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I’m Crystal from Florida, and I’m addicted to Japanese learning materials. ;)
I’m learning Japanese because … er … well, because I want to actually be able to understand what people are saying in anime. I don’t really identify as anime otaku, though — there are just a select few shows that I reeeaally enjoy. (Maybe it’s selective otaku-ism?) And since I’m a freelance writer and editor in English, it seems natural to be kind of obsessive about really understanding the language of anything I love and consume regularly. ;) I also just enjoy learning languages, and I’ve been thinking of learning Japanese since a part-Japanese friend of mine suggested I learn it while we were in college together. She actually teaches Japanese now, and when I see her again I will probably shock myself by understanding the conversations she’s having with her students.
I’ve only been seriously studying Japanese since March or thereabouts. TextFugu sucked me into joining with all its crazy talk of learning kanji by radicals (and I also really, really wanted to give Koichi money after watching the “Sh*t Otaku Say” and “A Tofugu Halloween” videos on YouTube). I’ve been looking for a good source for learning kanji this way, and TextFugu is probably the most amusing resource that will do that, so … win!
Now I’m going to stop talking about unimportant stuff like myself and go start reading TextFugu Season 2. Omnomnomnom Japanese.
Nice to “meet” everyone!
Hi Crystal. Welcome to TF :)
Thanks, Tom! BTW, glad to see that someone else on here wants to eventually learn Chinese. ;D I’m actually half Chinese, so that’s definitely on my bucket list.
Your welcome :). It’s awesome that your half Chinese. When I feel my Japanese is at a good standard, I will move onto Mandarin and possibly Cantonese, and then Korean. Kanji will help a bit with learning Hanzi. Japanese and Korean grammar are similiar in some ways. Learning Japanese first made sense as it will help out with learning the other two.
Glad you think it’s awesome. ;D Like you, I’m going to wait until I feel really comfortable with Japanese and then go on to Chinese. Right now I’m thinking of doing Cantonese first and then Mandarin, but who knows how things will turn out when I get there? It IS nice to hear that you think learning Japanese will help with Chinese — I’ve been feeling a little paranoid that someone will tell me it will make it harder because the hanzi aren’t really the same as the kanji. (Not that that would stop me from trying!)
Kanji seems to be a mix of Traditional and Simplified Chinese. There will still be alot of new Hanzi to learn in which ever writing system you choose to learn. Personally, I think it’s best to learn both. Each Hanzi character can have more than one meaning so by knowing Kanji your only half way there with the ones you will recognise.
The different pronounciations for each Hanzi and the different tones in Mandarin and Cantonese will be the hardest part though. From what I’ve read, Chinese grammar isn’t too bad. It’s not easy but not as hard as Japanese or Korean.
I think it’s great you plan to learn Chinese after Japanese. As for which one depends on your goals. Mandarin is spoken on the mainland and in Taiwan. In Taiwan it’s called Mandarin Tawainese. Cantonese is spoken in Hong Kong and in alot of overseas Chinese communities around the world. Alot of Chinese non Mandarin speakers take up Mandarin as a second language.
For some reason it really entertains me that the same character can have a bunch of different pronunciations (in Japanese and Chinese and anything else where that applies), so that shouldn’t be too much of a stumbling block, I hope. As for choosing Cantonese first, I blushingly admit that at the moment it’d probably be easier for me to learn Cantonese because a lot of old movies that I enjoy are dubbed in Cantonese … ;)
Not that visiting Japan and China, where I can use the languages in a variety of practical ways, aren’t on my list of goals. I just figure that the travel will probably happen well after I start learning the languages, so I might as well work with what I’m currently exposed to!
AnonymousWelcome to Textfugu!
Thankee muchly! ;D
@ Crystal
Overall, there does seem to be less resources for learning Cantonese than there are Mandarin. Perhaps by the time you begin learning, that might have changed. Your exposure to Cantonese can help you being your goal of learning it.What stage are you at regarding your Japanese learning?
Welcome to another resident of Florida. :)
Whereabouts are you in FL?
@Tom: Yeah, the lack of Cantonese resources could throw a wrench in the works … but maybe it’ll just turn out to be an interesting challenge. (Cross fingers)
As far as where I am with Japanese, I’m, oh … an obsessed beginner? Not sure how to assess my level accurately without having someone fluent tell me where I am, and since I’m learning on my own, I don’t have a teacher to ask. If it gives you an idea, though, I know the kana and a few kanji, and I have a decent grasp of the grammar basics and a fair number of particles, although I’m not 100% reliable at accurate recall of anything. When I watch anime I catch maybe 25% of the words, and here and there I’ll understand whole (short) sentences. I can’t really write in Japanese at all yet, which seems in line with the way TF looks at things. ;) (Someday I want to start doing brush calligraphy, so I really do want to learn to write, but I’m more concerned with absorbing the language as a whole right now.)
@Gigatron: Thanks most kindly! I’m in the Tampa Bay area — Palm Harbor specifically. (Which is one of those places that people either know, or didn’t know existed. ;)) Nice to see another Floridian! Where are you located?
Ah, I’ve been up to the Tampa area a few times, always found it nice. I’m more or less to your direct southeast, in the outskirts of the Fort Lauderdale area (similarly, the town I’m in is somewhat obscure). I’m not natively from Florida so I’ve still not gotten used to this weather, lol.
@Gigatron: Cool! I used to visit your area fairly regularly, since I used to do the Ren Fair down there. :D Where are you from originally? Our weather is definitely its own entity, and a pretty in-your-face one, at that. ;)
@Crystal: Europe, originally. :)
Indeed, the weather here has no intention of going easy on anybody. But, I’ve noticed that winters here are really very nice.
As for Japanese learning, you’re doing a fair shake better than I am, for what it’s worth, so keep it up. ;)
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