sup3rbon wrote:

Okay I think we should start compiling a formal list of these, because some of them are priceless.  Also it'll make me feel less guilty about buying KO2001 and then switching to pretty much only using the smart.fm lists in KO order.

We should make it into an anki deck. I'd seriously do it once I'm done with KO in a couple of weeks. I just crack up some of the sentences.

All in all KO is pretty good though. I can't decide whether or not I think it's boring or funny, entertaining or a total drag. It's a mixture of all those things. For sure I can say it's really drilling in all the JLPT3 level grammar pretty solidly. I'm starting to really get a feel for where things a used and why they do what they do to a sentence. I think that's pretty cool.

Oh god the sentence about the cold war is kinda funny. They make it sound like the cold war JUST finished.

彼と結婚することにした。でも、私の家族は彼との結婚に反対だ。

Just funny because it's a guy saying it...

"I was born in 1977. In that year, Star Wars was released."

Had to lol, that is an extremely useful sentence!

Also just noticed:

SF映画を見た。少年がタイムカプセルに乗って、１０００年後の未来に行く。
"I saw a Sci-Fi movie in which a boy rode in a time capsule and went 1000 years into the future."

What movie does this refer to?? I wonder where they got these sentences, they're pretty imaginative..

aphasiac wrote:

Also just noticed:

SF映画を見た。少年がタイムカプセルに乗って、１０００年後の未来に行く。
"I saw a Sci-Fi movie in which a boy rode in a time capsule and went 1000 years into the future."

Just realised this probably refers to Futurama!! Sweet!!

Hahaha!

I found another one... It wasn´t funny when I first read it, but now, doing my reps, I realised how STUUUPID this sentence is:

切手を貼らないで、手紙をポストに入れてしまった。
I have put a letter in the mailbox without a stamp.

From now on, when I review this sentence, I will always imagine a stupid kid with a weight problem, drooling near the mailbox!

このレコード店でCDを２枚買うと、抽選で１０人DVDプレーヤーが当たる。
Buy 2 CDs in this record store and 10 people could win a DVD player each in a lottery.

The English should read something more like:

Buy 2 Cd's in store and be into win one of 10 DVD players!

I guess that's the difference between paying attention to how a phrase is ACTUALLY used in a language and just taking a wild stab in the dark.

dawhite wrote:

I don't know about funny, but seeing "The springtime of life is only once.  However, youths are not aware of it." during your second hour of drills alone in front of your computer is certainly quite poignant.

Yes, how many people are wasting their springtime studying Japanese?

Yeah, that's got to be the worst sentence in the book but it does explain the tendency for lame business oriented sentences. (v___v)

zazen666 wrote:

Word. I tell you though, KO works no doubt. I'm about 30 pages away from finishing book 2, and I just played thru the sound novel game "いまびき草”　on wii last weekend, and could understand most of it with hardly any snags. Feels pretty good...........

I'm inclined to agree.

The bonus to having all the business and news oriented stuff in there is it rounds out your learning and you're able to understand those things which is a real bonus when you think about it.

but seriously for the purpose of reading and writing business emails? Don't make me laugh! Kanji is way to good to waste on that.

aphasiac wrote:

aphasiac wrote:

Also just noticed:

SF映画を見た。少年がタイムカプセルに乗って、１０００年後の未来に行く。
"I saw a Sci-Fi movie in which a boy rode in a time capsule and went 1000 years into the future."

Just realised this probably refers to Futurama!! Sweet!!

I dont think the authors are watching Futurama.  They seem to pic examples that most japanese people would know about.

I think that sentence refers to an older famous manga。 I think the title was 未来少年
or something like that.....

mezbup wrote:

M社は総合商社だ。石油、材木、ロケット、ワイン、あらゆる物を扱っている

M Inc. is a general trading company.  They deal with all sorts of things such as petroleum, lumber, rockets and wine.​

ROCKETS!!!????

What kind of "general trading company" is this??

lol! The best kind?

The catchphrase of the Mitsubishi corporation is 「ラーメンから航空機まで」... everything from Ramen to Aeroplanes. But if ja.wikipedia is anything to go by, 飛行機 used to refer to aeroplane parts. In particular, Missiles

Last edited by heromode (2009 September 27, 12:47 am)

In that case I'd like a cask of wine and crate of rockets!