Understanding the language fluently

Hey, I've been learning on and off for a year and a half now, I've been exposed to the language all my life though so I kind of know how they say things but still not really lol but I've never gotten serious or fluent with it. I want to be able to understand it like I do with English, mostly from hearing it rather then reading. The things that seem to be difficult for me the most is the sentence structures, grammar, how they word things etc,.

You know how most translations reverse the way it is in Japanese? Wouldn't it be better to try and understand it the way their saying it? Or rather I wonder how Japanese understand their own language. Like when a verb is said they know it's that verb, but depending on the ending could mean alot of different things... I guess it's like "is" and then "not" in English or something lol

Anyway I started back up trying to learn it the past days or so, I refamilarized myself with all the basics again and decided to try translating a song so I could try to understand the words as they are being said, rather then their full meaning. Is this a good idea to learn? Is this how Japanese people register the language as it's being said? I put the lyrics down there (NOTE, THEY ARE MOST PROBABLY WRONG) also, I had alot of trouble with verb endings, a lot I couldn't find in the dictionary's conjugation list

I didn't translate the hole song, cause I wasn't sure if I was right it's kinda confusing, if you guys can help me correct things I got wrong that would be great, and do you think this is a good way of trying to learn the language? Following along with the way their sentences goes?


Song:
Lyrcs & video:
初音ミク Wiki - 孤独の番人

I linked to youtube, on the wiki pages there's a NND link if you prefer





my attempt at translation

午前2時 の 誰も＊居ない 駅 の ホーム
gozen niji no daremo＊inai eki no ho^mu hi*
Morning 2 hour of everyone＊isn't station 's platform hi*
At 2 in the morning, no ones at the stations platform un*
非日常的 な 光景 に 感じ*た
*nichijouteki na koukei ni kanji*ta
*expected ... scene at feel*haved
I felt a strange scene
この 世界 に 独り 取り残＊された よう な 気に*なって
kono sekai ni hitori torinoko*sareta you na kini*natte
this world at one person leave behind*haved ! ... worried*become
I become worried as I'm left alone in this world
急に 涙 溢 れた
kyuuni namida afure*ta
Suddenly Tears overflow*haved
Suddenly tears have overflowed


失う のが 怖い から 誰 とも 交わ*らず
ushinau noga kowai kara dare tomo majiwa*razu
to lose to fear becase who whichever to meet*not
losing my fear because someone here I didn't meet

「こんな世界のせいだ」と 八つ当 たり して
( konna sekai nosei da ) to yattsu atari shite
"like this world because of is" eight hit to do

"because the world is like this" I hit eight times
見えないものに囚われ 息 も 出来なくて
mie nai mono ni toraware iki mo dekina*kute
show not thing at captive breath also able*not
Nothings shows not able to breath as I hold my breath
差し 出さ*れた 腕 を 切り落と した
sashi dasa*reta ude wo kirioto shita
between(ppl) takeout*haved arm cut off*to do
To cut off the arm between two people



君 の 一番 に なりたくて すべてを壊したの
kimi no ichiban ni nari*takute subete wo kowa*shita no
you r number 1 to want*ed all destroy*did
I wanted to be your number 1 all of that is destroyed
ただ 愛 され*たい と 願う 事は罪なのでしょうか？
tada ai sare*tai to negau koto ha tsumi nano deshouka ?
only love to do*want and wish thing crime is it I wonder?

Is it a crime to want and wish for only love?
願え ば 願う ほど 苦しい 心 を 突き*刺し*て
negae ba negau hodo kurushi i kokoro wo tsuki*sashi*te
wish if wish alot painful heart to stab*thorn*did

I wish, wish alot, my suffering heart is stabbed by a thorn

寂しがり屋 で 面倒臭い 孤独の番人
sabishigariya de mendoukusai kodoku no bannin
lonely person ! bothersome loneliness of one person
lonely person ! bothersome loneliness of a single person


with just english, trying to follow the way it's said in japanese and romaji too

gozen ni ji no daremo＊inai eki no ho^mu
Morning 2 hour of everyone＊isn't station 's platform

hinichijouteki na koukei ni kanji*ta
unexpected ... scene at feel*haved

gozen ni ji no daremo＊inai eki no ho^mu hi*
Morning 2 hour of everyone＊isn't station 's platform un*

*nichijouteki na koukei ni kanji*ta
*expected ... scene at feel*haved

kono sekai ni hitori torinoko*sareta you na kini*natte
this world at one person leave behind*haved ! ... worried*become

kyuuni namida afure*ta
Suddenly Tears overflow*haved

ushinau noga kowai kara dare tomo majiwa*razu
to lose to fear becase who whichever to meet*not

""konna sekai nosei da" to yattsu atari shite
"like this world because of is" eight hit to do

mie nai mono ni toraware iki mo dekina*kute
show not thing at captive breath also able*not

sashi dasa*reta ude wo kirioto shita
between(ppl) takeout*haved arm cut off to do


kimi no ichiban ni nari*takute subete wo kowa*shita no
you r number 1 to want*ed all destroy*did

tada ai sare*tai to negau koto ha tsumi nano deshouka ?
only love to do*want and wish thing crime is it I wonder?

negae ba negau hodo kurushi i kokoro wo tsuki*sashi*te
wish if wish alot painful heart to stab*thorn*did

sabishigariya de mendoukusai kodoku no bannin
lonely person ! bothersome loneliness of one person

It is a wretchedly slow, ineffective, and horribly inaccurate way to learn Japanese.

Have you tried learning by taking a class or by self-study with a proper textbook? With tried-and-true materials you could have made some rather good progress over the last year and a half.

Is this how Japanese people register the language as it's being said?

Click to expand...

You mean does it come out in their heads as screwy and nonsensical mixed-up stuff that they then have to rearrange in their heads so it makes sense to them? No.

mdv71 said:

Hey, I've been learning on and off for a year and a half now, I've been exposed to the language all my life though so I kind of know how they say things but still not really lol but I've never gotten serious or fluent with it. I want to be able to understand it like I do with english, mostly from haering it rather then reading. The things that seem to be difficult for me the most is the setence structures, grammar, how they word things etc,.

You know how most translations reverse the way it is in japanese? Wouldn't it be better to try and understand it the way their saying it? Or rather I wonder how japanese understand their own language. Like when a verb is said they know it's that verb, but depending on the ending could mean alot of different things... I guess it's like "is" and then "not" in english or something lol

Anyway I started back up trying to learn it the past days or so, I refamilarized myself with all the basics again and decided to try translating a song so I could try to understand the words as they are being said, rather then their full meaning. Is this a good idea to learn? Is this how Japanese people register the language as it's being said? I put the lyrics down there (NOTE, THEY ARE MOST PROBABLY WRONG) also, I had alot of trouble with verb endings, alot I couldnt find in the dictionarys conjugation list

Click to expand...

It's the same as in English, if you hear the verb "played" you know the basic meaning is "play" and the "-ed" ending means it's past tense so it's a past action, it's not a very difficult concept to understand. Obviously in Japanese and in other languages there are more verb endings than in English, but each one has some sort of meaning. Also there is context like "Yesterday I played", the verb ending "-ed" doesn't really matter because the word "yesterday" tells us it's past anyway.

Regarding your question about how people understand their own language; this is a very complex subject, but generally a native speaker of any language doesn't listen and process what they hear word by word, they understand chunks of speech, so the word order is irrelevant. Remember, that Japanese people understand Japanese in the same way that you understand English.

Your way of translating word for word in Japanese word order is not a good way to 1) translate or 2) learn a language. Even from an early stage you should avoid over-reliance on English and literal translations. Also if you don't know the verb endings you shouldn't be attempting something that complex; stick to things appropriate to your level that contains limited, more basic grammar.

If you want to improve your aural comprehension you just have to practise a lot; listen to the language as much as you can. You can't expect to understand much or anything at first. Even just recognising one or two words is good, it's a start. As you progress (you need to be studying with text books or a teacher as well) you will be able to understand more and more. But you can't expect to understand every word.

Choose listening materials you know something about, like a news report about a story you've read in English; that way your brain is primed to understand more.

This site: NEWS WEB EASY|中国共産党の新しい最高幹部が決まる has easy-reading articles in Japanese and audio versions you can listen to as you read. For example this story: NEWS WEB EASY|アメリカ大統領にオバマ氏がまた選ばれる is about Obama's re-relection, so it's a story you probably are familiar with so you will probably be able to understand more.