Learn Japanese Options

hey... if there's a learn mandarin thread and a learn korean thread... heck, why not put a learn japanese thread? im sure ~Xiao A~ knows a lot of japanese too... since she takes jap class and all.. and i bet there are japanese members here too... so be sure to post what u know here!! hehe... so now... i can say stuff in *counts* umm... 10 languages?! haha cool...

here's what i got so far...

1. The expression kon'nichiwa should be used only in the daytime, perhaps between 10 am and 5 pm since its literal translation is "good day". It also should be used when you greet someone, not when you're saying goodbye.

2. Watashi and watakushi means "I" "me" or "myself". In a more formal situation, Japanese people use watakushi.

3. Hajimemashite is used only to greet someone for the first time. It literally means "nice to see you for the first time". Doozo yoroshiku really means "may I ask you to be kind to me". An expression like this is not normally used in English. However, it is necessary when speaking Japanese.

4. Hai means "yes" in English. However, it can be used differently. This will be explained later in a later section.

5. Otomo-dachi means "your honorable friend". This is a more formal way of saying tomodachi which means simply "friend" Adding o- in front of certain words makes them more polite.



here's a dialog..

JAPANESE:

Yota: Kon'nichi wa.1

Jason: Kon'nichi wa.

Yota: Watashi2 wa Suzuki Yota desu. Hajimemashite.3

Jason: Watashi wa Jeson Miraa desu. Hajimemashite. Doozo yoroshiku.


Yota: Miraa-san, anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka. (?)


Jason: Hai4, watashi wa Amerika-jin desu. Anata wa. (?)

Yota: Nihon-jin desu.

Listen to Dialog up to this point.

Jason: Suzuki-san, anata wa daigaku-sei desu ka. (?)

Yota: Hai, soo desu. Miraa-san wa. (?)

Jason: Watashi wa kookoo-sei desu.

Yota: Otomodachi5 mo kookoo-sei desu ka. (?)

Jason: Hai. Suzuki-san wa nan'nen-sei desu ka. (?)

Yota: Daigaku ninen-sei6 desu.

Listen to the rest of the Dialog.

TRANSLATION:

Yota: Hello.

Jason: Hello.

Yota: My name is Yota Suzuki. Nice to meet you.

Jason: My name is Jason Miller. Nice to meet you. (May I ask you to be kind to me.)

Yota: Mr. Miller, are you an American?


Jason: Yes. I am American. How about you?

Yota: I am Japanese.



Jason: Mr. Suzuki, are you a college student?

Yota: Yes. How about you, Mr. Miller?

Jason: I am a high school student.

Yota: Is your friend also a high school student?

Jason: Yes. Mr. Suzuki, what year are you in college?

Yota: I am a sophomore (second year student).

[suketeru]

Yes, that is one tough aspect of the language; different words meaning the same thing when translated into English, yet having totally different meanings ;;

I don't think you can say, "seikatsu wo ikiru" though.

As for "shourai" and "mirai、" we were just talking about it not long ago in class. shourai wa dareka no mirai no koto desu　("shourai" is someone's "mirai"). Mirai is more general, shourai is more specific for persons.
demo, saikin miteiru dorama de, konna serifu ga deta (In a drama I've been watching recently, this phrase appeared):
「わたしには四人の子供がいますよ。わたしが死んだら、その四人の子供達の未来はどうなるんだ。」
"watashi ni wa yonin no kodmo ga imasu yo. watashi ga shindara, sono yonin no kodomotachi no mirai wa dou narunda."
(I have four kids. If I die, what will happen to their future?)

The abduction matter is funny actually, because just recently I read a short story entitled "yuukai" (otherwise that word wouldn't have come to my mind)
yuukai in kanji is written as 誘拐
yuu: sasou
kai: sarau (used in the above example in passive form: sarawareru)

"I live my life"　は、日本語で　「人生を生きる」　というんだと思いますけれども、明日ちゃんと先生に聞いてみます。

This post has been edited by suketeru: Sep 23 2009 9 47 AM

[HitokiriSamurai]

How do you use the term 'kara' or 'shita' or 'sareru' or 'iru' or 'ga aru'? my grammar is the worst of my japanese.

I dont have kanji on computer. Sorry.

And also 'nagara' and 'sasemasu'. I heard it in a website.

This post has been edited by HitokiriSamurai: Sep 23 2009 8 45 PM

[suketeru]

re-I live my life:
So the best between the two would be " jinsei" and not " inochi."
One could also use " isshoukenmei" if by the sentence he means that he's living his life to the fullest/giving it his all.

@HitokiriSamurai:
ehm you're asking a lot and in a very general way.
- kara: can mean a lot of things. Please specify.

- shita: I'm guessing you mean " under"? "N + no shita" = underneath N. Example, "isu no shita ni neko ga imasu" = There's a cat underneath the chair.

- iru (I'm guessing imasu and not irimasu) and aru:
iru: existance for living things; humans, animals, even robots (since they move)
aru: existance for objects.
check the above cat example for "iru." Same application for "aru."

- sareru: I think it's way too early for you to worry about "sareru" right now -that is the passive form of " suru." First learn how to use dictionary form, negative, past, ~te, and ~te+iru. Then maybe you can start worrying about passive ^^

- saseru/sasemasu: same as above. This is the causative form of "suru;" could mean let smn do sth, allow smn to do sth, or make smn do sth.

- nagara: I'm tempted to say as above here too XD You're going at a 100 miles an hour without knowing the basics.
At any rate, the meaning of this "nagara" is, while you're doing sth you do sth else. For example: ongaku wo kikinagara benkyoushiteimasu. Which means, I'm studying while listening to music. The main action being the verb without the nagara part -in this case the studying.

[suketeru]

Another line from drama (for living one's life) XD

わたしは今、一生懸命自分の人生を生きています
watashi wa ima isshoukenmei jibun no jinsei wo ikiteimasu
Right now I'm living my life with all my might

[suketeru]

Does anyone know how this is read:


I can't figure out the second kanji...

[jun takashi]

wa from hei wa = peace. mm.. its .... kun yo mi? i got confuse with on yomi and kunyomi which one is chinese reading? lol.


im not sure of the reading. of that vocab. dai wa or dai o ?
waw, thats a difficult vocabulary. omg what have you been reading!!! where!!! give me the site too. or book.
you'd surely ace the 2 kyu level. you even surpass me.

maybe you didnt recognize the character cause it kinda short hand the proper look or the word.

p.s.
すみません まだ へんじ して いない, てがみ の こと.

[suketeru]

eeeh! That scribble on the right is kuchi?! O.o
I checked with monash dictionary; it's read "yamato" and means "ancient Japan."
That's a really particular word, huh. *notes it down*
It's not a book. It's the title of a drama that I was asked of ^^;
I'm gonna ask more about this word to my sensei today ^^
Thank you so much for the help

Oh and on'yomi & kun'yomi. I always get confused too ^^;; On is Chinese, Kun is Japanese.

手紙のことは大丈夫ですよ。皆忙しいですね　＾＾

[suketeru]

More info on Yamato.
I asked my sensei today, she said that a long time ago, Japan was actually called Yamato. But it didn't refer to all of Japan as we know it now, but only to region currently known as Nara Prefecture.
There's some info on Yamato and Yamato Jidai on wikipedia, if anyone's interested. Can't guarantee its accuracy though (as for all articles found there) ^^;;

[skelionred]

ohayo!
watashiwa araiza desu!
ogenki desuka?,

konichiwa!

[Amirichi]

what's the difference between Yamete and Yamero ? why are they considered to mean the same thing

[jun takashi]

what's the difference between Yamete and Yamero ? why are they considered to mean the same thing

in translation its mostly the same but in grammar its not.

yamete is in te~form which expect the theres another word followed but its in colloquial so there no need to state the complete sentence.

yamero is in imperative form, which is in command form.

[melody3]

Yeah, and I think girls don't use "yamero"...

Interesting topic ^__^ I'll read at least the last pages.
Thank you all, I need to study my Japanese again!

[germngirl4017]

Konbanwa~

Okay so I have just started to teach myself Japanese. (I'm familiar with a lot of common phrases and words from watching Japanese tv and dramas and stuff) but, I've begun to tackle the Hiragana chart today.

But I hope someone can answer my question! Do you start learning how the hiragana looks in calligraphy? Because I know there are like two different types in how they look, script and print I think.

Should you learn to write them in the calligraphy way first? Or the other? Because I've found some practice sheets for writing the basic hiragana, but again, there's the difference in how it looks. I'm just not sure which one to start with. I think you start with the calligraphy-like version?

Hope that wasn't too confusing! Please help so I can start memorizing the symbols!

Arigatou gozaimasu!

This post has been edited by germngirl4017: Oct 12 2009 12 45 AM

[suketeru]

@germngirl4017:
I don't quite get what you mean. I'm wondering if I ever saw what you're referring to ^^; Do you have examples we can see online?

At any rate, I think you probably start with printed first. Isn't that how one learns English, too? First you learn the basic shape of the letter/syllable, then you turn it into calligraphy ^^

@Amirichi:
Another difference between those two forms when you want to tell/command smn to do sth, is that the ~te form is gentler than the other form. The imperative form is stricter and more severe.

[germngirl4017]

Okay this is what I mean:





compared to this




Do you see how the first is more calligraphy, and the second like handwriting? Or am I completely over thinking this? Because I have practice writing sheets for both versions, and I guess I'm just a bit confused right now

[jun takashi]

^ its better you follow the calligraphy, cause its more proper. the look and basic to follow.
the 2nd is more like a handwriting which eventually if your penmanship is sloppy (like mine >_<) it turn out like that.

you'd probabbly get used to the 2nd one after learing the proper one. its just a matter exposure and familiarization.

[suketeru]

With the exception of "yu" I don't see much difference between the two ^^;;
But yeah, as jun takashi-san said, start with the first chart. First learn the basic look of the character. Calligraphy comes afterwards, when you've mastered the shape and can add your own elements to your writing -rather than imitating smn else's writing ^^ Calligraphy is an art, and just like any other form, needs you to learn the basics ^^

[Wen-Hung Lue]

gahh... so much kana in these threads. It takes me twice as long to figure out what you guys are trying to write when it's like that =/