Have you tried reading Remembering the Kanji? I personally haven't read it but I've heard it can help a lot of people. Some people really don't like it, but it might be worth a shot.
[QUOTE=Mp6;39851389]Have you tried reading Remembering the Kanji? I personally haven't read it but I've heard it can help a lot of people. Some people really don't like it, but it might be worth a shot.[/QUOTE]
Is that a book, or what?
Yea, it's a book. "[I]Remembering the Kanji is a series of three volumes by James Heisig, intended to teach the 3007 most frequent Kanji to students of the Japanese language[/I]." Like I said, I haven't read it myself so I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but it's probably worth looking into none the less.
[QUOTE=Mp6;39855318]Yea, it's a book. "[I]Remembering the Kanji is a series of three volumes by James Heisig, intended to teach the 3007 most frequent Kanji to students of the Japanese language[/I]." Like I said, I haven't read it myself so I don't know if it's what you're looking for, but it's probably worth looking into none the less.[/QUOTE]
Just from a cursory glance, it's like ~$25 for one of the books on Amazon. I appreciate the recommendation, but I don't really have the money for it at the moment, sadly.
It amuses me that ( ホンダ ) the company can be phonetically read as ( 本だ) ("It's a book.")
gave me a chuckle
[QUOTE=Megafan;39860470]Just from a cursory glance, it's like ~$25 for one of the books on Amazon. I appreciate the recommendation, but I don't really have the money for it at the moment, sadly.[/QUOTE]
Understandable, if you're at a university you could always try checking their library for it as chances are they would have it.
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39865998]It amuses me that ( ホンダ ) the company can be phonetically read as ( 本だ) ("It's a book.")
gave me a chuckle[/QUOTE]
That's sort of true, but the company 'Honda' is written as [本田], and is a family name used in Japan, also written as [本多] and [誉田]. There's actually very little room for confusion, because you'd rarely just end on 'ほんだ'.
[editline]10th March 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Mp6;39866104]Understandable, if you're at a university you could always try checking their library for it as chances are they would have it.[/QUOTE]
I'll have to have a look at the UC library then, maybe they'd have it.
How to family names/names in general work? How are they read?
I know from my work with Tae-Kim's guide that 田中 means "Tanaka" as in the name, but I don't know how he got that.
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39868713]How to family names/names in general work? How are they read?
I know from my work with Tae-Kim's guide that 田中 means "Tanaka" as in the name, but I don't know how he got that.[/QUOTE]
Well, one of the readings for 田 is 'ta', and one of the readings for 中 is 'naka'.
Read together you get 'Tanaka'. What's confusing about it?
[QUOTE=Megafan;39869325]Well, one of the readings for 田 is 'ta', and one of the readings for 中 is 'naka'.
Read together you get 'Tanaka'. What's confusing about it?[/QUOTE]
Yeah but don't they have different pronunciations based on context?
-snipe-
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39870631]Yeah but don't they have different pronunciations based on context?
-snipe-[/QUOTE]
I suppose you could say that. So then, in this context you'd read it as 田中. I don't think there's any other reading for that specific pairing of characters.
[QUOTE=Megafan;39871657]I suppose you could say that. So then, in this context you'd read it as 田中. I don't think there's any other reading for that specific pairing of characters.[/QUOTE]
田　can mean "ta" or "da". Depending where it is. Example, 田中 is Tanaka　whereas　山田 is Yamada. At least, thats what my teacher told me. I'm not entirely sure if this is the case across the board.
[QUOTE=Megafan;39871657]I suppose you could say that. So then, in this context you'd read it as 田中. I don't think there's any other reading for that specific pairing of characters.[/QUOTE]
I guess it would be context based I guess. That's what furigana aids are for, I suppose.
Also, is there any word/phrase resource that has rough english definition and connotations? Google translate isn't cutting it for me. It translated 主人公( しゅじんこう ) as "Hero" in english, when in real japanese it's closer to "Protagonist" or "Main Character". I suppose "Hero" can mean the same thing, but it's tough to realize which connotation google translate refers to. 英雄 ( えいゆう ) would be closer to the english "Hero", in a sense.
So yeah, anything better than google translate would be great, thanks.
[QUOTE=Vaught;39879294]田　can mean "ta" or "da". Depending where it is. Example, 田中 is Tanaka　whereas　山田 is Yamada. At least, thats what my teacher told me. I'm not entirely sure if this is the case across the board.[/QUOTE]
I'm well aware of that, what I mean is, I don't believe that pairing [田中] can be read as anything other than 'Tanaka', even though 田 can be 'ta' or 'da', and 中 can be 'naka' , 'uchi', or 'chuu'.
You wouldn't read 田中 as Dachuu even if the context was different, I think.
[editline]11th March 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39880228]I guess it would be context based I guess. That's what furigana aids are for, I suppose.
Also, is there any word/phrase resource that has rough english definition and connotations? Google translate isn't cutting it for me. It translated 主人公( しゅじんこう ) as "Hero" in english, when in real japanese it's closer to "Protagonist" or "Main Character". I suppose "Hero" can mean the same thing, but it's tough to realize which connotation google translate refers to. 英雄 ( えいゆう ) would be closer to the english "Hero", in a sense.
So yeah, anything better than google translate would be great, thanks.[/QUOTE]
In my experience 英雄 is more like 'the hero of an epic story', maybe of an old folk tale or mythology, or a great leader in a war for independence. 主人公 is more neutral and I've seen it used for most game protagonists, even when the official English translation comes out to 'Hero'.
Well I was considering buying "Remembering the Kanji vol. 1" and I read some sample text. It looks really dumb. Sure the stories well help me remember the kanji themselves, but there's no sample words or pronunciations. What's the point of getting a book like that if it doesn't even have that?
[editline]12th March 2013[/editline]
anyone know a kanji book with example words and pronunciations etc. and preferably one with connatations in mind like I was mentioning before?
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39891620]Well I was considering buying "Remembering the Kanji vol. 1" and I read some sample text. It looks really dumb. Sure the stories well help me remember the kanji themselves, but there's no sample words or pronunciations. What's the point of getting a book like that if it doesn't even have that?
[editline]12th March 2013[/editline]
anyone know a kanji book with example words and pronunciations etc. and preferably one with connatations in mind like I was mentioning before?[/QUOTE]
僕は”Kanji Damage"を作っている。
Conjugation changes on -counters are so annoying.
[QUOTE=peterson;39892001]僕は”Kanji Damage"を作っている。
Conjugation changes on -counters are so annoying.[/QUOTE]
oh god this guy is hilarious. new favorite site and looks to be a good resource. much appreciated.
Does anyone here use AnkiMobile on the iPhone?
Is it worth the $25 it costs? I love it on my pc and the sync feature seems really great..
[QUOTE=Lord_Schrotty;39899128]Does anyone here use AnkiMobile on the iPhone?
Is it worth the $25 it costs? I love it on my pc and the sync feature seems really great..[/QUOTE]
I use AnkiDroid and it costs me $0.
Yea but I don't have an android device...
[QUOTE=peterson;39899387]I use AnkiDroid and it costs me $0.[/QUOTE]
welp better drop a few hundred for an android then!!
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39865998]It amuses me that ( ホンダ ) the company can be phonetically read as ( 本だ) ("It's a book.")
gave me a chuckle[/QUOTE]
Although there is no true standard for pitch accent with most words, 本田 is almost invariably going to be spoken in a different pitch accent than 「本だ」, so there is a phonological difference.
[editline]14th March 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Megafan;39883783]I'm well aware of that, what I mean is, I don't believe that pairing [田中] can be read as anything other than 'Tanaka', even though 田 can be 'ta' or 'da', and 中 can be 'naka' , 'uchi', or 'chuu'.
You wouldn't read 田中 as Dachuu even if the context was different, I think.[/QUOTE]
田中 as 「ダチュウ」when used as one word/語 won't happen because the た is 訓読み and the チュウ is 音読み. The た/だ difference is because of 連濁(れんだく), but both are 訓読み. It's not commonly possible to predict 連濁 with rules.
[editline]14th March 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Wealth + Taste;39868713]How to family names/names in general work? How are they read?[/QUOTE]
In a way, they're not special.
Most names are just the 訓読み of the kanji chained together, but the big catch is that they often include readings not commonly used elsewhere, so many names just have to be "memorized".
(音読み names do exist, however)
Note that a lot of names (both family and given) have the same kanji as other names but with different readings, meaning that in cases without 振り仮名 the reader has no choice but to guess. Naturally, this is a problem shared by all speakers of Japanese, regardless of level. It is the reason why 振り仮名 is ubiquitous on registration forms and similar.
These て-form conjugations are going to be the end of me. A bunch of them heard in a sentence makes it really difficult to discern just what the person is saying. Even worse when its a に-target sentence.
Any advice on keeping up/figuring out what someone says when theres a lot of て-form conjugations?
[QUOTE=jA_cOp;39902913]田中 as 「ダチュウ」when used as one word/語 won't happen because the た is 訓読み and the チュウ is 音読み. The た/だ difference is because of 連濁(れんだく), but both are 訓読み. It's not commonly possible to predict 連濁 with rules.[/QUOTE]
I'm aware of the 訓読み/音読み issue when it comes to that, I was just trying to keep it simplified for that explanation.
You definitely explained it better than I would have, though.
[editline]15th March 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Vaught;39928469]These て-form conjugations are going to be the end of me. A bunch of them heard in a sentence makes it really difficult to discern just what the person is saying. Even worse when its a に-target sentence.
Any advice on keeping up/figuring out what someone says when theres a lot of て-form conjugations?[/QUOTE]
If it's a bunch of て-form conjugations at once, even I have a hard time keeping up with it, but are you struggling with how to conjugate different types of verbs (一段, 五段, and 不規則) with て, or just how they flow together?
[QUOTE=Megafan;39929806]I'm aware of the 訓読み/音読み issue when it comes to that, I was just trying to keep it simplified for that explanation.
You definitely explained it better than I would have, though.
[editline]15th March 2013[/editline]
If it's a bunch of て-form conjugations at once, even I have a hard time keeping up with it, but are you struggling with how to conjugate different types of verbs (一段, 五段, and 不規則) with て, or just how they flow together?[/QUOTE]
The flow mostly. Conjugation is pretty easy after learning them, and thinking of a sentence to keep the flow going is easy (Since you just have to know what kind of adjective or verb it is to know its conjugation), its [i]listening[/i] to the flow that just makes me tear my hair out. It really trips me up when I listen to some dialogue describing where someone was and what they were doing in past tense, using both て-form and に-target sentences.
[QUOTE=Vaught;39935924]The flow mostly. Conjugation is pretty easy after learning them, and thinking of a sentence to keep the flow going is easy (Since you just have to know what kind of adjective or verb it is to know its conjugation), its [i]listening[/i] to the flow that just makes me tear my hair out. It really trips me up when I listen to some dialogue describing where someone was and what they were doing in past tense, using both て-form and に-target sentences.[/QUOTE]
Not sure how to help you unfortunately, perhaps you have some examples of the sort of sentence you find hard to follow?
When it comes to a bunch of て-form conjugations one after the other, I have problems with those myself, but it shouldn't be too hard.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
