Japanese Discussion 日本語の討論会

[Trungy]

So I was studying Japanese at the coffee place earlier this evening, and while I was flipping through the book, I saw the translation of egg, which is tamago. I'm thinking to myself, "Why does that word sound familiar?" Then it hit me.. Tamago from Soompi! But why did he name himself tamago?

"An egg is white on the outside, but yellow on the inside." I was cracking up almost hysterically at the coffee place, and let me remind you.. I was sitting alone. You guys should have seen the looks around me, lol.

Sorry, I just thought I'd share.

The only way I can focus on speaking Japanese correctly is when I compare the stuff to Korean. Like how "wa" is the same as "eun/neun". And "wo" is the same as "eul/reul". Unfortunately, no one's ever had the kindness the teach me, so I had to try hard to learn it myself. It's been almost three years now, and I nly got to learn about half. I even bought a study book for a low price (it was the cheapest one there) to help me. And the cute tiny dictionary that's missing a lot of words and has a lot of words I don't need. I need a really good teacher.....

But because I try so hard to learn it (and end up learning nothing...), every single person I know calls me the "Japanese wannabe". I understand, but honestly, I only like anime, songs, and language. I have almost no interest in the food. I don't kno why.....I just don't like eating raw fish or nything else that's raw meat or whatever.

I was in a similar position a year ago. I had purchased a conversational CD and a small dictionary, but it only took me two weeks to realize that I needed more than just a CD and a small dictionary. I believe the best way to learn Japanese is to sign up for a class. I was fortunate to find a few schools around my area that offered Japanese classes. Yes, it was $400 more than I wanted to spend, but I felt more motivated to study, especially considering that I'm investing so much money into this skill. Also, it was comfortable knowing that if I had a question, I knew that I could just ask a native Japanese speaker. Self-study of languages is a tough thing to do.

[Guest dr jung]

I was in a similar position a year ago. I had purchased a conversational CD and a small dictionary, but it only took me two weeks to realize that I needed more than just a CD and a small dictionary. I believe the best way to learn Japanese is to sign up for a class. I was fortunate to find a few schools around my area that offered Japanese classes. Yes, it was $400 more than I wanted to spend, but I felt more motivated to study, especially considering that I'm investing so much money into this skill. Also, it was comfortable knowing that if I had a question, I knew that I could just ask a native Japanese speaker. Self-study of languages is a tough thing to do.

Where do you take the class? I see that you are from Boston/Philadelphia. I basically live in Philly, but I can only find ONE school with saturday classes, but that's about it. =_= Care to elaborate?

[Trungy]

Where do you take the class? I see that you are from Boston/Philadelphia. I basically live in Philly, but I can only find ONE school with saturday classes, but that's about it. =_= Care to elaborate?

Oh, it is about time I change that. I'm originally from Philadelphia, but recently, I made my move to the Boston-area permanent.

I'm currently taking Japanese classes at Boston Language Institute at Kenmore Square. I only know two other places in Boston that teaches Japanese, but BLI was the most convenient despite being the most expensive of the three.

I'm not sure about where Japanese is being taught in Philadelphia, but I do know that there are a few Japanese meetups in Philadelphia (one being the Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia - jasgp.org - and the other being the group from meetup.com). Have you tried either google or philadelphia.citysearch.com?

A quick question to everybody.. how long did it take for you guys to learn hiragana?

[Tamago86]

So I was studying Japanese at the coffee place earlier this evening, and while I was flipping through the book, I saw the translation of egg, which is tamago. I'm thinking to myself, "Why does that word sound familiar?" Then it hit me.. Tamago from Soompi! But why did he name himself tamago?

"An egg is white on the outside, but yellow on the inside." I was cracking up almost hysterically at the coffee place, and let me remind you.. I was sitting alone. You guys should have seen the looks around me, lol.

My secret has been exposed! I should have put my username in Korean or Chinese..so little people here get it..lol

[Guest aznxinvazn]

What you were saing.. ㄱ + ㅏ + ㅇ, is not how it is. It's by syllables (hiragana/katakana) and then there is 한자 (kanji), which you have to know how to pronounce by.. constantly studying..

for example:

가 나 다 라 마 바 사

が な だ ら ま ば さ

고 노 도 로 모 보 소

ご の ど ろ も ぼ そ

and others..

There are two ways to read kanji. One's by itself, the other is when it's attached to another kanji.

example would be:

中. it's either, naka (나카, なか) or chuu (츄우, ちゅう)

naka is when it's by itself, chuu is when it's attached to another kanji (中心, chuushin).

I think this is the simplest way to explain. I'm sure Tamago86 or orangecake or someone can explain in more detailed for you^^

Well, there are some kanji that are pronounced the same no matter what. For example, shi (death) by itself is still shi.

The only way I can focus on speaking Japanese correctly is when I compare the stuff to Korean. Like how "wa" is the same as "eun/neun". And "wo" is the same as "eul/reul".

That's what I do. Thank goodness for that.

[Guest dr jung]

A quick question to everybody.. how long did it take for you guys to learn hiragana?

Hmmmm. Hiragana was back in like.. 8th grade for me. I think it took me about 2-3 weeks? Katakana took me a lot more time though.. someone told me that if you learn one first (one being either hiragana or katakana), the other one takes longer.. is that even true? it was true for me.. but not so sure.

As for Philly thingy, the only place was the one you were talking about. Greater Society blah blah at Friend Central School in Wynnewood. The meetup thing, I did look at before.. but sounds sorta creeeppy..

[Guest Eso]

A quick question to everybody.. how long did it take for you guys to learn hiragana?

It probably took me a few weeks to learn both. I drilled them hard into my head but sometimes I forget how to write some. It happens when you don't use it a lot, I guess.

[Guest aznxinvazn]

It takes roughly less than a month on average.

I like looking back on how bad my penmanship was. lol

[Guest akira53]

I think I learned hiragana in about 2 weeks...I don't really remember.

How do you say "sold out"? i looked it up in my dictionary but I don't have a kanji dictionary with me now so I can't read it

[Guest dr jung]

I think I learned hiragana in about 2 weeks...I don't really remember.

How do you say "sold out"? i looked it up in my dictionary but I don't have a kanji dictionary with me now so I can't read it

I think it's 'shinagire', 品切れ

[Trungy]

I've been studying hiragana all night using a program I downloaded online, and I found it very useful. Although I can only write about 20 hiraganas off the top of my head, I'm able to recognize all 46 basic syllables after drilling for a few hours.

There are bunch of programs out there. My program happens to be on a mac, but it is one of those run of the mill flash-card programs. It makes life pretty easy. I went from knowing nothing this morning to knowing almost half of all the hiragana characters. Definitely recommend it.

[AznBetty]

hmm... which program did u happen to dl?

[edit] nvm... i think im too ADD to learn anything at home.

i get distracted and bored easily. >_<

[Tamago86]

I think I learned hiragana in about 2 weeks...I don't really remember.

How do you say "sold out"? i looked it up in my dictionary but I don't have a kanji dictionary with me now so I can't read it

Sold out is 売り切れ urikire

切符はすべて売り切れです

kippu wa subete urikire desu

All the tickets are sold out

品切れ shinagire means 'out of stock'. Slightly different from sold out

[Guest akira53]

^ah, yeah, thats the one I saw in my dictionary, thanks

[Guest intoxicate.]

does anyone know any answers, maybe even to one of my questions even though there are alot?

they're in the second last post of the previous page..anyone?

[Guest luzCONTROL_7]

This topic is interesting.

i've got a question, a stupid one but..... without asking it i would remain stupid wouldn't i?

I've been trying to read　りぼん for awhile now

Usually it's like this: ．．．

but yesterday i saw it like this: ．．．っ

What does the tiny little tsu mean in the end?

(I understand that だった becomes datta)

examples of ．．．っ:

お兄ちゃん．．．っ

ヒカルくやしい．．．っ

起きた．．．っ

(all from tarantaran)

i can't really see if it's a つ or っ, but i believe it's a っ.

Thank you

[Guest Bandido]

I need a software where I can type japanese writings, can anyone help me on this. I once downloaded this software where it lets me type katakana or hiragana on anything, but I forgot where I downloaded it =p

[Tamago86]

This topic is interesting.

i've got a question, a stupid one but..... without asking it i would remain stupid wouldn't i?

I've been trying to read　りぼん for awhile now

Usually it's like this: ．．．

but yesterday i saw it like this: ．．．っ

What does the tiny little tsu mean in the end?

(I understand that だった becomes datta)

examples of ．．．っ:

お兄ちゃん．．．っ

ヒカルくやしい．．．っ

起きた．．．っ

(all from tarantaran)

i can't really see if it's a つ or っ, but i believe it's a っ.

Thank you

Ahh kind of hard to explain over the net, haha..っ at the end of something means a real fast stop of your voice. Like if someone said ああ、高いっ！ It should only take half the time to pronounce 高い with a quick stop at the end, like someone saying OH! or AH! Basically it's the same way you usually pronounce っ in something like だった but nothing comes after the っ

りぼん is ribbon

[Guest luzCONTROL_7]

Ahh kind of hard to explain over the net, haha..っ at the end of something means a real fast stop of your voice. Like if someone said ああ、高いっ！ It should only take half the time to pronounce 高い with a quick stop at the end, like someone saying OH! or AH! Basically it's the same way you usually pronounce っ in something like だった but nothing comes after the っ

りぼん is ribbon

Wow, thank you very much!!! : D

Now I understand the situation more !

Thanks!!!

[Guest Nana]

I need a software where I can type japanese writings, can anyone help me on this. I once downloaded this software where it lets me type katakana or hiragana on anything, but I forgot where I downloaded it =p

I think you can just do it in your preferneces on your computer, no software needed. I'm not sure how though..I'm trying to figure it out too since I recently recovered my comp. I think it's Regional and Language options. You can set your computer to readd fonts and type as well.