Hey, I'm new, and I would like some help

[Garethp]

Okay, so I'm trying to learn Japanese (For the second time)(I still know a small bit from the first time) so I taught myself how to read and write hiragana (I'm about to start on Katakana) and I bought myself a Manga in Japanese. Now my next step is to learn what the words mean XD. So if someone could help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyway, I have this text

あまやかしてちやだめよつ

Which I know means

amayakashitechiyadameyotsu

But I have no idea where to put the spaces, nor what it means. If someone could post a translation, and show how they arrive at that translation, I'd be really really grateful

Thank in advance!
- Gareth

 

[Mike Cash]

The idea of attempting to teach one's self Japanese by translating some random manga is rather common....and a sure-fire recipe for frustration. Put the manga on the shelf and save for a time when you've gotten a good grip on the basics of the language first.

What you have pulled out as an example is highly colloquial, and you've mis-transliterated it to boot. (You have to recognize the difference between full-sized kana and smaller kana).

I don't mean to sound discouraging, but saying you know how to read hiragana and asking someone to post a translation and how they arrived at it is something like saying you've purchased a screwdriver and a monkey wrench and plan to figure out engineering on your own by having someone explain the Wankel Rotary engine to you.

I wish you the best of luck in learning Japanese and encourage you to take advantage of the wealth of learning tools that are available these days. The process you have in mind will only result in spinning your wheels.....lots of energy expended for little or no forward progress.

 

[GreenCat]

Okay, so I'm trying to learn Japanese (For the second time)(I still know a small bit from the first time) so I taught myself how to read and write hiragana (I'm about to start on Katakana) and I bought myself a Manga in Japanese. Now my next step is to learn what the words mean XD. So if someone could help me, I would greatly appreciate it. Anyway, I have this text
あまやかしてちやだめよつ
Which I know means
amayakashitechiyadameyotsu
But I have no idea where to put the spaces, nor what it means. If someone could post a translation, and show how they arrive at that translation, I'd be really really grateful
Thank in advance!
- Gareth

Congrats, you have decided to work on it and learnt how to type Japanese.
That is definitely a start but like the other guy pointed out, without the help of grammar and syntax...it would be like breaking a code.

At least, you should cover the main particles and the rules for verb conjugation: If you don't know what "d" of "liked" means, then you won't be able to figure out a bear form of a verb, which means you cannot use any dictionary...

Anyway, you can figure out the meaning of the sentence below pretty easily if you know what the bare forms of verbs in the sentence below and know the particle(?) or verb form(?) "てちゃ".
あまやかしてちゃ
だめ
よつ

As to てちゃ、it is an informal form of ていたら, a conditional, and maybe with slight emphasis on continuation of a state than standard form?

If you keep on spoiling it(her/him), then it's bad Yotu.

The entry burier for learning Japanese is not that high but not exactly low either, because it is a language that is much far apart from English than any European language you have ever heard(not quite sure though). Spending first 50 hours or so with text books or University open courses won't hurt you.

Learn Japanese – Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Foreign-L...nning-Japanese-IFall2004/CourseHome/index.htm

 

[Toritoribe]

甘やかしてちゃ is exactly a conditional form, but ちゃ is the contraction of ては, not たら. (For example, when you describe a past fact, you can't say 甘やかしてちゃだめになった instead of 甘やかしてたらだめになった.;-)) Thus, 甘やかしてちゃ is a colloquial expression of 甘やかしていては. While 甘やかしてたら/甘やかしてちゃだめになる is a "if~ then" structure, 甘やかしてちゃだめ（よ） simply expresses "forbiddance" or "you shouldn't spoil/keep on spoiling someone," as same as 甘やかしてちゃいけない.
（「甘やかしている」のアスペクト分類についてはややこしそうなので踏み込みませんが。 ）

 

[Mike Cash]

Man, I hate wasting my time trying to help drive-by posters.