Learning Japanese

[eLcHaKeTeRo]

Originally Posted by Syaoran

I bought these books when I was in Japan last Octobre:

• An integrated course in elementary Japanese - Volume I, The Japan Times (3,000 Y)
• An integrated course in elementary Japanese - Volume II, The Japan Times (3,000 Y)
• A dictionary of basic Japanese grammar - The Japan Times (2,800 Y)

Picture: http://suikun.free.fr/images/IMG_1117.JPG (2.2 MB )

You can find more information about it on http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/

yeah, i already have these.....even others.....everyone who is tryin to learn Japanese also needs a good kanji dictionary, but thanks anyway

[rale]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

But, recently I heard an anime girl using the "boku" form for every sentence having her as subject, and for the whole series (so it wasn't used once by case).
For instance, she's Asa from Shuffle.

What does the boku used by a female represent? Is it ok, grammatically? Does it have a particular meaning, that a non japanese couldn't understand?

I was wondering a lot about this, and when I read that quote I thought of asking.

Thanks

In relation to anime and game characters, this character type is usually called ボクっ娘, or bokukko.

Boku is mainly used by boys, so a girl using it all the time is meant to clue you in that she's a tomboy type character.

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by rale

In relation to anime and game characters, this character type is usually called ボクっ娘, or bokukko.

Boku is mainly used by boys, so a girl using it all the time is meant to clue you in that she's a tomboy type character.

Oh I see, thank you for the explanation

[Lina Inverse]

Originally Posted by Raiju32

For all the people talking about the "feminine" word for I in japanese... Japanese is not a male/female/plural language like spanish (ex: chiko/chika)
The only "feminine" that japanese has is that some words have お infront of them that men aren't expected to pronounce but women are. (ex: boxed lunch [men]べんと [women]おべんと)

Sorry, but that's not correct
It's true that Japanese words have neither male/female/neutrum gender nor singlular/plural distinction, but it *does* have lots of words that are "male speech" (to be used by me only) or "female speech" (to be used by women only). Recently though, some girls have started using the male-only "boku". You also might find this in anime where girls portrayed as tomboy often use "boku".

Concerning the prefixed お- (o-), it has *nothing* to do with male or female, but it is a *polite* speech pattern regardless which gender you are.
e.g. おべんとう obentô (ô=long o) is more polite than べんとう bentô.

[sanghyun1990]

Is Hanja and Kanji same thing?

[Catgirls]

Originally Posted by sanghyun1990

Is Hanja and Kanji same thing?

Hmmm...well...

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanja

Hanja, or hanmun, sometimes translated as Sino-Korean characters, are what Chinese characters (hanzi) are called in Korean. More precisely, the name refers to those characters borrowed by Koreans and incorporated into the Korean language with the pronunciation adjusted to fit Korean phonetics. Unlike the Japanese kanji, which has altered and simplified many characters, hanja are almost entirely identical to modern traditional Chinese hanzi, although a minority of the standard characters of hanja are variant hanzi also used in standard kanji.

Clicking on the above link will give you a ton of good info. This is a good site to bookmark that can answer many question like that: Wikipedia.

Cheers.

[琥珀]

Microsoft IME 2003 Support Page

If you have learned a little Japanese, having some problems/questions on Japanese IMEs, just go to this page, and you can find some useful techniques.

[piccahoe]

Heres a great podcast that teaches you basic japanese.

http://www.japanesepod101.com

here are the prevous podcast in mp3 format:
http://www.japanesepod101.com/podcasts/

[Akira Raine]

omfg this thread ROCKS!!! I've been DYING to learn some japanese. I have a friend that teaches me, but he's not on all the time. And i've gots some questions, cuz i know a little bit of Japanese myself.

Doesn't Hajimemashite mean Nice to meet you (be kind to me)?

and what does Donna Toki Deatte zutto futari de mean? ( i think that's the sentence, i'll double check though) It's from the song Hikari ((nihongo version of Simple and Clean from Kingom hearts))

oh yeah, and i only know Romanji. i don't know thesymbols and stuff, i just want to learn to speak it first.

[Li Jianliang]

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

Doesn't Hajimemashite mean Nice to meet you (be kind to me)?

Yes, but "Be kind to me" is more like "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu".

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

and what does Donna Toki Deatte zutto futari de mean? ( i think that's the sentence, i'll double check though) It's from the song Hikari ((nihongo version of Simple and Clean from Kingom hearts))

Since "Donna toki datte Zutto futari de" is from a song, those words don't really compose a sentence. Japanese lyrics are notorious for having no apparent beginnings or ends or even basic meaning, in the words of a native-speaker who I know. Anyways, that phrase means "At anytime, we're always together".

[Cloudnine]

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

Doesn't Hajimemashite mean Nice to meet you (be kind to me)?

Yes, 'nice to meet you' it is the english equivalent, though normally you would use only during your first meeting. It's replaced by konnichiwa (こんにちは) afterwards.

and what does Donna Toki Deatte zutto futari de mean? ( i think that's the sentence, i'll double check though) It's from the song Hikari ((nihongo version of Simple and Clean from Kingom hearts))

A rough translation would be, "No matter when, we'll always be together." (though note that Japanese pop Lyrics are regularly vague and highly interpretive) There's probably more to the line in the next verse.

[Akira Raine]

yes, well i read two of the lines, It ges Donna Toki Deatte zutto futari de then it goes back to Donna Toki Deatte again.

Oh and a couple more wors (i just wanna see if i'm right)

Warau= laugh or smile
Eien= eternity
Kokoro= Heart
Yume= Dream
Mune= also means heart?
bokutachi wa= we
o-genai= please
Kao= face
Suteki da ne?= Isn't it beautiful (name of a FF song)
ni= in (that's what my friend taught me) or a preposition of some sort
Ringo= Apple
Shinario= scenery?
Hikari= Light
Kami= Darkness
ka= used to indicate question, kinda like a ?
wa= used to indicate subject

the ones with ?'s i'm not really sure on. But i was just wondering how accurate some of these are.

[phoenixfire92983]

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

o-genai= please
Kami= Darkness

Two popped out to me... I think kami actually refers to god.

And please = onegai ...you have the letters mixed up.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by phoenixfire92983

Two popped out to me... I think kami actually refers to god.

And please = onegai ...you have the letters mixed up.

kami = god, paper, hair, or seasoning... depending on the kanji it's spelled with

He was probably thinking of "Yami" which means darkness.

[Li Jianliang]

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

yes, well i read two of the lines, It ges Donna Toki Deatte zutto futari de then it goes back to Donna Toki Deatte again.

Oh and a couple more wors (i just wanna see if i'm right)

the ones with ?'s i'm not really sure on. But i was just wondering how accurate some of these are.

Warau = to laugh
Mune = chest; but can also be interpreted as 'heart', depending on context
Bokutachi wa = we are...; as for us...
Suteki da ne? = Isn't it Wonderful?; or, Wonderful, isn't it?
ni = at; in; on; to; from; by; into; for; as; and.... There are many ways to interpret 'ni', depending on context
Shinario = scenario
Yami = darkness

[Lina Inverse]

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

Kokoro= Heart
Mune= also means heart?

"kokoro" means "heart" in a figurative sense, while "mune" is rather "breast" than "heart".
The anatomical word for "heart" is "shinzô".

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

bokutachi wa= we

This consists of "boku" (informal male speech) plus "tachi" (plural modifier for persons), although in informal speech, "bokura" is more common for "we" (male speech).
Formal (normal speech) would be "watashitachi".

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

o-genai= please

That's "o-negai" (o- denotes politeness).

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

Kami= Darkness

No, "kami" means "god/goddess".
"Darkness" is "yami".

[Akira Raine]

my bad, i forgot >< i meant to say Yami an I meant to say Onegai Sorry my bad typos! ><

What does yo and wo mean?

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Akira Raine

my bad, i forgot >< i meant to say Yami an I meant to say Onegai Sorry my bad typos! ><

What does yo and wo mean?

yo is a sentence ending particle that emphasizes the statement:

Ringo wa oishii desu. - Apples are delicious.
Ringo wa oishii desu yo. - Apples are delicious, don't cha know? or Apples are delicious (you fool who doesn't realize this fact needs to accept it as truth!)

It's kind a tricky.

wo is a particle which marks the direct object of a verb:

watashi wa ringo wo tabemashita - I ate an apple.
here, the "wo" marks "ringo" (apple), as the direct object for "taberu"(to eat). The "wa" is the subject/topic marker (which one depends on whether there is also a "ga" particle... that's an area of debate even among japanese grammatical scholars).

Now, you need to be careful with this. Judging from what I said above, you might expect that to say "I like apples" in japanese, you'd say "watashi wa ringo wo suki desu." But that is incorrect.
In this case, you'd say "watashi wa ringo ga suki desu." because the adjective "suki" to like acts as an transitive verb and therefore takes "ga" and not "wo"...

[Zappster]

I've got a question. I heard this line from the anime Noein and I'm just wondering what "form" (if that is the right word to use) the verb is in.

The line is this " Haruka wo Sagasanakya". This is what I hear, I'm not sure if I've written it down correctly. Now I've recently been studying some verb forms and one of these was the addition of -nakereba narimasen/ikimasen to express a need to do that verb(if that makes sense). The textbook I was working from also mentioned that a colloquial form of this was -nakerya at the end of the nai stem of the verb.

Am I right in my thinking that "Sagasanakya" is basically just a contracted version of that colloquial form or is it something else entirely?

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Zappster

I've got a question. I heard this line from the anime Noein and I'm just wondering what "form" (if that is the right word to use) the verb is in.

The line is this " Haruka wo Sagasanakya". This is what I hear, I'm not sure if I've written it down correctly. Now I've recently been studying some verb forms and one of these was the addition of -nakereba narimasen/ikimasen to express a need to do that verb(if that makes sense). The textbook I was working from also mentioned that a colloquial form of this was -nakerya at the end of the nai stem of the verb.

Am I right in my thinking that "Sagasanakya" is basically just a contracted version of that colloquial form or is it something else entirely?

Yes, you are correct.

The form means "must" and there are various different formalities of it (from most formal to least formal)

tabenakereba naranai
tabenakereba ikenai
tabenakkya ikenai
tabenakkya

all mean the same thing "must eat"

naranai is more often seen in written japanese. Also, in spoken japanese you would use the polite forms "tabenakereba ikemasen" or "tabenakkya ikemasen". The shortest one would only be used for informal speach (so is often heard in anime).