Whatsifsowhatsit Wrote:

Musashi Wrote:Nah, we Dutch people have a talent for languages, don't worry bout losing that English ahaha

Haha, well thanks, but... I was thinking more about that I hoped that meant that a third language (such as in this case Japanese) would be easier because I'm not technically monolingual

Well easier maybe easier as in lot's of 外来語 come from English and lot's of study material is written in English, but as far as I know, no it's not easier unless you know languages like Chinese (mandarin etc.) or Korean, then it gets 'easier'. Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Musashi Wrote:Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Hey, hey! Woah! Back it up a little bit there.

We speak American on this here forum. Leave your Spanish or what not back in Spainville.

Musashi Wrote:Well easier maybe easier as in lot's of 外来語 come from English and lot's of study material is written in English, but as far as I know, no it's not easier unless you know languages like Chinese (mandarin etc.) or Korean, then it gets 'easier'. Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Well, I didn't mean because of English itself, but because of the fact that I already speak two languages, as mafried wrote. Because I already learned to learn a foreign language, or something. I dunno.
And anyway, thanks I've been learning Japanese for a couple of years, but very casually until a couple of months ago (when I started the kanji, basically). At that point I got more serious, more structured about it. You?

kazelee Wrote:

Musashi Wrote:Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Hey, hey! Woah! Back it up a little bit there.

We speak American on this here forum. Leave your Spanish or what not back in Spainville.

It's Dutch... and it was a personal comment directed at me.
And anyway, we do speak Japanese here too sometimes, a bit.

Whatsifsowhatsit Wrote:It's Dutch... and it was a personal comment directed at me.
And anyway, we do speak Japanese here too sometimes, a bit.

The Dutch must not have a word for sarcasm, or perhaps more accurately, sarchasm

sar·chasm ('sär-"ka-z&m) : The giant gulf (chasm) between what is said and the person who doesn't get it.

(Just poking fun!)

strugglebunny Wrote:

Whatsifsowhatsit Wrote:It's Dutch... and it was a personal comment directed at me.
And anyway, we do speak Japanese here too sometimes, a bit.

The Dutch must not have a word for sarcasm, or perhaps more accurately, sarchasm

sar·chasm ('sär-"ka-z&m) : The giant gulf (chasm) between what is said and the person who doesn't get it.

(Just poking fun!)

Ah, I guess you're right :') my bad. That was quite stupid at me xD it's a Japanese kanji-learning site of all things... but you know... internet, tired. Us Dutch people lived at 2:51am at that moment.

(Also, sarchasm... good find )

kazelee Wrote:

Musashi Wrote:Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Hey, hey! Woah! Back it up a little bit there.

We speak American on this here forum. Leave your Spanish or what not back in Spainville.

Aww c'mon... we're not even allowed to feel a bit homie...
If you are an American: You know how to read Burrito and Enchilada but can't tell the difference between Spanish and Dutch??
If you are not: Get that 'I-worship-America-T-shirt' outta my face ok!!
No offense though

Whatsifsowhatsit Wrote:

Musashi Wrote:Well easier maybe easier as in lot's of 外来語 come from English and lot's of study material is written in English, but as far as I know, no it's not easier unless you know languages like Chinese (mandarin etc.) or Korean, then it gets 'easier'. Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Well, I didn't mean because of English itself, but because of the fact that I already speak two languages, as mafried wrote. Because I already learned to learn a foreign language, or something. I dunno.
And anyway, thanks I've been learning Japanese for a couple of years, but very casually until a couple of months ago (when I started the kanji, basically). At that point I got more serious, more structured about it. You?

I've been studying almost 2 years now, first year in Shanghai and then I studied by myself, though sometimes being consistent proves to be quite difficult.
『困っているでしょう。』 <--- HEY WE SPEAK AMERICAN (since when do we speak 'American'???) HERE!! LEAVE THOSE CHINESE HYROGLYPHS IN CHINOVILLE!
hmm... that sounds familiar...

PrettyKitty Wrote:I live in a pretty rural area. Hicks to the north of here. Rednecks to the south. Somewhere in between is the town where I live. Not everybody is like that, but there's enough of them to ruin your day sometimes. =P

Also several women feel that as a woman your value in life is equal to whatever man you marry and everything you do is for two things: Get a man. Please your man.

Going to college? You want a smart man.
Going to college yet already married? You want to make money to give to your man.
Got a job? You want to make money to give to your man.
Got a job, but no man? You want to marry the boss.
Learning Japanese? You want to marry a Japanese man.

The second one I've heard from several people. If you can mutter out "Quisiera ir al restaurante" you are a super genius already. If you can say レストランに行きたい then your brain will explode if you learn much more. Since "learning a language" seems to mean "memorize a list of tourist book phrases" I'm obviously more than fluent already. If you are capable of saying, "Hello. My name is... I'm on vacation. Where is the bathroom? I would like a beer," in five different languages, then you KNOW five different languages.

The person that chewed me out about how it's not possible that I can know Japanese, is going to be a public school teacher... Which reminded me of why I am against the public school system... She also said she's fluent in Spanish, but can't speak it. But at least she's fluent! I'm just faking Japanese!

And don't mention you're learning or know any Spanish unless you want someone asking, "How do you say, 'Go back to Mexico!' in Spanish?"



Oh, there's another good one I've heard often for anti-learning any language (except English):
"If you already know English it's pointless to learn any other language. If you go to any foreign country, there will always be someone who can speak English to help you. And even if you speak the local language, people will still try to speak to you in English because they simply cannot believe your language skills are better than theirs or else they want to practice with you. And if you're learning so you can read books or watch movies, then there's no reason at all. Anything of any value WILL be translated. If you can name something that hasn't been translated yet, then either: a) Someone is going to translate it later; or b) It's not worthy of being translated, and it's not worth reading either."

Actually, that was from someone who spoke English as a second language and couldn't understand why people who speak it as a first language would ever want to learn any other language.

The stuff about getting a man and pleasing your man is precious. haha

bodhisamaya Wrote:I too often feel like I am studying the wrong language. Japan has the second largest economy but has been stagnant for decades and will fall as America falls. American stocks have dropped below 7,000 and are worth less now than they were 12 years ago. Most the world's leading economists have predicted our collapse for years.

China is the economy of the future and those who master it now will get a head start on everyone else. Japanese is the language of now. By the time I am fluent, it will be the language of the yesterday. Chinese is the language of tomorrow. I don't like the sound of Chinese being spoken so it is difficult for me to become motivated to put in the 30 minutes or so a day needed to build a foundation for later study. So onward with Japanese.

You see I have the perfect solution, go to University in Shanghai with your Japanese girlfriend like me, I'm sure you can pick up a fair a mount of both!

Musashi Wrote:

kazelee Wrote:

Musashi Wrote:Maar natuurlijk hangt het grotendeels van de persoon af Succes in ieder geval, btw, hoe lang ben je al bezig met leren?

Hey, hey! Woah! Back it up a little bit there.

We speak American on this here forum. Leave your Spanish or what not back in Spainville.

Aww c'mon... we're not even allowed to feel a bit homie...
If you are an American: You know how to read Burrito and Enchilada but can't tell the difference between Spanish and Dutch??
If you are not: Get that 'I-worship-America-T-shirt' outta my face ok!!
No offense though

I've been studying almost 2 years now, first year in Shanghai and then I studied by myself, though sometimes being consistent proves to be quite difficult.
『困っているでしょう。』 <--- HEY WE SPEAK AMERICAN (since when do we speak 'American'???) HERE!! LEAVE THOSE CHINESE HYROGLYPHS IN CHINOVILLE!
hmm... that sounds familiar...

Laugh stupid!

bodhisamaya Wrote:I too often feel like I am studying the wrong language. Japan has the second largest economy but has been stagnant for decades and will fall as America falls. American stocks have dropped below 7,000 and are worth less now than they were 12 years ago. Most the world's leading economists have predicted our collapse for years.

China is the economy of the future and those who master it now will get a head start on everyone else. Japanese is the language of now. By the time I am fluent, it will be the language of the yesterday. Chinese is the language of tomorrow. I don't like the sound of Chinese being spoken so it is difficult for me to become motivated to put in the 30 minutes or so a day needed to build a foundation for later study. So onward with Japanese.

I thought about it the same way too, but I can't get motivated enough for Chinese:S

undead_saif Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:I too often feel like I am studying the wrong language. Japan has the second largest economy but has been stagnant for decades and will fall as America falls. American stocks have dropped below 7,000 and are worth less now than they were 12 years ago. Most the world's leading economists have predicted our collapse for years.

China is the economy of the future and those who master it now will get a head start on everyone else. Japanese is the language of now. By the time I am fluent, it will be the language of the yesterday. Chinese is the language of tomorrow. I don't like the sound of Chinese being spoken so it is difficult for me to become motivated to put in the 30 minutes or so a day needed to build a foundation for later study. So onward with Japanese.

I thought about it the same way too, but I can't get motivated enough for Chinese:S

It think maybe because you guys just don't have enough (or not at all) interest in its culture and language. Then it feels like a drag, a must-do-just-because. See if you can find things that interest you and use that as a starting point. Your hard work will be rewarded once things start to open up to you and you find yourself understanding things in Chinese that you didn't before, just like your Japanese. Trust me, you'll be kicking yourself in the head later if you give up now and miss out on a lot. 要加油啊！

Musashi Wrote:

undead_saif Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:I too often feel like I am studying the wrong language. Japan has the second largest economy but has been stagnant for decades and will fall as America falls. American stocks have dropped below 7,000 and are worth less now than they were 12 years ago. Most the world's leading economists have predicted our collapse for years.

China is the economy of the future and those who master it now will get a head start on everyone else. Japanese is the language of now. By the time I am fluent, it will be the language of the yesterday. Chinese is the language of tomorrow. I don't like the sound of Chinese being spoken so it is difficult for me to become motivated to put in the 30 minutes or so a day needed to build a foundation for later study. So onward with Japanese.

I thought about it the same way too, but I can't get motivated enough for Chinese:S

It think maybe because you guys just don't have enough (or not at all) interest in its culture and language. Then it feels like a drag, a must-do-just-because. See if you can find things that interest you and use that as a starting point. Your hard work will be rewarded once things start to open up to you and you find yourself understanding things in Chinese that you didn't before, just like your Japanese. Trust me, you'll be kicking yourself in the head later if you give up now and miss out on a lot. 要加油啊！

HEY I've maxed out my new posts or something(or someone has a grudge and took action on my account) but hey! JGRAM's website does it contain all the grammar point one will ever need?

Yonosa Wrote:HEY I've maxed out my new posts or something(or someone has a grudge and took action on my account) but hey! JGRAM's website does it contain all the grammar point one will ever need?

If more than 5% of your posts are starting new threads, it may be time to spend more time doing searches through old threads to see if your topic has been discussed before.

bodhisamaya Wrote:

Yonosa Wrote:HEY I've maxed out my new posts or something(or someone has a grudge and took action on my account) but hey! JGRAM's website does it contain all the grammar point one will ever need?

If more than 5% of your posts are starting new threads, it may be time to spend more time doing searches through old threads to see if your topic has been discussed before.

Don't have that much time on my hands.

Yonosa Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:

Yonosa Wrote:HEY I've maxed out my new posts or something(or someone has a grudge and took action on my account) but hey! JGRAM's website does it contain all the grammar point one will ever need?

If more than 5% of your posts are starting new threads, it may be time to spend more time doing searches through old threads to see if your topic has been discussed before.

Don't have that much time on my hands.

Then keep in mind how many people are using their own time opening threads you create when a topic might have been discussed numerous times before. If other threads of interest are getting pushed off the Recent Topics page as a result, you might be creating more than a few disgruntled users who will be less likely to offer assistance when you need advise.

I've been learning Japanese casually for about the last 9 months and seriously for the last 3 after I decided to do it full time... my mum who i've told im working towards making a career out of it several times the other day asked me on the phone what im going to do with it once Im fluent... haha. I kinda had to laugh.

I've encountered mixed reactions but a fair amount of positives... haha the post about "there will always be someone in a foreign country who speaks english to help you therefore you dont need any other language" was quite classic i thought...

I live in New Zealand and there is a HUGE chinese population here so its almost like im learning the wrong language but Im not yet that interested in learning chinese yet I love Japanese so much!

^Mezbup, don't feel bad. There are truckloads of Chinese no matter what country you're in. Its surprising more people haven't started to try and learn it.

Yonosa Wrote:

bodhisamaya Wrote:I too often feel like I am studying the wrong language. Japan has the second largest economy but has been stagnant for decades and will fall as America falls. American stocks have dropped below 7,000 and are worth less now than they were 12 years ago. Most the world's leading economists have predicted our collapse for years.

China is the economy of the future and those who master it now will get a head start on everyone else. Japanese is the language of now. By the time I am fluent, it will be the language of the yesterday. Chinese is the language of tomorrow. I don't like the sound of Chinese being spoken so it is difficult for me to become motivated to put in the 30 minutes or so a day needed to build a foundation for later study. So onward with Japanese.

You see I have the perfect solution, go to University in Shanghai with your Japanese girlfriend like me, I'm sure you can pick up a fair a mount of both!

Bodhisamaya, strangely enough you have said out loud the thoughts that have been simmering in my subconscious as I learn Japanese! But I have a feeling its cyclical. A friend told me by the time anyone gets fluent in Mandarin, their bubble economy would be gone and it'll be another country that becomes an economic powerhouse. Hence its more important to just study a language of a country you're interested in.

I get called racist things by my family and most of my friends. I don't think is it wise to reproduce all the things I get called but, I would like to say they are quite funny...
"Reading Ch*nk stuff again?" by my mom, when I'm reading manga. It is hillarious because my parents rarely say bad things about people, unless those people happen to be muslims
And oh, people always go "Fluent in Chinese yet?" hehe, Im studying japanese... Japanese.

nonpoint Wrote:I get called racist things by my family and most of my friends. I don't think is it wise to reproduce all the things I get called but, I would like to say they are quite funny...
"Reading Ch*nk stuff again?" by my mom, when I'm reading manga. It is hillarious because my parents rarely say bad things about people, unless those people happen to be muslims
And oh, people always go "Fluent in Chinese yet?" hehe, Im studying japanese... Japanese.

lol I have that happen to me too... well the chinese part XD Any time we are out and my parents see kanji, they look at me and go "What does it say???" when it's usally Chinese.... now I've been studying for a little bit but Kanji isn't one of my strong points and I'm only about 300 into RTK.... so instead of trying to explain to them that I can kinda tell them what it might be about but I can't exactly read it... I just respond "I dunno, it's Chinese". ^^; But people at work always say "There she goes speaking Chinese again" when I slip and say something in Japanese... and when I say "it's Japanese not Chinese." they always say that it doesn't matter 'cause it all sounds the same.... *sigh* I've given up trying to explain.

My mother is constantly telling me "Don't overload yourself!" and every time I try to talk to her about Japanese she just says "I'm not interested in it" :/

I also get called "weeaboo" oft by my college friends.

When I'm with my girlfriend and some Japanese comes on a game we're playing or whatever she goes "What did it say what did it say?" and I'm not at a stage where I'll know :/ that feels discouraging.

Not really discouragement, but I remember sitting on a table with a Chinese student (we have many Chinese international students at my college) and doing some kanji and he just stops, stares at me and goes "Do you find that interesting?" "Yeah" "I find it so boring."

supisweetattack Wrote:and when I say "it's Japanese not Chinese." they always say that it doesn't matter 'cause it all sounds the same.... *sigh* I've given up trying to explain.

The best thing to do is just go along with it. It's what I do now. I've gotta tired of trying to tell them it's Japanese.

-So how's the Chinese coming?
-It's alright
-Can you read this?
-Not really.
-Can you understand what they say?
-Some. This shit is hard.
-Yeah I know. They got all those symbols. ching chow wai
-Heh, woah! You should never say that to someone's face.
It's like cursing out their mother.
-Ohhh...


Here's a weird convo that unfolded with my lil bro and his friends.

-Aren't you fluent in Japanese?
-Not really.
-Common be honest
-Depends on what you mean by fluent. Some people have very low standards.
- (random chime in) Can you talk it?
- Uhh Sure.
- Let me hear you say something.
- のう. (the joke goes over their heads)
- Common.
- I just did
- Common she'll give you ****-

My lil bro has some very... interesting friends. Strangely, after they left my Breaking into Japanese Literature book went missing.

I thought you were fluent kazelee

bombpersons Wrote:I thought you were fluent kazelee

Read that part carefully, and you'll get it

We get it. It was for trolling. Let's not start another flame war here, please.

Tykkylumi Wrote:I also get called "weeaboo" oft by my college friends.

I though you weren't allowed to say weeaboo off the internet. It's worse than saying 'lol'.