Can I practice here?
- Thread starter w1ngzer0
- Start date
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
- 4,354
- 179
Is there a possibility of practicing here on the forums? My romaji? I have no friends and have no true way of practicing.
If not, can someone give me a recommendation on where to go?
All questions are welcome, provided that you do the work!
Just don't ask other JREF members to do your homework for you...
Joking aside, yes, you can practice your romaji, but I recommend that you get to practicing your hiragana right away to speed up Japanese language study.
If you need language exchange partners, I suggest you try searches on Skype, stating explictly your wish to engage in language exchange (Japanese-English) and that you're a beginner. It also helps to add info on your age, gender and interests to find Japanese who share something in common with you.
Aside from that, you can try websites like this:
Non profit learn japanese site | Japan Forum
Also, here is a thread on JREF members' experiences in language exchange:
Language Exchange experiences? | Japan Forum
When all else fails, the members here are willing to help you, though it won't be on a real-time basis.
w1ngzer0
後輩
- 17 Jan 2004
- 262
- 0
- Thread starter
- #4
domo arigato gozaimashita!
The reason i want to do romaji first is because i am just now getting the basic sentence structure down and want to get the basic grammer part down first.
I've had much trouble with Japanese for the past 11+ years. I don't know if its maturity or what. But, learning Japanese seems to be a bit easier then what i remember. I know i can't shuve to much onto myself before i get lost.
When i was in college and i had to learn kana,romaji,talking,grammer. It overloaded me!
thank you both for your kindness. Just went to Skype's site and it looks like a wonderful idea =)
The reason i want to do romaji first is because i am just now getting the basic sentence structure down and want to get the basic grammer part down first.
I've had much trouble with Japanese for the past 11+ years. I don't know if its maturity or what. But, learning Japanese seems to be a bit easier then what i remember. I know i can't shuve to much onto myself before i get lost.
When i was in college and i had to learn kana,romaji,talking,grammer. It overloaded me!
thank you both for your kindness. Just went to Skype's site and it looks like a wonderful idea =)
Alright lets see if my five days have paid off,this is what I got:
I beg your pardon, does this make sense/is this illogical. Do you understand?
"gomennasai" makes it seem a little more awkward than usual to me,also if i translated the last part of the first sentence right,it just seems redundant to say wakarimase ka,couldn't you just tack to "ka" onto the first sentence?
I like this though,he can post some sentences and I can practice my translating. Though I had to look up gomennasai and suji.
- 4 Sep 2007
- 113
- 3
Well, wingzero (since I don't feel like typing l33t), you mentioned your attempts to learn Japanese in college. I never liked formal instruction. I took Spanish for 3 years in high school. Not only did my Spanish still suck at the end, I didn't like a minute of it. It just seemed like a chore.
Now that you're studying on your own, it should be a lot easier for you. You can move at your own pace, and focus on what you feel is important and fun.
I think you should be able to approach the kana again. You may have to find your own way of practicing the writing and incorporating it with what you are learning. If you want, I can tell you my method, and you can use that as inspiration, or copy it, if you so desire.
As for practicing the reading of kana, the method that worked for me was to grab a manga in Japanese (preferably one with furigana, I recommend Yotsubato), and just start reading. Don't sweat it if you don't know what they're saying; when I was practicing my kana, I had no clue at all. Just the fact that you're pronouncing each of those characters and associating kana with sound is enough. Hiragana should be your first and foremost priority in reading, and since it's used so much, learning it should take only a short time.
Katakana and kanji are different stories. I personally learned katakana the hard and boring way of reviewing them every morning on my way to school. I'm 99.9% certain there's a better way of learning them quickly. Perhaps some other member here knows.
Put off the kanji for now, until you have attained considerable skill in the kanas and feel you're ready. While important to know, they're not critical at this stage, and learning them now will just burn you out. In the meantime, there are plenty of add-ons for Firefox that will translate kanji and kanji compounds into English.
Probably one of the most important things in learning a language is self-discipline. Find a routine that allows you to learn at a decent pace while not sucking up all the time in your day and stick with it. Every time you slip in your routine, you just open the door for more slipping, until eventually you find yourself devoting no time to the language anymore.
Self-studying is only a chore if you make it so, and the first and foremost thing is to have fun with the language. Go ahead, switch the language in your favorite video game to Japanese for the heck of it. Every little thing you do can be a fun experience and yet teach you the language at the same time.
Now that you're studying on your own, it should be a lot easier for you. You can move at your own pace, and focus on what you feel is important and fun.
I think you should be able to approach the kana again. You may have to find your own way of practicing the writing and incorporating it with what you are learning. If you want, I can tell you my method, and you can use that as inspiration, or copy it, if you so desire.
As for practicing the reading of kana, the method that worked for me was to grab a manga in Japanese (preferably one with furigana, I recommend Yotsubato), and just start reading. Don't sweat it if you don't know what they're saying; when I was practicing my kana, I had no clue at all. Just the fact that you're pronouncing each of those characters and associating kana with sound is enough. Hiragana should be your first and foremost priority in reading, and since it's used so much, learning it should take only a short time.
Katakana and kanji are different stories. I personally learned katakana the hard and boring way of reviewing them every morning on my way to school. I'm 99.9% certain there's a better way of learning them quickly. Perhaps some other member here knows.
Put off the kanji for now, until you have attained considerable skill in the kanas and feel you're ready. While important to know, they're not critical at this stage, and learning them now will just burn you out. In the meantime, there are plenty of add-ons for Firefox that will translate kanji and kanji compounds into English.
Probably one of the most important things in learning a language is self-discipline. Find a routine that allows you to learn at a decent pace while not sucking up all the time in your day and stick with it. Every time you slip in your routine, you just open the door for more slipping, until eventually you find yourself devoting no time to the language anymore.
Self-studying is only a chore if you make it so, and the first and foremost thing is to have fun with the language. Go ahead, switch the language in your favorite video game to Japanese for the heck of it. Every little thing you do can be a fun experience and yet teach you the language at the same time.
w1ngzer0
後輩
- 17 Jan 2004
- 262
- 0
- Thread starter
- #9
Thanks for the info. I am going to try that skype idea and try yours as well.
Right now i need to move out on my own because other people distract me to much from them watching english television and crap.
So, manga books really worked for you eh? thats cool. I will try that.As well as my own idea of listening and reading japanese tv and listening to japanese music.
Really? you think i should learn my kana? ok. I did buy these books called "Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Hiragana) (Paperback" I ran into it on amazon. They have a giant orange monkey face on the front and explane the proper kana movements. kana = begginging, right?
He seperates the katakana and hiragana which is good. One last thing. Would a Japanesee RPG for the DS be the same as a manga or book? Maybe like final fantasy series or another RPG. I would honestly rather get a DS game then a book =P
Agian, i love you guys!
Right now i need to move out on my own because other people distract me to much from them watching english television and crap.
So, manga books really worked for you eh? thats cool. I will try that.As well as my own idea of listening and reading japanese tv and listening to japanese music.
Really? you think i should learn my kana? ok. I did buy these books called "Jimi's Book of Japanese: A Motivating Method to Learn Japanese (Hiragana) (Paperback" I ran into it on amazon. They have a giant orange monkey face on the front and explane the proper kana movements. kana = begginging, right?
He seperates the katakana and hiragana which is good. One last thing. Would a Japanesee RPG for the DS be the same as a manga or book? Maybe like final fantasy series or another RPG. I would honestly rather get a DS game then a book =P
Agian, i love you guys!
- 4 Sep 2007
- 113
- 3
Not quite. Japanese games tend to have a lot of kanji, and they don't have furigana. Most mangas in which they're a slight possibility of younger readers always have furigana.
In case you're wondering what furigana is, it's basically a kanji's hiragana reading next to it.
There are many benefits to knowing kana rather than romaji. You may notice that many grammar topics here have Japanese words in kana. Yes, Japanese people can understand romaji, but I imagine they have to work a little harder, and besides, the Japanese have a slightly different romaji system than us, so that might cause some confusion if you're not aware of the differences.
In case you're wondering what furigana is, it's basically a kanji's hiragana reading next to it.
There are many benefits to knowing kana rather than romaji. You may notice that many grammar topics here have Japanese words in kana. Yes, Japanese people can understand romaji, but I imagine they have to work a little harder, and besides, the Japanese have a slightly different romaji system than us, so that might cause some confusion if you're not aware of the differences.
Haruspex
先輩
- 30 Aug 2007
- 2,324
- 96
Haha we seem to think alike, although i was thinking about Final Fantasy, the only problem is that i couldn't find the japanese version of either FF VI, VII, or VIII which i know inside out 
Well in case i find any of them i'll let you know, you might want it or something. But one last thing, its offtopic but as a proper sony fanboy i gotta say this PSP ==> DS.
Well in case i find any of them i'll let you know, you might want it or something. But one last thing, its offtopic but as a proper sony fanboy i gotta say this PSP ==> DS.
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
- 4,354
- 179
Yes, Nintendo DS is the tool for Japanese language study today.There are more educational games for the DS and since the DS is touch screen, there are kana and kanji games.
PSP has a lot of good RPG's is why i am getting one eventually including the new ff7 game. Puyo puyo as well
Learn Japanese with Nintendo DS
I want to play all the quiz and "brain training" games.
well,instead of starting my own thread to practice in,I thought I'd just pick up where w1n left off.
daijoubu watashitachi wa koko itte.
(ok,here we go)
watashi wa yomube enjoi yaku iwaku ga.
(I enjoy reading about history)
nanimo boku wa enjoi motto yori nemuri.
(I enjoy nothing more than sleep)
kitsu ka?
(correct?)
I'm still unsure how to use "no", "o", and "e".If I said I go to the store(watashi wa mise e ikitta, kitsu ka?),would the "e" be placed right?and are there more particles besides the following ones:wa,ga,e,o,no?
daijoubu watashitachi wa koko itte.
(ok,here we go)
watashi wa yomube enjoi yaku iwaku ga.
(I enjoy reading about history)
nanimo boku wa enjoi motto yori nemuri.
(I enjoy nothing more than sleep)
kitsu ka?
(correct?)
I'm still unsure how to use "no", "o", and "e".If I said I go to the store(watashi wa mise e ikitta, kitsu ka?),would the "e" be placed right?and are there more particles besides the following ones:wa,ga,e,o,no?
D
dark_secrester
Guest
For FF series, I will say this:
Roms
I think the law allows for, say, if you own the English cartridge (say for the originals) then you can download ones in other languages. Search it on google, as I am not going to be responsible for putting you onto rom sites: you will end up downloading games you down own... trust me on that.
Anyway, I have the Japanese carts for ff 1 2 and 3. I have never bothered to play them through, but I think I might do now..
Roms
I think the law allows for, say, if you own the English cartridge (say for the originals) then you can download ones in other languages. Search it on google, as I am not going to be responsible for putting you onto rom sites: you will end up downloading games you down own... trust me on that.
Anyway, I have the Japanese carts for ff 1 2 and 3. I have never bothered to play them through, but I think I might do now..
- 4 Sep 2007
- 113
- 3
One thing I notice you're doing, JMW, is directly translating English idioms. I would advise against that. Instead, find another way to say it, one that you've heard before. You could replace "watashitachi wa koko itte" with "ikimashou". That means "let's go".
Be careful when you use the dictionary for words with multiple connotations. For example, "more" in sentence 3. "Motto" means more only in the sense of "If you don't study more, you'll fail."
Daijoubu means "okay" in the sense of "Are you okay?" The word you're looking for in that sentence is "yoshi" (as a side note, the 'i' is silent in pronunciation).
I would translate the second sentence as, "reikishi ni tsuite yomu koto ga suki desu."
I would translate the third as, "neru koto shika suki ja nai."
I'm not quite sure myself of the most appropriate word for "correct". I think it's "tadashii" but I can't really be sure.
I reworded the second and third sentences as "I like...". Since I'm sure I used grammar that you may not know, please let me know if you have any questions.
Now particles.
"e" is only used with motion verbs, such as iku (to go), kuru (to come), and kaeru (to return). It indicates the destination of a motion. Yes, the "e" is placed correctly in your sentence. (By the way, if you want to say "went", it's an irregular conjugation of iku: itta.)
"o" (also "wo") marks a direct object. If I slap Bob in the face, Bob is the direct object because he's getting slapped. It's used with the vast majority of verbs (don't worry about the others).
"no" indicates possession or, in a way, type. "Watashi no ringo" means "my apple". "Amerika no resutouran" means, American restaurant. You'll notice that the order is reversed as opposed to English.
Be careful when you use the dictionary for words with multiple connotations. For example, "more" in sentence 3. "Motto" means more only in the sense of "If you don't study more, you'll fail."
Daijoubu means "okay" in the sense of "Are you okay?" The word you're looking for in that sentence is "yoshi" (as a side note, the 'i' is silent in pronunciation).
I would translate the second sentence as, "reikishi ni tsuite yomu koto ga suki desu."
I would translate the third as, "neru koto shika suki ja nai."
I'm not quite sure myself of the most appropriate word for "correct". I think it's "tadashii" but I can't really be sure.
I reworded the second and third sentences as "I like...". Since I'm sure I used grammar that you may not know, please let me know if you have any questions.
Now particles.
"e" is only used with motion verbs, such as iku (to go), kuru (to come), and kaeru (to return). It indicates the destination of a motion. Yes, the "e" is placed correctly in your sentence. (By the way, if you want to say "went", it's an irregular conjugation of iku: itta.)
"o" (also "wo") marks a direct object. If I slap Bob in the face, Bob is the direct object because he's getting slapped. It's used with the vast majority of verbs (don't worry about the others).
"no" indicates possession or, in a way, type. "Watashi no ringo" means "my apple". "Amerika no resutouran" means, American restaurant. You'll notice that the order is reversed as opposed to English.
hm,I understand about the direct translations,but on the other hand until I learn japanese phrases that I can use instead,I don't have much of choice.
I'm curious myself as to what word is commonly used for "correct" as I have come across "aa" and "kitsu" as being common for "correct." I'll try to be more careful when I choose words to use,but almost every word has more than one definition. I thought the rest of the sentence would be a way to bypass that and get my point across.
oh,lol,I thought you dropped the "u" in "iku" and added "itta",thanks for straightening that out for me
are "ni" and "ja" particles?if so what/how are they used?
but were my sentences set up correctly is what I want to know. I don't want to use better word choices next time but have poor sentence structure. I know you rephrased them to sound more natural/plain better but were they set-up correctly?
I'm curious myself as to what word is commonly used for "correct" as I have come across "aa" and "kitsu" as being common for "correct." I'll try to be more careful when I choose words to use,but almost every word has more than one definition. I thought the rest of the sentence would be a way to bypass that and get my point across.
oh,lol,I thought you dropped the "u" in "iku" and added "itta",thanks for straightening that out for me
are "ni" and "ja" particles?if so what/how are they used?
but were my sentences set up correctly is what I want to know. I don't want to use better word choices next time but have poor sentence structure. I know you rephrased them to sound more natural/plain better but were they set-up correctly?
epigene
相変わらず不束者です
- 10 Nov 2004
- 4,354
- 179
Hi, jmwintenn!
I'm just writing because there are things you wrote that puzzled me.
Where did you see "aa" and "kitsu" meaning "correct"? AFAIK, there is no word in Japanese that resembles those and mean "correct."
The Japanese words used to mean correct are:
Tadashii (correct, as in "not wrong")
Atteiru or atteru (correct or matching, used as is to mean "It's correct" or used as part of sentence)
Seikai (correct answer)
In this case, you drop the "k" as well. Iku -> Ittaoh,lol,I thought you dropped the "u" in "iku" and added "itta",thanks for straightening that out for me
Ni has many uses, such as to indicate place that is a destination. (The others are too many for me to write about
)Gakkou ni iku. (Go to school)
Just to let you know!
And a lot of these things can be solved with a textbook!
- 4 Sep 2007
- 113
- 3
One of the nice things about Japanese is how you can generally butcher the word order, so long as the right particles are after the right words and your main verb is at the end. For example:
Hayaku mise e itta.
Mise e hayaku itta.
Both mean "I quickly went to the store" and are grammatically correct. Your first and fourth sentences, and the example you gave when you asked about those 3 particles, are correct in terms of word order. The second and third sentences lack a verb.
Now about the particles.
To clear up confusion, while "ni" can mean many things, "e" and "ni" can both indicate destinations when used with a motion verb. The two are pretty much interchangeable when used in this manner, although "ni" is more natural in some situations. Not a thing to worry about at this stage.
"ja" is not a particle. Rather, it is a contracted, slightly less formal form of "de wa". It is used in the negative form of "to be" (desu or da). "To be" is known as the copula.
Informally, "ja nai", and formally, "ja arimasen".
Hayaku mise e itta.
Mise e hayaku itta.
Both mean "I quickly went to the store" and are grammatically correct. Your first and fourth sentences, and the example you gave when you asked about those 3 particles, are correct in terms of word order. The second and third sentences lack a verb.
Now about the particles.
To clear up confusion, while "ni" can mean many things, "e" and "ni" can both indicate destinations when used with a motion verb. The two are pretty much interchangeable when used in this manner, although "ni" is more natural in some situations. Not a thing to worry about at this stage.
"ja" is not a particle. Rather, it is a contracted, slightly less formal form of "de wa". It is used in the negative form of "to be" (desu or da). "To be" is known as the copula.
Informally, "ja nai", and formally, "ja arimasen".
I would be interested to know which dictionaries those were.
You may be interested in some online dictionaries which I think are actually very good.
www .wwwjdic.com
www .alc.co.jp
dictionary.goo.ne.jp
