But... we're supposed to be improving ourselves... *sob*

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quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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I know. I was practicing my rude Japanese on you. Sorry.

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I like tea!

quote:

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Originally posted by Roarkiller
前にも聞いた事があったが、日本が分かる人ってだれだ っけ?

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It's a bit of a grey area really, but it feels more right to me to tag the "koto ga atta". It's hard to differentiate between "I heard" and "I asked" in Japanese, and somehow the tag somehow makes more sense in my head.

I dunno, opinions?

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I am me.
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I am Roarkiller.
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quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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I've never seen it as "koto ga atta". Like in the "-ta toki" construction, the -ta form indicates the first part as something that has already happened, regardless of the timing of the second part. I feel like "koto ga atta" implies that the experience is somehow gone, as if you'd heard it but have since forgotten. Maybe I'm wrong, but at the very least the second -ta form seems superfluous.

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To say you have something... that's "私はXがある" isn't it? "I have an apple" would be "私はりんごがある"?

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Minus the formality, yes, that'd be right. Most of the time, "watashi wa" is dropped though.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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That's the usual way to say it. You might also see 持つ, to hold, used for that purpose.

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Thanks guys. I thought that was right but just had some niggling doubts.

An interesting thing I noticed today: the word 馬鹿（ばか）is apparently made up of the kanji for horse + deer. I don't see the connection with the word's meaning at all. Does anyone have any idea about the etymology here?

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Hmm, I'm not sure. Another definition that comes up is surf clam, so it might be that those kanji were used for that (animal names can be a bit odd sometimes) and then the word evolved from it for some reason. Alternatively it could be ateji - kanji used for their readings only.

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I always thought it meant horse crap, didn't bother checking the kanji. Who knew. It's usually written in kana anyways.

Then again, the word for dolphin (iruka) is a constant joke about why words are as such. Of course the entire English language is a mystery, but eh.

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I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Roarkiller Of course the entire English language is a mystery, but eh.

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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

I think "mystery" is certainly the wrong word, but I don't think English spelling is so wildly different from the use of kanji. English has irregular spelling not based purely on phonetics, which is confusing at times but also reveals the word's etymology. Kanji does the same thing - a newcomer may have no idea of the pronunciation, but might grasp the meaning based on similarity to known words.

And Saddles - I think you downplay "local dialects" too much. The use of English varies an awful lot depending on where you go, and it isn't really fair to say there's only one pronunciation, when many words have multiple acceptable variations, and accents can completely change the sound. For example, just earlier today I had to ask an Australian guy to repeat a word many times over before I could figure out that it was "air".

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The last time I was in Canada was way back in 1967, shortly before I got out of the Navy. I have since learned that it doesn't take long for my old Canadian accent to return. When I am speaking face to face with someone from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc, in about 15 minutes I have noticed my own accent returning slightly. And this from only living in Canada until I was 6 yrs old!

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Well, I decided to write a journal entry for Lang-8 today and figured why not post it here too. Please, feel free to point out my errors. ^.^

「最近、家でたくさんくもがいます。くもが嫌いです。 。。特にユウレイグモが大嫌いです。とても気持ち悪い んですから、僕の部屋で許しません。僕は臆病者ですか ？（笑）お母さんはぜんぜん違います、彼女はくもが好 きです。時々つまみます。彼女にくもは美しいです。彼 女の気持ちはぜんぜん分かりません。僕にくもは醜くて 怖いだけです。でも、奇妙な事があります。彼女に蛾は 怖い物です。しかし僕は蛾が好きです、とても美しいと 思います。面白いですね。（笑）

子供の時、蛾を見るの為に父と一緒に夜で宵っ張りしま した。蛾を釣るの為に明かりと餌を使いました。餌は糖 蜜でした。板で糖蜜を塗りました、それで蛾は糖蜜を食 べに来ました。色々な美しくて面白い一種を見ました。 」

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There are parts I'm uncertain of because it's just words I'm not familiar with so I can't say how appropriate they are. I think you used 彼女 too much, since pronouns are generally not used a lot - and as it can also mean "girlfriend" I usually try to avoid it altogether. Here's an adjusted version for that and some other little bits:

「最近、家でたくさんくもがいます。くもが嫌いです。 。。特にユウレイグモが大嫌いです。とても気持ち悪い んですから、僕の部屋で許しません。僕は臆病者ですか ？（笑）母はぜんぜん違って、くもが好 きです。時々つまみます。母によってくもが美しいです 。その気持ちはぜんぜん分かりません。僕によってくも が醜くて 怖いだけです。でも、奇妙な事があります。母によって 蛾は 怖い物です。しかし僕は蛾が好きです、とても美しいと 思います。面白いですね。（笑）

子供の時、蛾を見る為に父と一緒に夜で宵っ張りしま した。蛾を釣る為に明かりと餌を使いました。餌は糖 蜜でした。板で糖蜜を塗りました、それで蛾は糖蜜を食 べに来ました。色々な美しくて面白い一種を見ました。 」

I hope that helps! The style is slightly inconsistent too, but I didn't change that because I don't know what you're going for. For example, しかし is quite serious, written language, whereas んですから and to some extent でも come across as more conversational. So how you deal with that depends on how you want it all to sound.

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When talking about a personal past, the term "koro" is usually used. So, 子供の頃 is the more appropriate term.

The "-mashita" formality doesn't appear mid-sentence without additional particles. So:

"板で糖蜜を塗りました、それで蛾は糖蜜を食 べに来ました。"

becomes:

"板で糖蜜を塗ったら蛾は食 べに来ました。"

Finally, the last sentence is worded a little strangely. I believe 見ました ought to be replaced with 見えました, because it's not that you saw, but that you were able to see.

Personal remark: Kanji. Gah. Hatred much.

__________________
I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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can anyone here teach abcd of japanese and how to read it.

i know there are plenty of sites, but i want to learn it the fastest way.

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Watch everything but only take the good things from it

Ask, think and learn. Because the more we know the more we grow.

Watching the wrong to happen is the same as commiting the wrong.

If it looks like things are forcing you to be creative, Then be creative.

its a uniquely Miyazaki film, one only he could make and its uniqueness places it beyond being easily critiqued.[About Porco Rosso]
taken from a quote of Saddletank and Orphic Okapi

Kazegami: The only thing I noticed is you don't need to use の with 為に, unless you're referring to a noun. You pick up on that real fast if you watch Utena. (How many times per episode do they say 世界を革命する為に?) Also your vocabulary is huge.


Savior: Do you mean, like, hiragana and katakana, or do you want to learn kanji too? You can learn hiragana and katana each in a few days if you study a lot. But I don't think there's a "fastest way" to learn kanji...It pretty much takes years of study to master it, no matter your approach.

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I like tea!

I mean something like japanese language 101.

From beginning upto reading part.

and i dont know what is hiragana katakana or kanji,

So basically i want to learn the basics. Just for fun though.as it is very interesting to learn new languages.

__________________
Watch everything but only take the good things from it

Ask, think and learn. Because the more we know the more we grow.

Watching the wrong to happen is the same as commiting the wrong.

If it looks like things are forcing you to be creative, Then be creative.

its a uniquely Miyazaki film, one only he could make and its uniqueness places it beyond being easily critiqued.[About Porco Rosso]
taken from a quote of Saddletank and Orphic Okapi