Learning Japanese.

[Antic☆Café]

Any Japanese speakers out there want to help? I know both the Kanas, and some (maybe 50) Kanji. I know the basic subject-object-verb layout. And the particles. "wa" "ga" "ni" "de" "no" "o' etc. So since I know the grammar structure, do I just work on vocabulary? Or should I work on Kanji?


Any help would be loved<3

[risingfalls]

INFLECTIONS AND CONJUGATION
dear god, it doesn't matter how much vocab you know if you can't conjugate those effing verbs.
For example, if you need to do something, if you want something, if you've done something before.

CLAUSES
the b/c clause, while clause, when clause...etc. you should no when to use those.
noun clauses as well.

KANJI
T.T you can't read anything without kanji, b/c not everyone is nice and prints out the Furigana

COUNTERS
you already know that there are a decent amount of counters for the japanese language, for animals, for thin, skinny things, etc.
LEARN THEM. i always get them confused. T.T

VOCAB.
well, of course, words. =]
That's all I can think of for now. =)
good luck~

[LIAR LIAR]

Well I'm going into Japanese two next year (10th grade).... So i don't know if that's what you call 'speaker'.
The first year we covered basically all what you learned. xD

Did you learn any counters? Like '-sai' '-mai' 'nichi' 'hitotsu, futatsu...' stuff?
Or days of the week/month? (special days)

Or verb endings... like 'masu' 'masen' (like to drink/not to drink: nomimasu, nomimasen)
present/past tense 'deshta'

or adverbs... 'totemo jouzudesu'

stuff xD

yeah theres more. o___o; nice avatar btw xD

Also it isn't 100% necessary to learn that much kanji i don't think if you're just starting out... we didn't learn that much. Just numbers, and the kanji used for days of the week and stuff...

*sorry im not a very good explaining type person!!" (=___=);

[Antic☆Café]

Originally Posted by risingfalls

INFLECTIONS AND CONJUGATION
dear god, it doesn't matter how much vocab you know if you can't conjugate those effing verbs.
For example, if you need to do something, if you want something, if you've done something before.

CLAUSES
the b/c clause, while clause, when clause...etc. you should no when to use those.
noun clauses as well.

KANJI
T.T you can't read anything without kanji, b/c not everyone is nice and prints out the Furigana

COUNTERS
you already know that there are a decent amount of counters for the japanese language, for animals, for thin, skinny things, etc.
LEARN THEM. i always get them confused. T.T

VOCAB.
well, of course, words. =]
That's all I can think of for now. =)
good luck~

Ive been working on my Clauses for a while, and the Counters are very very confusing. ._.

And okay, thank you. :] I guess I'll just work on my counters and verb conjugation right now. <3

[risingfalls]

^haha, no prob.
I need to start studying again, so I don't forget everything over the summer.

I do suggest starting to memorize your inflections from now, so that you'll gradually become more familiar with them, b/c those verbs tend to get confusing, and knowing the circumstances where you use those inflections is also a bit of a pain.

I'd be happy to give what little help I can if you want.

[Antic☆Café]

Originally Posted by Hikari.No.Endo

Well I'm going into Japanese two next year (10th grade).... So i don't know if that's what you call 'speaker'.
The first year we covered basically all what you learned. xD

Did you learn any counters? Like '-sai' '-mai' 'nichi' 'hitotsu, futatsu...' stuff?
Or days of the week/month? (special days)

Or verb endings... like 'masu' 'masen' (like to drink/not to drink: nomimasu, nomimasen)
present/past tense 'deshta'

or adverbs... 'totemo jouzudesu'

stuff xD

yeah theres more. o___o; nice avatar btw xD

I know the days of the week. The months. All the numbers. The o' clocks. The times.

And yea I know all the verb endings. Negative/positive endings.

My adverbs are alright. I know to add -ku to the stem if I want to make an adverb from an -I adjective. Or for "na" adjectives use ni after it. That is, in Romanji.

I've been told to lay off the Romanji, though. I don't see why, but I've been told it helps you get the fell of the language easier by using Kanji and Kanas.

Eh ._.

[LIAR LIAR]

Yeah definatly don't ever use romanji... I'm just to lazy to switch to IME (>___<);;;

[kazukifafner]

You shouldn't use romanji because that only becomes a hindrance later that you need to unlearn. Japanese people write using Kanji and Kana, not romanji. Besides, using Kanji and Kana are much easier to memorize when you actually use it.

It's logical really. Would you remember the kanji for water by writing mizu or 水

[Antic☆Café]

Originally Posted by kazukifafner

You shouldn't use romanji because that only becomes a hindrance later that you need to unlearn. Japanese people write using Kanji and Kana, not romanji. Besides, using Kanji and Kana are much easier to memorize when you actually use it.

It's logical really. Would you remember the kanji for water by writing mizu or 水

True...

ah alright no more romanji for me :]

[risingfalls]

No offense.
Romaji is for when you get really lazy.
Do avoid at all costs.
Practice Kanji. Lots of Kanji.

[Antic☆Café]

Originally Posted by risingfalls

No offense.
Romaji is for when you get really lazy.
Do avoid at all costs.
Practice Kanji. Lots of Kanji.

Alright. how would you recommend I study Kanji? I've just been studying flash cards. 10 flashcards at a time until I memorize all of them. I cant really think of a better way.

Originally Posted by risingfalls

^haha, no prob.
I need to start studying again, so I don't forget everything over the summer.

I do suggest starting to memorize your inflections from now, so that you'll gradually become more familiar with them, b/c those verbs tend to get confusing, and knowing the circumstances where you use those inflections is also a bit of a pain.

I'd be happy to give what little help I can if you want.

I'll work on my inflections between the other million things I'm working on, then. :] It's a shame the high school I'm going to doesn't have Japanese, though. :p

[kazukifafner]

Originally Posted by Antic☆Café

Alright. how would you recommend I study Kanji? I've just been studying flash cards. 10 flashcards at a time until I memorize all of them. I cant really think of a better way.

That's probably the best way to do it. Also (while this probably isn't needed straight away), do they have both the On and Kun on them, as well as the radical (you really only need this for when you look them up, but it's handy to know).

[risingfalls]

Originally Posted by Antic☆Café

Alright. how would you recommend I study Kanji? I've just been studying flash cards. 10 flashcards at a time until I memorize all of them. I cant really think of a better way.

Flashcards ftw.
Those will help you recognize them on sight.
And I agree with Kazuki, the radicals are good to know.
But also try and write them out. Not all at once, mind you, then you'll forget them really fast. But try and study a few each week, practice writing them down repeatedly (pay attention to stroke order, at times, it's helpful) and trying to come up with ways to remember them.
It's a pain. There are some books on Kanji, you could check some of those out and see if they help you.

I'll work on my inflections between the other million things I'm working on, then. :] It's a shame the high school I'm going to doesn't have Japanese, though. :p

Awwww.
Mine does.
Shame we're such a lazy class. =\
But yes, the usefulness of inflections knows no bounds.

[Antic☆Café]

Originally Posted by kazukifafner

That's probably the best way to do it. Also (while this probably isn't needed straight away), do they have both the On and Kun on them, as well as the radical (you really only need this for when you look them up, but it's handy to know).

They have the Radical. They have the grade, though I don't know why. My friend made them for me. They don't have On, just Kun. Should that have on?

Originally Posted by risingfalls

Flashcards ftw.
Those will help you recognize them on sight.
And I agree with Kazuki, the radicals are good to know.
But also try and write them out. Not all at once, mind you, then you'll forget them really fast. But try and study a few each week, practice writing them down repeatedly (pay attention to stroke order, at times, it's helpful) and trying to come up with ways to remember them.
It's a pain. There are some books on Kanji, you could check some of those out and see if they help you.

I'll check some books out. And yes I've been jotting down kanji for awhile. While I was in class at school I just thought up a kanji and wrote them down somewhere all over random pieces of paper so I wouldn't forget. Got me in trouble but it was worth it:]

[kazukifafner]

Hmm, I'd either get some that have both or just the MUP (Most Used Pronunciation), because sometimes the MUP isn't the Kun.

For example, the Kanji for One: (I'm on another PC right now and can't type Kanji/Kana, sorry)

Kun: Hito(tsu)
On: Ichi / Itsu
MUP: Ichi

Actually, most numbers are like this, lol.