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[Deleted member 17706]

A quick bit of Googling indicates that it originates from a classical Chinese tale called 蟷螂之斧 (とうろうのおの） in which a duke went out to hunt but encountered a mantis that tried to block the path of his carriage. Apparently it's also used as a metaphor for when someone weak tries to challenge someone who is of much greater strength.

It appears the author just attached 虫 (む&#12375 to the characters 堂 and 郎 to describe the characteristics (or personality) of the bug.

The Japanese word for mantis, かまきり was then just attached to those Chinese characters as is the case with tons of words. Look up 当て字 （あてじ） for more examples.

 

[Darksol]

A quick bit of Googling indicates that it originates from a classical Chinese tale called 蟷螂之斧 (とうろうのおの） in which a duke went out to hunt but encountered a mantis that tried to block the path of his carriage. Apparently it's also used as a metaphor for when someone weak tries to challenge someone who is of much greater strength.

It appears the author just attached 虫 (む&#12375 to the characters 堂 and 郎 to describe the characteristics (or personality) of the bug.

The Japanese word for mantis, かまきり was then just attached to those Chinese characters as is the case with tons of words. Look up 当て字 （あてじ） for more examples.

面白いな。

Here's a random question for anyone who knows the answer -- does Japanese have a word for "jaywalking"? None of my Japanese friends seem to know, so I assume if there is, it isn't common.

Up until now, we've just jokingly called it 行こう行こう　 笑

 

[Kurita]

面白いな。

Here's a random question for anyone who knows the answer -- does Japanese have a word for "jaywalking"? None of my Japanese friends seem to know, so I assume if there is, it isn't common.

Up until now, we've just jokingly called it 行こう行こう　 笑

My dictionary says 信号無視 (so literally, ignoring a traffic light).

 

[Darksol]

My dictionary says 信号無視 (so literally, ignoring a traffic light).

そうか。「しんごうむし」。That kanji usage is amazing, lol. Thanks!

Ahhh...now I've found it in my dictionary as well. Not listed as a common word though, as I expected.

 

[Resilient]

そうか。「しんごうむし」。That kanji usage is amazing, lol. Thanks!

Ahhh...now I've found it in my dictionary as well. Not listed as a common word though, as I expected.

信号無視して道を渡る。
「しんごうむししてみちをわたる。」

I like 行こう行こう！

 

[kubus]

Anyone here use a Kindle for Japanese reading?

I'm considering picking one up here while I'm still in Japan, as they're considerably cheaper than in my home country.

The new Paperwhite seems to have a flash card app built in that uses words you've looked up the definition of. Seems mighty useful for building vocabulary.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Anyone here use a Kindle for Japanese reading?

I'm considering picking one up here while I'm still in Japan, as they're considerably cheaper than in my home country.

The new Paperwhite seems to have a flash card app built in that uses words you've looked up the definition of. Seems mighty useful for building vocabulary.

I do. It's fantastic, though you have to be careful not to get too reliant on the built-in dictionary as it can become too much of a crutch very easily. To counter that I keep it set to Japanese-Japanese dictionary (it uses the 大辞&#27849 since I'm usually using it to check kanji readings, and only switch to J-E if I'm really stuck and can't make sense of things from context. On the flipside, it makes trying something a little above your level much more feasible (though, again, it can easily leave you far too reliant on it), and is especially nice if you're reading something in an unfamiliar genre with a lot of new vocabulary as it makes that first-chapter vocab hill easier to climb.

The vocabulary builder feature is pretty bare-bones, and I personally use it as a word bank rather than flash cards. I go through it every week or two and put any words I still have trouble with into Anki. A nice feature is that it shows the sentence the word was in when you looked it up, though unfortunately you can't simply "export" all the data but have to copy it out by hand.

 

[Nocebo]

Found a funny word in the "imiwa?" dictionary the other day: "賢者モード". It's in some online dictionaries too.
Literally "wise man mode", dictionary definition:

Spoiler

period after orgasm when a man is free from sexual desire and can think clearly

 

[Porcile]

Found a funny word in the "imiwa?" dictionary the other day: "賢者モード". It's in some online dictionaries too.
Literally "wise man mode", dictionary definition:

Spoiler

period after orgasm when a man is free from sexual desire and can think clearly

Is there a word for that slight guilty feeling after masturbating though?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Anyone here use a Kindle for Japanese reading?

I'm considering picking one up here while I'm still in Japan, as they're considerably cheaper than in my home country.

The new Paperwhite seems to have a flash card app built in that uses words you've looked up the definition of. Seems mighty useful for building vocabulary.

Yeah, the Kindle store can be a bit lacking when it comes to Japanese publishers (it's getting better), but I'd say it's pretty much the ideal reading solution. Tap and hold for dictionary definition is a pretty sweet feature, especially since it remembers what you looked up, like you mentioned.

I do. It's fantastic, though you have to be careful not to get too reliant on the built-in dictionary as it can become too much of a crutch very easily. To counter that I keep it set to Japanese-Japanese dictionary (it uses the 大辞&#27849 since I'm usually using it to check kanji readings, and only switch to J-E if I'm really stuck and can't make sense of things from context. On the flipside, it makes trying something a little above your level much more feasible (though, again, it can easily leave you far too reliant on it), and is especially nice if you're reading something in an unfamiliar genre with a lot of new vocabulary as it makes that first-chapter vocab hill easier to climb.

The vocabulary builder feature is pretty bare-bones, and I personally use it as a word bank rather than flash cards. I go through it every week or two and put any words I still have trouble with into Anki. A nice feature is that it shows the sentence the word was in when you looked it up, though unfortunately you can't simply "export" all the data but have to copy it out by hand.

Good advice here, too. Switch over and use Japanese-Japanese dictionaries as soon as possible. It will really accelerate your learning and ability to explain things in Japanese.

 

[Darksol]

My reading and writing are at a decent level, but my speaking ability is still weak sauce. Today, the shirt I ordered finally arrived.

As tacky as it is, I plan to wear it a good deal when I move to Japan in February. Hopefully it will be a conversation starter

 

[Kurita]

That's actually hilarious haha A bit tacky sure but not that bad

 

[Deleted member 17706]

My reading and writing are at a decent level, but my speaking ability is still weak sauce. Today, the shirt I ordered finally arrived.



As tacky as it is, I plan to wear it a good deal when I move to Japan in February. Hopefully it will be a conversation starter

I'm sure it will be a great conversation starter... for people who want to practice their English on you.

 

[Darksol]

I like 行こう行こう！

So do I 笑

That's actually hilarious haha A bit tacky sure but not that bad

I also have...

I'm sure it will be a great conversation starter... for people who want to practice their English on you.

As of December I'll be a freshly certified English teacher, so I'm fine with that too! ^_^

 

[shanshan310]

lol, speaking of shirts the whole time I was living in Japan I was really tempted to buy this one:

I am also not Russian! Thanks for playing, random people on the train.

 

[Jintor]

today's task is to translate 4komas and see if i get the joke

so far i've learned that　キャッチコピ means 'advertising slogan'

 

[Splash Wave]

Is Chapter 3 of Genki vol. 1 meant to knock me on my ass? The introduction of -ru verbs in addition to Kanji is kind over overwhelming. Should I be worried about the latter yet? edit: And if so, where's a good place to start learning Kanji?

 

[OrochiJR]

I need to brush up on Kanji for my next visit (which will be April of next year). I studied all Joyo Kanji for a big exam at the end of my Japanese studies bachelor, but that was in 2011 and I switched to another Master's programme where I didn't really need to apply any Japanese at all. So I got a "little" rusty, and couldn't read half the menus in all the restaurants when I was in Tokyo last year.
So I wanted to ask, is there a condensed list of food-related kanji and vocabulary? Like if you want to order yakitori and want to know which part of the chicken you're getting?

I'll work on my Japanese anyway (at least that's the plan), but this would be very helpful and much appreciated!

 

[Darksol]

lol, speaking of shirts the whole time I was living in Japan I was really tempted to buy this one:

I am also not Russian! Thanks for playing, random people on the train.

Haha. I think I'd like the shirt more without the English.

Is Chapter 3 of Genki vol. 1 meant to knock me on my ass? The introduction of -ru verbs in addition to Kanji is kind over overwhelming. Should I be worried about the latter yet? edit: And if so, where's a good place to start learning Kanji?

Genki is pretty shit when it comes to pacing, which is why I always recommend Japanese for Busy People instead.

It's all a matter of opinion, but honestly, verb conjugation is way more important than an expansive knowledge of kanji. You can write sentences without knowing specific kanji, but if you can't conjugate verbs, you'll have a difficult time expressing absolutely anything.

Kanji is learned gradually over years and it encompasses a great deal. But verb conjugations are relatively straight forward once you get the hang of it. And, since there are very few irregular verbs, once you learn how to conjugate, you never really have to give it any more thought thereafter.

 

[kubus]

I do. It's fantastic, though you have to be careful not to get too reliant on the built-in dictionary as it can become too much of a crutch very easily. To counter that I keep it set to Japanese-Japanese dictionary (it uses the 大辞&#27849 since I'm usually using it to check kanji readings, and only switch to J-E if I'm really stuck and can't make sense of things from context. On the flipside, it makes trying something a little above your level much more feasible (though, again, it can easily leave you far too reliant on it), and is especially nice if you're reading something in an unfamiliar genre with a lot of new vocabulary as it makes that first-chapter vocab hill easier to climb.

The vocabulary builder feature is pretty bare-bones, and I personally use it as a word bank rather than flash cards. I go through it every week or two and put any words I still have trouble with into Anki. A nice feature is that it shows the sentence the word was in when you looked it up, though unfortunately you can't simply "export" all the data but have to copy it out by hand.

Yeah, the Kindle store can be a bit lacking when it comes to Japanese publishers (it's getting better), but I'd say it's pretty much the ideal reading solution. Tap and hold for dictionary definition is a pretty sweet feature, especially since it remembers what you looked up, like you mentioned.
Good advice here, too. Switch over and use Japanese-Japanese dictionaries as soon as possible. It will really accelerate your learning and ability to explain things in Japanese.

Thanks both for your input. I'm gonna order one asap, maybe tomorrow when my exams are over .

Also like the Japanese-Japanese dictionary advice--will definitely set it to that so that even when I'm lazy I learn a little .

 

[shanshan310]

I'm sure it will be a great conversation starter... for people who want to practice their English on you.

hahaha. Yeah, most likely.

 

[Gacha-pin]

wearing those shirts is...very american.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Is Chapter 3 of Genki vol. 1 meant to knock me on my ass? The introduction of -ru verbs in addition to Kanji is kind over overwhelming. Should I be worried about the latter yet? edit: And if so, where's a good place to start learning Kanji?

That's where I'm at.

Actually, I think writing the kanji as you learn the verb conjugations is good...it helped me memorize both the kanji, and the conjugations.

 

[Porcile]

Any good particle reference books out there? Preferably something not crazy complicated or intended for an advanced learner. I'm after something which has pithy and useful explanations for what each particle does. Ideally some example sentences too so I can see them in action.

All About Particles: A Handbook of Japanese Function Words is the first one that pops up on Amazon. Any good?

 

[Sitrus]

Any good particle reference books out there? Preferably something not crazy complicated or intended for an advanced learner. I'm after something which has pithy and useful explanations for what each particle does. Ideally some example sentences too so I can see them in action.

All About Particles: A Handbook of Japanese Function Words is the first one that pops up on Amazon. Any good?

If you are confident in your Japanese (), you could try this one which I used several years ago:
短期集中初級日本語文法総まとめ ポイント20

It's divided into chapters which explains certain grammar points with example sentences and examples of common mistakes one could make. It's all in japanese, but I think it's recommended to learn "how to learn in Japanese". My Japanese teacher bought this one for everyone in class when I was in high school and it's been a great help for me since then.

 

[Darksol]

Any good particle reference books out there? Preferably something not crazy complicated or intended for an advanced learner. I'm after something which has pithy and useful explanations for what each particle does. Ideally some example sentences too so I can see them in action.

All About Particles: A Handbook of Japanese Function Words is the first one that pops up on Amazon. Any good?

I own that book and can recommend it highly.

It's solid reference material. It does have lots of complicated stuff, but it has all the basics as well. It orders the particles from most common to least common, and goes from most common usage of the particles to the most obscure usage of them. And as you wanted, there is always a couple of examples written in kanji, kana, and romaji.

If you are confident in your Japanese (), you could try this one which I used several years ago:
短期集中初級日本語文法総まとめ ポイント20

It's divided into chapters which explains certain grammar points with example sentences and examples of common mistakes one could make. It's all in japanese, but I think it's recommended to learn "how to learn in Japanese". My Japanese teacher bought this one for everyone in class when I was in high school and it's been a great help for me since then.

I own that too ^

It's also quality, although as Sitrus says, is in all Japanese.

 

[Porcile]

I am absolutely not at a skill level where I could learn something straight from Japanese! I'll go with All About Particles for now, and keep the other on file for later on. Thanks, folks!

 

[Resilient]

Damn, good recommendations on those books. I'm gonna pick them both up.

Shiet, 短期集中初級日本語文法総まとめ ポイント20 is $100AU. Never bought from amazon.jp before, do they ship internationally? Something tells me they don't...I'll keep looking for it online but if anyone has a lead for a store that might stock it + ship internationally, let me know!

 

[kubus]

Damn, good recommendations on those books. I'm gonna pick them both up.

Shiet, 短期集中初級日本語文法総まとめ ポイント20 is $100AU. Never bought from amazon.jp before, do they ship internationally? Something tells me they don't...I'll keep looking for it online but if anyone has a lead for a store that might stock it + ship internationally, let me know!

Pretty sure amazon.co.jp ships books internationally, it's different for games and stuff.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Damn, good recommendations on those books. I'm gonna pick them both up.

Shiet, 短期集中初級日本語文法総まとめ ポイント20 is $100AU. Never bought from amazon.jp before, do they ship internationally? Something tells me they don't...I'll keep looking for it online but if anyone has a lead for a store that might stock it + ship internationally, let me know!

Yeah, they often ship books internationally, and you should be able to pay with any major credit card.

 

[Resilient]

Thanks guys, ended up buying it and the grammar book to just for the sake of it.

 

[muteki]

Pretty sure amazon.co.jp ships books internationally, it's different for games and stuff.

amazon.co.jp ships international for books and cd's and are usually super fast.

Often same price and faster compared to shops here that sell with a markup.

 

[RangerBAD]

amazon.co.jp ships international for books and cd's and are usually super fast.

Often same price and faster compared to shops here that sell with a markup.

Do you have to make a new account?

 

[muteki]

Do you have to make a new account?

Yeah, separate amazon accounts for separate regions.

 

[Kurita]

?
You can buy stuff on Amazon.co.jp with your usual account (not MP3s though).

 

[Zoe]

?
You can buy stuff on Amazon.co.jp with your usual account (not MP3s though).

I have a different account for each region, same email.

 

[muteki]

I have a different account for each region, same email.

Same here.

I think I tried logging into .jp with my .com info and it didn't work. Been a while since I tried though.

 

[Kurita]

Weird, I bought stuff with my French account.

 

[upandaway]

Kurita is your account Missingno, I also had to re-register

 

[Kurita]

Maybe it's because I just bought e-mail type gift cards?
That wouldn't make sense. I tried buying a CD and I could go all the way through. Didn't confirm the very last step, but still, it means it works. They wouldn't let me go this far otherwise.

 

[Zoe]

You sure you didn't set one up and forget? Do you see your French purchases in your order history?

 

[Kurita]

You have to log-in on each different website, they don't merge your order histories.
I also bought stuff on Amazon.com and amazon.co.uk without creating a new account.
Been using the same one for years.

 

[Zoe]

I just tried to log in with my American account (both use the same email but different passwords), and it didn't work. Payment methods and account details are different.

 

[Kurita]

Welp, I don't know what to tell you then, that's really weird...

 

[RangerBAD]

Can you also buy games or are the prices horrible?

 

[muteki]

Can you also buy games or are the prices horrible?

No, just certain categories unfortunately:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201213240

 

[shanshan310]

Can you also buy games or are the prices horrible?

https://www.nippon-yasan.com/ is pretty good, if you want Japanese games. Prices are around what you pay locally. I've never had issues using them.

 

[Porcile]

I'm thinking of some Japanese goals that I can work towards, and I'm pondering about signing up for the JLPT N5 exam in December. I don't really believe in exams as a mark of real competency, and I also know that a level that low is probably not worth the paper it's printed on, but I can feel that over the next 3 or 4 months my dedication may slip unless I have some sort impending deadline looming over me. The main goal is to get my ass out to Japan next year, but obviously there's mitigating factors at play there. Of course, the big question is N5 or N4. I was looking at some N4 study materials and I think I'm a fair ways off that, where as N5 looks pretty manageable with four months solid practice.

 

[urfe]

I'm thinking of some Japanese goals that I can work towards, and I'm pondering about signing up for the JLPT N5 exam in December. I don't really believe in exams as a mark of real competency, and I also know that a level that low is probably not worth the paper it's printed on, but I can feel that over the next 3 or 4 months my dedication may slip unless I have some sort impending deadline looming over me. The main goal is to get my ass out to Japan next year, but obviously there's mitigating factors at play there. Of course, the big question is N5 or N4. I was looking at some N4 study materials and I think I'm a fair ways off that, where as N5 looks pretty manageable with four months solid practice.

If you do a few hours a day, you can do N4, and N4 is al you need for daily conversation (if you can say all you learn), so it's quite the accomplishment.

I think failing N4 is worth more the passing N5.

 

[Porcile]

If you do a few hours a day, you can do N4, and N4 is al you need for daily conversation (if you can say all you learn), so it's quite the accomplishment.

I think failing N4 is worth more the passing N5.

I'll take a trip down to Japan Centre in Piccadilly tomorrow. I know they stock a bunch of different JLPT books, so I might pick up N5 and N4 guides and have a look at the difference between them.