Learning Japanese

[secretzfan]

Originally Posted by thevil1

I find that the link in my sigg is a lot more helpful in learning Hiragana http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/s.../hiragana.html. It helps by linking the letter with a picture that it looks like as well as a sound. It really helps me that I made flash cards small enough to fit in my pocket to carry them around everywhere. I try to look them over when ever I have a chance, I learned almost the first 20 in about a day (get mixed up with "Te" and "Tsu", I just got that stuck in my head wrong.

Nice site that helps with writing Japanese. I prefer the Japanese page to learn how to speak it

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by secretzfan

Nice site that helps with writing Japanese. I prefer the Japanese page to learn how to speak it

It does tech you how to speak it, Click on a character, and click 'sound', and 'movie'.
It's helped me a lot in speaking it. (still messy on the hand writing though)

[secretzfan]

Originally Posted by thevil1

It does tech you how to speak it, Click on a character, and click 'sound', and 'movie'.
It's helped me a lot in speaking it. (still messy on the hand writing though)

I see but it is neat but kind of tough to use because it still has a few problems when teaching you how to speak as it does show how to combine everything into a straight sentence I will use this though too

[Langus]

Different strokes for different folks eh there secretzfan?

[Qikz]

Originally Posted by Langus

Different strokes for different folks eh there secretzfan?

I think that's the main thing with learning actually, since everyone learns differently.

Like, one of my internet friends who I've known for about a year started learning before me, but he learnt entirely from tapes so can't actually write anything, where as I'm the polar opposite. I find writing things down makes it easier to remember, where as he finds it easier to remember by listening.

Crazy way our minds work.

[secretzfan]

I think that is understandable to every person

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by secretzfan

I think that is understandable to every person

Why? I agree with him... I learn better by writing things while hearing them at the same time. That's why I recommended the site in my sig because it lets you do both. Using that site I made flash cards while listening to the sound of that character and just study them.

Here's my own new questions:
What are some commonly misused Hiragana characters, and characters that people had trouble with when learning them? One thing I have trouble with is ぬ (nu), and め (meh).
There are a few more that I have trouble with so far, but those are only two of them. Help?

Is this character's sound "Fu (foo)", or "Hu (hoo)": ふ.

Also, I still don't get how to set my computer up to type Japanese. If someone knows how and is willing to help me, I would appreciate that.

[Alchemist007]

Assuming you use Win7 or XP (might be different names): Control panel -> Language/region -> keyboard and languages -> change keyboards -> add -> Japanese. In the trey (where your time is), you should see something that says "EN," click on it and you can change between English and Japanese (and any other language you add as well). There's options for typing in Hiragana, Katakana, and using the spacebar you can make kanji as well.

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by Alchemist007

Assuming you use Win7 or XP (might be different names): Control panel -> Language/region -> keyboard and languages -> change keyboards -> add -> Japanese. In the trey (where your time is), you should see something that says "EN," click on it and you can change between English and Japanese (and any other language you add as well). There's options for typing in Hiragana, Katakana, and using the spacebar you can make kanji as well.

I think Win XP is considerably different then your explanation. I need an XP version of this...

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by thevil1

Why? I agree with him... I learn better by writing things while hearing them at the same time. That's why I recommended the site in my sig because it lets you do both. Using that site I made flash cards while listening to the sound of that character and just study them.

Here's my own new questions:
What are some commonly misused Hiragana characters, and characters that people had trouble with when learning them? One thing I have trouble with is ぬ (nu), and め (meh).
There are a few more that I have trouble with so far, but those are only two of them. Help?

Is this character's sound "Fu (foo)", or "Hu (hoo)": ふ.

Also, I still don't get how to set my computer up to type Japanese. If someone knows how and is willing to help me, I would appreciate that.

ふ is pronounced like a light Fu. Like, say Hu, but bring your lips into an O. Feel the air pass, but don't bring your upper teeth to your bottom lip like an English Fu.

Some kana that I had trouble with are い　む　き　and さ. I kept flipping い, and with the other three, the stroke order kept confusing me. き and さ are two strokes, not three (across, then the rest. I thought it was three because those characters look different in certain fonts)). Writing む was just an absolute mess for me (the circle thing is a loop, not an actual circle ). I didn't learn correct stroke orders for all the kana until I went to an actual class. btw if you're serious about learning, I highly suggest going to a class at some point. You may be able to skid by without formal instruction with a language descended from Latin, but with Japanese, a language which was cultivated in an entirely different environment than English, you'll need a helping hand. At the very least, a class will make things easier and faster.

About typing Japanese on XP, here: http://blog.greggman.com/blog/japane...on_windows_xp/ (the guide is for XP Pro, but I went through the process with my XP Home and nothing is different, so it's good to use for all XP users). To type in Japanese, select Japanese as the input language, and Microsoft IME Standard as the keyboard layout if you have a QWERTY keyboard (if you have a Japanese keyboard, choose Japanese as the keyboard layout). The necessary files are included in your computer if your comp came preloaded with XP. If you installed XP over a different OS manually, then you may need the installation CD to get the East Asian Language pack, or download it (if Windows still supports XP).

[Langus]

Originally Posted by thevil1

Here's my own new questions:
What are some commonly misused Hiragana characters, and characters that people had trouble with when learning them? One thing I have trouble with is ぬ (nu), and め (meh).
There are a few more that I have trouble with so far, but those are only two of them. Help?

Komari gives some good advice. Honestly, the only way to learn the characters is to memorize them. Write them in words over and over and eventually they will stick. There's really no other way.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Langus

Komari gives some good advice. Honestly, the only way to learn the characters is to memorize them. Write them in words over and over and eventually they will stick. There's really no other way.

No matter what Rosetta Stone says, repetition is key. Learn it, study it, use it in context. The only thing better than that is total immersion in the country.

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by Komari

ふ is pronounced like a light Fu. Like, say Hu, but bring your lips into an O. Feel the air pass, but don't bring your bottom teeth to your upper lip like an English Fu.

Some kana that I had trouble with are い　む　き　and さ. I kept flipping い, and with the other three, the stroke order kept confusing me. き and さ are two strokes, not three (across, then the rest. I thought it was three because those characters look different in certain fonts)). Writing む was just an absolute mess for me (the circle thing is a loop, not an actual circle ). I didn't learn correct stroke orders for all the kana until I went to an actual class. btw if you're serious about learning, I highly suggest going to a class at some point. You may be able to skid by without formal instruction with a language descended from Latin, but with Japanese, a language which was cultivated in an entirely different environment than English, you'll need a helping hand. At the very least, a class will make things easier and faster.

I actually am taking a class. The teacher is so far been teaching us how to recognize characters, as well as write them. In addition to that, she is also giving us basic basic vocabulary such as greetings, basic questions, and acceptable answers.

Originally Posted by Komari again

About typing Japanese on XP, here: http://blog.greggman.com/blog/japane...on_windows_xp/ (the guide is for XP Pro, but I went through the process with my XP Home and nothing is different, so it's good to use for all XP users). To type in Japanese, select Japanese as the input language, and Microsoft IME Standard as the keyboard layout if you have a QWERTY keyboard (if you have a Japanese keyboard, choose Japanese as the keyboard layout). The necessary files are included in your computer if your comp came preloaded with XP. If you installed XP over a different OS manually, then you may need the installation CD to get the East Asian Language pack, or download it (if Windows still supports XP).

ありがとごじえます ((Thank you. .) I think the spelling is correct) I typed it by how I thought it would be spelled. I didn't check it to make sure.

We all learned English (or what ever our native language is) by repetition (at least for the reading/writing part). For speaking, Being evolved in that Country is enough especially when where young we pick it up faster.

[Doughnuts]

Originally Posted by Komari

but don't bring your bottom teeth to your upper lip like an English Fu.

Those damn English speakers - no wonder I never understand em.

[Kudryavka]

Originally Posted by Doughnuts

Those damn English speakers - no wonder I never understand em.

I am now ashamed of my speaking skills. ftw lol

@evil ありがとうございます・・Arigatou gozaimasu

[Liddo-kun]

Originally Posted by thevil1

One thing I have trouble with is ぬ (nu), and め (meh).
There are a few more that I have trouble with so far, but those are only two of them. Help?

As said already by other people here, repetition works well.
One suggestion I can give is to use the names of anime characters during practice writing. Make a list of names, until all hiragana characters are included in the list. Write the names everyday on paper.

That method worked for me. Made a list of 31 japanese names (gradually increased to 60 names) which I wrote over and over for almost 3 months (writing Rika's name everyday isn't a chore since she's one of my favourite characters ). Did the same for Katakana for another 3 months. Katakana is a little different from Hiragana, so I had to learn some basic rules on how to write it before starting.

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by Liddo-kun

One suggestion I can give is to use the names of anime characters during practice writing. Make a list of names, until all hiragana characters are included in the list. Write the names everyday on paper.

That method worked for me. Made a list of 31 japanese names (gradually increased to 60 names) which I wrote over and over for almost 3 months (writing Rika's name everyday isn't a chore since she's one of my favourite characters ). Did the same for Katakana for another 3 months. Katakana is a little different from Hiragana, so I had to learn some basic rules on how to write it before starting.

That's a good idea, I should try that. But then I also have to find the Hiragana spelling of it. Thanks.

[ryohei]

Originally Posted by thevil1

That's a good idea, I should try that. But then I also have to find the Hiragana spelling of it. Thanks.

I will write anime character names if you want.

sample:
Family First - Hiragana - Katakana - Kanji(Chinese character) - Meaning of family name + of 1st name

Fujibayashi Kyou - ふじばやし きょう - フジバヤシ キョウ - 藤林 杏 - Japanese wisteria forest + apricot
Fujibayashi Ryou - ふじばやし りょう - フジバヤシ リョウ - 藤林 椋 - Japanese wisteria forest + aphananthe
Sakagami Tomoyo - さかがみ ともよ - サカガミ トモヨ - 坂上 智代 - upper side of the slope + wisdom
Furukawa Nagisa - ふるかわ なぎさ - フルカワ ナギサ - 古河 渚 - old river + beach/sea side
Okazaki Tomoya - おかざき ともや - オカザキ トモヤ - 岡崎 朋也 - top of the hill + close friend
Sunohara Youhei - すのはら ようへい - スノハラ ヨウヘイ - 春原 陽平 - spring(season) field + Sun

[thevil1]

Originally Posted by ryohei

I will write anime character names if you want.

sample:
Family First - Hiragana - Katakana - Kanji(Chinese character) - Meaning of family name + of 1st name

Fujibayashi Kyou - ふじばやし きょう - フジバヤシ キョウ - 藤林 杏 - Japanese wisteria forest + apricot
Fujibayashi Ryou - ふじばやし りょう - フジバヤシ リョウ - 藤林 椋 - Japanese wisteria forest + aphananthe
Sakagami Tomoyo - さかがみ ともよ - サカガミ トモヨ - 坂上 智代 - upper side of the slope + wisdom
Furukawa Nagisa - ふるかわ なぎさ - フルカワ ナギサ - 古河 渚 - old river + beach/sea side
Okazaki Tomoya - おかざき ともや - オカザキ トモヤ - 岡崎 朋也 - top of the hill + close friend
Sunohara Youhei - すのはら ようへい - スノハラ ヨウヘイ - 春原 陽平 - spring(season) field + Sun

Thanks... This is a big help.

Edit: I have a Japanese Manga book called Otako Nurse (not sure of the English spelling) that a friend picked up for me, and I was thinking about just copying a few pages word for word. Although a lot of those characters are a bit advanced for me so far.

I found out about this site www.erin.ne.jp/en/ It just helps to see the culture, and everyday speaking. It also has a lessons that are nice to have and go over.

Edit: How accurate is Google Translate? I've tried translating to and from both languages, and from what I know it doesn't seem right.

[Kudryavka]

Google Translate is not very good quality, no machine translators are good. You can squueze some drops of meaning out of it, but you'll have to have some knowledge of how JPN works to use it best.