BakaSensei
December 22nd, 2004, 01:54 PM
Greetings all.
This message board looks like it has a lot of promise.
My fascination with Japanese culture began about 30 years ago when I first saw the Raymond Burr version of TOHO's classic "Gojira." It's been an "on/off' relationship ever since, as I would sink deep into anime or manga, and then go away. After my daughter (age 9) discovered Pokemon, it's been downhill ever since. Through Pokemon, my daughter, wife, and I have become obsessed with the culture.
One day we bought some Japanese language Pokemon cards, and on a whim, decided to try and translate them. Since then, we've bought MANY DVDs (anime, dorama, horror), bought manga, downloaded unsubbed anime, bought dozens of books (learning and raw JP language), and worked our hardest to learn to speak and read the language. We even went so far as to have DISH satellite installed for the JP channels (TV Japan and JETTV).
At this point, we do a lot of our basic communicating in Japanese. We can also count and order meals with comfort. However, there are problems....
I chose the nick "BakaSensei" purposefully. I'm a teacher (private school and college) who has an undergrad and 2 master's degrees in music. Unfortunately, Japanese frequently makes me feel like an idiot!
Here are some of the difficulties I'm having. If anyone has anysuggestions, PLEASE point me in the right direction.
1) When reading written kana, I have a hard time telling where one word ends and the next begins. I try locating particles and look for kana changes (katakana to hirigana). That leads to some success, but there is still a fair margin of error.
2) Particles. As soon as I'm convinced of what each particle means, I find examples stating the opposite. A definitive resource would help.
3) VERBS!!! I can't conjugate a JP verb worth a flip. I have a couple of JP penpals who really enjoy my attempts at conjugating verbs. First you decide how polite you're going to be. Next, you decide the tense (present or past, but never future). Finally, you decide the situation and MAYBE you'll come close. Ugh.
Anywho, this is where I'm coming from. These boards look like a good place to visit and learn.
'til I smarten up, I'm
"BakaSensei"
This message board looks like it has a lot of promise.
My fascination with Japanese culture began about 30 years ago when I first saw the Raymond Burr version of TOHO's classic "Gojira." It's been an "on/off' relationship ever since, as I would sink deep into anime or manga, and then go away. After my daughter (age 9) discovered Pokemon, it's been downhill ever since. Through Pokemon, my daughter, wife, and I have become obsessed with the culture.
One day we bought some Japanese language Pokemon cards, and on a whim, decided to try and translate them. Since then, we've bought MANY DVDs (anime, dorama, horror), bought manga, downloaded unsubbed anime, bought dozens of books (learning and raw JP language), and worked our hardest to learn to speak and read the language. We even went so far as to have DISH satellite installed for the JP channels (TV Japan and JETTV).
At this point, we do a lot of our basic communicating in Japanese. We can also count and order meals with comfort. However, there are problems....
I chose the nick "BakaSensei" purposefully. I'm a teacher (private school and college) who has an undergrad and 2 master's degrees in music. Unfortunately, Japanese frequently makes me feel like an idiot!
Here are some of the difficulties I'm having. If anyone has anysuggestions, PLEASE point me in the right direction.
1) When reading written kana, I have a hard time telling where one word ends and the next begins. I try locating particles and look for kana changes (katakana to hirigana). That leads to some success, but there is still a fair margin of error.
2) Particles. As soon as I'm convinced of what each particle means, I find examples stating the opposite. A definitive resource would help.
3) VERBS!!! I can't conjugate a JP verb worth a flip. I have a couple of JP penpals who really enjoy my attempts at conjugating verbs. First you decide how polite you're going to be. Next, you decide the tense (present or past, but never future). Finally, you decide the situation and MAYBE you'll come close. Ugh.
Anywho, this is where I'm coming from. These boards look like a good place to visit and learn.
'til I smarten up, I'm
"BakaSensei"