Language forum Trial Thread

[Nikkou Arashi]

Trial Lesson 1a) hiragana​

Hi Kookie,

Is it possible to put each lesson in different threads? Its kinda hard to go through the thread especially when there are replies. With the lessons separated in each thread, you can easily reply to our questions or check our progress... hehehe... Or is this going to be the plan once you get a sub-forum to this?

What I learned so far is that - since Hiragana are in syllables, its going to be a little different when writing an english word using Hiragana.

Say for example: Sunshine

suす
n ん
shi し
ne ね

but it will be read as sun-shi-ne instead of san-shayne? xd

Now I can write Nikkou as: にこう (?)

And yay! we do have to memorize those characters, no?

 

[Kookie]

watashi wa yosufu (よすふ) desu...Hajimemashite kookie-chan
my name is yosuf ..

Konnichiwa, yosufu-san! Douzo yoroshiku. Yoku dekimashita!!!

こんいちわ　ヨスフさん!　どうぞよろしく。　よくできました！！

Good day, Yosuf! Please favour me (nice to meet you). Well done!!!

Also, please get used to writing your name using katakana, as I did above, because it is not a Japanese word.

 

[Nikkou Arashi]

Trial Lesson 1b) katakana​

Oh, ehehehe, here's the answer to my question above. xd

So, how do I convert sunshine to Japanese

Did I do it right? the one I did above? wehehehehe...

suす
n ん
shi し
ne ね

And oh, I almost forgot...I voted for YES...I was hoping I could press yes a thousand times actually.

 

[Kookie]

Hi Kookie,

Is it possible to put each lesson in different threads? Its kinda hard to go through the thread especially when there are replies. With the lessons separated in each thread, you can easily reply to our questions or check our progress... hehehe... Or is this going to be the plan once you get a sub-forum to this?

What I learned so far is that - since Hiragana are in syllables, its going to be a little different when writing an english word using Hiragana.

Say for example: Sunshine

suす
n ん
shi し
ne ね

but it will be read as sun-shi-ne instead of san-shayne? xd

Now I can write Nikkou as: にこう (?)

And yay! we do have to memorize those characters, no?

Hi Nikkou! Thank you for your comment!

Regarding the lessons, this is exactly what I'm trying to convince the admin to do; to give me a sub-forum for these lessons, so that I can make a thread for each topic. These topics will be put in the sticky section, while all replies can be written in threads underneath. That way it will look really neat and organised, and you can go back to each lesson as you wish Feel free to PM one of the admin to suggest this And please have everyone you know vote in the poll as well.

Regarding writing English words, like your example, sunshine, you need to use only katakana for this, so please memorise the katakana as quickly as you can. Five a day is a good rule.

I need to remind you that foreign words in Japanese are written the way they sound, not the way they are originally spelled, using the sounds in the Japanese syllabary. So, sunshine, using Japanese sounds would actually be something like this:

sa-n-sha-i-n

using katakana, to indicate that this word is not Japanese, it becomes:

サンシャイン

When it comes to writing Nikkou, since it has double vowel, the spelling becomes a bit different. I will make sure to put up my next lesson on this very soon. Apart from that, you have done it perfectly!

Katakana charter will be up for download very soon too!

I have to rush to get ready for my work now. But I shall return with more material. Anyone who feels like nagging the admin to put up a sub-forum for this, feel free to send them a PM or ten

 

[Sin]

Hi Sin.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you. I'm not sure about your translations, because the terms you are trying to translate are a bit fragmented. Are they song titles? Could you put them into context for me, please? Just write the sentence they are in, and tell me where they are from, and I'll do my best to help you out.

Also, you refer to kanji translations, but I can't see any kanji. Are you trying to translate from manga?

P.S. Remember, your name, Sin, does not derive from Japanese, so you must use katakana for that, not hiragana

Also: Uchiha should be like this in hiragana: うちは. You nearly had it though, so well done!!

"Not sure if I'm doing it right >.<

When I combine all my kanji translations like this:

うちあはさすけしん it = Yosuke the tale of Ah Shin

うちあはえ = Fly Out There

This is so strange.. as I don't exactly get it." That part was just random translations getting used to Japanese. xd


"よ ゆめ お い

だから Will I

It was something I was doing to see if it would work.. I got stuck on Will I as I couldn't really get it

Who can translate it?"

This part was a kind of personal thing with a friend because it was kind of something we like doing

It was meant to say

"If you dream

so will I"

I was trying to make it into japanese.

(Also at the time I don't think katakana was there, so I didn't know how to translate my name,

I was with Sasuke Uchiha trying to make out from japanese)

(Thanks for spending your time with a little bit of a idiotic 12 year old.. >.>)

Thanks!

I'll study. >.<

 

[Nikkou Arashi]

Spoiler

Hi Nikkou! Thank you for your comment!

Regarding the lessons, this is exactly what I'm trying to convince the admin to do; to give me a sub-forum for these lessons, so that I can make a thread for each topic. These topics will be put in the sticky section, while all replies can be written in threads underneath. That way it will look really neat and organised, and you can go back to each lesson as you wish Feel free to PM one of the admin to suggest this And please have everyone you know vote in the poll as well.

Regarding writing English words, like your example, sunshine, you need to use only katakana for this, so please memorise the katakana as quickly as you can. Five a day is a good rule.

I need to remind you that foreign words in Japanese are written the way they sound, not the way they are originally spelled, using the sounds in the Japanese syllabary. So, sunshine, using Japanese sounds would actually be something like this:

sa-n-sha-i-n

using katakana, to indicate that this word is not Japanese, it becomes:

サンシャイン

When it comes to writing Nikkou, since it has double vowel, the spelling becomes a bit different. I will make sure to put up my next lesson on this very soon. Apart from that, you have done it perfectly!

Katakana charter will be up for download very soon too!

I have to rush to get ready for my work now. But I shall return with more material. Anyone who feels like nagging the admin to put up a sub-forum for this, feel free to send them a PM or ten

Oh, ehehehe, here's the answer to my question above. xd

So, how do I convert sunshine to Japanese

Did I do it right? the one I did above? wehehehehe...

suす
n ん
shi し
ne ね

And oh, I almost forgot...I voted for YES...I was hoping I could press yes a thousand times actually.

Ohow, okay...I get it now...I am not able to open the Katakana link yet.
Will wait for your return then.

 

[+luffy+]

Konnichiwa, yosufu-san! Douzo yoroshiku. Yoku dekimashita!!!

こんいちわ　ヨスフさん!　どうぞよろしく。　よくできました！！

Good day, Yosuf! Please favour me (nice to meet you). Well done!!!

Also, please get used to writing your name using katakana, as I did above, because it is not a Japanese word.

ヨスフ
so you mean if a name is not a japanese we should write it in katakana
and if the word is a japanease name we should use hiragana...

this rule applied in names only or it applied in any non japanease name

 

[Kookie]

ヨスフ
so you mean if a name is not a japanese we should write it in katakana
and if the word is a japanease name we should use hiragana...

this rule applied in names only or it applied in any non japanease name

katakana is used for any word, name, etc.. that is not Japanese. Here are some examples of words that need to be written in katakana:

non-Japanese names of persons: James; Mr. Smith; Jabba the Hut; Jet Li; Jean Paul Gaultier; etc..

Brands and commercial names that are not Japanese: Wallmart; Volvo; McDonald's; Big Brother; Hannah Montana; etc..

Places that are not in Japan: Paris; Hong Kong; Buckingham Palace; Chigago; Canada; Europe; etc..

Words that are integrated from other languages: telephonecard; ball-pen; hotel; baseball; etc..


Does that make it more clear? So any word that is not Japanese in origin, is normally written in katakana.

Katakana Fun fact:
Do you know the characters Maito Gai and Rock Lee from Naruto? Their names are a sort of joke on 'a Mighty Guy' and 'Lee Rock', a famous Chinese martial art film (needless to say, their appearance is also made to resemble the famous Chinese martial arts master Bruce Lee). Their names are written as:

Maito Gai マイト　ガイ and Rokku Rii ロック　リ- , in katakana, to emphasise that their names originally derive from foreign words and names.

The two of them are often depicted in very straight and stiff poses, which I believe (unless I am overinterpreting) is a joke on how their names are written in katakana, which overall contains very straight characters.

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[Kookie]

Nikkou, my charter will be up for download tomorrow evening at the latest; I have had some technical problems uploading it.

Sonic-, I will look up how to best translate 'If you dream, so will I'. I'm trying to think about a way to make it sound poetic, as it does in English. People of all races, backgrounds and ages are welcome to ask their questions about Japanese in here; no question is a stupid question!

In the meantime, please study hard, my dear friends! Use your power of youuuuuth!! *runs crying into a brilliant sunset*

 

[+luffy+]

katakana is used for any word, name, etc.. that is not Japanese. Here are some examples of words that need to be written in katakana:

non-Japanese names of persons: James; Mr. Smith; Jabba the Hut; Jet Li; Jean Paul Gaultier; etc..

Brands and commercial names that are not Japanese: Wallmart; Volvo; McDonald's; Big Brother; Hannah Montana; etc..

Places that are not in Japan: Paris; Hong Kong; Buckingham Palace; Chigago; Canada; Europe; etc..

Words that are integrated from other languages: telephonecard; ball-pen; hotel; baseball; etc..


Does that make it more clear? So any word that is not Japanese in origin, is normally written in katakana.

Katakana Fun fact:
Do you know the characters Maito Gai and Rock Lee from Naruto? Their names are a sort of joke on 'a Mighty Guy' and 'Lee Rock', a famous Chinese martial art film (needless to say, their appearance is also made to resemble the famous Chinese martial arts master Bruce Lee). Their names are written as:

Maito Gai マイト　ガイ and Rokku Rii ロック　リ- , in katakana, to emphasise that their names originally derive from foreign words and names.

The two of them are often depicted in very straight and stiff poses, which I believe (unless I am overinterpreting) is a joke on how their names are written in katakana, which overall contains very straight characters.

You must be registered for see images

You must be registered for see images

cooool...and clear...
lol..it was interesting
arrigato kookie-chan

 

[Kookie]

Hmmm.. after some time you can't edit your own posts, it seems.. that might be an issue. I guess I'll just have to make sure to put up the links as soon as possible in the future.

For all of those who have waited for the katakana charter document to download, I apologise for the wait.

You can now get it here:

You must be registered for see links

 

[Kazamori]

Oooouuuhh !!! How could I miss this thread ?!!.... *starts learning*

 

[Kookie]

Trial Lesson 1c) Double consonant and long vowel​

Before we leave the subject of hiragana and katakana in our Trial Lessons, I need to explain to you how to indicate double consonant and long vowel. So far we have learned that Japanese words are built up by syllables, that each syllable is primarily a single vowel, or a consonant and a vowel together, and that each syllable has a hiragana and a katakana character to represent it.

Double Consonant​

As it is, consonants do not appear by themselves, so how can we indicate a double consonant in our writing, without adding an extra vowel?

Since there is no kana (character) that represent a single consonant, except from the character representing the n- or m-sound, Japanese use a small tsu つ or ツ placed in front of the syllable where the consonant is double. This tsu should be about half the size of the other kana, so that it doesn't get confused with a normal tsu. Ex:


Hiragana:

kekkon (wedding) = ke-kko-n　 けっこん

Katakana:

kukki (cookie) = ku-kki　 クッキ　

(remember that with katakana, the word is written the way it sounds according to Japanese syllables, not the way it is originally spelled, so the Japanese may put a double consonant in a foreign word that is not originally written with a double consonant)

Double consonants that occur in modern Japanese are: kk, pp, ss and tt.

The small つ or ツ should not be pronounced as 'tsu', of course, but should indicate a sharper, longer emphasis on the following consonant, like in the English word 'happy'.

Long Vowel​

Indicating long vowel in a word is pretty straightforward with both hiragana and katakana.


Hiragana:

Long vowel using hiragana is indicated with adding another vowel after the first. Ex:

ryõri (cuisine, cooking) = ryou-ri　りょうり
(long o can be written as both ou and oo, but the most usual is ou)

shiitake (type of mushroom) = shii-ta-ke　しいたけ


Katakana:

Long vowel using katakana is simply indicated with a long hyphen after the initial vowel. Ex:

keiki (cake) = keー -ki　ケーキ
(long e can be written as both ei and ee, but the most common is ei)

purintaa (printer) = pu-ri-n-taー　プリンター

Long vowels that occur in modern Japanese are: aa, ii, uu, ee/ei and oo/ou.

 

[Kookie]

Ok, I've made two more documents for you to download, if you like

These charters show exactly how you should write each kana when writing by hand, following a specific pattern of strokes. Each stroke should be written without lifting the pen off the paper. The numbers indicate where the point of the pen should begin, and which stroke comes first. Some of them may seem illogical to you, but the more you practise it, the more sense it makes. In the olden days the Japanese wrote with a brush only, so these strokes are based on a natural movement of the brush over the paper. It actually helps if you imagine that you are holding a brush rather than a pen.

The Japanese education authorities have expressed a concern about students not learning to write properly, due to the increase of writing by typing, which writes the kana automatically for you.

It is important to learn how to write hiragana, katakana and kanji by hand, even if it is quicker and easier to type. It makes it easier to remember them, plus, they are each a work of art, and should be appreciated as such

Please practise your Japanese handwriting, dear friends, and feel free to upload your beautiful results here! That would make me a very happy sensei!

Ok, enough talk. Go get it!

You must be registered for see links

You must be registered for see links

 

[Nikkou Arashi]

Weeh! I love these!
A million, million thanks Kookie! :hug::hug::hug:

 

[Kookie]

Thank you Nikkou!!

Your comments warm my heart and more importantly, give me a reason to continue this.

It is great to see that I have over 500 views on this thread, and 24 positive votes.
However, I have no idea how many people actually follow it.

Now, my lessons take up a lot of my time, and I work hard to keep them at good quality, so in order to be able to continue, I need some numbers of interest.

So: if you like this thread and you plan to follow the lessons I post, and you will be sad to see them go, please post something in this thread, just so I can see that people actually read them, and want them to continue.

In the meantime, I am working on more lessons. I will never charge or in any way demand anything back from you for doing this, but I will probably not be motivated to continue for long is there are only 2-3 people who are interested. So, the more display of demand I get, the more lessons I will create.

That's fair, isn't it? So please post your interest below, if you want more lessons.

 

[Sin]

More Lessons !!

This is intresting in which it would also help let's say we were banned from getting Naruto in english. We could read the Japanese.. >.> Not saying it will happen but it's good to know.

 

[senjuwaqas]

Great job

 

[siLent Rain]

co0L ^_^