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[Natetan]

Ah ok, i see, thanks for the info Do you know what would be a better use of word(s) for "friendly regards" in japanese?

If you're just writing to a friend, you can just say 'ja mata kondo ne/na' or something like that.

otherwise, you don't really say things like that in japaneseif it's a more forma situation you can say the equivalent of 'if you have any questions, feel free to contact me' or something like that. Then you would just write your name after that.

especially if it's a text or sms or something, I cant see the need for it.

I've become a huge fan of watching Japanese 地上 television lately. Majority of it has some educational value. Whether it's the News, or some food or history (or food history) show. It's really relaxing, usually funny, and almost always informative.

Anybody know how to watch channels like TBS and TV Asahi on your computer outside Japan?

edit: Yeah, sazae-san is a good recommendation i think. Nothing zany, just everyday life where they cover some Japanese cultural aspect in a short easy to understand episode.

 

[Shouta]

Then again I'm of the opinion that manga and Japanese video games don't make effective study tools. Anyone seriously studying Japanese should be trying to read real Japanese literature.

Most definitely false, manga and video games are a huge asset and a helluva a lot more fun than lit.

 

[test_account]

If you're just writing to a friend, you can just say 'ja mata kondo ne/na' or something like that.

otherwise, you don't really say things like that in japaneseif it's a more forma situation you can say the equivalent of 'if you have any questions, feel free to contact me' or something like that. Then you would just write your name after that.

especially if it's a text or sms or something, I cant see the need for it.

Ok, i see, thanks for the answer! 'Ja mata kondo ne/na' is more like 'see you later'? (i searched on Google for it ). I wrote a message to a person on Playstation Network that i played online with, but i dont know him/her. Is 'Ja mata kondo ne/na' used to people that you dont know as well, or is it only used to people that you kind of know?

 

[Mik2121]

Ok, i see, thanks for the answer! 'Ja mata kondo ne/na' is more like 'see you later'? (i searched on Google for it ). I wrote a message to a person on Playstation Network that i played online with, but i dont know him/her. Is 'Ja mata kondo ne/na' used to people that you dont know as well, or is it only used to people that you kind of know?

Uhm, for people online it's sort of a blurry line I think. I've got mails from people using the "じゃ、またこんどね", but other people use "今度もよろしくね" (kondo mo yoroshiku ne) or other stuff a bit more polite, but not really.. formal. I don't think you need to use keigo for people online, but if you do nobody will think it's weird at all. I myself barely ever send any message to strangers, but if I stay playing around with someone for a while and we sort of play together in a team and help out each other or something (happening sometimes in Modern Warfare 2), I will just send something like

なかなか楽しかったなぁ。 (It was a lot of fun)
じゃあ～わるいけど、僕は先に寝ます。 (Sorry but I'm going to sleep)
また今度もよろしくお願いします！。 (let's play again soon!)

Or stuff like that, you know

So I don't use all that 'casual' language with foreigners, but with friends it's a completely different world, talking trash about other people using the XMB chat during the waiting time between rounds in mw2 and whatnot :lol

 

[louis89]

日本のゲームのポッドキャスト（１ＵＰとかみたい）を知っている人がいたら教えてちょう～だい！

 

[345triangle]

Yeah, people should be picky about how they want to use entertainment material as supplemental tools. Most stuff out there doesn't have much practical use except for testing your reading or listening level, which you could be doing on more helpful material to aid in your studies.

However, if there must be at least one anime supplement, I'd recommend Sazae-san for low-to-intermediate level learners for picking up idioms, cultural aspects, and because it avoids exaggerated language that's found a lot in shonen media. But that's about the extent of what can be learned from it I think.

i don't like anime, but i watch sazae-san and chibi maruko-chan every sunday because my girlfriend insists. it's a good barometer i think! couldn't understand a thing at first, now it might as well be the simpsons.

 

[cvxfreak]

J-GAF, did anyone get their JLPT results today? I'm in Tokyo and got mine this morning.

I passed 2-kyuu! That said, it was by a narrow margin. It basically confirmed that I still need to increase my vocabulary, while grammar is my best point. Vocabulary is what's preventing me from performing comfortably on the first two sections.

 

[Netto-kun]

I was so sure that I failed my 2-kyuu. Pleasant to hear that I actually passed it.

 

[345triangle]

hey i have a JLPT question - i'll probably take it this december, but i want to know about the new 3-kyuu, which has come in between the old 2 and 3. does anyone have any idea about kanji/vocabulary lists for that level, or even rough numbers? like, the jump from the old 3 to the old 2 was pretty high, and i'm definitely somewhere in the middle, but i don't know how close i am to the new level.

there aren't any books in stores as far as i can see, and the closest thing to a resource i found was http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt3, but the quiz on that page is way easier than i expected - i know basically all the kanji and most of the vocab, so i'm not sure...2-kyuu still sounds pretty beyond me.

maybe i should just start studying for 2, then chicken out and go for 3 nearer the time. that's how i got an easy B in GCSE maths.

 

[Mik2121]

日本のゲームのポッドキャスト（１ＵＰとかみたい）を知っている人がいたら教えてちょう～だい！

あんまり詳しくないけど、確かにコナミの小島さんはポッドキャストやってたと思う。MGS4にも入ってたしな…

 

[Shouta]

I failed 1kyu by 13 points without studying an ounce. Makes me wish I had actually studied. :lol

 

[rex64]

http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/jlpt3

thx mate!
is that site reliable ?

 

[Kilrogg]

J-GAF, did anyone get their JLPT results today? I'm in Tokyo and got mine this morning.

I passed 2-kyuu! That said, it was by a narrow margin. It basically confirmed that I still need to increase my vocabulary, while grammar is my best point. Vocabulary is what's preventing me from performing comfortably on the first two sections.

Do people get their results earlier in Japan? I won't get mine until March :/.

What about the text reading part? This is my weakest point by far. I perform really well when it comes to vocabulary, kanji and listening, and do fairly well in grammar, but text reading is on a whole other level for me. I read too slowly, need too much time to understand what I'm reading, and struggle to get the nuances between the possible answers for each question. I completely botched it I think. I even had to randomly choose "2" for, like, 10 questions, due to lack of time. I think my concentration skills are too poor.

Considering how much text reading is worth, I'm not even sure I passed, even though I'm 100% sure I got at least 80/100 in both vocabulary and listening. I've got a bad feeling about this.

 

[345triangle]

thx mate!
is that site reliable ?

no idea, but it's all i could find!

i might use it to make some vocabulary lists on my iphone and go from there.

 

[Snytbaggen]

Is there any place where you can buy Japanese manga and ship to Sweden at a reasonable cost? I tried to read a raw of Yotsuba and discovered that I could understand most of it, so I want to pick up some of the books.

 

[Link1110]

Oh noes. the girl thread is about to invade this one!!

Seriously, though, I messaged a girl on OKCupid, and she messaged me back, calling me 君, I thought nothing of it until I was watching Keroro Gunsou with some friends today and realized that that's sort of a way of acting interested in somebody. When I message her back, what should I call her?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Oh noes. the girl thread is about to invade this one!!

Seriously, though, I messaged a girl on OKCupid, and she messaged me back, calling me 君, I thought nothing of it until I was watching Keroro Gunsou with some friends today and realized that that's sort of a way of acting interested in somebody. When I message her back, what should I call her?

What?

Do you mean she called you "kimi" or "your name-kun"?

If you are just messaging her, I don't really see why you would have to call her anything.

 

[Link1110]

She called me my name-kun. Since that's sort of a way to say a name that shows some sort of interest (or at least that's what I got from Keroro Gunsou,) I'd like to reply in kind. Would that be her name-chan?

 

[rex64]

Seriously, though, I messaged a girl on OKCupid, and she messaged me back,

dude, that's a bot

 

[Chrono Helix]

What's a polite way to refer to a complete stranger? I know normally you'd say (name)-san, but suppose you don't know the person's name?

Also, what's the difference between saying 写真をとってくれませんか and 写真をとってもらいませんか?

 

[Mikazuki]

What's a polite way to refer to a complete stranger? I know normally you'd say (name)-san, but suppose you don't know the person's name?

Also, what's the difference between saying 写真をとってくれませんか and 写真をとってもらいませんか?

My attempt, I'm far from an expert...

写真をとってくれませんか = Did you not give the picture?

写真をとってもらいませんか? = Did you not receive the picture?

 

[entremet]

When it comes to writing the Kanji to improve memorization and muscle memory, how much is enough? I usually fill an entire Moleskine page per Kanji, using Heisig book. It that enough?

 

[NaughtyCalibur]

Alright, so I'm really trying to kick it into overdrive now but I find burnout to be one of the main things holding me back. I try to do at least 50 kanji a day, but considering that that takes around 4 hours, it's so hard for me to stay focused. And then the reps in Anki take so long to complete as well, really discouraging me to continue. I've been doing my Anki rep today on and off for about 2 hours and still have (according to Anki) more than 2 hours to go. Ugh!

This marks the third time I've started RTK, and I've made it further than ever before and would hate to drop it and have to start all over again. But damn, I'm really going to look into getting me some adderall or something because I can't think of any other way to remain focused on this without losing my mind and just giving up altogether. :/

Maybe I should just cut it back to 20 a day + reps? I'm just in a hurry to get these kanji down so that I can finally move on with my studies and go into more advanced stuff. I've been on and off with Japanese for over three years now... it's time to either shit or get off the pot.

 

[Zoe]

My attempt, I'm far from an expert...

写真をとってくれませんか = Did you not give the picture?

写真をとってもらいませんか? = Did you not receive the picture?

You're taking it too literally. This is about asking for a favor.

The former is more polite.

 

[louis89]

What's a polite way to refer to a complete stranger? I know normally you'd say (name)-san, but suppose you don't know the person's name?

Also, what's the difference between saying 写真をとってくれませんか and 写真をとってもらいませんか?

That should be　もらえません ("can I receive...", rather than "will I receive...").

I found this explanation of the difference:

二つの表現の使い方の違いは、「～てくれる」では、与益者が主語になるのに対して、「～てもらう」では、受益者が主語になる点にある。

So with もらう, you're emphasisng the beneficiary (you). With くれる, you're emphasising the person doing the favour. It's like, "I was helped by John" versus "John helped me".

Alright, so I'm really trying to kick it into overdrive now but I find burnout to be one of the main things holding me back. I try to do at least 50 kanji a day, but considering that that takes around 4 hours, it's so hard for me to stay focused. And then the reps in Anki take so long to complete as well, really discouraging me to continue. I've been doing my Anki rep today on and off for about 2 hours and still have (according to Anki) more than 2 hours to go. Ugh!

This marks the third time I've started RTK, and I've made it further than ever before and would hate to drop it and have to start all over again. But damn, I'm really going to look into getting me some adderall or something because I can't think of any other way to remain focused on this without losing my mind and just giving up altogether. :/

Maybe I should just cut it back to 20 a day + reps? I'm just in a hurry to get these kanji down so that I can finally move on with my studies and go into more advanced stuff. I've been on and off with Japanese for over three years now... it's time to either shit or get off the pot.

All I can say is, the reason I study Japanese so much and so often is because I love it. If I didn't enjoy doing this, but still wanted to one day be fluent, it would be ten million times harder. I think the best thing is to try to make what you do fun. Doing RTK is boring. I'm a huge supporter of the Heisig method, but seriously, it's boring. So rather than that, I look up words I read on Engadget Japan, or hear in One Piece, or wherever, and learn their kanji (using Reviewing the Kanji) there and then. You don't ever want to have to force yourself to do it.

 

[NaughtyCalibur]

Thanks, man. This is pretty much what the cat over at AJATT says, but he also says that you should do RTK before going into sentence mining or anything else really, so it seemed very conflicting. I remember having fun just popping in a Japanese game and learning a few words/kanji here and there, but just wasn't sure how good of a study method that was. I think I'll stick to working through RTK, but not anywhere near as strictly as I used to. Like I said, maybe a maximum of 20 kanji a day, and if even that proves too boring I'll just cut it down even more in addition to just going back to doing what I found fun.

I know for a fact the RTK method works because I'm retaining so much of it, but I agree it's boring as shit so I've got to do other things to even remain interested in the language.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Failed 2級. Again. I don't know what it is. When I sit down for that test I just lose it. I actually did worse this time so it's really gotten me down.
Well, I know what it is. I need to read more. I just haven't been in the mood.

You should be doing RTK, but don't "worry" about it. Changing my mindset to "Let's see how many reviews I can do today." from "I must get all my reviews done today." has gotten me doing more reviews daily on average.

 

[shanshan310]

Your opinion is wrong, but that's okay.

I follow the "If I wasn't going to read it in English, why would I read it in Japanese?" line of thought. That's not to say I don't attempt Japanese literature, but I don't force stuff down my throat for the hell of it.
Vocab that I've picked up from manga, TV shows and hell even Yugioh have stuck better than most text book stuff.

:lol While i do think that manga, anime, games etc have helped me personally a lot to reinforce what language i do know, and also to familiarise me with spoken Japanese, a lot of the vocab i've picked up is pretty useless in daily japanese life (words like "tsubasa", "koshujisama" and "tamashii"... though maybe thats just the kind of anime i've been watching... =/ )

 

[RevenantKioku]

Yeah, but it's not like a Japanese person isn't going to know what those words mean. That's how I look at it. Words are words and if you pick up a "useless" one here and there it's not going to hurt you. I know plenty of useless English words but they make the learning more enjoyable.
I've heard and seen words I'd never thought I'd see again after seeing them in a game/manga/whatever.

 

[Shouta]

Speaking of that, I failed 1kyu by 13 points and I didn't study at all. Did way better than I thought. :lol

 

[mehdi_san]

I got my results too last week, and I actually passed the 2級 ! I was pretty excited when I got the result, because I was so busy that I didn't have enough time to study my 漢字. But the listening part saved me (93/100)
I heard that from this year on, they will require you to get more than 60% (was it 60%?) for each individual part of the test, and not on average like it was before. Things are gonna get more difficult...

 

[Cathcart]

So I'm pretty early in my studies. I've done RTK and I'm working on Tae Kim's site and I've done 21 lessons of Pimsleur in the car during my commute. So basically I know enough to ask you where the bathroom is and probably not enough to understand the response unless it's "over there"

Anyway, I'm going to be in Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March. I don't expect to have very interesting conversations with native speakers, but one thing I'd like to do before I get there is learn how to read a lot of food related words, especially menus. I found this really awesome photostream with pictures of signs in Japan and translations. Unfortunately there's not a ton in the section about menus. So I was wondering if anyone knew of something similar with some more details. I do plan on looking up a lot of food words and trying to find sample sentences and what not, but more real world examples like this would be great.

 

[Mik2121]

I got my results too last week, and I actually passed the 2級 ! I was pretty excited when I got the result, because I was so busy that I didn't have enough time to study my 漢字. But the listening part saved me (93/100)
I heard that from this year on, they will require you to get more than 60% (was it 60%?) for each individual part of the test, and not on average like it was before. Things are gonna get more difficult...

Really? Thanks god I got my 2級 a few years ago. I did fairly bad in the Kanji area and I don't wanna even try 1級 now :/

 

[mehdi_san]

Yeah I just checked their website, they changed quite a lot of things. Here's the quote about the notation system:

The requirements for passing have changed so that examinees must now exceed the minimum acceptable score for both the total as well as each scoring section. Failure to exceed the minimum acceptable score in any scoring sections will result in a fail for the entire test, even if your total score is above the minimum acceptable score. The purpose of setting a minimum acceptable score for each scoring section is to assess the comprehensive proficiency.
The minimum acceptable score for passing both the total score and each scoring section will be announced in 2010.

They still haven't decided on the minimum score for passing !!! I don't think they will be a lot of people taking this new exam this year. So many things aren't decided yet, and there are no books out there yet to get you prepared...

Oh and BTW, this is the worst page I have ever seen. With all the hiragana written like this, it is impossible to read it !

 

[Magypsy23]

Did they postpone the revision of the level system again? I heard the new Level 1 is supposed to be slightly harder, so I'm planning to take the test when the revision is implemented. Still no oral and writing sections though. :/

 

[mehdi_san]

It's already implemented, since the next test in July will be using the new system. It's just that the website is lacking some vital information, such as the pass/fail requirements ...

 

[rex64]

It's just that the website is lacking some vital information, such as the pass/fail requirements ...

there's a 70+ pages pdf guide on the official site

 

[mehdi_san]

there's a 70+ pages pdf guide on the official site

I know, but even in the PDF they don't give the details about the score limit for passing. Here's the quote from the PDF :

The minimum acceptable score for passing both the total score and each scoring section will be announced in 2010.

And it hasn't been announced yet...

 

[345triangle]

yeah, i read this yesterday. they are also actively not releasing word/kanji lists (or even amounts) for the new level or any others, because "learning japanese is not about memorising vocabulary", which i guess is a fair point, but not when i have zero frame of reference!

i'm going to study like i'd be taking 2kyuu in december, but go for the new 3kyuu instead - that should work out.

incidentally the pdf thing seems to imply that the pass/fail might not be set in stone from now on, and that they might adjust the parameters based on overall results because the questions change every year.

 

[-Mikey-]

So I picked up Basic Kanji Book Volume 1 today. I'm about half way through the first lesson and feel a bit lost.

Should I be learning Hiragana or Katakana characters first or will I be fine learning Kanji? I just am under the impression that I'm "missing" something.

 

[345triangle]

yeah you should absolutely learn those first, not least because almost every kanji study resource i've ever seen gives the readings in kana, and kanji are next to useless in sentences without them. they seriously won't take more than two or three days to learn - get heisig's 'remembering the kana' (i'm not big on his kanji books but this one is great) and you'll be set.

understanding kana and mora is the very first thing you should do in japanese study - even before 'konnichiwa', else you probably won't understand why it isn't 'konichiwa'. they're the foundation of the entire language.

 

[Shirokun]

So I picked up Basic Kanji Book Volume 1 today. I'm about half way through the first lesson and feel a bit lost.

Should I be learning Hiragana or Katakana characters first or will I be fine learning Kanji? I just am under the impression that I'm "missing" something.

Pretty much what Triangle said. Don't toss them aside like they're meaningless. You can "learn" each in about a week if you're serious.

Also, love your avatar, Triangle. 豆しば　＜３

 

[-Mikey-]

Thanks for the help guys. Placed an order for Remembering the Kana.

 

[louis89]

I got 97% in JLPT ３級 (including 100/100 in the listening). I'm not really that awesome though - I took it thinking it would be harder than it was. I should really have taken 2級. I'm looking at 2級　samples now and that's pretty much what I thought 3級 was going to be. I really thought my vocabulary wouldn't be up for the dreaded 2級 which everyone seems to fail all the time, but looking at 1級　samples, it's hard and I can't do a lot of it, but even a lot of those I can make a stab at. So I'm going to go for 1級 this year (and every subsequent year until I pass ).

 

[Jupiter_Shrooms]

Anyway know of a good place to look up the meaning of symbolic values? For example, I'm trying to find a good way to translate

口をへの字に曲げる

into English, but can't seem to find out what it means other than literally bending your mouth in an へ shape. Does it mean thinking hard and pensively?

To further explain what I'm looking for. In English, giving someone a thumb's up, is like telling them "Good job". But if you translated that into Japanese, the "Good Job" would be lost in translation.

 

[mehdi_san]

Anyway know of a good place to look up the meaning of symbolic values? For example, I'm trying to find a good way to translate

口をへの字に曲げる

into English, but can't seem to find out what it means other than literally bending your mouth in an へ shape. Does it mean thinking hard and pensively?

To further explain what I'm looking for. In English, giving someone a thumb's up, is like telling them "Good job". But if you translated that into Japanese, the "Good Job" would be lost in translation.

I looked on Google, and I found out that Yahoo has a Japanese/English dictionary ! First time I see it, and it looks pretty good. Here's a link for the page for "turn"
http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=turn&stype=1&dtype=1

and it has

(4)…を下に曲げる
・ turn one's lips down
（不快・不機嫌を表して）口をへの字に曲げる.

 

[Link1110]

What's the difference between　しはいする and とうそつする?

 

[RevenantKioku]

I asked the teacher next to me and she said that while both are similar, 統率 is generally used for a "positive" path, and 支配 can be either (or neither) but tends to be used in negative situations.

 

[Natetan]

Anyway know of a good place to look up the meaning of symbolic values? For example, I'm trying to find a good way to translate

口をへの字に曲げる

into English, but can't seem to find out what it means other than literally bending your mouth in an へ shape. Does it mean thinking hard and pensively?

 

[Kilrogg]

I got 97% in JLPT ３級 (including 100/100 in the listening). I'm not really that awesome though - I took it thinking it would be harder than it was. I should really have taken 2級. I'm looking at 2級　samples now and that's pretty much what I thought 3級 was going to be. I really thought my vocabulary wouldn't be up for the dreaded 2級 which everyone seems to fail all the time, but looking at 1級　samples, it's hard and I can't do a lot of it, but even a lot of those I can make a stab at. So I'm going to go for 1級 this year (and every subsequent year until I pass ).

Grats on your score, it's so close to 100% that it's impressive even if it's "only" level 3 . But yeah, you should probably have given level 2 a go, what with all the changes from this year on. Also, it seems that 2 and 1 are pretty much the only levels worth taking because 3 is not valued much (professionally, that is), let alone 4.

The reason why 1 looks so hard, aside from the obvious, is that the grammar requirements go beyond what every Japanese person knows and uses, at least from my experience. A friend of mine has just passed level 1, and our Japanese friends usually laugh when he uses 1kyû grammar, even if it's properly used .

Anyway, I thought I'd be "girigiri", as they say, or fail, but in the end, I passed 2kyû with 80%. I'm so happy right now! Reading comprehension, and to a lesser extent grammar are where I lost the most points, but I got 96/100 in the listening part. It used to be my weak point when I took 3kyû a few years ago, so I must say I'm kinda proud of myself. Aaaaand I'll stop boasting here.

I'll try and take 1kyû this year.