Tofugu Comments - Latest Comments

Re: Use Mixi.jp to improve your Japanese (and make some friends, too!)

koichi — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:47:38 -0000

be sure to include an e-mail in your comment so i know where to send it to.
Also, you have a Japanese cell phone, correct? I'd say 99% of people
requesting right now aren't able to get in because they don't read the
directions - the big red bold words at the bottom of the article.

Re: Japanese Particles [Cheatsheet]

koichi — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:45:35 -0000

Good! I'm glad it's helping people!! :)

Re: How to Follow Japan-Blogs Like a Pro

koichi — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:44:14 -0000

haha, no. I think it's been almost a year now? I appreciate the support,
though!

Re: Use Mixi.jp to improve your Japanese (and make some friends, too!)

twitter-31356132 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:13:00 -0000

This sounds great I would like to practice my Japanese and make friends. Could you please invite me. Also, anyone who reads this especially those who are practicing japanese like I am would you practice with me. Onegai.

Re: Use Mixi.jp to improve your Japanese (and make some friends, too!)

toriaezu.nama123 — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:26:25 -0000

招待をください！
REALLY WANT TO BE ABLE TO PRACTISE MY JAPANESE!
toriaezu.nama123 at gmail.com
よろしく！

Re: Japanese Particles [Cheatsheet]

facebook-5724226 — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:32:55 -0000

LOL, My teacher passed this sheet out in class the other day!

Re: Strange Katakana Words

Will — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:04:55 -0000

バウバウ　- bark
ミャウミャウ - meow
チュンチュン - cheep cheep
カーカー - like a crow going "kahh kahh"
キン．コン．カン．コン - and of course, japanese school bell

(my source, a real Japanese person ) :D

Re: How to Follow Japan-Blogs Like a Pro

facebook proxy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:40:31 -0000

really, no joke I am going to vote for you if it's still on going... is it?

Re: How to Follow Japan-Blogs Like a Pro

facebook proxy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:39:45 -0000

is the voting done?! Oh too bad! I was going to vote you!

Re: Strange Katakana Words

Gutsy Boo — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:32:48 -0000

I love the old style of the slides. It looks so classy. I was reading the katakana and trying to figure out how they got the meaning for that. I guess it makes sense that words came from languages other than English. Is piero French or Italian for clown?

Re: Use Mixi.jp to improve your Japanese (and make some friends, too!)

LazyHours — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:19:48 -0000

Invite me please.

lazyhours@me.com

Re: Some Japanese Restaurant Culture

Random — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:01:22 -0000

My thoughts while reading:

"If you are eating with people that aren’t really close friends or family, then yes, it’s important you turn your chopsticks around to grab the food."
ME: Crap I don't know how to use chopsticks...

"If you don’t know how to use chopsticks, then you should probably turn your fork around"
ME: That sounds hard. Maybe I should just try the chopsticks..

"and look like the idiot you are for going to Japan without learning how to use chopsticks beforehand."
ME: /Dies]

Re: The “No Gaijin Allowed” mentality

VOIP — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:49:59 -0000

It says roughly "this store is for people who LOVE fish. Even if you're Japanese but don't love fish we will ask you to leave".

I honestly don't know what to think about this one. They're making an assumption that a foreign person does not love fish as much as a Japanese one would. It's bizarre discrimination - but it's still discrimination if actually enforced.

Re: Strange Katakana Words

caughtredhanded — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:21:52 -0000

The trials and tribulations of katakana are certainly getting to me too at the moment (http://bit.ly/KIyCs). Thanks for this post though, only too sorry that I missed the actual lesson..

Re: Strange Katakana Words

Kohaku — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:28:21 -0000

トランプ is from portuguese. thanks for the lesson!

Re: 6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

caughtredhanded — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 05:30:26 -0000

Lovely post. Kanji is integral to Japanese and without it, it just would not work. Government think tanks have rejected the notion of disbanding kanji again and again as the positives far out way the negatives. Think about it though, yes you may have to learn 1945 separate kanji in order to be able to effectively read Japanese, but then think about how many words those kanji can actually make. Would it be possible to read English fluently only knowing 1945 English words? I doubt it very much..

Re: 6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

koichi — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:05:19 -0000

Yes, I agree with Ikari ;)

Re: Strange Katakana Words

Mike — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:56:28 -0000

Germans can pronounce V's!

Re: Practice Kana, Kanji, and Particles with Nihongoup

YMN — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:53:55 -0000

Hello,

Is this thing still going on? Anyways 毎週テレビで日本のドラマを見ているうちに、日本語に興味を持つようになった。I just found out about this site yesterday and I think it's awesome。 I think I should get a copy of this software because I only started learning Japanese 3 weeks ago which means I need a lot of help :D Furthermore， I am learning it all by myself and I try to learn at least 1 hour of japanese everyday。 Right now I can pick up some words and phrases in Japanese dramas but if I want to understand more I'll have to get a copy of this software！so PLZ PLZ PLZ pick me PLZ

Re: Strange Katakana Words

GJB995 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:21:55 -0000

saw your flickr.

It rocked

Re: 6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

ikari7789 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:11:01 -0000

Although you have a point Craig, what you said made me realize something. When you think about the English language, we actually DO spend so much time taking spelling tests and such during our years in school, it's as if we are learning something similar to kanji because, really, when you think about it, how many words in the English language actually sound the way they are spelled? So what if we have an alphabet of only 26 letters, those 26 letters can be combined into so many different combinations that it isn't even funny.

Re: Strange Katakana Words

David — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:54:11 -0000

アルバイト - German (arbeit)
ウイルス - German >.> I think (because Germans can't pronounce V)
I guess most of the others are of English origin

Re: 6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

Craig — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:57:01 -0000

Great Read! I sometimes wonder if Kanji holds Japanese learners back, as it's just something extra they have to focus on when they could have already mastered a simple alphabet, but then I think of English and how we're hard pressed to spell everything and spend years upon years getting basic spellings down too!

I have to wonder about a culture with a simple alphabet and simple spelling though....they might have all that time to fill their brain with other stuff!

Re: 6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

ikari7789 — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:13:15 -0000

Ah, but in the Japanese language... there ARE no plurals! So... in koichi's defense... he could be referring to just a single kanji and you would never know!

Re: 6 Reasons Why Kanji is Necessary

guest — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 23:36:25 -0000

please change the title to 6 Reasons Why Kanji *are* Necessary. Plurals use "are".