The Big Ass Superior Thread of Learning Japanese

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Man, I wish someone would have answered my question before it got buried. I'm legitimately curious.

Edit: "What exactly will (or can) you do with a degree in Japanese? I was under the impression that all you could truly do was teach english, and I've heard that doesn't have much room for advancement."
 
cousins said:
Man, I wish someone would have answered my question before it got buried. I'm legitimately curious.

Edit: "What exactly will (or can) you do with a degree in Japanese? I was under the impression that all you could truly do was teach english, and I've heard that doesn't have much room for advancement."
Click to expand...

If you had a time machine and went back to the 40's you could write a book on the culture. If you went to the 60's you could write a book on the language. If you went to the 80's you could become a businessman or importer. If you went to the 90's you could start a company to translate anime and manga to English. Currently there is not much you can do with the degree. You can teach Americans Japanese, you can teach Japanese English, you can be an interpreter for government officials and businessmen (with some extra special training), you can do imports/exports, you can translate 'literature'. And that's about it.
 
ivedoneyourmom said:
If you had a time machine and went back to the 40's you could write a book on the culture. If you went to the 60's you could write a book on the language. If you went to the 80's you could become a businessman or importer. If you went to the 90's you could start a company to translate anime and manga to English. Currently there is not much you can do with the degree. You can teach Americans Japanese, you can teach Japanese English, you can be an interpreter for government officials and businessmen (with some extra special training), you can do imports/exports, you can translate 'literature'. And that's about it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

How competitive do you think a position teaching Americans Japanese at a University would be? I get the feeling that it would be hard for someone who isn't Japanese to even be considered for a position. Could you get a bachelors degree in Japanese and get a masters degree in linguistics? And, if you were to get a degree in Japanese linguistics, would that count as a general linguistics degree, or would it be too specialized to get general linguist jobs?
 
Fugu said:
Open for both. Same deal with さ and き, although those are pretty much always connected in fonts. I've only ever seen り and ふ connected when they're written with a brush; I don't think anyone handwrites them that way.
Click to expand...


I do. Seen much handwriting by Japanese?
 
Bugger. : (

Got my certificate to say that I passed the JLPT at the N2 level today. I passed by two marks at 91/180, but I didn't revise during the four weeks immediately before the exam, and a pass is still a pass.

I've now just realised that they misplaced two of the letters in my name, a mistake carried over from my test voucher. There's nothing I can do about this, can I?
 
gerg said:
I've now just realised that they misplaced two of the letters in my name, a mistake carried over from my test voucher. There's nothing I can do about this, can I?
Click to expand...

Actually you can, I had the same mistake (they misspelled my name)

You can contact them and have a new correct certificate. I don't remember the details, just check the JLPT documentations
 
this is my first time jumping into this thread. I read the OP but wasn't sure how updated it was with resources and info and I don't want to wade through 60+ pages.

I studied Japanese for about 4 years over 10 years ago and I pretty much forgot everything. I can pronounce and write the hiragana and katakana but can't read shit to save my life.

I want to get back into studying this and be MUCH better at it. Any tips from this thread that might not be in the OP?
 
Hi,

I'd say that before picking it up again you probably need to address why you took such a long break, motivation is extremely difficult to maintain so it's a good idea to get a system in place that forces you to do a bit everyday - even when you don't feel like it.

I just picked up a Vita and set it up with my Japanese PSN account, I've promised myself I'm only going to play Japanese games/demos and therefore if I want to enjoy my new shiny toy - I'm going to have to do Japanese.. even if I don't want to study and just want to play :D

Sorry to hijack, but I also have a quick question. I just spotted this sentence somewhere:

彼女は自分の立場を分かっていない。

And well, I'm puzzled - how come it's を, as 分かる is an intransitive verb isnt it? o_O
 
cousins said:
Man, I wish someone would have answered my question before it got buried. I'm legitimately curious.

Edit: "What exactly will (or can) you do with a degree in Japanese? I was under the impression that all you could truly do was teach english, and I've heard that doesn't have much room for advancement."
Click to expand...

Interpreting and translation, Tourism, Teaching (Japanese or English at various levels), various government departments, business - particularly those that deal with Japanese clients and require knowledge of customs etc, journalism and the media, research (university lecturing), Diplomacy. My country's former prime minister is an ex-diplomat that has a degree in classical Chinese, just as an example that a language can really take you where ever you want to go. You are only limited, as they say, by your imagination. It also depends on your proficiency, of course.

I went to a great lecture last year where alumni talked about the paths they took. One graduated with a BA in Japanese, worked at a ski resort in Nagano or some where where she was scouted by a Japanese variety show, hosted that for a while, left Japan and started a company here that helps liaison between the Japanese and mining companies or something. Another guy took his Japanese skills and studied law at a Japanese university, and recently retired into teaching Japanese.

One of my university's Japanese senior lecturers is Australian. Her Japanese is pretty good, and she mainly teaches first years (as well as helping honours students with their Japanese thesis). University lecturing is more research focused though. Its definitely possible. Its also fairly competitive. I can understand your desire to teach at university though. High school kids are uninterested and even upon graduation have been taught only the basics. I'd much rather teach passionate people.
 
shanshan310 said:
Interpreting and translation, ～中略～ I'd much rather teach passionate people.
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（´∀｀）ノおかえり～。　アカバン喰らうと解かれるまでにすごい時間かかるのね(´･ω･｀)
 
RoyalFool said:
Sorry to hijack, but I also have a quick question. I just spotted this sentence somewhere:

彼女は自分の立場を分かっていない。

And well, I'm puzzled - how come it's を, as 分かる is an intransitive verb isnt it? o_O
Click to expand...


Normally, 「をわかる」 is ungrammatical. When you do encounter 「をわかる」, you'll notice it's in phrases like 「彼女は自分の立場を分かっていない」、「彼の気持ちをわかって欲しい」、「他人をわかろうともしない」、「誰も私のことを分かってくれない」. Notice a pattern? 「をわかる」 infers an effort on the subject's part to comprehend the object.
 
I want my JLPT results back already ;.; I can't wait anymore!

Gacha-pin said:
（´∀｀）ノおかえり～。　アカバン喰らうと解かれるまでにすごい時間かかるのね(´･ω･｀)
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ありがとう＾＾一ヶ月はちょっと長過ぎだと思うけど、しょうがないね。:p

freelance translating jobゲットした！大変よ。死にたい。でも！お金がすごくいいのだから、頑張ってる！
 
Help! Can anyone translate these Japanese names?!

sBAOt.png
 
Shirokun said:
I'm not great with names, but I got most of them except for the first one:

1. Nishi/Sei/Sai... something or other
2.Kitazawa Kumiko
3. Tamaoka Hitomi
4. same as 3
5. Omura Hiroshi

I hope it helps a bit
Click to expand...

Thankyou so much! It helps a LOT.

EDIT: Its Nishimatsu Haruka, I googled the JAL CEO >.<
 
Is it a part of your freelance job?
As for the name, there is no rule for the pronunciation.

extreme ex) You named your kid &#12375;&#12429;&#12371; and you can &#40658;&#23376; for it.

So you have to ask them what you should read their name.
 
Does anyone know where I can videos of Japanese junior high-school level Kanji?

I tried on Youtube, found one set only, but I wasn't satisfied.

Sometimes I like to just kickback and drill Kanji into my head this way.
 
I'm looking to buy an electronic dictionary as I don't have a iPhone.

I wanted to spend around $200. Any recommendations?
I prefer something that allows me to use a stylist to write in kanji.
 
So I started JPS101. First year courses in fourth year, woo. First few weeks should be coasty until I actually have to start remembering vocabulary and words and things ==;;
 
Good Luck Jint :D

bigmit3737 said:
I'm looking to buy an electronic dictionary as I don't have a iPhone.

I wanted to spend around $200. Any recommendations?
I prefer something that allows me to use a stylist to write in kanji.
Click to expand...

buy a DS and get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O2S9VQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It'll be significantly better than any dictionary you'd get for $200. Its got a stylus for writing kanji (you can look up ones you don't know), and its generally very good.
 
bigmit3737 said:
I'm looking to buy an electronic dictionary as I don't have a iPhone.

I wanted to spend around $200. Any recommendations?
I prefer something that allows me to use a stylist to write in kanji.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest getting an iPod Touch and the Midori dictionary app. There are plenty of stylus options to choose from - I use the Pogo Sketch - and you can always use the device for more than its dictionary function.
 
Thanks for the suggestions regarding the dictionary.

Does that game for the DS have a multiradical search as well for Kanji?

At the moment, I have a Kindle Fire, but it doesn't seem to allow Japanese input nor do I know of any useful apps for it.
 
ivedoneyourmom said:
Fancy. :lol

I think most agree that the Casio EX-Word is the go-to denshi jisho.

http://casio.jp/exword/
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Seconding the Casio choice. Although they are more expensive than $200. A friend's got a SHARP one and happy with it too, and those are a bit cheaper.
I think the DS app is pretty decent, especially for the price, but quite inferior to a proper electronic dictionary. Don't remember it having search by radicals, it also only has a jump function for English, and you have a limited time to write a kanji you're looking for. I spent first year and a half in college using it, and getting a Casio at that point was so much better.

If the iPod Touch allows for Japanese input on websites and you'll often use it somewhere with Wi-Fi, I'd go with that for a cheap solution, rather than the DS. You can likely get some dictionary apps, but you can also use sites, and there are some good ones that offer a lot of functionality and word usage examples.
 
95% on hiragana test!!!

Eff you, wa.

shanshan310 said:
buy a DS and get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000O2S9VQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It'll be significantly better than any dictionary you'd get for $200. Its got a stylus for writing kanji (you can look up ones you don't know), and its generally very good.
Click to expand...

This looks awesome. I see that it is region free. Are there any other DS Japanese language games like this that are also region free?
 
Count Dookkake said:
95% on hiragana test!!!

Eff you, wa.



This looks awesome. I see that it is region free. Are there any other DS Japanese language games like this that are also region free?
Click to expand...

All DS games are region free, there are many teaching tools for the DS by Media-5, Genki, and a few others but I have never tried them.
 
bigmit3737 said:
I'm looking to buy an electronic dictionary as I don't have a iPhone.

I wanted to spend around $200. Any recommendations?
I prefer something that allows me to use a stylist to write in kanji.
Click to expand...

See if zkanji fits your bill. It's free and includes an anki-like SRS learning function.

It's a brilliant jap<->eng dictionary software (free, hosted on sourceforge) and you can create your own dictionaries, do kana training, add kanji to long-term testing, do long-term SRS testing (writing them electronically with the mouse, writing the kana ("normal" letters automatically turn into kana) and meaning. You can also only pick 1 or 2 of these three categories.

http://zkanji.sourceforge.net/
 
Count Dookkake said:
95% on hiragana test!!!

Eff you, wa.



This looks awesome. I see that it is region free. Are there any other DS Japanese language games like this that are also region free?
Click to expand...

Well done man ^^

I know there's Japanese language coach, and also an "Anpanman to asobo" game designed to help Japanese kids learn hiragana/katakana and possibly kanji? Its all in Japanese, but it looks pretty good. I haven't played it though, only seen ads.

Here's a screenshot:

s9069ffdf2930cf5f77550313e0c38216.jpg
 
Torraz said:
See if zkanji fits your bill. It's free and includes an anki-like SRS learning function.

It's a brilliant jap<->eng dictionary software (free, hosted on sourceforge) and you can create your own dictionaries, do kana training, add kanji to long-term testing, do long-term SRS testing (writing them electronically with the mouse, writing the kana ("normal" letters automatically turn into kana) and meaning. You can also only pick 1 or 2 of these three categories.

http://zkanji.sourceforge.net/
Click to expand...

oh man, this software looks so sweet, unfortunately no osx version. have to try with wine.
 
Mecha said:
All DS games are region free, there are many teaching tools for the DS by Media-5, Genki, and a few others but I have never tried them.
Click to expand...

Durr, I totally forgot that. This certainly makes this a lot easier.

Kilrogg said:
Well done, pops.
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Get off my lawn!

shanshan310 said:
Well done man ^^

I know there's Japanese language coach, and also an "Anpanman to asobo" game designed to help Japanese kids learn hiragana/katakana and possibly kanji? Its all in Japanese, but it looks pretty good. I haven't played it though, only seen ads.

Here's a screenshot:

s9069ffdf2930cf5f77550313e0c38216.jpg
Click to expand...

I recognize these characters from a children's hiragana book that a Japanese friend gave me. It was her son's.

I will have to look this one up.

Also, "kaban."
 
As we're on the topic of denki jishou, I have an iOS app on the AppStore called Japanese Study Kit. It's got various bits and bobs for helping to study (jdict/kanji dict/tanaka campus/flash cards/web-browser etc).. Here are some redeem codes, if you guys fancy giving me some feedback and ideas for other widgets please do. It only went up a few weeks ago so it needs a lot of polish still, stuff like writing practice is still in development. I won't link directly.

LLYNENLRL9L3
K4HRY66M6KAK
FNFJPMXJRXKF
H96377K7RYWR
3YPLFH6LT7WT

I'd highly recommend getting an iTouch or an iPad if you are studying Japanese. I use Anki on the iPad far more than the Mac version, and reading Kanji on a retina display is awesome.
 
RoyalFool said:
As we're on the topic of denki jishou, I have an iOS app on the AppStore called Japanese Study Kit. It's got various bits and bobs for helping to study (jdict/kanji dict/tanaka campus/flash cards/web-browser etc).. Here are some redeem codes, if you guys fancy giving me some feedback and ideas for other widgets please do. It only went up a few weeks ago so it needs a lot of polish still, stuff like writing practice is still in development. I won't link directly.

LLYNENLRL9L3
K4HRY66M6KAK
FNFJPMXJRXKF
H96377K7RYWR
3YPLFH6LT7WT

I'd highly recommend getting an iTouch or an iPad if you are studying Japanese. I use Anki on the iPad far more than the Mac version, and reading Kanji on a retina display is awesome.
Click to expand...

Took the first code. I'll play around with it and let you know what I think. I'm always on the lookout for a new study app. Thanks!
 
ivedoneyourmom said:
Took the first code. I'll play around with it and let you know what I think. I'm always on the lookout for a new study app. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Cheers. I find a lot of the jishou apps on the store are re-branded Japanese apps and so are not all that geared towards learners. Simple stuff like ordering results by frequency and allowing wild cards and partial results (rather than forced searching via start/end of word) makes it much quicker to find stuff I don't already know.
 
So would I be correct in assuming that it's better to learn the individual kanji making up multi-kanji words before learning the entire word itself?

I found that the multiple kanji words are a lot harder to remember without learning the individual ones that compose it. I feel like I've made a fatal error in going about studying this.
 
PoorFate said:
So would I be correct in assuming that it's better to learn the individual kanji making up multi-kanji words before learning the entire word itself?

I found that the multiple kanji words are a lot harder to remember without learning the individual ones that compose it. I feel like I've made a fatal error in going about studying this.
Click to expand...

For a lot of them, yeah it probably helps. Just with the stroke order and stuff. But I wouldn't say you need to know all of them. I mean, I learnt the kanji for &#27578;&#12377;before I learnt the kanji for &#21448;.
 
shanshan310 said:
For a lot of them, yeah it probably helps. Just with the stroke order and stuff. But I wouldn't say you need to know all of them. I mean, I learnt the kanji for &#27578;&#12377;before I learnt the kanji for &#21448;.
Click to expand...

Alright then, I have been using stroke order and I think it helps tremendously with speed and memorization. Do you have any special tips for remembering difficult kanji?
 
PoorFate said:
So would I be correct in assuming that it's better to learn the individual kanji making up multi-kanji words before learning the entire word itself?

I found that the multiple kanji words are a lot harder to remember without learning the individual ones that compose it. I feel like I've made a fatal error in going about studying this.
Click to expand...

I always find it a lot more helpful to learn kanji in words rather than stand-alone (I find on-yomi basically impossible to learn stand-alone unless it's some phonetic that I've seen before), but when it comes to multi-kanji words with more than one unfamiliar kanji, I usually fish out some more vocabulary to learn the unfamiliar kanji together with some that I already know.

e.g. if I have to learn &#30064;&#24120; and know neither of the kanji, I'd fist go learn say, &#26085;&#24120; since &#26085; is one of the first kanji anyone learns, and &#12395;&#12385;&#12376;&#12423;&#12358; might well be a word you've heard or know before having to study its kanii form.
 
Romaji isn't bad, in terms of learning the sounds and typing it's quite important. The problem is how tempting it is to use it as a crutch. I remember buying a lot of my initial books in 'Romaji' edition rather than 'Hiragana' edition - if I could go back I'd love to give myself a slap.

The bottom line is you want to learn another language, and learning hiragana/katakana is the most rewarding part of learning Japanese (in terms of time vs gain). So by all means learn a bit of vocab in Romaji, watashi mo shimashita! But the sooner you switch to kana the better.
 
Class will be starting kanji soon. I am scared.

RoyalFool said:
Romaji isn't bad, in terms of learning the sounds and typing it's quite important. The problem is how tempting it is to use it as a crutch. I remember buying a lot of my initial books in 'Romaji' edition rather than 'Hiragana' edition - if I could go back I'd love to give myself a slap.

The bottom line is you want to learn another language, and learning hiragana/katakana is the most rewarding part of learning Japanese (in terms of time vs gain). So by all means learn a bit of vocab in Romaji, watashi mo shimashita! But the sooner you switch to kana the better.
Click to expand...

You did, too?

We just learned this.
 
Hehe, yup - others told me to learn kana first because it helps your pronunciation 10 fold but I didn't listen, like most I wanted to take the route of least resistance - looking back they were right, and I wasted a ton of cash on romaji text books.

...then once you learn Kanji you realize how hard it is reading sentences entirely in kana :D
 
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