The Particles!!!

[Tsuruneru]

They are frustrating I'm failing most if my tests because if them...well not failing but still a pretty bad score the lowest is 71%. I hate getting a low score (it makes me feel stupied...i may be) Because of this the world wont end with me but its going to end with you (World ends with you joke) Ok my question is. How can i easily memories all the particles? Help would be nice...PARTICLES!!! Brought to you by the particle foundation

[jesselt]

Which particles are you learning?

[Tsuruneru]

Well the ones that we are so called taught are か、の、は、も、に、で、へ、を、から、まで、と　 including the ones that have multiple meanings.

[JayT]

There is no real easy way to learn them. Just practice them, and practice your sentences with some Japanese speakers so they can correct you if you use the wrong one. It shouldn't even be a challenge since they all indicate different things.

[chryuop]

All we can do here is telling you what you will find in any grammar book. To help you better you should tell us what problems you have or provide some examples of most frequent errors you make. As general rule you will have:
か=placed at the end of a phrase indicate a question. It can be found also in the middle of a phrase when you have a question in a reported (direct or indirect) speech.
の=placed at the end of a phrase indicates a question in a non formal phrase. As a particle (and not as genitive) can be found in a middle of a phrase when it shows the subject in a subordinate phrase. Again, placed after a verb it can be used to make a noun out of the verb.
は=marks the topic of the phrase. It can be the one making the action, but it can even be the destination place where the action ends or something which is not partecipating directly in the action. To help you think to は to something translated like "as per". Someone once told me that it includes also a meaning of "at least" referred to the topic.
も=includes what comes before it. Translate it as a "too" or "as well". Used with verbs can even assume the meaning of "even".
が=shows the one carrying out the action, that is the subject. Can also be found as a conjunction with the meaning of "but".
を=indicates the direct object. That means you will have it only with transitive verbs.
に=it shows a place in time or space where an action ends up to.
で=it shows a place in time or space where an action actually takes place.
へ=shows a direction towards you are moving towards or ending up to. In contrast with に I could say へ is more temporary. It doesn't show a final destination.
から=indicates the origin in time or place, the English from. It can also mean because or while, but I don't think they would still be considered particles.
まで=opposite of から, indicates the ending of a time frame or space. The English till or until.
と=company particle which can be translated as "with". It can also be used to mark the ending of a quotation from a directed or indirected reported speech.

But as I said, you need to be more specific in what problems you have.

[Tsuruneru]

Yeah i know what they mean i just always for get and i have no one to talk to in japanese.

[yuriyuri]

Read, listen to, write or say correct sentences with them all in context... every day.
There is no easy way out on this, there is no mnemonic that will cover all of the particles and meanings.
You just have to get stuck in and use them.

And what do you mean you have no Japanese people to speak with, your on a forum about Japan and Japanese language where a few Japanese people post in Japanese in Japanese threads.
And Nagoyankee, out of the kindess of his heart, provides an absolutely unbelievable amount of help to members who have questions about Japanese language on this forum.

Try to join in the Japanese chat thread here: Japanese Chat : Japanese Characters

If you aren't sure what you are saying in Japanese is correct then type out the same sentence that you wanted to say in English too.
That way somebody will be able to show you the correct way to say it.

Or if you don't feel ready to join in, then just read (do this in firefox with the help of the rikaichan plugin... Although if this is the case then I don't see why you would want to search for Japanese to talk to in real-time anyway)

Anyway the point is, if you sit around all day trying to think of easy ways to remember all of these particles, that's time wasted where you could be practicing using, and getting better at using them.

[Tsuruneru]

Hmm...i see i'll give it a shot.

[KyleGoetz]

Download Anki. Make flashcards for each particle. Practice each day for 5 minutes. Get As on your tests. The end.

Let's face it, if you can't learn those particles, either (1) you aren't studying hard enough; or (2) you're too dumb to learn Japanese.

My money is on #1. Learning a language requires review time on your own.

[yuriyuri]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

Download Anki. Make flashcards for each particle. Practice each day for 5 minutes. Get As on your tests. The end.

I can't believe I forgot to say this magical word.