Japanese study group

[Murieleirum]

Well, I don't follow my native social norms, so why should I follow aquired social norms 

Just kidding...

 

_{^{or am I}}

[五十嵐 美幸]

23 minutes ago, Hydroblade said:

Haha this too. I try not to use it because it sounds repetitive and because it's not really necessaru right? As long as you make clear who or what you are talking about.

If you don't specify, like in your sentences, then it's assumed you're talking about yourself?

 

About the usage of "you" then, using the name you use to call the person is accepted, right? But what about if you want to address various things about the person? Like saying "You are so and so. And i like this and that about you" Having the word "and" makes me think of そして but i feel like it wouldn't fit right...

 

Hydroさん、おはようございます。< to demonstrate the Japanese equivalent of "you." Used with last or first name depending on the relationship.

 

At work etc, it's also common address people by their title:

 

真壁会長、ちょっとよろしいでしょうか。

 

And I'm not exactly sure how you means the "You are so and so. And i like this and that about you" but if I'd be trying to confirm you are you and pay a compliment, for example, I'd say something like

 

ハイドルさんですね。プラネット羽生で、上手くいっているらしいですね。

 

You'd actually normally avoid making a direct statement about someone else if possible, but I think we talked about that before already.

[五十嵐 美幸]

13 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

Well, I don't follow my native social norms, so why should I follow aquired social norms 

Just kidding...

 

_{^{or am I}}

 

As a foreigner in Japan you can get away with it. 😅

 

Whether that leads to the impression you want to give is another question. 😛

 

[Murieleirum]

6 minutes ago, 五十嵐 美幸 said:

 

As a foreigner in Japan you can get away with it. 😅

 

Whether that leads to the impression you want to give is another question. 😛

 

 

My hopes are the same in every country and in every language: to give a honest, true image of myself and do well by others. It's true, it happens so often to me that I am perceived as too straightforward, I talk too much, my opinions are very strong. Maybe, I am interested in the Japanese culture because I feel like I can improve myself by understanding Japanese people more. Like, opposites attraction 

[五十嵐 美幸]

15 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

 

My hopes are the same in every country and in every language: to give a honest, true image of myself and do well by others. It's true, it happens so often to me that I am perceived as too straightforward, I talk too much, my opinions are very strong. Maybe, I am interested in the Japanese culture because I feel like I can improve myself by understanding Japanese people more. Like, opposites attraction 

 

Interesting idea. 😀

 

I'm not sure how helpful Japanese might be in that regard though, because the general tendency is to just shrug and put it down to "外国の方ですから。。。" 😅

 

 

[Murieleirum]

5 minutes ago, 五十嵐 美幸 said:

 

Interesting idea. 😀

 

I'm not sure how helpful Japanese might be in that regard though, because the general tendency is to just shrug and put it down to "外国の方ですから。。。" 😅

 

 

 

Hahaha, well, as long as they're not irritated by it, I guess we can talk about it in a friendly manner! 

[五十嵐 美幸]

18 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

 

Hahaha, well, as long as they're not irritated by it, I guess we can talk about it in a friendly manner! 

 

Well, some Japanese kind of "run away" when they see a foreigner but that's just because they are afraid they have to speak English. 

 

If they do talk to you in the first place, conversation usually is friendly, I think.

 

Oh and I almost forgot, there are also some Japanese you might have to beware of, who think they can speak English and want to talk to you in it... 😅

[Murieleirum]

36 minutes ago, 五十嵐 美幸 said:

 

Well, some Japanese kind of "run away" when they see a foreigner but that's just because they are afraid they have to speak English. 

 

If they do talk to you in the first place, conversation usually is friendly, I think.

 

Oh and I almost forgot, there are also some Japanese you might have to beware of, who think they can speak English and want to talk to you in it... 😅

 

Hahahaahha I always appreciate the effort, really! My biggest problem is that their accent is so strong, I often cannot understand the words they're trying to say... the other day one person was trying to explain to me that なくちゃいけません　was more 'casual' than なければならない... but you can probably guess how the word "casual" sounds in a heavy Japanese accent. Exactly. Unrecognizable 

 

I've had an italian girl (Japanese student) tell me that she didn't like Japan at all, when she went there for a year to study. She felt like no one treated her seriously and everyone "treated her like a doll" because she was a young beautiful foreigner. 

 

I didn't want to believe her - or better yet, I think her difficulties came from language and cultural differences, and NOT because Japanese people are rude with foreigners in general. Because I simply think such generalisations are always wrong - and often, you attract what you are afraid of. So, maybe she became a little paranoid because she was afraid that people wouldn't take her seriously. Honestly, to me, she seemed a little presumptuous in her behaviors and way of speaking. And presumption doesn't stand well with Japanese people, I think. So that's where her problems came from. 

[五十嵐 美幸]

For your acquaintance, it can happen that especially older people - and even more if they live in the country - unintentionally take the doll approach, especially with blue eyed, light blond foreigners, but it's easy to politely but firmly stop that. 

 

So I think you're right about it being an attitude problem.

 

As for English speaking Japanese, in the 1990s, there was actually someone who was kind of famous and dreaded, namely an old gentlemen at the Tokyo Ginza koban (police box) who was there as English translator volunteer when most koban didn't have English speakers yet.

 

Only, he had learned his English as driver for a US occupation military officer from deep rural Kentucky or so... ^^;

[Murieleirum]

44 minutes ago, 五十嵐 美幸 said:

 

As for English speaking Japanese, in the 1990s, there was actually someone who was kind of famous and dreaded, namely an old gentlemen at the Tokyo Ginza koban (police box) who was there as English translator volunteer when most koban didn't have English speakers yet.

 

Only, he had learned his English as driver for a US occupation military officer from deep rural Kentucky or so... ^^;

 

Sounds like the beginning of a horror movie (horror for language students and translators...) 

[五十嵐 美幸]

As a person, he was a nice old gentleman, very courteous and all - and, I would guess, lonely, so volunteering there gave a reason to go out and such - only his accent... ^^;

 

On top of that, if he saw a foreigner, he wouldn't let any of the younger police officers talk to them. ^^;

[axelsandwich]

I was just cleaning out my room today and found a piece of paper where I had written kanji back when I was still formally studying Japanese... seeing all of it and thinking 'once, I knew all these by memory' is both 懐かしい and a little sad  I do still have my textbook. Perhaps now that I'm on semester holidays, I will try and do some self-study in between work......  

 

The most random word I found there was 漂流者 (castaways) though LOL. Huge applause to JP speakers for being able to navigate all the difficult kanji 

[surimi]

So if I understand correctly, if I want to translate sentences such as 'It's not about me, it's about you' or 'I cannot decide, you choose' or another one where 'you' is emphasized, I just use '[name]san' etc? Not that I would be able to form such sentences yet, just asking hypothetically.

 

Question for the learners, is there any software or anything that turns kanji in forum posts into kana? I doubt it, with the multiple readings, but on the other hand, this newbie feels miserable because she can't understand half of what's being said here, knowing only a few kanji so far. Or maybe if some of the more advanced students and natives could add kana transcriptions to the senteces and words they use in their explanations, it would be much appreciated.

[axelsandwich]

5 minutes ago, surimi said:

So if I understand correctly, if I want to translate sentences such as 'It's not about me, it's about you' or 'I cannot decide, you choose' or another one where 'you' is emphasized, I just use '[name]san' etc? Not that I would be able to form such sentences yet, just asking hypothetically.

 

Question for the learners, is there any software or anything that turns kanji in forum posts into kana? I doubt it, with the multiple readings, but on the other hand, this newbie feels miserable because she can't understand half of what's being said here, knowing only a few kanji so far. Or maybe if some of the more advanced students and natives could add kana transcriptions to the senteces and words they use in their explanations, it would be much appreciated.

I usually plug my kanji into jisho.org which gives you furigana above the kanji as well as the definition. There's also an app called Imi Wa that I use on my phone which I love (but it's a little slow). I'll try and put the hiragana after my kanji use - it's so much easier to use kanji when typing so I forget haha. 

[surimi]

12 minutes ago, kaerb said:

I usually plug my kanji into jisho.org which gives you furigana above the kanji as well as the definition. There's also an app called Imi Wa that I use on my phone which I love (but it's a little slow). I'll try and put the hiragana after my kanji use - it's so much easier to use kanji when typing so I forget haha. 

 

Ok, thanks! If that's not too much bother for folks, kana equivalents would be great to have. But I'll try jisho as well. :]