It's just a Hang Out: Can you please stop whining for five minutes?

[Joe Blog]

Pretty much. I only claim Polish cause it's over 75% and my grandparents were born here. It's close-ish right?

yea thats more than enough. Here in NZ you get 5% Maoris that cling to their maoriness just so they can claim special benefits, it doesn't seem to bother them that their disowning the other 95% of their heritage.

[Gypsy]

who knows a way to learn Kanji and Katakana?

Time and hard work.

[Gare]

Oh, and if someone was "part X" and actually spoke the language of X or had a certain knowledge/actual connection to the culture of X then it might make more sense to mention it, but otherwise, it doesn't really serve much of a purpose. Feels more like a "look at how cool I am" sort of thing to mention.

[Tassadar]

who knows an easy way to learn Kanji and Katakana? i'm on right now i just need some advice.

EP has a suprisingly large amount of people who know a lot of Japanese, they could help.

[Gypsy]

yea thats more than enough. Here in NZ you get 5% Maoris that cling to their maoriness just so they can claim special benefits, it doesn't seem to bother them that their disowning the other 95% of their heritage.

Well, money is involved, and you know how people get when there is money involved.

[Elin]

I'd only ever feel comfortable claiming the nationality of a country I had spent significant time in and spoke the language of fluently. Maaaaybe a country my parents were born in at a stretch, though even then it's a tenuous link for me. But whatever, nationality is a personal thing, and different people feel different ways.

Though a note to American tourists who come over here claiming to be Scottish: participating in all the tourist crap that most people who were born and raised here sneer at doesn't really help your case.

[Beelzebub]

Wh-wh-whaaaat?? Thats WAY too sensible, dude...c'mon now....isnt it FAR easier to gang-bash people, then, when asked not to do so, make a dramatic exit in true 'teen angst' style...


Beelze, Cookie, Elin, Gare, Tass, Nemmy, everyone..hello...have a cookie...


On that note...nearly beer time...

For some it's hard to ignore people. I've had special training though since I have a little sister. Who was only 16 months younger. She annoyed me all throughout my adolescent years. I learned how to ignore on a much higher level.

You can just give mine to Cookie Monster. I'm trying not to eat sweets much.

[Gypsy]

Oh, and if someone was "part X" and actually spoke the language of X or had a certain knowledge/actual connection to the culture of X then it might make more sense to mention it, but otherwise, it doesn't really serve much of a purpose. Feels more like a "look at how cool I am" sort of thing to mention.

It's kind of the opposite with Polish though no?

I do want to go to Poland again, but I need to put more time into sharpening my speaking skills.

[Elin]

Time and hard work.

This, basically. There are lots of different ways to learn kanji, but it's going to take a fairly long time no matter what you do. Kana are simple enough, though. Write them a bunch of times to learn them, read them a bunch of times to reinforce them, and you're basically done.

[Gare]

who knows an easy way to learn Kanji and Katakana? i'm on right now i just need some advice.

Katakana/Hiragana: Look up the tables on Wikipeia or something. Start writing them down a million times in a row. Drill them into your mind until you can write and read them without any effort needed. And I mean it. Be able to read hiragana instantly by just looking at it, it'll help you out in the long run.

Kanji is a different animal. Different methods work for different people. I started with the easier ones that were in my beginner textbook and worked my way up. I think it helps to learn kanji compounds that are made up of kanji that you already know from earlier, it's easier on the brain, especially for a beginner.

[Gypsy]

EP has a suprisingly large amount of people who know a lot of Japanese, they could help.

I wouldn't say it's all that surprising. Though a lot more people interested in anime and video games talk about learning Japanese than actually do it.

[Gypsy]

This, basically. There are lots of different ways to learn kanji, but it's going to take a fairly long time no matter what you do. Kana are simple enough, though. Write them a bunch of times to learn them, read them a bunch of times to reinforce them, and you're basically done.

There are some really crazy and difficult kanji.

[Tassadar]

I wouldn't say it's all that surprising. Though a lot more people interested in anime and video games talk about learning Japanese than actually do it.

I think there are a few people who have actually reached a decent level of learning Japanese, because most people on most forums are like what you described.

[GunSlinger Boy]

Oh, and if someone was "part X" and actually spoke the language of X or had a certain knowledge/actual connection to the culture of X then it might make more sense to mention it, but otherwise, it doesn't really serve much of a purpose. Feels more like a "look at how cool I am" sort of thing to mention.

i know a good deal about american indian history, and am always interested in British/Irish/Scottish history

[Elin]

There are some really crazy and difficult kanji.

There are, but by the time you get around to learning most of them, you'll recognise the pieces that make them up from the simpler characters. So it becomes much less difficult.