Starting Japanese up again, Got some questions

[yaminohaka]

Well, as you can probably guess I was learning Japanese a long time ago and got a little overwhelmed and lost おもしろい (interest?), but I want another go at it.

I figure I should keep some kind of journal to document my daily actives in JAPANESE, but I have come across some bumps in the road. As I am still very new to Japanese and have a lot to learn, I need some help.

I start out every entry with the date and the day of the week.
二00十/九/九八 But most people would probably just use the numbers right? Would it be fine if I use Japanese numbers instead? I have also seen some people using the Kanji for zero '0'. Should I use the kanji for it 零 （れい？） also？
If I was describing the weather, would さむい be enough? or should I put something more. Like 'today was cold'? but the reader would know that this day is cold, because it's in the entry of the 18th. I should repeat myself like that?

Also, how should I write about if I went to school or not? Like がっこい来ません (wow, I must have written that wrong and I couldn't find the kanji for school がっこ？). がっこい来ます I know this is probably wrong, but I'm not sure if い来ます （or should it be 行きます？）means to go? I am probably missing が or わ? Please bare with me.

Well thank you so much for reading all that garbage. I am very sorry it took me that long to explain all of that, I swear I won't post some much next time. XD

Thank you again for reading.

 

[undrentide]

Unless one writes vertically, we usually use Arabic numerals for dates or any other figures (numbers).
The order is Year, Month then Date.
２００９年１０月１８日

I don't go to school is
私は学校へ行きません。（わたしはがっこうへいきません）
to go is 行く（いく）. 来ます is a polite form of 来る which means "to come".
And school is がっこう not がっこ.

I'd recommend you to learn kana (hiragana/katakana) first before jumping into the kanji and learn how to spell the word correctly - that'll make it easier for you to look up kanji.

And learn particles (は、が、に、へ、を、etc.) and other basic grammars.
Learn Japanese – Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese
This site is simple and well organized, I think.

がんばってくださいね。

Edit: I forgot to write about this;
It is a good practice to write a journal in Japanese.
I highly recommend Lang-8, as there are many natives or fluent learners who will make correction to your entries.
Multi-lingual language learning and language exchange Lang-8

 

[yaminohaka]

Unless one writes vertically, we usually use Arabic numerals for dates or any other figures (numbers).
The order is Year, Month then Date.
２００９年１０月１８日

I
I will keep using Japanese numbers to better understand them. I think this will be OK and won't hurt anything.
二零零九年十月十八日

I don't go to school is
私は学校へ行きません。（わたしはがっこうへいきませ ん）
to go is 行く（いく）. 来ます is a polite form of 来る which means "to come".
And school is がっこう not がっこ.

Ahh, thanks for the correction on 学校！ This helps me a lot, I thought I had the correct spelling, but I forgot a う。XD Then the opposite of not going to school (in past tense)? 私は学校へ行きました。?

I'd recommend you to learn kana (hiragana/katakana) first before jumping into the kanji and learn how to spell the word correctly - that'll make it easier for you to look up kanji.

Actually, I already know kana very well. My ひらがな is very close to prefect if I may say so. Though my カタカナ is a little rusty, but I have no worries with that. Though of course thanks for the advice. I completely agree with you, anyone should learn kana first then kanji. XD

And learn particles (は、が、に、へ、を、etc.) and other basic grammars.
Learn Japanese | Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese
This site is simple and well organized, I think.

がんばってくださいね。

Edit: I forgot to write about this;
It is a good practice to write a journal in Japanese.
I highly recommend Lang-8, as there are many natives or fluent learners who will make correction to your entries.
Multi-lingual language learning and language exchange | Lang-8: For learning foreign languages

Oh wow, thanks for the links. They are very useful. And lang-8 is very interesting! I think I may sign up for it.


I have a question. I saw this sentence not too long ago and was wondering what it meant.
きょうさむいね！ Now of course I know what さむい means and that ね is like a excitement ! or to be very excited, but what does きょう means?

Well thanks again for the help and it's been great coming back to this forum.

 

[Elizabeth]

Edit: I forgot to write about this;
It is a good practice to write a journal in Japanese.
I highly recommend Lang-8, as there are many natives or fluent learners who will make correction to your entries.
Multi-lingual language learning and language exchange Lang-8

I second your recommendation! It's one of the best things you can do for yourself, language-wise. The fun begins for real getting erred up entries back and trying to understand why everyone thinks to help by making completely different corrections.


今日（きょう）。

 

[undrentide]

I will keep using Japanese numbers to better understand them. I think this will be OK and won't hurt anything.
二零零九年十月十八日

In that case, you should write
二〇〇九年十月十八日
If you're using Japanese IME, zero or ぜろ can be converted into 〇 which is numerals in kanji.
零 is used to refer just "zero".
It is pronounced "zero" while we say にせんきゅう for 二〇〇九.

Ahh, thanks for the correction on 学校！ This helps me a lot, I thought I had the correct spelling, but I forgot a う。XD Then the opposite of not going to school (in past tense)? 私は学校へ行きました。?

Yes.
行く : to go 行きます polite
行かない／行きません present negative
行った／行きました past tense
行かなかった／行きませんでした past negative

I have a question. I saw this sentence not too long ago and was wondering what it meant.
きょうさむいね！ Now of course I know what さむい means and that ね is like a excitement ! or to be very excited, but what does きょう means?

今日（きょう）: today
ね is used to add feelings, as you said, but more commonly for asking for light agreement/assurance (like "It's cold today, isn't it?")