Newbie japanese speaker, please help me clarify.

[Gin Ichimaru]

Konnichiwa,
I've been using rosetta stone to help learn Japanese, and I've been wondering what the difference between "boku wa" and "watashi wa" translate to. Also, is it safe to assume that "ookii" translates to "big," and that "chiisai" translates to "small?"
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

 

[Toritoribe]

I've been using rosetta stone to help learn Japanese, and I've been wondering what the difference between "boku wa" and "watashi wa" translate to.

The following might be helpful.

explanation for Japanese personal pronouns

Language - Personal and Possessive Pronouns | Japan Forum
Pronouns

Also, is it safe to assume that "ookii" translates to "big," and that "chiisai" translates to "small?"

Mostly, yes. You can check out the meanings on JDIC.

WWWJDIC

 

[Gin Ichimaru]

Arigatou.

The dictionary can be a little confusing at times for certain words because there can be soooo many different contexts in which it can be used, but the pronouns pages definitely helped me out a lot. I appreciate the help.

 

[Toritoribe]

The dictionary can be a little confusing at times for certain words because there can be soooo many different contexts in which it can be used

That's totally same to the difficulty in interpreting the meaning of words without context, so a simple question like "does ookii mean big?" is always answered as "mostly yes" or "yes and no" or something like that.;-)

 

[SEYZJP]

Konnichiwa,
I've been using rosetta stone to help learn Japanese, and I've been wondering what the difference between "boku wa" and "watashi wa" translate to. Also, is it safe to assume that "ookii" translates to "big," and that "chiisai" translates to "small?"
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Watashi = I (most common use)
Boku = I(male, informal)

Watashi is the most general usage of "I". It is used by anyone, but is often replaced by WATAKUSHI when the person speaking wants to be a bit more polite. Boku is used by males and is just bit more informal than Watashi, although in many cases they are interchangeable.

On a side not, I'd get a Teach Yourself Book and some other material other than the Rosetta Stone. They have a great marketing campaign but their language learning materials suck in my opinion. You will progress quicker by using a variety of methods and using the Rosetta Stone as a minimal resource.

 

[Gin Ichimaru]

Very good advice, thank you SEYZJP... I've definitely been starting to realize that. I love their curriculum and the way their teaching method is set up (immerse yourself in the language, nothing is translated for you but rather associated instead), but the more I've read I've started to realize they're teaching you a lot of obsolete or outdated words and not really explaining too well into context for you. I've definitely been trying to approach this from a lot of angles such as reading e-books and forums like this and all of your help is appreciated, arigatou.