The Foreign Languages Thread

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Originally Posted by Gareko

Well, I meant it was polite to the point of sounding weird. But eh, whatever floats your boat. :wacko:

Keep in mind that "desu" is still very much polite speech, in fact it's literally called "polite language", aka teineigo / 丁寧語.

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I guess I could see how being too polite could come off as creepy. :wacko:

I've also never heard anyone use that form, ever. So... make of that what you will. :wacko:

Ok. So I finally have something to ask.

In the following, I don't see how してみました means "I tried to".

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紅蓮の弓矢 - フルートで演奏してみました

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I understand what is trying to be said. He's saying he tried to play 紅蓮の弓矢 on his flute. But the verb する the the みる would appear to mean "I tried to look" or something of the similar. So why does it translate to just "I tried to".

To be precise it's ~てみる, as in, て-form+みる　and it's a fixed expression. If you want to get really technical, you could say it's "a sequence of an action and then seeing the result" (Tae Kim), but feel free to not fuss over the details and just remember it as the fixed construction -てみる.

The only reason it became してみました in your example is because the verb form of 演奏 is used with する, and the て-form of する is して, so in the end it became してみる --> してみました. You can use it with any verb, including non-suru ones:

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食べてみる、撮ってみる, 飲んでみる**　etc.

**remember that the て-form of verbs ending in む　such as 飲む is んで

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Originally Posted by Gare

To be precise it's ~てみる, as in, て-form+みる　and it's a fixed expression. If you want to get really technical, you could say it's "a sequence of an action and then seeing the result" (Tae Kim), but feel free to not fuss over the details and just remember it as the fixed construction -てみる.

The only reason it became してみました in your example is because the verb form of 演奏 is used with する, and the て-form of する is して, so in the end it became してみる --> してみました. You can use it with any verb, including non-suru ones:

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食べてみる、撮ってみる, 飲んでみる**　etc.

**remember that the て-form of verbs ending in む　such as 飲む is んで

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Alright, now I get it. Thanks Gare.

So, can anyone come up with a proper meaning of this name(or is it just Denpa Teki na Kanojo with no meaning?)

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電波的な彼女

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Something about the women being electric like?

(´・ω・｀)

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Originally Posted by Elin

"Denpa" literally means radio waves, but it's also used to refer to... like... ESP, or a general sensitivity to the paranormal. It's a word used frequently by and in reference to characters like Hanajima from Fruits Basket, if you've seen / read that. ^^;;; "-teki" at the end of a noun just means "NOUN-ish" / "NOUN-ly" / "having the properties of NOUN". While it's not a completely literal translation, I'd probably go with something like "ESP Girl" or "Psychic Girl".

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So it's has a slang meaning then. I guess I was bound to run into some slang like that eventually. Thanks for the explanation! :)

(´・ω・｀)

I've started being a bit more serious about lang-8. It's interesting in how many ways you can say the same thing in Japanese. I've had 4 different people say I should of said x in y way.

For the sake of my interest and lack of understanding fully here's the sentence and a correction I'm interested about.

Original

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私は語彙がわるいあります

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One correction

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私は語彙力があまりありません

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I understand that this means my vocabulary is not very strong. I'm not fully sure why it's a negative form of ある though. Wouldn't that mean I don't have a very weak vocabulary?
After some more thought, I might understand this fully. I believe it has the point of I don't really have any vocabulary, not that my vocabulary is bad.

This one makes a lot more sense to me, but I'm not sure if it's really okay to use a double は particle.

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私は語彙は悪いです

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This makes a lot of sense. But the double は makes me feel like it's not a proper sentence, why is this considered okay?

btw I'm fluent in Persian or Farsi. (They're the same language)

I know it's a language with very limited appeal but I can answer any questions anyone has so I thought I should just mention it.

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Originally Posted by Spose'

I've started being a bit more serious about lang-8. It's interesting in how many ways you can say the same thing in Japanese. I've had 4 different people say I should of said x in y way.

For the sake of my interest and lack of understanding fully here's the sentence and a correction I'm interested about.

Original

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私は語彙がわるいあります

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One correction

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私は語彙力があまりありません

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I understand that this means my vocabulary is not very strong. I'm not fully sure why it's a negative form of ある though. Wouldn't that mean I don't have a very weak vocabulary?
After some more thought, I might understand this fully. I believe it has the point of I don't really have any vocabulary, not that my vocabulary is bad.

This one makes a lot more sense to me, but I'm not sure if it's really okay to use a double は particle.

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私は語彙は悪いです

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This makes a lot of sense. But the double は makes me feel like it's not a proper sentence, why is this considered okay?

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I haven't been around for the past month or so, so I didn't even see this.

In case you still need help, you could say (and yes, this shows many ways one can say stuff):

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語彙力が低い (low)
語彙力が乏しい　(limited, scarce)
you could also paraphrase it and go 知っている単語が少ない/まだまだです
or 知っている語彙数はちょっと足りない/少ない, etc.

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Yeah and forget that original sentence. When something is bad you could just say ｘｙは悪いです. As for the double は, back in the day I was taught that that's sort of a no-no. Make the second は into a が.

I would also recommend reading this thread: http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp...l/q14100262284 (the explanation they give is that since goiryoku is an ability (力-ryoku), it should be measured via 高い/低い.

Man, my problem is that the more naturally certain things come in Japanese, the easier it is to forget the rules themselves. So I'm just saying stuff based on what "sounds correct" in my ears. I'm the worst teacher. :wacko:

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Originally Posted by Gare

I haven't been around for the past month or so, so I didn't even see this.

In case you still need help, you could say (and yes, this shows many ways one can say stuff):

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語彙力が低い (low)
語彙力が乏しい　(limited, scarce)
you could also paraphrase it and go 知っている単語が少ない/まだまだです
or 知っている語彙数はちょっと足りない/少ない, etc.

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Yeah and forget that original sentence. When something is bad you could just say ｘｙは悪いです. As for the double は, back in the day I was taught that that's sort of a no-no. Make the second は into a が.

I would also recommend reading this thread: http://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp...l/q14100262284 (the explanation they give is that since goiryoku is an ability (力-ryoku), it should be measured via 高い/低い.

Man, my problem is that the more naturally certain things come in Japanese, the easier it is to forget the rules themselves. So I'm just saying stuff based on what "sounds correct" in my ears. I'm the worst teacher. :wacko:

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Thanks, even if it's been a while another input is always great to hear. Even if you can't remember all the rules it still helps out others in the end. Especially when it doesn't come near as natural to someone. I would say I can read/hear a lot better than I can write, which isn't saying all that much since I sucked pretty bad attempting to dive into a novel already.

i know spanish a little bit who wants to learn

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Originally Posted by Terry_Bogard

i know spanish a little bit who wants to learn

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I do! :wacko:

I want to learn Klingon. Who can help?

Your nearest Trekkie convention, no doubt. :wacko:

como te llamas cookie

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Originally Posted by Terry_Bogard

como te llamas cookie

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Me llamo Cookie, me apellido Monster y me encantan las galletas :wacko:

Just kiddin', I know all the Spanish I need to know :wacko:

cookie usted es el mejor

I dont mind learning spanish, but japanese and french are on higher priorities. and a bunch of programming languages... -_-

Does anybody know where I can read manga online in Japanese? I've tried to google it,but I can't find anything.(maybe I'm not wording it right).

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Originally Posted by Iamerror

Does anybody know where I can read manga online in Japanese? I've tried to google it,but I can't find anything.(maybe I'm not wording it right).

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Ahhhhh I forgot the site....

I know you can find some raws on Nyaa at least. I'll look it up a bit tomorrow after I awaken.

do you know how to read japenese????
ok try this:http://pc.k-manga.jp/
マンガ that means "japanese manga"

jcafe hosts raws I believe.

Thanks.I'll try it.

The one thing that's been bothering me recently is the usage of いい。

It just has so many different uses.

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「別にいいじゃん」

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Like here I believe it's used similar to fine. Something like "It's fine isn't it?"(although That kind of ignores the 別に). However, my nature seems to want to read it like It's good or something. It's just really bothering me.

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Originally Posted by Spose'

The one thing that's been bothering me recently is the usage of いい。

It just has so many different uses.

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「別にいいじゃん」

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Like here I believe it's used similar to fine. Something like "It's fine isn't it?"(although That kind of ignores the 別に). However, my nature seems to want to read it like It's good or something. It's just really bothering me.

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じゃん is the shortened form of じゃない？or じゃないか？ so basically "isn't it", often expecting confirmation from the other party. 別に can be part of it as well, you kinda have to get a feel for this, but if you really want to rationalize I'd go with "it's not *particularly* a big deal isn't it?".

Random convo I thought of just to illustrate both the JP usage and how the meaning translates to English:

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お、おい、それ食べないでよ！
別に良いじゃん。いっぱいあるから。
まあ、それはそうなんだけど…

H-Hey! Don't eat that!
C'mon, don't be like that. There's plenty for everyone.
Yeah, I guess you're right...

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Originally Posted by Gare

じゃん is the shortened form of じゃない？or じゃないか？ so basically "isn't it", often expecting confirmation from the other party. 別に can be part of it as well, you kinda have to get a feel for this, but if you really want to rationalize I'd go with "it's not *particularly* a big deal isn't it?".

Random convo I thought of just to illustrate both the JP usage and how the meaning translates to English:

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お、おい、それ食べないでよ！
別に良いじゃん。いっぱいあるから。
まあ、それはそうなんだけど…

H-Hey! Don't eat that!
C'mon, don't be like that. There's plenty for everyone.
Yeah, I guess you're right...

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That helps a bit, I feel like my major issue is a lot of the time while reading I try to think of the English version, which then trips me up a lot. I guess that might be something a lot of people do.

I was struggling with だろう a bit until I decided to stop trying to rationalize it in English. There are a lot of particles I should stop trying to rationalize and just get used to the Japanese usage of them... It's a hard habit to drop.

Thanks man.

Yeah, it also helps to try and get a grasp of the general idea that a sentence is trying to convey instead of wanting to forcefully implant it into exact English equivalents. Notice how I didn't translate that particular line as "it's fine isn't it?" but instead went with "don't be like that", since it was said mainly to dismiss the other speaker's worrywart nature. Although I probably couldn't used "oh c'mon it's fine" or something like that. But you get what I'm trying to say. It helps a lot when you start thinking on a deeper "meaning" level as opposed to the surface "literal" level.

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Originally Posted by Gare

Yeah, it also helps to try and get a grasp of the general idea that a sentence is trying to convey instead of wanting to forcefully implant it into exact English equivalents. Notice how I didn't translate that particular line as "it's fine isn't it?" but instead went with "don't be like that", since it was said mainly to dismiss the other speaker's worrywart nature. Although I probably couldn't used "oh c'mon it's fine" or something like that. But you get what I'm trying to say. It helps a lot when you start thinking on a deeper "meaning" level as opposed to the surface "literal" level.

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Yeah, I've noticed that through my very little time trying to read novels that I went from trying to be extremely literal and consider every sentence's English version to trying to just get the gist of what they are saying. Trying to be too literal messes up a lot of sayings. I find that just reading compared to reading and then trying to force it into a English version helps speed up improvement a bit, but it's also very hard to do.

There were a few more questions I had a few days ago but I've forgotten them now. Maybe I'll stumble across them again, but the way I'm reading this novel requires a lot more effort per page than the download I had of Zero no Tsukaima so they might come back to me slower. Not to mention this book is way more complex it seems.

Although, から bothers me a bit sometimes when I'm trying to consider in what way it was meant.

(´・ω・｀)

Thanks for that Elin, it's nice to hear the perspective coming fromm your observations in your class.

This is kind of irrelevant in a way but I think one of you might be able to help. I can't really find out what this should be corrected to.

Spoiler warning:

The full sentence: 軽く肩にかかる長さの、さらさらと� �糸のような繊綱で柔らかな黒髪は、� ��にこだわりもなさそうに、素っ気な く後ろで括られてある
The problem word: 繊綱
Picture from the book: http://puu.sh/7OjyD.png
puu.sh seems to be acting up so it's sending it as a image file instead of embedding so: http://puu.sh/7OjI3.png

Never mind after a few attempts at recreating it I found out the correction is 繊細.

Been somewhat passively learning French the last couple of weeks. Decided to start the Michel Thomas Method Foundation course (~8hrs) on Monday or Tuesday. I'd started it once before but I'd never even finished the first hour back then. Just finished it a few minutes ago. It starts off easy, but then gets super hard and it shouldn't be used as the sole method since he has a Polish accent. For that reason, I'm going to go through his method first, then go through FSI French Phonology to clean up pronunciation.I really do like the MT Method because, in terms of speaking, it does work, but again, he has an accent so some things will be harder to get right and you'll need to consult the transcript or look it up on your own.

I've been trying to read a Doraemon manga in Japanese that I found online.ugh.It's going to take awhile,but on the bright side,I've learned some Japanese.

I speak an East-Slavic language but the task of learning this Mongolic language Kalmyk, pronounced Zal'mg (Хальмг) is proving to be incredibly difficult. Despite sharing the cyrillic alphabet, almost every aspect of the languages are different. But, due to recent discovery of my mother's lineage, I want to continue learning. Unfortunately there are very few resources I have found.. I'll probably have to contact some of my Siberian friends for literature.

Thought I saw a section at emuparadise for japanese games for PSP/PS1, but I can't find it now.
Help?

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Originally Posted by Dyyavol

I speak an East-Slavic language but the task of learning this Mongolic language Kalmyk, pronounced Zal'mg (Хальмг) is proving to be incredibly difficult. Despite sharing the cyrillic alphabet, almost every aspect of the languages are different. But, due to recent discovery of my mother's lineage, I want to continue learning. Unfortunately there are very few resources I have found.. I'll probably have to contact some of my Siberian friends for literature.

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I find it hard to believe that English is not your first language. You speak it much more proficiently than many if not all of my real-life neighbors. :P

Never mind my last post 2 up from here, I see how to find them with with advanced search.

A website that helps you learn Japanese and Kanji .
I was just trying to find some free easy ways to learn Japanese on the web and found this website that has a great way of teaching how to write in Kanji and some other useful stuff.

http://www.yamasa.org/ocjs/kanjijiten/english/

So go ahead and start kanjiing.

If I placed this in the wrong thread , feel free to delete my post.
Hugs and high fives for everyone , love and peace.
DysteR