Learning Japanese

[Mueti]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

What about カ (ka) and 力 (chikara), 夕(yuu) and タ (ta)?

Not to mention ロ (ro) / 口 (kuchi), チ (chi) / 千 (sen) and ナ (na) / 十 (juu).

[Kyuusai]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

What about カ (ka) and 力 (chikara), 夕(yuu) and タ (ta)?

Originally Posted by Mueti

Not to mention ロ (ro) / 口 (kuchi), チ (chi) / 千 (sen) and ナ (na) / 十 (juu).

Excellent, excellent points, but I give the creators a break because it was intended to be used INSTEAD of kanji. But to introduce that garbage inside the single writing system itself is a grievous offense in my book!

This chart of the katakana derivations does help me, though:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Katakana_origine.svg

Originally Posted by Syaoran

Wasn't this introduced by a monk of the Tendai or Shingon Buddhist schools?
You'll need the old De Lorean DMC-12 to travel back in time to kick the monk's ass.

But be careful, it's the boss monk, so it will be kinda hard

There isn't a smiley to express how hard I'm laughing right now.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Risaa

My main issue is that I have no one to talk with in Japanese... so I know I must be putting the emphasis on the wrong syllables of many words. I'm much, much better at reading it (just don't ask me to read out loud... I know the meanings of a lot of kanji, but the pronunciation? Remembering them is one of my weakest areas).

I also have a whole lot of trouble with listening comprehension, which goes along with not having anyone to speak with... on paper I can clearly see what are words and what are particles, etc., but whenever sensei spoke in class, it would take me a while to figure out what she was saying (and that goes with all the Japanese teachers I've ever had).

My son is always torturing me because when I'm not thinking properly (i.e. tired) my Japanese will occasionally erupt into this horrible Texas accent "hah-ru-high" (haruhi)

its *really* awful.... thank god it doesn't happen in class.

not trying to be ... silly but I find my best comprehension of spoken japanese comes when I stop trying to translate it. In other words,

Drop the X->Z->"X" and just X->"X"

yeah, its a stupid zen thing...

@Kyuusai: well... hiragana was invented by a woman..... and the guys saw it, said "this is a good idea, we'll steal it but we must have more manly symbols" and ... being men, ran with their first draft that we call katakana now (or "that damned Klingon font"). This has been another Mr. Peabody misrepresentation of history

[AnimeIsAwesome]

i guess i dont kno how to speak Japanese but i want to learn so anyone who knows any websites or places i could visit and learn how to speak and write it please send it to me so i can learn. i want to kno rlly badly for some reason so anyone who does pm me or post it ok.

[Vexx]

Um... read this thread for loads of locations and advice?????? There's like 40 pages of useful information. If you can't summon the patience and motivation to do that, you probably won't get very far in any foreign language since it requires persistence.

[deathreape98]

can somebody tyr to ge tthis into a close translation? im trying to have the prayers n spells n stuff for my story in japanese.

Oh ye lord of the heavens
I chant to you in despair
I beg of you to lend me your power
Please heal this man

and the 2nd

Concentrated Wind Blast!

oh, and does Sono Meimei Wakusei mean something close to "the Divine Planet"? my friend that knows japanese translate dthat for me but im not sure if thats what it means

[Mueti]

I'm absolutely not sure about this, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be able to offer you a better translation^^:

Spoiler:

ああ、神様
あなたに絶望して唱える
頼む、あなたの力を貸してください
この男を治してください

aa, kami-sama
anata ni zetsuboushite tonaeru
tanomu, anata no chikara wo kashite kudasai
kono otoko wo naoshite kudasai

Concentrated Wind Blast would be something like 集中強風 (shuuchuukyoufuu). I think.

And do you really mean diving? Meimei would be divine.

[deathreape98]

divine* lol

[yugigirl]

um . . . i haven't learned the:confused numbers yet . . .

[yugigirl]

Originally Posted by p3psi

well for instance, for time:
4 o'clock--you never say "shi ji", you say "yo ji"
and for 9 o'clock, you don say "kyou ji" you say "ku ji"
those are the two exceptions for time

however, for months
january = ichi gatsu
february= ni gatsu
march =san gatsu
april = shi gatsu
september = ku gatsu
again, those two, 4 and 9, are the exceptions

but as a general rule, i suggest you just use "yon" for most cases when you're not sure, except of course for "april".

also, for age, turning 20 in japan is like turning 21 in america, its really special.
so only for the age of 20, you say "ha ta chi", not "ni ju sai"

also, its a mistake that he wrote "ni ju san" for 22, your rights, its "ni ju ni". "ni ju san" =23

wow, it seems that i know more japanese than what i thought i knew.

I haven't learned the numbers yet . . .

[Circular Logic]

Let's not go into dates... >___>

[kitto-chan]

Originally Posted by Circular Logic

Let's not go into dates... >___>

If dates are difficult tried the counting system.

There one for bottles, people, sheets, irregular objects.

1 bottle of beer べる　いちほんくさい
2 sheets of paper かみおにまいくだし
3 people さんえんです

I don't know to casually said it yet of that the polite form unless I'm mistaken

[Circular Logic]

Originally Posted by kitto-chan

If dates are difficult tried the counting system.

There one for bottles, people, sheets, irregular objects.

1 bottle of beer べる　いちほんくさい
2 sheets of paper かみおにまいくだし
3 people さんえんです

I don't know to casually said it yet of that the polite form unless I'm mistaken

I just use no + Japanese numerals. Since I'm lazy

[krysinello]

I started trying to remember hiragana today, I remember 15 so far, after I know I can recite and that, I'll learn the next 15, then combine. Hopefully then I can try some reading exercises in order to try become more fluent in reading hiragana.

After that I'll try learn some Katakana. Then to the almighty Kanji. Also need to try increase my vocab which this thread and my learning guides are helping with.

[WanderingKnight]

1 bottle of beer べる　いちほんくさい
2 sheets of paper かみおにまいくだし
3 people さんえんです

Sorry, but I'm going to correct the kana since it is completely wrong:

1 bottle of beer, please: ビールをいっぽんください (biiru wo ippon kudasai)
2 sheets of paper, please: かみをにまいください (kami wo nimai kudasai)
3 people: さんにん (san'nin).

[Circular Logic]

Originally Posted by krysinello

I started trying to remember hiragana today, I remember 15 so far, after I know I can recite and that, I'll learn the next 15, then combine. Hopefully then I can try some reading exercises in order to try become more fluent in reading hiragana.

After that I'll try learn some Katakana. Then to the almighty Kanji. Also need to try increase my vocab which this thread and my learning guides are helping with.

Starting on the JLPT 2 kanji myself... Now THAT takes ages.

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by Circular Logic

Starting on the JLPT 2 kanji myself... Now THAT takes ages.

Level 3 is around 500 (or was it 300?), and level 2 is about 1,500. There's a gap for ya

[WanderingKnight]

Level 3 is around 500 (or was it 300?), and level 2 is about 1,500. There's a gap for ya

I thought the level 3 was 300, level 2 was 1000, and level 1 was 2000 (well, 1945 to be more exact).

[FatPianoBoy]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

I thought the level 3 was 300, level 2 was 1000, and level 1 was 2000 (well, 1945 to be more exact).

You're probably right. I honestly haven't looked at the exact requirements for JLPT in quite a while. I definitely remember there being a ginormous gap between levels 2 and 3.

[Ledgem]

From Wikipedia:

Test content and requirements summary
Level Kanji Vocabulary Listening Hours of Study Pass Mark
4 ~100 (103) ~800 (728) Basic ~150 60%
3 ~300 (284) ~1,500 (1409) Intermediate ~300 60%
2 ~1000 (1023) ~6,000 (5035) High Level ~600 60%
1 ~2000 (1926) ~10,000 (8009) Sufficient for life in Japan ~900 70%

I've taken and passed level 3; I thought it was one of the funnest tests of my life