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[Deleted member 17706]

Digital books and e-readers with their built in dictionaries are a godsend for language learning, that much is for sure.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

any particular japanese dictionaries you recommend? baby dictionaries for babies maybe? (Given my reading level is... kind of random, I'm hesitant to just pick up a well-renowned one where I spend equal amounts of time translating the definitions of things as I do actually reading the thing I want to try and read)

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4828866965/

This is the first one I used. It's pretty nice and uses very simple words. It's pretty easy to jump into and start using without it sending you into a feedback loop of lookups. Unfortunately, the simplicity often obscures the subtle differences between words which are much more apparent in "real" dictionaries. I mostly use the 大辞林 now, which I have as an app on my phone and in the OS X software dictionary on my laptop.

Digital books and e-readers with their built in dictionaries are a godsend for language learning, that much is for sure.

Indeed. I love reading on my Kindle. Unfortunately ebook publishing hasn't caught on as much here as it has in the west. There's a lot available, but there's even more that isn't.

 

[Zoe]

担当者の名前を知らなければ、担当者名の部分は「ご担当者様」に置き換える。
でも送り先と送り先に対するzoe自身の立場によっては最初の3行は省いて「下記の通り～」から始めてもいいと思う。
例えば営利組織に客として送る場合や役所関係とか。

なるほど。ファンクラブの事だから、たぶん「下記〜」からの方がいいね。ありがとう、ガチャピン先生！勉強になった！

Of course this might all end up being moot because now the fan club is complaining that my friend did the postal money transfer instead of me -_-

 

[Porcile]

http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/4828866965/

This is the first one I used. It's pretty nice and uses very simple words. It's pretty easy to jump into and start using without it sending you into a feedback loop of lookups. Unfortunately, the simplicity often obscures the subtle differences between words which are much more apparent in "real" dictionaries. I mostly use the 大辞林 now, which I have as an app on my phone and in the OS X software dictionary on my laptop.

I'm going to give this one a go. Any other useful baby books I can include to making the shipping cost worth it?

 

[muteki]

Japanese dictionary will get you there.

I'm sure you already know that Zefah I'm just being an echo chamber.

glad to see other people think RTK is bit dumb. Isn't it like 40 years old too? the best part of RTK is the iPhone app, shows you proper stroke order which helps you keep your writing proper.

I think there is a bit of misconception out there about what RTK is for and if it teaches you reading, writing, vocab, or just in general. RTK1 and 3 (what I believe most people refer to when they say "RTK") teaches you how to write the chinese characters used in the 常用 list, plus some more semi- to useless ones if you go through all of RTK 3. It makes no attempt to teach you vocab, reading, or anything else about the language really.

RTK2 is an attempt at taking what you learn in 1+3 and using that for reading and vocab. IMO it does a poor job of it and there are better methods out there.

That is not to say that 1+3 is useless, it just needs to be understood what they are for and are trying to do, and if that is of value to you. By the end of it you should be able to pull from memory a large amount of kanji, and stroke order should not be a problem, if you have been writing while studying. There should be enough of the general "rules" in your head that you can dissect and write new characters without being explicitly taught the stroke order too.

 

[Jintor]

it's like learning the alphabet except the alphabet is like 2000 seperate characters. also a lot of radicals. like, a lot of them

 

[nicoga3000]

So would anyone want to help me figure out how to set my new clock and figure out how the alarm works?

It's imported from Japan and has no American instructions anywhere to be found.

Clicky

 

[Resilient]

So would anyone want to help me figure out how to set my new clock and figure out how the alarm works?

It's imported from Japan and has no American instructions anywhere to be found.

Clicky

1. Please put the battery in. Open the case and put them in. Be careful not to mistake the + or - signs. (wow obvious much)
2. Please push the reset button.
3. Please configure the performance melody.
4. Please configure the time.

I can't do any more because a. I'm a scrub and b. I'm at work (mainly a tho) but I think some of the more experienced peeps will be able to lend you a hand for the sub-instructions.

Yes, that's right. What I wrote will not help you at all.

 

[nicoga3000]

1. Please put the battery in. Open the case and put them in. Be careful not to mistake the + or - signs. (wow obvious much)
2. Please push the reset button.
3. Please configure the performance melody.
4. Please configure the time.

I can't do any more because a. I'm a scrub and b. I'm at work (mainly a tho) but I think some of the more experienced peeps will be able to lend you a hand for the sub-instructions.

Yes, that's right. What I wrote will not help you at all.

"Real world" practice when it comes to languages are good practice, so thank you for giving me what you did! The battery part was pretty self-explanatory, but I did not know to hit the reset button. The clock is currently running, but I have NO idea how or why. The time is not right, though. Hitting buttons just makes the hands spin a lot...And just when I think I've got it figured out, they stop spinning for no apparent reason.

And then I see the first bullet point of step two with a bunch of random times and realize I am in way over my head trying to guess my way through this.

 

[marimorimo]

Here, I'll break it up for you:

クリアするのは たくさんの時間が かかります。

クリアする の は = The thing of clearing [subject marker]
たくさんの時間が = Many (of) hours [object marker]
かかります = It takes

"It takes many hours to do the thing of clearing"

So the first の as Nocebo says just turns the verb クリアする into a noun, so "the thing of clearing".

たくさん is actually a noun, adjective, and adverb, so basically you can just do whatevs

This is a few posts back, but it's bothering me (meaning it sounds unnatural) so I'll chime in.

クリアする の は = should be クリアするのに I think, based on the relationship with time 「時間がかかる」。 I can't pinpoint the exact rule as it's been a while since I last peeked into my N2/N1 grammar books, but I'm pretty sure that using のは here is unnatural.

You can say クリアするのは難しい　(It's difficult to clear it) but NOT クリアするのは時間がかかる。

On that note, nobody says たくさんの時間。　In fact, I find the word たくさん to be used only very rarely, whether written or spoken. This was a bit strange for me as たくさん is a word taught very early to students of Japanese. But in casual conversation, people tend to use the word いっぱい or 多い or variations of 何+counter.

To express that something takes time, you say 時間がかかる。　If you want to emphasize that it will take some time, instead of たくさん it's better to say 結構（けっこう）. The complete sentence is like so:

クリアするのに結構時間がかかります。 (It takes quite some time to clear it.)

By the way, the original sentence is perfectly understandable by any Japanese who will hear it despite the errors--my suggestions merely tweak it so it sounds natural.

 

[marimorimo]

"Real world" practice when it comes to languages are good practice, so thank you for giving me what you did! The battery part was pretty self-explanatory, but I did not know to hit the reset button. The clock is currently running, but I have NO idea how or why. The time is not right, though. Hitting buttons just makes the hands spin a lot...And just when I think I've got it figured out, they stop spinning for no apparent reason.

And then I see the first bullet point of step two with a bunch of random times and realize I am in way over my head trying to guess my way through this.

Alright, I translated the main controls. A bit confusing as I don't know what it means by "reception/receive." It sounds like it's downloading data?? Maybe you can give a link to the actual product so I can check.

See if this helps.

To set the time, you need to press the RESET button below which is below 切.

B Button=Mode button
A Button=Reception button


How to check "reception":
Press A once. GREEN LED flashes: successful reception / RED LED flashes: no reception

Force "reception":
Long press A


Manual adjustment:
1) Long press B
2)Pressing A once advances it 1 minute. Long press advances the time faster.
3) Long press B again to start


小　low (volume)
大 high (volume)

MELODY (if it's on, a melody and performance will play every hour)
入　on
切 off

button below 切 is RESET

Press the MONITOR button (bottom of the clock face) to watch a performance any time. Pressing the button again during the performance will skip to the next song.

 

[Jintor]

By the way, the original sentence is perfectly understandable by any Japanese who will hear it despite the errors--my suggestions merely tweak it so it sounds natural.

thanks for the breakdown and explanations - exactly the kind of stuff I come to this thread for. (Especially since at my level actually asking Japanese people to help out has turned out to be about as fruitful as asking a random english speaking person how grammar forms work, i.e., somewhat haphazard)

 

[Aizo]

Jintor, you could also say クリアするには時間がかかる

Digital books and e-readers with their built in dictionaries are a godsend for language learning, that much is for sure.

Exactly what I was going to post. Kindle app with the Japanese dictionary. Perfect.

 

[stump sock]

Alright, I translated the main controls. A bit confusing as I don't know what it means by "reception/receive." It sounds like it's downloading data??

pretty normal feature on modern clocks. Picks current time up via radio signal if I'm not mistaken

not sure if a clock looking for the japanese signal would work in other countries though.

 

[Resilient]

pretty normal feature on modern clocks. Picks current time up via radio signal if I'm not mistaken

not sure if a clock looking for the japanese signal would work in other countries though.

that's...pretty fkn cool, but i haven't bought a clock in years so wouldn't know.

massively burnt out at the moment, gotta push through it though. i love getting rekt and brought back to reality after trying to converse with someone, makes you realise that you actually are a scrub with a long way to go :|

 

[Jintor]

lol whenever i feel confident in reading just trying to listen to staffroom conversations destroys me inside again

languages man. law was easier than this

 

[Resilient]

I'm just trying to let go of the English way of looking at shit. I know it's there and it's hard to shake. I've read so many passages and understood what they meant, then I trap myself by trying to directly translate them afterwards even though I already understood it in Japanese...then when I try to have conversations I fall on my ass and do the English > Japanese thing instead of just Japanese. Meh. I just finished season 1 of kuruko. As a basketball Player that shit is so fucking sick, just makes me want to cosplay and make an anime avatar

 

[Porcile]

I reckon I could pass the N5 test if I did a few practice tests to get used to the structure. I really need to work on bringing my sentence building and speaking up to that level on a consistent basis, but my speaking does generally improve each week. I don't know whether that's good or not for five months study...

I actually managed to get a basic English teaching job (cast your judements aside!) starting next spring, so I guess I really do need to knuckle down for the remaining four and a half months and practice as much as possible.

 

[bigmit3737]

Is there a J-J dictionary app for IOS that has a jump feature -- when you look up a word and don't know a word in the definition you can click the word or highlight it and it will jump to hat word--?

 

[TheSporkWithin]

Is there a J-J dictionary app for IOS that has a jump feature -- when you look up a word and don't know a word in the definition you can click the word or highlight it and it will jump to hat word--?

The 大辞林 app does. It doesn't handle conjugated verbs though, you have to enter those in manually (copy/paste and edit the okurigana). Had a conversation about it with Zefah about a month ago.

 

[nicoga3000]

Thanks for the tips on the clock guys - I think I got it working! The second hand stops moving at the 12 once in a while (not sure if it's trying to sync up to the radio waves that I obviously cannot receive in the states), but the minute hand still works. There's a neat little diagram of where in Japan the radio signals originate from in the instructions, too. I guess I understand what that's for now!

 

[bigmit3737]

The 大辞林 app does. It doesn't handle conjugated verbs though, you have to enter those in manually (copy/paste and edit the okurigana). Had a conversation about it with Zefah about a month ago.

Thanks. The conjugations not being recognized is really annoying.
I have the same problem with the kindle paper white .

 

[Aizo]

I have the same problem with the kindle paper white .

That's such a silly issue. I love that. "Oh! Huh. I don't recognize this kanji. Maybe it can at least give me the reading... not found?"

 

[RangerBAD]

This is a few posts back, but it's bothering me (meaning it sounds unnatural) so I'll chime in.

クリアする の は = should be クリアするのに I think, based on the relationship with time 「時間がかかる」。 I can't pinpoint the exact rule as it's been a while since I last peeked into my N2/N1 grammar books, but I'm pretty sure that using のは here is unnatural.

You can say クリアするのは難しい　(It's difficult to clear it) but NOT クリアするのは時間がかかる。

On that note, nobody says たくさんの時間。　In fact, I find the word たくさん to be used only very rarely, whether written or spoken. This was a bit strange for me as たくさん is a word taught very early to students of Japanese. But in casual conversation, people tend to use the word いっぱい or 多い or variations of 何+counter.

To express that something takes time, you say 時間がかかる。　If you want to emphasize that it will take some time, instead of たくさん it's better to say 結構（けっこう）. The complete sentence is like so:

クリアするのに結構時間がかかります。 (It takes quite some time to clear it.)

By the way, the original sentence is perfectly understandable by any Japanese who will hear it despite the errors--my suggestions merely tweak it so it sounds natural.

Turns out it needed a には.

 

[marimorimo]

pretty normal feature on modern clocks. Picks current time up via radio signal if I'm not mistaken

not sure if a clock looking for the japanese signal would work in other countries though.

Wha?? Those kinds of clocks exist? *mind blown*

Turns out it needed a には.

I checked with my Japanese hubby. You're right, には is better. Or should I say, it's the more formal way of saying it. のに is also correct but it's more casual.

So the correct expressions are:

クリアするには時間がかかります。
クリアするのに時間がかかる。

 

[Owlowiscious]

From a suggestion on a recent post I started wanikani. It's nice so far. Anything else I should be doing concurrently? Another site? A book? Learning grammar?

 

[RangerBAD]

So I got Tobira, but was there any companion books I needed to get?

 

[muteki]

So I got Tobira, but was there any companion books I needed to get?

The full set is 4 books total, I believe. I don't have the Kanji book, but I'd recommend the teachers guide and the grammar book. Teachers guide has answers and translations for everything in the main text, grammer guide has exercises (and answers) to go along with the main book.

One of these days I'll get through the grammar book.

 

[RangerBAD]

The full set is 4 books total, I believe. I don't have the Kanji book, but I'd recommend the teachers guide and the grammar book. Teachers guide has answers and translations for everything in the main text, grammer guide has exercises (and answers) to go along with the main book.

One of these days I'll get through the grammar book.

Looks like I fucked up. Yeah, I really messed up. None of the other books are available new on amazon.com.

 

[muteki]

Looks like I fucked up.

Well the teachers guide is nice if you want some hand-holding while reading the main passages. The translations are there IIRC for the example sentences in each grammar point as well, but from what I can remember they were fairly straightforward anyway. Just depends on you level really. If you get started on the main text and are lost (I initially was) then it should help.

The grammar book is completely separate from the main text, and is there just if you want more practice. The main text has exercises too (typically to be performed as a class) but there is value there too for self learning.

I'm not sure what is in the kanji book. By that point I had a pretty good handle on them and a half decent vocab so it didn't make sense for me to get it.

I'd check https://www.amazon.co.jp/?tag= if that is an option for you, looks like they have most in stock. Others might have it too.

 

[RangerBAD]

Well the teachers guide is nice if you want some hand-holding while reading the main passages. The translations are there IIRC for the example sentences in each grammar point as well, but from what I can remember they were fairly straightforward anyway. Just depends on you level really. If you get started on the main text and are lost (I initially was) then it should help.

The grammar book is completely separate from the main text, and is there just if you want more practice. The main text has exercises too (typically to be performed as a class) but there is value there too for self learning.

I'm not sure what is in the kanji book. By that point I had a pretty good handle on them and a half decent vocab so it didn't make sense for me to get it.

I'd check https://www.amazon.co.jp/?tag= if that is an option for you, looks like they have most in stock. Others might have it too.

I lucked out with Genki's answer book because someone had scanned it. Doesn't seem to be the case with Tobira.

Tobira is exploiting my biggest weakness: writing my own sentences. Without someone to check it I fear I'm writing it wrong and getting into bad habits. I always just wrote what was in the answer book (when I had to make my own).

 

[Jintor]

Use lang-8 and get those hot corrections

 

[Porcile]

I've challenged myself to write a Lang-8 post everyday.

 

[AmethystEnd]

We had an in-class timed essay test on Wednesday where we had 20 minutes to write as much as we could in Japanese. The topic was to pretend you had a close friend in Japan to whom you are describing how your Japanese studies are currently going. I was half asleep, having only gotten 3 hours of sleep Tuesday night.

I ended up writing the kanji for "kanji" as 漢文 instead of 漢字... Don't ask how I confused the two; my defense is 文 still has to do with writing and 漢文 is also a legitimate noun. Still, I figured I'd be marked down for it.

But the sentence happened to be:

相変わらず、書く時に僕は漢文を覚えるのが下手だよ。

[As usual, when I write I'm bad at remembering kanji.]

Because that was the sentence, my teacher thought I was making a joke by using 文 instead of 字 and I still got a 20/20 on the test.

 

[RangerBAD]

We had an in-class timed essay test on Wednesday where we had 20 minutes to write as much as we could in Japanese. The topic was to pretend you had a close friend in Japan to whom you are describing how your Japanese studies are currently going. I was half asleep, having only gotten 3 hours of sleep Tuesday night.

I ended up writing the kanji for "kanji" as 漢文 instead of 漢字... Don't ask how I confused the two; my defense is 文 still has to do with writing and 漢文 is also a legitimate noun. Still, I figured I'd be marked down for it.

But the sentence happened to be:

相変わらず、書く時に僕は漢文を覚えるのが下手だよ。

[As usual, when I write I'm bad at remembering kanji.]

Because that was the sentence, my teacher thought I was making a joke by using 文 instead of 字 and I still got a 20/20 on the test.

Son of a...

Unconsciously you were making a joke!

 

[Kurita]

To be fair 漢文 is also tough!

 

[urfe]

Will be studying at a cafe for hours today, so will use a Japanese dictionary while I read. May also change all the flash cards on my phone from JP EN to JP with explanation.

I am really enjoying Blogos for a good mix of news in Japanese from various sources.

http://lite.blogos.com

I can't bring myself to study N1 grammar. I know I don't know most of it, but I'd always rather be reading.

 

[AmethystEnd]

To be fair 漢文 is also tough!

Hahaha, I've never tried reading it but it sounds terrifying. But yeah, since I specifically said "When writing", he would've known I didn't mean 漢文.

Son of a...

Unconsciously you were making a joke!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

[TheSporkWithin]

I can't bring myself to study N1 grammar. I know I don't know most of it, but I'd always rather be reading.

I'm the same way but with my N2 grammar. I had a lot of time in the afternoon yesterday because of parents coming in for 三者面談 and actually opened 完全マスター for the first time in a while. Did two "topics" and did well on the quizzes. I need to spend more time on this but it's really not fun studying solo with the dry materials you get at this level. I wish there was a good textbook in the style of Tobira at a higher level.

Since I'm reading mostly fiction (and mostly fiction aimed at junior high school students, at that), a lot of the more formal grammar (which there's quite a lot of for N2) is new and doesn't get reinforced through my reading. Thinking I might build an anki deck of the example sentences and quizzes from 完全マスター just so that I can have an easy way to keep up exposure to them.

 

[Resilient]

how many people here can write Japanese as somebody is speaking it to them (transcribing) and do it well, using Kanji and Kana?

 

[AmethystEnd]

how many people here can write Japanese as somebody is speaking it to them (transcribing) and do it well, using Kanji and Kana?

Typing, I'm decent. Writing by hand? I'm pretty slow.

 

[Kurita]

how many people here can write Japanese as somebody is speaking it to them (transcribing) and do it well, using Kanji and Kana?

I'm a bit slow but I can. We don't really do that in class/tests so...
I have interpreting classes but I just directly write down the translation/notes in French, no need to have Japanese in there.

 

[Mik2121]

how many people here can write Japanese as somebody is speaking it to them (transcribing) and do it well, using Kanji and Kana?

Typing, I've done it at work. By hand, I would be stuck so fast it would be embarrassing...
Might not be perfect, and I might have to go back a couple times to change some kanji, but yeah... have done some very simple stuff at work a couple times where I was typing an email or something (so usually short stuff, just a few lines).

 

[Porcile]

Handwriting accurately as someone is talking to you is difficult enough in your native language. I'd imagine most people who are good at doing so in any language would use a form of shorthand?

 

[Resilient]

yeah, I really can't do it well. using Kanji is not really possible if I try to do it. I end up using a form of short hand. it helps with memory retention if you're able to spell the word after hearing it (i.e. knowing it) without having to break down the sounds you're hearing kana by kana.

 

[RangerBAD]

東京の近くにはどんな県がありますか

I don't know anything about prefectures near Tokyo. lol

 

[Porcile]

しょうじょ, おんなのこ, じょし

1. little girl, maiden, young lady
2. young woman, girl, daughter
3. woman, girl

Match those up correctly and I'll give you a fiver. No cheating. I've been using a reverse Wanikani app called Kaniwani which makes you recall the Japanese word from the English definition. It's so much harder to do without seeing the kanji. Needless to say, these have really been fucking up my shit.

Spoiler

少女, 女の子, 女子...

 

[Jintor]

2-1-3?

In my brain 女の子 is like, 0-end of primary, 少女 is junior high to high, 女子 is like uni to young adult/adult. Obviously they're all... vaguely interchangable in the same way you can call them all girl, but... idk

 

[urfe]

しょうじょ, おんなのこ, じょし

1. little girl, maiden, young lady
2. young woman, girl, daughter
3. woman, girl

Match those up correctly and I'll give you a fiver. No cheating. I've been using a reverse Wanikani app called Kaniwani which makes you recall the Japanese word from the English definition. It's so much harder to do without seeing the kanji. Needless to say, these have really been fucking up my shit.

Spoiler

少女, 女の子, 女子...

I honestly think there's no point in memorizing the nuance in English. They all mean girl, and any nuance you would best understand by seeing how they're used in spoken and written word.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I honestly think there's no point in memorizing the nuance in English. They all mean girl, and any nuance you would best understand by seeing how they're used in spoken and written word.

Exactly this. A prime example of how one should not approach language study.

how many people here can write Japanese as somebody is speaking it to them (transcribing) and do it well, using Kanji and Kana?

For sure. I got this skill beat into me when I worked in Japan straight out of college and was expected to take meeting minutes as the newbie on the team.