Using Japanese to learn other things?

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Reply #1 - 2010 March 09, 8:45 am
dante_gabriel New member
From: b'ham uk Registered: 2009-08-14 Posts: 1

I got hold of a copy of アシモフ雑学コレクション almost by accident in japan, and recently started adding random trivia from it into anki, and have found it a good way to make anki more interesting- not only am i learning new japanese, I am also learning odd facts about the world from it.

I wondered if anyone else had had any luck with this sort of thing, where Japanese becomes the medium for other learning, rather than the subject of study itself?

R

Reply #2 - 2010 March 09, 8:56 am
Rekkusu Member
From: Kyoto Registered: 2009-07-12 Posts: 172

A classmate of mine reads game design books in 日本語, I plan to do the same for 人工知能 (AI) once my Japanese gets to a decent enough level to read books wink.
Iirc, khatz also read programming books and API's, etc, in japanese during his study.

Reply #3 - 2010 March 09, 9:01 am
Evil_Dragon Member
From: Germany Registered: 2008-08-21 Posts: 683

Sure, I'm learning Korean in Japanese. wink

Also, in my dorm there was a guy who frequently read Japanese books on mathematics.

Last edited by Evil_Dragon (2010 March 09, 9:03 am)

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Reply #4 - 2010 March 09, 9:09 am
Babyrat Member
From: UK Registered: 2008-10-07 Posts: 144

When I get to a better level I will be studying 日本史 in 日本語 which I'm really looking forward to as It will be build my vocab very nicely.

Reply #5 - 2010 March 09, 9:17 am
Asriel Member
From: 東京 Registered: 2008-02-26 Posts: 1343

does reading about the smart.fm API in Japanese count?
Because if it does, then I'm learning that through Japanese...despite there being an english version as well

Reply #6 - 2010 March 09, 9:45 am
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

I learned Ruby from the original Japanese text by the creator.

Reply #7 - 2010 March 09, 9:46 am
hereticalrants Member
From: Winterland Registered: 2009-10-23 Posts: 289

Using Japanese to learn other things?

No duh.

There's no point in knowing a language if you don't use it, and in terms of learning the language quickly, it is a waste of time to study other things via anything other than the target language.

Reply #8 - 2010 March 09, 4:03 pm
mullr Member
Registered: 2005-10-30 Posts: 67

I tried to read "Javascript: the good parts" in Japanese, but it didn't go well.  I was able to understand stuff, but the trouble was that I really needed to know what was in that book quickly.  After spending about a week of my own time going through it page by page, I eventually got the english version and read the whole thing in an hour. :-/

Reply #9 - 2010 March 09, 4:26 pm
jettyke Member
From: 九州 Registered: 2008-04-07 Posts: 1194

I am trying to learn about architecture in japanese

made a thread here:

http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?pid=95507#p95507

Reply #10 - 2010 March 09, 4:29 pm
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

jettyke wrote:

I am trying to learn about architecture in japanese

made a thread here:

http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?pid=95507#p95507

That's sorta amusing, my friend is going to Japan on a 3 year stipend to study Architecture in Japanese. ^^

Reply #11 - 2010 March 09, 5:36 pm
jpkuelho Member
From: Brazil Registered: 2009-04-07 Posts: 54

I bought a book about playing the bass and other about song writing in japanese
pretty nice

Reply #12 - 2010 March 09, 5:51 pm
yudantaiteki Member
Registered: 2009-10-03 Posts: 3619

hereticalrants wrote:

Using Japanese to learn other things?

No duh.

There's no point in knowing a language if you don't use it, and in terms of learning the language quickly, it is a waste of time to study other things via anything other than the target language.

I guess I consider it more of a waste of time to use a second language to learn something that you could learn perfectly well, if not better, in your native language.  I view my Japanese ability as something to use to enjoy/learn things that I wouldn't be able to otherwise.

Reply #13 - 2010 March 11, 4:03 pm
chamcham Member
Registered: 2005-11-11 Posts: 1444

You can also use Japanese to learn Japanese....lol....

A good book that I found is the official textbook for the Nihongo Kentei Shiken (it's like the JLPT but it's aimed for native Japanese speakers). The exam even covers keigo.

I have the beginner level book (5-kyuu and 6-kyuu).

Something that I like about the textbook is that it's not formatted like a typical textbook (with patterns and exercises). It reads more like a novel with examples spread out within the paragraphs. The style of writing reminds me of "Making Sense of Japanese", but without the humor. It almost feels like someone is sitting next to you talking about japanese grammar in practical, very easy to understand language, without getting crazy about the nitty-gritty details.

Great for learning the Japanese needed to ask people about using grammar in hypothetical situations.

Beginner (敬語, 文のきまり, いろいろな言葉, 言葉の意味, 書き表し方, 漢字):
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/guest/c … amp;LANG=J

Intermediate (敬語, 文法, 語彙, 言葉の意味, 表記, 漢字):
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/guest/c … amp;LANG=J

Advanced (敬語, 文法, 語彙, 言葉の意味, 表記, 漢字):
http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/guest/c … amp;LANG=J

The books are relatively short (150-170 pages) with maybe 30-40 of those being grammar and kanji guides in the back of the book.

And unlike the JLPT guides, these books are aimed at native Japanese speakers.

Speaking of languages, does anyone know any good Japanese books for learning Korean?

Thanks.

Last edited by chamcham (2010 March 11, 4:48 pm)

Reply #14 - 2010 March 11, 4:48 pm
ruiner Member
Registered: 2009-08-20 Posts: 751

I think it's worthwhile to use the L2, at various stages, to learn other things, because that info-seeking can be a motivational tool and a recreational one (I know I prefer nonfiction to fiction, in general... I once spent a year trying to read a new book each day, and 2/3 was 'elective' nonfiction... after summer vacation was over, I ended up only reading the equivalent to 4-5/week, and I retained a relative fraction compared to if I hadn't given myself a deadline, but it was so worth it--but I digress, this relates to my info-processing vs. info-retention pet theories that I've since conflated in Anki).

For the more functional, intermediate to advanced stages, there's also the differing perspectives, in some fields, that you can only really access in the target language. That's one of my main purposes for learning multiple languages. For example, I have an interest in a particular country's particular area of history, and after a certain amateurish period of research+paper-writing, I grew tired of only accessing secondary sources, or relying on whatever some other researcher decided to find and translate for me (I consider a translation of a primary source to be a secondary source regardless, as there is a mediator (or more) interjecting their own interpretation(s), however closely they attempt to adhere to the original). History's just one example, I can think of equivalents in other fields, and ironically it's our growing 'connection' and translation abilities online that gives us this 'negative knowledge' of what we don't/can't know, but we know it's out there, 'in the raw'...

Have you seen those マンガでわかる books? The Manga Guide to Statistics, Molecular Biology, Physics, etc...

http://www.kenleewrites.com/2010/03/man … books.html
http://timmaughanbooks.com/2009/06/07/t … 09-review/

Last edited by ruiner (2010 March 11, 5:12 pm)

Reply #15 - 2010 March 11, 5:30 pm
Jarvik7 Member
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

mullr wrote:

I tried to read "Javascript: the good parts" in Japanese<snip>

It must be a short book! harhar

</obligatory>

Reply #16 - 2010 March 11, 9:09 pm
chamcham Member
Registered: 2005-11-11 Posts: 1444

Jarvik7 wrote:

mullr wrote:

I tried to read "Javascript: the good parts" in Japanese<snip>

It must be a short book! harhar

</obligatory>

Shouldn't it be:


<obligatory>

It must be a short book! harhar

</obligatory>


:-)

Reply #17 - 2010 March 11, 9:25 pm
ruiner Member
Registered: 2009-08-20 Posts: 751

Since I'm OCD, I'm going to have to go through all my /(insert action here) statements and add opening tags or whatever. Thanks J7 and chamcham. sad

Last edited by ruiner (2010 March 11, 9:25 pm)

Reply #18 - 2010 March 12, 1:47 am
Jarvik7 Member
From: 名古屋 Registered: 2007-03-05 Posts: 3946

Obligatory's opening tag isn't obligatory. Read the errata.

Reply #19 - 2010 March 12, 4:10 am
Tobberoth Member
From: Sweden Registered: 2008-08-25 Posts: 3364

Jarvik7 wrote:

Obligatory's opening tag isn't obligatory. Read the errata.

Yeah. Same with </sarcasm> and the special case of </life> on a gravestone.

Reply #20 - 2010 March 12, 9:23 am
Thora Member
From: Canada Registered: 2007-02-23 Posts: 1691

Tobberoth wrote:

the special case of </life> on a gravestone.

haha. Reminded me of Ozu's gravestone which has only 無.

I sometimes wish </sarcasm> were obligatory. :-) 
(btw, I copied that from you guys  - am I meant to use the < >s?  And what's != ? not?)

Reply #21 - 2010 March 12, 1:00 pm
Rekkusu Member
From: Kyoto Registered: 2009-07-12 Posts: 172

@Thora != is a programming operator, meaning "is not equal to".
I.e:
if (sex != girl) {
    // Some code for the guys' only yikes
} else {
    // Girly code
}

The <> and </> tags are used to define html stuff, btw tongue

Reply #22 - 2010 March 12, 3:55 pm
ta12121 Member
From: Canada Registered: 2009-06-02 Posts: 3190

Using japanese to learn other things shouldn't be used. Well only until you've mastered japanese to the point where you can use it at ease and understand it with ease.

Reply #23 - 2010 March 12, 8:02 pm
ruiner Member
Registered: 2009-08-20 Posts: 751

ta12121 wrote:

Using japanese to learn other things shouldn't be used. Well only until you've mastered japanese to the point where you can use it at ease and understand it with ease.

Unless, obviously, they find it motivating and fun. Which is often the case.

Reply #24 - 2010 March 12, 9:37 pm
Thora Member
From: Canada Registered: 2007-02-23 Posts: 1691

Rekkusu wrote:

if (sex != girl) {
    // Some code for the guys' only yikes
} else {
    // Girly code
}
The <> and </> tags are used to define html stuff, btw tongue

Thanks for the != explanation. btw, I wasn't suggesting guys and girls code differently. (It was a gender neutral "guys" smile)  I was kind of laughing at myself for copying J7 and T's shorthand for a while, but possibly getting it wrong (by leaving out the < >s). 

Quick html question: can anyone point me to a very basic reference that might be useful for setting up Anki card templates? I find myself having to copy and paste from other decks b/c I don't know how to do it myself.

Last edited by Thora (2010 March 12, 9:57 pm)

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