Learning japanese

I am not fluent in japanese. I am from california. So I am fluent in bad english and ghetto. But I know enough japanese to get by. The biggest obstacle in learning japanese is the grammar. Japanese grammar is really different from english. Since I have already been here for ~6 years I am only beginning to fully grasp the grammar. So I would like to use this thread to help people get a grasp on japanese grammar. I guess the best way to do this is for you to ask me to translate english sentences into japanese and also into its english equivilent. For example:

I will go shopping in 5 minutes
watashi wa go pun ato shopping ni ikimasu
私は五分後ショッピングに行きます。
I is 5 minutes after shopping to go will do
私Iはis五分5 minutes後afterショッピングshoppingにto行goきますwill do

The second most frustrating thing to learn in Japanese are the sentence/communication connectors. The connectors serve the same function as "is" "the" to" "a" "on" etc.. in English.
Japanese have many communication connectors. But the most widely used ones are:
ha (pronounced "wa")
ga
ni
to
de
no
wo

desu is not a connector. The term "desu" is just a way to end a sentence.

For example:
watashi ha japanpimp desu
In English, "I japanpimp" sounds funny. So we say "I am Japanpimp".
In japanese the "am" part is the "ha". Now, "ha" does not MEAN "am". It just serves a similar function.
The ending "desu" is just a way to finish the sentence so people know you are done.
Another way "ha" is used is "sore ha okashii" or "That is strange/funny". In this case the "ha" serves the same function an an English "is".

Hit me up wit some more questionz people and we will get down japanese style...

In your first example...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by japanpimp

watashi wa go pun ato shopping ni ikimasu

---

Was "shopping" overlooked there or intentionally left as is? As well as "go" for that matter, or is that an actual Japanese word?

I noticed those things in the translation and became curious about them.

Quote:

---

The biggest obstacle in learning japanese is the grammar. Japanese grammar is really different from english. Since I have already been here for ~6 years I am only beginning to fully grasp the grammar.

---

If possible, would you be able to explain why or how the grammar works the way it does? Translating sentences makes for a good example, but knowing why words are ordered in the way they are is important too.

Lastly,

Quote:

---

。

---

You used this in your Japanese shopping sentence, but it's not included in your side-by-side English/Japanese sentence. Is it a period/desu sort of symbol?

Itashimashite.

Kore wa nan desu ka?

I, for one, have a high interest in learning Japanese. To me, the language is more an art than writing :D But, this is very interesting. Thank you for posting, you'll have an avid studier upon this thread :o *Rep +!!:cheer:*

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alusair

In your first example...
Was "shopping" overlooked there or intentionally left as is? As well as "go" for that matter, or is that an actual Japanese word?

Japanese say shopping but it sounds like sho-ping-gu
The word "go" is a word. It means the number 5. "pun" means minute.
So "go pun" is 5 minutes.
But it is actually pronounced "go "foon"

I noticed those things in the translation and became curious about them.

If possible, would you be able to explain why or how the grammar works the way it does? Translating sentences makes for a good example, but knowing why words are ordered in the way they are is important too.

No, sorry. That would be really hard for me to do. But in a nutshell Japanese grammar is "Subject-Object-Verb". But that is not always the case. In the case of saying "I will go shopping" it is not really subject-object-verb because it is literally 'I shopping go will do.' The 'will do' is at the end but the over all structure of the sentence is subject-object-verb I guess....
Lastly,
You used this in your Japanese shopping sentence, but it's not included in your side-by-side English/Japanese sentence. Is it a period/desu sort of symbol?
No, the "。" symbol is called a "maru". Maru means circle or round. It is the same thing as a english period mark.

---

Answers inserted above.

Translate this:

I am a japanophile with nothing better to do than talk about japan and let people know im living in japan japan japan japan.


Nippon

=^.^=

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nesterus

Translate this:

I am a japanophile with nothing better to do than talk about japan and let people know im living in japan japan japan japan.


Nippon

=^.^=

---

Well, according to Google Translate:

私は日本の話もないし、人々は、日本日本日本日本でIMの生活を教えて良い何も親日家をしてい ます。
Phonetically:

Watashi wa Nippon no hanashi mo naishi, hitobito wa, Nippon Nippon Nippon Nippon de IM no seikatsu o oshiete yoi nani mo shin'nichi-ka o ****e imasu.

And when translated back to english LOL:

I was not talking about the Japanese people in Japan Japan Japan Japan Japanophile IM is nothing to tell a good life.

I wasnt talking to you son

LOL, son....Oh my bad. I was unaware that I am not allowed to reply to a post in an open thread. Maybe you should have PM'd JP instead?

On a side note. You're post makes me curious about the validity of the rep system on these forums...

中には、このスレッドが完全にランダムで、それは）=面白いです

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XimOh2AYlL.../GoSitDown.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nesterus

Translate this:

I am a japanophile with nothing better to do than talk about japan and let people know im living in japan japan japan japan.

Nippon

=^.^=

---

Sure thing Nestrus...
僕はネステラスさんです。Boku ha nesuterasu-san desu
I am Nestrus
僕は注目が大好き。boku ha chuumoku ga daisuki
I love attention
皆さん、僕に沢山な注目上げてね。mina-san, boku ni takusan na chuumoku agete, ne
Everyone, give me attention, ok?
僕が偉いよ、皆より。boku ga erai yo, mina yori
I am greater than everyone.
世界で僕が一番のインターネットのトロールです。sekai de boku ga ichiban no internet no troll desu
I am the greatest internet troll in the world
よろしくお願いします。。。yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Please be gracious to me/Thanks

Rough English translation:
I am Nestrus. I love attention. Everyone, give lots of attention to me, ok? I am greater than everyone. I am the number one Internet troll in the world. Please be gracious to me, thanks.

https://secure.bkcrowncard.com/image...King_en_01.png


the king approves

So does Japanese have the verb to be?
How does Japanese form the future and past?
Are nouns gendered?
Do nouns decline?
What is the sentence word order (is there one)?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Boleslav

So does Japanese have the verb to be?
How does Japanese form the future and past?
Are nouns gendered?
Do nouns decline?
What is the sentence word order (is there one)?

---

Well, I can't answer some of those because I was a poor English student. I mean, I know what nouns, verbs and adjectives are and can identify the subject most of the time, but that's about it. So as far as English grammar rules go, I am soooo not the man.

1. Nounds are not gendered

Japanese use past, present and future tense.... as well as other tenses. They have a word for it. It is katsuyoukei (活用形) meaning Inflections.
This is important as it is the foundation of changing word forms in japanese...

First you need to understand that the japanese alphabet is VERY straight forward, extremely logical. See attached image.
http://blog.asiahotels.com/wp-conten...e-alphabet.gif

Ka series line of sounds
Sa series line of sounds
Ta series line of sounds
Na series line of sounds
Ha series line of sounds
Ma series line of sounds
Ra series line of sounds
Ya series line of sounds

Each of the rows has an "a" "i" "u" "e" or "o" in it.
Take row 1 for eample, Ka. Notice "a" is after the "k". Well for the next K series sound simply replace the "a" andinsert an "i". So when done the K series of sounds will look like:
Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko
Now, for the S series of sound, take a wild guess of what they are.... see? Simple.
Now, the "a" "i" "u" "e" "o" are also used just by themselves without a preceding "K" or "S" or whatever.

Let's use the word "go". In Japanese it is "iku".
"Iku" is the "root" word for "go". In other words, in a japanese dictionary you will only find the word "iku". Not it's other tenses or inflections.
Let's use "iku" in all of it's various forums/inflections/tenses...
First, notice that "iku" ends with "ku". Thus it is on the "K" train (as I like to call it). So we will use the K train to transform the word.... remember, each sound train has 5 variations "a" "i" "u" "e" "o"...

ikanai (won't go, like, I don't want to go)
ikimasu (will go, future tense), ikimasen (will not go, future tense), ikimashou (let's go, polite form of ikou)
iku
ikeba (if I go), ike (go!, command form)
ikou (let's go)

Notice the "ka" "ki" "ku" "ke" "ko" above....
Again, "ku" is the dictionary or root form of "go"

ikanai means 'won't go'
ikimasu means will go (future tense)
iku means go
ikeba means 'if (I) go'
ikou means 'let's go'

The ka ki ku ke ko transformed the word.

There are also other forms of iku.
ikitai 'want to go'
In japanese 'want to' word forms usually end with "tai"
ikimasen 'will not go' (future)

But for present tense iku is itteimasu
Hmm... strange. Notice the double t... it means there is a pause after the "i"... "i-teimasu."

Past tense iku is ikimash!ta.
Past tense Japanese words usually end with "ta". It is usually "masu" transformed into "mash!ta". So ikimasu = I will go (future tense). Ikimash!ta = I went (past tense)

Anyway, present tense words usually don't fit nice and neat into the katsuyoukei word transformation table. But hey....

Ok, sometimes words to not follow the K, T, N, etc... train tables like the above example. Sometimes they follow a special forum of the S train.
For example, the root word for eat is taberu.
Does that mean the word taberu is on the R train? Taberu, right? No, it is actually on a special form of the S train. And it gets funky....
Tabenai (won't eat, don't want to)
Tabetai (want to eat)
Taberu (root word)
Tabete (command form like "ike" example above)
Tabemasu (will eat), tabemasen (will not eat), tabemash!ta (ate), tabemashouka (polite 'shall we eat')
Tabeo (let's eat)


Now, with everything you just learned you can transform just about any japanese word into various tenses and inflections

Try to change forms on these words and let's see how you do:
In Japanese the root word for drink is nomu. Transform Nomu.
In Japanese the root word for "throw away" is Suteru. Transform Suteru

Now we will work on sentence connectors and bring it all home....

Let's talk about food again. Tabemasu = will eat.
The japanese connector "wo" (pronounced "oh") connects objects to an action.
So, let's connect a sandwich to eating.
sandwich "wo" will eat
or
sandwich wo tabemasu
"wo" is the connector used between object and action

I will eat a sandwich = boku (I) ha (connector between subject and object) sandwich wo tabemasu

I will put a sandwich in the trash box. Boku ha sandwich wo trash box ni sutemasu. Or, boku ha trash box ni sandwich wo sutemasu
Notice how "ni" indicates "direction". Not literal direction but like placement or WHERE the action will take place or WHERE the object will go.
Shopping ni ikimasu
I will throw a ball at your face. Face ni ball wo throw.
There is a cat on top of my bed. Bed no ue (on top of the bed) ni cat ga imasu (exists).

The connector "no" is harder to explain. So here are some example:
My pen = boku no pen
My face = Boku no face
table top = table no ue (ue means top, so table top)
under the table = table no sh!ta (sh!ta = under)
computer CPU = computer no CPU

Now, try to make Japanese sentences using connectors but use english words. For example...
Box ni ball wo throw...
Box no side ni ball wo throw

Here are some websites I use regularly for japanese.
You can enter English or Japanese words

This one is the best. It even offers examples of how to use the words in sentences and often uses common sayings or phrases as the examples. Problem is, you need to know Hiragana to use it.
http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html

This is another good website. You don't need to know hiragana to use it.
http://linear.mv.com/cgi-bin/j-e/dict

And of course, google translate.
However, I would highly recommend that if you want to study some japanese that the very first thing you do is learn the ~80 hiragana characters. Forget Katakana for now.
Study this chart:
http://blog.asiahotels.com/wp-conten...e-alphabet.gif
You can use the chart to help use the first dictionay I mentioned.

:{Tip}: Do not attempt to understand this thread after a hard nights raving, i think whats left of my brain just melted....

I would love to learn Japanese...

too bad this looks too hard for me, lol.

glad im in spanish

Help learning Japanese..?
I wanted to just learn a bit, but I got confused. Im curently just learning a bit from apps on the iPhone. Whats the difference between Hiragana and Katakana? Isnt there just one main one that most people use?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Haryer

Help learning Japanese..?
I wanted to just learn a bit, but I got confused. Im curently just learning a bit from apps on the iPhone. Whats the difference between Hiragana and Katakana? Isnt there just one main one that most people use?

---

Good question Haryer. It is a common question for people learning japanese.

Japanese is a phonetic language. The language really only has about ~80 sounds that never change. A japanese alphabet character is made to represent ONE sound. The sounds do not change like English. So it is not like "a" is sometime pronounced differently. It is always pronounced the same. Japanese phonetics are almost identical to Spanish phonetics.

Japanese use 3 different "alphabets" to express the sounds they use. Each "alphabet" expresses all ~80 sounds.

Hiragana expresses all 80 sounds
Katakana expresses all 80 sounds
Romaji expresses all 80 sounds

The Hiragana alphabet is used for native japanese words.
The Katakana alphabet is used to emulate foreign sounds.
The Romaji are used so that the sounds can be somewhat read using english alphabet characters.

This is Romaji: Nihongo (Ni-hon-go, it means japanese language)
This is Hiragana: にほんご (ni-hon-go)
This is Katakana: ニホンゴ (ni-hon-go)

Hiragana sounds can be condensed into Kanji. Kanji are the special characters they use. For example, the kanji for にほんご (Nihongo, japanese language) is 日本語. Or the kanji for ねこ (Neko, Cat) is 猫. Notice how the 2 Hiragana were condensed into ONE kanji character. There are over 100,000 different kanji characters in the japanese kanji dictionary. But the average Japanese person only read about 3,000-4,000 kanji and can only write about 1,500 kanji.

Hiragana is the most widely used alphabet in Japan as it relates to native japanese words. Katakana is used to express foreign sounds, so it is used less. Romanji is never used. It is only used for street signs so that foreigners can pronounce the sounds without having to know the hiragana or kanji.

Katakana is used to copy foreign sounds or used for emphasis on a japanese word. For example, Let's say America. In Romaji America is Amerika (A-me-ri-ka). In Katakana it is アメリカ. Or, coffee. In Romaji coffee is Ko-hi-. In Katakana coffe is コーヒー. As you can see, Katakana tries to copy or emulate foreign word sounds. Katakana exists because the japanese language has no word for "america" or "coffee". Katakanba is also used for empahsis. Say for example a Japanese person is frustrated because their co-worker friend wants to practice English on them. The Japanese person may text them and say "ニホンゴで話してください！！?　Please talk in Japanese!!! Notice how the ニホンゴ was not put in Hiragana OR Kanji. It was written in Katakana for emphasis.