Happy 初心者

Study blog dedicaced to my daily training of Japanese. I aslo reblog ressources related to japanese learning for beginners. 14/08/15 : Started learning Hiragana

[manabitai]

[easy-japan]

[baconorigami]

Primer on Windows’ Japanese IME Pad

Since I saw some questions on @kanji-a-day ‘s blog, and since not everybody might not know about the Japanese IME Pad built into Windows, I thought I’d do a little tutorial on this nifty tool.

First, switch your language to Japanese. In case you’re missing the IME Pad tool in the language bar, follow these steps.

This is what IME Pad looks like on my Windows 7 machine. For some reason the Japanese labeling persisted here even though I switched the menu text to English…

This is what super terrible mousewriting looks like, but the system is lenient enough to see what I wanted. You can hover over the kanji in the list to get their readings, and if you click on any, it will insert it into the active document, where the blinky text insert cursor is. Yes, it will work in browser’s so dictionaries’ and Google’s search boxes can be used with this.

Yes, I’d like some sleep please…

Anyway, there’s a few more useful things built in into IME Pad, namely kanji tables based on total stroke count and based on radical stroke count.

I hope this was somewhat useful. If you have questions, feel free to message me.

[noiz]

This is my bible. Bye.

[sephielya-deactivated20161001]

Anyone else read this with the stereotypical Japanese “punk” accent?

[fangfotographie]

I didn’t just read it in the accent. I felt the accent. 

[anathemarmotqueen]

i

[kbnet]

絶対必要な単語。ｗ

Also good ones:

ざけんなよ。 zakenna yo. You gotta be fucking kidding me.

そんなばかな！ sonna baka na! That’s ridiculous!

出てけ。 deteke. Leave.

何ってたか、てめえ？特殊作戦群の卒業クラスでは一番だった俺は無数のアルカイダに反して極秘の使命に関わったし、公認キルは３００人以上なんだぞ。游撃戦兵で、自衛隊の最高の狙撃兵だ。てめえなんてありがたりの目標、それだけ。間違いない、この世に見たことない正確にぶっこわすぞ。ネットでそんな悪い口なんて許せると思うのか？考えなおせ。話しながら日本中のスパイネットワークを呼んで、IPをたどってるので、嵐のために準備を。生活と言う可哀想さの殲滅を持ってくる嵐だ。お前はもう死んでいる。 nan tte ta ka, temee? tokushu sakusengun no sotsugyou kurasu de wa ichiban datta ore wa mukou no arukaida ni hanshite gokuhi no shime ni kuwatta shi, kounin kiru wa sanbyakunin ijou na n da zo. yuugeki senbei de, jietai no saikou no sogekihei da. temee nante arigatari no mokuhyou, sore dake. machigai nai, kono yo ni mita koto nai seikaku ni bukkowasu zo. Netto de sonna waruiguchi nante yuruseru to omou no ka? kangae naose. hanasinagara nihonchuu no supai nettowaaku wo yonde, IP wo tadotteru no de, arashi no tame ni junbi wo. seikatsu to iu kawaisousa no senmetsu wo mottekuru arashi da. omae wa mou shindeiru. What the fuck did you say about me you little bitch? I graduated top of my class in the JSDF Special Forces Group, and I’ve been involved in countless secret missions against Al-Quaeda, and I have 300 confirmed kills. I’m trained in gorilla warfare, and I’m the top sniper in the entire Self Defense Force. You are nothing but just another target. Make no mistake, I’ll wreck you with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth. You think I’ll let you get away with saying shit like that on the internet? Think again. As we’ve been speaking, I’ve contacted my network of spies across Japan, and your IP is being traced, so get ready for the storm. The storm which will annihilate the pathetic thing you call your life. You’re already dead.

[japanesepod101]

Must-Know Japanese Autumn Vocabulary

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Click here to listen to the audio pronunciation!

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1. Windy -   風の強い風の強い kaze no tsuyoi

2. Cool -  涼しい suzushii

3. Sweater - セーター  sētā

4. Leaf - 葉 ha

5. Halloween - ハロウィーン Harowīn

6. Cold - 風邪 kaze

7. Rainy - 雨の ame no

8. Autumn - 秋  aki

9. Fall - 秋  aki

10. Thanksgiving -   感謝祭 kanshasai

11. Pumpkin pie - パンプキンパイ panpukin pai

12.  Long-sleeved shirt - 長袖のシャツ nagasode no shatsu

13. Chestnut - 栗  kuri

14. Autumnal equinox -   秋分 shūbun

15. Fall foliage -   紅葉 kōyō

16. Back to school - 学校に行く gakkō ni iku

17. Change of season -  季節の変わり目 kisetsu no kawarime

18. Falling leaves -  落葉 rakuyō

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Click here to access this lesson for FREE!

Here are some handy ways you can learn with the lesson:

Press the sound icon to hear each question and read along

Review all questions in a slideshow by pressing “View Slideshow”

Listen to all the questions in one lesson with “Play Audio”

Add the questions to your Word Bank or Flashcards

Print the entire list out for your personal review

Speak and master even more Japanese with our fun audio and video lessons made by real teachers. Click on “Browse Lessons” in the top menu to access our massive library. Then, start speaking minutes into your lesson.

Click here to see the Top 15 Reasons for Learning Japanese according to our listeners on Facebook!

[nihongogogo]

If you sign up to Japanesepod101 prepare for a never-ending stream of spam. They’ve got a lot of fairly decent free resources though, although I wish there was less or no incidental English chit chat. I found their stuff useful when prepping for JLPT n4 a few years back.

[deactivated-blog]

Children's Day in Japan and Koinobori Song By Namiko Abe Japanese Language Expert

Children’s Day

May 5 is Japan’s national holiday known as, Kodomo no hi 子供の日 (Children’s day). It is a day to celebrate the health and happiness of children. Until 1948, it was called, “Tango no Sekku (端午の節句)”, and only honored boys. Although this holiday became known as, “Children’s Day”, many Japanese still consider it a Boy’s Festival. On the other hand, “Hinamatsuri (ひな祭り)”, which falls on March 3rd, is a day to celebrate girls. To learn more about Hinamatsuri, check out my article, “Hinamatsuri (Doll’s Festival)”.

Families with boys fly, “Koinobori 鯉のぼり (carp-shaped streamers)”, to express hope that they will grow up healthy and strong. The carp is a symbol of strength, courage and success. Click here to learn the kanji character for, “carp (koi)”. In a Chinese legend, a carp swam upstream to become a dragon. The Japanese proverb, “Koi no takinobori (鯉の滝登り, Koi’s waterfall climbing)”, means, “to succeed vigorously in life.” Warrior dolls and warrior helmets called, “Gogatsu-ningyou”, are also displayed in a boy’s house.

Kashiwamochi is one of traditional foods that are eaten on this day. It is a steamed rice cake with sweet beans inside and is wrapped in an oak leaf. Another traditional food is, chimaki, which is a dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves.

On Children’s Day, there is a custom to take a shoubu-yu (a bath with floating shoubu leaves). Shoubu (菖蒲) is a type of iris. It has long leaves that resemble swords.

Why the bath with shoubu? It is because shoubu is believed to promote good health and to ward off evil. It is also hung under the eaves of homes to drive away evil spirits. “Shoubu (尚武)” also means, “martialism, warlike spirit”, when using different kanji characters.

Koinobori Song

There is a children’s song called, “Koinobori”, that is often sung during this time of the year. Here are the lyrics in romaji and Japanese.

Yane yori takai koinobori Ookii magoi wa otousan Chiisai higoi wa kodomotachi Omoshirosouni oyoideru

屋根より高い 鯉のぼり 大きい真鯉は お父さん 小さい緋鯉は 子供達 面白そうに 泳いでる

Vocabulary

yane 屋根 — roof takai 高い — high ookii 大きい — big otousan お父さん — father chiisai 小さい — small kodomotachi 子供たち — children omoshiroi 面白い — enjoyable oyogu 泳ぐ — to swim

“Takai”, “ookii”, “chiisai” and “omoshiroi” are I-adjectives. To learn more about Japanese adjectives, try my article, “All About Adjectives”.

There is an important lesson to learn regarding terms used for Japanese family members. Different terms are used for family members depending on whether the person referred to is part of the speaker’s own family or not. Also, there are terms for directly addressing members of the speakers’ family.

For example, let’s look at the word “father”. When referring to someone’s father, “otousan” is used. When referring your own father, “chichi” is used. However, when addressing your father, “otousan” or “papa” is used.

Anata no otousan wa se ga takai desu ne. あなたのお父さんは背が高いですね。— Your father is tall, isn’t he?

Watashi no chichi wa takushii no untenshu desu. 私の父はタクシーの運転手です。— My father is a taxi driver.

Otousan, hayaku kite! お父さん、早く来て！— Dad, come quickly!

Please check out my “Family Vocabulary” page for reference.

Grammar

“Yori （より）” is a particle and is used when comparing things. It translates into “than”.

Kanada wa nihon yori samui desu. カナダは日本より寒いです。— Canada is colder than Japan.

Amerika wa nihon yori ookii desu. アメリカは日本より大きいです。— America is larger than Japan.

Kanji wa hiragaba yori muzukashii desu. 漢字はひらがなより難しいです。 — Kanji is more difficult than hiragana.

In the song, Koinobori is the topic of the sentence (the order is changed because of the rhyme), therefore, “koinobori wa yane yori takai desu （鯉のぼりは屋根より高いです）” is a common order for this sentence. It means the “koinobori is higher than the roof.”

The suffix “~tachi” is added to make the plural form of personal pronouns. For example: “watashi-tachi”, “anata-tachi” or “boku-tachi”. It can also be added to some other nouns, such as “kodomo-tachi (children)”.

“~sou ni” is an adverb form of “~ sou da”. “~ sou da” means, “it appears”.

Kare wa totemo genki sou desu. 彼はとても元気そうです。— He looks very healthy.

Sore wa oishisouna ringo da. それはおいしそうなりんごだ。— That is a delicious looking apple.

Kanojo wa totemo shindosouni sokoni tatteita. 彼女はとてもしんどそうにそこに立っていた。— She was standing there looking very tired.

[study-ings-blog]

hello everyone! a lot of you have requested a masterpost on language learning, so here are some resources that i’ve come across and found useful, as well as some tips from me :^) hope you guys find it helpful!

apps:

tunein radio - this is a free radio app that gives you access to hundreds of radio stations from all around the world in different languages; great for improving listening comprehension skills + everyday vocabulary

anki - super super flexible + powerful flashcards tool which implements spaced repetition!!

quizlet - for on the go flashcards + other interactive games to help with memorization

memrise - offers hundreds of courses at different levels of difficulty for a huge variety of languages! 

duolingo - interactive app for grammar + vocabulary

pleco - hands down the BEST dictionary app for chinese learners

multi-language websites:

fluentin3months - language hacks!! super helpful and motivational in my opinion!

conjuguemos - for spanish, french, german, latin, italian, portuguese

languagepod101 - downloadable podcasts that teach 31 different languages from beginner conversation skills to advanced!

linguanaut - has phrases, videos + alphabets of over 50 languages

livemocha - super cool community where you can learn a new language while helping others learn your native language!

forvo - this is an AMAZING resource which has pronunciations by native speakers in basically. every language. it’s great so check it out

some tumblr resources:

list of language studyblrs from my studyblr directory!

thelanguagecommunity - this blog has sooo many helpful resources for a huge variety of languages

amazing language masterpost with dozens of useful websites for specific languages

some resources for specific languages:

(these are just on the languages that i’m learning, but i thought i’d include them anyways!)

french

french masterpost by @laprincessequietudie

bbc bitesize list for gcse french!

list of french resources including youtubers + music

50 advanced french phrases - this is so so so helpful

french compound tenses and moods

verbs cheat sheet!

pretty good explanation of qui and que (relative pronouns) 

japanese

hiragana chart - #1 priority for beginner japanese learners!

katakana chart - the other japanese alphabet for pronunciation of foreign words 

super cute writing practice for hiragana!!

and for katakana!

tofugu - an extremely extremely helpful and comprehensive guide to japanese resources + finding exactly what tailors to your needs

wanikani - i’ve been using this kanji learning tool and let me tell you it is a blessing. if you are at all interested in learning kanji please use this it’s amazing

explanation of when to use on’yomi and kun’yomi readings for kanji!

crunchy nihongo - super cute word-of-the-day blog that uses mnemonics to help you remember vocab!

nihongogo - the best japanese learning tumblr i’ve come across yet! full of amazing resources + frequent updates

master3languages - frequently posts great japanese + korean content! 

korean

learn to read korean in 15 minutes (!!!)

an ask i answered on the super super basics of learning korean

talktomeinkorean youtube channel - extremely helpful!

naver dictionary - korean to english, english to korean

master3languages - frequently posts great japanese + korean content!

how to tell the times of day/periods of time in korean

really cute website for learning korean

masterpost of korean textbooks!

memorization tips!

use mnemonics! this is what i’ve been using to learn vocabulary since day 1, it makes language learning so much more fun + easier. here is a good explanation of what mnemonics do.

use a spaced repetition system like anki which has been proven to basically be the best way to learn vocabulary for a second/third language!!

here’s a super useful introduction to different memory techniques!

make a schedule - memorizing something once won’t make it stick, you have to commit to revision

if you decide not to use anki/other spaced repetition software, set time-based targets for what you want to achieve! 

+ flashcards insp if you want to make flashcards

@studyign‘s amazing alternative to flashcards method that works miracles for anything to do with memorization

study tips:

set a target of at least 5 mins a day either reviewing past content or learning something simple with some of the apps listed above!

keep a “messy tips book” to note down any interesting information you come across on your language-learning journey/any questions you want to ask + write the answers down to later!

keep a “grammar book” - add to this as you go and it will probably help you a lot later on for revision and reference!

a phrasebook MAY be a worthy investment if you are ready to commit to actively learning from the book and make sure you’re not going to buy it to just let it sit there and collect dust

stick to one course/book at a time. there is a huge temptation to start 43 different courses at once, but this distracts you from focusing on completing + mastering the content!

immerse yourself in the language by getting into that culture’s tv shows, music, etc. you’ll probably pick stuff up along the way!

motivation for when the going gets tough:

think about being able to watch tv shows in the language without subs

have secret convos with your language friends

be able to travel to that country and get around no problem

imagine being mistaken for a native speaker!!

10 benefits of learning another language

being able to say “i self-learned ____!”

learning more languages opens up a lot more career options + makes you more in demand in the workplace!

i really hope this helped you guys! wishing you all the best in your language-learning endeavours :^)

xuanlin

[deactivated-blog]

[deactivated-blog]

[happyshoshinsha]

Ok so Memrise isn’t working anymore on my phone even with a fucking return to factory settings. I’m so mad seriously. And I can’t find anything about it on the web, I guess my phone don’t like the last update.

Anyone knowing a good alternative to Memrise ? It helped me so much learning hiragana >___< I’ve still katana to learn and with Obenkyo Only I’m not sure I will be able to learn them.

[happyshoshinsha]

On passe aux Katakana à tâtons.

[happyshoshinsha]

[happyshoshinsha]

Started learning Katakana too

[happyshoshinsha]

[learnjapanesebod]

「Japanese Phrase of the Day」 お久しぶりですね - long time no see, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?

お久しぶりですね, or more simply, 久しぶり (spoken language) ohisashiburi desu ne

お +  久し +  ぶり +  です +  ね  o (beautifier) + hisashi (”a long period of time”) + buri (”again after”) + desu + ne (sentence-ending particle to indicate emphasis, agreement, or request confirmation)

as “long time no see, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

[happyshoshinsha]

J'ai quasi tout juste... Parce que c'est du QCM =/Sans ça je fais plutôt 10 erreurs ? Je me mélange encore sur l'effet du dakuten et du handakuten.

[happyshoshinsha]

First week with Memrise !