Japanese Society

Antipannenkoek

Don't have any links for learning kanji as I have a book which i'm using to learn them but i'm sure there'll be sites for that somewhere on the internet if you search around a bit.

What book are you using?

Reply 984

Aitana

Antipannenkoek

Okay http://www.learn-hiragana-katakana.com/ this site is great for learning hiragana and katakana (i'd learn hiragana first and then when you have no problems with that move onto katakana)
http://www.learn-hiragana-katakana.com/writing-hiragana-characters/ - shows you how to write them and is good for learning them
http://www.learn-hiragana-katakana.com/japanese-alphabet-typing-game-hiragana/ - this is great for practising, tests you at speed which is good for being able to recognise them quickly.

http://smart.fm/goals/197677 - this is good for learning some basic phrases while you're trying to perfect the alphabets.

http://www.timwerx.net/home/index.htm - this site is great for in depth grammar, Japanese has a lot of particles such as "wa" "ga" "no" and you'll need to know about these, the explanations of verbs and prepositions there are also good.

http://www.jisho.org/ - is a good dictionary, although you'll need to be able to read hiragana to use it properly.

http://www.learn-japanese.info/ - has some good vocabulary lists and other useful things such as brief grammar explanations and reading practice

http://www.digitaldialects.com/Japanese.htm - this is also good for learning and testing vocab, it's from this page-
http://sites.google.com/site/links4languages/japanese which has a lot of other links that you might want to check out if you need more, although I've not used many of them so don't know which are good.

Don't have any links for learning kanji as I have a book which i'm using to learn them but i'm sure there'll be sites for that somewhere on the internet if you search around a bit.

thank you! arigato :smile:

Reply 985

Antipannenkoek

Sapientia

What book are you using?

Let's Learn Kanji

Reply 986

Well I finally booked my trip to Japan this year. I'm going with three friends to Tokyo for 8 nights, then down to Osaka (where we'll also make day trips to Kyoto), and then down to Fukuoka, where we're also planning a day trip to Hiroshima. 16 nights in total. わくわくしてます！

Sapientia

こんばんはー

皆元気？

今、東京の港区にいるよ。今週末、神奈川県に行った。富士山は超きれいですよねー。硫黄の泡がブクブク出る池にも行った。やっぱ臭くてすぐに吐き出したくなっちゃったよ。

写真見たいなら、ここをご覧下さい〜：flickrです。

皆、夏休みはどう？大学か新学期の不安？

楽しそう！羨ましい。僕いつかそういう旅行本当にしたいよね。

僕の去年の東京への旅行もあのフィンランドの空港へ行ったんだ。懐かしい！あの成田空港の看板もはっきり覚えてる。 :biggrin:

どうやってそのふみかさんに出会ったのか？

Reply 987

Azimuth

Well I finally booked my trip to Japan this year. I'm going with three friends to Tokyo for 8 nights, then down to Osaka (where we'll also make day trips to Kyoto), and then down to Fukuoka, where we're also planning a day trip to Hiroshima. 16 nights in total. わくわくしてます！

楽しそう！羨ましい。僕いつかそういう旅行本当にしたいよね。

僕の去年の東京への旅行もあのフィンランドの空港へ行ったんだ。懐かしい！あの成田空港の看板もはっきり覚えてる。 :biggrin:

どうやってそのふみかさんに出会ったのか？

その旅行はいつ？私のとだいたい同じ長さだよね。

飛行は長かったなぁ＝＿＝まぁ、しょうがないね。ここにいるのは、本当に幸せだ。

ノッティンガム大学で出会ったよ〜。前は、そこで数学勉強してたけど、四ヶ月後やめることにした。

昨日は僕の誕生日だったから、色々した！原宿とか、渋谷とか見た。明治神宮と代々木公園にも行った。そして夜は居酒屋で晩ご飯を楽しんで、そこから東京タワー登った〜

Flickrは写真が限定されてるから、今アップできない。アップすると、必ず言うよ。

今日は、ちょっと一人冒険。新宿行きたい。買い物したい！

この国が大好きだ。

今日は五日目なのに、もう日本語に慣れた気がする。毎日語彙は増えて、ペラペラの夢に近づく。

ところで、東京のどこで宿るの？

Reply 988

Remarqable M

15

is there much difference between osaka dialect and tokyo dialect apart from the pronunciation?

Reply 989

Sapientia

その旅行はいつ？私のとだいたい同じ長さだよね。

飛行は長かったなぁ＝＿＝まぁ、しょうがないね。ここにいるのは、本当に幸せだ。

ノッティンガム大学で出会ったよ〜。前は、そこで数学勉強してたけど、四ヶ月後やめることにした。

昨日は僕の誕生日だったから、色々した！原宿とか、渋谷とか見た。明治神宮と代々木公園にも行った。そして夜は居酒屋で晩ご飯を楽しんで、そこから東京タワー登った〜

Flickrは写真が限定されてるから、今アップできない。アップすると、必ず言うよ。

今日は、ちょっと一人冒険。新宿行きたい。買い物したい！

この国が大好きだ。

今日は五日目なのに、もう日本語に慣れた気がする。毎日語彙は増えて、ペラペラの夢に近づく。

ところで、東京のどこで宿るの？

本当に楽しんでるのね。日本がそういう国だよ。：D

出発は来月１０日で、帰国は２７日。新宿に泊まるつもりなんだ。前回の訪日、新宿にいたのはたったの５分ぐらいだったんだけどさ。駅を出て写真を撮って乗り換えに戻った。写真を撮った途端に「いいね！」って一言が歩道に座っていたおじいさんに言われたっていう思い出がある。ｗ

Reply 990

Azimuth

本当に楽しんでるのね。日本がそういう国だよ。：D

出発は来月１０日で、帰国は２７日。新宿に泊まるつもりなんだ。前回の訪日、新宿にいたのはたったの５分ぐらいだったんだけどさ。駅を出て写真を撮って乗り換えに戻った。写真を撮った途端に「いいね！」って一言が歩道に座っていたおじいさんに言われたっていう思い出がある。ｗ

因に、flickrは面倒くさいから、こっちを使っている。ちょっとご覧くださいね。

おー新宿！新宿大好き。今回はよく楽しんで来てね。秋葉のヨドバシって店行ったことある？すっごくデッカいやつ。俺の天国だーBook Offって店も好きだ。

Reply 991

Sapientia

因に、flickrは面倒くさいから、こっちを使っている。ちょっとご覧くださいね。

おー新宿！新宿大好き。今回はよく楽しんで来てね。秋葉のヨドバシって店行ったことある？すっごくデッカいやつ。俺の天国だーBook Offって店も好きだ。

今回はヨドバシに行こうとする。

俺これを使いに行く、絶対。 :biggrin:

Can't remember if I've asked this before or not, but are you planning to move to Japan permanently?

Remarqable M

is there much difference between osaka dialect and tokyo dialect apart from the pronunciation?

Yeah, there's quite a big difference. Even basic things, such as how you make a verb negative, can change (Tokyo: ～ない, Kansai (Osaka): ～へん&#12288 :wink:

and a lot of different words for the same thing are used (Tokyo: ダメ, Kansai: アカン&#12288 :wink:

. It's worth reading up on.

Edit: Don't know what happened to my brackets there ._.

Reply 992

Azimuth

今回はヨドバシに行こうとする。

俺これを使いに行く、絶対。 :biggrin:

Can't remember if I've asked this before or not, but are you planning to move to Japan permanently?

Yeah, there's quite a big difference. Even basic things, such as how you make a verb negative, can change (Tokyo: ～ない, Kansai (Osaka): ～へん&#12288 :wink:

and a lot of different words for the same thing are used (Tokyo: ダメ, Kansai: アカン&#12288 :wink:

. It's worth reading up on.

Edit: Don't know what happened to my brackets there ._.

ハ！日本の自動販売機が大好きよ〜♪超便利だよなぁ

Before I came to Japan, I wasn't very sure as you know, other side of the world, no family here etc. Now I've come and I've been in Tokyo and felt the life here, I'd say I'm 99% certain I want to.

I'm sure you understand what it feels like so I won't bang on, but it's like I've finally come home. Sitting with the family eating sashimi, watching Japanese TV and discussing all sorts of stuff is just... It's ME. I can be myself here (inb4 stop being a cheesy faggot) whereas in England it always feels like something is missing.

Are you?

Also, that's interesting about the dialects. It's an aspect of Japanese I know virtually nothing about and have never even looked into. Will definitely do some investigation now, looks interesting.

Reply 993

Sapientia

ハ！日本の自動販売機が大好きよ〜♪超便利だよなぁ

Before I came to Japan, I wasn't very sure as you know, other side of the world, no family here etc. Now I've come and I've been in Tokyo and felt the life here, I'd say I'm 99% certain I want to.

I'm sure you understand what it feels like so I won't bang on, but it's like I've finally come home. Sitting with the family eating sashimi, watching Japanese TV and discussing all sorts of stuff is just... It's ME. I can be myself here (inb4 stop being a cheesy faggot) whereas in England it always feels like something is missing.

Are you?

Also, that's interesting about the dialects. It's an aspect of Japanese I know virtually nothing about and have never even looked into. Will definitely do some investigation now, looks interesting.

I'm 100% on doing a gap year of sorts over there after I graduate next Summer (whether that's via a language school, or working holiday, or something else I don't know yet, but by hook or by crook I want to be living in Japan next year). I love Tokyo and I love Japan as you know, but I also feel that this is my real home. There's a reasonable likelihood of me wanting to stay after the year is up, but I can't see myself living out my years there. やっぱ俺日本にいればこの見解が変わる可能性が高いけどな

It would definitely be awesome though. My biggest fear is that I couldn't hack it in the Japanese workplace...

Reply 994

Azimuth

I'm 100% on doing a gap year of sorts over there after I graduate next Summer (whether that's via a language school, or working holiday, or something else I don't know yet, but by hook or by crook I want to be living in Japan next year). I love Tokyo and I love Japan as you know, but I also feel that this is my real home. There's a reasonable likelihood of me wanting to stay after the year is up, but I can't see myself living out my years there. やっぱ俺日本にいればこの見解が変わる可能性が高いけどな

It would definitely be awesome though. My biggest fear is that I couldn't hack it in the Japanese workplace...

Totally get where you're coming from there. It's a daunting thing, leaving your family to be like 10,000km away from them, pretty much alone. Depends what makes you happy, I suppose.

Really? I've never really thought about that, but I suppose you have a point. High work ethic, etc. My biggest fear is that my Japanese won't get good soon. I'm sick of being all "なんか、えーと、昨日電話があったけど、まー日本語で何というかなぁー" and being stared at by blank Japanese faces. A few times I've even shamefully resorted to "英語ができますか？" :frown:

That said, being here, even if it has only been nine days so far, is the best thing that could have happened to my Japanese.

今、京都に滞在。お寺とか神宮がいっぱいあるから、ちょっと文化冒険しようかな？と思った。京都に来たら、このホテルを勧めます。京都御所の隣にあって、丸太町地下鉄駅からかなり遠くない。綺麗であんま高くないし。

明日、あさって、多分龍安寺や清水寺や金閣寺などに行ってみるから、写真撮ったら、必ずアップしまっすねー

Reply 995

Small123

15

I've come to start learning Kanji now more so than Kana and am on 17 kanji and I am using the Heistig book, only 2030 to go, but hopefully slowly but surely I'll get there :smile:

.
さようなら！

Reply 996

Small123

I've come to start learning Kanji now more so than Kana and am on 17 kanji and I am using the Heistig book, only 2030 to go, but hopefully slowly but surely I'll get there :smile:

.
さようなら！

Any questions, ask. The road might be long, but that doesn't mean it has to be boring.

Reply 997

Jazmine

17

Sapientia

My biggest fear is that my Japanese won't get good soon. I'm sick of being all "なんか、えーと、昨日電話があったけど、まー日本語で何というかなぁー" and being stared at by blank Japanese faces.

I hear you on that.

I feel so restricted by not being able to say things as well as I can say them in English and I dislike that. I am a chatterbox, so feeling as if I can't speak nor say as much as I want to say about something is frustrating. Thankfully, a lot of the people I have spoken to say, even if my Japanese is pretty much nonsense, they can 'feel' what I'm saying, so they don't mind. =) It's nice to know such patient people, I just wish there were some way to reassure myself that my Japanese will improve over time 'cause it always feels stuck no matter what - as if I've already reached my maximum capacity, which is beginner-level.

My listening comprehension is better than my speaking. I'm happy about that, at least. I can not only comprehend whatever the thing is that someone is speaking about but, what they are saying about it - the context, etc - is becoming more and more apparent to me. I've been trying to watch a variety of shows to boost my vocabulary. I'm better when it comes to variety shows or day time TV - 'cause they often talk about normal things - but, crime shows or the News pretty much goes way over my head at the moment 'cause my knowledge of the words used is so little in comparison.

I love this though. I'm learning JSL but, I like this for my reading comprehension too. Ha ha, simple and short conversations. I put a translation of what they're talking about within the spoiler below, in case anyone is interested. Please feel free to correct any mistakes I've made, xx.

Spoiler

Reply 998