Do you speak Japanese ?

**ZellX** · Sep 6, 2004, 23:02

you all still put me to shame i only know lik39 but its a work in progress.by the way does ken mean dog in japanese the kanji cards if not i am reading them wrong.

**Giorgia_** · Sep 7, 2004, 04:21

by the way does ken mean dog in japanese the kanji cards if not i am reading them wrong.

It does, but not really...
The kanji, "犬" can be read in two ways, "INU" and "KEN".
"Ken" is usually used when it's connected to the types of dogs.
like, guiding dog is 盲導犬(mou dou ken) in Japanese. Not Mou dou inu.
So KEN is still correct as its furigana, but if you want to mean a "dog" by itself, then you have to say "INU".

**Camui** · Oct 11, 2004, 05:39

I know a few greetings and stuff, but other than that not really...I really wanna learn though ^^

**Lady Skywalker** · Jun 20, 2006, 17:01

I know the two kana alphabets as well as dozens of kanji (thanks to my Mandarin study) but I'm still a beginner in terms of vocabulary and grammar. I'm close to JLPT 4 level (I think) but I still need to tackle verbs properly and get used to creating my own sentences.

**oliverf** · Jun 20, 2006, 18:12

I read the book Japanese for Idiots (or something like that) last year and last
December, I enrolled in basic japanese class. To my disappointment, I practically learned nothing new. I think I learned more from my Idiot book than from the class. I am currently using Pimpleur audio lessons.

I wish that thru this forum, I can practice reading and speaking/writting japanese.

Domo arigato gozaimasu.

**persil** · Jul 3, 2006, 10:23

I voted just a few expressions, however, I'm a little farther than that, though not advanced at all.

The thing is I'm concentrating on the spoken language, so I don't even know kanas yet. I can mostly differentiate chinese and japanese text when I see some, but I don't understand a word it says, I'm stuck at Romaji.

My first main goal is to understand what's said in anime and I'll be happy when I reach the point where I could understand child-level talk

Currently, I grasp some words, expressions, here and there, but I don't understand the main ideas yet.

I'm still happy though, because I feel I'm much better than a while ago before I restarted to learn (self-taught using websites, a tv show (let's learn japanese basics I and II) and soon a book (Japanese Verbs: Saying what you mean) when it finally arrives!!!)

I hope I'll manage to stay an active member here! Ja na!

**Riette** · Jun 4, 2007, 22:36

more than greetings, but below sentence constructions. -simple sentences only- i will accept all the help i can take~ domo arigato

**82riceballs** · Jun 7, 2007, 04:51

i'm a so/so person. my grandparents speak japanese and claim that my japanese is horrible, but i think i'm improving now that i'm taking lessons from an awesome teacher. i might get a 80% on jlpt 4 test if i'm lucky

.

**Han Chan** · Aug 10, 2007, 06:48

I speak japanese more or less like a child - thats why people call me Han chan.

**Kour** · Jan 31, 2013, 10:14

Hi there, thought I would introduce myself. Stumbled upon this website and forum today.

Was transferred to Japan by my company about 8 months ago. Struggling to learn the language but loving it here.

Any recommendations on where to go for a quick 4-5 day holiday?

**miyuki** · Aug 10, 2002, 19:14

While 6 years, elementary school students learn 1006 kanji.
Lists of 1006 Kanji; http://www.kanabo.net/product/kanji.html

Jyoyo Kanji(1945)
http://kanji.zinbun.kyoto-u.ac.jp/~y...apan-joyo.html
Moji bake shimasenka ...? I wonder..

I think kanji makes me easier to read newspapers or books faster.
Because kanji has meaning.
When I can't read kanji sound rightly,I can understand the meanings.

Once every newspeper used to add 'yomigana' to every kanji.
It is nice idea,isn't it?
After WW2,such rules had gone.
Because (some says) it took them a lot of troubles.

**samuraitora** · Aug 12, 2002, 22:03

@ miyukisan
thank you for the lists...

**miyuki** · Aug 13, 2002, 14:39

Have you seen kanji lists?
too many...

**samuraitora** · Aug 13, 2002, 22:56

@miyuki
I am putting together a Japan/Japanese site...with the site I have taken the kanji lists and broken them down into 2 lists.

First list breaks down by grade(1st, 2nd, 3rd...) what is a verb, noun, adjective, so on and so forth. I was thinking about breaking down the nouns into different categories like person, animal, place, and other categories like that.

Second list breaks down by proficiency test(4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st) in the same type.

This should make it easier of newbies to learn...it has helped me.

**miyuki** · Aug 14, 2002, 01:46

@samuraitori-san,
These lists help you?

Members here love to study,I think.
I am very glad if I could help you.
my pleasure desu.

**miyuki** · Aug 14, 2002, 01:55

Our school board says in 'Gakusyu shido yoryo';
1st grade(13 years old)...to write and use 900 of 1006 kanji
to read 1006 kanji
to read 250-300 of Jyoyo kanji
2nd grade(14 years old)...to write and use 950 of 1006 kanji
(250-300 plus)
to read 300-350 of Jyoyo kanji
3rd grade'15 years old)...to write and use 1006 kanji
to read all of Jyoyo kanji

**miyuki** · Aug 14, 2002, 01:58

It may be an indication.

**samuraitora** · Aug 14, 2002, 04:14

wow

**deborah gormley** · Aug 14, 2002, 09:27

@ miyuki
your school board seems quite tough!! but if thats the way its done , then so be it!! I dont know any kanji yet, it frightens me so much I cant discribe it, but maybe if I was brought up in an enviroment that needed kanji things might be sooo different!!!
I find kanji facinating with its meaning and terms of interpretation, and thats the frightening bit, lol

**bexchurnside** · Feb 16, 2007, 09:08

Originally Posted by deborah gormley

@ miyuki
your school board seems quite tough!! but if thats the way its done , then so be it!! I dont know any kanji yet, it frightens me so much I cant discribe it, but maybe if I was brought up in an enviroment that needed kanji things might be sooo different!!!
I find kanji facinating with its meaning and terms of interpretation, and thats the frightening bit, lol

Deborah, it seems tough to us, many of having BA's in Japanese couldn't best them, if we even tried. If these folks go to cram school and work their best in their mother tougue vs us, well, you can guess. But then, you go to Japan, and see that these so called English teachers have a terrible command of the English language. I know many high school students would draw circles over them. So the same is simply reversed. They would think what are we doing with an entire BA with less than what the Japanese get for their minimum educational requirement. These kids have it in their bones to learn.

You know, many envy our English skills that are recongized worldwide. Japanese on the other hand is pretty much useless outside of either Japan or in situations outside of Japan, outside of Japanese corporate environment.
Even in Sao Paulo or Hawai'i, the Nikkeijin do speak English adequately enough that we really don't need to learn Japanese to get around.

The Japanese also do not ever expect us to try taking them on in the language sparing game. I talk here in competitive terms, as that is their way of thinking. Only the Kikokushijo is made to play catch up, and in some cases, the Nikkeijin who have citizenship. Many of them do go through the daunting task of playing catch up, but we need not envy. My boyfriend said that he was forced into the game where he is made to learn to not get socially outcasted, and have a good job. And many of them learn Japanese out of necessity and duty, and not out of interest like many of us do, choosing this culture. Theirs being choiceless, or almost choiceless makes the task while apparently easier to do than for us, less enjoyable, with the love of it more often than not, absent. When your hair is strawberry blond like mine, even slightly unnatural but so so well spoken Japanese is only applauded by them.

So let them be, and we do what we do in our own category.

**moyashi** · Aug 14, 2002, 11:27

hey debs, but why you read kanji every day ;)

mis-understand-ing .... overly simplified but still. Each part of the word is like a group of strokes in a kanji.

Many kanji like for mountain are even like pictures UU sort of looking thing.

山 = mountain ... well it looks like one.
日 = day or sun ... well a box with a line in the middle that represents all the lines that we like to draw around suns.
口 = a square like box which is a mouth
手 = if you look long enough you'll see that the 3 lines are fingers, with the vertical line a brush. so this is a character for hand

It's not so difficult. I learned how to write so I'm sure anybody can!

**samuraitora** · Aug 14, 2002, 22:54

wow moyashisensei...don't give yourself too much credit...lol

**moyashi** · Aug 15, 2002, 00:06

**miyuki** · Aug 15, 2002, 01:08

deborah-san,

Japanese students also make strenuous efforts to memorize kanji.
As for me, when I was a student, so did I.
(...because we had exams. hehe)

But now I write all my documents with my computer.
It makes hiragana to kanji automatically.
So when I write kanji on occation, I notice I forget some
of them.