So you want to study Japanese?

[Muku_Muku]

Konnichiwa Plodder san I'm glad you love Nihongo. It's a wonderful language.

[Ignolopi]

Konichiwa!
I just started learning Japanese 3 weeks ago (going very slow and steady). My sister learns the words, and teaches me, so I don't know much of the spelling.

I may be able to translate some Japanese stuff, but when it comes to kongi (? Japanese pictographs) I'm at a loss. Can anyone help? I'm not sure how, because the pictographs don't work in here, but ??

Oh yes, one more question. The words for 'house' and 'no' sound very similar to me. I can't remember how they're spelled right now, but I think 'house' is 'ie' and 'no' is 'iie'... right? Anyhow, what's the difference in pronouncing them?

I would really appreciate some help. Thanks!

[Muku_Muku]

Konbanwa Ignolopi san. For the words you might want to try http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap For the kanji I cannot help you. I know but few myself and learned them from my old teachers. I would, however, suggest starting with the hiragana and katakana, as there are far fewer of those and often kanji are put in hiragana to the side for readers.

[Qeomash]

Yes, start with hirigana and katakana. Learn the sounds, then start learning the words. THEN start with the kanji.

[Muku_Muku]

Making up silly little associations for the hiragana helps, too, for many people at least. There is one set of them that several of my teachers have used, but I forget who came up with them.

[Qeomash]

Yes, those silly things are called nuemonic devices. (Though I think I spelled that wrong...)

For example, the character "to" (pronouced "toe") looks like a toe with a hangnail.

Or, the character "ni" sounds just like the knights who say NI! from Monty Python and hte Holy Grail. So, I see the character as one knight saying NI!

Also, "mo" - it looks like a fish hook. With it, you will catch MOre fish.

There are many for all of them. Just find ones that work for you.

[Muku_Muku]

hehe that's the one I came up with for "mo" too. Other ones:
"ko" looks sort of like a piece of coal
"mi" looks like an H - think of an egotistical person whose name starts with an H
"shi" looks like a fish hook to catch fish for sushi
can't think of all the others right now or else they're not ones other peope would get.

[Mists_of_Avalon]

You are correct with "ie" as house and "iie" as no. The pronounciations, however, are just a smooth "ee-eh" (pardon my phoenetics) for "ie" and "ee-ee-eh" for "iie". You'll notice the difference when you hear it. I agree with the others, though. Begin with Hiragana and Katakana. Learn Kanji last, that way you'll have a better understanding.

Originally Posted by Ignolopi

Konichiwa!
I just started learning Japanese 3 weeks ago (going very slow and steady). My sister learns the words, and teaches me, so I don't know much of the spelling.

I may be able to translate some Japanese stuff, but when it comes to kongi (? Japanese pictographs) I'm at a loss. Can anyone help? I'm not sure how, because the pictographs don't work in here, but ??

Oh yes, one more question. The words for 'house' and 'no' sound very similar to me. I can't remember how they're spelled right now, but I think 'house' is 'ie' and 'no' is 'iie'... right? Anyhow, what's the difference in pronouncing them?

I would really appreciate some help. Thanks!

[Elvia]

hey you guys. Do ya got any more webbsites where you can learn japanese.HA this is verry cool

[Ignolopi]

Originally Posted by Mists_of_Avalon

You are correct with "ie" as house and "iie" as no. The pronounciations, however, are just a smooth "ee-eh" (pardon my phoenetics) for "ie" and "ee-ee-eh" for "iie". You'll notice the difference when you hear it. I agree with the others, though. Begin with Hiragana and Katakana. Learn Kanji last, that way you'll have a better understanding.

Ok!
Arigato, everyone!

[Muku_Muku]

Doitashima****a (I think that's you're welcome...can't remember at the moment) Ignolopi san

Elvia san, I wish I could help you out but I don't know any myself.

[Lil_G135]

はじめまして、みなさん。私はエルジーです。十七さいで、高校三年生です。そして、日本語三年生です。バー ジニアに住んでいます。日本語が大好きですが、じょうずじゃありません。私はかんじがすくないしっています 。四十さんです。きょねんはかんじしっていませんから、いまとてもうれしいですねえ。どうぞよ ろしく。^^

(And for those, who can't see it)

Hajimema****e, mina-san. Atashi wa ERU JII desu. Juunanasai de, koukou sannensei desu. So****e, nihongo sannensei desu. BAAJINIA ni sundeimasu. Nihongo ga daisuki desu ga, jouzu ja arimasen. Atashi wa kanji ga sukunai ****teiimasu. Yon juu san desu. kyonen wa kanji ****te imasen kara, ima totemo ureshii desu nee. Douzo yoroshiku. ^^

Translation: How do you do, everyone. I am LG. (I am) 17 years old and a high school senior. Also, I'm a Japanese Three Student. I live in Virginia. I love the Japanese language, but I'm not skillful in it. I know a little kanji. 43(kanji). I'm very happy because last year I didn't know any kanji. Nice to meet you. ^^

[SSJ_Jup81]

I'm learning Japanese myself (just started the end of October). My problem is remembering my Hiragana/Katakana chart. I know some, but I still have a bit of trouble. Anyone have any tricks to learning it efficiently?

[Lil_G135]

I spent roughly a quarter on hiragana and katakana (nine weeks) in my class, which is a lot longer compared to college courses (I'm told).

A good strategy to do is to learn 5-10 characters, find words that consist of them, and then after a week or two of practicing them, have a someone test you on the words. If you can't find someone to test you, make your own test when you first learn the characters, and then put it away until a week later. If you get the whole test right (the spelling, exactly how you write the characters, and the meaning of the words) then go to the next 5-10, repeating the same process and picking words that include the hiragana/katakana you learned before. If you get some wrong, write the word/character(s) about 20-35 times for three days and then test again.

I.E. Practice writing A, I, U, E, O, Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko. Memorize 8-10 10 words that consist of only those characters (Ao=Blue, Ai=Love, Ue=Above, Oi=Nephew, Keiko=Japanese Girl name, Kao=face, Aki=fall, Kikuko=Japanese Girl name) test on these, and if you get them right go to Ta Chi, Tsu, Te, To, and Sa Shi, Su, Se, and So and repeat the process. If you mispell 'Kikuko' or completely screw up the character "A", write them over and over for 20-30 times for three days and then retest.


Hope that helps

[samurai_katagi]

Whoa!! I wanna learn Japanese!! (Got hooked by ANIMEs!!) LOL

[rotsiepots]

Originally Posted by SSJ_Jup81

Anyone have any tricks to learning it efficiently?

I try to associate the characters with something they look like. For example, for the Hiragana "mo" I think of it as a fish hook, and consciously think "more fish on the hook".

It's kinda embarrassing, but it works!

[Qeomash]

Exactly as rotsie said...make those things up! Look up a bit further on the thread to hear a few MOre...

Also, make flash cards. Sit down and draw them yourself. Say the character in your mind as you write it, it will go a long way to help you remember. And, then read over them every once in a while.

[SSJ_Jup81]

I like all of those suggestions. I can't wait to try them out. I have to find a better way to study too. With work and at-home distractions, it's a bit difficult, but I'll manage.

[aznlinda89]

i want to learn Japanese so bad! i have a couple of japanese drama tv shows, i can kinda understand it, but i love everything to do with Japan. i've made 2 foreign exchange japanese students. i happen to be Taiwanese, but i wish i was Japanese. yea, i'mpretty weird, but oh well.

[Te_Amorangi_15]

Konnichiwa!
I don't know whether I will learn Japanese yet. I learn French and German, and that's a struggle.
Arigato.