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[NaughtyCalibur]

So I just want to be able to read manga, watch anime, and play games in native Japanese. Are there any resources geared specifically toward this or is it just the same as learning the language?

Not sure if I understand the question, but it sounds like you want to only learn enough Japanese necessary to read manga, watch anime and play video games. So you want to become fairly fluent primarily in reading and understanding spoken Japanese. That's a pretty broad question. I mean, there are resources such as Japanese/English dictionaries and kanji dictionaries that could prove helpful. Denshi Jisho is a pretty good site for starters.

i am really starting to struggle with japanese and am realising i am probably not dedicated/disciplined enough for it.

i am first year psych student at uni (at 23yrs old) and japanese was one of my electives last semester (japanese 1a). i enjoyed it alot and went well, for the semester i got 80/100. basically we learnt basic sentences, all the hiragana, katakana and we did about 5 kanji a week.

however, this semester i am struggling to keep up (japanese 1b). the workload is just too much, and kanji especially i just find too difficult. i used to think i was comfortable with vocab/grammar etc and kanji was my only difficulty, but we had a test on friday worth 30% of the course and i got 22/100 for it. this semester we are doing about 15 kanji a week and a huge more amount of grammar and vocab. there was just so much i didn't know how to answer, huge sections i left blank.

i'm just about to (hopefully) start a part time job as well, which will leave even less time to focus on japanese. its gonna suck but i don't see myself passing this semester.

This is why I tell people to stay away from Japanese courses for the most part if they're A) new to Japanese and B) not majoring in Japanese. I took the introductory Japanese class 2 years ago when I was really determined to learn it, and although I breezed through it (because I already knew quite a bit of the basic stuff), I saw so many people get fed up, worried about their GPAs and just began to loathe the language. To hell with that stress, man. Unless you either absolutely need to take the course, or feel 100% confident that your Japanese skills are at least on par with the course, don't subject yourself to it.

 

[Wads]

i am really starting to struggle with japanese and am realising i am probably not dedicated/disciplined enough for it.

i am first year psych student at uni (at 23yrs old) and japanese was one of my electives last semester (japanese 1a). i enjoyed it alot and went well, for the semester i got 80/100. basically we learnt basic sentences, all the hiragana, katakana and we did about 5 kanji a week.

however, this semester i am struggling to keep up (japanese 1b). the workload is just too much, and kanji especially i just find too difficult. i used to think i was comfortable with vocab/grammar etc and kanji was my only difficulty, but we had a test on friday worth 30% of the course and i got 22/100 for it. this semester we are doing about 15 kanji a week and a huge more amount of grammar and vocab. there was just so much i didn't know how to answer, huge sections i left blank.

i'm just about to (hopefully) start a part time job as well, which will leave even less time to focus on japanese. its gonna suck but i don't see myself passing this semester.

Can't you just drop the class? School just started right?

 

[Jake.]

i live in australia, academic year is different. i gotta wait it out basically and just try to somehow pass (55%). i seriously doubt i'll continue next year, though.

 

[345triangle]

I just started learning Hiragana. I'm using the "Remembering the Kana" book. I really just started using it though and I think I know like 5 symbols... A, E, I, O, U. This is super hard for me, but slowly but surely I guess...

Oh, and I wish I could just download this shit like the Matrix or flash like Chuck or something... life would be so much easier...

i taught myself both in like two days using that book. just quickly blitz through the whole thing and read the words at the bottom covering the english for review.

edit: wait you live in japan now? holy hell just read the entire book then and practice with signs on the subway!

 

[Deeku]

i live in australia, academic year is different. i gotta wait it out basically and just try to somehow pass (55%). i seriously doubt i'll continue next year, though.

Yeah, if you're struggling now intermediate will be hell for you. I did beginner for my hsc 6 years ago and decided to take Intermediate I & II as electives at uni this year and the workload was seriously a big shock. Not as fun as I was expecting.

But yeah, I have listening, written and oral tests this week for the topics "Giving directions" and "Gifts"

 

[Wads]

i taught myself both in like two days using that book. just quickly blitz through the whole thing and read the words at the bottom covering the english for review.

edit: wait you live in japan now? holy hell just read the entire book then and practice with signs on the subway!

Yeah, I actually just started with the book. Makes it a lot easier and I'm retaining it now. I was having a hard time remembering it without any rhyme or reason. I was actually just trying to practice on the subway, but I didn't recognize most of them, but that makes sense since I'm only only lesson 2.

 

[345triangle]

yeah but because of the way that book is written, if you read everything really quickly then you'll eventually be like "oh i remember that one" based on the stories for each character. it'll take a while for you to be a fast reader but the sooner you get them all in your head the sooner you can make sure they stay there by reinforcement.

the guy says only do one lesson a day but i don't think that should apply for someone who is constantly seeing these characters in his environment. worked for me at least!


where are you in japan, anyway? at least it has a subway...

 

[Wads]

yeah but because of the way that book is written, if you read everything really quickly then you'll eventually be like "oh i remember that one" based on the stories for each character. it'll take a while for you to be a fast reader but the sooner you get them all in your head the sooner you can make sure they stay there by reinforcement.

the guy says only do one lesson a day but i don't think that should apply for someone who is constantly seeing these characters in his environment. worked for me at least!


where are you in japan, anyway? at least it has a subway...

Staying in Tokyo. Just met a girl who offered to help me learn Japanese!

 

[PolarBearsClub]

So I'm taking a Japanese class at university and it's been pretty good so far.

Could somebody help me out on a homework question though?

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0072408154/332934/01_34.mp3

I need to figure out what these two people are talking about. I know the girl asked the guy what his plans are for the weekend and he does something until noon but I don't understand what it is. Then he says he watches TV. Then the girl invites him to go somewhere, and the guy interprets it as a date or something.

I've been trying to do this for the last 20 minutes but I can't find anything in my book that will help. Thanks.

 

[Zoe]

Dude, Kawamura totally blew it :lol

大抵、お昼ごろまで寝ます

 

[louis89]

Christ, that reminds me of my Japanese homework last year... *shudders*

My cousin just moved to Nagoya. Seems like everyone gets to live in Japan but me. Screw you people! All of you!

 

[Askia47]

Half Way through RTK at Frame 1026! I want to Finish the Book by Mid-November!

 

[RevenantKioku]

Good luck! And if you feel it starts to become easier, that means it's working!

 

[345triangle]

anyone taking JLPT in december? i guess i should start studying.

 

[mehdi_san]

anyone taking JLPT in december? i guess i should start studying.

What level are you going for?

 

[Masked Man]

anyone taking JLPT in december? i guess i should start studying.

N1. My current courseload doesn't afford me nearly as much time as I would like for studying, but I'm at least doing grammar practice every day.

And if you haven't started studying yet, I dunno how well things will turn out for you...

 

[345triangle]

i'm going for N3.

i am terrible at studying for anything, and i've got this far in japanese without really doing any - when i say "this far" i mean "possibly might pass N3", so we'll see how it goes! i'm pretty sure i know all the kanji and fairly sure i'm good enough with the grammar...vocabulary might be a sticking point, i don't know.

 

[Askia47]

I did poorly on the JLPT4 twice before. Maybe next year I'll try again, but not before mastering basic grammar.

 

[Shouta]

Forgot to sign up for the JLPT this time. I've failed the N1 by a few points two times though without much studying, so if I actually bothered studying, I might actually pass.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Forgot to sign up for the JLPT this time. I've failed the N1 by a few points two times though without much studying, so if I actually bothered studying, I might actually pass.

How do you know that? As far as I can tell there is no way to know what constitutes a "passing" score. At least, nothing when I last looked.

Anyway, I'm doing N2 again. I don't know what my problem with these tests are.

 

[Shouta]

How do you know that? As far as I can tell there is no way to know what constitutes a "passing" score. At least, nothing when I last looked.

Anyway, I'm doing N2 again. I don't know what my problem with these tests are.

They tell you on the website what percentage you need to get to pass, can just figure it out from there. I think they even tell you how many points you need out of the total possible.

 

[RevenantKioku]

They tell you on the website what percentage you need to get to pass, can just figure it out from there. I think they even tell you how many points you need out of the total possible.

Oh, okay. It wasn't there as of the last time I checked, which I think was a day or so before the last test.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Oh. I failed by one point last time. Cool.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Gaf Japanese geniuses, I have a question:

I'm making a long presentation about gender inequality for class this month. I'm wanting to say:

"The waiting list for daycare can be so long that parents must sometimes apply for admittance before the child is born."

I am decent at Japanese, but fuck if that ain't a tough one for me.

 

[vas_a_morir]

昨今の日本では、待機児童増加の為、両親は出産前から保育園に予約を入れる場合がある。

Ｈｏｗ　ｂｏｕｔ　ｔｈａｔ？

 

[MadraptorMan]

デイケア・センターの入会の順番待ちリストは時々両親が子供が生まれる前に応募しなくてはいけないほど長い場合もあります。

Here's my take...I'm sure there's a more elegant way to say it though.

 

[vas_a_morir]

デイケア・センターの入会の順番待ちリストは時々両親が子供が生まれる前に応募しなくてはいけないほど長い場合もあります。

Here's my take...I'm sure there's a more elegant way to say it though.

Yeah, to me, the Japanese way strips it of its irony.

 

[cnet128]

How about...

デイケア施設の順番待ちリストがあまりにも長くなっており、子供が生まれるよりも前に名前を連ねておかなければならない場合すらあるという。

 

[Wads]

Could someone tell me how to say "Can you deliver flowers?" in our alphabet?

 

[Physalis]

Is anyone here taking Chinese, post-Japanese study, in school?

I received my minor in Japanese just this past Spring, so I'm currently taking Chinese. So far, the difficulty is like night and day, Chinese being the easier of the two.

The grammar mirrors English to a high-degree, vocabulary really isn't a problem, speaking is relatively simple, and the hanzi are very easy to memorize as there's usually a single reading. The hardest part for me is listening, but I'm sure with time it will become easier.

That being said, Japanese is way too hard for what it is. It takes me FOREVER to come up with grammatically correct, smooth-flowing sentences, and the kanji, good god the kanji.

Maybe my training in the language has helped my mind learn better/more efficiently? What say you, GAF?

Also, I'm thinking of taking the JLPT for shits and giggles jsut to see how I do... I'm thinking of going directly into Level 3, maybe even 2!

 

[Deleted member 17706]

昨今の日本では、待機児童増加の為、両親は出産前から保育園に予約を入れる場合がある。

Ｈｏｗ　ｂｏｕｔ　ｔｈａｔ？

That's definitely the best one in the thread, but I think the reason is a bit flawed, since 待機児童 are the result of not being able to enter a child care facility, and not the reason for not being able to enter one, or for applying to enter one before birth.

It's a bit different than a direct translation of your English, but how about something simple like this?

「希望者が多く、希望する保育所にすぐに入所出来ない場合があるため、生まれる前から保育所の入所申請をする親がいる。」

 

[cnet128]

Is anyone here taking Chinese, post-Japanese study, in school?

I received my minor in Japanese just this past Spring, so I'm currently taking Chinese. So far, the difficulty is like night and day, Chinese being the easier of the two.

The grammar mirrors English to a high-degree, vocabulary really isn't a problem, speaking is relatively simple, and the hanzi are very easy to memorize as there's usually a single reading. The hardest part for me is listening, but I'm sure with time it will become easier.

That being said, Japanese is way too hard for what it is. It takes me FOREVER to come up with grammatically correct, smooth-flowing sentences, and the kanji, good god the kanji.

Maybe my training in the language has helped my mind learn better/more efficiently? What say you, GAF?

I've certainly considered the possibility of studying Chinese (after majoring in Japanese), and I have a friend who's doing exactly that. However, aside from my simple reluctance to do any more academic study now that I've finished my degree, there are a couple of things stopping me from looking into Chinese.

Firstly, there's the pronunciation, which is incredibly intimidating. I pride myself on generally having an excellent pronunciation in foreign languages (German and Japanese), but I get the feeling I'd never be able to get Chinese down to the same level. There are some unusual sounds in there, and those tones just scare the crap out of me.

The other factor is the hanzi. Kanji have always been my weakest point in Japanese (probably because I'm terrible at actually sitting down and actively making myself learn them). You say that hanzi are easier because they only have a single reading, but the readings have never been a sticking point for me in Japanese - I pick those up pretty easily, and indeed as far as reading ability goes, I'm practically fluent. It's just the writing that I can't handle. In Chinese, without kana to fall back on, I doubt I'd be able to write *anything*, which is a little off-putting --;

From what I've seen of the language, I can see what you mean about the grammar, though. It looks both very close to English and extremely simple. Oddly enough, this is also something of a negative for me, since I found the grammar to be probably the most satisfying part of learning Japanese. Japanese grammar is so very different from English and other Western languages, but at the same time feels so much more logical that I found it a joy to study. I get the feeling Chinese grammar may be relatively logical as well, but being so similar to English and so simple might make it feel less interesting than Japanese was for me.

 

[Shirokun]

Could someone highlight the difference(if there is a discernible one) between personal pronounには and personal-pronounにとって?

For example:

私にはこれは大変重要なことです。

vs

私にとってこれは大変重要なことです。

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Could someone highlight the difference(if there is a discernible one) between personal pronounには and personal-pronounにとって?

For example:

私にはこれは大変重要なことです。

vs

私にとってこれは大変重要なことです。

They more or less overlap in examples like yours, but they aren't interchangeable.

For example, you couldn't replace には with にとって in these sentences: "私には夢がない", or "私には友達がいない".

Also, you wouldn't be able to replace にとって with には any time a の follows にとって. (ex. "私にとっての大学生活")

I'd suggest just Googling "私にとって" and "私には" to read some sentences to get a feel for the differences.

 

[Shirokun]

They more or less overlap in examples like yours, but they aren't interchangeable.

For example, you couldn't replace には with にとって in these sentences: "私には夢がない", or "私には友達がいない".

Also, you wouldn't be able to replace にとって with には any time a の follows にとって. (ex. "私にとっての大学生活")

I'd suggest just Googling "私にとって" and "私には" to read some sentences to get a feel for the differences.

Thanks for clearing it up a bit.

 

[shanshan310]

Who's doing the JLPT exam next week!

I signed up, but I'm finding all the practice questions pretty easy. The teacher convinced me to try for N4, but I really wanted to do N3. I also know this will look a ton better on my resume, and other 留学生 are telling me N3 wouldn't be too hard at my level.
With just over a week till exam time, is it too late to change?

EDIT:
Does anyone have any good recommendations for JLPT study guides? I found the Nihongo so-matome books to have a lot of good vocab, at least.

 

[vordhosbn]

How would go about saying ­"Maybe liking school is a bit weird." ­I put "学交が好きのはちょっとへんでしょう" which is probably wrong. Any help?

 

[Cheesemeister]

I'm taking N1. I hope I do better than last year's 52.5%.

 

[louis89]

I'm taking N2. I have no time to study so I'm hoping I've watched enough TV shows to just intuitively know the answers. >__>

How would go about saying ­"Maybe liking school is a bit weird." ­I put "学交が好きのはちょっとへんでしょう" which is probably wrong. Any help?

I would say

学校が好きだということがちょっと変かも知れません

 

[vordhosbn]

I'm taking N2. I have no time to study so I'm hoping I've watched enough TV shows to just intuitively know the answers. >__>


I would say

学校が好きだということがちょっと変かも知れません

a little complicated, but thank you.:lol

 

[louis89]

To be honest the only things wrong with yours were the lack of a な after 好き, and the fact that でしょう doesn't really mean "maybe".

 

[Jikagi]

I am taking N4, even though it'll definitely be easy, but probably next time I'll take N2. Maybe next year or in 2012 in June.

 

[Zoe]

Figured people here would get a kick out of this: Cee Lo - Fuck You (Japanese Subtitle Version)

It's funny seeing how they translate some of the stuff. Gotta say I've never heard くたばっちまえ though :lol

 

[Shirokun]

I'm taking N2 next week, but am a little unsure about it. I took a part of it over the summer as part of my sensei's research, and I didn't recognize about a third of the grammar, although I did good on the reading section. I haven't done the sort of studying I needed to since then, so it's kinda up in the air right now.

Figured people here would get a kick out of this: Cee Lo - Fuck You (Japanese Subtitle Version)

It's funny seeing how they translate some of the stuff. Gotta say I've never heard くたばっちまえ though :lol

I like how they translate "Well ain't that some shit" :lol

 

[KTallguy]

Yea, the translation is pretty good!

 

[cntr]

I'm learning the kanji through Heisig's method, and surprisingly, this is actually fun.

 

[345triangle]

Who's doing the JLPT exam next week!

I signed up, but I'm finding all the practice questions pretty easy. The teacher convinced me to try for N4, but I really wanted to do N3. I also know this will look a ton better on my resume, and other 留学生 are telling me N3 wouldn't be too hard at my level.
With just over a week till exam time, is it too late to change?

EDIT:
Does anyone have any good recommendations for JLPT study guides? I found the Nihongo so-matome books to have a lot of good vocab, at least.

i'm doing N3 too, and yeah the so-matome books are the ones i've been using. i really haven't studied very much, though! i'd say i knew about 70% of the stuff in each book before opening them for the first time, so who knows. whether i pass or fail will just depend on what comes up, i guess.

also i have absolutely no idea what to expect from the listening section

 

[RevenantKioku]

I'm learning the kanji through Heisig's method, and surprisingly, this is actually fun.

That's the best part about it. It's almost painless!

 

[cntr]

I would like for you to explain why kanzi is the most linguistic logical way to spell kanji.

Explain to me how a Z sound is closer than a J.

Really really late on this, but here's the reasoning:

sa, shi, su, se, so
za, ji, zu, ze, zo
ta, chi, tsu, te, to

You notice how the -i line is has different pronunciation? That's because of a phenomenon in Japanese where the sounds before change to a different sound, this is known in linguistics as palatalization. Russian has something similar. So, from a linguistic perspective, si, zi, ti (and tu) make sense.

...but from a perspective of general English speakers, shi, ji, chi, and tsu make the most sense, since it more closely approximates the actual pronunciation.

And if you're wondering, most of the sounds in the -i syllables have different sounds due to palatalization. hi has a sound closer to English "human" in certain dialects, rather than a regular h.

 

[cntr]

This might come in handy: http://sites.google.com/site/nihilistorguk/

It's a font that displays Kanji in a handwritten style, with the stroke number next to each stroke.