The Language-Learning Thread

Fed up talking videogames? Why?
User avatar
Chris
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: Chris B

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Chris » Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:36 am

Parksey wrote:Forgive my ignorance, as I haven't read up on all this, but isn't Kanji a sort of Chinese-Japanese symbol that represents an entire word?

Whereas some of the phrases in Japanese are kinda written in the sense that each individual symbol can refer to one or two letters?

That would be easier to decipher, as if you learn those symbols, you can spell the word out in your head to romanise it, right?

I may be talking absolute rot, here. I've read the first few pages of my Chinese books, but not started on the Japanese one yet.


Kanji are originally Chinese symbols which have been borrowed by Japanese. Some kanji have only one reading. For example 川, which means river, is always read as kawa (かわ). EDIT: Can also be read as gawa (がわ), but this is still classed as one reading.

However the general rule is that Kanji have their original Chinese reading and their given Japanese reading. For example 山 which means mountain can either be read as yama (やま) or san (さん). This generally depends on the context.

That's just a really simple example as other kanji have many more ways of being read. For example 上 has different readings and meanings. I will put in bold the reading/meaning of this kanji in the following sentences:

机の上にある。 (tsukue no ue ni aru) = on the table

屋上に上がると空が見える。 (okujyou ni agaru to sora ga mieru) = go up to the roof, and you can see the sky.

In the second sentence the kanji is used twice. It is the second kanji in the word 屋上 which means roof, and in this case is read as jyou (じょう), and it is also the first character of the verb 上がる, which is read as agaru (あがる), and means 'to go up' in this example.

This kanji has many more readings than this, but that's just a couple of examples. It's quite hard to explain succinctly, so sorry if that's a bit confusing!

As for your question. Yes, if you know the meaning/reading of a kanji in a given context then you can romanise it in your head, but before you start on kanji you need to know the basic kana alphabets first. Japanese children don't start learning kanji as part of the curriculum until the first year of elementary school (6/7 years of age), for this reason.

Switch Friend Code - SW-2270-8931-7619
Playstation Network - hydroburn87
User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Parksey » Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:58 pm

Right, I tried the romanised version of Japanese for Busy People last night and it was great - I really enjoyed it and it worked fantastically. The lessons, while based quite heavily on repetition, do drill the vocab into you fairly quickly.

The only downside of it all is, of course, that I know in my head that I still don't have a clue what it all means when it is written properly. It's odd, as when it comes to French and Spanish, my reading of those is excellent and I find it really easy to translate. I'm fairly good at writing them too, but it's the speaking that always lets me down. Here, it's going to be completely the other way round.

Are there are workbooks available for learning Hiragana or Katakana? It's so much easier than just having to read.

It puts the two Chinese books I've bought to shame, as they are pretty much phrasebooks intended for travelling. As a result, I'm now leaning more towards learning Japanese (i'm fairly sure I couldn't learn both at the same time as I'd just be all over the place) as the material I have is much more suitable.

Are there any similar workbook-style texts available for Chinese? They make all the difference.

Also, I have a few questions about some Hiragana (like the spelling of "Domo" which makes it out to be "Domuo" or something when you translate the Hiragana) but I'll get to that later.

User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Qikz » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:08 pm

Right, I tried the romanised version of Japanese for Busy People last night and it was great - I really enjoyed it and it worked fantastically. The lessons, while based quite heavily on repetition, do drill the vocab into you fairly quickly.

Are there are workbooks available for learning Hiragana or Katakana? It's so much easier than just having to read.


I personally used a good old notepad and the internet to learn Hiragana. Just start with Hiragana first then learn Katakana a little while afterwards, don't do both at the same time. There's a ton of good flashcard sites on the internet to help you learn Hiragana and Katakana too. Best way of learning I found was to write each of the symbols down about 30 times in a row while speaking them out loud, once you get Hiragana down, it'll be alot easier to start learning grammar and other things once you know hiragana.

http://www.realkana.com/hiragana/

Go here for one of the things I started off with, you pick what symbols you want to practice, then it just throws them at you flashcard style. Hope this helps Parksey. To make it easier on yourself, just go in the rows rather than trying to do it all at once.

あいうえお、
かきくけ子、
さしすせそ、

Like that, if you get my point.

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Parksey » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:48 pm

Cheers!

I was actually going to learn them in rows using my "Busy People" book as it has a chart in it, but that is much more useful. Saves me having to buy flash cards.

What are the "Busy People" workbooks, by the way? Are they just the exercises already in the "proper" books, or more questions and extended activities? If it's the former, there is no point buying them; if I get more practice out of them, then I may give them a try.

User avatar
Chris
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: Chris B

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Chris » Fri Aug 20, 2010 4:49 pm

Yeah, there are kana workbooks available in the Japanese for busy people series. Stroke order is important in Japanese (not just for kanji), and this textbook will teach you that:

Kana workbook

You may be able to find similar things on the internet, though.

Once you have that down though, as Staydead says the old fashioned write them down over and over method is also how I did it!

As for the doumo thing, it's because the Japanese is spelt like this どうも。 The う sound after the ど alters the way in which the word is said, and gives a slightly softer sound.

EDIT: There are additional activities in the kana textbook, but if you can learn stroke order from another source then save your money.

Switch Friend Code - SW-2270-8931-7619
Playstation Network - hydroburn87
User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Parksey » Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:44 pm

Sorry to keep asking questions, but as I take each new step, a new problem or query emerges!

How come some hiragana, like "ki" and "sa", have two different forms? Which are the correct or more commonly used forms?

Is "ki" - き or the one with just the dash at the end? The flash thing StayDead showed me gives the き form, but Busy People gives the other.

Is "sa" - さ or the one with the dash at the end? Again, the flash (and wiki) says that one, whereas Busy People gives the other?

Why is stroke order so important? I may be an ignorant Englishman here, but surely if the symbols look the same then it doesn't matter in which order they are composed? But then you hear stories of harsh teachers beating those who put a stroke out of order...

And how, if you are writing something down yourself, do you know if it is composed in kanji, hiragana or katakana? For example, I would be tempted to write down "Watashi" as "wa-ta-shi" in hiragana, but I know that's wrong as you use kanji for that particular word.

And, finally, is it advisable to learn both Chinese and Japanese at the same time? I have a lot of spare time on my hands at the moment, so I could dedicated about ten hours a week to both in all likelihood (though I'm possibly only able to take a classroom lesson in one, though at a push maybe I could, as they are both on separate days... I'm thinking out loud).

The downside, of course being, is that both obviously have very different grammar. This is obvious from only a few hours with each, and one is obviously very tonal, whereas one is more syllable-stressed. Though perhaps, when it comes to learning Kanji, I could learn both Chinese and Japanese at the same time. And I'm unlikely to get the Chinese grammar system mixed up with the Japanese one, as it seems so straightforward.

Or am I just biting off more than I can chew (I tend to do this when learning new things - see my piano playing, where I thought I'd try to become the next Mozart).

It's just that I don't really want to give one of them "up" now, despite having only put in a few hours in each.

User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Qikz » Fri Aug 20, 2010 6:52 pm

Do you mean like さざ (sa,za) きぎ (ki,gi)? You'll learn about those fully by just learning Hiragana.

Writing stuff in just Hiragana and Katakana is perfectly fine until you learn the Kanji for the word, but don't even attempt to learn Kanji until you know Hiragana and Katakana perfectly and try and get a lot of grammar done beforehand, Kanji is really difficult when you first start out, it was easily (for me) the hardest thing other than some of the grammar stuff to memorise and actually get started with, it can be really scary due to how hard it is when you first start out, but soon you'll get used to doing it and it'll become much easier.

You probably could do Japanese and Chinese at the same time, but when you got to Kanji I have no idea how hard that would become. I know I for one wouldn't be able to learn both of them at the same time. Personally I would say pick the one you like the most, then stick with it and work hard! I never really felt like this when I was in school learning German, but if you're learning a language you really want to understand for various reasons, you'll work as hard as you possibly can and by god it feels so rewarding.

So I'd say pick the one you prefer the most and roll with it, I was listening to a Chinese person speak on the phone in the massive queue behind me to get into the London Expo and wow, how anyone speaks that language confuses me. It's like how I first felt when I saw the Japanese language written down, it's mind boggling until you get the idea of it.

So, good luck with whatever you choose!

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Parksey » Fri Aug 20, 2010 7:08 pm

I will give learning both a go at the moment, as I am only on the basics at the moment. Once I have to get knee-deep in the grammar, I might find that it becomes too much, or I have a very clear preference. I'm enjoying learning both at the moment - I put three or four hours into Japanese last night and had a whale of a time and I'm staying in tonight to work on my hiragana rather than going out for a drink. I'm probably becoming everything Harry Bizzle hated in his earlier post.

I've always been linguistically-minded, however. I was one of the few people in my year who liked French, and I'm hoping to using my English degree abroad rather than being stuck in a rough comprehensive over here. Ideally, I'd like to go to the Far East for a year on a TEFL course or something and teach it as a foreign language. As a career, I'd probably like to go into something like that or maybe into the translation area. Still all very vague at the moment.

Anyway, I've made this less about me - ahem, maybe not looking at that post - and into a general Language Thread so anyone can come in and say what they're learning or wish to dabble in.

StayDead, how long have you been learning Japanese? You're obviously a lot more steeped in the culture than me (and the police will one day probably get you for some of that) so you must be fairly decent now? Anywhere near fluent?

I imagine to get to those levels, mind, you really have to have lived over there for at least six months.

User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Qikz » Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:09 pm

六月前を勉強しましたそして毎日二時間ぐらい勉強します。ぺらぺらしない。実は大丈夫だけど日本に絶対行きたいそして日本語を勉強が頑張る!
roku getsu mae o benkyoushimashita soshite mainichi nijikan gurai benkyoushimasu. peraperashinai. jitsu wa daijyoubu dakedo nihon ni zettai ikitai shoshite nihongo o benkyou ga ganbaru!

Well, if that was right, it should say this.

I've been studying for six months and I study for about 2 hours every day, I'm not fluent. Actually that's alright because I definately want to go to Japan so I work hard at my Japanese Language studies.

It'll take me alot longer than 6 months to get fluent. There's a long, long road to fluency and I'm merely taking the first steps. Every day I try to learn something new and it's really fun to challenge my mind for a change, being a carer I don't really have chance to do that much.

I'm looking at any way of getting myself to Japan, I'm planning a self trip for the end of next year or the beginning of the next, while also planning to apply to the Jet Program which means you go and live out there and get paid by the Japanese government to teach English, Pacman told me to apply. If I don't get in, I'll try again next year and work out where I'm going from there, but damnit I'm going to get there somehow. 私の夢です!

I'm going to start trawling Japanese mumble servers to find some people I can talk to, that'd be awesome. I'm also looking for some Japanese forums where I can help my reading and writing. So whatever happens I'm trying to expose myself at all angles to the language until it gets firmly imprinted into my mind. It may not be as good as being in the country, but until then it'll have to do! I just finished my studying for the day to make this post. :P

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Chris
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: Chris B

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese
by Chris » Fri Aug 20, 2010 11:53 pm

Parksey wrote:Sorry to keep asking questions, but as I take each new step, a new problem or query emerges!

How come some hiragana, like "ki" and "sa", have two different forms? Which are the correct or more commonly used forms?

Is "ki" - き or the one with just the dash at the end? The flash thing StayDead showed me gives the き form, but Busy People gives the other.

Is "sa" - さ or the one with the dash at the end? Again, the flash (and wiki) says that one, whereas Busy People gives the other?

Why is stroke order so important? I may be an ignorant Englishman here, but surely if the symbols look the same then it doesn't matter in which order they are composed? But then you hear stories of harsh teachers beating those who put a stroke out of order...

And how, if you are writing something down yourself, do you know if it is composed in kanji, hiragana or katakana? For example, I would be tempted to write down "Watashi" as "wa-ta-shi" in hiragana, but I know that's wrong as you use kanji for that particular word.

And, finally, is it advisable to learn both Chinese and Japanese at the same time? I have a lot of spare time on my hands at the moment, so I could dedicated about ten hours a week to both in all likelihood (though I'm possibly only able to take a classroom lesson in one, though at a push maybe I could, as they are both on separate days... I'm thinking out loud).

The downside, of course being, is that both obviously have very different grammar. This is obvious from only a few hours with each, and one is obviously very tonal, whereas one is more syllable-stressed. Though perhaps, when it comes to learning Kanji, I could learn both Chinese and Japanese at the same time. And I'm unlikely to get the Chinese grammar system mixed up with the Japanese one, as it seems so straightforward.

Or am I just biting off more than I can chew (I tend to do this when learning new things - see my piano playing, where I thought I'd try to become the next Mozart).

It's just that I don't really want to give one of them "up" now, despite having only put in a few hours in each.


Yes, there are different ways of writing a few of the hiragana. You have mentioned two of them above, and り (ri), can also be written in a different way. You can't type it on the keyboard, but it looks a little bit like an ear!

As for which of them are the most prevalent and frequently used... Well I just checked my Japanese textbook and that uses り, along with the alternative versions of  き/さ . However I also checked this week's local paper, and that uses the versions of き/さ given above, along with the alternative version of り . I can do some more scouting when out and about today, as I don't really pay attention to that anymore! Short answer, though is make sure you can read both, but you only need to ever write one. No-one is going to tell you off for using the wrong one, because they are both correct.

Stroke order. I think it's important to learn them properly initially. However, most people I know will use a different stroke order occasionally, but that's just a natural case of getting into bad habits. The pattern for writing all kanji is the same, as there are rules for the way in which you write the strokes. It's just the kanji that changes!

Writing watashi as わたし as opposed to 私 is not wrong. There is quite a lot of flexibility in that respect. The general rule for this though, is that Japanese words are written in kanji/hiragana, whilst katakana is used for imported words. For example, pizza is written in katakana.

As for both at the same time. I went through school learning up to three languages at the same time, and I never understood the people who said they kept getting stuff mixed up (I did... they were lazy ;) ). I personally don't have time for anything more than Japanese at the moment, but if you feel you can do it then it can't hurt to give it a go.

Switch Friend Code - SW-2270-8931-7619
Playstation Network - hydroburn87
User avatar
Sputnik
Member
Joined in 2010

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Sputnik » Sat Aug 21, 2010 9:14 pm

A few weeks ago someone told me how to say the names of the two Dipper (Ursa) constellations in Japanese, plus the North star, but I've already forgotten. Care to refresh me somebody?

This is malignant for diapered cartoon girls crutches as well

Image
User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Qikz » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:12 pm

Sputnik wrote:A few weeks ago someone told me how to say the names of the two Dipper (Ursa) constellations in Japanese, plus the North star, but I've already forgotten. Care to refresh me somebody?


天帝星 (てんていせい) is Polaris which as far as I remember is the north star right?

I figured a way I could improve on my writing, I set myself up a little blog where I can just jot things down about what I've learnt in the day and other random things in Japanese to hopefully improve my writing. It'll also mean I can go back and see how I'm slowly improving. Links in my sig. :wub:

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Sputnik
Member
Joined in 2010

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Sputnik » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:20 pm

.... uh, I was hoping you would tell me the actual pronounciation.

This is malignant for diapered cartoon girls crutches as well

Image
User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Qikz » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:27 pm

Oh woops, tenteisei

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Sputnik
Member
Joined in 2010

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Sputnik » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:37 pm

Wait, now I remember. It was something like "ho goo ma tse" for Ursa Major.

This is malignant for diapered cartoon girls crutches as well

Image
User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Parksey » Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:49 am

StayDead wrote:Oh woops, tenteisei


I'm quite pleased that I was able to pretty much read that quickly when you posted it in hiragana. I must be getting somewhere, though I have the individual vowels, the t-ones and the s-ones nailed down. I have the first "block" of hiragana memorised fairly accurately (I count the first block as up to "n"). That's memorised as in I never get any wrong on that flash game - I still get muddled sometimes when written them all down from scratch on a blank page, though when I see the symbol I immediately get it.

I'm hoping to have hiragana flawlessly memorised in both flash card form and when it comes to writing and reading in a week. A bit optimistic perhaps but I'm lucky I have an excellent memory.

This will put me approximately on the same level as a three year old Japanese child. And Stay Dead's blog baffles me - I'm hoping I'll be able to work it out soon, though. It seems pretty impressive that he can write that after six months self-teaching.

Is it meant to say "Welcome"? I have it down as "yo-u-ko-so-u" and Google tells me this is welcome but with a different spelling.

Anyway, how do you know whether to write a word in hiragana or kanji? Chris mentioned "watashi" as a word that could be written in both, though obviously some will surely have consonant and vowel sounds not present in hiragana so it'll obviously be kanji then.

Also, I've noticed in Busy People, that the Westerners have their surname translated. For example, the Japanese probably don't have the sounds for "Smith", so it gets put in katakana as "Sumisu". What I don't understand is how they come about translating the surname into that particular word.

User avatar
Parksey
Moderator
Joined in 2008

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Parksey » Sun Aug 22, 2010 1:55 am

And the bit at the end of StayDead's blog - じゃあね。- means "see you again", right?

Bah, this is easy. I'll need to start learning Arabic in a week at this rate...

On a side note, why does everyone hate ア? It's only a "a" in katakana, so why do all the language blogs I read say things like: "I have never hated a character like I hated ア"?

User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Qikz » Sun Aug 22, 2010 2:08 am

Parksey wrote:
StayDead wrote:Oh woops, tenteisei


I'm quite pleased that I was able to pretty much read that quickly when you posted it in hiragana. I must be getting somewhere, though I have the individual vowels, the t-ones and the s-ones nailed down. I have the first "block" of hiragana memorised fairly accurately (I count the first block as up to "n"). That's memorised as in I never get any wrong on that flash game - I still get muddled sometimes when written them all down from scratch on a blank page, though when I see the symbol I immediately get it.


Grats! You're getting there! I'll try and help you if you need it, but I'm far from good and there's people a hell of a lot better than me on the forums, but I'll do my best to help if I can.

This will put me approximately on the same level as a three year old Japanese child. And Stay Dead's blog baffles me - I'm hoping I'll be able to work it out soon, though. It seems pretty impressive that he can write that after six months self-teaching.


Well, I'm slowly getting better as each day passes, so thanks. ^^

Is it meant to say "Welcome"? I have it down as "yo-u-ko-so-u" and Google tells me this is welcome but with a different spelling.


I've seen it written both ways, I'm pretty sure either way is fine.

Anyway, how do you know whether to write a word in hiragana or kanji? Chris mentioned "watashi" as a word that could be written in both, though obviously some will surely have consonant and vowel sounds not present in hiragana so it'll obviously be kanji then.


You don't, but most of the time it doesn't actually matter, some words you'll just naturally know to put in Kanji, generally vocab words like 猫(ねこ)Cat, 犬(いぬ) Dog, 鳥(とり) Bird. Will all be written in Kanji usually, but I think it's fine to write them however, it's like some words such as これ to give one example are often written in kana alone rather than Kanji. I think Chris can probably explain more about this though as he actually lives in Japan (I think?).

Also, I've noticed in Busy People, that the Westerners have their surname translated. For example, the Japanese probably don't have the sounds for "Smith", so it gets put in katakana as "Sumisu". What I don't understand is how they come about translating the surname into that particular word.


I'm pretty sure it just comes down to what they can write it down as in their alphabet, like Sumisu as you used as the example kind of sounds like Smith if you say it.

And the bit at the end of StayDead's blog - じゃあね。- means "see you again", right?


Yup, I think it can mean a various number of Goodbyes, but they all add to the same thing of saying bye.

http://jisho.org/

This is a really good Dictionary to get started with once you start learning Kanji, or even before as you can type in English words and get Japanese words and so on.

http://ichi2.net/anki/

Is a really nice free flash card program, you can either create your own or use sets you can find around the net, I'm using it for my Kanji at the moment, but you can use it for Kana, Grammer, Kanji or whatever really.

Hope that all helped ^

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...
User avatar
Chris
Member
Joined in 2008
AKA: Chris B

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Chris » Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:33 am

Parksey wrote:Anyway, how do you know whether to write a word in hiragana or kanji? Chris mentioned "watashi" as a word that could be written in both, though obviously some will surely have consonant and vowel sounds not present in hiragana so it'll obviously be kanji then.


If it has a consonant/vowel sound not contained in hiragana, then it isn't a Japanese word.

In this case it will be written in katakana. For example you often see the word 'information' written in katakana. Because it's an english word, then it obviously contains sounds not present in the Japanese writing system. Therefore it is written in katakana as follows: インフォーメーション (infuo-me-shon.) It's the same principle with Smith becoming スミス (sumisu.) The easiest way to think of it is that katakana is a way of linking two different writing systems, Japanese and Roman.

StayDead wrote:You don't, but most of the time it doesn't actually matter, some words you'll just naturally know to put in Kanji, generally vocab words like 猫(ねこ)Cat, 犬(いぬ) Dog, 鳥(とり) Bird. Will all be written in Kanji usually, but I think it's fine to write them however, it's like some words such as これ to give one example are often written in kana alone rather than Kanji. I think Chris can probably explain more about this though as he actually lives in Japan (I think?).


Yes, I do.

It is fine to write all three of those animals in hiragana (katakana is fine too, but don't worry about yet), but the kanji is also there for you to use. The same can be said for a lot of words. Staydead is right, it is just a matter of learning which words can/can't be written in kanji.

There are some words that when spelt in hiragana can have many different meanings. If I just pick a random word such as ふくしゅう (you can read it so I won't write the romaji ;) ), when written in kana this can mean either revenge or review (as in going over learnt material for study purposes.) If you left it written in hiragana then the meaning could be worked out by context, but the kanji for the two words is different, so people can immediately tell what you are writing if the word is written in isolation.

復讐 = revenge
復習 = review

Another example, あめ can mean rain or candy, and again the kanji is different (the pronunciation is slightly different too.)

雨 - Rain
飴 - Candy

The example you have chosen これ, is always written in kana. There may well be a means of writing it in kanji, but it is not used (maybe it once was, but not nowadays.) Again, this is just a matter of learning and becoming accustomed to reading the language.

Switch Friend Code - SW-2270-8931-7619
Playstation Network - hydroburn87
User avatar
Qikz
#420BlazeIt ♥
Joined in 2011

PostRe: Learning Japanese/Chinese (The Language Thread)
by Qikz » Sun Aug 22, 2010 6:58 pm

Another resource I can link you to that I used/still use is Erin's Challenge. I use it mainly for the videos but there's other stuff on there too.

https://www.erin.ne.jp/en/

It's a site set up by the Japanese Government (I think), but either way it helps teach foreigners Japanese, there's videos of general conversations between a few made up characters, she's basically a foreign exchange student in Japan and the videos follow a few moments in her time out there.

It's to help with your listening and there's also a script of each short episode avaliable in Kanji/Kana or Romanji with the option to select between them and also to show the English. They get progressively harder as it goes on, this is more for once you start learning a bit more, but it might help!

Spent a while today writing my second blog post, I'm going to read through it again later, but I think most of it makes sense.

The Watching Artist wrote:I feel so inept next to Qikz...

Return to “Stuff”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: DarkRula, floydfreak, kerr9000, Neo Cortex, Red 5 stella, Wedgie, Zilnad and 355 guests