Japanese is so damn hard (1 Viewer)

[Rickboy]

日本ごほんを読みます

Don’t mind me, just doing my best to butcher the Japanese language.

I think I wrote, “I read Japanese language books”

I probably wrote, “The streets will flow with the blood non believers”

 

[buzd]

i've been using duolingo to learn german

The 10-20 points zeetes contributes to friends quests has been invaluable.

 

[Paul]

日本ごほんを読みます

Don’t mind me, just doing my best to butcher the Japanese language.

I think I wrote, “I read Japanese language books”

I probably wrote, “The streets will flow with the blood non believers”

I think that what you’re doing is pretty awesome. Many other languages are so beautiful and I have a goal of learning as many as I can before I croak. As soon as I get English down pat.

 

[Rickboy]

One thing I've found difficult in reading Japanese is that there is no spacing between words.
So this,"日本ごほんを読みます"

日本ご = NihonGo = Japanese Language
ほん = Hon = Book
を = one of the many ways to say 'o' but used in separation of a subject and verb
読みます = Yomimasu = read or reading

What's funny about this is that you've got a Kanji character for YO (読). What is the point of putting a kanji character for a single syllable when you have a very simple Hiragana or Katakana character for that very same sound.
I mean, the rest of the word is in Hiragana and very easy 読 = Yo, み = Mi, ま = Ma, す = Su (the 'u' is silent in this case).

In other words, these words are a real PITA...

You know, like this guy..

 

[Doug B]

す = Su (the 'u' is silent in this case).

Do you remember the old Sylvania TV commercials from the 80s where the Japanese guy would get angry and say something that sounded like "None-deskah! Sylvania beat Sony again!"



What the guy was actually saying was nan desu ka (何ですか) meaning literally "what is it?" -- but more like "WTF!" in context. And that silent 'u' is there as well. I'm sure you're running into tons of silent 'u' and 'i' as you study the language.

 

[zeetes]

The 10-20 points zeetes contributes to friends quests has been invaluable.

there you go, 30. boom.

 

[Rickboy]

Same here. My wife is American. My job is all in English. My degree was taught in English. I have no German friends.... only other expats who speak English. . I live in Germany but I rarely, if ever, actually speak German.

Funny story,
Back in 1990, I was going to NLU in Monroe. I was going to take Japanese in my 2nd semester. This was mainly due to a Japanese American girl, that I liked, being in that class. My Mom talked me out of it. She said, "Don't take Japanese, you'll never need or use it. Take German or Spanish. Take something you'll actually use.'

Less than a year later, I was finishing up AIT in the Army and I called my Mom up. The conversation went something like this.

Me: Mom, remember when you told me not to take Japanese. That I would never use it.
Mom: yeeeeeeaaaaas
Me: Guess where the US Army is sending me for the next two years.
Mom: Where
Me: Japan.
Mom: That's what you get for listening to your Mom.
Me: Noted for future reference Mom.

Ever since, I pretty much never seek advice from my Mom.

 

[buzd]

there you go, 30. boom.

We aren’t partners this week.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Funny story,
Back in 1990, I was going to NLU in Monroe. I was going to take Japanese in my 2nd semester. This was mainly due to a Japanese American girl, that I liked, being in that class. My Mom talked me out of it. She said, "Don't take Japanese, you'll never need or use it. Take German or Spanish. Take something you'll actually use.'

Less than a year later, I was finishing up AIT in the Army and I called my Mom up. The conversation went something like this.

Me: Mom, remember when you told me not to take Japanese. That I would never use it.
Mom: yeeeeeeaaaaas
Me: Guess where the US Army is sending me for the next two years.
Mom: Where
Me: Japan.
Mom: That's what you get for listening to your Mom.
Me: Noted for future reference Mom.

Ever since, I pretty much never seek advice from my Mom.

tangential to that - and a story I tell every year when a student inevitably says some version of "why do I have to study _____ i'm never going to need to know_____"

between my freshman and sophomore years, my parents enrolled me in a summer class at Mt Carmel (get all your jokes out now)
it was a typing class
with all the predicative genius a 14 yr old boy possesses, I declared 'i'm never going to be a secretary - why do I need to learn to type?!?!?!"

of course i've probably typed most every day of my life for the last 40 years

 

[Rickboy]

I’m getting a reminder of what it was like to be an elementary school student.

 

[Rickboy]

Touched down at Narita Airport today. Staying the night at an airport hotel before flying up to Sapporo to visit my father and mother in laws.

I needed a quick bite, so I stopped at Lawson Kombini and got a really good egg sandwich.



Also, my nieces (in the US) are going to kill me if I don’t bring them stuff like this.

 

[Jesse Custer]

Same here. My wife is American. My job is all in English. My degree was taught in English. I have no German friends.... only other expats who speak English. . I live in Germany but I rarely, if ever, actually speak German.

This is why I regretted spending four years in high school learning German. It's been helpful precisely once since I graduated because Germans are taught English starting in kindergarten.

I'm slowly starting to pick up more Japanese beyond what I learned from watching Iron Chef obsessively.

 

[BarBar]

This is why I regretted spending four years in high school learning German. It's been helpful precisely once since I graduated because Germans are taught English starting in kindergarten.

I'm slowly starting to pick up more Japanese beyond what I learned from watching Iron Chef obsessively.

German in high school? I haven't heard of that. When I lived in a small village no one there really spoke English. The younger generation is pretty comfortable in English but anyone over 40 it's hit or miss.

My point was more than the locals stick to themselves and making any German friends is pretty difficult. The ones who like auslanders want to speak English, and the ones who don't like auslanders won't talk to you in any language so what is the point?

I do speak German when I go to the store or to the bank or whatever, but otherwise I don't ever use it. If you don't need it for work then you can probably get by without it unless you really want to integrate with the local culture a lot.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

German in high school? I haven't heard of that. When I lived in a small village no one there really spoke English. The younger generation is pretty comfortable in English but anyone over 40 it's hit or miss.

My point was more than the locals stick to themselves and making any German friends is pretty difficult. The ones who like auslanders want to speak English, and the ones who don't like auslanders won't talk to you in any language so what is the point?

I do speak German when I go to the store or to the bank or whatever, but otherwise I don't ever use it. If you don't need it for work then you can probably get by without it unless you really want to integrate with the local culture a lot.

Not only did I take it in HS, I minored in German
I majored in psychology and my thinking was German might help me read early psychology texts
I was hopelessly naive
And I speak almost none presently
I now know the best way to learn a language is to have an affair with someone who only speaks that language

 

[BarBar]

I now know the best way to learn a language is to have an affair with someone who only speaks that language

Our next plan is to move to Italy. I will start looking for an Italian mistress immediately. Good advice.