buonaparte Wrote:

Arupan Wrote:Some people like RTK. I don't. It's a matter of opinion.

I like Mr Heisig but I don't like his books - they're so PRIMITIVE: 古 is a tombstone, 里 is a computer, and 習う is a scary clown! I had nightmares three nights in a row when I read it.

I share Mr Heisig's religious compassion, though.
I love all my neighbours: yudantaiteki, Arupan, john555, RawToast お巡りさん and so on and on.
But if I were to trust anybody, I'd choose yudantaiteki - he's a university professor, knows hell of a lot about the Japanese language, and even plays computer games in Japanese!

I play Call of Duty in Japanese. I tell noob campers to くそくらえ all the time.

buonaparte Wrote:But if I were to trust anybody, I'd choose yudantaiteki - he's a university professor, knows hell of a lot about the Japanese language, and even plays computer games in Japanese!

Don't put blind trust in anyone; even native speakers aren't always correct about their own language. I may be a professor but that doesn't mean I know everything about Japanese -- my specialty is classical Japanese literature, not modern Japanese, and not linguistics. Of course you have to have a pretty high level of modern Japanese to do a PhD in any area of Japanese, but people like Arupan who study the modern language more specifically or are linguistics specialists will be more trustworthy in certain areas than me. I've certainly taken linguistics courses so it's not like I'm completely ignorant, but it's not something I regularly brush up on.

yudantaiteki Wrote:my specialty is classical Japanese literature, , not modern Japanese, ....

No need to be so modest, you're a classic yourself, at least around these boards.

My mother's first husband happened to be a university professor. Whenever she disagreed with Him, He would hit her with a hammar.
She learned her lesson well. 'Always put blind faith in university professors, my child, or else you'll be in deep trouble'.

Now I'm at my wit's end: should I or shouldn't I trust in university professors?

buonaparte Wrote:

yudantaiteki Wrote:my specialty is classical Japanese literature, , not modern Japanese, ....

No need to be so modest, you're a classic yourself, at least around these boards.

That's because I post too much.

Being a professor just means I've been at this a long time and they gave me a piece of paper that means "you're a big nerd who studied a lot". There's still a lot I don't know.

My point is not to put *blind* trust in anyone, or trust what they say just because of their position. If their answer to a question seems suspicious or is something you've never heard of before, or they're contradicting something else you saw/read, it's completely appropriate to question them and ask for sources. No one should interpret this as a personal insult.

This applies to everyone; even native speakers on occasion.

yudantaiteki Wrote:If their answer to a question seems suspicious or is something you've never heard of before, or they're contradicting something else you saw/read, it's completely appropriate to question them and ask for sources. No one should interpret this as a personal insult.

It's important to qualify this. Everyone knows the case of the annoying beginner who perpetually questions and nitpicks the knowledge of an expert in an obviously challenging tone. I'm talking about the difference between saying, "You left out a particle there!" and "Does there need to be a particle there?" The former is irritating and disrespectful, whereas the latter could lead to a deep discussion about formality and spoken vs. written language.

Stansfield123 Wrote:I play Call of Duty in Japanese.

By Jove, you must be good! I do envy you. Never been able to play any games in any language, let alone Japanese. Must be my brain power.