N4 level).

I once fell into a habit of buying textbooks, not using them, and buying more! I think it's better to use what you have.

---
(Side note: I was going to reply about the China thing, but honestly it all felt suspicious. No offense to poster.)

 

[bigmit3737]

Japanese for Busy People is good enough. Genii may be better (not sure, I used the Busy People series), but the three Busy People books give you elementary Japanese (N4 level).

I once fell into a habit of buying textbooks, not using them, and buying more! I think it's better to use what you have.

---
(Side note: I was going to reply about the China thing, but honestly it all felt suspicious. No offense to poster.)

No worries. I just recently started watching Japanese news (2-3 months ago) and a lot of the media has been heavily portraying an increase of ongoing tension between the two countries. Maybe it's just media being media.

 

[SpikedGunner]

Japanese for Busy People is good enough. Genii may be better (not sure, I used the Busy People series), but the three Busy People books give you elementary Japanese (N4 level).

I once fell into a habit of buying textbooks, not using them, and buying more! I think it's better to use what you have.

---
(Side note: I was going to reply about the China thing, but honestly it all felt suspicious. No offense to poster.)

Yea, I can relate to that with art books...I believe the appropriate word is 積ん読, right? I just hope that doesn't happen with me and learning Japanese...which is kind of why I'm here to ask for some advice.

I've been trying to learn Japanese for a while and while I think I've got katagana and hiragana down for some time, it's time to figure out Kanji/Vocab/etc....but which or rather what's best to tackle first in order to stick with learning: Kanji/radicals, Vocab, or Grammar/sentence structure?

Right now I bought the 3 Japanese Grammar dictionaries (I know people will say I won't need the advanced one right now, but I want to stick to learning and when I saw it at a decent price...figured buy and use it when the time comes), Making Sense of Japanese by Jay Rubin, and How to Tell the Difference between Japanese Particles: Comparisons and Exercises by Naoko Chino. I also plan to use Tae Kim's guides.

Aside from that? I follow some links provided by JapanesePod101 (I'm think I should probably go to their site and use their free materials), trying some recommended podcasts, and even using the NHK Japanese learning app listening to radio news reports when going to sleep (in the hopes to pick up the flow I suppose).

Basically I feel like I need a sense of direction of where to go next to continue learning efficiently and understanding.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Getting back into it for the first time since 2012.

I want to ask if there are any awesome new online resources that popped-up in the last few years. What's the new hotness for Japanese studying?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Wait, what? The highest level certification for the exam is worthless? I'd argue that it's the only one worth having if your intent is to use it as a qualification to get into a school or find a job, etc.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Wait, what? The highest level certification for the exam is worthless? I'd argue that it's the only one worth having if your intent is to use it as a qualification to get into a school or find a job, etc.

I think it's waste of time, yeah. Everybody I know who went to school (like, I'm talking prestigious grad schools, not exchange students) and got a job in Japan didn't have any JLPT qualifications, so I don't think it's worth the price of admission. But hey, to each their own.

As I said, If somebody specifically asks you to do it, then it's not worthless. But otherwise, I personally don't see any value in it.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I think it's waste of time, yeah. Everybody I know who went to school and got a job in Japan didn't have any JLPT qualifications, so I don't think it's worth the price of admission. But hey, to each their own.

But you thought N2 was?

You can find plenty of job postings asking for JLPT1/N1 in their qualifications section. It's also often a requirement for Japanese universities if you want to take classes in Japanese.

Now, I have no idea who your friends are, but I don't doubt they went to school and got jobs in Japan without the JLPT. I imagine a lot of them were taking English classes or lived in Japan before university age and took entrance exams like a typical Japanese high school student for school, though. Obviously, real ability will trump any paper qualification, but it can certainly be a useful door opener if you don't already have an in with a company.

 

[vas_a_morir]

But you thought N2 was?

You can find plenty of job postings asking for JLPT1/N1 in their qualifications section. It's also often a requirement for Japanese universities if you want to take classes in Japanese.

Now, I have no idea who your friends are, but I don't doubt they went to school and got jobs in Japan without the JLPT. I imagine a lot of them were taking English classes or lived in Japan before university age and took entrance exams like a typical Japanese high school student for school, though. Obviously, real ability will trump any paper qualification, but it can certainly be a useful door opener if you don't already have an in with a company.

That's awesome news, Zefah. Great to hear JLPT N1 can help people in some cases.

I thought N2 was what, now? I took N2 for fun, more or less. I regret that decision, but I never believed it would mean anything professionally for me. I'm not interested in working in Japan. My friend was taking it and visiting a mutual friend in DC and I wanted to tag along. N2 obviously is WAY too easy to mean anything. Anyone with 2 years experience should be able to pass it, IMO.

 

[Aizo]

But the biggest advice that I wish I heeded was this: Polite Form is always better. If you have Japanese friends, refer to them by their last name and '-san' unless ask you otherwise. And if it's something you can't say politely, you are probably better off not saying it. I was told about this before I left by multiple Japanese friends. We learn it first, so we think it makes you sound dumb, but to Japanese people, using Masu/Desu makes you sound smarter, and you'll never be wrong.

I guess it depends on your friends. I don't use polite form with mine. I use it with strangers and all my friends' parents outside of the family I was staying with and knew for years.

I was traveling through Sendai one time, and I met a group of uni students around my age who were heading to 瑞鳳殿, and they asked me if I wanted to join them. I apologized early on for speaking so casually, because that's what I had grown used to, but the oldest guy in the group told me that it made him happy that I was talking to him that way. It all depends, but of course it's better to default to polite.

 

[vas_a_morir]

I guess it depends on your friends. I don't use polite form with mine. I use it with strangers and all my friends' parents outside of the family I was staying with and knew for years.

I was traveling through Sendai one time, and I met a group of uni students around my age who were heading to 瑞鳳殿, and they asked me if I wanted to join them. I apologized early on for speaking so casually, because that's what I had grown used to, but the oldest guy in the group told me that it made him happy that I was talking to him that way. It all depends, but of course it's better to default to polite.

Yeah. My point isn't necessarily that is wrong to speak in other ways, but rather that you are never wrong if you do polite.

In my college circle, everybody used really curt short Japanese and I did it, too. But, I feel like I didn't gain respect until I made an effort to use polite speech. Otherwise, I was a joke character, IMO. You are probably much more skilled at Japanese than I am, but at my level, I should have kept it safe to prevent any misunderstandings.

Anyway, I should have just kept the bolded sentence and left the other bits out. I derailed my own post with controversial opinions. So sorry guys. Are there any new resources that are helpful to Japanese learners?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

That's awesome news, Zefah. Great to hear JLPT N1 can help people in some cases.

I thought N2 was what, now? I took N2 for fun, more or less. I regret that decision, but I never believed it would mean anything professionally for me. I'm not interested in working in Japan. My friend was taking it and visiting a mutual friend in DC and I wanted to tag along. N2 obviously is WAY too easy to mean anything. Anyone with 2 years experience should be able to pass it, IMO.

I must have misinterpreted your post. It read to me like you said getting N2 was good, but it was pointless to go higher. Apologies.

Obviously, the test is pointless beyond intellectual curiosity if you don't intend to use it as a resource to enter a school or find a job. Not even just in Japan, either, but tons of jobs here in the U.S. ask for the certification if they are positions centered around using the language and dealing with clients and partners.

Best of luck on your search for new resources. I'd recommend getting a Kindle and buying books on the Japanese Amazon site. The built-in touch to define dictionary functionality is a great tool.

 

[urfe]

Yeah. My point isn't necessarily that is wrong to speak in other ways, but rather that you are never wrong if you do polite.

In my college circle, everybody used really curt short Japanese and I did it, too. But, I feel like I didn't gain respect until I made an effort to use polite speech. Otherwise, I was a joke character, IMO. You are probably much more skilled at Japanese than I am, but at my level, I should have kept it safe to prevent any misunderstandings.

Anyway, I should have just kept the bolded sentence and left the other bits out. I derailed my own post with controversial opinions. So sorry guys. Are there any new resources that are blowing up?

Foreigners using only casual Japanese can come across like they don't know how to speak proper Japanese (and honestly in my experience it's sometimes the case). People say わかった when 承知致します would be better, end things in じゃん when talking to officials, etc.

As for JLPT, I don't think it was important when I tried uni shukatsu, as the ES, etc is all in Japanese, but for mid-career stuff, having N2 has been important for me, and any translating job has had N1 as a requirement.

My grad school required N2 when I went, and has since changed to N1 (hopefully not due to my Japanese being so shitty).

 

[vas_a_morir]

I must have misinterpreted your post. It read to me like you said getting N2 was good, but it was pointless to go higher. Apologies.

Obviously, the test is pointless beyond intellectual curiosity if you don't intend to use it as a resource to enter a school or find a job. Not even just in Japan, either, but tons of jobs here in the U.S. ask for the certification if they are positions centered around using the language and dealing with clients and partners.

Best of luck on your search for new resources. I'd recommend getting a Kindle and buying books on the Japanese Amazon site. The built-in touch to define dictionary functionality is a great tool.

Oh, I see. I was speaking only for me, really. I don't ever plan to live in Japan again, as I value my friends and family too much in the US. Nothing personal against the country, though. It's pretty nice. So, I would only ever take JLPTN1 is somebody paid me to do it. Which, btw, happens to foreign employees working for Japanese companies from time to time.

I mostly took it to see where I ranked. I knew I couldn't pass JLPT1 for sure, so I went for the safe choice. lol, during the listening I just zoned out thinking about Korean BBQ.

N2 does have uses for getting into grad schools and working in Japan, I hear, but I personally haven't found that to be the case. It's just too easy.

Foreigners using only casual Japanese can come across like they don't know how to speak proper Japanese (and honestly in my experience it's sometimes the case). People say わかった when 承知致します would be better, end things in じゃん when talking to officials, etc.

Have you ever seen a foreigner try to pull off 'tough' or 'angry/threatening' in Japanese? It's the fastest way to clown yourself hard.

So, N2 (presuming this isn't a typo) has actually been useful for you in your career? That's great news. I'm glad it paid off for you, bro! Gives me hope that one day it might pay off for me in an unexpected way, lol.

 

[Aizo]

My grad school required N2 when I went, and has since changed to N1 (hopefully not due to my Japanese being so shitty).

Did you go to grad school for Japanese lit or something? What kind of work are you doing now, anyway?

Anyway, I should have just kept the bolded sentence and left the other bits out. I derailed my own post with controversial opinions. So sorry guys. Are there any new resources that are helpful to Japanese learners?

If you thought the N2 was easy you should definitely just be reading books for practice

 

[vas_a_morir]

Did you go to grad school for Japanese lit or something? What kind of work are you doing now, anyway?


If you thought the N2 was easy you should definitely just be reading books for practice

Yeah, you right. I exclusively play JRPGs in Japanese, and I make myself read aloud every single word and don't let a word i don't understand slip by. I also read the newspaper every other day. Time to grind it out. I used to read Japanese accounts of some naval battles from WW2, maybe I should read other historical books.

Of course, the REAL problem is that I have 0 speaking swagger after all these years, but not much I can do about that besides stalking a Japanese person. lol

 

[Pixeluh]

Yeah, you right. I exclusively play JRPGs in Japanese, and I make myself read aloud every single word and don't let a word i don't understand slip by. I also read the newspaper every other day. Time to grind it out. I used to read Japanese accounts of some naval battles from WW2, maybe I should read other historical books.

Of course, the REAL problem is that I have 0 speaking swagger after all these years, but not much I can do about that besides stalking a Japanese person. lol

Don't you get bored of the news? Everyone says to read NHK easy but it's so boring..

I love to read the news in my own language, mainly about the crime around my area. Not so much about other things.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Don't you get bored of the news? Everyone says to read NHK easy but it's so boring..

I love to read the news in my own language, mainly about the crime around my area. Not so much about other things.

Well, if you read Yomiuri, you'll never get bored They make mountains out of molehillls about everything. Generally, anti-Korean and pro-USA stuff.

 

[Aizo]

Don't you get bored of the news? Everyone says to read NHK easy but it's so boring..

Books are more fun, or news about something you like. I read Japanese indie rock news sometimes.

Does anyone read cool video game news somewhere?

Actually, are there news website recommendations from anyone?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

4Gamer is really the only proper news site I regularly check. I'll visit GameWatch at times, too.

I also visit jin115 （俺的ゲーム速報）and esuteru（はちま起稿）but don't expect a lot of great writing from blogs like that.

 

[urfe]

Have you ever seen a foreigner try to pull off 'tough' or 'angry/threatening' in Japanese? It's the fastest way to clown yourself hard.

So, N2 (presuming this isn't a typo) has actually been useful for you in your career? That's great news. I'm glad it paid off for you, bro! Gives me hope that one day it might pay off for me in an unexpected way, lol.

Only foreigners I know who on occasion use tough Japanese are those who can pull it off, and do so because they're angry.

N2, a decent 履歴書 and 職務経歴書 will get you an interview in my experience. From there it's up to your actual spoken ability, and job-related skills.

Did you go to grad school for Japanese lit or something? What kind of work are you doing now, anyway?

I did an MA in Political Science, and am working in university administration now.

However, I don't find news boring or easy, and find most books (i.e. novels) a real struggle to get through. Hell, the amount of words/kanji Bravely Default had that I didn't know was staggering. Hats off to everyone's Japanese.

 

[Aizo]

My recommendation for Vas, if s/he hasn't done so already, do Heisig's Remembering the Kanji volume one. That should fill in some missing info for ya.

 

[urfe]

I messed up 消してる and 消えてる at work today.

Now that you've read this, you won't make the same mistake when talking about air conditioners.

 

[bigmit3737]

Does anyone use "A dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar"?

I think I found a mistake and was curious if this book is riddled with mistakes.

For those that have it can you look up "aruiwa" and look at examples under "related expressions." They try to differentiate the usuage of "aruiwa" and "soretomo" creating two sets of examples. One set of examples includes sentences where "aruiwa" and "soretomo" can be used interchangeably, the other set uses examples where "aruiwa" and "soretomo" cannnot be used interchangeably. However, one example is included in both sets, which has to be a mistake, unless I"m not understanding something.


Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Does anyone use "A dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar"?

I think I found a mistake and was curious if this book is riddled with mistakes.

For those that have it can you look up "aruiwa" and look at examples under "related expressions." They try to differentiate the usuage of "aruiwa" and "soretomo" creating two sets of examples. One set of examples includes sentences where "aruiwa" and "soretomo" can be used interchangeably, the other set uses examples where "aruiwa" and "soretomo" cannnot be used interchangeably. However, one example is included in both sets, which has to be a mistake, unless I"m not understanding something.


Thanks.

Are you not at liberty to just post the examples as they appear in the book?

 

[Kudo]

Guess I should ask here how to proceed with my studies.. I have fairly good knowledge of Japanese vocabulary in general thanks to lifetime of listening to it, and I can understand most what I hear, problems arise with sci-fi terms etc. but didn't come here to ask about those.

I want to be able to read japanese properly, I can read hira/kata and like only 20+ kanji so mangas with furigana have been fun to read so far but certainly not the fastest way of learning kanji.
I've tried looking into Heisig but his method doesn't seem to what I'd like, rather than having the keyword I'd just want to know the kanji reading, maybe Heisig is more effective but if there is good alternatives that teach you through the reading, I'd welcome those.
Thank you.

ちょっとだけ書くこともできます、正しいかどうかわからないけどな。

 

[Aizo]

Remembering the kanji, or you need to do rote memorization like Japanese people do. Just keep reading stuff and studying vocabulary, if you don't want to do remembering the kanji.

 

[Kudo]

Remembering the kanji, or you need to do rote memorization like Japanese people do. Just keep reading stuff and studying vocabulary, if you don't want to do remembering the kanji.

Do you have any recommendations for rote memorization?
Kanji I've learned so far have mostly just come from manga that I see often so those kinda stick with me that I understand them without furigana too, earlier I used to just write down first grade kanjis and repeat them until they stick too, I assume there is no real "wrong" way of doing this?
Thanks.

 

[muteki]

Do you have any recommendations for rote memorization?
Kanji I've learned so far have mostly just come from manga that I see often so those kinda stick with me that I understand them without furigana too, earlier I used to just write down first grade kanjis and repeat them until they stick too, I assume there is no real "wrong" way of doing this?
Thanks.

I guess you could try replacing keywords with readings, but then it becomes a problem of which one do you pick (assuming you only pick one). You could SRS it either way, unless you don't like the idea of that either.

I have a hard time learning readings from scratch. I try to learn whole words at a time and after several words that use the same reading or pattern eventually it sticks. There will usually be a really common easy to remember word that shares a reading with something more obscure, and most of the time my memory will connect the dots for me.