>>520
Well. Considering it's ALL the alphabet you beed to learn it ALL. hiragana/katakana should only really take a day or 2 to memorize. Flashcard it up and get it done and move on to Kanji. use hiragana/katakana in place of romaji whenever possible.
>>516
Why would you base your grammar lessons on Tae Kim's website when you're already using the Genki books? He's an amateur and his explanations are flawed.
Considering you people hang out in the asshole of the Internet, you'd think that you guys knew better than to rely on questionable sites as primary study aids. Keep on working, but you''ll never amount to anything.
>>524
Ok sure, don't bother giving any reasons you giant douchebiggalow.
You make this seem like traditional books are the only methods that will get you where you want but language isn't really fucking difficult.
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Anonymous2011-11-11 19:42
Can anyone suggest a site that goes over the names of grammatical terms? For example, is there a term for the relationship between sounds like け and げ? What are the dot like in ぴ and the two lines like in び called? And so on.
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Anonymous2011-11-11 20:38
the two lines are called 濁点（だくてん） .
and the dot is 半濁点（はんだくてん）.
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Anonymous2011-11-12 2:35
OK, so. I've been doing some translating of a Japanese RPG, and I've come across the following set of characters that seem to have similar translations to my (fairly ignorant) eye, and would like to have a second opinion.
The characters that I'm having trouble with are 打撃 and 衝撃. They are both translating as "blow" (as in attacking someone), but I want to make sure that I'm as accurate as possible. Thanks!
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Anonymous2011-11-12 6:42
>>533
打撃 is most often translated as 'blow' while 衝撃 is usually 'strike'.
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Anonymous2011-11-13 4:05
Alright chaps
I will look words up with a dictionary, but often have issues remembering them.
I understand katakana and definitely Hiragana, but I still can't really say anything at all except for things like;
kore wa pen desu
or
watashi wa anonymous desu.
Where do I go from here? Any particular ebooks you could recommend for improving my speaking skills?
>>535
Speaking comes with listening. The more you input, the more you inevitably output. Get a bunch of music and start watching shows. Imitate how people say things. Talk to yourself and just get your mouth loose to using the phonetic system.
I didn't talk to anyone else in Japanese for over the first year of study, but when I did they mistook me as Japanese. Not an attempt at bragging, just saying the system works.
Hi
I'm going to do the Nihongo nōryoku shiken (日本語能力試験) N4 and next year N3. I can learn the basic structures but what I needed was a loooot of exercises.
Could you recommend me some material or books which can help me? If it for download, better.
Thanks for advance.
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Anonymous2011-11-20 14:50
What does ロリコン actually mean? Google translator yields "Legal Teen" but I'm sure the actual meaning goes a bit deeper than this.
>>541
don't study for n4, it's a waste of time. if you absolutely want to take a test to track your progress, don't go for anything less than n3 (which is still pointless, everything but n1 pretty much is)
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Anonymous2011-11-26 8:44
age
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Anonymous2011-11-26 12:36
I am a linguist seeking to deepen my knowledge of Japanese, I am not doing this for work, as I am currently working on Arabic, but just for fun.
I was wondering if there are any good books/sites for studying Japanese grammar aimed at linguists, I have tried several books already and was very disappointed, as both terminology and definitions were inaccurate to say the least.
Latest suggestion I found was the Genki series, which seems very disappointing, I feel like I wasted my time after going through the first book.
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Anonymous2011-11-26 14:14
>>551
Check out the Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Japanese Grammar series.
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Anonymous2011-11-27 9:28
It's a real pain to try to say 「んですんが」at the end of a sentence. Would I still be understood if I said 「ですが」?
you were already fucking up trying to force ん sounds into that sentence ender.
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Anonymous2011-11-27 19:24
do u like tentakles up butt
does every japanese
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Anonymous2011-11-27 23:15
>>553
That's because you would just say 「んですが」and leave it at that. It's actually a hell of a lot easier if you don't conjugate verbs and just finish with ndesu.
Arbitrarily putting desu on the end of a sentence where it doesn't really belong without using the softening 'n' isn't grammatically correct but it will pass with a listener. If you do it repeatedly it starts to sound unnatural and annoying though.
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Anonymous2011-11-28 9:35
What's the difference between 会う and 合う? As far as I know, both means "meet" (someone)... :-/
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Anonymous2011-11-28 9:39
And since I asked >>557 I'll bother with another question.
Can someone explain one more time, in the most clear way if it's possible, what is the difference between the conditionals (~えば、~たら、 ~と、 なら)? I'm reading about them but I just can't get when I have to use each one.... Specially between ~えば and ~たら
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Anonymous2011-11-28 11:19
合う means "suit"or"fit"and don't have mean like "meet"in common.
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Anonymous2011-11-28 13:53
>>557
会う is meet
合う is to match, suit, go with, etc.
However, 合う is also used for compound verbs like 話し合う、付き合う、めぐり合う、愛し合う etc. In this context, it can be understood more as "meet or come together" but the meaning is still closer to a "match" or "mutuality".
えば - what follows is always of natural consequence, a request, a thought, etc.
時間があれば、会議を参加するつもりだ
If there's time I plan on attending the meeting.
もっと詳しく説明してくれば、ありがたいと思います。
I'd appreciate it if you could explain in more detail.
勉強さえしすれば、いい点を取れることになる。
You'll get a good score if you just study
~たら purest conditional, may or may not happen, if or when
帰ったら、亡くした腕時計を探してみる
When I get back home, I'm going to try looking for the wristwatch I lost
学生全員が卒業式に早速行ってくれたら、問題なく始めるようになる。
If all the students could come to the graduation ceremony without delay, we'll be able to begin without a hitch.
ドアを開けたら、雨が降っていたと気づいた。
When I opened the door, I noticed it had been raining.
と literary or fictional use, when this-then this, when this-what?, etc.
公園に入ると、見知らぬ男に殴られた
When I entered the park, I was struck by a man I had never seen before
雪が降ると、外でよく遊んだものだ。
I used to play outside often when it snowed.
なら probable the easiest: ONLY used for "if" "then" when you receive information, circumstances, opinions, etc. from OTHER people and create a thought BASED OFF of that information
そうと思うなら、はっきり言ってくれ
If you think so, just tell it to me straight
休暇を取れないなら、週末も働いてもらえないか？
If you're not able to take a vacation, can I get you to work this weekend to?
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Anonymous2011-11-28 17:09
>>560
It's worth noting that tara and to can be switched occasionally depending on the situation and whims of your Japanese teacher.
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Anonymous2011-11-28 23:18
I need to interview a Japanese person on Japanese slang (asking them for definitions of a few words) but I can't talk to people outside of the internet. What do I do?
>>564
What is your place of origin in Japan?
Please define the following expressions if you know them.
KY
いけめん
こくる
おにうま
うざい／うざったい
めっちゃ
オタコレ
バーコーはげ
どたキャン
元カレ／元トカノ
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Anonymous2011-11-28 23:48
and please disregard the phantom ト on the last one
Would I use 日本箸 or 日本の箸 to refer to chopsticks that are particularly Japanese 「Japanese Chopsticks」？
I assume there isn't too much difference between chopsticks that are used, so I'm not sure if it's even needed to identify them as "日本."
Also, my intended pronunciation being:
日本ハシ
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Anonymous2011-11-30 2:45
日本の箸 would be more natural if you're referring to chopsticks used, produced, etc. in Japan. There is practically no difference between chopsticks used for eating between Asian countries, so its strange to say 日本箸 (which would be pronounced nihonbashi) or even reference "Japanese chopsticks" at all. It's like saying "American forks" or "Swedish spoons". They're basically the same thing.
The only words for different kinds of chopsticks I can think of are 割り箸 (disposable, wooden ones) and 菜箸 (long, cooking ones).
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Anonymous2011-11-30 3:06
>>573
Thank you!
However, why would I use バシ instead of ハシ for the pronunciation?
>>574
Because it's smoother to change the は to ば in compounds like that. You see it a lot with words that have a は or ふ in the middle.
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Anonymous2011-11-30 23:12
>>576
Is there anything that I could remember for situations like these? Or is it something that I need to commit to memory for each individual case?
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Anonymous2011-12-01 0:19
>>577
Not really. It's just something you get used to. Eventually you just get used to what syllables are awkward together and change them to their smoother alternative.
Could someone help me with this? I understand just fine until マイシート part comes
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Anonymous2011-12-02 9:10
「マイシート」is a the name of a reserved seat express fair train pass offered by JR in western Japan. It allowed some special privileges which, if you really care, you can read about on the Japanese Wikipedia.
A translation would read something like this:
Beside the Banyan plant placed next the counter that grows larger day by day with each watering, there is a customer who chooses the spot to be his "My Seat". He was a young man in his 30's and, while the alcohol flowed, he became a decidedly hot topic.
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Anonymous2011-12-02 9:11
>>579
Only thing I could come up with マイシート had to do with bus/train services.
There's a man in his 30s next to the banyan (flower) that whenever alcohol starts to take effect without fail the topic of love will come up in conversation.
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Anonymous2011-12-02 9:13
>>581
I read renai as taihen. I'm retarded. Scratch my first translation:
Beside the Banyan plant placed next the counter that grows larger day by day with each watering, there is a customer who chooses the spot to be his "My Seat". He was a young man in his 30's and, while the alcohol flowed, the topic of true love never failed to come up.
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Anonymous2011-12-02 22:01
Greetings /lang/. I'm usually more of a /co/ roamer but I fugure this would be a good place to ask.
I'm having my Level 5 JLPT this weekend. I already studied for this test and I think I'm mostly ready for it. But I'm open to any final suggestions somebody here might have. I already took a TOEFL test earlier this year, is it anything like it or does it change a lot?
>>589
Haha, in two days, he said.
Tell us how you do, guy.
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Anonymous2011-12-11 16:13
Would this be an acceptable method for asking where something is? For example:
箸がどこです。
Would が be the right particle to use? I was also thinking of using を、に、or で.
Would I also be able to substitute things in this format? i.e.
「ｘ」がどこです。
Obviously です would make it polite as well?
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Anonymous2011-12-11 20:50
>>593
>Would が be the right particle to use?
No.
>I was also thinking of using を、に、or で.
Holy shit, absolutely not.
箸（は）どこですか？ is the only correct way to ask that.
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Anonymous2011-12-12 0:45
I have a question for you weeaboo faggots: why are you learning Japanese? Is it because you like 4chan and anime? Or is it a genuine interest in the language and culture?
>>595
There are books that I want to read that will never be translated. Also, I have free time, so why not.
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Anonymous2011-12-12 8:50
>>595
I hate 4chan. it just happens to be full of people who can find ANYTHING on the internet. Anime is okay...
It's also critical i become proficient i become fluent in more than 2 languages if i want to land my dream job. Weeaboos do however make taking Japanese at University feel so ...dirty. I don't want to be grouped with them. When people ask what language I'm majoring in i quickly change the subject.
My question to you is Why the fuck do you care? How does it affect your life?
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Anonymous2011-12-12 22:21
>>598
So glad I only study Japanese on my own and avoid the weeabooism.
I'm sure some of my grammar was incorrect, but it's usually fun because sometimes the participants actually understand Japanese. I only kept using 私は so that if an online translator was used, the meaning would be clear.
I also added this bit 私はアメリカ人です、私は英語がわかります。 because some strangers were associating incest as "typical Japanese sentence."
It seems that most strangers assume that the question is written in Chinese as well.