Hi, Fara-chan!

Oh, that's fine (ﾟ∇^*) I'm just afraid that there might be some trouble with my mailer system; in these days my internet connection does not work properly.

So, the time difference between Kuwait and Japan is 6 hours? As for the UK, there is 8-hour time difference. It was pretty hard to make a call at appropriate time.

By the way, yesterday I went to Akihabara and found so many Haruhi stuff there!

Hi, Suki-chan!

I'm not sure if I still live in Japan two years later (in fact I'm planning to work in London to earn my tuition fee); but I'm willing to be your guide d(*⌒▽⌒*)b

By the way, the expo will be held at Barcelona, too!? Wow, I feel glad and proud to know that so many foreign people love Japanese culture (≧∇≦)

I see. One of my tutors (he is a native British guy) told us that English is rather complicated language; people all over the world use English not because it is easy, but because it is the heritage of British Empire.
Maybe only one advantage for Japanese people to learn English is, there are so many loan words.

Thank you for your explanation; this sentence is quite clear and makes good sense :)


So, can I ask one question from a Latin song "O Fortuna"? I can't get the following lines;

ludo mentis aciem,
egestatem, potestatem
dissolvit ut glaciem.

I checked dictionary and guessed the meaning of each word; but I can't understand the syntax of "ludo mentis aciem". These words seem to indicate "play, whim", "mind" and "look", but I'm not sure what this line exactly means. If you have some suggestion, will you tell me, please?

I once translated this poem into Japanese, but just based on English translation. The whole Latin lines are at the following page:

http://laurel.otogirisou.com/miscellany/ofortuna.html


Oh, I see. We Japanese do not have hot dish during Summer; but -- do you hear something about "我慢大会" (gaman taikai: patience competition)?
It is a game to prove one's own endurance. People wear warm, thick clothes and eat hot food even though the temperature is more than 30c degree!!
I wonder if the participants are a bunch of masochists or not ...

I'm totally surprised at your explanation of political situation during Franco's dictatorship. That was ... so terrible, I feel sorry for Catalan people. Also, I feel respect for them, because they keep their own culture, their own Catalan language.
Thank you for your explanation, Suki-chan (＾▽＾) I greatly owe to you!

Yes, you're right... ホンマっすね。
じゃあ、せっかくなので敢えて日本語でレスしてみます ☆

さすがえーごは実質上のリンガ・フランカ。このフォー ラムを見たらエドワード・サイード氏も草葉の影から「 オリエンタリズムだ！」とか怒りそうでドキドキです :D

Hello
Akihabara, The Otakus favourite place, Have u gone there to buy some Anime figures and DVDs or u had some other work to do :p or u had a cup of coffee in a maid cafe (just joking).



Are all the ppl there dressed in the otaku style?
Densha Otoko. (Have u seen this drama?)



Have u seen ppl there, running after an Otaku with a camera shouting "IT'S AN OTAKU, GET HIM" lol.

Yah Haruhi is so famous :).

Hi
 

You can certainly ask about Rajnikanth.Hope to see you...

Oh, Fara-chan!! You know quite alot about Japan, don't you?

I went Akihabara to buy some special thingy for my British friend. However, I can't deny that there are lots of temptation in Akihabara -- I used to go there once in a month when I was teen.

As for Otaku style (we call guys wearing thick eye-glasses, bearing backpacks with anime poster, and put their shirts inside of their trousers "アキバ系" , pronounce as "Akiba kei"; the meaning is just "Akihabara-fashioned boys"), you can see so many Otakus there. At the same time, Akihabara has so many duty free shops; it is very popular among foreign tourists.

I've never seen paparazzi in Akihabara, maybe some men are eager to take photos of maid-san! :)

I read Densha Otoko on the web, via a summary made from "２ちゃんねる" ("2ch"). It was a lovely story, I like Hermes-tan :)


P.S. I heard that nowadays Ikebukuro is well-known as the town of Otaku girls. I guess there are many shops with Yaoi (slash) thingy and cosplay material. They call one street in Ikebukuro "乙女ロード"　("Otome Road", "maiden's road"). Maybe I should visit there next month ... *chuckle*

Thanks:rheart:
I got your reply and found that my sis once lived at your working place. I've been there several times, what a coincidence!

Last night I watched Rajnikanth's "Muthu" with my little niece; and -- guess what? She started dancing with him, trying to sing with him! :D

Dear nightfallnightmares,

I hope you look this thread.
Well, I tried to contact you but could not send any message via PM.
If you see this message, will you e-mail me, please?
My address is

[email protected]

Thanks!

Are Akihabara and Ikebukuro very far away from your town? Like u cannot go there everyday?

Ther's a lot more to learn avout japan :)

you must go back to UK to continue your studies right? so how much are you willing to stay in Japan?

[quote]
It takes around 1 hour to get to Akihabara from my hometown; but it is not so bad. Most of my friends work at Tokyo from our town.

When I worked at Kinshi-chou, I went to Akihabara every day -- because I had to change train there :)
To my personal opinion, Akihabara is not a town to visit every day. Just once in a week is enough to me. I would rather visit Aoyama and Omote Sandou every day :D


I'm planning to go back to the UK after I save money; maybe it takes a few months.
During that period, I'll learn Japanese culture more -- I'm going to restart traditional Japanese calligraphy exercise and learn how to wear kimono!

Laurel san.. Hajimemashite.. Watashi no namae wa. RJ desu.. jibun de yon nen kara nihongo de benkyou shita sumimasen ga watashi no nihongo ga chotto heta desu demo ganbarimasu yo!! ... I speak english as my first language but am interested in making my japanese better... so if you will be willing to help with my nihongo I'd love to conversate with you in eigo

Kotira koso hazimemasite, RJ san!
Zibun de yonen mo Nihon go wo benkyou nasaru nante sugoi desu.
Anatano nihongo ha totemo teinei desuyo :)
Motto Zisin wo motte! ;)

Thank you for your offer of help; I really appreciate it!

By the way, for you already know how to write Japanese in Romaji style, why don't you install Japanese input system and write hiragana and katakana? :)
If you use windows OS and have a right as admin, I can tell you how to install language system. We Japanese usually use Romaji input tool to write something with PC, which is quite convenient.

Well, I must confess -- I don't handwrite Japanese so frequently; I usually use PC... So, why don't you give it a try? :D

I'll e-mail you within a few days; please wait a mintute! :)

Hi there! Sorry I haven't posted earlier ^.^

Yes, every year and during 4 days a Manga Expo is held in Barcelona. We even have this channel that only broadcasts dubbed anime :D


You think so? Well, it is obvious that we use English because it is the most extended language of the world but also it is way easier than many others.

You should see how many verb tenses Spanish has!! I think it would take a life time for a non-Spanish speaker to get used to them all.

You cannot translate it literally. Prepositions are not used in Latin so you can add them if you want and the sentence won't change its meaning. I wouldn't know how to translate this but I've found the translation for you:

As far as I can deduce:

ludo mentis aciem, ............... now pampers our feelings with its game
egestatem, potestatem =..... poverty, power
dissolvit ut glaciem............... it melts them like ice.

Listology: Lyrics and Translation to "O Fortuna" from "Carmina Burana" - composer: Carl Orff

Hope it helps!

Jeez that's crazy! O.O I mean, they must be paid a nice bunch of money, otherwise I don't see why anyone would want to be put through such torture!

Learn...? So there're 'kimono lessons' to teach girls how to wear it?

Hi Maki,

Yesterday i heard that the The storm Usaji has hit Southern Japan and it was like The second storm in one month. Is entire Japan an earthquake and Storm Prone Country or there are some places which haven't seen such disasters.
I hope your area is not in danger.

Ok Take care.

i love japanese...
 

i want to learn how to speak japanese... anyone can teach me how?.. onegaisimasu..:o

I Love literature. I can speeak 6 different languages plus English:)

Really, which ones?

Hey narutocrazy!

I can do that!

Hi, Suki chan :)

Wow, that's cool! Even in Japan, we have only three-day comic convention (though it is held twice in a year), but you have another day!

So, you watch dubbed anime, not with subtitle? To me, it sounds very curious: I can't imagine some anime characters who speak in typical Japanese way use foreign language!


Honestly, I wish that Esperanto movement will gain popularity. I like English, but sometimes I feel it's unfair for non-native speakers to hand in all academic articles in English!


Thank you very much for helping me with Latin! I hate English preposition, it's really confusing to write some sentences; without preposition, however, it's hard to understand the meaning of Latin sentence...



In fact, they PAY money to join such kind of competitions.

2006 Winter Gaman-taikai in Oita

The winner gains some prize, but generally, it is not so expensive.



Yes; kimono requires special tips to wear, especially the way to tie the belt (obi) is quite difficult.
Many girls wear kimono at certification ceremony of uni, but most of them cannot wear kimono by themselves. There is a job called きもの着付け師 (kimono kitsukeshi), who helps people to wear kimono.

If you would like to know how to wear kimono, the following webpages are helpful:

how to wear kimono
http://www.g-iseya.jp/kituke/kituke.htm

How to tie kimono belt
http://coquette.fem.jp/obimusubi.html

Hi fara chan!
Thank you for your post :rheart:

In summer, we have lots of hurricanes (in Japanese 台風: taihuu); generally, however, they pass just south part of Japan.
As for earthquake... it is frequent, but usually it is very weak: we sometimes do not notice there is one.

Luckily, my hometown is not in the route of hurricane. On the other hand, we have rather frequent earthquake. Still, I never feel my house is in danger. I have a friend who lives in Kagoshima, where hurricanes frequently pass; she never says she'd like to move to somewhere. Though it sounds dangerous, we get accustomed to these natural disasters :)

Wow, that's great! Who / what are your favourite authors / books, then?

Thank you for your offer :)
I'll write to you, please wait for a few days :ywave:

Hi:)
It's my dream to go to japan (all of us on the forum do, if someone haven't gone there yet) Whenever we hear in the news that an earthquake/Taihuu:) (like you said), Had hit japan, my parents would ask me why would i like visiting a country that is in danger of any disasters that can hit in any minute. Thank god, here in the middle east(where i live) it is very very rare to hear of any disasters (but we have the worst of all disasters, its the war).

Ok take care

OMFG!!!!!! you like midevil literature???????? my newest hero ^_^ i have been in love with the Aurthurian legends since i was small. what did you think of the red night? or Sir Gallahad? I personally didn't like the way the made Sir Lancelot out to look like a savior. they were just men... any who im rambling *_* great choice on studis ;]
xox
Andie

Hello there !! :ywave:

I usually watch subbed, it's way better! As I always say, when you change the voice that's been given to a certain characters, it loses part of his personality and that's never taken into account...

So when I download anime it's always in Japanese (with subtitiles in English or Spanish), but Dragon Ball -for example- has always been broadcasted on the TV so it's dubbed.

Esperanto movement...? I don't think I know what you mean... :confused:

Yes you're right, here in Spain when you apply for a job you're always asked for English certificates, as if being able to speak English was the most important thing in the world xD Not that it bothers me though, I'd be in trouble if it was French instead!

Haha yeah that's right. I wonder how they managed to understand each other with so few apparently unconnected words.

Spanish speakers don't seem to have much trouble with prepositions. You soon get familiar with them and the verbs they go with.

WoW! :eek:

So they're out in the freezing cold eating ice-creams and such..? xD

Cool! The whole geishas world fascinates me... have you heard about Liza Dalby? She was the first non-Japanese woman to become a geisha, and she wrote a book about what life was like in the okiya and all she learnt while being tought how to behave and this kind of things.

Does every Japanese girl own a kimono? I mean, is it like... a must to have at least one? Do they wear it everywhere in a normal day?

Thanks so very much for the links, I couldn't understand a word of it but I jus cliked at random and found some interesting stuff.

How long does it actually take to get into a kimono...?

I'd be perfectly happy to talk. I'm from Canada so I speak Canadian english. I too have g-mail. Let me know!

I'm terribly sorry for not answering you soon; in these two weeks, I was busy with my dissertation... but finally, I'm free!! (except 12-hour part-time job)
Anyway. I'll write to you all ASAP; please wait for a while. Thank you for your patience :)

I'm sorry for such an awful delay of answer. While I was busy with my dissertation, I got so many e-mails ... and after I finished mine task, I didn't know how to answer them all.

To those who e-mailed me directly or using "send e-mail" function at Japan Forum, I've already answered. As for PM, I'll answer gradually -- sorry!

I'll write my e-mail address here to avoid confusion: please contact me via
[email protected]

Thanks in advance

Hello, Fara chan!

Thank you for adding me as your friend at Facebook :)

We have frequent, but very small earthquakes in Japan. I think you can get accustomed to them quickly (my Turkish brother-in-law did).
Luckily, there is no war around Japan; this summer, however, 120 people died because of excessive heat. I wore a long-sleeve coat in the UK, but Japanese summer is like a steam bath! I recommend you not to visit Japan between June to September...

Hi, KohanaIto san!

Yup, I'm a medievalist and Arthurian since I was 15!! :)
My Arthurian book collection is huge -- 8 years ago, it was already more than 100. I gave up counting all books, but it seems that I currently have more than 300... in English, French, German, and of course Japanese.

The Red Knight you said is Sir Ironside in Malory? Or, Sir Noonday Sun in Tennyson? Maybe you mean the communist knight in Donald Barthelme's novel :)

One of my favourite Arthurian works is T. H. White's The Once and Future King; I especially adore the characterization of Lancelot and Galahad.
The best knight of the world, Lancelot, has ugly face, and he is always suffering from self-despite.
Galahad is pure and perfect, that's why he is hated by the most of the knights of the Round Table.

Hiya, Suki chan!

As for dubbed anime, I heard a terrible story from CPU san; when Rurouni Kenshin (the English title is Samurai X, I think) was dubbed, some samurai character spoke in strong South American dialects!!
The way of speech has strong connection with each one's personality, but dubbed anime spoils it, I'm afraid.

When a British comedy show, "Little Britain" was on Japanese TV, the translator did not pay attention to characters' dialects. Every line was translated into standard Japanese, which made the show not so funny. How's Spanish subtitle of Dragon Ball? The hero, Goku, speaks like a bumpkin in original Japanese anime. Are his words translated into an ordinary Spanish?

Esperanto is the movement to invent an international language by mixing various languages.

Esperanto - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I like the idea, but they should have taken account of Asian languages.

After I went back to Japan, and after I stopped using English in daily conversation, I gradually forget how to use prepositions! You know, we don't have any preposition, though Japanese language has very complicated particles. I hope my English ability will be recovered by my new job...

I didn't know about Liza Dalby, but her story sounds very interesting. I watched a TV programme on Maiko, a traditional Japanese dancer girls. It seemed very hard -- even to native Japanese -- to learn such traditional thingy. Still, I know that some foreign people learn quite a lot about Japanese culture. In my Uni, a student from Czech is doing MA for Japanese literature; he memorizes several "rakugo" (traditional funny stories) and performs them on stages. It is simply amazing.

Some of my friends own their own kimono, some don't. Usually, we wear kimono at the ceremony of Coming of Age Day, when we are 20 years old. Also, on New Year Day, when attending at wedding party (we have a special white kimono for the bride as well), on graduation ceremony, etc. In Kyoto, I saw old ladies wore kimono as their daily clothes.

It takes 15 minutes for me to wear kimono properly, but my sis does within 5 minutes. She attended Japanese dance class once, so that she is get accustomed to wear kimono.

Hello, Baerldeth san!

Canadian English sounds nice, I have some Canadian friends and my sis stayed there for a while. If you still watch this thread (sorry for the delay again), please send me an e-mail :)

I speck enlish very well and I ill teach it to you
if you teach me Japanese

Hello:) how r u? I would be... ecstatic if I Could learn Japanese. and eternally greatful. lol. I can help u with german and french if your interested. as well as english. Thanks.

By the way, My name is alex. Im 17 year old male. otaku. interested in any and all languages but I plan to live in Japan after college.

Hi Maki
sorry for the late reply, but i havent checked japan forum in long time. Oh my god, you wrote this in september and look at us, now we're in november :eek: lol .

You're saying that i shouldn't visit japan between June to September, but i dont think its a problem for me because here in Kuwait it is so so hot, sometimes the temperature reaches 50 degrees and i am used to it. But we've never had death cases because of the heat.

By the way, Happy birthday!! I know its 2 days ago but i have alredy sent you a wall post on Facebook.

Take care

Hi
 

Hi Laurel Im from Puerto Rico so spanish and english here.Im very interested in learning Japanese so any time you want to practice spanish I'm here :ywave:

You ask

Let me tell you is terrible.


I see that you know your spanish so


Hola Laurel soy de Puerto Rico y me interesa mucho aprender japones. La cultura japonesa me facina .Si te gusta leer te recomiendo El Reino del Dragon de Oro , El Alquimista y Ciudad de las Bestias.En cuanto a peliculas Amorres Perro.Espero escuchar de ti cuidate mucho

^-^ hajimashite gozaimasu! i know some Japanese, but right now i sound like a polite idiot (hahaha) i can teach u some basics, but i suck @ grammer XD

I speak English. I live in Scotland. So basically I live next door to the people who actully invented English. So feel free to PM me if you need help. I would like to learn Japanese.

I can teach you if you want me too.