help teh newbie (4 Viewers)

[babydoll_]

͂߂܂āB Nancy łB ǂ 낵_B ^__^

i have some small questions about Japanese..

1/ , , , , - are these all pronounced as a cross between L and R, or are some more R-ish than others?

2/ i know in ł, the U at the end is almost silent. is this always the case? cos ive been pronouncing "ǂ 낵_" as "doozo yoroshiku"

3/ is it me or is ‚ꂢ܂ really hard to pronounce?

4/ is there a difference between _A܂ and A܂, besides the extra long "A" sound?

_肪Ƃ ܂ ^^

 

[Toodulu]

errrm lets see
1/ lar, li, looh, leh, lor
2/ i don't understand what you mean sorry
3/ watch more jap drama with hot jap people and it'll come naturally
4/ i'm not sure, but when there's the 'a' it sounds more hesitant like you're thinking about saying mata. whereas the shorter one just sounds like a very casual "see you! "

 

[babydoll_]

hmmm
um for 2/ when you say "desu", you pronounce as "des" without the "u", so why dont you do it for "doozo yoroshiku"

 

[Lexicographer]

The Japanese "R"
This one is considered really hard, but it isn't really. For the moment just pronounce it like a hard R (these don't feature in English, try emulating a trilled [romance] R like in Spanish or Italian). Very soon you'll hear some real Japanese people say it and pick up the proper intonation, but it's often said that only Native speakers can ever do it properly (so don't worry about it too much).

Silent Syllables
Basically Japanese is fast. Sometimes it's faster to drop weak vowels like u (des') and i (yorosh'ku), you just figure out the system with time.

When SU is at the end of a word (mostly VERBS, desu --> des' and ~masu --> ~mas') the U is silent. When SHI is the penultimate (last-but-one) syllable in a word, the I is usually silent (~mashita --> mash'ta).

Shitsurei Shimasu
Again you'll get the hang of it in time. Just do it slowly at first, like a new Piano piece. If you really can't handle that chunk of sibilants go for sumimasen (commonly pronounced as suimasen).

Ja vs J
Personal intonation really. If you've just jumped out of a couch and want to end your encounter on a lively note you're more likely to say "Ja' - mata ne!" (where ' indicates glottal stop). If you've just had a leisurely coffee and are slowly pulling yourself out of a confy sofa, the more drawn out "J, mata n?" will cpome more naturally.

Of course, the same could be said relative to one's mood, or even overall personality. For all intents and purposes, however, they are equivalent.

 

[AsyLum]

Originally posted by Lexicographer
The Japanese "R"
This one is considered really hard, but it isn't really. For the moment just pronounce it like a hard R (these don't feature in English, try emulating a trilled [romance] R like in Spanish or Italian). Very soon you'll hear some real Japanese people say it and pick up the proper intonation, but it's often said that only Native speakers can ever do it properly (so don't worry about it too much).

Silent Syllables
Basically Japanese is fast. Sometimes it's faster to drop weak vowels like u (des') and i (yorosh'ku), you just figure out the system with time.

When SU is at the end of a word (mostly VERBS, desu --> des' and ~masu --> ~mas') the U is silent. When SHI is the penultimate (last-but-one) syllable in a word, the I is usually silent (~mashita --> mash'ta).

Shitsurei Shimasu
Again you'll get the hang of it in time. Just do it slowly at first, like a new Piano piece. If you really can't handle that chunk of sibilants go for sumimasen (commonly pronounced as suimasen).

Ja vs J
Personal intonation really. If you've just jumped out of a couch and want to end your encounter on a lively note you're more likely to say "Ja' - mata ne!" (where ' indicates glottal stop). If you've just had a leisurely coffee and are slowly pulling yourself out of a confy sofa, the more drawn out "JE mata nE" will cpome more naturally.

Of course, the same could be said relative to one's mood, or even overall personality. For all intents and purposes, however, they are equivalent.

Japanese is fast he says.....man its so fluid and so so so AHHHHHHHH *tears hair out*

I found hira quite easy, and the sentence structure is kinda logical if you think about it, and is very similar to our own english, the only difference being, we don't really follow the rules of english too much, its rather a ..."suggestion" for lack of a better word, whereas the ɂق is quite strict on rules...for the time being im sure ill learn to break the rules soon

 

[babydoll_]

ARGH i cant remember my hiragana ARGH

 

[eviltama]

japanese is more difficult than french.. i didn't think that was possible...

</random observation>

 

[Lexicographer]

Japanese starts hard and gets easier. Romance languages are the opposite. Stick with it and it evens out.

 

[Newbie]

oi lads
recommend me some hot japanese dramas with super hot megawow jap chicks gogogo

look at the sig everyone
and go WTF

 

[AsyLum]

lol

its japan...id go WTF but ive sen worse

or should that be NIHON!!

 

[babydoll_]

Originally posted by eviltama
japanese is more difficult than french.. i didn't think that was possible...

</random observation>

yeah it is aye.. i think learning a new alphabet system is hard

Originally posted by AsyLum
lol

its japan...id go WTF but ive sen worse

or should that be NIHON!!

hawhawhaw... what have you learnt so far?
we're meant to finish hiragana by next week, and we've started on greetings like "hajimemashite, bla bla desu, doozo yoroshiku" and my new favourite sentence "`͂ǂ炩@‚Ⴂ܂".. im not sure if thats right but it means "where are you from"

 

[Lexicographer]

Originally posted by babydoll_
yeah it is aye.. i think learning a new alphabet system is hard

Rubbish! Nothing could be easier, it's just rote learning.

 

[AsyLum]

we're third week and already doing kanji and expected to know hira and kata...i know hira easy, kata is a bitch since its only been 3 days :|

 

[Lexicographer]

Katakana should be nothing to you!

It's just Hiragana with corners! Seriously, once you've got hiragana, katakana will just become second nature. Give it another week.

(note this method of throwing you in the deep end gets results - you learn by being forced to know everything immediately, and soon enough you will)

 

[babydoll_]

i dont know all my hiragana yet!!!
and this week he starts eliminating romaji!!!

what is the jap word for "f*cked"? :|

 

[j-belle]

Originally posted by Newbie
oi lads
recommend me some hot japanese dramas with super hot megawow jap chicks
gogogo

look at the sig everyone
and go WTF

Is that the Shock Boys?

 

[Lexicographer]

I wanna see the shock boys. Someone, c'mon, shout your mod/s?

 

[Toodulu]

haha don't worry kids, i still don't know all my katakana and i did jap for the hsc :|

 

[babydoll_]

ooh, excellent

ok another question. is there a difference between "~ ~_}" and "~ ~Ȃł" (i think thats how you write it)?

 

[Lexicographer]

Try it in roumaji? One of the characters isn't coming through.