Makoto Shinkai English Fan Forum and Site

Nick · Posted: Tue Jun 17, 2008 9:49 am Post subject:

Deutsch ist sehr gut.

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Nick · Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 10:43 am Post subject:

Haha I forgot I posted that (lol).

Ok I'm glad I rediscovered this thread...

For my trip next year I'm quite interested in learning a language of one of the countries we're going to. The only commitment I'll have for six months is my job, so I'm considering taking piano lessons and lessons in a language. I have a couple of issues though:

1. Does this leave me with enough time to become competent at a language (by no means do I need to be fluent). How many hours a week would I need to be able to achieve this?

and

2. Which language would I take up? We're spending the most time in China so Cantonese would be the most practical. But I'd love to learn Japanese so I could watch Shinkai movies in their original form (and so many of you are learning too so that'd be cool), but I've heard it's one of the hardest languages for a native english speaker to pick up...

Can anyone offer some advice?
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Junpei · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:09 am Post subject:

I would say if you are into reading or watching things especially with entertainment such as anime and the like, go for Japanese. I think it's one of the most studied language in Australia, if not most.

If you're more of a social person who enjoys communicating, translating and such, Chinese it is.

Edit: What does "Deutsch ist sehr gut" mean? =3

Phantast · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject:

German is so good? Razz

I would say that after six months, you would probably know enough to talk to people in a language, but you wouldn't be able to carry on complex conversations. (I've heard that if you're studying a language, it's good to study for at least an hour a day - that's what I do, anyway.)

So, anyone still learning Japanese? I've been slacking recently, but I'm still at it. I am very not good at kanji, though.

だれか日本語が話せますか。僕ね、日本語がすこし話せます。　でお、日本語がべんきょうしますよ。

(Yeah, I know most of that probably isn't grammatically correct. :p )

Janny · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject:

Woah, you know some kanji! I've been struggling to study for some time, but I can't seem to remember any symbols, just a bit of hiragana. Please share the learning secrets! Very Happy

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Phantast · Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject:

Ha ha, I actually don't know all of those kanji's meanings. I remember those because I saw them used for a particular word. Like, I heard someone use the word "hanashimasu" and spell it "話します". So 話 could have other meanings, but I only know it as "hana" in "hanashimasu". If that makes any sense.

The kanji that I DO know all of the meanings, though, I learned by using flash cards. The kanji on one side, all of the pronunciations on the other. It's really hard to remember stuff that way.

gleowine · Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 8:52 pm Post subject:

If anyone is a Mac user and, like me, is having a hard time with Hiragana and Katakana characters, I found a neat little program called iKana. It's made by a company out of the UK called ThinkMac Software. It's a free download. However, the free version is not the full version, which you have to pay for. Still, I had a fun time playing with it and improved my Hiragana recognition somewhat. Here's the link:

http://www.thinkmac.co.uk/ikana/

Laz · Laz Joined: 09 Jan 2008 Posts: 1073

Very Cool Gleo .... If you find any other helpful things like that definitely post about them Smile

Laz
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Fiction · Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:54 pm Post subject:

A couple years ago, I bought a bunch of books so I could teach myself Japanese. I was doing pretty well, but then I got too busy with other things. I remember that at the time, I memorized around 400 kanji. I do have to admit that practicing kanji vastly improved my handwriting as a whole. Before people called it retarded chicken scratch. Then after a few years it was upgraded to just chicken scratch. When I was practicing kanji, whenever I'd have to sign my name on a receipt or fill out paperwork, I was complimented on my handwriting.

I can still understand some Japanese. It's enough to piece things together if I'm being spoken to or find out what they are talking about. I do have to say that I like P.G. O'Neill's Essential Kanji, 2000 Basic Japanese Characters Systematically Arranged for Learning and Reference.

It's been a while since I've done any studying. I might have to break out my dictionary and do a little bit of reading for a brush up.

Phantast · Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 6:05 pm Post subject:

Learning to read Japanese and learning to speak Japanese are two completely different animals, really. My brother could hardly read any kanji when he went to Japan, but he had learned to speak Japanese before he left so he was able to get along by asking other people what signs and things said.

I doubt that will work for us, though, unless we're planning on going to Japan. Razz

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