Looking for a "pen pal."

[Ghost]

I wish I could help. I know a YouTube user by the name of "bumnumba1" who does a series of Japanese lessons that he calls "The Daily Dump" but I wouldn't recommend using that as a source for learning Japanese.

I know a little bit of kanji, a little bit. Speaking though, I cannot pronounce Japanese words to save my own life. It's crazy how Japanese people can talk at 100 mph.

[Xenops]

Kind of along the lines of what Dr. Jerk is saying, posting replies online is not the best way to learn a language. But then again, there is no "one right way" to learn a language. Rosetta Stone teaches vocabulary, but not grammar. Pimsleur teaches you to speak beautifully, but not to spell. A text book teaches you grammar, but not to listen. To learn a language, you need ALL of these components. You can use anything to help learn a language, but one thing alone won't accomplish much. Even with Fauna's short post I learned something. She wrote "Kore wa...." and the sentence translated to "This is ridiculous". This helped me differentiate the kore from the rest of the "there, over there, this, that" words. And I thought it odd that she spelled わたし "Watashi" (I) like that rather than using the kanji 私。

My two cents.

[wing area]

Anyone aspiring to learn Japanese should do themselves a BIG favor and learn hiragana and katakana. You don't really need a tutor for this--just some determination/will power to study. Of course, if you're taking a course in Japanese you're forced to learn each of these in about a week...

Personally, I found that writing actual sentences/words helped me learn them. Don't be one of the many who actually thinks that flashcards will do any good. Yeah, you might be able to recognize them but you should be able to write them without difficulty.

Japanese is a difficult language to learn, not because of the writing system, but because of how complex it is culturally. For example, a teacher I had once went over this sentence:

私のお母さんはとても親切できれいです。
Watashi no okaasan wa totemo shinsetsu de kirei desu.
My mother is very nice and beautiful.

Grammatically, it's correct. However, it would considered rude in Japan for a few reasons.

One, you wouldn't use the formal term for your own mother, okaasan, when speaking to another person--you would use the casual term haha. (Another teacher I had explained that okaasan is like "honorable mother" and haha is like "my crappy mom", ahahaha). Two, you wouldn't brag about your mother being all nice and pretty. The polite thing to do is to put down everything about yourself, including family.

So even if you were to teach yourself some basic Japanese grammar, you really need someone Japanese to explain cultural concepts to you.

Sorry, this is more tl;dr than I intended... Hopefully you'll be able to take actual Japanese classes. I really wish that I had asked my parents about tutor when I was younger, since I had an interest at an early age. Oh well!

And I thought it odd that she spelled わたし "Watashi" (I) like that rather than using the kanji 私。

Fauna actually used あたし(atashi) which is a feminine form of watashi, fyi.

[Dr. Jerk]

Wing_area, you are allowed to edit your posts. You don't have to delete one and repost it.

[Astro Boy2866]

[QUOTE=Astro Boy2866;121164]Quick, everyone take an advanced Japanese class so that Jerk will eat her computer

Keep this up and I will be leaving.

I hate saying that, but I am getting fed up.[/QUOTE]

I was joking. No one is going to learn Japanese just because I said so. I'm sorry if I might have disrespected you, and I was not intending to make fun of or disrespect you in any way in that post. In my eyes it was just a playful joke aimed at making people, especially you, laugh.

[Xenops]

Anyone aspiring to learn Japanese should do themselves a BIG favor and learn hiragana and katakana. You don't really need a tutor for this--just some determination/will power to study. Of course, if you're taking a course in Japanese you're forced to learn each of these in about a week...

Pretty much. Though after months of off-on study, I still find Katana really hard to remember.

Personally, I found that writing actual sentences/words helped me learn them. Don't be one of the many who actually thinks that flashcards will do any good. Yeah, you might be able to recognize them but you should be able to write them without difficulty.

Same here.

So even if you were to teach yourself some basic Japanese grammar, you really need someone Japanese to explain cultural concepts to you.

There are books that talk about this, or even textbooks if they are good about it.

And I thought it odd that she spelled わたし "Watashi" (I) like that rather than using the kanji 私。

Fauna actually used あたし(atashi) which is a feminine form of watashi, fyi.

Ooops. See, I'm still learning from a post! Btw, welcome to the Forums Wing!

[Bakabits]

Anyone aspiring to learn Japanese should do themselves a BIG favor and learn hiragana and katakana. You don't really need a tutor for this--just some determination/will power to study. Of course, if you're taking a course in Japanese you're forced to learn each of these in about a week...

Personally, I found that writing actual sentences/words helped me learn them. Don't be one of the many who actually thinks that flashcards will do any good. Yeah, you might be able to recognize them but you should be able to write them without difficulty.

Japanese is a difficult language to learn, not because of the writing system, but because of how complex it is culturally. For example, a teacher I had once went over this sentence:

私のお母さんはとても親切できれいです。
Watashi no okaasan wa totemo shinsetsu de kirei desu.
My mother is very nice and beautiful.

Grammatically, it's correct. However, it would considered rude in Japan for a few reasons.

One, you wouldn't use the formal term for your own mother, okaasan, when speaking to another person--you would use the casual term haha. (Another teacher I had explained that okaasan is like "honorable mother" and haha is like "my crappy mom", ahahaha). Two, you wouldn't brag about your mother being all nice and pretty. The polite thing to do is to put down everything about yourself, including family.

So even if you were to teach yourself some basic Japanese grammar, you really need someone Japanese to explain cultural concepts to you.

Sorry, this is more tl;dr than I intended... Hopefully you'll be able to take actual Japanese classes. I really wish that I had asked my parents about tutor when I was younger, since I had an interest at an early age. Oh well!

[QUOTE=Xenops;121172]And I thought it odd that she spelled わたし "Watashi" (I) like that rather than using the kanji 私。

Fauna actually used あたし(atashi) which is a feminine form of watashi, fyi.[/QUOTE]

actually i have learned that there are 2 Japanese alphabets and the different ways to say things to certen people. Here is a sentence about me in romanji in polite form: "Mai-nichi kohi-o nomimasu" i am using an ipod app called: iStart Japanese - Mirai Japanese. once i learn the basics i wanna get a class but that will be hard living on the outskirts of a formal national capital such as Philadelphia. but yeah i have an IQ of 140 and love learning so i should do alright.

[wing area]

Sorry, I tried to edit it and accidentally double posted. Oops.

[Fauna]

Well, what are you crazy kids up to now?

@Some of you: Bloody hell, this thread should not be serious business. Everybody calm down; you can't even learn Japanese this way. Go find a book or an evening class.

@Astro Boy2866: I know you were trying to make a joke, but Dr. Jerk is fairly sensitive to teasing and sarcasm (I've known good people like this in real life, and once was like this), so I'd honestly avoid this in the future.

@Dr. Jerk: Both guys honestly meant nothing deep and evil by what they said, and please stop threatening to leave the forum anytime something sets you off.

@Diehard67: I've studied Japanese in school from tenth to twelth grade, so I know prety much anything I need to say in a common conversation. To write, I use a romanji converter to get katakana and hiragana when I'm at home, and I get the kanji through a long process that isn't worth describing. But on my school computer, there's a language pack that automatically converts my phonetic writing (i.e. "atashi no namae wa...") into mixed kanji and katakana. It's possible to translate correctly with Google Translate as long as you know enough Japanese to correct any mistakes the translator gives you.


SURPRISE LESSON, EVERYONE
If you want to refer to yourself in Japanese, you have a few choices of words (along with a few you probably shouldn't use) to use in saying "I". As follows...

watashi = general word for "I", which can be used by anyone
atashi = the feminine form of "I", usually not said in formal situations. I use this one
boku = masculine form of "I", usually used for males under 25 and in any time
ore = a form used by dignified or arrogant people, or those in higher positions. Imagine Kamina from Gurren Lagann
washi = used by old people, usually not in a serious manner. I think I remember Ochanomizu using this

[Strange Wings]

But on my school computer, there's a language pack that automatically converts my phonetic writing (i.e. "atashi no namae wa...") into mixed kanji and katakana.

That's pretty close how I use to write japanese on the PC; by changing the input language on the Windows task bar.
The funny thing is, the blank key becomes sort of a hiragana-to-kanji converter. And for confirming the respective term in kanji-writing, the enter key needs to be pressed.
Oh yeah, also the 'Y' & 'Z' keys get mixed up each time I change the input area. It's fooling me all the time!

SURPRISE LESSON, EVERYONE
If you want to refer to yourself in Japanese, you have a few choices of words (along with a few you probably shouldn't use) to use in saying "I". As follows...

I think it's the same for "You", is that correct?

anata = also the general word for "You"
kimi = masculine form, used by male people among the same age
omae = slight derogative form addressing people of lower social status or younger age, nowadays frequently used only in Manga comic books or in animation (not sure of it, though).
I also heard "anta" for "you", but I wasn't yet able to determine the status of the people using it.

And yes, "washi" gets used by Ochanomizu Hakase when refering to himself. Ban Shunsaku/Higeoyaji & Saruta Hakase are using it too.
Atlas, Reno and Pluto obviously are the "ore"-type of guys.

In the 80's ep 'The Crystal Of The Desert', the little ferret guy (or whatever it is) also uses "washichi" for "I", at least if my ears prove me right about this. Do you happen to know more about that?

Here is a sentence about me in romanji in polite form: "Mai-nichi kohi-o nomimasu"

hontou desuka? watashi mo. sou****e pan to tamago wo tabemasu. (<--ack, the forum's language detector caught me! I should've known this would happen...)
私は日本語が少し分かりますよ。あなたのお勉強、しっかり楽しんで下さい。

Btw, when I presented the line "おむかえでごんす" to my japanese teacher last year, she cracked up laughing. I wonder if she recalled Tezuka's spider character.

sonicx137, if you're willing to learn Japanese on a serious level, I too strongly suggest taking a Japanese class. The internet (especially Google-transcraplation) isn't always the proper source for adapting a reasonable understanding of the language.
I started off self-studying 3 years ago, but apart from memorizing the kana writing, it didn't get me anywhere, because I couldn't maintain the staying-power for studying all by myself. I'm visiting a japanese class since a year now; and I already learned things I never would if I hadn't a professional teacher instructing me.