Learn Japanese!

[Shin]

i am not sure what to send as a gift, any suggestions? what have any of you sent to your favorites? ideas anyone?

A plane ticket to L.A. from Japan. (of course, one-way ticket so that she can't go back to Japan. hehe )

[CDevil]

My sister bought me this guide to reading and writing Japanese a few months ago, and it has "the 1006 essential characters arranged by grade" and "the 1945 general use characters arranged by stroke order". I was just wondering how I should go about trying to learn these (like how do they teach in school, how many do they learn in one year etc). I'm pretty sure I won't be able to learn Kanji like Hirangana and Katakana, since there's over a 1000. I'll be sure to check out the websites mentioned in this thread

Speaking of which, I haven't forgotten about it, but I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what to say. I have a draft and I HATE it. It sounds totally generic and lifeless. Not exactly the kind of message I want to convey to someone with the title of Genking.

You could talk about yourself and how you got into AKB48, and from there say how Sae became your favourite etc. If you just speak the truth there's no way it can be lifeless, although being too truthful might scare her if you say you watch her private video over and over again or something like that lol. I think the girl's seem to like letter's that help them cheer up, so a lot of words of encouragement might be good. Also a picture says a thousand words, so you might want to send a picture of something too if you can't think of anything to say. I have no idea about this but the agency might remove personal photos of people, I don't know but it's a possibility.

again, thanks for the info. i am not sure what to send as a gift, any suggestions? what have any of you sent to your favorites? ideas anyone?

You could always do some research and find out what sort of things the girl likes, and send that. Or since you live in a different country, try and send something that would be hard for them to get (e.g. I'm sure they have loads of plush toys already, so you can send something more original like erm...I don't know...a souvenir from Universal studios lol?)

[Tatami Mats]

As for studying the kanas, it took me about 1 week to memorize all of them. It shouldn't take much longer than that.

As for Kanji, are you in Japan right now? What I found worked REMARKABLY well for me is to learn all the radicals first, then learn the other kanjis. Everything will make more sense if you can recognize the more complicated kanjis are nothing more than combinations of the smaller, easier kanjis you already know. Also, the first few grades present most of the radicals and other kanjis that you will see later on, so it is a very useful building block (and no surprise that that's the way they teach their children)

Being in Japan gives you so much more exposure to them and you can find out which ones you will need and which ones you don't. For example if you are in America, you don't know which ones are important and which ones are barely used. Here, if I keep seeing a kanji and I don't know what it is, I will cycle through my flashcards of 2000 kanji I have until I find it and then I'll memorize it. Other kanjis I just skip because I never see them or use them (the one of cotton and smallpox are two that come to mind -- now I acidentally know them because of it).

With that way, you'll end up learning kanji that are important and valuable, and saving time learning bogus ones nobody will really ever use. Depending on your devotion and motivation will determine how many you can read.

[CDevil]

As for Kanji, are you in Japan right now?

Yes. I am in Japan right now.

By yes I mean no.

What I found worked REMARKABLY well for me is to learn all the radicals first

When you say radicals, do you mean the more complex ones? Kanji in general is really too complex for me, with each having different readings, loads of strokes etc etc. Are you learning to write them as well or just read them?

Thanks a lot for the advice

[qilver]

You could always do some research and find out what sort of things the girl likes, and send that. Or since you live in a different country, try and send something that would be hard for them to get (e.g. I'm sure they have loads of plush toys already, so you can send something more original like erm...I don't know...a souvenir from Universal studios lol?)

thanks for the ideas, i will definitely look into it, I am sure Mariko-sama will like a souvenir like that. I have to get to know her more, thru her profile, and watching her videos...too bad i couldn't read her blog and know directly what she likes, and what her personality is like.

are you in Japan right now? i read another post, and you said you were, ...do you live there, or vacationing there?

[Tatami Mats]

When you say radicals, do you mean the more complex ones? Kanji in general is really too complex for me, with each having different readings, loads of strokes etc etc. Are you learning to write them as well or just read them?

Thanks a lot for the advice

I've never tried to, but I would guess I am able to remember how to write about 700 of the ones I can read.

Radicals meaning...these:

言　is the kanji for word or saying something. This kanji, when used as a radical, usually has the meaning of dealing with speech, words, or language. Example of the radical used in other kanji:

語 uses the original character above to form "go," or language

議 uses the original character to form "gi," or discussion

謙 uses the original character to form "ken" in the noun "kenson" which means humility/modesty.

Therefore, when I say that kanji are combinations of smaller ones, you can get a pretty good idea of the meaning even if you don't know how to read it. Then when I see one I don't know the reading of, but understand the separate parts, I can make a guess. Ex: "Okay, that part is the kanji for responsibility, that is the part for money, and that is the part for box. Hmm...probably has something to do with saving money?" Instead of seeing 20 different strokes, you see the individual pieces of the puzzle together.

[CDevil]

^Thanks, I never knew about that

How do you guys type Kanji, hiragana and katakana on the computer?

are you in Japan right now? i read another post, and you said you were, ...do you live there, or vacationing there?

Sorry I was only joking about being in Japan lol.

[qilver]

^Thanks, I never knew about that

How do you guys type Kanji, hiragana and katakana on the computer?
Sorry I was only joking about being in Japan lol.

been there before? perhaps next year, you'll visit the AKB48 theater, and souvenir section, it was an awesome feeling being there!

how many keys for kanji on the computer keyboard, aren't there thousands of kanji, and just 48 each of hiragana and katakana?

i should continue my self studies on Hiragana strokes, but hard to be self-motivated without some cute japanese girl to tutor me, Mariko? Rina-chan?

[Tatami Mats]

how many keys for kanji on the computer keyboard, aren't there thousands of kanji, and just 48 each of hiragana and katakana?

Well yeah, that's the problem. Japanese keyboards are REALLY big because they have so many kanji.



Just kidding.

For Japanese on a keyboard.

Let's say I want to write the word for personality (seikaku). I would type it out exactly like that in English.

Type, s-e, and the character せ appears. So, s-e-i-k-a-k-u would come out as せいかく. It will also be underlined by the computer, and if you hit the "down" arrow, a list of different kanjis come up, all with the reading せいかく

The first few that come up on my screen are:

性格 personality

正確 accurate/punctual

政客 politician

製革 tanning/treating (for leather) The two characters there are industry/production and leather

So, you have to choose the appropriate kanjis that you want. Once you do, you hit "enter" and it replaces the hiragana on the screen with the kanji. It is as simple (or difficult, if you don't know the correct kanji) as that!

[qilver]

awesome, thanks for the info.
just knowing where to begin can sound tough, but i figure i would start again on Hiragana, i bought a book on hiragana and the strokes way back, i am trying to memorize the characters and some of the simple strokes. I am not even thinking of kanji, or even katakana yet.

[Gloworm]

awesome, thanks for the info.
just knowing where to begin can sound tough, but i figure i would start again on Hiragana, i bought a book on hiragana and the strokes way back, i am trying to memorize the characters and some of the simple strokes. I am not even thinking of kanji, or even katakana yet.

Katakana's symbols are almost the same as hiragana just with smaller stokes and angled corners... Some people think kata is easier to learn than hira. But I learned hiragana first also

[keiti]

me too I learned hiragana first but I think katakana is more difficult than hirangana have a lot of symbols are almost the same the only difference is the angle

[Shin]

there will be more chance to use Hiragana than Katakana, so I think learning hiragana first is better.

[Kyobu]

I wasn't sure where to ask this, but I think I'll get the best reply here.

I just wanted to ask, what is normally said when Natsu Mayumi gives a speech to the girls during most making-ofs? Why do most members cry?

Also, during the ~MC~ in both AKB48 concerts, what is the guy shouting when Haruna says her little bit?

[qilver]

there will be more chance to use Hiragana than Katakana, so I think learning hiragana first is better.

thanks for the advice! i will continue on my hiragana.

one incentive, motivation is to learn how to read the hiragana on these interviews from gravure idol/AKB48 magazines, not sure where to begin. Also with the kanji in the mix, it might make it much tougher to translate word for word. It might take hours to decipher/translate into Romanji characters just for a small paragraph. Any suggestions on reading it. I suppose i should try to memorize and practing the hiragana strokes, even before trying to translate character by character on a japanese interview on paper.

[Shin]

I just wanted to ask, what is normally said when Natsu Mayumi gives a speech to the girls during most making-ofs? Why do most members cry?

During practice, she often says,
"You guys are too optimistics. If you make the same effort as others do, you can't survive. You guys are lucky. Lots of great staff is working for you. You have no problem with foods. So what you have to do to reward for them? You must show your best on stage. And to show your best, you must practice really hard."
"For what purpose do we have a rehearsal? Not for staff, but for you to get a chance (to make your dream come true). Even if your position is not center, audience can see your performance. If you slack off, you'll lose your chance. Performing at center is not everything. So do your best."

Just before stage/concert, she often says,
"Don't worry if you make a mistake. You guys have been working so hard. So if you show the audience what you have been doing, you must be OK."

Also, during the ~MC~ in both AKB48 concerts, what is the guy shouting when Haruna says her little bit?

That guy is called "こじはるおじさん (Kojiharu-Ojisan)" and he is one of the most famous fans.
He always shouts something during Kojiharu's MC.
I heard he missed only one show during Team A 1st - 4th stages.

Anyway, what he shouted in concerts are:

In first concert Normal version, he said "はるなちゃん! AKB48 ??? (Haruna-chan! AKB48 blurblurblur)". Sorry I can't hear what he said after "AKB48".

In first concert Shuffle version, he said "はるなちゃん! ファーストコンサートおめでとう! (Haruna-chan! Congrats on your first concert!)".

In the latest concert, he said "はるなちゃん! がんばってよ! (Haruna-chan! Ganbatte!)"

Any suggestions on reading it. I suppose i should try to memorize and practing the hiragana strokes, even before trying to translate character by character on a japanese interview on paper.

I think at least you should master Hiragana and Katakana first.
It will not take much time to master them.
Then you should start reading books.
Maybe, picture books for children is good to start with since they don't have difficult kanjis.
Then you should shift to Mangas. The reason I recommend you to read manga is that Manga has pictures. So even if you can't read some words, you can tell what it means from pictures and story.

[Kyobu]

^ Thanks a lot Shin! That guy's so hardcore, he's awesome.

[keiti]

Any suggestions on reading it. I suppose i should try to memorize and practing the hiragana strokes, even before trying to translate character by character on a japanese interview on paper.

after memorize hiiraganas and katakanas you can try to read kanjis I use jpop musics's lyrics to learn kanjis.
I listen to the music and try to understand the spelling of the kanji than I search in the dictionary.after you see the kanji some times you learn the meaning.

Then you should shift to Mangas. The reason I recommend you to read manga is that Manga has pictures. So even if you can't read some words, you can tell what it means from pictures and story.

I suggest shoujo manga because they have the hiragana read of the kanji in the top of the kanji

[qilver]

i have a question, when japanese people list there name, whether they are listed in a magazine, for our AKB girls, they list their name, i usually see it as Kanji characters, now is this more common, or the common choice versus using hiragana? just wondering, again thanks for the advice/info.

[Shin]

I suggest shoujo manga because they have the hiragana read of the kanji in the top of the kanji

I think not only shoujo mangas but most mangas have kana reading next to kanji.

i have a question, when japanese people list there name, whether they are listed in a magazine, for our AKB girls, they list their name, i usually see it as Kanji characters, now is this more common, or the common choice versus using hiragana? just wondering, again thanks for the advice/info.

It's more common to list name in kanji. I think it's rare to do it in hiragana or katakana.

[Tatami Mats]

It's more common to list name in kanji. I think it's rare to do it in hiragana or katakana.

Do you know what miiichan's first name in kanji is?

[Shin]

Her first name is in hiragana, so she doesn't have kanji in her first name.

[Tatami Mats]

So some Japanese people's names just don't have readings in kanji? It is always/will always be in hiragana?

[Shin]

^ Yes. Some people have their name in only hiragana/katakana and no kanji.

[qilver]

It's more common to list name in kanji. I think it's rare to do it in hiragana or katakana.

yeah, i see that. While i flip thru some of my gravure idol magazines, i do notice that most of the girls have their names listed in Kanji, but every now and then, i see the hiragana characters, or what seems to be a combination of the two kinds of characters, hiragana/kanji.
thanks for explanation on it.