http://st.cdjapan.co.jp/pictures/l/13/27/NEOBK-2071037.jpg
I thought about buying one of the Unko Guide Drill books while in Tokyo last month (I even went to Namja Town and saw the associated "exhibition") but I decided I don't really need to learn to write kanji by hand at this point---speaking, listening, and reading come first.
― droit au butt (Euler), Friday, 11 August 2017 05:46 (six years ago) link
Honestly, make friends with some bilingual friends... esp. if you're going to restaurants with 150-500 yen menus.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 11 August 2017 07:24 (six years ago) link
One potential way to get a little more kanji out of Duolingo is to click on an English word, perhaps after you've submitted so it doesn't count against you, to see if it gives you a kanji definition as well as hiragana.
― When I Get To The Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 21 August 2017 02:25 (six years ago) link
So if you are asked to define "bird," type とり, hit the green button and then hover over the word "bird" and you will see 鳥
― When I Get To The Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 21 August 2017 02:28 (six years ago) link
Or if it's "cat," type ねこ, hit green button, hover over "cat" to see 猫
― When I Get To The Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 21 August 2017 02:32 (six years ago) link
Finally, for "dog," type いぬ, hover over "dog" to see 犬.
― When I Get To The Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 21 August 2017 02:34 (six years ago) link
For extra value, type all that stuff in this thread.
― When I Get To The Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 21 August 2017 02:35 (six years ago) link
just on menus, i would recommend checking restaurant websites / gurunavi pages before going into a place that might have a confusing menu. you can translate things at your own pace and look polished and professional when ordering!
― XxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxXxxxx (dylannn), Tuesday, 22 August 2017 05:46 (six years ago) link
kanji-heavy menu like that, might be best just to learn to say: "what's this one?" the scribbly menu below it, your basic katakana and some deduction will get you there, you're going to notice everything is ハイ and hey it must be a 酎ハイ menu! you don't need to translate it, just go ahead and order your favorite chuhai and it's going to be okay.
― XxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxXxxxx (dylannn), Tuesday, 22 August 2017 05:49 (six years ago) link
ありがとうございます y'all for the menu tips
would those of you using it recommend duolingo for a vocab builder? I've never touched it but could use something to poke me daily on that front.
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Sunday, 3 September 2017 17:19 (six years ago) link
Based on other languages, it's not great as a vocabulary builder once you actually know something. If you are a beginner or rusty intermediate it is great for starting or getting back on track.
― When I Get To The Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 3 September 2017 18:23 (six years ago) link
ah, gotcha. thanks! but sounds like it's not quite what I'm looking for then. 私の日本語はすごく下手ですけど、単語をちょっと知っています。
I just know a handful of kanji really, so I was thinking of just memorizing a new one a day and some words that use this new character. (and since memorizing the 'readings' has been pointless for me because the way they're actually implemented is so inconsistent.) this requires some discipline, unfortunately :-|
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Sunday, 3 September 2017 19:42 (six years ago) link
My wife is using Memrise as a vocab builder, she did Japanese at university and is filling in gaps whereas I am using duolingo for the basics.
I've been using Skritter for 漢字 learning. I was using the Chinese version for 汉子 and thought is was good, there are less useful lists in he 日本語 version but it's relatively easy to build your own. The Chinese version had some great food lists for example. What I like about skritter is that you have to draw the 漢字 which works really well for me from a learning perspective.
Finally Japanese is a useful dictionary with a flash card function; however I just use it for favouriting thugs I look up, creating lists for importing into skritter.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Sunday, 3 September 2017 20:11 (six years ago) link
will check out memrise, thank you!
I briefly tried out skritter but not really long enough to have anything interesting to say. but I def agree about drawing the 漢字, there's something about writing (and, for me, esp. writing on paper) that helps to smash things into your brain. also, I just find writing pleasant and ~relaxing~.
I really like the midori dictionary app. it also has lets you turn your bookmarks into flash cards, which I sometimes flip thru to kill time on the subway. works offline too, which is good for traveling. tho I suppose google translate does that not too.
jisho is also nice for a the web.
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Sunday, 3 September 2017 23:44 (six years ago) link
*does that now too 😣*nice for the web 😳
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Sunday, 3 September 2017 23:46 (six years ago) link
So I finished Duolingo and feel like I have both learned and not really learned anything. Like I said on the other thread it feels like I have beat a game but in doing so I've learnt a bit about the language. I'm doing busuu now which is better as it has more sophisticated exercises, particularly in listening and it has the added bonus of exercises corrected by native speakers; people trade corrections. It does cost though.
What it lacks though is any explanation of grammar so I'm now looking for a good grammar textbook, or textbook that is good at explaining grammar. We have the Japan Times Grammar dictionary which is only useful if you know what you are looking for.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 17 October 2017 07:34 (six years ago) link
haven't really shopped around but the genki textbooks (eri banno) do a p good job with this. and also have funny cartoons.
― (⊙_⊙?) (original bgm), Tuesday, 17 October 2017 16:54 (six years ago) link
Now I have two upcoming trips to Japan! So I need to work again in earnest on my language. I will have a look at the Genki textbooks when I am there, or if I can find them here (don't just wanna order blind online).
But have any of you tried https://minato-jf.jp ? They are run by the Japan Foundation, and are free. I have good experience with online courses so maybe I'll do this instead of duolingo, where I share some of Ed's concerns.
― droit au butt (Euler), Wednesday, 25 October 2017 08:11 (six years ago) link
I'm enjoying Buusuu a lot - the social element, having your little texts and speeches corrected is really good.
Question - How do you type the small versions of や、よ and う?
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, 30 October 2017 23:29 (six years ago) link
I wrote this on the train this morning and was very pleased with myself:
毎日六時に起きます。お茶を淹れます。奥さんのために朝ごはんを作ります。今日私たちはスクランブルエッグや海苔や唐辛子七味を食べました。七時シヤワーを浴びます。七時半電車で会社に行きます。
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, 30 October 2017 23:33 (six years ago) link
Busuu sent me a limited time half price offer. Wonder if I should take the bait.
― Bazooka Jobim (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 6 November 2017 23:38 (six years ago) link
I wish I could get the social elements of Busuu without Busuu. The language learning is built on a framework for a european language, even the dialogues talk about Euros not yen. Very little has been done to localise it and I think it is teaching me bad habits in japanese eg. people correcting my japanese say that 彼 and 彼女 are rarely used in favour of name-さん and その人。I'm worried its not very tuned in to japanese idiom and someone just programmed it with a dictionary. Persevering though because people are very generous with their corrections.
I found another app which solves my grammar guide need for now without paying for Genki - Human japanese which is structured like a classroom course would be with nice explanations of the actual mechanics of japanese. Well written too. $13.99 for both the beginner and intermediate courses as a bundle and no subscription fees which is good in my book. Covering a lot of stuff I have 'learnt' in duolingo and busuu and it's really helping.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 05:36 (six years ago) link
I️ can’t tell from what you are saying what the app is called, is it Genki?
― Bazooka Jobim (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 05:43 (six years ago) link
Oh sorry, I️ see, Human Japanese, and you bought the bundle.
― Bazooka Jobim (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 05:50 (six years ago) link
Must have been using variant keyboard
― Bazooka Jobim (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 06:10 (six years ago) link
そです
My writing is far from clear.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 06:19 (six years ago) link
Busuu is now really getting on my wick.
It is using ‘May I...’ and ‘Can I...’ as translations for 。。。していいますか。This may be true but passing the test means not only matching true words but he daft pictures as well. Rapidly falling off this wagon.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 21:53 (six years ago) link
Dude! I just hitched onto it last night based on your prior recommendation.
― Bazooka Jobim (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 22:01 (six years ago) link
Sorry, the social aspect is really good, though.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Tuesday, 7 November 2017 22:03 (six years ago) link
I complained about Buusuu through the medium of App Store reviews and did get a response saying that they were reviewing their Japanese course.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Thursday, 9 November 2017 03:00 (six years ago) link
I also signed up for their Turkish course, which seems somewhat unidiomatic to me, based on what little I know, but yeah, as a result three people corrected my exercise and seven people almost immediately wanted to be my "friend," Haven't accepted any such requests yet, do you think that will hurt me?
― Bazooka Jobim (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 9 November 2017 03:06 (six years ago) link
そですMy writing is far from clear.― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, November 6, 2017 10:19 PM (two days ago)
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, November 6, 2017 10:19 PM (two days ago)
そうです
;-)
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 9 November 2017 03:32 (six years ago) link
Okay, Ed, I have two pieces of advice for you.
― Part Time Punkahwallah (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 November 2017 12:36 (six years ago) link
Also, social aspect for corrections and such on busuu is useful. Corrections can come back within seconds.
― Part Time Punkahwallah (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 November 2017 15:20 (six years ago) link
I'm thinking of getting the Genki book & workbook when I'm Tokyo in January. I find typing Japanese characters really puzzling so far and I'd rather just work by hand for now I think. But I dunno. Really what I want is to be able to speak, listen, and read, in about that order; writing is less important but should come in time as well.
― droit au butt (Euler), Saturday, 11 November 2017 15:48 (six years ago) link
Standing in front of Kinokuniya. Saw one book I resisted buying and one I will recommend to you soon
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 18 November 2017 17:35 (six years ago) link
nice! that's probably where I'll buy the Genki book in January. at the Shinjuku branch probably so that I can skulk into Kabukicho afterwards. are you in Japan then?
― droit au butt (Euler), Saturday, 18 November 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
4年間で大学の博士に日本語を学ばれたが、日本に行ったことじゃないし、もうたくさん間違います。教科書に自分を勉強はいいんですけど、本当は大学のコースに入っておいてと勧めます。もちろん、僕の意見だけです。
― clouds, Saturday, 18 November 2017 18:47 (six years ago) link
No, Euler, NYC
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 18 November 2017 18:48 (six years ago) link
shit, so many errors in that. 久しぶりです、すまん
― clouds, Saturday, 18 November 2017 18:53 (six years ago) link
頑張って ください!
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 19 November 2017 14:35 (six years ago) link
Ha. Just used the romaji keyboard to type that (and then used the Linguee thingee to double check the Kanji) instead of the kana keyboard, which I had been using.So:One book I have held onto through prior purges is Jack’s Halpern’s Kanji Learners Dictionary, which seems really appealingly organized, although I never really dig into it, and my knowledge of Kanji is still not very good.Book I looked at in store yesterday was a Japanese verb book which cut right to the chase, as far as I can tell. I may get it soon. Also think Tae Kim’s material could be helpful, it’s on the web but he also put it in a book. There are videos as well.Finally, I became a recent convert to the Pimsleur approach. They really work you over the coals with their example sentences, so you do get the pronunciation, as well as the relevant grammar, as close to perfect as is possible for you. They also vary their attack, mix up the sentences and give you alternatives so you are in more of the mindset of thinking on the spot instead of just parroting a script.
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 19 November 2017 14:47 (six years ago) link
As far as busuu, as concerned, at first glance there is a lot of stuff in there courses, but it is not clear how well done or well organized it is. For instance when they ask you to do an exercise it hasn’t always taught you enough to do the exercise correctly, at least by my lights. The social aspect does seem useful. Just corrected a lot of exercises and it seems there are a lot of people out there to correct mine.
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 19 November 2017 15:38 (six years ago) link
I forgot to add that I believe Momus got his start in Japanese with Pimsleur, fwiw.
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 19 November 2017 15:45 (six years ago) link
Tae Kim’s material was available in handy app form but it hasn’t been updated to 64bit so it doesn’t work any more.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Sunday, 19 November 2017 19:19 (six years ago) link
*sigh*
― Modern Sounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 19 November 2017 20:57 (six years ago) link
Is the book Euler wants to buy Kanji in Context?
― Modern Zounds in Undiscovered Country (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 02:46 (six years ago) link
no, it's GENKI I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese but I think I heard of it from someone on here!
― droit au butt (Euler), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 06:45 (six years ago) link
i'm thinking of writing an anki plugin to randomly cycle the font for my cards between gothic, mincho, and handwritten
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Thursday, 6 January 2022 22:32 (two years ago) link
I could sort of start to recognize most of them except the most outside one on Wanikani.
― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 6 January 2022 22:46 (two years ago) link
i assume knowing how to write makes reading handwriting easier, thats obviously the big thing missing from the wanikani approach
― ciderpress, Thursday, 6 January 2022 22:46 (two years ago) link
True, but writing properly is even more work. Had I but world enough and time etc.
― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 6 January 2022 22:48 (two years ago) link
There are plugins for Wanikani and it’s apps to cycle through fonts.
― American Fear of Scampos (Ed), Friday, 7 January 2022 05:18 (two years ago) link
Armed Banana by far the hardest font on Wanikani to recognize. Just put it back into rotation, we’ll see. Easy enough to click and see the regular font.
― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 8 January 2022 14:08 (two years ago) link
Took it back off, still too hard.
― The Door into Summerisle (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 8 January 2022 14:17 (two years ago) link
haha yeah I hacked together an Anki plugin and quickly took armed banana out of the rotation. might set up a separate deck of my mature cards to practice with that font though
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Saturday, 8 January 2022 16:43 (two years ago) link
上手の手から水が漏れる
― H.R. MacGufnstuf (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 23 April 2022 17:27 (two years ago) link
HI DERE. Trying to restart my wanikani after pretty much a year layoff. Think I have an approach that might work.
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 2 August 2022 17:49 (one year ago) link
timely revive since this friday will mark 1 year of anki daily flashcards without missing a day. i'm very happy with my progress and i think my approach of focusing on reading and just getting japanese text in front of my eyes is working great.
at this point, while reading manga i could probably only translate 50% of what i read, but feel like i understand the gist of 90% of the text. playing games is a lot lower since there aren't picture cues for nearly every sentence, but it's coming slowly but surely.
as for speaking.... yeah i can't really do that but i've definitely picked up the pronunciation of a whole lot of kanji just from doing the flashcards.
皆さん、お疲れ様です〜、頑張れ!!
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Wednesday, 3 August 2022 19:34 (one year ago) link
Cool. What deck(s) do you use?
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 3 August 2022 22:19 (one year ago) link
i use the core6k deck + a deck of katakana words
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Thursday, 4 August 2022 00:09 (one year ago) link
Cool.Found something weird about the etymology of 馬鹿 (ばか)
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 8 August 2022 01:58 (one year ago) link
なんですか?
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Monday, 8 August 2022 17:30 (one year ago) link
Supposedly some transliteration from Sanskrit?
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 9 August 2022 01:02 (one year ago) link
直
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 August 2022 10:51 (one year ago) link
this is weird. I was trying to type a different kanji
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 August 2022 10:52 (one year ago) link
Again. Shows up okay but after I post
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 August 2022 10:53 (one year ago) link
It’s because of Chinese, which doesn’t have the L shape on the left.
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 August 2022 11:16 (one year ago) link
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9B%B4
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 19 August 2022 12:10 (one year ago) link
Still going on the Wanikani restart. Have a mountain of reviews it will take me many months to get through.
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 23 August 2022 15:16 (one year ago) link
Try not to look at it all after a certain hour at night. Also tinker with the review order preferences.
― My Little Red Buchla (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 23 August 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link
One thing that can be crazy making is all the things that have similar definitions, all the single kanji and kanji strings that mean law and rule for example.
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 August 2022 21:41 (one year ago) link
Also, to return to this thing from earlier:https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%A6%AC%E9%B9%BFJapaneseKanji in this term馬 鹿EtymologyProbably originally a transcription of Sanskrit मोह (moha, “folly”), used as a slang term among monks.[1][2][3]
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 August 2022 22:07 (one year ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiHp7TSgjIY
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 August 2022 22:08 (one year ago) link
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/baka-meaning/
― I’d Rather Gorblimey (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 27 August 2022 22:57 (one year ago) link
it's such a useful word that i've come to use in english too. nice to have a non-ableist light insult word
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Sunday, 28 August 2022 05:09 (one year ago) link
My wife thought that the Chewbacca character in Star Wars was named with this in mind.
― calstars, Sunday, 28 August 2022 12:17 (one year ago) link
Still back on wanikani, trying not to get overwhelmed.
― Ride On Proserpina (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 September 2022 12:17 (one year ago) link
I’m trying it but the site seems really hard to navigate and use
― calstars, Saturday, 17 September 2022 12:35 (one year ago) link
Don’t use the site! Use the app instead. Oh but you need an iPhone, I think.
― Ride On Proserpina (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 September 2022 13:23 (one year ago) link
Where the app is called Tsurukame.
― Ride On Proserpina (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 17 September 2022 13:25 (one year ago) link
Ahh thx
― calstars, Saturday, 17 September 2022 14:47 (one year ago) link
apparently i have a complete inability to remember these:
引き取る引き返す引き受ける引き止める取り上げる
generally i've been able to pick up words over time without having to single them out and come up with mnemonics or whatever, but i'm so sick of getting these wrong for months
― diamonddave85 (diamonddave85), Sunday, 2 October 2022 23:29 (one year ago) link
Should I take advantage of Satori Reader cybersale?
― Soda Stereo Total (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 3 December 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link