Japanese Society

Reply 2580

Ash S

4

Original post by Cll_ws

Is anybody taking the JLPT this summer?

Yeah I'll finally take N1, it's been long overdue lol.
Anyone else going to be taking JLPT in Tokyo?

Reply 2581

Cll_ws

19

Original post by Ash S

Yeah I'll finally take N1, it's been long overdue lol.
Anyone else going to be taking JLPT in Tokyo?

Ah, well you're a lot higher level than me. This is my first time taking it, i'm doing the N4.

Reply 2582

mysticalfluffy

20

Hi, without being too mean (just starting learning Japanese yesterday, at the moment just learning a few phrases and trying to get used to the sounds of the language and stuff) please take a look at this and correct my main errors, give me some ideas to improve! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSIhUDrKYVM
I would also like a good recommendation for a book, how is Japanese for busy people?

Reply 2583

Cll_ws

19

Original post by lizfairy

Hi, without being too mean (just starting learning Japanese yesterday, at the moment just learning a few phrases and trying to get used to the sounds of the language and stuff) please take a look at this and correct my main errors, give me some ideas to improve! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSIhUDrKYVM
I would also like a good recommendation for a book, how is Japanese for busy people?

I have Japanese For Busy People. It's pretty good, quite in-depth and it covers a lot of topics. Its only downside is that a lot of it is in romanji (Japanese written using the the English alphabet) which I think can be counter-productive for a beginner that is still getting to grips with reading hiragana and katakana, and to a lesser degree kanji. But it's not a big deal.
- If you're just starting out i'd recommend learning hiragana and katakana as soon as you can. Especially hiragana. It shouldn't take too long and it'll improve your learning experience massively, including your pronunciation.

Your pronunciation in the video sounded pretty good. One tip, in Japanese the topic of the sentence is often implied, so once it's clear that you're talking about yourself it's okay to drop the "watashi wa" from the beginning of your sentences.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 2584

C0balt

16

Original post by lizfairy

Hi, without being too mean (just starting learning Japanese yesterday, at the moment just learning a few phrases and trying to get used to the sounds of the language and stuff) please take a look at this and correct my main errors, give me some ideas to improve! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSIhUDrKYVM
I would also like a good recommendation for a book, how is Japanese for busy people?

I commented on your video just now.
I am a native Japanese speaker and I will have a look at the video when I can because at the moment I can't use my headphone

Reply 2585

mysticalfluffy

20

Original post by Cll_ws

I have Japanese For Busy People. It's pretty good, quite in-depth and it covers a lot of topics. Its only downside is that a lot of it is in romanji (Japanese written using the the English alphabet) which I think can be counter-productive for a beginner that is still getting to grips with reading hiragana and katakana, and to a lesser degree kanji. But it's not a big deal.
- If you're just starting out i'd recommend learning hiragana and katakana as soon as you can. Especially hiragana. It shouldn't take too long and it'll improve your learning experience massively, including your pronunciation.

Your pronunciation in the video sounded pretty good. One tip, in Japanese the topic of the sentence is often implied, so once it's clear that you're talking about yourself it's okay to drop the "watashi wa" from the beginning of your sentences.

Thanks for the information! I will probably buy it to get a good head start but do you know any good sites for learning hiragana and katakana?

Okay that is good to know about the pro-drop. I will try and think more about that next time.

Reply 2586

Cll_ws

19

Original post by lizfairy

Thanks for the information! I will probably buy it to get a good head start but do you know any good sites for learning hiragana and katakana?

Okay that is good to know about the pro-drop. I will try and think more about that next time.

I think when I was learning them I just did the classic thing of writing out each character until I remembered them, each time trying to depend less and less on the hiragana/katakana charts (You can find a chart by doing a quick google image search)

One thing that I remember doing was I would look up the romanji lyrics to Japanese songs and then try and write them out in hiragana, taking a quick look at the chart whenever I got stuck. Also, if you have an iPhone or Android you can find free apps that'll help you.

Unlike with kanji, which is different beast altogether, there's not a lot to learning hiragana and katakana other than simply memorising them. So I suppose it's a case of whatever method works best for you.

Here's a couple of sites that you might find useful, for now and later on in your studies,
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar
http://www.imabi.net/

Reply 2587

nerdini

My life became much easier when I found out that:

1. I can use mnemonic techniques to memorize kanji

2. I found out that context is more important than grammar (I read this in an article I had to translate...) In Japanese there are so many different ways to express basically the same thing. Students usually don't know when to use which - whatever we use, the Japanese still say that it sounds unnatural ... -_-#

BUT here is the solution: Copy what the Japanese are saying/writing in which situation and forget about the "rules" when to use which grammatical structure or expression. There is very little freedom in Japanese (if I make a sentence on my own according to the rules, it sounds completely unnatural...I think in English, German, French, Russian there is much more freedom). The more you copy what the Japanese say, the happier they are, and the more natural/correct your sentences will be.

Japanese = copy/paste :smile:

I'm starting AS next year and am so excited! Has anyone else done GCSE or A-Level Japanese?

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Reply 2589

Cll_ws

19

Original post by Edminzodo

I'm starting AS next year and am so excited! Has anyone else done GCSE or A-Level Japanese?

I didn't take the A-level, but i've been studying to sit the exams independently. I was going to do them this summer but I left it a little late, so i'll probably wait until next year now and just sit the JLPT this summer.

Reply 2590

megannlovat

Original post by Edminzodo

I'm starting AS next year and am so excited! Has anyone else done GCSE or A-Level Japanese?

Posted from TSR Mobile

I did GCSE last year and got an A* :smile:

I'm doing it now it for A level
in all honesty, GCSE to a level is a huge jump for japanese, lots more kanji and grammar to do, but it still really enjoy it!

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Reply 2591

TheTechN1304

21

Original post by Edminzodo

I'm starting AS next year and am so excited! Has anyone else done GCSE or A-Level Japanese?

Posted from TSR Mobile

I did Japanese for GCSE and I'm doing the AS this year!! It's a pretty big gap between GCSE and AS, but if you can keep on top of things it's not too bad.

Reply 2592

MoshiMarlo

1

Original post by Cll_ws

Does anybody on here use Wanikani?

Aye, that I do! It's great isn't it, what with that fancy "spaced repetition system" and all; it's worked for me so far. Do you have just a regular account (that goes up to level two, I believe -- correct me if I'm wrong), or do you pay the subscription thing? If the latter is true, do you think it's worth it?

ちょっと高いね…

Reply 2593

Cll_ws

19

Original post by MoshiMarlo

Aye, that I do! It's great isn't it, what with that fancy "spaced repetition system" and all; it's worked for me so far. Do you have just a regular account (that goes up to level two, I believe -- correct me if I'm wrong), or do you pay the subscription thing? If the latter is true, do you think it's worth it?

ちょっと高いね…

Yeah it's very good. I pay the subscription. I'm level 17 at the moment. I do think it's worth it, i've been using it since last summer and i'm yet to find a more effective method for learning kanji and vocab. The SRS is great.

The only downside is that it can be very time-consuming once you reach the higher levels. I get over 100 reviews a day most days and if I don't get on there everyday they can pile up quickly and become unmanageable. I recently started working full-time so it can be tough sometimes. I have like 180 reviews waiting for me now because I didn't do any last night :grumble:

But otherwise, I think it's awesome.

Reply 2594

BWCW

18

My first exam this year is my AS Japanese retake tomorrow. :redface:

Good luck to anyone else taking the exam! ^^　合格するといいね；；

Reply 2595

TheTechN1304

21

Original post by BWCW

My first exam this year is my AS Japanese retake tomorrow. :redface:

Good luck to anyone else taking the exam! ^^　合格するといいね；；

頑張ってね! 僕もAS試験を明日します。Are you ready?

Reply 2596

BWCW

18

Original post by TheTechN1304

頑張ってね! 僕もAS試験を明日します。Are you ready?

すごい！頑張るよー
Hmm, as I'll ever be I think! I feel more prepared than I did last year anyway. How are you feeling?　

Reply 2597

TheTechN1304

21

Original post by BWCW

すごい！頑張るよー
Hmm, as I'll ever be I think! I feel more prepared than I did last year anyway. How are you feeling?　

Slightly nervous, but I think I'm prepared for the exam. I want to do Japanese at university though, so i kinda of need to do really well and avoid retaking :eek:

Reply 2598

BlondHair

7

17 yr old half japanese guy here

just came back from japan lol , was a bit awkward considering i'm 6'4 and 100kg ahhaha

a sight to behold!

Reply 2599

BWCW

18

Original post by TheTechN1304

Slightly nervous, but I think I'm prepared for the exam. I want to do Japanese at university though, so i kinda of need to do really well and avoid retaking :eek: