Learning Japanese

[martino]

Cool! That's a good opportunity for you to learn Japanese.

http://www.nyanko.ws/games/himawari/doku.php
Has anyone heard anything about this???

[killeraargh]

nope, sorry~

and I'm learning Japanese!

well, I was...until I lost my book.....

[CarpeDiem]

Originally Posted by Bloodseeker

I don't think that it would be worth it to dedicate hundreds of hours mastering a language that I'm never going to use outside of anime, manga, and videogames. Not only that, but living in a community where not a whole lot of people speak it as their primary language would make it MUCH harder to learn. And it wouldn't be able to make any money off of it either, seeing as how Japanese translators aren't exactly in high demand...

You don't have to value learning a language for its practicality. I'm learning Japanese, yet I have no plans to live in Japan, nor do I live in a place where it's the primary spoken language (though there is a larger Japanese-speaking community here than in other many other parts of the United States). People learn Japanese for a variety of different reasons - be it for fun, to be able to understand their anime/manga/games/etc, or because they're moving there and figured it'd be best to learn the language.

And that last part about the Japanese translator thing is very, very wrong. Japanese translators are in very high demand.

[Supergrunch]

I'm learning Japanese for three reasons: I love the language, I'm interested in the culture, and I want to be able to appreciate untranslated Japanese stuff.

[Bloodseeker]

That last post had a lot of typos...

Originally Posted by CarpeDiem

You don't have to value learning a language for its practicality. I'm learning Japanese, yet I have no plans to live in Japan, nor do I live in a place where it's the primary spoken language (though there is a larger Japanese-speaking community here than in other many other parts of the United States). People learn Japanese for a variety of different reasons - be it for fun, to be able to understand their anime/manga/games/etc, or because they're moving there and figured it'd be best to learn the language.

How is it practical to spend a lot of money and hundreds of hours learning a language that you're never going to use outside maybe 1000 hours of your life? I'm not planning on moving to Japan right now, and there aren't a whole lot untranslated game that I'm interested in playing.

Originally Posted by CarpeDiem

And that last part about the Japanese translator thing is very, very wrong. Japanese translators are in very high demand.

Really? Because when I visited Tokyo, like 3/4ths of the people that I talked to knew at least enough English to understand what I was saying and give me directions, and I've never ran into any Japanese people here in the States that didn't know English. I guess that they could use more English teachers in Japan, but like I said, I'm not planning on moving to Japan right now.

[raikage]

Originally Posted by CarpeDiem

And that last part about the Japanese translator thing is very, very wrong. Japanese translators are in very high demand.

Really...? I would have thought Chinese translators are (or will soon be) in high demand.

Not to say that pursuing a career as a Japanese translator isn't a bad choice or anything, but it's not like nursing where there's such a high demand you can pick and choose from companies to work for.

[CarpeDiem]

Originally Posted by Bloodseeker

How is it practical to spend a lot of money and hundreds of hours learning a language that you're never going to use outside maybe 1000 hours of your life? I'm not planning on moving to Japan right now, and there aren't a whole lot untranslated game that I'm interested in playing.

I never said it was practical. I was saying that you don't have to judge whether or not to learn a language on reasons of practicality. Everyone has their own hobbies, from video games to, yes, learning foreign languages. You can't tell me that video games are a practical way to spend your time, yet many of us do it anyway simply because we enjoy it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. The same applies to learning foreign languages. One can study simply for the experience of learning a new language. Everyone has their own highs.

Originally Posted by Bloodseeker

Really? Because when I visited Tokyo, like 3/4ths of the people that I talked to knew at least enough English to understand what I was saying and give me directions, and I've never ran into any Japanese people here in the States that didn't know English. I guess that they could use more English teachers in Japan, but like I said, I'm not planning on moving to Japan right now.

I won't get too far into the technicalities of translating, but here are some points that you should know about it:
- Translators usually translate from the target language into their native language (i.e. A native English speaker translates other languages _into_ English). They usually don't do this the other way around. Thus, what would be in high demand are native English speakers that know Japanese.
- Translating is an underrated profession that requires a good deal of work, especially in translating between two very, very different language (English and Japanese). You're not translating the words between the languages; you're translating the meanings (a reason why translators translate _into_ their native language - to make it sound as natural as possible to people who will read the English translation).

Originally Posted by raikage

Really...? I would have thought Chinese translators are (or will soon be) in high demand.

Not to say that pursuing a career as a Japanese translator isn't a bad choice or anything, but it's not like nursing where there's such a high demand you can pick and choose from companies to work for.

True. Chinese translators seem to be in high demand as well. As for the job availability for Japanese translators, it is actually pretty high (though I'm not sure how well it compares to the demand for nurses). In the U.S. at least, since ties with Japan are pretty close, the government has a need for translators. Moreover, there are translating organizations out there, and even if you don't join them, you could always freelance.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

^^^ To this (top, Bloodseeker's first comment of the above post) I would argue that there is great value in learning a foreign language. Outside just Japanese, I'm almost completely fluent in Spanish. I visited Spain for seven weeks on a study program with Indiana University during the summer, taking classes and living with a Spanish host family. The catch to the whole thing was, the was NO ENGLISH ALLOWED. If we spoke english, we had broken a rule and were sent home. In other words, we would have wasted $5,000 for nothing. When we (the other students and I) were there, we were forced to speak and communicate completely in Spanish. It really made us improve exponentially. I'm not kidding.

My point is, don't underestimate the value of a foreign language, no matter what it is. Hell, I'm also trying to teach myself Dutch, in addition to learning Spanish and Japanese in school. (I'm trying to get experience in all sorts of languages, and as you may have seen, I've also created my own)

Being able to converse and read and write in any foreign language opens all sorts of avenues, and as said before by someone other than myself, it cuts out the middle man, of course referring to having to wait for English translations of things like manga.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

I don't understand how it's supposed to work... *confused*

[errorrrr]

easiest way to learn japanese is to go to japan for about year... based on the assumption you memorized hiragana and katakana completely... I am chinese, and it took me a year of ESL class in the United States to speak, and listen fluently; i was able to read and pronounce correctly, but unable to comprehend everything, and writing is the biggest diffculty, which simply requires time. It really speeds up speaking and listening when you listen and speak that language 24/7 as someone pointed out going to Spain and learn very fast. Writing takes time no matter what. And reading comprehension requires time... vocabulary building in ANY language requires time, even native speakers...

[raikage]

Originally Posted by taoyan

新----立-木-斤
input by kanji structure without reading

*is also confused*

New standing tree axe?

[taoyan]

Japanese Kanji like Chinese characters ,every one can be divided to 5 basic brush 1- Lateral ,2- Vertical , 3- Left sweep , 4- Dot/Right sweep . 5- Bend.
We use the number 1,2,3,4,5 to represent it .and we divided keyboard to 5 regions.
The keyboard contains five regions, organized by the direction of the root first stroke. Each region contains five keys (making twenty-five keys in total), and each key contains a number of character roots.

Each region proceeds in the same manner, from the inner-most key on the keyboard to the outer-most. Region 1 (lateral) is represented by keys 11-15, region 2 (vertical) by keys 21-25, region 3 (left sweep) by keys 31-35, region 4 (dot/right sweep) by keys 41-45, and region 5 (bend) by keys 51-55.

We will refer to the individual keys by the key number and letter: neither 12 nor F, but 12F. Thinking of the keys in this notation will help your conceptual understanding of WuBiKanJi . However, we will refer to the WuBiKanJi codes, composed of multiple keys, by only the letters: QWERT, for example.

And in Japanese language there have another keyboard of Kana keyboard so there have Japanese character in this keyboard diagram(たていすか).

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Wow, that's kinda complicated, don't you think?

[taoyan]

because Asian always used write Kanji,they know how to write ,so they know how to input it even he did not how to reading it.

[raikage]

I'm sort of seeing how the system works; it's just very cumbersome.

Microsoft's IME actually seems to work well enough for me when I want to type in Japanese.

[Syaoran]

Originally Posted by raikage

Microsoft's IME actually seems to work well enough for me when I want to type in Japanese.

It is annoying when you don't have a qwerty keyboard and the registry hack for azerty gets reverted after a while for some reason...
Good thing SCIM Anthy is fantastic for typing Japanese (Linux)

Hmmm... could someone tell me if I got this right ? It's important ^^ >> ordered a textbook for university, as the usual sell point got a 3 months delay on this one O.o

Spoiler for Eメール:

xxx 様

オンラインよりご注文ありがとうございました。
お見積もり、お支払方法ご案内申し上げます。

ＸＡ−０５４２
ＢＡＳＩＣ　ＫＡＮＪＩ　ＢＯＯＫ　ＶＯＬ．１　２，４００
送料（EMS）　２，８００
梱包手数料　１００
クレジットカード手数料　３１８
合計　￥５，６１８

③ VISA/MASTERカードをご利用の場合
　　　　　　 カード番号、有効期限、所有者のお名前をお知らせ下さい。
　　　　　　　 ※手数料として[教材代金+送料+梱包料]の６％を申し受けます。

★お問い合わせ、ご入金の際は必ず御見積番号をお知らせ下さい。

株式会社凡人社麹町店
坂井訓久
E-Mail:ksakai@bonjinsha.com
tel:03-3239-8673
fax:03-3238-9125

So, they confirm my order of Basic Kanji Book Volume 1 and tell me the price, including, shipping & handling, packaging & credit card commission (6% of the book's price) for a total of 5,618円

They also confirm my payment method: by credit card.
Now... the tricky thing for me ^^'

They want me to communicate the card holder's name, CC number and expiration date?

I'm not sure what they mean by this:
★お問い合わせ、ご入金の際は必ず御見積番号をお知らせ下さい。

It's a strange way to pay... never encountered this way of doing it. Do I just email Sakai-san with the CC info requested and that's it ?

Thanks in advance m(._.)m

[Cruzz]

Originally Posted by Syaoran

Spoiler for Eメール:

xxx 様

オンラインよりご注文ありがとうございました。
お見積もり、お支払方法ご案内申し上げます。

ＸＡ−０５４２
ＢＡＳＩＣ　ＫＡＮＪＩ　ＢＯＯＫ　ＶＯＬ．１　２，４００
送料（EMS）　２，８００
梱包手数料　１００
クレジットカード手数料　３１８
合計　￥５，６１８

③ VISA/MASTERカードをご利用の場合
　　　　　　 カード番号、有効期限、所有者のお名前をお知らせ下さい。
　　　　　　　 ※手数料として[教材代金+送料+梱包料]の６％を申し受けます。

★お問い合わせ、ご入金の際は必ず御見積番号をお知らせ下さい。

株式会社凡人社麹町店
坂井訓久
E-Mail:ksakai@bonjinsha.com
tel:03-3239-8673
fax:03-3238-9125

Spoiler:

Thank you for your online order.
Cost estimate and explanation of payment methods follow.

ＸＡ−０５４２
ＢＡＳＩＣ　ＫＡＮＪＩ　ＢＯＯＫ　ＶＯＬ．１　２，４００
Shipping （EMS）　２，８００
Packing　１００
Credit card handling fees ３１８
Total　￥５，６１８

3. When using VISA/MASTERCARD
Let us know the card number, expiration date and the name of the cardholder.
※We will charge a handling fee of 6% from the shipping and packing fees and the teaching material price

When you wish to ask a question, or wish to pay, remember to include the estimate code/number.

So yes, I'd assume you're simply supposed to e-mail them the CC details and the estimate code(/number) (XA-0542? Or something in the title of the e-mail? Shrug, not familiar with their systems) if nothing else has been specified elsewhere.

[Syaoran]

Originally Posted by Cruzz

Spoiler:

Thank you for your online order.
Cost estimate and explanation of payment methods follow.

ＸＡ−０５４２
ＢＡＳＩＣ　ＫＡＮＪＩ　ＢＯＯＫ　ＶＯＬ．１　２，４００
Shipping （EMS）　２，８００
Packing　１００
Credit card handling fees ３１８
Total　￥５，６１８

3. When using VISA/MASTERCARD
Let us know the card number, expiration date and the name of the cardholder.
※We will charge a handling fee of 6% from the shipping and packing fees and the teaching material price

When you wish to ask a question, or wish to pay, remember to include the estimate code/number.

So yes, I'd assume you're simply supposed to e-mail them the CC details and the estimate code(/number) (XA-0542? Or something in the title of the e-mail? Shrug, not familiar with their systems) if nothing else has been specified elsewhere.

どうもありがとうございます。m(_ _)m
Gonna reply tonight when I done with my homework or tomorrow afternoon...
Guess I'll just do it in English. I've no idea how to write a letter in Japanese anyway (me = still noob)

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by taoyan

because Asian always used write Kanji,they know how to write ,so they know how to input it even he did not how to reading it.

I'm Korean, but that doesn't mean I can do that. That's just a stereotype. But I think that, underneath my ravishingly handsome face, I'm still an American.

[johnnybabe]

i think only the chinese asians can cause i can write and even read some of them kanji,im not sure about indians,malays,thais,philipinos or koreans though...but can u read korean?i wouldnt consider u asian if u dont know ur mother tongue neither is african americans truly africans.