Just curious ...anyone else learning to speak Japanese???

[scoey1953]

Just wondering if any one on this posting site is learning Japanese? I started back in November
of last year...( I think I am becoming a "Otaku". LOL..I love Japanese popular music, culture anime, history, Japanese dorama and movies..My Ipod has up to 500 plus JPOP songs)

I remember in high school both French and Spanish were forced on me. I didn't want to learn either. The only other choices at the time were, Latin and German. Now...I am learning Japanese and I love it.
(Suki desu!!) I even have a "language partner", Eikosan,(Kawaii ne!) from Tokyo who lives in my city now and is learning English from me while she coaches me in my Japanese.


Excellent Motivation for learning the language



I am taking Japanese three times a week, at a language translation company/school, who by the way sponcer American students to go to Japan to learn while being there. Eikosan is an exchange student who has come to American to learn English. (Funny, her Spanish is way better than my Japanese)Next year I plan to take three weeks to visit Japan. I can't wait to go!! (Waku waku Suru)


Kawaiiiiiiiiiiiiii ne!

Anyway... NIHONGO NO BENKYO SHIMASU KA? WATASHI WA NIHONGO O SUKOSHI HANASHIMAUS
DONO GURAI NIHONGO BENKYO O SHIMASU KA???

Arigato!
Jaaa Mata ne!

PS...by the way if anyone is interested in a website where you can view
All Asian movies, anime, dramas for free, check out www.aznv.tv Just sign up - no
cost and you can watch great stuff for free!

[TimeChaser]

1. I'm taking Japanese at school

And I too am an Otaku. I just got back from an anime convention yesterday :D

[scoey1953]

5. was that the one in San Jose?

I heard that one was great, I missed it..

[TimeChaser]

6. Nope, smaller one in Cleveland

[scoey1953]

7. So desu ne

aawwww so desu ne!!
Did they have any jpop bands playing?
I got to see Mari Iijima sing at the Sakura Matsuri in San Francisco
she sang the opening song for the anime Macross "Ai oboete Imasuka"

[WindRavenX]

2. Hai. Wakaru!

:)

[Pierzin]

3. No, but I am considering Spanish!!!

More people I know speak Spanish, so it only makes sense. Besides, a certain large corporation from latin America where everyone speaks Spanish owns my company! :hippie: :hippie: :hippie: :hippie: :hippie: :hippie: :hippie: :hippie:

[oregonjen]

4. Yep. Was my major in college

Liked it so much, I married a Japanese man. I've lived over there off and on for a total of almost 6 years. I know what you mean with being forced to study romance languages. As soon as Japanese was offered at my high school, I took it (that was 20 years ago). The best way to learn is to live over there. I was an exchange student my junior year at University of Oregon. After that, I went back and worked over there after graduating. When I came back here, I was introduced to my future husband. We moved back over there for a couple of years.

Great country. Wonderful people.

Gambatte-ne!

:hi:

[BreweryYardRat]

8. Know a few curse words/phrases, but that's about it.

[scoey1953]

9. I wonder what would happen if someone

I wonder what would happen if someone were to stand in the middle of Tokyo - point upward and yell
" Toyko no naka ni Gojirra ga imasu!!!!"
Godzilla is in TOKYO!! (a fantasy of mine...but
I guess I would never have the guts to do it.)

[BreweryYardRat]

10. Heh.

Just don't ever call any tough looking types "Baka yaro."

[scoey1953]

11. Honto ni?

Hai ..so desu!
Yaru koto ga takusan arisugiru!!! :-D

[BreweryYardRat]

14. Like I said...

Don't speak much Japanese. Check my understanding?

"Why not?"

"Yes, that's so.
(can't translate 3rd sentence)

[scoey1953]

15. third sentence

Honto ni= really??

last part says: Yaru koto ga takusan arisugiru which means
"I have too many things to do".. (to get myself in that kind of trouble ...hehe! Thanks for the warning..I knew the first Word "Baka"...just not the last part..)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

18. Another way to say that...

"Yaranakucha naranai koto ga oosugiru."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. I've not only studied Japanese; I used to teach it, and

I'm a translator now.

Mou, kanari hanasemasu ne.

Gambatte !

[scoey1953]

13. wow...thats so cool!

Can I ask you how long till you were fluent? I have heard most people say it took them three years? Sound about right??

[Lydia Leftcoast]

17. A better word than "fluent" is "proficient"

Fluency just means that you can talk fast, without regard for whether you're making any sense. :-)

Proficiency is what you can do with the language. The basic levels, as defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Langugaes, are:

0) Novice: Just a few words and phrases
1) Intermediate: Can meet basic needs and ask and answer simple questions.
2) Advanced: Can tell stories and describe things and people in connected sentences with few grammatical errors.
3) Superior: Can handle most everyday and professional situations and talk about hypothetical and abstract situations.
4) Equivalent to an educated native speaker

The way you test proficiency is to have a conversation with the student, making it harder and harder in a structured way as you go along. At some point, the student becomes unable to handle the conversation, which means that you have gone beyond his or her level of proficiency. You then take the complexity down a notch to confirm the student's actual level.

My situation is not analogous to yours, because I started learning Japanese in a 12-month intensive program that met six hours a day. We were told that we had the equivalent of a college major. I hadn't been trained in proficiency testing at the time, of course, but looking back, I'd say we were in the lower reaches of Advanced. Since then, I've learned through independent study and spending time in Japan.

Each higher level takes longer to pass through than the one before it, so, for example, Novice lasts for perhaps a semester, while intermediate lasts for about two or three years. The passage from Advanced to Superior takes much longer, and most students of Japnaese give up before reaching it. I've been unofficially tested as 3) Superior twice. I doubt that I'll ever achieve 4), though. About the only people who do achieve 4) are people who grew up in Japan and attended elementary and junior high school there, although a lot of translators are at 3).

The U.S. State Department ranks languages on their level of difficulty for English speakers. They estimate that a government employee studying at the Foreign Service Institute or the Defense Language Institute 30-40 hours a week will reach Level 3) in French, Spanish, or the Scandinavian languages in six months. Other languages take more time, with Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic taking two years to reach Level 3), with the second year being spent in-country.

But don't let that discourage you. You can have a lot of fun and immerse yourself in a fascinating culture while you're learning.

Your enthusiasm is great and will carry you far, especially if you have Japanese friends. But my words of advice are as follows:

1) Don't believe it when Japanese people say, "Nihongo ga o-jouzu desu ne." They're just trying to encourage you, as if encouraging a child. You'll know you're really good when people STOP saying it to you.

2) Japanese people tend to be too polite to correct your Japanese if they can understand you at all. That's why it's good to talk to children, because if they start laughing hysterically, then you know you've said something that doesn't make sense.

3) Don't neglect your grammar. Yes, I know it's not as much fun as the other stuff, but you can develop bad habits that are impossible to erase. You won't be a teenager forever, and eventually you'll have to sound like an adult.

4) Definitely go to Japan--as often as you can and for as long as you can. While you're there, listen to conversations and watch a lot of TV and observe how people actually say things. For example, what might a person actually say if they mistake a stranger for someone they know? How do they deny having done something? Stuff like this isn't in your textbooks.

But have a great time learning Japanese, and be sure to take advantage of the opportunities that exist now that weren't available to my generation, especially the JET Program (or whatever it evolves into), in which the Japanese government hires English-speaking college graduates to serve as assistant English teachers in public schools.

[scoey1953]

19. Excellent, thank you

Sore wa sugoi ne
Domo arigato gozaimasu!
Watashi wa waku waku suru!

[NewJeffCT]

20. does proficiency include reading & writing, too?

From what I understand, it's not too hard to get a basic (intermediate) proficiency in speaking Mandarin Chinese... but, reading & writing is a lot more difficult.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Yes, there are proficiency scales for reading, writing, speaking, and

listening. It is possible to be at different places on each scale, as in a fairly proficient speaker of Chinese but nearly illiterate in it or, conversely, able to read simple passages in Chinese but unable to understand it as spoken by native speakers.

[NewJeffCT]

24. that applies to a lot of children of Chinese I know

Their parents were born in China & can speak, read & write Chinese fine. But, the children can speak the language fairly well, but know little to nothing when it comes to reading & writing Chinese.

[Godhumor]

16. Lived there, taught there, taught Japanese, married a Japanese woman

I studied the language in college, taught in Japan for 2 years on the JET program, married my wife there, moved to Hawai'i and taught Japanese at a middle school (I'm a certified social studies teacher), and next week I take 37 DC students, parents, and teachers on a ten day trip there.

Oddly enough, I am in no way shape or form an otaku.

[oregonjen]

21. Hey there! I was on the JET program too.

I'm probably older though. ;-) '89-'91 in Osaka-fu. How about you?

[Godhumor]

23. Why hello!

I was in Saitama-Ken from '01 to '03, but I was a bit older than a new college grad when I went over.

[oregonjen]

27. At the time I did JET, it felt like being a monkey in a cage

I didn't really get a chance to teach, but to follow along what the English teachers wanted. I went from school to school every 2 months, so I was basically doing self introductions in each class and that was about it. There was only one school I felt really comfortable at. I clicked with one teacher's style and we had good team-teaching. After two years, I was burned out.

It did however give me a good opportunity to learn more Japanese and enjoy the country during my off time.
When I came back to Oregon, I met my future husband and I was able to communicate in English or Japanese with him. I can also communicate with my in-laws too. : )

How was your JET experience?

[oneighty]

25. Japan

I was U.S Navy in Korea/Japan 51-55. Check your PM.

180

[sakabatou]

26. Kimi wa....

Yohodo HAIPA- ga iru.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

28. Uh....je parle francais un peu? je parle anglais?

:evilgrin:

I speak no Japanese whatsoever. Which is a bit sad, if you think about it. Isn't it a tonal language? I would totally fail at it, I bet. I can't even pronounce French properly!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

31. No, it's not tonal and neither is Korean

although Chinese, which is totally unrelated, is tonal.

[otherlander]

29. Next year I start taking Japanese classes.

So far I only know how to count to ten, from karate class, and I can write the symbol for "Power" and that's it.

[northzax]

30. my minor-

studied in Kanazawa. promptly forgot everything (just as I've forgotten French, Italian and Romanche) I can use it when I need to, but I'm hopeless at anything above survival for at least two weeks in country.