Do you speak Japanese ?

**miyuki** · Aug 15, 2002, 02:03

On the other hand....without kanji

I can read books or newspapers exactly and fast because of kanji.
We have many "do on igi go"(words which have the same sounds and different meanings).
For example, "stone" and "will or notion" have the same
sound..."ishi" in Japanese.
I can't tell "stone" from "will" if you write it with hiragana.

**samuraitora** · Aug 15, 2002, 02:44

@miyukisan
eigo ga ii desu yo. ( I hope I said that right)
Your english is very good.

I am envious wishing my japanese were half as good as your english.

**miyuki** · Aug 15, 2002, 23:04

samuraitori-san,

arigatougozaimasu.

From now on,if you find anything about my English,
please tell me.
My English is 'school one'
and depends on my dictionaries.

Samuraitori-san,you divided these kanji into some categories...
sugoi desu ne.

**samuraitora** · Aug 15, 2002, 23:32

@miyuki
'sogoi' wa nihongo de nan desu ka.
what is 'sogou' in japanese.

hopefully I said that right

**miyuki** · Aug 16, 2002, 00:07

We say "sugoi" when we are wondering or admiring
or amazing something or someone.
For example, when I see the Niagara falls,
I cry,'Sugoi!' (amazing! nice!...I feel.)

When my friend finish very difficult works,
I say to him 'Sugoi ne!' (I admire him.)

When I go outside and find UFO (like 'Independence day')
I may cry,'Sugoi! nani? are? '(nani? are =what is that?)
etc...
We often use 'sugoi'

**moyashi** · Aug 16, 2002, 01:09

You still can tell from context though.

ie .... gomi wo nageru.

**miyuki** · Aug 16, 2002, 08:57

gomi wo nageru....?
gomen nasai...
imi ga yoku wakarimasen.

I think I was asked what 'sugoi' meant in Japanese by samuraitori-san.
I misunderstood his question????
I don't know....if so,sorry.
'sugoi' is an adjective(dictionary says)
but we use it like an interjection.

When one passes exam,we admire him 'sugoi!'
"Great!""You did it"
or we use it as "surprise""what a surprise"..etc..
Jisyo no imi to chigaimasu.

I'd like to explain that.
But my examples are not good or I misunderstood his question??
I wonder...........
Sorry.

**miyuki** · Aug 16, 2002, 09:27

Of course I admire samuraitori-san's work.

My exaples didn't seem so............
really sorry.

**moyashi** · Aug 16, 2002, 11:53

nooooo, nothing to be sorry about Miyuki!

え？僕のcommentが違うthreadに書いたはず。。。。

gomi wo nageru.
gomi = garbage/rubish
nageru = throw.

Maybe Nahoko would understand. She's from the Tahoko area.

This phrase is often used in Sapporo and Hokkaido! So it's a dialect phrase.

I wrote in reply to thread that was mentioning hiragana and kanji and how it's difficult to read hiragan while Kanji makes comprhension easier and quicker ... hmmmm.

I wrote this last night while watching WOWOW's (satelite TV) Part 4 of their late night ghost series ...... ewwwwwwww

norowareta ??? was I cursed? ??????

**miyuki** · Aug 16, 2002, 18:02

I see,moyashi-san.

**samuraitora** · Aug 16, 2002, 20:41

arigato gozaimasu miyukisan. kono wa yuuyou desu.
Thank you very much Miyuki. That was helpful.

Sorry if I use wrong nihongo words. Still learning.

**Eirik** · Oct 8, 2002, 15:00

Some more about kanji:

Someone already mentioned the kanji one has to long during one's first 6 years in school; but here's a listing of the "jouyou kanji" (daily-use kanji) designated by the government.

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/jouyoukanji.html

These are taught during the course of 9 years in Japanese schools
(a total of 1945 characters)

If you're serious about your study of kanji, you should have a look at this book:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...lance&n=507846

it's an approach to learning the kanji different from the traditional one. i'm using it myself. the book seems to be not so very well-known, which is why i thought i'd make people aware of it.
(if you want to know more about the book, read the introduction and costumer reviews at amazon)

**lineartube** · Nov 4, 2002, 19:28

I only speak a few words and phrases but I would like to learn it.

A couple months back I researched where I could learn japanese here in Portugal and get a certification for it. There a few places that do teach japanese but no one can give me a credible certification. If I remember correctly, I would have to go to Paris to make the exams.

I have also a First Certificate taken some years ago in the British Council. I never took the Proeficiency Test because I got a diploma and I tought I didn't need another despite of only needed to take one more exam. Now that I'm looking for work, I only read about TOEICs and I guess In Japan nobody has ever heard of the British Council... :P

**thomas** · Nov 5, 2002, 17:55

Uh oh, TOIEC is a holy cow in Japan, lolol, the golden calf...

**miki** · Nov 6, 2002, 15:01

what is TOIEC??? another certication level?

was browsing the net few weeks back and find this forum quite interesting.. i'm a beginner in japanese (currently take part time japanese course).... hope to learn more about the language & culture & everything else about japan... =)

by the way, i know chinese... will that help in picking up the language? someone told me it'll be easier, but doesn't sound very convicing as i find japanese is rather complicated... especially the particles and grammar bit...

**miyuki** · Nov 7, 2002, 01:12

Hi,lineartube,
Hi,miki,
Nice to meet you!

You mean TOEIC(the Test of English for International Communication)??
or other test??

Please visit Nihongo Cabinet,too!
You can check japanese!

**Luxpyre** · Nov 7, 2002, 11:43

Well, I have just started studying Japanese on my own. I am just working on the Kana right now. I don't really know any vocabulary and only a smattering on sentence structure, but I am slowly making my way through the Hiragana right now. I do know something like eight Kanji. I think the Kanji are a lot of fun, although I don't know how I will think of them when I am putting a lot of effort into learning them. The eight that I know stuck in my head like glue. I wrote them down a few times and the next day I still remembered them. I don't know what the actual Japanese is for them, but hey, its a start. Of course my penmanship is probably horrible, but that will improve with practice. ; )

**moyashi** · Nov 7, 2002, 17:18

TOEIC, TOEFL, TESOL ... are gaining popularity while the EIKEN for English is dropping. Nope, never heard of Britsh Consel in Japan.

There is a Japanese Laguage Proficency test and a Teach Japanese as a Second Language test too.

@ Learning
Ahh, don't worry about the hand writting. You will only get better.

Hiragan is the easiest since you see it much more often but I'd put a bit extra time into the katakana since they are used mostly for foreign words and you end up spending all your time trying to figure out what the English (mostly) equivolent is.

Good Luck!

**Kaji** · Jan 12, 2003, 03:47

I've been studying for about two years, the first 9 months of which were quite informal (read: I sat down with 30 volumes of Ranma 1/2, pen, paper, and a dictionary and tried to pick out patterns). Since then I've taken a total of 6 Japanese courses, and recently took the JLPT Level 3 (if the practice tests I took last semester are any indication, I just passed it...we'll find out in about a month or so, ne?). All the while I've continued to do such things as read manga and watch anime raw, which has helped immensely (I know roughly 700 or so Kanji)

**miyuki** · Jan 19, 2003, 01:31

Hi,Kaji

Your way sounds enjoyable.
As for me (English learner),
reading or answering threads here, exchanging mails with friends,
chatting or talking with friends...such communication helps my study.

**dogcountry** · Feb 1, 2003, 08:22

Well, here's one. The US Navy enrolled me in spoken Japanese that lasted about 60 days. I enrolled for Japanese Language at Berlitz School of Languages in Boston. Now hear this. I took 500 hours of Japanese at five hours a day and this lasted for about six months. Can't be sure as most of the time I was ready to crash mentally. Native teachers of course. One teacher told me I had a Kangi vocabularly of a 3rd grader. Today I can barely get by with not more than a bare knowledge. You use it or you forget it.

**ragedaddy** · Feb 18, 2003, 10:47

Well, I have been studying Japanese for about 10 months up in a Japanese Language School in Tokyo. I`d have to say my level is in between the 能力の３級and ２級. However, I definitely have a long way to go. Japanese is really a challenging language to learn, but it is really enjoyable at the same time. I guess my advice is if you really want to learn it, then you have to dedicate yourself to　a lot of studying, practicing, and making a lot of mistakes. That`s my opinion anyways.....

**hannahgirl7** · Feb 28, 2003, 06:40

well i don't know any japanese and since i go to a really small highschool the only languages they offer are spanish, french and latin. i'm graduating this year though and i plan to start studying japanese in college... i'm really excited for it but i'm not too good at learning foreign languages....

**StorDuff** · Feb 28, 2003, 09:00

really small? we don't even have latin.

**jeisan** · Mar 5, 2003, 13:25

i know some words and phrases n some katakana n thats about it. most of the words n things ive picked up from anime. i swear lain says 'nani' 100 times every episode.

my school didnt have latin either, just spainish, french and german. though for a third of the school spainish was their 1st language. i opted for german, took 4 years, but ive forgotten alot of it