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Learning Japanese • 日本語の勉強 |これはOTです| ゆっくりしていいぞ！
- Thread starter Resilient
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By casually, I don't mean "no big deal" , just "I can't be bothered to look up words" :p. Although, whenever I come upon a sex scene I have to hold the book half-closed out of shame haha.
Yeah, it's not the kind of manga I would read when there are people around. Though I don't read much when someone's around in general.
I'm having much more ease reading and recognizing kanji than remembering them then writing them, am I weird or is that pretty common ?
Common enough to have a series of books called "Remembering the Kanji" =P
There's a reason Heising recommends practicing trough "keyword -> mnemonic -> Kanji". Not ideal for vocabulary acquisition and learning the language in general, but pretty good for remembering how to writing them ;)
Hey,
At work I have around 8 hours daily to listen to anything using my headphones.
What would be the best for me to listen to learn new Japanese phrases and grammar? I have a lot of time daily.
Or what would be the best in general for me to improve my Japanese? Or expand my vocabulary etc
At work I have around 8 hours daily to listen to anything using my headphones.
What would be the best for me to listen to learn new Japanese phrases and grammar? I have a lot of time daily.
Or what would be the best in general for me to improve my Japanese? Or expand my vocabulary etc
I recently stumbled across IGN Japan's podcast しゃべりすぎGAMER. It's a completely Japanese podcast that discusses a gaming topic each week for about an hour or so. It's really good for listening practice.
I'm listening to this aswell, I don't understand very much, but I think it helps to get a feeling for the language.
Hey guys, it's been some time since I posted here.
Currently studying for N2.
So recently I started a project where I tried to translate the demo of a japanese game.
By doing this I learnt a japanese idiom which I found pretty cool
Maybe most of you will already know it but I wanted to share this here too.
So the sentence was:
Now, I'm no native english speaker so I wasn't sure what was the equivalent in english but I ultimately used the
"hell has frozen over" idiom.
I've seen others use the "when pigs fly" but I'm not sure what's best.
Cheers..
Currently studying for N2.
So recently I started a project where I tried to translate the demo of a japanese game.
By doing this I learnt a japanese idiom which I found pretty cool
Maybe most of you will already know it but I wanted to share this here too.
So the sentence was:
Now, I'm no native english speaker so I wasn't sure what was the equivalent in english but I ultimately used the
"hell has frozen over" idiom.
I've seen others use the "when pigs fly" but I'm not sure what's best.
Cheers..
I took JLPT N3 knowing that I was not ready (I own 4-5 N3 books and I'd been through 75% of the first one).
Vocabulary and kanji were so easy I thought they gave us an N4 test. Grammar was fair enough, not too hard not too easy, but reading killed me. That's when my lack of vocabulary proved a big handicap. I didn't have enough time so I answered randomly at the end.
Listening was quite hard too, and the recording was defective so they had to replay several tracks over and over again. I couldn't wait to be done with this test but we had to stay longer because of that.
Anyway, no time to waste, I'm already back to my N3 books in anticipation for next year's test.
Vocabulary and kanji were so easy I thought they gave us an N4 test. Grammar was fair enough, not too hard not too easy, but reading killed me. That's when my lack of vocabulary proved a big handicap. I didn't have enough time so I answered randomly at the end.
Listening was quite hard too, and the recording was defective so they had to replay several tracks over and over again. I couldn't wait to be done with this test but we had to stay longer because of that.
Anyway, no time to waste, I'm already back to my N3 books in anticipation for next year's test.
If you just have the neutral form, no, you'll have to learn them the hard way.
I have a very simple question:
Anata no gakkou ni nani ga arimaska?
what does that translate to, exactly? Where is your school?
Anata no gakkou ni nani ga arimaska?
what does that translate to, exactly? Where is your school?
Hi, all! Not sure if this is a good place to ask since it's barely related to the language learning aspect, but do you all have any recommendations for EN->JP travel/survival phrases books or (Android) apps? I have some friends who are planning on traveling there next year despite a total lack of language knowledge.
I found out that there seems to be some rule, but of course it has its exceptions:
All ru-verbs (ichidan) are ending with either an eru or iru sound.
Keep in mind that there are u-verbs (godan) which have eru and iru ending sound.
But at least it narrows down the options. So if a verb isn't ending with an eru or iru sound, you can be sure that it isn't a ichidan verb.
Further here's an interesting video on that topic:
Can anyone recommend listening comprehension podcasts/YouTube videos for a very limited japanese speaker? I'm working my way through Genki 1, and I'm finding that i want more speech to listen to than the book/workbook offers.
Anyone took the JLPT on the 1st? I'm planning on taking the N2 in July of next year.
I can confidently say my level is around N3 but I wanna take a more difficult test.
I can confidently say my level is around N3 but I wanna take a more difficult test.
I want to improve my vocabulary. Do I have to use Anki? Anki feels tedious, especially without example sentences (I did it while studying Tobira and wish I had just read the actual book sooner instead of studying the vocab deck).
Meanwhile, I have the Shin Kanzen Master JLPT N3 vocab book with example sentences so I'm planning on using that, unless you know of a better solution.
Meanwhile, I have the Shin Kanzen Master JLPT N3 vocab book with example sentences so I'm planning on using that, unless you know of a better solution.
I took N3 but wasn't ready for it so I'm still preparing n case I have to take it again next year.
Use anki, but make your own cards from stuff you're actually interested in. Add as much or as little context as you need. That's where the software really takes off.
Grinding vocab lists is boring as fuck (though you need to do it to some extent for tests). It's in actually trying to read interesting things where you'll get the most bang for your buck imho. (Well, time, which is probably more valuable in the long run)
Grinding vocab lists is boring as fuck (though you need to do it to some extent for tests). It's in actually trying to read interesting things where you'll get the most bang for your buck imho. (Well, time, which is probably more valuable in the long run)
Birdseye : You don't have to use Anki. It makes the process more efficient once you've set it up properly, but the most important part is and will always be immersion.
If you weren't already up to N3 I'd still suggest using it to get you up and running on N5/N4 vocab and grammar in a way that's much faster and less tedious than just drilling those textbooks over and over, but I'm honestly tempted to tell you to just drop the JLPT textbooks, watch/read whatever you want and look up the words that stick out to you in your favourite dictionary* as you go along. It's much more organic that way.
* Obviously, I'm talking bilingual dictionaries for now. Once you're a bit more comfortable with the language, try transitioning to monolingual dictionaries.
If you weren't already up to N3 I'd still suggest using it to get you up and running on N5/N4 vocab and grammar in a way that's much faster and less tedious than just drilling those textbooks over and over, but I'm honestly tempted to tell you to just drop the JLPT textbooks, watch/read whatever you want and look up the words that stick out to you in your favourite dictionary* as you go along. It's much more organic that way.
* Obviously, I'm talking bilingual dictionaries for now. Once you're a bit more comfortable with the language, try transitioning to monolingual dictionaries.
Here's how I use Anki with the custom deck I have: Have the Jisho app installed on my android phone. Whenever a word comes up I don't know I simply type the word into jisho and send it to anki from tapping and holding the word. Next while I'm studying, I quickly search the new words on japandict.com for any example sentences. If there aren't any you could try yourei.jp, but the out of context sentences are sometimes a bit difficult to grasp. Overall while it is a bit tedious to add sentences this way I think it works for me.
Cure Dolly posted an interesting video with some really good advice on this topic:
(remember to turn on subtitles)
Yeah I saw that, but frankly I'd rather have my own mnemonics for this ha ha
Also, I have a question : is my sentence correct ?
私は医者です。私の専門は開業医です。
I want to say
I am a doctor, my specialty is general practice.
Thanks !
I think 開業医 is the correct word, but I'll let someone more knowledgeable than me confirm or deny.
The structure is fine. You might want to get rid of that second 私の though. Not that it's wrong, but it's unnecessary. The general rule of thumb in Japanese is: "if you've already said who you're talking about, don't repeat the subject unless it's not obvious anymore or the subject actually changed." In this case, we know you're talking about yourself because you just told us.
Repeating the subject too much is a surefire way to out yourself as a foreigner :p. Or it can be a stylistic choice in some cases I guess, but generally speaking, avoid repeating it.
Another simple question for you folks. Why does the word order change in questions two and three? The second sentence has it location/duration/verb and the third has it frequency/duration/location/verb. I'm wondering why they swap location and duration in each example. See below:
Instinctively I'd say that since frequency comes first in a lot of cases, following immediately with the duration just seems more logical (since both are related to time).
I assume there's a way better explanation for this though.
Tbh there's plenty of instances where the word order doesn't actually matter.
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Clause order is extremely flexible in Japanese but you generally put the "most important" information closest to the verb. In this case you can understand that [studying Japanese at the library] is an activity, perhaps separate from [studying Japanese at home] or whatever and so it should be directly attached to the verb, while [at the department store] is just supplemental information and doesn't need to be attached to the verb.
日本から参加しているメンバーのためにmodになることに興味ないかってメッセージがきた。誰かからの推薦があったみたいなんだけどAizo？
とりあえず自分よりはZefahのが適任だってZefahを推しておいたんだけどZefahってアカウント自体が完全に抹消されちゃってるのね・・・
とりあえず自分よりはZefahのが適任だってZefahを推しておいたんだけどZefahってアカウント自体が完全に抹消されちゃってるのね・・・
There isn't a correct order. You can change them freely as you want.
I passed N3 ages ago and I think I'll try to skip N2 and do N1 at the end of 2020. If I finish my degree as expected I'll have 6 months of full time Japanese study before the test. If I spend 8 hours a day immersing and studying I think it's doable.
Otherwise, I recently came back from Japan. The trip wasn't that great because of my injury, but I was happy with how much I understood. My speaking skills were rubbish as expected, but I had no problem doing anything I needed to do, including reading ingredient lists on packages when buying food, finding where to go without using any English, etc. I'll probably go back at the end of next year and hopefully I won't injured myself again.
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As Jintor said, the particles are in the wrong order, but you're also translating "at the" too literally.
食堂の食べ物はとても高いです。would be a better way to say this.
Thank you very much.
Particles are hard x)
EDIT: After thinking about this, yeah it makes perfectly sense.
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I probably failed N1 and don't feel motivated. What motivates y'all to study? I am still reading some or watching tv/movies, but I just feel like I can't push myself to do textbook study or like vocab study with flashcards/anki anymore. I still think I need to, though.
Zefah went back to gaf after being permabanned here. I told him I was disappointed in him for going back (especially to a thread that cheers for drama and problems on this site).
Yeah, an admin messaged me asking if I knew of any Japanese people I thought would be a good fit for a mod. I said you because you're awesome. I used to post in this thread a lot more back on gaf, and you have always been nice and helpful. You also love 龍が如く, so you're cool.
Zefah went back to gaf after being permabanned here. I told him I was disappointed in him for going back (especially to a thread that cheers for drama and problems on this site).
I only just started Duolingo and installed Anki in the last few days but I'm hoping I can study enough to have confidence to carry on a casual conversation someday. My goal is mainly to help communicate with other members of a taiko group. It'd definitely be just to impress and help fit in since everyone is bilingual and there are some English only members like myself. I've traveled to Japan though and I'd definitely love to go again so it'd also help with that.
I have the spare time for now so it'll hopefully at the bare minimum be a rewarding way of spending time. I used to speak OK French and was always pretty proud of that so this should be a good challenge.
Thanks already for this thread. The OT and followup posts have lots of helpful information. Sounds like there's no shortage of resources, and I'll try to look into Genki I. Duolingo is useful so far just to learn the Hiragana and pick up a few nouns.
I have the spare time for now so it'll hopefully at the bare minimum be a rewarding way of spending time. I used to speak OK French and was always pretty proud of that so this should be a good challenge.
Thanks already for this thread. The OT and followup posts have lots of helpful information. Sounds like there's no shortage of resources, and I'll try to look into Genki I. Duolingo is useful so far just to learn the Hiragana and pick up a few nouns.
Is there any difference in meaning between 月光 and 月色?
BTW: The WaniKani lifetime subscription has gone on sale today.
I'll totally get my money worth out of it.
That's the great part about the language, because there's so much demand, there are so many good resources.
I'm also using Genki, but I'd recomment to also get "A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar".
BTW: The WaniKani lifetime subscription has gone on sale today.
I'll totally get my money worth out of it.
ようこそう！
That's the great part about the language, because there's so much demand, there are so many good resources.
I'm also using Genki, but I'd recomment to also get "A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar".
ありがと!
Do you mean the basic dictionary by Takino and Tsutsui?
The Wanikani lifetime subscription is tempting too but it's way too early to commit. I signed up but haven't even started the free lessons yet. I feel almost comfortable with Hiragana though.
はい
If you have a credit card you can get it quite a bit cheaper on Amazon.co.jp:
You can change the language to english right besides the search bar, so it won't be a hassle to order there.
Perfect!
And another:
I was watching a Japanese boxing match, and one of the comentators said, "Slippu nante!" This, as you can imagine, happened after one of the boxers slipped. Is this him excitedly announcing the slip or is he questioning the legitimacy of the slip?
Brushing up for N3 for december 2020, or july '21, with a preparatory coursebook exclusively for reading.
The answers have options that are in the same category, and I'm having a tough time discerning which one should I pick; the book doesn't explain it, just throws sentence examples. Help? Which book(s) should I hit to have a kickass reading comprehension? (don't get me into hearing which mine is pretty much ass, lol) Have done n5 and n4, both passed.
The answers have options that are in the same category, and I'm having a tough time discerning which one should I pick; the book doesn't explain it, just throws sentence examples. Help? Which book(s) should I hit to have a kickass reading comprehension? (don't get me into hearing which mine is pretty much ass, lol) Have done n5 and n4, both passed.
Hello friends.
Quick report on my side: lvl 20 in WaniKani.
This has been a huge time investement (at least 2 hours every single day). I'm thinking of slowing things down a bit (from 8-9 days per level) to about 12 so that I can spend a bit more time in the actual grammar and reading.
I have to admit that being able to read the Kanji, on top of all of the vocabulary that I already "get" when reading other sources...is magnificent.
Quick report on my side: lvl 20 in WaniKani.
This has been a huge time investement (at least 2 hours every single day). I'm thinking of slowing things down a bit (from 8-9 days per level) to about 12 so that I can spend a bit more time in the actual grammar and reading.
I have to admit that being able to read the Kanji, on top of all of the vocabulary that I already "get" when reading other sources...is magnificent.
I recently reached level 11 on WK and slowed down a bit, because I drowned in lessons and reviews. I was holding onto my 8 - 9 days streak, but I had over 200 vocab lessons and I just caught up on it right now. Now I only have level 11 items left.
Now I try to keep my Apprentice count at 100 to 150 or otherwise I'll drown in reviews again.
I feel you. The problem with WK is that if you slow down a single day, things pile up, so you have to create a whole system around it and schedule it so that you can do other things on top of it.
Its very time consuming, but its also very effective. I will try to balance it a bit more, trying for 12 days in average, to see how it feels. This takes 95% of my available "japanese studding time", so its a good thing we are also learning vocabulary on top of the Kanji.
Edit: Im not using any script, I dont want to re-order the recommended experience, so Im stuck with vocabulary before I get to the radicals and kanji on most level ups...its rough but the actual vocabulary also help my memory on the kanji.
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