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Learning Japanese in romaji (for members w/o Japanese-enabled PCs)

Charles Barkley

TNT Basketball Analyst
14 Jun 2007
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Stop typing stuff I can't understand! lol


Skullcrusher girl: Don't worry, even if you could read japanese, you probably wouldn't be able to understand it.

Derfel: Try to make less complicated, shorter sentences. Also, punctuation would be very very helpful, especially since you are writing in romaji. Also, makotoni is a good word to stop using. It is a very formal word usually used in keigo that will sound very weird unless you have a very firm grip on the language (I am unable to use it yet, myself).

Skullcrusher Girl: tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu. dou deshita ka? donna purezento wo moraimashita ka? watashi wa nihon ni sundeiru shi, otona ni natta shi, mae no tanjoubi ha oya kara purezento wo hitosu mo moraimasendeshita. sabishii desu ne.
 
Derfel: Try to make less complicated, shorter sentences. Also, punctuation would be very very helpful, especially since you are writing in romaji. Also, makotoni is a good word to stop using. It is a very formal word usually used in keigo that will sound very weird unless you have a very firm grip on the language (I am unable to use it yet, myself).

Understood! I shall use hontoo ni, and i'll pay more attention to punctuation.
 
Skullcrusher Girl: tanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu. dou deshita ka? donna purezento wo moraimashita ka? watashi wa nihon ni sundeiru shi, otona ni natta shi, mae no tanjoubi ha oya kara purezento wo hitosu mo moraimasendeshita. sabishii desu ne.
Aw...Arigatou gozaimasu.
Giifuto caado ga arimashita
OKANE MO!! YAY!
Atarashii fuku ga arimashita.....
Warukatta janai deshita! (I know I messed up that poor sentence)
Watashi-tachi wa eigakan ni ikimashita (how to say and there? soshite or to?)
Watashi-tachi wa Benihana de tabeta(can I do that?) ni ikimashita.
This is frustrating. Seems my Japanese has gotten worse.
 
"Warukatta janai deshita!"

This turns into: waruku nai ==> which turns into past tense: waruku nakatta

"Watashi-tachi wa eigakan ni ikimashita" I would use: watashitachi wa eigakan ni itte, sore to kore o shita (-te form to "link actions")

"Watashi-tachi wa Benihana de tabeta ni ikimashita." Change it a bit like this: watashitachi wa Benihana de tabe ni ikimashita
In such cases you need to use the stem of the verb.

Just keep doing it, don't stop with something you're studying, a single day can be devastating, keep your brain busy, constantly.
 
"Warukatta janai deshita!"

This turns into: waruku nai ==> which turns into past tense: waruku nakatta
Waraku? I was using warai as an adjective because it is. So did you mean warakunai? You seperated them and I confused me.
"Watashi-tachi wa eigakan ni ikimashita" I would use: watashitachi wa eigakan ni itte,(Why not itta?)sore to kore o shita (-te form to "link actions")And what is all that for?!
Grrr...so would I be able to use past tense like:
Watashi wa aruita to hashite imashita?
If I have two verbs in one sentence? Watashi wa hitsuyo ga renshuu shimasu!
 
It would help considerably if you told me what meaning you desire, as there are several potential meanings you can end up with using different particles with the words you have there.

Watashi wa aruita to hashite imashita?
Watashi wa hitsuyo ga renshuu shimasu!

Please explain what would you like these sentences to mean.

The first one now looks pretty much as a listing, but since the two verbs there contradict each other you probably meant something else.
the second can be translated in many ways, that ga you have used there is quite the omnipotent particle.
 
"Warukatta janai deshita!"

This turns into: waruku nai ==> which turns into past tense: waruku nakatta

"Watashi-tachi wa eigakan ni ikimashita" I would use: watashitachi wa eigakan ni itte, sore to kore o shita (-te form to "link actions")

"Watashi-tachi wa Benihana de tabeta ni ikimashita." Change it a bit like this: watashitachi wa Benihana de tabe ni ikimashita
In such cases you need to use the stem of the verb.

Just keep doing it, don't stop with something you're studying, a single day can be devastating, keep your brain busy, constantly.

-warukunakatta or simply an easy ol' 'tanoshikatta' works fine

-in the second sentence, there is no need to use 'sore to.' Just putting the verb in the Te-form adds the nuance 'and then' to whatever comes after it. If you want to add a period and start a new sentence, you can use 'sorekara' or 'soshite' (there are others but those are the easiest and broadest ones).

-'watashitachi wa Benihana de tabe ni ikimashita' <-- this is not correct. The point of the Vstem + ni iku grammar point is that you went somewhere to do something, not that you did something at some place. The phrase involves movement, so there has to be an 'e' or 'ni' particle before the verb and after the place you are going. Here you could say something like (dropping the watashitachi because you used it in the last sentence and the topic hasn't changed) 'Sorekara Benihana ni (food wo) tabe ni ikimashita.' You could also just say, 'sorekara, benihana de tabemashita.' No reason not to just stick with this simple form.


Here is a tip: The key to having good conversations in japanese is NOT using difficult grammar. Of course sometimes it might help, but you can get away with using just about zero grammar (aside from past, present, and current tenses, and the all-important kedo, no-de, kara, etc) and still have fine conversations. The key is having interesting things to say. Don't spend time trying to express the same simple things in more complicated grammar. Express simple things simply and correctly. Then think of other simple, interesting things you can say. Difficult grammer will come naturally with more study and you wont have as many awkward, bad habits.
 
It would help considerably if you told me what meaning you desire, as there are several potential meanings you can end up with using different particles with the words you have there.

Watashi wa aruita to hashite imashita?
Watashi wa hitsuyo ga renshuu shimasu!

Please explain what would you like these sentences to mean.

The first one now looks pretty much as a listing, but since the two verbs there contradict each other you probably meant something else.
the second can be translated in many ways, that ga you have used there is quite the omnipotent particle.

-hitsyou almost always goes at the end of the sentence. A couple of good structures to remember:

____Verb Ru form + no ga hitsyou da. = it is necessary to do ____
noun ga hitsuyou da. = noun is necessary.


-To say you are doing one thing while doing another, you use the form MainVerbmasu form +nagara, second verb.

i.e., here you would say arukinagara hanshimashita.


fuyuyasumi no owari made machisaserareta naa, taihen nee
saigo no wa nan no shiken datta ka

-a quick point, but the passive causitive form of matsu is mataserareta. Also the naa/nee combination here is a bit odd.
 
-hitsyou almost always goes at the end of the sentence. A couple of good structures to remember:
____Verb Ru form + no ga hitsyou da. = it is necessary to do ____
"____Verb Ru form + no ga hitsyou da." tte iu iikata wa nai to omoimasu.

"____Verb Ru form + hitsuyou ga/wa arimasu." no koto desuka?
 
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-hitsyou almost always goes at the end of the sentence. A couple of good structures to remember:
____Verb Ru form + no ga hitsyou da. = it is necessary to do ____
noun ga hitsuyou da. = noun is necessary.
-To say you are doing one thing while doing another, you use the form MainVerbmasu form +nagara, second verb.
i.e., here you would say arukinagara hanshimashita.
I'm getting really pissed off because none of this makes sense.
THE VERB ALWAYS GOES LAST!!
Why "no"?
I have NEVER heard of anyone using -nagara to put two verbs in a sentence. This is what makes me frustrated. Everyone tells something different.
 
The "no" is to point out the doING it is necessary.
You simply make the -ing the subject.
Its quite weird you never heard about nagara.
You really need something like Genki or Ultimate Japanese. Those two books are good, oh yeah, and Japanese Particle Workbook, loads of formulae and answers there.
 
I'm getting really pissed off because none of this makes sense.
THE VERB ALWAYS GOES LAST!!
Why "no"?
In a Japanese sentence the verb comes at the end. Arimasu and Desu
also function as verbs.

Nihongo no bun de wa doushi wa owari ni kimasu.
"Aru" to "desu" wa doushi no yakume wo shimasune.


Like I said already, "no" and "ga" are not necessary before "hitsuyou."

"Hitsuyou" no mae ni, "no ga" wa hitsuyou arimasen ne. :)
 
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Kono sureddo wa gakkou ya sonota no koukyou no Nihongo kinou wo insutooru dekinai pasokon karashika akusesu dekinai menbaa no tame ni arimasu.
This thread is for JREF members who can only access this forum through PCs at schools and other public institutions where Japanese-language capability cannot be installed.

Kono sureddo dewa, eigo to nihongo wo jiyuu ni tsukatte kudasai.
Feel free to mix Japanese romaji and English in this thread.

"Romaji please" ni atta eigo ga mazatta kakikomi wa kochirani idou shimashita node, goryoshou kudasai.
Please acknowledge that posts written in Romaji-English mix in "Romaji please" have been moved to this thread.

Kyou ikou, Romaji Please sureddo e no atarashii eigo no kaikomi wa sakujo itashimasu.
Please note also that all new posts in the Romaji Please thread written in English will be deleted.
 
Joo, minna-san~!
Sukoshi-dake... nihongo hanasemas.
Watashi wa orandajin desu!
Jibun ni manzoku shimasu. ( Lol, i hope i wrote this right...)

Argh, i wanted to write some other thing 2, but i can't seem to find anything in this little book i got for x-mas... :|
Oh, if i spelled anything wrong, or said anything wrong...Please correct me~!
 
Although phonetically right, you could try to add a last u to -masu.
And umm since my Japanese is rather limited... im wondering what you mean by Jibun ni manzoku shimasu.
I haven't come across this, I mean manzoku is ok... but that would mean you're satisfying yourself...
Might be my mind thats dodgy, but might be that sentence as well.
 
Well, in my little book it says, that im very proud of myself :p
Coz it's not very easy to learn a new language...

And about the masu, i know... probably forgot...:LOL:

Demo, Arigato~!🙂
 
Joo, minna-san~!
Sukoshi-dake... nihongo hanasemas.
Watashi wa orandajin desu!
Jibun ni manzoku shimasu. ( Lol, i hope i wrote this right...)

Argh, i wanted to write some other thing 2, but i can't seem to find anything in this little book i got for x-mas... :|
Oh, if i spelled anything wrong, or said anything wrong...Please correct me~!

Konnichi wa!
Moshi Arlet-san wa nihongo o yoku benkyou shite iru nara, totemo muzukashikunai desu ne!
Nihongo wa, ganbette ne!
Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! 😊
 
muzukashii? ittai nan desu ka?
mainichi ni-san-ji sae benkyou sureba, tachimachi nihongo de hanasemasu yoo ni naru to iitai, kedo sonna ni kantan ja nai, ga yoku ganbare.
nihongo wa tashika ni muri ja nai.

Ah sorry, posted at the same time, is it possible to move this one too?
Sorry once more. It seems users can't delete their posts.
 
Okay, next job (try to understand romanji, im not so good, so i cant really read the romanji you put here.
I just tried to Join 😌
 
Just keep it up, its more about practice than actual knowledge, at first I couldn't understand anything either, but I got into it, it wasn't a question of of knowledge.
 
Okay, next job (try to understand romanji, im not so good, so i cant really read the romanji you put here.
I just tried to Join 😌
Especially keep reading in that little or whatever book ("Jibun ni manzoku shimasu," though, I feel is really unnatural). 😌

Cause a lot of the stuff in this thread and on the internet by amateurs all over is at the least awkward or not unusually outright wrong. 😌
 
Thanks for the correction Elizabeth, I always seem to find out my own bad habits when mistakenly trying to correct others...
 
Ja, kore wa tanoshii miru yo!

Sumimasen ga, watashi no nihongo wa amari yoku nai yo.
 
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