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[∀ Narayan]

Hey.

Isn't there a special term for what these two fine gentlemen are doing? I know there's a Japanese term for it that isn't SUPER SPECIAL DORITO NUT CRUNCH.

EDIT: Just remembered. Denki anma.

 

[NaughtyCalibur]

Big thanks to those of you who suggested the Reviewing the Kanji website. I never knew about that glorious place until I saw it mentioned in this thread. That site has been extremely helpful, as I've been burning through the kanji faster than ever. Because it was often very hard for me to come up with decent stories while going through RTK, it would sometimes take me several hours to do 50. Now with Reviewing the Kanji I'm doing a solid 30 a day and it's only taking me about 45 minutes. And my percentage in Anki proves that I'm remembering the kanji better than ever.

It's amazing how much faster things go when you're able to cut out the middle man (in this case, my imagination) with the stories already made up for you. As long as I stick with it, I should be done with the first book sometime in June.

 

[glddrgn]

Hey guys,

I'm currently working on my master thesis, for which I need to conduct a language learning experiment. Basically what I'm trying to do is to come up with new language learning methods.

For this, we have setup a website, which serves to introduce our main idea. The idea is for a website where people can ask for translations and grammatical corrections in any language, not specifically Japanese.

By posting here, I hope that we can attract some volunteers who would be willing to take the tour and fill in the survey at the end. From start to end, this will take about 10-15 minutes, which will allow us to make some conclusions for our dissertation.

I'm posting here because we specifically aim to reach language learners who are technology savvy and open minded about new language learning methods. Let's just assume Neogaf users fall under that category ;-)

Thanks so much for volunteering!

Link to the survey :

http://www.translapolis.org/tour

 

[Desiato]

Hey guys,

I'm currently working on my master thesis, for which I need to conduct a language learning experiment. Basically what I'm trying to do is to come up with new language learning methods.

For this, we have setup a website, which serves to introduce our main idea. The idea is for a website where people can ask for translations and grammatical corrections in any language, not specifically Japanese.

By posting here, I hope that we can attract some volunteers who would be willing to take the tour and fill in the survey at the end. From start to end, this will take about 10-15 minutes, which will allow us to make some conclusions for our dissertation.

I'm posting here because we specifically aim to reach language learners who are technology savvy and open minded about new language learning methods. Let's just assume Neogaf users fall under that category ;-)

Thanks so much for volunteering!

Link to the survey :

http://www.translapolis.org/tour

The link seems to be dead?

 

[glddrgn]

ugh, I hope it was just some temporary thing!

Seems fine right now..

 

[Desiato]

ugh, I hope it was just some temporary thing!

Seems fine right now..

Completed the survey. The website is a really cool idea. When are you planning on opening it?

 

[glddrgn]

thanks a lot! perhaps you're biased, being from the same country apparently


to be honest i dont know when it's going to open.. technically there's not that much more to do (bare minimum version)

A lot will depend on the initial reactions that I receive and to be very very honest, even gathering these preliminary reactions seems to take a lot of effort

 

["God's Beard!"]

Does anybody want some extra Japanese practice?

I have a huge favor to ask, if anybody is willing to help me.

The scanlation group that was working on Tetsuwan Girl got halfway through and died. It's a really good manga about women's lib, and I want to finish reading it. I can clean and edit all of it myself, but my Japanese is worthless. I am working on learning Japanese, but i'm an absolute beginner and it'll be years before I can translate a comic.

Here's my proposal:
If anyone wants to join me, I want to create a GAF scanlation group that works on abandoned raws. Even if it's only for a few chapters, even if your Japanese isn't perfect, I'd love to work with anybody that is interested. Japanese practice for you, photoshop practice for me, and an updated series for all the sad readers! All you have to do is send me simple scripts of the chapters, and I'll do the rest.

If you're at all interested in this sort of project, please, PLEASE, shoot me a message and we'll get to work immediately! I'll love you forever!

 

[Trojita]

So is using Rosetta Stone not recommended?

I am interested in learning Japanese. I was always pissed off that it wasn't offered at the school or colleges I went to. I always had to take Spanish. I would have really invested my time had it been Japanese

 

[RevenantKioku]

Rosetta has sound ideas but is ultimately boring. You'd be better off with anki and your own material from books, movies, etc.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Hey guys, I'm looking for online quizzes where you have to type in correct hiragana to answer correctly. For example:

Relation - __________ (Ｔｙｐｅ：かんけい）

Or, even:

関係　- ____________ (Type: relation)

Do you guys know of any of them?

 

[mehdi_san]

I knew this one where you have to chose the right answer : http://www.japanese-kanji.com/

 

[MadraptorMan]

It's multiple choice, but I think http://renshuu.org has stuff like that.

 

[vas_a_morir]

It's multiple choice, but I think http://renshuu.org has stuff like that.

That is mad win. Thank you, sir.

I have a weird thing happening in my dreams. People speak in really long Japanese sentences to me, and I respond, but incorrectly. Then I think about what the Japanese person said, and it is 100 percent correct. I was able, in my mind, to construct a Japanese conversation with perfect native pronunciation and native-level speed instantaneously, yet when I tried to respond to it, I reverted back to my intermediate level of conversation. The human mind is an amazing thing, sometimes.

 

[louis89]

Yeah, I've had dreams with people speaking to me in normal Japanese which I cannot myself produce before. Really weird.

 

[Shouta]

That is mad win. Thank you, sir.

I have a weird thing happening in my dreams. People speak in really long Japanese sentences to me, and I respond, but incorrectly. Then I think about what the Japanese person said, and it is 100 percent correct. I was able, in my mind, to construct a Japanese conversation with perfect native pronunciation and native-level speed instantaneously, yet when I tried to respond to it, I reverted back to my intermediate level of conversation. The human mind is an amazing thing, sometimes.

That means you just need to practice, forced to anyway. It means you have the skills but haven't had the push you need to force you to cross over and use it naturally.

 

["God's Beard!"]

Every time I see this thread I want to start learning Japanese again. I've gotta make it happen when class is out in a couple weeks.

 

[345triangle]

That is mad win. Thank you, sir.

I have a weird thing happening in my dreams. People speak in really long Japanese sentences to me, and I respond, but incorrectly. Then I think about what the Japanese person said, and it is 100 percent correct. I was able, in my mind, to construct a Japanese conversation with perfect native pronunciation and native-level speed instantaneously, yet when I tried to respond to it, I reverted back to my intermediate level of conversation. The human mind is an amazing thing, sometimes.

i get the same thing, but active and passive ability are very different. unfortunately! it does just mean we need more practice.

 

[vas_a_morir]

That means you just need to practice, forced to anyway. It means you have the skills but haven't had the push you need to force you to cross over and use it naturally.

Yes sir. That's why I joined the kei-ongaku club at my university. Not only do they (EDIT OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE I TYPED THAT!) *treat me as if I were* a god because I am white and can sing in English, but they speak no English, so on days we hang out, it's go time. (And it's Tokyo hang out; 17 hours, 4 different venues. These kids are mad rich.)

 

[Shouta]

Rich University kids? I'm jealous!

 

[Bullet82SWE]

Hey guys my sister is in Tokyo atm studying to be a Swedish-Japanese translator.
Where can i send her to go get me some cool gaming stuff, want some statues and shit .

 

[Metroid Killer]

Hey guys my sister is in Tokyo atm studying to be a Swedish-Japanese translator.
Where can i send her to go get me some cool gaming stuff, want some statues and shit .

Akihabara has plenty og gaming stuff, several stores dedicated to figures/statues.

 

[Bullet82SWE]

Akihabara has plenty og gaming stuff, several stores dedicated to figures/statues.

Sweet, thx.

 

[Rpgmonkey]

So I want to get back into Japanese podcasts.

But it seems I can't use the Yomiuri one without logging in to something, so anyone have any good suggestions?

I'd prefer something intended more for natives than those learning since I'm trying to get better at listening to more naturally spoken stuff, but if there's a practice one like that I'd appreciate that too.

 

[bbsting120]

Quick question that I am having trouble finding an answer to...

What does putting ことです　on the end of a sentence do exactly? Like what does this translate to and when should you use it?

 

[mehdi_san]

So I want to get back into Japanese podcasts.

But it seems I can't use the Yomiuri one without logging in to something, so anyone have any good suggestions?

I'd prefer something intended more for natives than those learning since I'm trying to get better at listening to more naturally spoken stuff, but if there's a practice one like that I'd appreciate that too.

I like to listen to the Hideo Kojima web radio, where he talks about not only games but also books, music,... in Japanese (http://www.kjp.konami.jp/gs/hideoblog/). I think it has been replaced right now by KazRadio, a sort of audio drama with the actor who plays Kazuhira Miller in the game Peace Walker, but it's also very fun to listen to.
And for learning Japanese, I think Japanese Pod 101 has a great variety of podcast for all levels (http://www.japanesepod101.com/, registration required but it's free!). I haven't listened to them in a while, but it did help me a lot before.

Quick question that I am having trouble finding an answer to...

What does putting ことです　on the end of a sentence do exactly? Like what does this translate to and when should you use it?

Is it ことです　only, or ということです (because I hear this one a lot more)?

 

[KTallguy]

I really liked the Kojima podcast but now that it's Kazu I don't really like it anymore.

"読む"ことです。 = the act of "reading"
putting こと after a verb makes it a noun.


ということです。

Kind of hard to translate this out of context, but if someone says "Why doesn't this work?" and you give them a long explanation, and add this at the end to "finish" the thought.

コンピュータが壊れているみたいが、何でですか？

えっと、まず○○○、そして×××、最後に△△△、ということです。

So it's like a thought finisher... or something.

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

Hey all,

I am looking to pick up the ol' Japanese language again, and besides the bare tourist basics, I have no true skills in learning

I want to go into a class, or get a personal tutor, but I am a little embarrassed . But should I bite the bullet or try and use some books/audio tapes stuff first??

 

[MadraptorMan]

Hey all,

I am looking to pick up the ol' Japanese language again, and besides the bare tourist basics, I have no true skills in learning

I want to go into a class, or get a personal tutor, but I am a little embarrassed . But should I bite the bullet or try and use some books/audio tapes stuff first??

If you are motivated enough, stuff like Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone will certainly help you get to a certain point, but eventually you are gonna want to learn from a teacher/tutor. At least that's how I feel.

That said, there are tons of self-study resources on the internet, too. As for books, I recommend the Genki textbooks.

 

[Vox-Pop]

I'm taking a Japanese 101 class in the Fall and wanted to know if they are any good books to gain a head start?

 

[Mecha_Infantry]

If you are motivated enough, stuff like Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone will certainly help you get to a certain point, but eventually you are gonna want to learn from a teacher/tutor. At least that's how I feel.

That said, there are tons of self-study resources on the internet, too. As for books, I recommend the Genki textbooks.

Thanks. What I'll probably do is the self courses for now until summer is out and over (World Cup, gym, movin gout..it's all going to be busy!), so I'll look for a tutor then!

What I'll do is also see if I can get a one on one rather than just a class, or maybe a small class. My aim is to have it as a second tongue, rather than me moving out there. But I can't rule that out as yet because I've always wanted to live there

 

[MadraptorMan]

I'm taking a Japanese 101 class in the Fall and wanted to know if they are any good books to gain a head start?

I would try to learn hiragana and katakana on your own before the class starts, it will give you a good little head start. You could use a site like this one.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Anyone studying for N2?

 

[zoku88]

Hey, I'm trying to read some manga and I'm in a bit of a pickle with two things:

着にくい　 -- when I've seen にくい before, it was usually after a verb stem （　わかりにくい or something like that.) I'm not sure what this would mean though. Could it be difficult to wear? The full sentence is 着にくい服ね

Also

こうでいいのかしら - What is こう? Is this slang for ここ or something? I can't find anything that makes sense given the context in my dictionary. Actually, are there any good slang japanese dictionaries? (like urbandictionary for japanese or something.)

 

[Zoe]

Hey, I'm trying to read some manga and I'm in a bit of a pickle with two things:

着にくい　 -- when I've seen にくい before, it was usually after a verb stem （　わかりにくい or something like that.) I'm not sure what this would mean though. Could it be difficult to wear? The full sentence is 着にくい服ね

Yep. difficult/hard

Also

こうでいいのかしら - What is こう? Is this slang for ここ or something? I can't find anything that makes sense given the context in my dictionary.

this/this way
こうでいいのかしら = I wonder if this is okay...

 

[Shouta]

N1 coming up for me on Sunday. I hopefully pass this time and not fail by a few points like last time.

 

[MadraptorMan]

Hey, I'm trying to read some manga and I'm in a bit of a pickle with two things:

着にくい　 -- when I've seen にくい before, it was usually after a verb stem （　わかりにくい or something like that.) I'm not sure what this would mean though. Could it be difficult to wear? The full sentence is 着にくい服ね

Also

こうでいいのかしら - What is こう? Is this slang for ここ or something? I can't find anything that makes sense given the context in my dictionary. Actually, are there any good slang japanese dictionaries? (like urbandictionary for japanese or something.)

The　着 in that 着にくい actually is a verb stem, because the verb 着る is a regular ru-verb (it conjugates into きます in long form, not きります, if that helps you understand).

For your second question, try to think of こう as "this way," or "like this". I'm not sure of the context for the sentence though, so it could mean something slightly different. As for a Japanese urban dictionary, the best I know of is http://alc.co.jp/; it's not really a slang dictionary but it does seem to have a lot of colloquial phrases and words included.

 

[zoku88]

Yep. difficult/hard

So, "difficult to wear clothes" is an apt translation for 着にくい服 ? Can you do that in general? Put にくい after things that don't come from verbs? (sorry if that question isn't clear.)

EDIT: just saw the post above. Thanks for that, didn't recognize the verb. (I never saw きる with kanji, though I feel ashamed for not being able to guess. Well, I kinda did, but you know what I mean.)

this/this way
こうでいいのかしら = I wonder if this is okay...

and that's a less formal version of こち which is less formal than きちら ?

 

[RevenantKioku]

N1 coming up for me on Sunday. I hopefully pass this time and not fail by a few points like last time.

I feel like such a botard. Taking N2. I don't know what it is, but I'm always just barely failing this test.

 

[May16]

When applying for a job -- like an all-Japanese one, not teaching English or one where there are any English speakers -- is there a certain cultural super-polite phrase that I'm supposed to use that I might not know about yet?

Like, I mean specifically stuff out of the Town Work magzines and things. When they get my applications or when calling the people, are they expecting to see some certain polite catchphrase on there?

I'm just trying to be on guard for some cultural oddity of applying for a job in Japan.

 

[zoku88]

Sorry, having a problem with another sentence.

(this isn't as bad as it sounds, I thnk)

あいを脱がしては着せて -- I think it would mean something like "undressing ai is wearing" the direct object is in the background picture I guess. It sounds like the sentence should translate something closer to, "undress ai and put on", though.

The &#12390;&#12399; part is bothering me. I immediately think of sentences like &#12375;&#12394;&#12367;&#12390;&#12399;&#12384;&#12417;&#12384;&#12424;&#12290; So it sounds like it is describing the action of undressing as the action of putting something on, which doenst make sense to me >_<

 

[Zoe]

and that's a less formal version of &#12371;&#12385; which is less formal than &#12365;&#12385;&#12425; ?

No, it's its own word. It's just like &#12381;&#12358;

 

[Kilrogg]

Good luck to you both, RevenantKioku and Shouta.

I'll take N1 in December and hopefully pass. I recently bought the Kanzen Master series of books (vocabulary, kanji and grammar) for N1 (actually, the vocab one is for N1 and N2) and started to go through them a few days ago. They're not too shabby as far as I can tell.

I also got this (Donna toki dou tsukau). It's a sort of grammar compendium. Will definitely come in handy every time I ask myself how I should say something in Japanese. Very often, that is. Also, the explanations are in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. They went to great lengths to please learners of Japanese :lol.

 

[Kruhex]

I know people say you mainly learn a language your passionate about, I understand that but I have a question about the Japanese and Chinese languages.

Beyond learning Japanese for your hobbies, have you ever been able to use it or has it ever been of benefit to you in your line of work? I was thinking of taking either Chinese or Japanese and people always say "Chinese for business" but I always question what the hell do people mean by "business"? That's an extraordinarily broad term.

 

[Zoe]

I know people say you mainly learn a language your passionate about, I understand that but I have a question about the Japanese and Chinese languages.

Beyond learning Japanese for your hobbies, have you ever been able to use it or has it ever been of benefit to you in your line of work? I was thinking of taking either Chinese or Japanese and people always say "Chinese for business" but I always question what the hell do people mean by "business"? That's an extraordinarily broad term.

Are you asking what it means to be studying "business" Japanese?

I don't know about Chinese, but in the Japanese business culture you're expected to speak and act a certain way, and that is something that's not really taught in normal/introductory courses.

As for actually using it, there's potential with any international company that has a presence in Japan. I have friends at Dell and AMD who get to use their Japanese on business trips.

 

[Kruhex]

Are you asking what it means to be studying "business" Japanese?

I don't know about Chinese, but in the Japanese business culture you're expected to speak and act a certain way, and that is something that's not really taught in normal/introductory courses.

As for actually using it, there's potential with any international company that has a presence in Japan. I have friends at Dell and AMD who get to use their Japanese on business trips.

I meant just mainly for jobs around North America. People always say "learn Chinese, it's amazing for business and the future". However, people aren't specific enough in terms of what they classify as "business". Does this business pertain to something like engineering, finance, and so on.

 

[zoku88]

No, it's its own word. It's just like &#12381;&#12358;

Huh, ok. I just couldn't find it in a dictionary.

EDIT: Actually, I just found it. Didn't think it would actually be a word with kanji.

Anyway, anyone know

Sorry, having a problem with another sentence.

(this isn't as bad as it sounds, I thnk)

&#12354;&#12356;&#12434;&#33073;&#12364;&#12375;&#12390;&#12399;&#30528;&#12379;&#12390; -- I think it would mean something like "undressing ai is wearing" the direct object is in the background picture I guess. It sounds like the sentence should translate something closer to, "undress ai and put on", though.

The &#12390;&#12399; part is bothering me. I immediately think of sentences like &#12375;&#12394;&#12367;&#12390;&#12399;&#12384;&#12417;&#12384;&#12424;&#12290; So it sounds like it is describing the action of undressing as the action of putting something on, which doenst make sense to me >_<

?

 

[Zoe]

Huh, ok. I just couldn't find it in a dictionary.

WWWJDIC can't find it by itself, but Rikaichan/kun can.

Anyway, anyone know

That's odd without further context...

&#30528;&#12379;&#12427; &#12304;&#12365;&#12379;&#12427;&#12305; (v1,vt) (1) to put clothes on (someone); (2) to plate; to gild; to veneer; (3) to accuse (of some crime); to give (a bad name); (P)

Could be "accused of undressing Ai"

 

[Kilrogg]

Sorry, having a problem with another sentence.

(this isn't as bad as it sounds, I thnk)

&#12354;&#12356;&#12434;&#33073;&#12364;&#12375;&#12390;&#12399;&#30528;&#12379;&#12390; -- I think it would mean something like "undressing ai is wearing" the direct object is in the background picture I guess. It sounds like the sentence should translate something closer to, "undress ai and put on", though.

The &#12390;&#12399; part is bothering me. I immediately think of sentences like &#12375;&#12394;&#12367;&#12390;&#12399;&#12384;&#12417;&#12384;&#12424;&#12290; So it sounds like it is describing the action of undressing as the action of putting something on, which doenst make sense to me >_<

Hmm, could you give us some context? Right now I can't make sense of the sentence at all, but that might be because I don't know what comes before/after it or because I'm just not good enough in Japanese .

 

[zoku88]

Before this section, one of the characters was talking about how he made clothes for her stake

The previous sentence is "&#25480;&#26989;&#20013;&#12394;&#12435;&#12363;&#12418;”

”&#12354;&#12356;&#12434;&#33073;&#12364;&#12375;&#12390;&#12399;&#30528;&#12379;&#12390;”

Cue background pictures of different costumes (yes, this manga is kinda odd)

”&#33073;&#12364;&#12379;&#12390;&#12399;&#30528;&#12379;&#12390;&#12392;&#22916;&#24819;&#12375;&#12390;&#12427;&#12435;&#12384;&#12424;"

WWWJDIC can't find it by itself, but Rikaichan/kun can.

Is that that one extension for firefox?