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    Thread: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ
Post: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ

Sheetz, I do think you have a point. I was pretty chagrined by the episode with the smiling Korean women, even though they were amused by it, and after that I was more circumspect. In the next encou...
Groot General discussion 61 11,150 2010-08-02, 5:55 pm
    Thread: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ
Post: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ

Gee, I wasn't trying to be patronizing or to imply that the visitors couldn't speak English; I made it clear as quickly as I could that I just wanted to practice my Japanese. With the exception of th...
Groot General discussion 61 11,150 2010-08-02, 12:19 pm
    Thread: How to talk, when to talk.
Post: How to talk, when to talk.

Aijin, I also find your posts particularly helpful! Thanks for participating here.
Groot The Japanese language 17 5,280 2010-07-30, 1:17 pm
    Thread: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ
Post: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ

LoL, I'm glad you guys enjoyed my stories. For the record, I am on the Big Island of Hawaii, not Oahu; I come here every year. And yes, my Japanese is not good enough to carry on a particularly inte...
Groot General discussion 61 11,150 2010-07-30, 1:13 pm
    Thread: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ
Post: Embarrassing myself in ハワイ

So I’m on vacation in Hawaii, and I figured I’d try out my beginner’s 日本語 on the many Japanese people staying at my hotel. I’ve been studying at home for about nine months, but my focus has primarily...
Groot General discussion 61 11,150 2010-07-30, 4:22 am
    Thread: Finished RTK1; next step...? And a demoralizing first attempt.
Post: Finished RTK1; next step...? And a demoralizing fi...

Personally, I found Genki to be a better starting point than either Core2000 or Tae Kim, both of which are certainly useful too. But both Core and TK assume some knowledge of the language, whereas Ge...
Groot Remembering the Kanji 35 10,500 2010-07-29, 2:25 am
    Thread: After "Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar"
Post: After "Understanding Basic Japanese Grammar"

How about the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar? Or maybe a text like Genki? Or better yet, Japanese the Manga Way? I would post links but I am typing this on the beach and my net connection is ...
Groot General discussion 2 888 2010-07-27, 5:21 pm
    Thread: Good Manga Reader for iPad
Post: Good Manga Reader for iPad

Holy cow, iBunko is great! It comes with an overwhelming selection of public-domain stuff, it seems. Thanks for the suggestion!
Groot Off topic 15 12,920 2010-07-21, 1:16 pm
    Thread: Sasuga bookstore closed?
Post: Sasuga bookstore closed?

I just ran across this notice at Sasuga online bookstore -- my favorite online Japanese bookstore! 6 July 2010 Dear Friends, It is with heavy hearts that we must inform you that Sasuga Japanese B...
Groot The Japanese language 10 5,538 2010-07-21, 12:53 pm
    Thread: For those interested in a Listening-Reading Blog
Post: For those interested in a Listening-Reading Blog

Hmm, I asked earlier in the thread where I might find the Harry Potter audiobook, but no one has replied. Is Amazon.jp the only option?
Groot General discussion 358 75,073 2010-07-21, 12:50 pm
    Thread: For those interested in a Listening-Reading Blog
Post: For those interested in a Listening-Reading Blog

I own HP1 in Japanese and have read it in English more than once -- and listened to it in English, too! So I'd love to try this method with the Japanese audiobook. But where do I buy it? Is this th...
Groot General discussion 358 75,073 2010-07-21, 4:36 am
    Thread: Good Manga Reader for iPad
Post: Good Manga Reader for iPad

The iPad is a wonderful comics reader! The picture quality is superb, and the screen size is large enough so that you can really enjoy the art. But the two apps I currently use don't involve manga. ...
Groot Off topic 15 12,920 2010-07-21, 3:42 am
    Thread: Core 2000 Question... again..
Post: Core 2000 Question... again..

Arch, I'm using those step decks, and like you I only wanted two cards per word, not five. So I just suspended 3 of the 5 categories of cards. I left myself with only (1) word alone in kanji/kana on...
Groot Learning resources 4 1,185 2010-07-16, 11:46 am
    Thread: Need to Figure Out My Major.
Post: Need to Figure Out My Major.

Sounds like you have a bunch of good choices. Others have already given good advice. I'll just add: Of course you should choose something practical. But also make sure it's something you enjoy. Li...
Groot JLPT, Jobs & College in Japan 43 9,900 2010-07-12, 12:14 pm
    Thread: Let's Video Chat (9PM EST, 5/5)
Post: Let's Video Chat (9PM EST, 5/5)

I do want to try this, even though my speaking skills are terrible. I'm about to go out of town, but I could bring a headset... Ocircle, are you fluent in Japanese? Would you mind speaking with som...
Groot Group study 78 21,780 2010-07-12, 12:10 pm
    Thread: stuff ive learnt from japan
Post: stuff ive learnt from japan

Wow, you're there! I enjoyed your post, IceCream; keep 'em coming!
Groot General discussion 134 25,123 2010-07-09, 10:05 am
    Thread: Not remembering stories...
Post: Not remembering stories...

I'm not sure I'd stop new cards altogether, but maybe slow them to just a trickle. It's nice to see a couple new ones a day to keep your interest up. But yes, above all you do need to focus on visua...
Groot Remembering the Kanji 19 5,860 2010-07-08, 5:36 pm
    Thread: Benefits of RTK.
Post: Benefits of RTK.

Maybe try "Japanese the Manga Way"?
Groot Remembering the Kanji 53 12,313 2010-07-08, 10:35 am
    Thread: Benefits of RTK.
Post: Benefits of RTK.

smartazjb0y Wrote:That sounds like it could work for me. My main concern right now is grammar. I've been doing Tae Kim, but the explanations are somewhat weird, and maybe it's because it's summer, but...
Groot Remembering the Kanji 53 12,313 2010-07-07, 1:18 am
    Thread: Studying without Anki
Post: Studying without Anki

I actually made all 2000 RTK cards into paper flashcards! One thing I do like about them is that my kids can grill me. Occasionally they'll do that when we have guests, just to wow the company ("loo...
Groot The Japanese language 20 10,629 2010-07-07, 1:09 am
    Thread: Benefits of RTK.
Post: Benefits of RTK.

smartazjb0y Wrote:Just wondering, how did that work out for you, doing Genki first? I'm in the middle of doing RTK, following a guide by Nukemarine, but I also have Genki. I do like learning from text...
Groot Remembering the Kanji 53 12,313 2010-07-06, 11:22 am
    Thread: Benefits of RTK.
Post: Benefits of RTK.

I've had kinda the same experience as Oregum. I tried lots of ways to learn to recognize kanji before RtK, and none worked for me. Now I know the whole 2000-character "alphabet." But it was fun for...
Groot Remembering the Kanji 53 12,313 2010-07-05, 8:55 pm
    Thread: What is a good site for showing kanji stroke order?
Post: What is a good site for showing kanji stroke order...

I dunno, for now I'm just using Jim Breen's EDICT. I'm sure there's something better. If you "examine" a kanji, at the end of its entry, there's a link for "SOD" and "SODA". The SODA is generally b...
Groot Learning resources 7 2,377 2010-07-05, 10:58 am
    Thread: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?
Post: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?

You could try keeping all five question types. I did that for deck 6, which I started before my PC blew up, and it seemed to be moving along quickly. The nice thing about Anki is that you can boot e...
Groot Learning resources 8 6,913 2010-07-04, 1:43 am
    Thread: So is it just me or...
Post: So is it just me or...

I'm hardly an expert, but I don't think it's the end of the world if you want to substitute a Japanese keyword for one of Heisig's. In that particular example, I have both the Japanese and the keywor...
Groot Remembering the Kanji 36 9,884 2010-07-04, 1:36 am
    Thread: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?
Post: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?

Personally, I like those "individual step" decks too. If you don't like the five different formats, you can browse the cards, select those matching a particular format, and suspend them. (Or, I supp...
Groot Learning resources 8 6,913 2010-07-03, 11:41 pm
    Thread: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?
Post: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?

Arch, when I started with iKnow, I also thought it was more fun than Anki. But it gets old after a while, and you start to wish you didn't have to answer 5 questions about a word you already know wel...
Groot Learning resources 8 6,913 2010-07-03, 10:33 pm
    Thread: smart.fm closing public API
Post: smart.fm closing public API

Thanks! I think I already have tried nukemarine's deck, and while it's very handy, I don't think it includes images, does it? Also, it doesn't have the simpleone-word-only cards that you get with the ...
Groot Learning resources 25 10,143 2010-07-03, 8:10 pm
    Thread: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?
Post: core 2000... Iknow app or Anki?

I had the same question, and ultimately I chose Anki. Iknow is ok, but it's slow, and reviews are spaced in a suboptimal way. E.g., reviews for easy words are too frequent, and reviews for hard ones...
Groot Learning resources 8 6,913 2010-07-03, 8:01 pm
    Thread: smart.fm closing public API
Post: smart.fm closing public API

Ah, that makes sense. Thanks! I might try that too. The main issue for me is that lately I've been doing all my Anki reviews on the iPad, but Anki for the iPad doesn't yet support mergers and other...
Groot Learning resources 25 10,143 2010-07-03, 12:14 pm