日本語を分かる者へ

[Harold]

Originally Posted by MMM

Yes. Though in retrospect, 「方」　would have been better than 「者」. I think it was the end of a long day when I first posted.

There is no way to learn Japanese properly without learning the written language.

ふ　is not FU and is not HU.

ら、り、る、れ、ろ　is not RA, RI, RU, RE, RO

With a little practice, you can SEE the different pronunciation.

Long vowels, small っ , these are all things that must be learned to be spoked and heard.

Ugh.. that's one of the things I don't get about Japanese: So many words for one thing (人、者、and 方). Well, depending on the language you're coming from, RA, RI, RU, RE, and RO are pretty close. I know that, in Spanish, the Rs are close. The English R is just an ugly letter.

I'm glad that my mom made me bilingual with Spanish.. It gives an advantage to Japanese vowel pronunciation over a regular English speaker.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Harold

Ugh.. that's one of the things I don't get about Japanese: So many words for one thing (人、者、and 方). Well, depending on the language you're coming from, RA, RI, RU, RE, and RO are pretty close. I know that, in Spanish, the Rs are close. The English R is just an ugly letter.

I'm glad that my mom made me bilingual with Spanish.. It gives an advantage to Japanese vowel pronunciation over a regular English speaker.

And English doesn't have a lot of words for the same thing?

"Let's meet up." "Let's get together." "Let's catch up." "Let's hang out."

It drives Japanese people just as crazy. Everything is "up" "down" "out" "in"...

I think it's easier for us learning Japanese than the other way around.

[kuroisaiyajin]

I hear japanese is easier for native english speakers than it is the other way around, but it's hard for me to witness this first hand. I haven't caught on, but in informal japanese are there different ways to say the same thing, like with MMM's example of "Let's meet up?" I'm aware of different verbal conjugations, but what about completely different words that could potentially lead to the same thought.

[MMM]

Can you be more specific?

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by MMM

Yes. Though in retrospect, 「方」　would have been better than 「者」. I think it was the end of a long day when I first posted.

者 instead of 方 didn`t bother me much - but saying 日本語*を* instead of 日本語*の* in this case just sounds weird to me.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

者 instead of 方 didn`t bother me much - but saying 日本語*を* instead of 日本語*の* in this case just sounds weird to me.

You are so right...! That's what I get for posting that late. Thanks, as always, Nyororin.

「日本語がわかる人」はどうですか。

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by mmm

「日本語がわかる人」はどうですか。

ダイレクトすぎるように聞こえますね。文法的にあって はいるけど、そうそう言う事はないと思います。

[MMM]

なるほど。聞いたことがあるけど、あんまり聞かない言 い方だから…
ありがとう！

[kuroisaiyajin]

Originally Posted by kuroisaiyajin

I hear japanese is easier for native english speakers than it is the other way around, but it's hard for me to witness this first hand. I haven't caught on, but in informal japanese are there different ways to say the same thing, like with MMM's example of "Let's meet up?" I'm aware of different verbal conjugations, but what about completely different words that could potentially lead to the same thought.

I don't know if I can be honestly, I'll try to research it a bit if I ever get around to it, but I'll probably forget the whole thing in a day or two.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by kuroisaiyajin

I don't know if I can be honestly, I'll try to research it a bit if I ever get around to it, but I'll probably forget the whole thing in a day or two.

If that is how important it is to you, then that is how important it is to me.