confused about when "i" and "you" should be used..

Hello!
I'm a little confused about when "i" (watashi wa) and "you" (anata wa) and is used in a sentance...
examples:
1) "i understand English" (eigo ga wakari masu)
2) "i am American. (watashi wa america jin desu)
in the 2nd sentence they use "i" (watashi wa) but omit it in the first.. why? will the first sentence still make sense if i said "watashi wa eigo ga wakari masu"?
feel free to correct any spelling mistakes (i have yet to learn writing) ^^

Japanese is a topic-context dependent language. Most of the time, this topic is often omitted. So essentially, the two you mentioned are the one and the same.
（私は）英語がわかります。 (watashi wa) eigo ga wakarimasu.

Watashi wa is usually implied in most situations as in the example above. However, since you are beginning to learn japanese, always stick (watashi wa) or (anata wa) for now. Later on, you will learn to differentiate between when you may or may not omit it.

"Wa" is a marker necessary to indicate someone or something as a topic, and is used to in beginning of conversations, or when changing topics. It's always there, just implied rather than mentioned to avoid repetitiveness.

You can think of it being similar to: " I can write. I can speak. I can play basketball,"
instead of writing it as "I can write, speak, and play basketball."
Using watashi wa in every sentence gives off a similar nuance. But again, sometimes (watashi wa) might be need to be repeated a second time, just as how sometimes, It might be better to use the former instead of the latter of the english example I gave you. So stick to the basics for now and incorporate "watashi wa/anata wa" in your sentences.

I would avoid the use of anata wherever possible. 二人称 pronouns are dicey as they are considered not as polite as using someone's name + San. I would use someone's surname followed by San wherever possible.

Morphling said:

I would avoid the use of anata wherever possible. 二人称 pronouns are dicey as they are considered not as polite as using someone's name + San. I would use someone's surname followed by San wherever possible.

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When I lived in Japan, with the exception of teachers who I called by name + sensei, I'm don't think I used san more than a few times. People seemed to find it weird, and about 90% called me by just my first name from the first time we met. But in formal situations like introducing someone at a job meeting etc, yes.

I guess it depends on your age, and the age of the group of people you normally hang out with... if young, like university students, using san too much can make you seem "cold".. but if older I guess not using san enough would be "improper".

But then again, sticking with san is probably the way to go for a beginner... sorry if I ended up confusing you!

Morphling said:

I would avoid the use of anata wherever possible. 二人称 pronouns are dicey as they are considered not as polite as using someone's name + San. I would use someone's surname followed by San wherever possible.

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well in the lesson they were teaching me how to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger.. so i doubt i would know there name...

but from my anime/manga reading experience yes i'd say you're right... if you know their name...

ylapointe said:

well in the lesson they were teaching me how to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger.. so i doubt i would know there name...

but from my anime/manga reading experience yes i'd say you're right... if you know their name...

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You would usually ask their names really early in conversation はじめまして、お名前は何ですか？ hajimemashite, onamae ha nan desu ka? for example
Then you can easily avoid ever using anata which is most commonly used in Japanese movies and tv shows as an affectionate term between lovers... although it technically does mean "you" and if you are desperate you can use it. Using it does make you seem like a beginner though, which might not be a bad thing yet... if they think you're fluent they might start speaking faster and use more difficult terms.

raguna said:

You would usually ask their names really early in conversation はじめまして、お名前は何ですか？ hajimemashite, onamae ha nan desu ka? for example
Then you can easily avoid ever using anata which is most commonly used in Japanese movies and tv shows as an affectionate term between lovers... although it technically does mean "you" and if you are desperate you can use it. Using it does make you seem like a beginner though, which might not be a bad thing yet... if they think you're fluent they might start speaking faster and use more difficult terms.

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id rather not get ahead of my self here... ive only gone through 1 lesson so far the only things i can recognize from you example is "desu" and ka" so all i know is you have "are" in that example and its a question...

one more thing, do you still need a ? mark if you have "ka"?

ylapointe said:

id rather not get ahead of my self here... ive only gone through 1 lesson so far the only things i can recognize from you example is "desu" and ka" so all i know is you have "are" in that example and its a question...

one more thing, do you still need a ? mark if you have "ka"?

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It doesn't exist in formal writing, so you might want to stay away from it to avoid confusion. It is pretty commonly used in casual and creative writing though.