Maybe I will just forget japanese

GoldCoinLover

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Well after my japanese friend would explain everything, he told me to learn everything about japanese and refused to answer my questions. Before he would answer them. But because I did not know every katakana he did not want to help me. I know how katakana and hiragana is used and some kanji, but after my chatroom experience and people on this forum telling me I don't know ANYTHING about japan (Which I take as an insult by the way. I know what to expect, of course I will have surprises. I did alot of reserach on peoples experiences there)

I do take to heart and appreciate all the advice here. As mikecash said, everyoen who says they will study japanaese never does. I do want to study japanese, but when I ask for help here, and people say to me, "Go get a book, go get a class", when I cannot afford a class, and I cannot sustain a 8 hour job right now to pay for it, (As well as go to college) it is difficult.

In the past I would askf or help on simple stuff, like particles, kanji, and people helped me. But after the chatroom, people only tell me how hard it is, and tell me to go get a textbook and ignore my question.

I do want to learn japanese, and i always have been. And I always will. But I am frusterated to say the least. My japanese friend japanese websites that teach it are not helpful, but my parents will also not get me a textbook or japanese class.

Regardless, I will call the 'japanese-society american' thing in my area in glendale tommarrow, to see what they can do.
 
Here's a question, I was studying japanese grammar. This means, "Do you have a PSP?"

あなたはPSPを持っていますか?


Notice the end, 'imasu'. Why should I use imasu intead of arimasu? Isn't arimasu made of inanimate things(ie.PSP)?
 
GCL...A good study book would only cost you around $10 - $15 please don't tell me that is too much!
 
CC1 said:
GCL...A good study book would only cost you around $10 - $15 please don't tell me that is too much!


I don't have 15 dollars. And most cost 20 dollars or more. Ive already looked
 
GoldCoinLover said:
I don't have 15 dollars. And most cost 20 dollars or more. Ive already looked

I'll send you a text book for Christmas.
 
Kevin,

You say you've taken to heart all of the advice that Mike and everyone else here has given you, but you seem to be missing the most important lesson, so let me try to spell it out as clearly as I can.

Nobody is going to hold your hand all the way through life to help you accomplish every one of your goals. If there's something you want to do (like learn Japanese and become a translator) then you have to be prepared to work towards that goal with primarily your own effort and motivation.

Whether or not you learn Japanese well enough to fulfill your goal of becoming a translator is going to depend on a whole lot of things, but most of all it's going to depend on how much you REALLY want it.

If you go out of your way to find reasons to forget about Japanese, there are a billion of them. There are also a billion reasons _not_ to forget about it. Here's one: you're not going to enjoy a very fulfilling life if you give up on anything and everything you're interested in at the very first sign of hardship.
 
GoldCoinLover said:
Here's a question, I was studying japanese grammar. This means, "Do you have a PSP?"

あなたはPSPを持っていますか?


Notice the end, 'imasu'. Why should I use imasu intead of arimasu? Isn't arimasu made of inanimate things(ie.PSP)?

~ている ~ています

持っていますか is literally translated as 'are you having?' but in English, we just say 'do you have?' right? No big deal. You got it now... please read the above link, it'll make you feel invincible in Japanese afterwards. Be warned, though, as this feeling will wear off, and you may become addicted to it. :)

edit: Sorry if I stepped on your toes there jt_, we were responding at the same time.
 
GoldCoinLover said:
I know how katakana and hiragana is used and some kanji, but after my chatroom experience and people on this forum telling me I don't know ANYTHING about japan (Which I take as an insult by the way. I know what to expect, of course I will have surprises. I did alot of reserach on peoples experiences there)
Please don't take it as an insult. It's just a fact of life. Reading about other people's experiences is not a substitute for experiencing something for yourself. You may know some things about Japan, but probably not as well as you think you know them -- just like there are Japanese people who think they know all about the US because they've read books about it, seen Hollywood movies made and set in the States, and have a friend who spent a month in New York or something. Yet they go abroad for the first time and experience severe culture shock.

The first step to true knowledge is being honest with yourself about what you don't know. Otherwise your preconceptions about how things "should" be are going to get in the way and severely interfere with the natural learning process. This holds equally true for both learning the Japanese language and life in general.

(cacawate: No worries. I've decided not to go into complex grammatical explanations with GCL at this point, as I think he has some more fundamental issues to tackle first -- both in terms of the language itself and his approach to learning it.)
 
jt_ said:
(cacawate: No worries. I've decided not to go into complex grammatical explanations with GCL at this point, as I think he has some more fundamental issues to tackle first -- both in terms of the language itself and his approach to learning it.)

This is exactly what I'm talking about! I know some about grammical japanese, but I would like it to be cleared up. Why don't you explain the basics? Sure, I will read a book about it, but for now, it would be helpful to explain some particles, etc.

Obviously, it goes as such:
(Subject)(particle, etc)(verb)(copula..i.emasu, imasu, desu)
I know the verb always goes at the end. And I know some particles

Cacawa, are you seriously going to send me a book? You haven't asked for my address..
 
cacawate said:
ツ〜窶堙??堋「窶堙ゥツ ツ〜窶堙??堋「窶堙懌?堋キ

ナスツ昶?堙≫?堙??堋「窶堙懌?堋キ窶堋ゥツ is literally translated as 'are you having?' but in English we just say 'do you have?' right? No big deal. You got it now... please read the above link, it'll make you feel invincible in Japanese afterwards. Be warned, though, as this feeling will wear off, and you may become addicted to it. :)

edit: Sorry if I stepped on your toes there jt_, we were responding at the same time.

It is a HUGE mistake to feel 'invincible' in any language. Because soon, you will find out the exact opposite. And overconfidence in a language you don't know is not a good thing!
 
CC1 said:
Well this one is only $12 for the used book
Amazon.com: Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version: 9784770019875: AJALT -Assoc. Japanese Language Teaching: Books

There are hundreds of used Japanese books on amazon and Barnes & Noble...Hell I would be willing to send you one of my old books for free if you would use it!

I would *definitely* use it!

Why do you guys think I won't? Because I ask questions too much or dont seem to study? I have looked at many websites in the past, but I forgot alot of it.

I live by a barnes and noble, in fact. But all the books are very expensive!
 
I think you people are making a mitsake by thinking I don't want to learn it. Of course, I would too if someone doesn't seem to want to by going to chatrooms or 'not listening' to peoples advice by not getting a book. But the situation is, I just can't afford one right now. I can't afford a class either, nor can my parents. I could get a job, but that is not easy right now..

I am very interested in learning it, as well as spanish..
 
I even went to the library to look for japanese books. They didn't have any. So I ordered one froma nother library which I had for a few weeks, it was "Japanese for dummies", it wasn't very helpful.
 
I think I'm going to take a break from posting here for a while.

GoldCoinLover, I forget whether or not I sent you this link before via PM. Either way, here's a website: Teach Yourself Japanese

It covers the fundamentals of Japanese grammar and the writing system fairly well. It gets a bit deep and technical at times, but you have to be able to understand these complex concepts on some level if you want to really become proficient in Japanese.

You can learn from this site for now, until you manage to get yourself a textbook. If you have any questions about what you've read, you can ask on these forums. I'm sure people will be happy to help as long as it's clear that you've made at least some effort to think about the material for yourself.

I may be back eventually. Either way, good luck in your studies.
 
jt_ said:
I think I'm going to take a break from posting here for a while.

GoldCoinLover, I forget whether or not I sent you this link before via PM. Either way, here's a website: Teach Yourself Japanese

It covers the fundamentals of Japanese grammar and the writing system fairly well. It gets a bit deep and technical at times, but you have to be able to understand these complex concepts on some level if you want to really become proficient in Japanese.

You can learn from this site for now, until you manage to get yourself a textbook. If you have any questions about what you've read, you can ask on these forums. I'm sure people will be happy to help as long as it's clear that you've made at least some effort to think about the material for yourself.

I may be back eventually. Either way, good luck in your studies.


Are you leaving because of me? If so, forget this site. I will not come back. I don't want you to leave.
 
I don't live in phoenix! I live in surprise. The admin mac or something thought I lived in phoenix. Surprise is at least 40 minutes away from phoenix. Glendale is about 10 15 minutes
 
GoldCoinLover said:
Are you leaving because of me? If so, forget this site. I will not come back. I don't want you to leave.
First of all, I'm not leaving. I'm just taking a break.

Secondly, it's not because of you, it's because I need to focus on some other things for a while. The only reason I mentioned it here is so you (and others) wouldn't think I had just disappeared or was ignoring you.

There's no need for you to leave this site. As long as you're motivated to learn the language, there will be plenty of people here to try to help you. Hell, I'll probably be back eventually myself.

In the meantime, best of luck with your studies. It looks like cacawate is going to be incredibly kind-hearted and generous and send you a textbook. Use it well, and you should make good progress toward your goals.

Try to stay focused. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your studies.

(This will be my last post on JREF for a while. Anyone who wants to get in touch with me for whatever reason can PM me. Take care, all.)
 
GoldCoinLover said:
I don't live in phoenix! I live in surprise. The admin mac or something thought I lived in phoenix. Surprise is at least 40 minutes away from phoenix. Glendale is about 10 15 minutes


sorry...your profile shows Phoenix...you can change that yourself right? I did find this site though...only 40 minutes away? Could be fun!
japan-guide.com - Friendship

even though there are only two people listed and only one that knows Japanese
 
jt_ said:
First of all, I'm not leaving. I'm just taking a break.

Secondly, it's not because of you, it's because I need to focus on some other things for a while. The only reason I mentioned it here is so you (and others) wouldn't think I had just disappeared or was ignoring you.

There's no need for you to leave this site. As long as you're motivated to learn the language, there will be plenty of people here to try to help you. Hell, I'll probably be back eventually myself.

In the meantime, best of luck with your studies. It looks like cacawate is going to be incredibly kind-hearted and generous and send you a textbook. Use it well, and you should make good progress toward your goals.

Try to stay focused. I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your studies.

(This will be my last post on JREF for a while. Anyone who wants to get in touch with me for whatever reason can PM me. Take care, all.)


Wow, just when I was gonna drain you of all your mighty Japanese knowledge. Guess I'll have to find another host... (Elizabeth). Well, Take care jt_, and I hope to see you posting again!

-Jeff
 
cacawate said:
Wow, just when I was gonna drain you of all your mighty Japanese knowledge. Guess I'll have to find another host... (Elizabeth). Well, Take care jt_, and I hope to see you posting again!

-Jeff

Yes, you are incredibly kind hearted caca. Thank you. (Why is your name caca..reminds me of eh, nevermind) 😊
 
Did you graduate high school last spring, Kevin? What exactly have you been doing with your life since then?
 
mikecash said:
Did you graduate high school last spring, Kevin? What exactly have you been doing with your life since then?

Relaxing. And thinking about what to study next..I graduated high school in November.
 
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