>>600
Because if you only know English then you need a Japanese teacher who can teach rules, where the guy who knows English can't teach a damn thing besides conversations and correcting things that sound weird.
If you could do everything, you wouldn't need an English teacher monkey to stand on the side since you could do both jobs. Plus you would be doing the Japanese job which can get like 2x the pay as the monkey.
Hey /lang/, I want to make my brain know Japanese. What do you folks find is the most efficient way to learn?
I know all that hiragana and katakana stuff already, but I would also like to learn me some kanji.
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Anonymous2009-04-15 23:43
>>602
Thanks for the link. It's just a consideration. Although of course getting to that level in Japanese would be tough. I'm already fluent but I constantly make mistakes.
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Anonymous2009-04-16 23:51
Guys, how would you translate this question?
"Do you believe you're nuts/crazy?"
貴方は 貴方が 頭おかしいだ と 思いますか？
I'm 100% sure that's wrong, but I can't get a decent way of saying that.
Well, no I don't, but I'm willing to make that commitment. Can you explain to me why my Japanese would have to be better than a natives?
Either way, I have about five hours of free time a day to dedicate to studies. Three of which are already dedicated to programming, science, and maths, two of which would presumably go to learning foreign languages. I'm sure, given enough time, I could cram a decent amount of the language, right?
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Anonymous2009-04-17 8:49
>>607
grammatically awkward but you'd be understood.
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Anonymous2009-04-17 12:33
>>609
You probably wouldn't ask such a question, but if you "had" to, how would you phrase it?
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Anonymous2009-04-17 13:53
Hey, I was just wondering if I could get some help translating the following sentence: "穴掘って" I believe it means like digging holes or something, but it sounds weird to just put that in English so I'm not sure what would be a good way to render that sentence into English. Thanks.
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Anonymous2009-04-18 5:32
yeah it means "hole digging" which you could use like a noun
if you wanted to say "digging a hole" you would add the wo particle
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Anonymous2009-04-19 20:19
>>Guys, how would you translate this question?
"Do you believe you're nuts/crazy?"
貴方は 貴方が 頭おかしいだ と 思いますか？
I'm 100% sure that's wrong, but I can't get a decent way of saying that.
1) In japanese, there are no spaces, so the above sentence should be written like 貴方は貴方が頭おかしいだと思いますか？ The kanji sort of work as "word seperators".
2) Pronouns are rarely used in Japanese. Japanese is a very context-sensitive language so usually the pronouns are "known" even if they're not said out loud. And I suggest not using 貴方 at all. If possible, try to find a roundabout way to refer to that person, like his occupation or age. I guess おめえ is good enough between friends. Anyway, 貴方は貴方が is very awkward.
3) As for how I'd say your sentence in Japanese, I have some real troubles trying to figure out in what context someone would ask "Do you believe you're nuts/crazy?" even in English or my native language, maybe a psychologist to a patient in a shrink session? Maybe if it was "Don't" more possible contexts would open up. Anyway, maybe something like 頭が可笑しくなっていると思いますか？ Even here, depending on the context, the pronouns may be omitted.
I'm nowhere near native level though but this is just my two cents.
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Anonymous2009-04-20 21:27
Thanks, 613!
Yeah, the lack of a proper "you" in Japanese drives me crazy. Especially since Spanish, my native language, has "usted", a polite and formal word to refer to "you." I guess it's like the German "Sie."
Now, if I'd say to a friend, out of the blue, "頭が可笑しくなっていると思いますか？" wouldn't he reply with "dare ka?".
By the way, this question is a test case, not a real situation.
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Anonymous2009-04-21 9:03
Out of blue, he would think you meant yourself. In that case, you would have to refer to him somehow. If it's a friend I think お前は is ok.
I was thinking more like, your friend was telling you about his problems/depression etc. and you would ask "do you think you're going crazy?"
- 誰か means 'someone', 誰が？ would be correct.
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Anonymous2009-04-21 21:09
Can you folks explain the difference between 天災, 災い, and 災害?
They look mostly synonymous; all if them deal with [natural] disaster, right? Do they belong in specific contexts, are their meanings only slightly different, or what?
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Anonymous2009-04-21 21:23
>>616 you are more or less right.
id use them in these contexts though
Would somebody kindly explain the significance if 一 ｖｓ 一つ？
Likewise, could somebody explain when to use any pronunciation over another? I know there are exclusive instances where kun pronunciations are used in compounds, and I know chinese pronunciations are usually used in compounds, etc., but the idea behind using 四 over 四つ eludes me.
>>633
You see, learning Japanese gives you special mental powers, so you don't need spaces. That's why everyone's better than you, Timothy.
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Anonymous2009-05-07 6:05
I find that I have problems asking questions about parts of speech. Japanese tend to have problems understanding what I say. It's not like I can add square brackets in speech, and って doesn't seem to cut it either.
e.g.
「しては」って、してはいけないしか限らないの？
How can I make myself better understood in confusing sentences like this? Are there better ways to rephrase stuff like this?
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Anonymous2009-05-07 6:12
>>636
Oh and I realized I messed up on my EG. I meant to add a に before the しか限らない