The General Japanese Learning Thread

Rui said:
I find the use of JP script with spaces a bit weird (used to 'scriptio continua') but for roomaji the usual custom is to also separate out the particles, which would be the bits like this:

はたらきもののおじいさんがいました。
hatarakimono no ojiisan ga imashita.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the way you have done it, though. Some people romanise by adding breaks in a few extra places, but some don't.

R

Thanks Rui. It is more logical to sort the words out by particles. Think that's where I'll start once I've completely mastered hiragana and katakana. (I'm still a bit rusty!)
 
Genkina Hito said:
マイクーさん、 私 も ビート たけし の 映画 が 好き です。 先週 の 日曜日 に 3-4x10月 を 見ました。 あの 映画 は おもしろい です よ。 ビート たけし の 映画 の 中 で 花火 が 一番 好きです。 私 の 日本 の 映画 ブログ ―  <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/">元気な人</a>

ゲンキナヒトさん、元気な人のブログをありがとうございました。これから毎週読むつもりです!

ざんねん、花火を見ることがありませんでした。この映画を買おうとおもっています。

週末いいえいがの名前は「てんてん」を見ました。(英語の名前はADRIFT IN TOKYOです。) ゲンキナヒトさんはこの映画をみったらいいとおもいますね。


I don't suppose anyone here has a good tutorial explaining when to use あげる、くれる、もらう etc? This is my biggest difficulty with the language at the moment!
 
Kaede said:
Genkina Hito said:
マイクーさん、 私 も ビート たけし の 映画 が 好き です。 先週 の 日曜日 に 3-4x10月 を 見ました。 あの 映画 は おもしろい です よ。 ビート たけし の 映画 の 中 で 花火 が 一番 好きです。 私 の 日本 の 映画 ブログ ―  <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/">元気な人</a>

ゲンキナヒトさん、元気な人のブログをありがとうございました。これから毎週読むつもりです!

ざんねん、花火を見ることがありませんでした。この映画を買おうとおもっています。

週末いいえいがの名前は「てんてん」を見ました。(英語の名前はADRIFT IN TOKYOです。) ゲンキナヒトさんはこの映画をみったらいいとおもいますね。


I don't suppose anyone here has a good tutorial explaining when to use あげる、くれる、もらう etc? This is my biggest difficulty with the language at the moment!

ありがとうマイクーさん! 花火 は とても きれいで うらかなしい です。 あの 映画 を みた ほう が です よ。私 も <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/adrift-in-tokyo/">転々</a> が すき です。 三木 聡 の 映画 が すき です が こわい えいが 気に入ります。 今日 は キッズ リターン とりました。

I’m glad that there’s a thread where we can discuss Japanese. I’m not sure if what I just wrote is faulty but at least I am pushing myself instead of mindlessly repeating the same old sentences! That said, I can't help you with a tutorial for that. すみません。
 
ジェソンさん、りっぱなりビューですね。転々が好きといいですね。

すみませんが、こわい映画がだいきらいですよ!

今晩FOPPにいって、花火をさがします。

I’m glad that there’s a thread where we can discuss Japanese. I’m not sure if what I just wrote is faulty but at least I am pushing myself instead of mindlessly repeating the same old sentences! That said, I can't help you with a tutorial for that. すみません。

Me too! It's great practice to just try and think up sentences and try to work out how to say things. I'm sure we'll get our points across.

Seriously though, great blog and I really enjoyed your Adrift in Tokyo review. I've added it to my bookmarks. Gonna check out the vids in the おもしろい section next. :)
 
Kaede said:
ジェソンさん、りっぱなりビューですね。転々が好きといいですね。

すみませんが、こわい映画がだいきらいですよ!

今晩FOPPにいって、花火をさがします。

I’m glad that there’s a thread where we can discuss Japanese. I’m not sure if what I just wrote is faulty but at least I am pushing myself instead of mindlessly repeating the same old sentences! That said, I can't help you with a tutorial for that. すみません。

Me too! It's great practice to just try and think up sentences and try to work out how to say things. I'm sure we'll get our points across.

Seriously though, great blog and I really enjoyed your Adrift in Tokyo review. I've added it to my bookmarks. Gonna check out the vids in the おもしろい section next. :)

マイクーさん, ありがとう! 

こわい 映画 は とても 楽しい ですよ。 私 は 毎月 園子温 や 清 黒沢 の 映画 を 見ます。

I’m glad you liked the review! The great thing about blogging is that cinephiles can spread the word about great titles and talk to each other. I hope my reviews help people get into Japanese films. I checked the おもしろい ですね page and one of the scary/hilarious Sadako videos needs replacing.

花火 should be pretty cheap.


:D
 
A brief introduction!

こんにちは!

私の名前はケリーです。はじめまして。

ダンディーすんでいます。わたしわ27さいですとカウント。

にほんごがわかります、でもまだじょうずじゃありません。
 
Detracting from all your japanese so far with some english(don't hurt me). I've been intent on learning for way to long, but with uni and with being stuck in limbo, i've had next to no time to learn anything. I have books here or there, but nothing fantastic for learning. I was recommended a couple a while back however, but just haven't bought them yet.

I have actually just signed up for a 10 week course in edinburgh for it, doesn't start until october, but it's nice that i finally found something. Looks to focus mainly on the speaking side of things though. Going to have to go back through the previous posts, but was there some books you recommended before?
 
neptune2venus said:
A brief introduction!

こんにちは!

私の名前はケリーです。はじめまして。

ダンディーすんでいます。わたしわ27さいですとカウント。

にほんごがわかります、でもまだじょうずじゃありません。

こんにちは、 ケリーさん。 あなた の 日本語 は 良い です。 がんばって!

Arbalest, I think most of us are using Japanese for Busy People. It's a great series of books which I use on my course.
 
Genkina Hito said:
こんにちは、 ケリーさん。 あなた の 日本語 は 良い です。 がんばって!

どもありがとうございます!

I also agree that Japanese for Busy People is good. You have to get the Kana version because learning Japanese with Romanji is a no-no. :wink: I'm still learning hiragana at the moment as I'm still not 100% before I move on properly to katakana.

If you have a Nintendo DS, I recommend My Japanese Coach. You can draw out hiragana and katakana and it is great for vocabulary but not so much for grammar.

Arbalest said:
I have actually just signed up for a 10 week course in edinburgh for it, doesn't start until october, but it's nice that i finally found something. Looks to focus mainly on the speaking side of things though.

That's great! I hope to start some lessons in Dundee at somepoint! Pimsleur Basic Japanese focuses purely on the listening and speaking so that may be useful as well.
 
I think learning the hiragana at the same time is really helping with speaking, I wouldn't pass up the reading and writing aspect of it as it kinda helps you pace and pronounce your words. Not that I know more than a handful...

Third lesson today!
 
Reading this thread just reminds me how much I've fallen off. Due to certain circumstances that were unforeseen at the time, and which threw me slightly off kilter, I haven't actually studied any Japanese for ages, and thus have broken my only rule which was to keep consistency and study every single day. Recently I've been actually avoiding the Japanese language as much as possible, because I don't want to think about how bad I've now become.

I'm going to start studying by myself again next week (no lessons booked as of now, will have to wait til after summer), but I'll pretty much be right back at the beginning....don't make the same mistake people...keep consistent
 
Everybody listen up. If you have access to the Horror Channel then watch it tonight because there is a classic J-horror movie called <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/kairo-pulse/">Pulse</a> on. The Horror Channel occasionally show Japanese horror films but I've never really watched them because I own them on DVD and I think the ad breaks will ruin the atmosphere. Anyway, I'll keep my eyes open for further titles.
 
Genkina Hito said:
Everybody listen up. If you have access to the Horror Channel then watch it tonight because there is a classic J-horror movie called <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/kairo-pulse/">Pulse</a> on. The Horror Channel occasionally show Japanese horror films but I've never really watched them because I own them on DVD and I think the ad breaks will ruin the atmosphere. Anyway, I'll keep my eyes open for further titles.

One of the few Asian Horrors I haven't seen! Will have to check it out soon - I'll probably get it on DVD as I don't have access to that channel.

The last J-Horror film I watched was Premonition, which was average at best. Next up is Infection! :D
 
neptune2venus said:
Genkina Hito said:
Everybody listen up. If you have access to the Horror Channel then watch it tonight because there is a classic J-horror movie called <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/kairo-pulse/">Pulse</a> on. The Horror Channel occasionally show Japanese horror films but I've never really watched them because I own them on DVD and I think the ad breaks will ruin the atmosphere. Anyway, I'll keep my eyes open for further titles.

One of the few Asian Horrors I haven't seen! Will have to check it out soon - I'll probably get it on DVD as I don't have access to that channel.

The last J-Horror film I watched was Premonition, which was average at best. Next up is Infection! :D

I watched <a href="http://genkinahito.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/infection/">Infection</a> last year. I liked it but a friend of mine who is totally into horror wasn't too fond of it.

So I finish watching Kikujiro and settle down to watch Pulse. I'm enjoying myself and then The Horror Channel put on an ad during one of the scariest sequences. Totally broke the spell.
 
I enquired about Japanese beginner lessons today. However the classes are on Wednesday nights - which I always work and it'll be hard to change my contracted hours.

Also ILA Scotland (which gives people who apply £200 towards a course) recently changed their eligibility criteria so that anyone who is currently in education cannot apply. So that means I'll have to cough up the money - which I don't mind, but would have been nice to get it for free.

So I'm going to apply in the next few days and see whether I'll be able to go or not in September! :)
 
Wow, awesome to see so many people learning. :) The Japanese language is maybe the only thing I will get more hype for than Japanese food, so I am always happy to discuss it. I'm actually relatively rusty myself atm, so maybe this will motivate me to shake off the cobwebs!

Rui said:
Ahem, anyway, so who here has been to Japan? And for those who haven't, when are you planning your first trip? :3
I've been to Japan a few times, but never traveled very far outside of Tokyo, so my goal in the next couple of years is to at least visit Osaka or Fukuoka even if I don't stay there for more than a couple of days.
T
Genkina Hito said:
私 の しゅみ は 映画 を みます
I don't know if people want unsolicited corrections when they type something in this thread in Japanese, but I think this is an interesting point as knowing when to nominalize something crops up a lot in Japanese. A correct ending to this sentence is 映画をみることです. Since 私のしゅみ is the topic of the sentence, it makes sense that you would not say "My hobby (私のしゅみ) watches movies (映画をみます)", but "My hobby (私のしゅみ) is (です, effectively) watching movies (映画をみること)". This is where the use of particles in Japanese is at the same time extremely useful but potentially quite slippery, so I hope you don't feel like I'm talking to you like an idiot in an attempt to not over-complicate it.

Rui said:
I find the use of JP script with spaces a bit weird (used to 'scriptio continua') but for roomaji the usual custom is to also separate out the particles, which would be the bits like this:
Yeah, this is something that I've never liked. I always assume it stems from romaji being used in the early stages of learning Japanese, so there is a tendency to try to make it as much "like" English as possible, when really talking and reading in Japanese is far more naturally geared towards particles effectively being attached to the word that they follow (I don't think it would be wrong to suggest that a good way to practice speaking/reading out loud is to read up to and including a particle and take a breath, to help you understand how sentences "flow").

vashdaman said:
Minna no nihon go was like the bane of my life. It's structure used to really infuriate me. It's OK once you get your head around it I guess, but still.
Minna no Nihongo was standard on Durham Uni's (excellent, in my slightly biased opinion) Japanese course. Not sure how great it would be studying on your own, though, granted.

neptune2venus said:
I highly recommend Google Japanese IME for input of Hiragana/Katakana/Kanji. :D
Another useful link, in case you are at a PC that doesn't have a way for you to directly type in Japanese and you don't want to install anything, is:

http://www.google.co.uk/transliterate/japanese

Rui said:
so I am strongest in text and fascinated by quirks and tidbits about spelling/wordplay.
I am the same. Although I do enjoy speaking (and singing...) in Japanese, and especially listening to it, written Japanese is absolutely spectacular.
 
ilmaestro said:
Genkina Hito said:
私 の しゅみ は 映画 を みます
I don't know if people want unsolicited corrections when they type something in this thread in Japanese, but I think this is an interesting point as knowing when to nominalize something crops up a lot in Japanese. A correct ending to this sentence is 映画をみることです. Since 私のしゅみ is the topic of the sentence, it makes sense that you would not say "My hobby (私のしゅみ) watches movies (映画をみます)", but "My hobby (私のしゅみ) is (です, effectively) watching movies (映画をみること)". This is where the use of particles in Japanese is at the same time extremely useful but potentially quite slippery, so I hope you don't feel like I'm talking to you like an idiot in an attempt to not over-complicate it.

This is the Japanese learning thread so any advice is welcome.
 
Minna no Nihongo was standard on Durham Uni's (excellent, in my slightly biased opinion) Japanese course. Not sure how great it would be studying on your own, though, granted.

It's pretty much standard everywhere. I was using it on a course, I still disliked it, but it's not so bad once you get used to it's peculiarities.

Ahem, anyway, so who here has been to Japan? And for those who haven't, when are you planning your first trip? :3

Never been. Not really sure when I'm going to make my first trip. I would do it as soon I have the money at the right time. But then I don't really know anyone who would actually want to spend money to a trip there also, I don't think I have the balls to travel there on my lonesome. It's actually pretty crazy that I've never been all things considered, I'm going to have to go as soon as I can.

Sorry for late reply, Rui!
 
Genkina Hito said:
This is the Japanese learning thread so any advice is welcome.
Cool. :)

vashdaman said:
Minna no Nihongo was standard on Durham Uni's (excellent, in my slightly biased opinion) Japanese course. Not sure how great it would be studying on your own, though, granted.

It's pretty much standard everywhere. I was using it on a course, I still disliked it, but it's not so bad once you get used to it's peculiarities.
Interesting, it wasn't so ubiquitous ten years ago. And maybe the... peculiarities... are your own? :s

But then I don't really know anyone who would actually want to spend money to a trip there also, I don't think I have the balls to travel there on my lonesome.
Just make sure you are traveling in the Summer some time, and I will see you there!
 
Over the last two weeks I have bought some books!

Japanese for Busy People: Kana Workbook
Japanese for Busy People: Kana Textbook (although I bought this several years ago, it's now been updated with pictures and an audio CD).
Minna no Nihongo I: Textbook

I'm going to work my way through Let's Learn Hiragana and Let's Learn Katakana books first before I jump into the main learning!

Does anyone have any recommendations for good Japanese dictionaries?

Also, is there any paticular way to learn Kanji while going through the beginner textbooks?
 
Back
Top