So you want to learn Japanese

[Sultan]

This was hilarious.  I was a Japanese minor for awhile.   This is funny because its so true.  I remember my reaction when I learned during my second year that everything we had learned was basically too formal to ever be used in normal conversations with our peers, and really only suited for business.  Apparently my joke of a teacher thought we all wanted to go into international business, rather than just watch anime with the subtitles off.  GRR!

Also, over three years of japanese I probably learned 100 Kanji.  Which is about what you are supposed to know by the end of the first month of the first year.  And I never learned that stroke order thing at all, that just seemed entirely pointless.

 

Don't take japanese kids!  While its not the hardest language, it is the hardest language class!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ummm...WTF!! What language class were you in Sultan? Japanese for business?! If you actually paid attention to your studies, you'd know that it was distal style (ie. polite) Japanese you were learning. The japanese in anime is informal and rude, some of which you rarely ever say to someone. Did you honestly expect to go in and after the first few classes speak informal Japanese? Typically, one does not start with the direct stlye (ie. informal) japanese. That comes later as you learn new structures and predicates. By now though, you should know that dropping the copula "desu" will make something direct style. And I just started taking the language...

 

Just curious, what crap of a school are you attending...I honestly can't believe you're being taught that way, assuming its not a business oriented course.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ya I realize why they teach polite conversation first, I just found it really amazing that our teacher managed to go over a year without even informing us that we'd sound really retarded saying that on the street to our peers. I had no idea there was something less formal until then.

 

My uni wasn't bad, a little small maybe. But my japanese teacher was horrible. The japanese department (her) was new the year I started. And she was an absolute crazy person. She would freak out in class if asked any questions whatsoever. She cried a few times as well. That's always lotsa fun in class; a room full of students watching their japanese teach cry and shake an eraser at them...

[Sturmvogel]

Japanese is alot easier to learn than Mandarin, cantonese, and korean

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Tyotto matte!! I woudn't say its easier. There are certain aspects that make it a little more difficult compared to Chinese or Korean vice versa. Each language has its challenges.....like Chinese and tones.

 

Yeah Sultan, sorry if I sounded a little harsh...nothing directed at you. But that makes sense, the program being brand new. It's definately a fun classroom experience, but I'd be worried about your teacher! Maybe you guys are terrible and she can't take it hehhe . Btw what book were you using? We're using JSL...its okay.

[Inky]

a room full of students watching their japanese teach cry and shake an eraser at them...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

sounds like the beginning of a hentai game.

[L.S.D]

True true

And I manage to learn the word "Bakayaro" only

[Wizard]

Let's read up on actual meanings this time

[Agozer]

Let's read up on actual meanings this time

Magical Drop 3 is one of the greatest games ever.

[Daeval]

I've taken a few Japanese courses in my day, and this article seems pretty much dead on. So many anime freaks.. By the end of the class, when all the "deers in headlights" have dropped out, and it's just you and the know-it-alls and the anime freaks... oh god, that's the worst.

 

The writing I liked though. That is, if they would pick hiragana or katakana and stick with it! The consonant-vowel combinations make a hell of a lot more sense than English, plus it sounds cool.

 

And Sturm, it's official, you learned a weird romanization! Tyotto?! Heheh.. it's probably just newer than the stuff I was learning, but that character has always been "Cho." What was the name of the book you were using?

[OverlordMondo]

. Second, using anime allows hardcore bishōjo game studios to circumvent Japanese child pornography laws, which ban only pictures of real-life minors, not simulations (the same as in US law). Finally and most importantly, many young Japanese men prefer anime girls to real-life ones, a habit originating from the dōjin/otaku subculture that arose in the 1980s.

See? I'm not the only one!

 

No, seriously now, I'm in my second year of Japanese, and it's pretty kick ass. I think I'm failing though. And Japanese is far easier than english. An English word often has at least two meanings, and I've seen up to 6 completely different meanings for a word before. This is due to the over-occurence of slang. After a while, the uneducated American masses forget a words meaning, but use it anyway, and it eventually takes on another meaning entirely. I remember the "revelation" that biatch actually meant "female dog" back in 6th grade. People sling biatch at each other, only to be countered by something akin to "So I'm a female dog?"

 

...

 

Yes, godamnit. You are. Do you not find that insulting? You're a flocking mongrel of the opposite sex whose only goal in life is to give birth and you don't think that's offensive? It used to be offensive! What happened?!

[Elazul Yagami]

Bah, Learn arabic.

 

it's not as hard as japanese, but i doubt there's ONE pronouncable sound made that you cannot pronounce or spell perfectly in arabic.

[Sultan]

I've taken a few Japanese courses in my day, and this article seems pretty much dead on.    So many anime freaks..  By the end of the class, when all the "deers in headlights" have dropped out, and it's just you and the know-it-alls and the anime freaks... oh god, that's the worst.

 

The writing I liked though.  That is, if they would pick hiragana or katakana and stick with it!  The consonant-vowel combinations make a hell of a lot more sense than English, plus it sounds cool. 

 

And Sturm, it's official, you learned a weird romanization! Tyotto?!    Heheh.. it's probably just newer than the stuff I was learning, but that character has always been "Cho."  What was the name of the book you were using?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ya I think I had the same book as Sturm. Using Tyo instead of Cho is because its from the British school of japanese transliteration, which is a bit inflexible. I remember that our books did things the British way, but we were supposed to do things the American way. That was a little bit confusing.

[alexis]

well in fact i heard that spanish si one of the most difficult langages because of irregular verbs and tenses