Translations (JP to English)

[HiirNoivl]

It's especially true for writing.

Yes quite true. When I graduated from highschool my friends got me workbooks. They were essentialy childrens books where you had to write the same character again and again and again. I carried that book everywhere I went and whenever I had a spare moment I practiced. As a result, I can read and write Japanese fairly well. (I'd rate myself at a 3rd/4th grade level. Can't read a newspaper well tho)

[Colino]

Japanese cartoon

American cartoon

Who's better at art?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci

He is.

I know what you mean though, if you learn it as a kid it's easier than trying to learn it as an adult. Kids learn things quicker than adults, natural fact.

It's just that in comparison, the Japanese alphabet just seems so much more complex than the English alphabet to me.

It's not that much more complex. Try Chinese, it's actually much harder than Japanese is. Not to mention the Cyrillic Alphabet, Arabic, Hebrew... There's loads of very difficult alphabets to learn.

You really need to move to Japan someday. You need a firm ass-spanking by Reality himself.

They aren't special.

Exactly.

You do know Otaku is a derogatory term and they're considered no better than the stereotypical "nerds" we have here in the west right?

It's a great culture with lots of interesting things to learn from, but they're far from perfect and amazing. In fact they have loads of social issues and cultural problems, including a still strong presence of racism in pop culture and the highest suicide rate in the world, among other things.

I'm not trying to put Japan done, I'm just saying being blind and considering them the most amazing people to ever grace planet earth of their existence is a bit much.

I also apologize for the derailing as well, that's all I had to say really.

[Betelgeuzah]

Yes quite true. When I graduated from highschool my friends got me workbooks. They were essentialy childrens books where you had to write the same character again and again and again. I carried that book everywhere I went and whenever I had a spare moment I practiced. As a result, I can read and write Japanese fairly well. (I'd rate myself at a 3rd/4th grade level. Can't read a newspaper well tho)

I don't mean just any book. There are good methods to practice the language (SRS+Heisig) and there are bad methods (what the great majority of classes teach you) like banging your head against the wall.

It's not that much more complex. Try Chinese, it's actually much harder than Japanese is.

Eh, they use the same alphabet, just differently and with slight modifications. Both are hard to learn but in different ways.

Like intonation which is easy for someone learning Japanese but learning Chinese it's a nightmare if your mother language doesn't make use of it.

[Konachibi]

It's a great culture with lots of interesting things to learn from, but they're far from perfect and amazing.

From what I understand 'Otaku' sort of translates as 'obsessionist', it's not actually relative to anime or anything, but it's more commonly associated with it. (A bit like how 'Neko' in america means 'cat-person' when in Japan it just means 'cat')

I can understand what you mean. to be honest the one thing that really made me kind of be a fan of them is this thing I read saying it's traditional that parents only give presents to their kids on christmas if the kid still believes in santa claus, and a lot of parents try to keep their kid believing for as long as they can. It sounds stupid but I think it's really sweet, in the U.K most parents would tell the kid that santa wasn't real the moment the child was born.

Then there was the other thing where it's considered bad luck (I think it was bad luck, or something like that) for a woman to be single during christmas, so it's traditional to ask out a girl/guy you have a crush on leading up to christmas.

I dunno if any of that is actually true or not, but if it is I really envy them. Sure they do have problems, but at least Christmas there feels like christmas, here nobody even bothers putting up decorations anymore, art and culture festivals barely even exist in schools. It's like every day is a monday in the middle of may, everyone's lost their sense of what festivals and holidays are meant to be like ; ;

but yeah I'll stop now... or at least I'll TRY to stop now...

[HiirNoivl]

I've never taken a class in Japanese, so I suppose you are right.

I used Pimsleur to start out and then the rest was just using it and consulting a dictionary and asking "How do you say...?" as needed? I'm far from fluent... But the books really helped my reading and writing.

There's much to like about Japan (or any culture for that matter)... I also like to focus on the positive.

[AdvancedWind]

Just a final derailment:

I'm no language specialist, but as far as I've heard Japanese - is - regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn for native latin / germanic derived language speakers, because of the differences on the alphabet, overal grammar structure, etc...

[Betelgeuzah]

if it is I really envy them.

You know there's this forest I think it was in northern part of Japan, it's called the Suicide forest because so many people go out there specifically to die. The local ranger that patrols the area finds like 20 bodies a year and tons of people 'camping' there alone (struggling with making the decision). Pressure from the society to act in a certain way leads them there eventually.

But yeah, at least they have silly christmas ideals and kawaii uguu anime.

I'm no language specialist, but as far as I've heard Japanese - is - regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn for native latin / germanic derived language speakers, because of the differences on the alphabet, overal grammar structure, etc...

Let's just say that if you prepare properly, it's not much harder at all. But the problem is that nobody teaches you the proper way, and no preparation is done before it is too late.

[Colino]

Just a final derailment:

I'm no language specialist, but as far as I've heard Japanese - is - regarded as one of the hardest languages to learn for native latin / germanic derived language speakers, because of the differences on the alphabet, overal grammar structure, etc...

I can say it's not, especially when coming from a latin language. In fact, most Italians/Spaniards I know pronounce all Japanese words perfectly, because they would sound exactly the same in their language.

It's harder than English I'll give you that much, but it's not even close to languages like Hungarian, Ukranian or some other stuff.

But yeah, at least they have silly christmas ideals and kawaii uguu anime.

We've had our disagreements, my friend, but I'm with you 100% on this one. Also I believe the name of the forest is Aokigahara, but don't quote me on it.

[Betelgeuzah]

I can say it's not, especially when coming from a latin language. In fact, most Italians/Spaniards I know pronounce all Japanese words perfectly, because they would sound exactly the same in their language.

It's harder than English I'll give you that much, but it's not even close to languages like Hungarian, Ukranian or some other stuff.

Pronounciation is not really the issue with Japanese, it's the writing, reading, and grammar structure that is completely different. They don't have a 'be'-verb at all, instead they have this abstract "topic" and "attribute" system instead. their sentence structure is neither object-subject-verb, nor subject-object-verb. It's just verb. Which leads to many issues...

My language is considered as one of the most difficult European languages to learn (sister language of Hungarian- or was it Ukranian?), but for a latin language speaker it is still easier than learning an Asian language. It's different in many ways, but not -that- different.

[Konachibi]

You know there's this forest I think it was in northern part of Japan, it's called the Suicide forest because so many people go out there specifically to die. The local ranger that patrols the area finds like 20 bodies a year and tons of people 'camping' there alone (struggling with making the decision). Pressure from the society to act in a certain way leads them there eventually.

They also have the lowest crime rate

In my town I'm lucky if I can go out for a few hours without having some ignorant teenager shout abuse at me just because I wear gothy/cyberpunk clothes.