Support NeoGAF

[KtSlime]

anyone else's JLPT results come through today? turns out i passed N3 pretty comfortably, so i'm going to start working towards N2 for this summer.

おめでとう。

But for some reason I thought you were already able to pass N2.

Anyway, good luck!

 

[KtSlime]

hello j-gaf

First of all I'm a beginner!

I've learned Hiragana and Katakana and bought Remembering the Kanji.

Should I use Anki right from the beginning? And where do I get my sentences from ?

I'm quite confused right now..

Any SRS is good to use. I personally find SRS on my iPhone to be great - I can review flashcards whenever I have time.

I recommend learning the onyomi (chinese reading) of kanji using jyukugo words (compounds of 2 or more characters). It's probably the most efficient use of your time, and you will get a good sense of how characters meanings effect and relate to other characters in the compound.

 

[Cheesemeister]

anyone else's JLPT results come through today? turns out i passed N3 pretty comfortably, so i'm going to start working towards N2 for this summer.

I'm still waiting on my N1 results, but I did get my visa change of status notification. It took less than a week. I was shocked.

 

[RevenantKioku]

合格！
☆☆☆━━ヽ(･∀&#65381ﾉ━(∀･&#65417━(･ﾉ )━ヽ( )ﾉ━( ヽ&#65381━(ヽ･&#8704━ヽ(･∀&#65381ﾉ━☆☆☆

 

[Cheesemeister]

合格！
☆☆☆━━ヽ(･∀&#65381ﾉ━(∀･&#65417━(･ﾉ )━ヽ( )ﾉ━( ヽ&#65381━(ヽ･&#8704━ヽ(･∀&#65381ﾉ━☆☆☆

おめでとう！2級？

 

[warthog]

Use this site while working through Remembering the Kanji. Keeps track of reviews and has lots of user submitted stories.

I focused solely on RTK when I started - didn't bother with vocab or grammar until I had finished the first book and it worked out pretty well. If you want to work through some vocab on the side you could try the shared Core2000 Anki deck, but it might be a little difficult with no kanji under your belt.

That will come in handy. Thank you.

 

[Mikazuki]

hello j-gaf

First of all I'm a beginner!

I've learned Hiragana and Katakana and bought Remembering the Kanji.

Should I use Anki right from the beginning? And where do I get my sentences from ?

I'm quite confused right now..

I learned all the General Use (常用/Jouyou kanji) before sentences or even kana and would recommened that to anyone else learning.

When I did go onto learning sentences with Anki, I started with this book:

Shortly after that I moved on to the Japanese Nintendo Virtual Console site and started having serious fun.

 

[RevenantKioku]

おめでとう！2級？

うん、それから奥さんは「おめでとう！はい、今から１級の勉強して」言ったけど。。。ヾ(*^▽^)

 

[shanshan310]

anyone else's JLPT results come through today? turns out i passed N3 pretty comfortably, so i'm going to start working towards N2 for this summer.

No Us not-living-in-Japan-ers have to wait until March...

 

[KtSlime]

うん、それから奥さんは「おめでとう！はい、今から１級の勉強して」言ったけど。。。ヾ(*^▽^)

wwwww

おめでとう、頑張って！

俺も１級を勉強してる。

 

[Castor Krieg]

Is there a similar tread here for Mandaring Chinese (Simplified)?

 

[KtSlime]

Is there a similar tread here for Mandaring Chinese (Simplified)?

Not that I know of, but I wish there was. I'd like to get advice and tricks on studying it.

 

[Wads]

Not that I know of, but I wish there was. I'd like to get advice and tricks on studying it.

Create one and they will come.

 

[Masked Man]

合格された方、おめでとうございます☆

自分はアメリカにいるのでまだ結果待ちですが…

 

[louis89]

うん、それから奥さんは「おめでとう！はい、今から１級の勉強して」言ったけど。。。ヾ(*^▽^)

日本人かよお前？

 

[cntr]

Create one and they will come.

Yeah, I would be very interested in such a thread.

 

[Cheesemeister]

Holy.

Fucking.

SHIT.

Spoiler

1級合格！

 

[Masked Man]

Holy.

Fucking.

SHIT.

Spoiler

1級合格！

Spoiler

Congrats on being a member of the elite 34%! \(^^)/

 

[Shouta]

Holy.

Fucking.

SHIT.

Spoiler

1級合格！

Gratz man, I wish I had remembered to turn in my shit for the december test >=(

 

[bigmit3737]

1) "Does Yuka want kids?"

How do you ask this in Japanese?
Is there more than one way to say this?

Hiragana please!


2) "Does Yuka want to travel"

Translate this one too, please.

Thank you.

 

[Mik2121]

うん、それから奥さんは「おめでとう！はい、今から１級の勉強して」言ったけど。。。ヾ(*^▽^)

僕も3年前に2級とってんけど、1級無理やわww
漢字多すぎてワロタw

1級とった人みんなおめでとうー☆
僕はもう尊敬語とか丁寧語半分忘れてるから今さら勉強しようと思っても、時間の無駄にしかならん・・(^O^)／

 

[adam.chance]

Hello, fellow Japanese learners.

I am trying to set up an intense learning plan for the next few months. I am a current law school student and I will be spending my last semester of law school in Tokyo through a study abroad program. It is my desire to somehow work with Japan in a future career. I would like to increase my level of Japanese as much as possible before I leave for Japan this coming December.

I have many hours of listening, but little practical experience in Japanese and I rarely speak it. I have down Hiragana and Katakana. I have covered this first 700 kanji in RTK, through AnkiSRS and am comfortable with those kanji. I know basic grammar and sentence construction. My vocabulary is sporadic and was largely learned through Japanese media, but I have been trying to pick up more vocabulary used in everyday speech.

Here is what my rough study plan looks like:

• Kanji – Continue work on “Remember the Kanji”. This would involve working on daily reviews through AnkiSRS and 30 new Kanji per day.

• Writing – Each Kanji from my SRS reviews would be written out, as well as the grammar exercises.

• Grammar – Read and do the exercises provided by Tae Kim.

• Vocabulary – I plan on working on expanding my vocabulary through everything listed here, but also working through things like “My Japanese Coach” on the Nintendo DS and the “Japanese for Busy People” series.

• Sentences – I want to try to make my own sentences using my Kanji dictionary to help me translate my sentences. This is the area that I need to move into and would love some extra advice on others who have taken this step. I know about AJAAT and will have to go back and reread the site.

• Reading – I am planning on working Remembering the Kanji 2 into my daily AnkiSRS, but learning to read Japanese is definitely the on area I know the least about.

• Verbal – I like watching J-Drama and Anime, so my plan is to audibly repeat the sentences (mostly from the dramas) and record my voice so that I can compare what I sound like to native speakers.

• AJAAT-ing – Using hearjapan.com, japanfiles.com, and various pod-casts I have been able to replace most of my American music (which I hate anyway, but that is a different story). As previously discussed I have lots of Anime and J-Drama available that I can watch, as well. I do not have much reading material, but there is a local grocery store that sells a Japanese newspaper (I haven’t really looked at it, so I am not sure which one). I have been trying to convert my environment into a Japanese language environment as much as possible. Since social media has begun to catch on recently in Japan, I was planning on trying to incorporate things like japan based facebook friends and follow Japanese celebrities on twitter.

I am interested in making some sort of weekly assignment list for myself, but am not entirely sure about what ratio of time to apply to the various categories above. Even though I am in law school, I still find myself having a large amount of free time and I wish to start devoting that time to my future goal. Any help regarding tips on reading or sentence construction would be appreciated. Also, if someone could help me come up with a good weekly schedule or recommend where I should be spending most of my time, I would be very appreciative.

Thanks,
Adam.chance

 

[Jikagi]

I got my N4 results today, and I passed.

 

[Masked Man]

１級合格！

Spoiler

166/180

Seriously can't believe it. I might actually cry.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

１級合格！

Spoiler

166/180

Seriously can't believe it. I might actually cry.

Nice! Congrats! How long have you been studying Japanese? Have you tried taking the JLPT before?

 

[Masked Man]

Nice! Congrats! How long have you been studying Japanese? Have you tried taking the JLPT before?

Thanks! I've been studying for 2 years and 7 months as of Feb. 15th. This was my first experience with JLPT, too; I cursed The Japan Foundation for deciding to institute a new test the year that I decided to take it, lol.

 

[shanshan310]

I got my N4 results today, and I passed.

Hi five for that. I managed to get 100% for listening.

Thanks! I've been studying for 2 years and 7 months as of Feb. 15th. This was my first experience with JLPT, too; I cursed The Japan Foundation for deciding to institute a new test the year that I decided to take it, lol.

You are my new idol. Really, congrats.

 

[Zoe]

Thanks! I've been studying for 2 years and 7 months as of Feb. 15th. This was my first experience with JLPT, too; I cursed The Japan Foundation for deciding to institute a new test the year that I decided to take it, lol.

Studying specifically for the test or in general?

Cause WOW if the former.

 

[Shirokun]

Thanks! I've been studying for 2 years and 7 months as of Feb. 15th. This was my first experience with JLPT, too; I cursed The Japan Foundation for deciding to institute a new test the year that I decided to take it, lol.

That's nuts. Care to shed some light on your apparently God-like study habits?

 

[Evening Musuko]

Thanks! I've been studying for 2 years and 7 months as of Feb. 15th. This was my first experience with JLPT, too; I cursed The Japan Foundation for deciding to institute a new test the year that I decided to take it, lol.

Are you Khatzumoto by any chance?

Congrats BTW!

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Thanks! I've been studying for 2 years and 7 months as of Feb. 15th. This was my first experience with JLPT, too; I cursed The Japan Foundation for deciding to institute a new test the year that I decided to take it, lol.

Nice! I had been studying Japanese for just over 3 years when I passed 1-kyuu back in 2005. Very impressive, and congratulations again! Do you plan to study or work in Japan at all?

 

[Masked Man]

You are my new idol. Really, congrats.

I'm definitely not worthy of idolatry, but I appreciate the sentiment! ;D

Studying specifically for the test or in general?

Cause WOW if the former.

Oh my god, I would kill myself if I had been studying for JLPT for that long. One semester was more than enough, thankyouverymuch. :lol

That's nuts. Care to shed some light on your apparently God-like study habits?

Let's see... I was transferring to a new school, so the summer before my sophomore year, I started about a month-and-a-half of self-study using Genki I and Basic Kanji Book Vol.1. (IIRC I started using Anki to reinforce the kanji that I was doing with BKB.)
I finished that up and tested into 201 for the fall semester, and thus started using Genki II in class. I did a lot of the textbook's aural exercises and continued working on the rest of BKB in my spare time, along with absorbing whatever other Japanese sources I could find. I translated song lyrics, read Itoi Shigesato's blog, listened to news broadcasts, etc. (I remember falling in love with the announcer's inflection when he said 東京からニュースをお伝えします :lol)
I completed the BKB Vol.2 over Winter Term and continued similar study habits throughout the second semester.

I was set to go abroad to Kyoto for a year starting that next fall, so I took the summer as an opportunity to go through the Intermediate Kanji Book Vol.1 and do any other sort of Japanese-related work that I could get my hands on. (I also started IKB Vol.2, but I never got around to finishing it... I have about 3-4 more lessons, I think.) I then spent a year studying at Doshisha in Kyoto while living with a family in Shiga. The youngest of their kids--a year older than I--was the only one who spoke any English, but he was rarely around, so I had little choice but to converse in Japanese. :lol I still have all of my notebooks from my Japanese classes last year: I would look up any and all new words in both English and Japanese, and I would approach all new kanji with a similar technique to how they are presented in the BKB/IKB series.

My study abroad finished up in May, so I came back to the U.S. for a little bit, and then returned to Japan for about a month-and-a-half to do an internship with a company in Saitama. Again, very few people that I encountered were conversant in English, so I was speaking Japanese almost all of the time, including the members of the three(!) host families that I had. (Even the woman with whom I lived first--who is absolutely one of the most wonderful people that I've met--is proficient in English, but she decided not to bother because she wanted to help me improve by speaking Japanese. <3)

I came back to the U.S. (again :lol) and enrolled in 451 just so that I could still take a Japanese class of some kind. It wasn't very fulfilling because people's respective levels were so disparate, but it was nice to have some Japanese in my life. As for JLPT, I made meticulous notes on the grammar patterns in the N1 and N2 editions of &#32207;&#12414;&#12392;&#12417; by listing their explanations and examples, and cross-referencing them with examples from the three &#26085;&#26412;&#35486;&#25991;&#27861;&#36766;&#20856; by Makino-sensei, &#26085;&#26412;&#35486;&#25991;&#22411;&#36766;&#20856;, &#23436;&#20840;&#12510;&#12473;&#12479;&#12540;, and the grammar book from some ancient series called &#26085;&#26412;&#35486;&#33021;&#21147;&#35430;&#39443;&#12395;&#20986;&#12427;. Essentially, I was developing some sort of grammar compendium... :lol I didn't really study a lot of kanji because I felt like I was already pretty comfortable in that regard. (I could read all of the words that I encountered, and I had a pretty good sense of the meanings of any words that I didn't understand.) As for vocab, I didn't start worrying about it until about a month before the test, so I just started lifting the words that I got wrong on the practice tests from &#26085;&#26412;&#35486;&#33021;&#21147;&#35430;&#39443;&#30452;&#21069;&#23550;&#31574;&#25991;&#23383;&#12539;&#35486;&#24409;1&#32026;&#8213;&#27169;&#25836;&#12486;&#12473;&#12488;&#20840;15&#22238; and getting them in my notebook. I also went through the reading comprehension book from the &#26085;&#26412;&#35486;&#33021;&#21147;&#35430;&#39443;&#12395;&#20986;&#12427; series just to get some basic test-taking techniques under my belt as well.

I dunno if that is of any use, and I apologize for blabbering, but that just about summarizes my dealings with Japanese up until now. :O

Are you Khatzumoto by any chance?

Congrats BTW!

No, I'm just me. :lol I think he's been studying for a while now. But thank you!

Nice! I had been studying Japanese for just over 3 years when I passed 1-kyuu back in 2005. Very impressive, and congratulations again! Do you plan to study or work in Japan at all?

Oh, awesome--and thank you very much! I actually have a two-year job set, so I will be leading the Eigo Core curriculum (first-year English classes) at J.F.Oberlin (&#26716;&#32654;&#26519 in Machida. Beyond that, though, I have a not-so-secret desire to work for GameFreak/TPC... or &#12411;&#12412;&#26085;&#21002;&#12452;&#12488;&#12452;&#26032;&#32862; :lol

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Interesting! I first started learning Japanese while I was staying with a family in Shiga for a couple of months during the summer back in 2002. I was 17 at the time and it was the family of a Japanese friend of mine, but she since she worked during the week, and no one else spoke English, I really had to learn quickly. Immersion is definitely key to learning a language!

 

[sotodefonk]

Hi. My brother probably will be working in technical support for Japan, he does that right now in english, so he knows how to treat amarican customers, but, the new job will be completely japanese and he thinks it'll be a lot different.

We tried to find some audio records from a japanese call center but with no luck. Does anyone know where we can find a good source to find what to say, how to address to customers, etc. and if anyone know where can we find audio examples or text examples for this?

 

[louis89]

I passed 2&#32026;

I found it harder than I was expecting and thought I might fail, but I passed reasonably comfortably. Guess I'll be going for 1&#32026; in December.

 

[Masked Man]

Yayyyy~
Congrats, louis! The nice thing about taking N1 next December is that you will have three tests worth of "precedent" and, thus, three tests worth of example problems from this new format. Good luck!

 

[bigmit3737]

"&#12354;&#12375;&#12383;&#12418;&#12288;&#12383;&#12398;&#12375;&#12356;&#12288;&#12356;&#12385;&#12395;&#12385;&#12288;&#12434;&#65281;"

Can someone translate this please?

I'm confused about the sentence structure.
I have an idea what she's talking about but the sentence structure seems very obscure.

 

[Zoe]

"&#12354;&#12375;&#12383;&#12418;&#12288;&#12383;&#12398;&#12375;&#12356;&#12288;&#12356;&#12385;&#12395;&#12385;&#12288;&#12434;&#65281;"

Can someone translate this please?

I'm confused about the sentence structure.
I have an idea what she's talking about but the sentence structure seems very obscure.

What's the context?

On its own, it's "To tomorrow also being a fun day"

 

[bigmit3737]

What's the context?

On its own, it's "To tomorrow also being a fun day"

I met up with a Japanese friend, and I said, "Yesterday I had a good time".


This sounds very proverb-like to me.

 

[Raide]

"&#12354;&#12375;&#12383;&#12418;&#12288;&#12383;&#12398;&#12375;&#12356;&#12288;&#12356;&#12385;&#12395;&#12385;&#12288;&#12434;&#65281;"

Can someone translate this please?

I'm confused about the sentence structure.
I have an idea what she's talking about but the sentence structure seems very obscure.

"Ashita mo tanoshii ichinichi wo." Damn, Hiragana practice slowly pays off.

Structure seems odd but it might be more casual, hence omitting certain words/objects since they expect you to understand via context.

"Tomorrow will also be a fun day" (I think) seems to be what it means but it always takes a while to get use to Japanese sentence structure.

 

[Zoe]

I met up with a Japanese friend, and I said, "Yesterday I had a good time".


This sounds very proverb-like to me.

Nah, it's not a proverb, just cultural etiquette hoping that your next day will be as good as the last.

 

[cntr]

"Ashita mo tanoshii ichinichi wo." Damn, Hiragana practice slowly pays off.

The final "wo" there is probably "o", since that's the particle.

it always takes a while to get use to Japanese sentence structure.

I guess I should be glad I already speak a language with a Subject-Object-Verb word order and an agglutinative morphology. :v

 

[Zoe]

The final "wo" there is probably "o", since that's the particle.

I always prefer to write the 'w'. Same with 'h' for &#12408;.

I admit I'm inconsistent with writing 'wa' for &#12399; though.

 

[Shouta]

The final "wo" there is probably "o", since that's the particle.

I guess I should be glad I already speak a language with a Subject-Object-Verb word order and an agglutinative morphology. :v

From a practical standpoint, wo is better because it differentiates the particle version from the normal one when you type in romaji.

 

[KtSlime]

I always prefer to write the 'w'. Same with 'h' for &#12408;.

I admit I'm inconsistent with writing 'wa' for &#12399; though.

If I must use romaji I always use the modified nihon wiki with double vowels rather than a circumflex, unless it is a word that has gained a preferred, likely hepburn spelling within English. i.e.: mahou syozyo -> mahou shojo; ninzya -> ninja.

nihon siki is probably comfortable for me because that's how I type, and I learned Japanese from Jordan. =(

 

[louis89]

Are we having another 3 page+ romaji debate?

 

[Jikagi]

Finally, after 3 months, I finished with RTK 1! It took a long time but I definitely think it was worth it!

 

[bigcheese]

I'm thinking of getting some kanji drill books because I have a hunch writing practice would benefit me a lot in reading. Can anyone comment on this series or recommend me another? I know there are some DS games for kanji practice, but I think I would prefer it on paper.

 

[Mandoric]

I'm thinking of getting some kanji drill books because I have a hunch writing practice would benefit me a lot in reading. Can anyone comment on this series or recommend me another? I know there are some DS games for kanji practice, but I think I would prefer it on paper.

I can't comment on the games, but I can say that in my experience the best way to learn kanji is to sit there writing them over and over while mumbling the readings to yourself. So you're on the right track.

 

[clav]

All right. With my 3 year affair with the Japanese language and then some more after college by myself, I'm going to pick up Chinese.

That way I'll probably won't have a difficult time to "relearn" Kanji when I come back to learning more Japanese later.