The Study Thread

[thisiskyleMember]

Gigatron:
Would it be terribly unacceptable to do Lang-8 entries in “informal” Japanese?

I haven’t touched Lang-8 since last year, and I’ve been getting a small itch to maybe dust it off and write summat, but I’m still just so very naff at “polite” Japanese. I’d feel more comfortable writing in slangy relaxed speech because that’s how I talk.

I’d like to get that way of speaking/writing somewhat “mastered” before I delve into how to transform that into polite speech, but I also don’t want to come off as a total rude arrogant idiot to anyone that might read it.

Write how you would like to write. Maybe point out that you are trying to practice a more casual style.

[Anonymous]

For the most part I only write in informal.

Not a single phuck is given.

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

I have had people correcting everything from informal to formal lol. But why should you care about that? Just write whatever style you want to, you will know which corrections you can use :) I don’t think anyone will be offended by informal Japanese :p

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

Bbvoncrumb: Just gonna put it out there, I’ll fkn destroy anyone who says they “know” 2000 Kanji when they can recognize a kanji = an english word (Not even necessarily an accurate meaning).

I finished RTK and go through picking up vocab and grammar as I come across it, and I had a friend (More acquaintance, since hes a phaggot) who also did RTK talk to me the other day and asked the forever obnoxious and holdsnoweight question “How many Kanji do you know”. I replied honestly and said about 900-1100. He goes “Haha, I know 2200, and I started way earlier than you”. Apart from being retarded, if I had asked him to read a sentence he wouldn’t “Know” shit.

Next to putting Japanese in the middle of English sentences/words equating RTK with “Know all these Kanji” are my biggest pet peeves.

True story ワイルドだろう

Fkn destroy me then m8.

But seriously, I agree “know” isn’t the best word to use when it comes to describing knowledge of kanji; I only use it because it’s easier. RTK teaches you how to *write* and recognise 2200+ kanji (I say + since the radicals/stroke orders you learn within those 2200 set you up for being able to write many many more kanji) and it builds a basis for becoming more familiar with them later on – the purpose of the book isn’t to associate a kanji with an English keyword, that’s just the method used.

I’d liken the use of “know” in relation to kanji to its use in relation to shapes: you might say “I know 3 shapes: triangle, square and circle. I can draw all 3 and recognise them when I see them.”. Now, you may not know how many degrees are in each shape, or how they might be used in certain mathematical applications, but for everyday use, saying you “know” these shapes is a perfectly reasonable thing to say.

[MisterM2402 [Michael]Member]

Also @Mark: How long does it usually take you to do 500-800 reviews? Is it not extremely monotonous? XD I don’t really want to follow AKB48; it’s just not my thing, no matter how beneficial it may be for my Japanese haha.

[マーク・ウェーバーMember]

Too long, and yes it is pretty boring….
You know you want to Mister ;) Nah, of course AKB isn’t for everyone, but maybe you might be able to find an interest in something else that will force you to be exposed to a lot of Japanese every day.

[missingno15Member]

Its impossible to say “no” to something like this

Also, as for writing informally, I personally try to write “informally” in the same way that Japanese write in novels.

For example:

リビング用の折りたたみテープが不要になってので、インターネットのオークションで売ることにした。四十二歳になる山本紀子（のりこ）には二人の子供がいるが、下の子が中学に上がってからというもの、家族で出かける機会がめっきり減った。この夏はとうとうどこにも行かなかった。中三の由佳（ゆか）は受験勉強で忙しく、中一の祐平（ゆうへい）はバスケットボールの部活に夢中だ。家族水入らずの旅行なんてものは、きっとこの先ないのだろう。すでに子供たちは自分の世界を持っている。家族の全盛期が終わったのだ。最初はダウンページで古物品を探し、電話で問い合わせたが、あまりの安さに腹が立って取りやめた。「新品同様でも五百円、汚れていたらタダ」と無愛想に言われ、侮辱された気がした。切り際には、「邪魔でしょ？手問賃なしで引き取ってもらえると思わなきゃ」と見透かしたようなことまで言われた。冗談ではない。外国製で一万円以上したものだ。

＊引用：奥田英朗の『家日和』、ページ１

Bad example of writing informally (and just in general)↓
http://lang-8.com/324124/journals/1266418/

[SheepyModerator]

小説の書き方はもっと「である」を使うことが要るよ！w 僕も勝手にカジュアルでおしゃべることが好きだ

• This reply was modified 12 years, 4 months ago by  Sheepy.

[missingno15Member]

せやな。やけど、ホンマにどうでもええねん。

[Anonymous]

missingno15:
Its impossible to say “no” to something like this

Yeah couldn’t say no to the guy at the end, that girl was annoying though.

[missingno15Member]

YURIA IS NOT ANNOYING

[Anonymous]

Cmon

Her eyes are too far apart. Nose is definitely crooked. The shape of her face is not aesthetically pleasing at all. She looks like a 3/10 with make up in this vid. I don’t even want to imagine what she looks like without make up. I actually just threw up in my mouth, just thinking about it.

Her head is too big (although that may be, because of her giraffe neck posture). As for her hair, lol. Seriously, she should do something. She looks like a horse.

Stare at her face for more than 5 seconds, and you will see how ugly she is. The eyes which are too far apart is what ruins/damages an already ugly face even further. Unfortunately for her, that can’t be surgically fixed, lol.

Her arms are way too long. lol at how they hang by her sides. Kind of reminds me of lurch. As for her chest, we all know there is extra padding there. Don’t even let me start on her pale complexion. It only works if you look hot. Unfortunately, she does not look hot. Its hard to sum up a creature like her in one word. ‘UGLY’ would be unfair, since it doesn’t reflect how repulsive she looks. GROTESQUE is stretching it. But somewhere in between, is where she would be, on the scale of an average female.

I’m sorry if my words seem a little harsh. Just so you know, I sugar coated this post as much as possible.

Have a nice day.

[missingno15Member]

Lol I’m just kidding. マジレス乙ｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ

[Anonymous]

copypasta says wuuuuut

[jklMember]

The Graded Japanese Reader volume turned out to be a very quick read, and I don’t think it was worth the money. You get 5 stories and a CD for around $50 US. Maybe at the higher levels it is worth it, because the stories are longer.

I decided to look around for something else, and I found a manga version of Soseki’s 坊ちゃん. It’s apparently part of a series called Learning Language Through Literature, but I haven’t found any other volumes in the series. There is no CD, but there are some vocabulary notes on each page in English, so you can read it without a dictionary.

[Author]

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