Learning Japanese
I thought it would have been done already but alas no. There may be people who are not able to get lessons so here is where you come!! I am still learning japanese and have ALOT more to learn...so I am going to say a few basic things and maybe some other people who speak or are learning it can contribute ^_^!
*~~::Okey a few notes::~~* ++As you most probably know, the japanese people are really big on manners so you have to be careful when you speak. ++Dictionary form verbs (verbs straight from the dictionary) can be rude when your speaking to people, especially elders! ++There are 3 levels of politeness (roughly anyway); there is low (dictionary), medium (the standard which lots of people use) which involves adding "masu" on words (dont worry at the moment) and the highest level of politeness which I don't know much about but adding "gozaimasu" on to the end of arigatou is being really polite ^_^ ++There are 4 styles of writing...not sure if i should say styles but anyway...theres is Kanji(typical jap symbols), hiragana, romaji (english letters) and katakana...i only know hiragana at the moment but i will learn the othes eventually. ++This has nothing to do with learning Japanese but i was told by my tutour that if ya have your chop sticks facing somebody it means you want them dead...lol! thats why they have them horizontally. ++In japanese to signify that its the end of the sentence they have "desu". ++Also lots of japanese words like "desu" and "masu" end with "u"...most japanese people dont pronounce the "u" so "desu" spoken would be "des" but of course there are some parts of japan in which they do pronounce it...its your choice. In lots of animes they pronounce the "u" i think they do it coz it sounds cute sometimes ^_^ *~~::Lets start with simple things::~~* 1 = ichi (some ppl say ich) 2 = ni 3 = san 4 = shi/yon 5 = go (o is pronounced like the "o" in rob...soz thats all i can think of) 6 = roku 7 = nana/shishi 8 = hachi 9 = Ku (there is supposed to be a line above the "u"..its pronounced like "q" 10 = jyu *~~::Greetings::~~* Hello = kon nichi wa goodbye = Sayonara (line above the "o") yes = hai no = ie (ie also means house ^_^) thank you = arigato Pleased to meet you = Yoroshiku (used on this board alot ^_^) excuse me (attention) = Shitsurei Sorry = sumimasen or gomenasai or gomen *~~::NEXT LESSON::~~*...when i have done my homework Subjects (like people...you, i, mum, etc) Simple tourist questions Questions Days of the week Animals *~~::NEXT NEXT LESSON::~~* alphabets simple sentence structure objects (car, window etc) verbs(dictionary form) and there will be more lessons which will teach ya how to convert dictionary form verbs to polite form....and also how to change the tense...but lets stick with the basics for now ^_^ P.S i most probably made some mistakes so ya can just tell me and i will fix em ^_^ |
Note: I'm not 100% sure about every one of these, but I'll try.
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Well, those are the minor mistakes I found. |
thanx! ^_^
|
Quote:
|
Hey good introduction into Japenese !
I'm not able to speak Japanese so please don't blame me for my questions :D It's because I'm thinking of learning Japense, but until I make this decision I'm not going to invest any money into tools to learn Japanese. So I've been looking around to find some free websites wich can translate between English and Japenese, there are a bunch of them into my language avaible, but I didn't find any of these for Japense ! Maybe one of you know one? Please excuse me for my bad English, but the English I learn here in school does'nt seem to be good if I compare to you guys. ;) |
no your english is pretty good ^_^ i know a site which can translate from japanese to english or english to japanese ^_^ : http://babelfish.altavista.com/ if that doesnt work just go to altavista.com and click translate ^_^ good luck Ganbatte (good luck in japanese)
|
Quote:
|
counting over ten:
11: ju-ichi 12: ju-ni 13: ju-san (you get the point up to 19 right?) 20: ni ju 21: ni ju ichi 22: ni ju san (same rythym) 30: san ju 40: shi/yon ju 50: hachi ju (once again, follow the rythym) 100: hyaku 200: nihyaku -irregulars- 300: sanbyaku 600: roppyaku 800: happyaku 1000: sen 2000: ni sen 3000: san sen 10,000: ichi man 20k: ni man 30k: san man 100,000: hyaku man 200,000: ni hyaku man 10,000,000: is sen man 20,000,000: ni sen man there ya go.. hope u can peice the peices together.. if not just ask if u intend to go to japan u need to learn high numbers cuz everything costs a lot of digits! ps: ku is acceptable for nine |
!!lesson 2!!
*~~WELCOME TO LESSON 2~~*
This lesson will include the following:
I = Watashi (watashi wa)*Watashi is considered the female one* I = Boku (boku wa) *Boku is the male version* You = Anata Mother = Okāsan or Haha which is used when its YOUR mother. Father = Otōsan or ChiChi which is used when its YOUR father. Friend = tomodachi, ive also seen it on the net as otomodachi. Teacher = sensei Dog = inu England = Igirisu (i think) Grandmother = soba (which also means noodles) Grandfather = sofu of course you need to remember that there are lots of other names/words used aswell as these *~~SIMPLE TOURIST QUESTIONS~~* *!NOTE! when something is a question they add a ka at the end, we use a question mark.* Do you speak english? = eigo wo hana shimasu ka How much is _______? = ______ ikura desu ka Where is ________? = ________wa doko desu ka *~~QUESTIONS & ANSWERS~~* What is your name? = onamae wa nan desu ka My name is ________. =watashi no namae wa ________ desu. How old are you? = nan sai desu ka I am ___ = ___ sai desu What are you doing?! = nani o shimasu ka *~~DAYS OF THE WEEK~~* Sunday = nichi yobi (line above the o's in the yobi's) Monday = getsu yobi Tuesday = ka yobi Wednesday = sui yobi Thursday = moku yobi Friday = kin yobi Saturday = do yobi *~~ANIMALS~~* Cat = neko Dog = inu Mouse = nezumi Duck = kamo Horse = uma Dragon = ryuu (ryu with a line above the "u" lines extend the sound) Once again there are most likely to be words which are used aswell as these ^_^ *~~NEXT LESSON~~*
|
Segahekui thanx! i should have done that, when ya learn the basic numbers the rest is pretty easy ^_^
|
I really appreciate your work since I wanted to learn Japanese when I was young , but I have not got a chance yet . Anyway , I'll learn it for sure ^_^ , hope someday we can speak in Japanese .
dot_rain |
Hello, I'm also currently taking 1st semester japanese. I have one question about your introductory notes.
Quote:
|
lol im not to sure, i just have a tutour and i dont even get her much but nah i dont really think that desu is more polite, may be tho, i will edit that part of the post soz ^_^
Thanx by the way dot_rain lol ^_^:p :D o yeah Ducati_nut and anyone else why dont u teach stuff aswell!!! it doesnt have to be tons but just small things or what eva really ^_^ im sure it will help sumone! as for the desu thing lol, you most probably know more than me, i just thought it was to signify that u had finished the sentence lol. Why dont ya tell us coz im not good at explaining anyway ^_^ |
Quote:
Gravitation, make sure that what are you posting here is right, nee. |
sumimasen! >_< i edited it anyway ^_^
|
instead of "do you speak english" or japanese or whatever, you can say:
"Do you understand english?":anata wa(anata means "you", but not really necessary becuase its assumed) , iego ga wakarimaska? remember when pronouncing, i="e" and e="eh" i think im telling you the right way to read and prounce romanji. another point is that to make a question sentence, you add "ka" at the end of you sentence. "Do you understand japanese?" nihongo ga wakarimaska? answer: "yes, i understand a little" Hai, (iego/nihongo ga) sukoshi wakarimasu. or "yes, i understand" Hai, wakarimasu or, "yes, i know" hai, shite emasu or, "no, i dont understand" iie, (iego/nihongo ga) wakarimasen. you will notice that all the name of languages in japanese end in "go". I'll post a vocab list of the rest of the languages later if i have time now, to ask someone if he or she is American or Japanese: this time, you kinda really need to use "anata" (you) when asking for nationality. are you american? Anata wa, Americagin desuka? are you japanese? Anata wa, Nihongin desuka? answer "yes, i am" Hai, so desu. answer "no, i am not american/japanese" iie, americagin ja arimasen. iie, nihongin ja arimasen. notice that "gin" (prounounced "jean") is at the end of the each of the nationality. hope i didnt make any mistakes, ill add some more to this thread later. |
Thanks for the language tips, everyone! I hardly know a useful thing about Japanese, though I'd love to learn.
A quick question - In tourist vocab lists (and p3psi's post above), "wakarimasen" is listed as "I don't understand," but I've noticed a lot of anime characters use "wakaranai" to mean the same thing. Am I hearing it incorrectly or is it an example of one of those politeness vs. dictionary verb things? |
lol nah ya didnt hear wrong, ive heard both aswell but im not sure of the difference >_< soz, i was taught that wakarimasen meant "i dont know" but maybe its got other meanings that change slightly...and wakaranai i hear in animes and it means "i dont understand" i think
??anybody help us?? |
its a matter of formalness
wakaranai= negative normal wakata= under-formal "i understand" wakarimasu= masu form (normal formality) wakarimashita= implies he has understand and will carry out task kashikomarimashita= same as above but reall formal all are based of the verb wakar.u - to understand |
Quote:
and...for 22. if 20 = ni ju, and 21 = ni ju ichi, then why does 22 = ni ju san? shouldnt 22 = ni ju ni? like 199 = hayku kyu ju kyu? help! |
Quote:
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. :heh: |
Since we should know the numbers by now, let's learn how to tell time.
NEW Vocabulary you'll need to know: gogo = P.M. gozen = A.M. -ji = o'clock (suffix) nan = what (short for nani) ima = now han = half important particle markers you'll need to know: Note about particles: Particles are placed after words in japanese. In english particles are placed in front of the words. For example in english we would say, "from 2 o'clock". In japanese we say,"ni-ji kara". We do not say kara ni-ji. kara = from made = until wa = as for (subject marker) example of particle usage: Japanese: Kent-san wa amerika-jin desu.(note that particles are always placed after the word they modify) Telling time Ichi-ji = 1 o'clock Ni-ji = 2 o'clock San-ji = 3 o'clock Yo-ji = 4 o'clock Note: Irregular, it is Yo-ji. Not yon-ji and Not shi-ji Go-ji = 5 o'clock Roku-ji = 6 o'clock Shichi-ji = 7 o'clock Note: Shichi-ji. Not nana-ji Hachi-ji = 8 o'clock Ku-ji = 9 o'clock Note: ku-ji. Not Kyuu-ji Juu-ji = 10 o'clock Juuichi-ji = 11 o'clock Juuni-ji = 12 o'clock To specify A.M. or P.M. simply add gozen or gogo in front of the time. Examples: Japanese: Gogo ni-ji desu.To say 1:30 simply add han after the time. Examples: Japanese: Ichi-ji han desu.An example using everything we know so far: Japanese: Gogo yo-ji han desu.Now to indicate from a certain time or until a certain time simply add kara or made after the time. Example: Japanese: Ichi-ji kara desu. Basic sentences Japanese: Ima nan-ji desu ka Notes: English 1 is a more literal translation of what is said in japanese. English 2 is a more natural way of saying it in english. P.S. Everything I wrote is from my memory of Peterson-sensei's class. If I made any mistakes please contact me and I will fix them. I want to be as accurate as possible so that it will be beneficial to people. I had lots of fun writing this up, and as a side affect, it helped me refresh my memory of telling time. In the future I might modify this post so that it will become more clear, and perhaps add Test Questions to it. I will definately add more at a later time, it is currently 12 am and I gotta wake up early tomorrow... err today... |
I would suggest that those who are actually keen on teaching Japanese here, should be avoiding romaji and using kana as much as possible. It's detrimental to the learning process otherwise. For those running Windows, install the Japanese Input method and switch your broswer encoding to Shift_JIS.
|
Ducati_nut I think your sentences are incorrect, i think you need to use the verb open="akeru".
Quote:
ok, if we did this, we got to teach them the alpabet first. these are just links i picked off a search engine, if you find a better alphabet, like one that has sound, post it! hiragana-http://www.genki-online.com/kyozai/hiragana.html katakana-http://www.genki-online.com/kyozai/katakana.html do what ever you have to do to memorize these, wether its flash cards, or a computer game. It should take about a week of practice for each to recall with ease and confidence. It also depends on how your study habits are, so it could take longer or shorter for you to get these down pat. since this is begginer japanese, dont worry about learning kanji right now, hopefully we'll get to that later. basically, when you use katakana, its for words taken form other langauges, and you will notice that a lot of these words are from the english langauge. also, non-japanese names are written in katakana. I think japanese names can be written either way. so most of you, when you write your name in japanese, it should be in katakana. dont worry about what vocab word is written in which, becuase when you memorize them, they will be given in either the correct hirgana or katakana to keep track of where your progress should be, if you've been following and practicing so far You should be able to: Count numbers up to the hundered of thousands. NOTICE, you can count numbers, not count things or people yet. e.g. You cannot say "3 apples" as "san ringo". this is going to be slightly complicated because it matters on what type of object you're talking about and what counter you use. therefore, this will be in a later lesson so dont worry about it now :D. Basic greetings such as konichiwa. Asking someone if they speak/know a language. Asking someone thier nationality. Days of the week, but not dates of the month yet. Telling whole number time, like 4:00 and 4:30, but not 4:35 I'll add how to say 4 hours and 12 mins, for example, in my next post. AFter this post, no more romanji form me! i will only post in hiragna and japanese, so you guys should study them :D |
You should note that subjects are often omitted in Japanese, so "watashi ha" and "boku ha" are not really that necessary.
Right: Mihama Chiyo desu, yoroshiku onegai shimasu! WRONG: Watashi ha Mihama Chiyo desu, yoroshiku onegai shimasu! (vocab: "yoroshiku" etc. is a standard statement of introduction, when you are introduced to the Emperor please say yoroshiku onegai itashimasu) |
so what books do you recommend in learning japanese? i wanna learn but don't even know where to start or what books are good.
hmmmm... perhaps... taking classes would be better since there is someone there to help with my pronunciations... |
yeah classes would be ALOT better, but books...ermm a dictionary thats pretty good...and im not sure about others coz here in england they dont have many japanese books... i could just about find a dictionary! and its not even good
|
Yeah, I have found the best books for learning Japanese are actually textbooks. :p Taking a class is the best options.
|
some japanese sentenses!
10 things more, you never know.
|
kare(he)/kanojyo(she) wa kawaii to omoimasu.
I think he/she is cute ^_^ |
Aitsu chotto tii bii esu da kedo, demo are, ne, totemo jozu na no yo!
Ano eichi bii mita ka yo? Oe! Suzuko wa ano doressu de hakike ga suru hodo busu datta! Omae no suke supa eirian da zo! its pointless to put down a bunch of sentences and their meanings unless you explain what the parts of the sentences translate as |
Quote:
"Kore wa juu desu ka?" "This (subj.) gun is (qstn)?" "Is this a gun?" It's a good tool for memorizing the particles like "no" and "o" and such. If all the subtitled anime that I've watched did that I'd be able to speak Japanese by now. ^_^ Sheesh, I've watched over 700 of them so far and all I know are mostly single words and short phrases. :( Kuso! Bakayaro! Urusei!!! -k |
based on the first post (and watching too much anime) I would say
"Watashi wa" means "I am" (but wasn't this the female form, and wasn't the male form something like "Boku wa"?) "desu" would imply the end of a sentence "desu ka" implies a question "kore wa" means you're talking about a thing or object; "this is" "anata wa" means "you are" so that's what I've "learned" from just the first post. But... is it correct? :) questions I still have after the first post: -Is it really necessary to end a sentence with "desu"? -are there differences when the person who's talking is male of female? -if you are talking to a person, does it matter if that person is male of female? -Do I sound like a three year old girl when I say those sentences to a japanese person? Don't get me wrong, I'm not being negative about your thread, but I think providing more information on grammar, sentence structure and meanings of words would make this thread a lot more usefull. :) |
Quote:
If it's not, then why Chise laughs when Shuji calls himself boku(Saishuheiki kanoujou)? @____@ :help: |
yeah watashi = i and is conisdered to be female
boku wa = i and is considered to be more male, yeah i think that it is for kids and ore is the male one for guys ^_^ |
its not neccesary to say desu after everything but it signifys that you have finished speaking ^_^
|
10 things more, you never know.
|
omg , gotta love it even though me don't understand ^o^
ps : we really need to know how to pronounce them . Edit : added ps |
Quote:
boku is a masculine first person pronoun, whereas atashi is a feminine first person pronoun. You'll notice in Kanon that Ayu uses 'boku' and hence is more of a tomboy. The closest correlation to the 'am' in 'I am' would probably be the 'desu' (polite form of da, the copula). However, that's not a totally correct description, since I believe the copula da is just used to indicate a statement. A 'ka' appended to the end of a sentence implies a question, and can be appended to verbs as well as the copula. If you used subjects in all of your sentences, you'll probably sound more like a student learning Japanese than a three year old. I think in everyday speech, people tend to omit subjects (which is why translation can be so annoying at times). And yeah, there's definitely differences in speech between masculine and feminine people. For example, there was this navy guy who married a Japanese girl. For a while everyone thought he was gay because he picked up his Japanese from her. Thinks like appending 'wa' after a sentence like 'Atashi wa sugoku nemui desu wa' implies some sort of feminity, though probably more in the regal sense. Also things like watakushi, instead of watashi, etc. Males tend to use rougher speech and use subjects like ore (which is kinda egotistical). And I was told to not use 'ja ne' too much since I was a guy ~_~ Seriously though, if you're really interested in Japanese, pick up a book, or better yet attend classes. Getting indirect tutoring from someone still taking Japanese runs the risk of contracting his/her bad habits. Then when you really decide to take Japanese, you'd have to unlearn all of those. Quote:
|
Watashi wa unagi desu.
You read the OP and you think this is "I am an eel"? No, no, bad. As for me, it's [I'll have] eel. Ordering food! Nasty people teaching that "wa" marks the subject. You fail at Japan :( If you went to a restaurant you would be confused! Quote:
And "I am a cat" is translated "Wahagai wa neko dearu", of course ;) |
| All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:13. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.