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[Reid]

Alright, I'm not too sure how well this will fly but;

I've been learning Japanese since last year and I want to ask if anyone on here if interested in either learning some more, or passing on what they know to anyone on the board interested.

Once a night during the week I could put up a lesson, along with other members who have Japanese textbooks or an extensive knowledge of the language, etc. for people to practice, then post a quiz at the end of the week (or two).

Well, if you're interested then this should be fun (plus, it helps me practice).

:p

[BlackThornn]

It'd be cool but I don't exactly have textbooks or extensive knowledge of the language. I know a few phrases people'd use in conversation with a gaijin in varying degrees of formality.. and a few suffixes. But I rarely use them in proper context. *shrugs a little*

I think it's a good idea for those who actually know how to speak a little to improve thier skills, though..

[BowevelJoe]

aye, i am totally interested and totally illeterate to the language, its going to take alotta work...i have always been interested in taking the language though..woohoo, buy anime without subtitles and understand it

[007_JamesBond]

I know only a little Japaneese but am hoping to learn more, my other langs are Russian and Spanish

CC knows a hell of a lot of Japaneese

[Cannibal Clown]

I'm not that fluent in the language, but I know a lot more than most. But not enough to teach anyone.

But this thread does sound very interesting. I hope we get a lot of contributers.

So excited.

[Spirit]

japanese is great. I'd love to learn it but I'm afraid my head is already filled with being fluent in 4 other languages >.<

[Cannibal Clown]

You can always try to fit in a fifth. if not, then just try to learn the basics like mangaka, kuwaii, neko, shimatta, shoujo, shonen, reisei, otaku, shigami, hentai, aku, oni, kana kna, kanji, hira gana, baka, sushi, boku, watashi, konichiwa, arigato, minna san, sensai, hitomi, or anything else that you think you might want to remember in the near future.

If you learn the more complicated stuff, then it becomes really fun yelling and insulting people. And since no one knows japanese, they wont understand you. Especially teachers and athority figures that you always want to b*tch at under your breath without getting into trouble.

It's way better that French, German,Spanish, or any of the other common ones, because everyone knows those. It's no fun that way.

[BlackThornn]

*chuckles* Yah.. "Baka" has been my favorite under-the-breath insult since I learned it. Some people think I'm calling them cows, though.. which I am confused about. O_o

Oh, and spirit.. Fluent in four languages already? Wow! I'd be lucky if I could master one besides english. What ones do you know?

[Reid]

Okay, well I guess I could start a a very basic place.

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Pronounciation;

a - pronounced like the a in father.

i - pronounced like the ee in keep.

u - pronounced like the u in lute (except without rounding the lips).

e - pronounced like e in prey.

o - pronounced like the o in corn.

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Also, it might be useful to put up a bit of vocabulary as well, to practice pronouncing these sounds with.

a - ah, oh

a****a - tommorrow

aki - autumn

asa - morning

isu - chair

inu - dog

ai - love

ike - pond

umi - sea

uchi - house

usagi - rabbit

kau - to buy

e - to

ehon - picture book

koe - voice

ue -top

obi - sash

kao - face

aoi - blue

to - and

[merylsilverburg]

Oh yeah! This would be a kick ass thread! I'm so intersted in learning Japanese, and I already got the pronounciations down, I just need to learn words! :p I have so many books but I never have time to learn and plus, I'm lazy. I practiced Japanese by learning off lyrics in songs from anime. I print out the Romanji versions and just practice. But, now, the only way for me to actually speak, is, if I sing, and that's no good. I only know how to say this sentence in Japanese: Hajime ma****e. Watashi wa Diana-desu. That's it. And I know a few words, like, otanjoobi omedetou, wakaranai, hitokiri, aoi, namida, midori, oni, oyasuminasai, ohayo gozaimasu, arigatou gozaimasu, minna-san, nezumi, neko, baka, kuzo, onigiri, sora, gomen nasai, sumimasen, dozo, okaasan, otoosan, sensei, sempai, oneechan, oniisan(?), hana, betsu ni, tadaimasu, itadakimasse, itakimasse, ja ne, wakata, ai, usagi, kawaii, sugoi, tomodachi, itsuka, itsumo, himitsu, onna, otoko(?).....ah..well, there's others, but I can't remember them all. Teach us, Reid-sensei!

[Reid]

Okay, some other helpful stuff;

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Japanese nouns have no gender or singular or plural distinctions and also have no articles.

An item such as obi (sash) can be "sash", "the sash", "the sashes", or "sashes".

The context of the word determines the particular meaning.

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Some useful, conversational phrases too;

Watashi wa Reid desu.

I am Reid.

Konnichi wa/Ohayoo Gozaimasu/Konnban Wa.

Hello (Afternoon/Morning/Night).

Watashi wa Amerikajin desu.

I am American.

Watashi wa nihongoga skoshi wakarimasu.

I understand a little Japanese.

* Demo, maade joozu ja arimasen.

But, I'm not very good at it yet.

Sayonara.

Good bye.

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Okay, a few more pronounciation notes too;

When their are double "o"s (ohayoo, Tokyoo, ikimashoo) they are pronounced as a single oh sound.

Also, in the linking copula desu, it is pronounced "dess", rather than "de-soo".

Usually in Japanese you can elimanate the u sound in words, or say it very subtly.

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Anyway, that's all I'll write down for tonight. 'Hope that's helpful for anyone interested.

[BlackThornn]

Very helpful. ^_^ Thanks, Reid. Hopefully I'll have something to contribute as this thread matures.

Edit: Aha! I do have a couple of things that haven't been quite covered yet. ^_^

Nihongo wakaranai. Daijobou desu ka?

--I don't understand Japanese. Is that okay?

Chotto Matte.

--Wait a sec

Yatta!

--Woohoo!

Yoroshiku.

--Nice to meet you.

Ki ni shiniade.

--No problem.

(Not sure about this one) Do etoshi mashte.

--You're welcome.

[Reid]

Does anyone have any suggestions for particular areas they're interested in?

I obviously can't teach anything about the moji (characters used for writing) on here, but any other parts of beginner level Japanese I can probably do.

Any suggestions, or just more of the same?

[BlackThornn]

I thought Kanji was Japanese writing.. *blinks*

I don't have any real suggestions, 'cause as I already stated I don't know very much Japanese. The kind of stuff that's being posted so far is very helpful, though. ^_^

Some of the more fluent speakers could type out a sentence or a few and leave them to be translated.. then they could be 'properly' translated by the one who posted the sentence. *shrugs*

[merylsilverburg]

Kanji are the characters in the Japanese language that are similar to Chinese characters. Hiragana are the characters that are used for Japanese words and names, like arigatou. Katakana are the characters used for American based words, such as android. Hiragana and Katakana have different characters; Hiragana has more round and smooth, while Katakana characters have rough edges and sharp corners. And Kanji....well....is similar to Chinese symbols, but slightly different and of course, a different meaning.

[BowevelJoe]

sweetness, give us some insult sentances, i want to call some people hairy gorrillas, and moldy tacos and stuff!

[007_JamesBond]

I want to learn ones like that too Joe but let us learn the basics first, this is a cool thread I am actually learning alot

[Cannibal Clown]

I think that it should also be noted, in case anyone wants to learn how to read some of the katakana, or hiragana, that everything is said is sylables. Like instead of writing arigato with seperate letters, like a-r-i-g-a-t-o, it's actually done like this, a-ri-ga-to. And if you have a word like shonen, it's done like this. sho-ne-n. Shi, sho, cho, chi, and n are done in groups of three.

Like I said before, I don't know much japanese, and I can't write it very well either. So I'll say what i can.

And it turns out that this thread is becoming quite succesfull. Great idea Reid.

[Reid]

Meryl explained the it pretty well, but just to give a bit further, moji means all of the different kinds of characters, and kanji are exactly the same as the Chinese ones, because they were taken directly from it.

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Desu is a linking copula, similar to the English, "to be". However unlike, "to be" it does not change it's form according to it's subject.

Desu is also always placed at the end of the sentence.

The negative of desu is ja arimasen (not to be) or de wa arimasen (meaning the same thing, but more formal, and less common).

Ex.

Watashi wa gakusei desu.

I am a student.

Kochira wa Suzuki san desu.

This is Ms. Suzuki.

Watashi wa gakusei ja arimasen.

I am not a student.

Watas.h.i.tachi wa sensei ja arimasen.

We are not teachers.

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Also, a few more useful phrases for conversation.

Anata wa nihonjin ja arimasen.

I'm not Japanese.

(*In most cases you can leave out personal nouns such as watashi/anata/kare/kanojo wa if the context of the sentence is still clear without them.)

Watashi wa eigoga hanashimasu/wakarimasu.

I speak/understand English.

Baka!

Idiot!

(*You can however have this interperated many different ways determined by context, intonation, etc. )

Ii desu ne.

That is a good idea/sounds nice.

Ikage desu ka?

How're you?

Sumimasen.

Excuse me/Thank you/Sorry.

Domo arigatou gozaimasu.

Thank you very much.

(*Can exclude domo or gozaimasu depending on how much gratitude is being given).

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Is this too much/too little?

Give me comments on the lessons I'm posting.

:p

[Cannibal Clown]

I think you're posting these in perfect amounts.

I know I'm learning something, and I'm sure that others feel the same. Keep it up.