EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

[community.japanese]

ec2953　さん、
今日は。
そうですか。素晴らしい志ですね。
You have a strong desire to study Japanese.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[ec2953]

Hello Yuki Sensei !

Well, it would be a pity to give up after going so far ^^

Everyone, hang in there !

[ec2953]

March 2nd, 2015

I haven't been posting my progress on the podcast lessons so far, because of the tremendous amount of time I have to spend with the Shinkanzen grammar book (N3) which I find tough and subtile but excellent and of course with all these time-consuming-non-Japanese-related stuffs. So this is how it goes right now:

PLAN

1) I am done with slightly over 50% of the book (phew !) and will tell you guys my score on the grammar-related mock exam that is included.

2) I will keep listening and mow down the Japanesepod101 lessons one by one as usual, to practice my listening skills and to learn new extremely interesting vocabulary words as usual. Some people online feel that the Lower Intermediate Series roughly covers the N3 program (I will tell you guys what I think when I'm done with them) and that the Upper-Intermediate Series are closer to the N2 in terms of grammar although some N1 items might also be included.

3) After I have dealt with the Kanzen N3 Grammar book, I will review the vocabulary that is inside and try to learn some sentences that I find very peculiar in terms of structure or use (Japanese grammar is way more subtile than what I though. We begin laughing and end up crying).

4) I will then keep on going with the Kanzen N3 Listening book until I'm done, while starting to learn the vocabs that are in the N2 vocabulary books I previously purchased.

5) After I become more confident with the required number of words for the JLPT N3 I master, I will start practicing from time to time the Kanzen N2 Reading book in order to be sure to be able to ace the N3 reading section.

6) I will try to find some mock exams for the N3 and once I complete them I will try to see where I am in the N2 level and start reading the Shinkanzen N2 Grammar book.

7) Of course, I will do my best to finish the Japanesepod101 Beginner / Lower Intermediate Series as fast as I can so I can start thinking about the Intermediate lessons.


Where I currently am with the JP101 podcasts:

Beginner Season 1

170 (Complete - Review needed)

Beginner Season 2

28 (~1)

Lower Intermediate Season 1

19 (~6)

Japanese For Everyday Life Lower Intermediate

Well, I listened to 5 of the lessons, but I don't think I remember much so far, so I will not count them in

[ec2953]

Well, that's crazy, I recently had en entire free day and spent it studying Japanese ...

And ended up looking about 200 words up in the dictionary

Can we say that I'm starting to become a Japanese language geek? lol

[community.japanese]

ec2953 san,
こんにちは。
毎日がんばっていますね。
Yes, we can say　 you are a Japanese language geek.
However, I think scholars and professors are kind of geeks, too.
Don’ you think?

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[ec2953]

Hello Yuki Sensei !

Well, I think we can certainly say so for some people, as long as they (we) love what they are doing =D
We all are maybe some kind of "geeks" to some certain extent for something, and I truly believe this is what makes the world moves among other things ! Passions, hobbies, competition, curiosity, thirst for knowledge, progress ...
When it comes to me, I am actually spending more time studying Japanese than usual when I have some extra spare time because I will become very soon extremely busy preparing for a professional examination that requires reading and digesting about 3500 pages. I know that I won't have that freedom to study that beautiful language as much as I want anymore.

But yeah, I know this might sound crazy to some of you, but I actually really enjoy learning Japanese ! It's like a new hobby to me now ! Although I don't have the chance to use it very much at all in my daily life (I am not in Japan and I don't have the required level to speak it well with Japanese people I meet in the city), I hope this might change once I become more confident in my skills and knowledge regarding the language. I actually would love to be able to read more stuffs like news, novels and so on in Japanese ! I'd love to understand your shows and TV shows, but also to be able to understand anything from manga/anime to complicated debates =D (Yeah, like many of us I would say?)

Sensei, what makes you want to teach and help us? Without you all, my motivation wouldn't be as strong as today !

Anyways, every time I feel I am making some progress, every time I would smile

[ec2953]

みんなさん、こんにちは！
Hi everyone !

これから、どんどん日本語で作った言葉や文や表現なんてってやつをだんだんメッセージにいれるようにします。
From now on, I will do my best to gradually include Japanese words, phrases and expressions in my messages.

そうしたら、もしかするといつの間にかそのうちもっと上手になるの可能性になるかもしれないのではないだろうか。
If I do so, I think that there might a chance that I become better the sooner or later without realizing it.

そのため、今から最後にかけてこういう方法を使うことにします。
For that reason, I am deciding to use this method from now on until the end.

しかし、それはそうとして、必ず直前の約束を守れることとは限らないのです。
However, be that as it may, I cannot categorically promise that I will be able to keep the aforementioned promise for sure.

あるの間違いをどうか直していただきたいのですが。

Could you please correct my mistakes, should there be any.

Thanks !

Ed

[community.japanese]

Ed さん、
こんにちは。
本当に毎日勉強していて素晴らしいですね。
You study Japanese every day so you are wonderful.
You used conjunctions so that’s good.

However, please note some corrections below.
Firstly, you have to choose politeness level before writing for example, です、ます　or　である　であろうか or だ、る.
If you use several in one article, Japanese native speakers are uncomfortable which means they don’t understand the relationship between you and them. close friend? Not so close???
Consequently once you use ます and です, you should keep using it.

The first sentence,
Do you want to use　なんて？
なんて indicates disgust, contempt, or otherwise negative feelings of the speaker.
やつ also has low politeness level and indicates rough.
Therefore, I think you don’t need to use that.
And you used two adverbs, どんどん and だんだん, which show speed.
Nevertheless, you use only one verb いれるようにします so readers are a bit confused.
Rapidly? or gradually?
If you don’t want to put those nuance I recommend you to say,
これから、どんどん日本語で作った言葉や文や表現をメッセージにいれるようにします。
。
The second sentence,
I think you tried to use many grammar points here. But it has too many and doesn’t tell what you want to say at all. So, how about this sentence below?
そうしたら、もしかするといつの間にかそのうちもっと上手になるかもしれません。

The third sentence
Simply だから、今から最後にかけてこの方法を使うことにします is good.

The forth sentence,
Nearly.
しかし、それはそうとして、必ず上で言った約束が守れるとは限らないのです。

The last
間違いがあるかどうか直していただきたいのです。Or
間違いがあったら直していただけますか。

Edさんは絶対に日本語が上手になりますよ。You will definitely improve you Japanese.

Yuki　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[community.japanese]

Ed さん、
こんにちは。
Regarding the post one before,
The main reason why I teach and help learners is that I can learn the Japanese language and culture, customs and so on more.
I also learn many things from learners, which I haven’t realized yet.
Those are really interesting for me.
Furthermore, I can compare Japanese and other languages and find differences and similarities.
Moreover, when I answer questions and explain the Japanese language, it makes me understand it more clearly.
Although I also like learning languages, I am not a quick learner. I have been struggling with learning languages so I can understand other learners’ feeling and frustration.
Therefore, even if it’s hard for Japanese language learners to memorize Japanese words, kanji and so on or to express their thoughts in Japanese, I can be patient and wait for them.

Yuki　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

[ec2953]

Hello Yuki Sensei !

Thank you for your sincere replies, as always !

I will bear in mind what you said =)

I have a little question regarding the last part "間違いがあるかどうか直していただきたいのです".

Is かどうか a set (meaning: whether), or is it 間違いがあるか、どうか。。。 (is there any mistake, please ...).
If don't really understand the construction or the translation of this sentence !

Haha =(

Thanks !

[ec2953]

Regarding your last post, I think you are right !

I wouldn't naturally have had asked myself about the reasons why my mother tongue is constructed as such if no foreigner ver asked me some specific questions about some vocabulary or obscure grammar points.

I am also always surprised that sometimes I feel like some foreigners would know much more about my own country's history or culture than myself !
This reminds me of the former French president Jacques Chirac who was extremely fond of Japan and everything about it. It seems that he was feared by some Japanese politicians because he would throw around a bunch of very precise or culture-related questions that no one would be able to answer at once without the help of Wikipedia

It appears to me that the Korean language is very similar to the Japanese one when it comes to grammar. As for Chinese characters, well, we know the music.
What also surprised me is that it seems German is closer to your language than one would think.
There's also some English words that might actually come from Japanese, I just noticed ...
For instance, I believe rickshaw stems from 人力車 (jin-rikisha) or simply 力車！Funnily enough, リキシャ is in Katakana ^^

In my sense, the Japanese language is heavily focused on politeness and on self-blaming. I mean, for example, that in many cases the Kanji in some words are very explicit:

ありがとう　＝　有難う = thanks, thank you
有: to have 難: difficult
So, thank you would mean that you troubled someone (so you are grateful)

Another example:
怪我（けが）= wound
In Chinese, this would be translated as: This is my fault.
Some if someone is hurt, it would be his fault? Well, I don't know ...

There are many other expressions or words, I am sure, that have some similar "ideology" behind them.

That being said, learning a foreign language is not easy at all, it is indeed very difficult. It depends on so many factors, and I believe that motivation and methodology are some of the most crucial elements.
When something doesn't work or could be improved, just change it ! I think it is good to sometimes create different routines, otherwise one would get bored or the brain would burn-out. It could be compared with a sport, maybe ^^

I sincerely hope that you will be able to be fluent in the languages you like !

一生にがんばりましょう！

And also, also also, thank you again so much for your time and consideration. This is so huge !
It also reminds me of Natsuko Sensei who is also very dedicated and helpful =)

有難う！

[ec2953]

Okay, this is the #101 post of the thread.

I started to use some vocabulary and grammar points from the JLPT N3. Although I am far from mastering everything from N5 to N3, nonetheless i began the Lower Intermediate level series, I think I should change a little bit the title of this thread (Beginner -> Lower Intermediate).

But it seems there is no way to edit the name of the thread. I don't want to confuse Absolute Beginners who might be interested in it.

Therefore, should I start a new topic in the forum? Or stick to this one?

Thanks !

---

UPDATED PLAN:

I finally finished reading and answering to all the questions from the 新完全マスター (文法）N3 - Shinkanzen Master (Grammar) N3.
I still have the mock exam to do, but I will only do so after a review of everything.
In addition, I added about 800+ new words from the book in my dictionary and bookmarked them for my flashcards. I haven't seem them appearing on Japanesepod101.com so far (at my current level).

This is really intense ...

[community.japanese]

Ec2953 san,
こんにちは。
分かりました。「あるかどうか」ですね。
Plain form＋かどうか means “whether the verb or not.”
For example,
今日の晩ご飯を家で食べるかどうか知りたい。
I want to know whether you need dinner or not at home.
明日出かけるかどうか迷っています。
I am thinking whether I will go out or not.

Regarding your enthusiasm of language learning,
I am impressed by that.
You already seemed to know about the Japanese language and culture than some native Japanese speakers
Is that a pun?
一緒に頑張りましょう。Let’s study together.
一生頑張りましょう。Let’s study all our lives.

Yuki　由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com