Japanese Society

Ah yeah, that rings a bell. So, in a card to my friends I could just put "明けましておめでとう"? Or would the 明けまして have to be different? Or is it a set phrase... I'm just a beginner so bare with me! Thank-you

Hahahaha I'll keep that in mind

I've already got an offer from the uni I want to go to anyway so I'm not all that bothered.

明けまして - informal (close friends)
あけましておめでとう　- plain (friends etc)
あけましておめでとうございます - polite (superiors, seniors etc etc...)

Which is that, Sheffield? I have offers from SOAS (which, to my suprise, has found it's way to the top of my list. Still have yet to go and see it but I have a good 'feeling' ), Leeds and Sheffield aparently Edinburgh don't make offers until March time... Which is a bit silly because if I decide to put SOAS as my firm, the accomodation applications thingy (my english is so beautiful) opens in March and its first-come first-served (don't want to have to find a house in London!). Hey ho

Yes, Sheffield I also have offers from Leeds and Manchester which is cool. I'm not too bothered about Edinburgh really, I have no intention of going there with the offers I've already got

I want to get an offer from Edinburgh to prove my Head of Sixth Form wrong - she thinks that they like to "look after their own" and try to avoid letting non-scots in where possible! Terrible. And also, if I decide I want to go to SOAS I need a reserve and I'd like to have a choice between two (don't really want to go to Sheffield so I've discounted that lol)

It's true that they favour Scottish applicants, it's even in their admissions policy. Why don't you want to go to Sheffield?

how rude. Well most people think I should put Leeds as my insurance anyway but, as I said, it would be nice to have the choice. But then on the other hand, it would save me alot of headache if I didn't get an offer from Edinburgh! I'm a bit indecisive

Sheffield just didn't appeal to me when I went on the open day. It just seemed very tired and I wasn't too impressed by the Modern Languages talk. But I'll give it a fair chance and go on one of the faculty open days, just to make sure I'm not making a mistake!

Hahaha didn't you go to the East Asian Studies talk?

Umm, hey. I'd really really really like to start learning Japanese but I literally have no idea where to start. None of my schools offered me a Japanese course, but I've done latin and French, and they were both very successful for me.

Umm, any tips for a complete beginner?

My advice would be to start with the writing system, since alot books and internet sites use this alongside the roman alphabet (this one) and some don't even use it at all for writing Japanese. Search Kana in google and see what it comes up with, or just search "Japanese writing system" for an explanation on how it works. You can usually learn vocabulary as you go along, since examples will use Japanese words. Then there's grammar. I would say that there is no easy way to go about this but I have a book that is fantastic - "Japanese the Manga Way" http://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Manga-Way-Illustrated-Structure/dp/1880656906/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228487454&sr=8-1. Good explanations in a real life context.
Or you could pay for a teacher
Hope that's helped! Good luck!

Thanks :3 I'll definitely look into getting that book!

Start with the kana - hiragana first, then katakana.

I used these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Hiragana-Japanese-Writing/dp/0870117092/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228495696&sr=8-1

That's the hiragana one.

Some people like James Heisig. Different way of learning:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Remembering-Kana-Reading-Japanese-Syllabaries/dp/0824831640/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228495769&sr=1-1

You don't learn it in the order (from the vowels a i u e o): just the vowels, ka ki ku ke ko etc, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w - as he does it his own way.

He uses mnemonics - like stories attached to each sign.