Free japanese tutor! www.studyjapanesenow.blogspot.com
 

I started a new site that will have free daily updated japanese lessons and tutoring system where I answer all of your questions in a lesson format.

The main site is: Japanese Language and Culture - Free Tutor

Here's an example question someone made in the forums:

Comparing in Japanese

I answer with a full lesson complete with examples and other uses.

Sign up in the forums and ask questions!

Any reason why you treated 小さい as a な-adjective? “小さい”の検索結果（435 件）：英辞郎 on the Web：スペースアルク reveals usage is as an い-adjective. It is sloppy to treat it the way you did. In daily life, it is more proper to treat them as い-adj.

I hesitate to complain about you offering lessons when you make mistakes, but it's a much more minor one than usual. Although it still is difficult for me to stomach lessons that use 私は so much in sample sentences. Japanese people don't use it as much as you have.

can you link me to the page where I possibly made a mistake?

The reason I use "Watashi" a lot is because the first few lessons have been for people who are new to Japanese. I've been to Japan before and there are certain situations where Watashi is used frequently. It really depends on what kind of group you hang out with.

I'm human like anyone else, I'm prone to little mistakes here and there. I can proofread them 3 times and there still is a chance that I'll miss something. Don't be afraid to correct me when I'm wrong.

You provided the link in your first post.

And I'm not sure of these situations where you use 私 frequently. It'd be interested to learn from you or a native about these.

I can't seem to find the example you pointed out. If it's not too much trouble, can you put the example here?

The only place I found "Chiisai" being used is:

この石（いし）はあの石（いし）より小（ちい）さいで す。

which is correct :/

Did I also use it somewhere else?

I am trying to think of a situation where 私 is used frequently, and am not coming up with any.

Once the subject is established, it is generally dropped in conversation.

You're right. I misread. I'm sorry.

But if, as you said, you're writing for beginners, why use んです? And this isn't a criticism so much as editing. I was an editor for an academic journal for two years, and sometimes I cannot help myself.

Well,　I've been teaching my friends Japanese for a bit,and they had a hard time saying "something" desu. Their mouths just can't form around it. They had an easier time pronouncing　んです　than just です。

That's why I have some parts where "ndesu" is used and some where just "desu" is used.

to ossan:

I didn't mean that "watashi" is used consecutively over and over in one conversation. I'm just saying it is generally used.

And I would say that it is easy to go a year in Japan and not use the word 私 once.

Really? My friends used it all the time in Japan. I think it really depends on what kind of people you hang around with.

Well, feel free to ask any more questions at my site! If you want me to mix around the subjects a little, that's fine too.

I can literally remember one occasion I have used it in the last month, and I remember thinking it felt funny coming out of my mouth, as I almost never have a need to say it.

(it was 「私ですか」 as in the conversation I was having with several people I wanted to confirm the question was addressed to me)

I am not sure "what kind" of people use 私 all the time, but it's overuse is commonly associated with foreigners speaking Japanese.

I never said it's overused, I'm just saying it's used. If you hang around with different kinds of people, you'll notice that they have a certain speech pattern. Some speak differently than others and yes, overusing "Watashi" is somewhat of a foreigner thing, but it is DEFINITELY not reserved for the foreigners.

Probably the defining reason why I heard more "Watashi"s being used is because I had a lot of female friends. I mostly hung out with females because I was attending a technical school. (All the guys are nerds and very shy)

I agree women use it more than men. I think making that distinction is key, as using it a lot can sound feminine. Guys would probably want to know that.

i'll note that so further confusion doesn't happen :)

I would like to note that virtually all beginner text books I've seen spam 私は at least in the beginning, so I don't think these examples are much different from what they teach beginners in school.

I was also thinking about it and decided that having 私は a lot helps learners learn when/when not to use the particle は. When you state 私は to start it helps remind you that I am the subject so you don't end up saying things like 犬は好きです when you mean to say 私は犬が好きです。

More advanced learners may have forgotten, but particles are super confusing when you just start out.

Just a thought though.

The idea "Beginners = Romaji-users" is lame and way too old-fashioned. Would you teach English for a beginning Japanese student using kana just because s/he is probably more used to kana than to the alphabet?

Look at the first line of my signature below. If someone writes English like that, can you say he is really studying English? Do you think that person will easily be able to switch to the real thing one day all of a sudden?

You hung out with the kind that change their speech when talking to foreigners. That's all. I'm amazed you didn't know that when you are already teaching Japanese.

Try answering the more difficult questions on JF and we will see how much you really know and your student prospects can feel assured.

I don't know that he is a Japanese teacher, just that he helps his friends.

But I agree...there is way too much romaji on that site for me to get into it.

so if you wana leave out watashi its 「犬が好きです。」？

Bingo.

--------

It's fine that you guys think that using romaji is not a good way to start learning Japanese, but hear me out. Who's coming to my site to learn japanese?

So far, my lessons are for beginners. This means that they will likely not know hiragana 100% and using only hiragana might be too daunting. This leads to them giving up before they even tried.

Like someone before mentioned, you have to realize the target audience. If you guys want me to make more intermediate-advanced guides, then I will do that.

And no, I am not a Japanese teacher. I'm just a college student who does this on the side.

I did not learn Japanese formally, but I think I taught myself well.

And to the person who said they changed their speech to meet my foreigner needs: They talk to each other like that when the conversation has nothing to do with me. I know how to recognize cultural awareness in speech.

little bit more about myself:

I've also been to Taiwan for a summer to learn Chinese. I learn languages as a hobby. I'm of Korean descent. I like cheese on everything. I enjoy karaoke.

You guys are a tough crowd :/ I received criticism more than anything, but I don't mind. Feel free to ask a question at my site if you really want to test my knowledge in Japanese that much.

I'll see you there!

Technically 私 is the topic there and 犬 is the subject. は is the topic marker and が is the subject marker. It's just that in English, "I" is the subject of the most natural equivalent.

Technically, the Japanese sentence says "As for me, dogs are liked." In this sentence, "dogs" is the subject of the sentence.

I think you got so much criticism because of the first thing you said up there. We tend not to like people holding themselves out as teachers when they don't really appear to be qualified on paper. You said you never even studied Japanese formally, so we wonder what makes you think you can actually teach the language well? Now, your skills are irrelevant; I'm just saying why we reacted so harshly.

Next, "the person" (Sashimister) you're talking about in paragraph two is a native Japanese speaker. You should go with what he said. MMM, the other one who addressed the 私 issue, is a professional translator IIRC. I studied at a university in Japan.

We're a tough crowd because people come here all the time with "hey check out my Japanese instruction site" that inevitably turns out to be full of horrible, incorrect Japanese. That's why we're always so critical of sites such as yours. I will say that what I saw of yours doesn't raise alarm bells the way others I've seen do.

Still, I think your romaji point is weak. In your forum, you have a lesson on comparisons. No one should be at that level of Japanese and not know kana. Period. The only excuse for teaching in romaji is that you're teaching how to say the things a learner would use on day 1 or day 2.

No true beginner should be learning comparisons. Someone learning comparisons is at a level where they should have learned kana. In my Japanese class, we learned hiragana before, I think, class three even started. We had basically learned how to say hello, goodbye, good morning, and a few other phrases. That's it. I don't think we'd learned any grammar whatsoever.

You know what I meant. When thinking about the latter sentence without 私 it may seem appropriate to put は after "dog" because it appears that the dog is the topic of the sentence. This isn't confusing in English because we never say "Dog like" or "Like dogs" we say "I like dogs" but ommiting the "I" in Japanese can lead to people forgetting what they are really trying to say.

Yeah, I know what you were trying to say.

To clarify a few things 好き doens't actually mean "to like" or anything like that. It means "liked." So 犬が好きだ literally means "dogs are liked." But that's not the most natural way to say it in English.

Also, you can say 犬は好きだ and mean "I like dogs [as opposed to cats]."

While I agree with you that someone learning comparisons should already have the kanas down I have reasons for having romaji as well as kana.

I've been teaching my college friends Japanese because we do not have a Japanese course here. They are completely new to Japanese and it's hard to force them to learn Kana when there's no grade involved. The only ones who learned kana fully on the first week are the people who are self-motivated.

When I decided to make this website, I wanted to teach those "self motivated" people to minimize headaches, but I soon found out that the demographic of people wanting to learn Japanese isn't as professional. There are high school students who wants to learn Japanese, English teachers, travellers, Korean mothers, and all sorts of different kind of people with different schedules.

I repeat, I agree that a true linguist always starts by learning to read the language in order for them to go to the source to learn. The only problem is that not everyone claims to be a self-proclaimed linguist.

The site is the end result of my contemplation. If it happens so that people want and require a more strict way of teaching, I will agree with their wants and produce my lessons in a different way.

At this point, the site is still an experiment. If no one comes and participates with the site, then I am obviously doing something wrong and I will adapt to the situation respectively.

I repeat, I am not a Japanese teacher and did not learn Japanese formally. I don't believe in a formal education nor do I think degrees make a person qualified. I look up to a lot of people and most of them have never received a formal education. They fueled their passion with study and produced ground-breaking results. I went to Taiwan for a Chinese school but ended up never going to class and just studying in the library. (yay visa) The school was ready to kick me out of the country but I convinced them otherwise.

I'm not saying that being self-taught is the best way. To be honest, it's more of a way to hinder yourself.
Quoting Mark Twain -

"The self taught man seldom knows anything accurately, and he does not know a tenth as much as he could have known if he had worked under teachers, and besides, he brags, and is the means of fooling other thoughtless people into going and doing as he himself has done."

It's true. Being self-taught is the downfall of modern-day education. Everyone needs a general education to survive and act in the modern world. But, I believe that being self-taught is the most natural way of learning. It's fine to imitate your father as you grow up, but I believe that finding your own way is a valid way to learn.


As far as the criticisms go, I am not ignoring it. I will take everyone's opinion into consideration and make my next lessons to suit everyone's tastes.

I'm sorry for this long rant but I feel strongly that being self-educated is my goal. (Though my boss probably won't think so)

Thanks for reading this wall of text.

If someone can't be arsed to learn kana on their own, they will never learn Japanese so you are wasting your time. (To be blunt about it.)

Seriously, Japanese is a decade-long process. And they can't be arsed to learn hiragana?!?

It's good that you hold your own opinion, but believe it or not, teachers deal with this everyday. You can't expect everyone in the class to be completely motivated. But, what you can do is nudge them the right way and hope for them to be interested.

general education is forced education. If I can get one person interested in Japanese without them having to dedicate a couple of hours learning kana, then I did my job.

But getting interested in Japanese MEANS dedicating yourself to the time it takes to learn kana.

You can't learn Japanese WITHOUT learning kana, and once one learns kana it gets easier, not harder to learn.

It is much easier to read よろしくお願いします then it is yoroshikuonegaishimasu.

That's how you might have learned. That's how I learned. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. Even if it means sacrificing their ability to read Japanese people will take the route of least resistance(at the beginning). Like I said, I'll make the later lessons with more advanced users in mind. The beginning is... well, for beginners.

There is a reason subjects of study are called "disciplines". No matter what, advancement requires and effort from the learner.

I am speaking in general, and not specifically about anything you are doing. But, the question becomes how long is hand-holding helpful, and and what point it is hurtful?

No one is born to be passionate about something--Something HAS to click. Learning romaji is not something that hinders someone from achieving an end result. Like I said, not everyone learns the same way. While it may be traditional to learn the kanas first, it does not mean it's the only way. There's no study saying that learning a language through romanized lettering causes someone to never learn that language. Some people will prefer to use romaji in the beginning and some will immediately learn the kanas. Like I said on numerous occasions, this is just for the beginning.

here's a rough example:

You can read a lot of books on ancient languages and most of the books will be "user friendly". Unless it's extremely specialized, the book will always have the romanized system instead of the original alphabet. Is this holding hands? I think it's getting that person to be interested to learn the original alphabet fully.

I read a book on Egyptian hieroglyphics and thought it was very interesting. If the book used just hieroglyphs to talk about Egyptian etymology I would be very turned off by the fact that I can't understand it.

What I'm trying to say is that I am trying to get the reader interested in learning Japanese, and I am not trying to cram their heads with information which will ultimately benefit the user or have them lose interest.

I can create a website that is solely for tried and hardened scholars, or I can create a website for everyone.

Your job??? So let me get this straight: You force people to go to your website and study Japanese under your tutelage? Because that's what you just said. "Forced education."

If someone goes to your website and asks a question, it's by definition not forced!

Obviously you're misunderstanding me. I STARTED teaching Japanese by teaching my friends. I created this website to teach everyone. There's a huge difference in those crowds.

Now it just feels like I'm being trolled.

But what your teaching is not "beginning" stuff. Comparisons is not a "beginning" concept.

This is a failed analogy. You're not teaching etymology. You're teaching language usage.

You're not trying to get a reader interested in Japanese. If they're on your site, they're already interested in learning Japanese. You don't have to convince them. They're already convinced!

If you portray that "it's OK not to learn kana right away," then yes, you are hindering their progress. For example, no native speaker here will help you if you cannot use kana. So that's a hindrance for sure.

Dude, EVERYONE comes to Japanese wanting to "learn that cool writing."

If you avoid using kana to avoid turning people off, then they will get turned off when you do start using it. Thus these people will have wasted their time with a language they had no intent of actually studying through. In other words, yes, they will have been hurt.

Edit I think this conversation is getting out of hand. At first, we were all just "Hey, you really should use kana." But now your excuses for not getting it are getting more and more preposterous, so the tone of the conversation is switching.

You should by all means teach Japanese to others if you are qualified. But you should not make excuses about holding an intellectually lazy person's hand in the hopes that they somehow gain the ability to speak Japanese.

You are making a site that purports to teach Japanese. You should act like it. Right now, you're writing the web page equivalent of Making Out in Japanese.

Like I said, I am speaking in general, and not about anything you are doing specifically.

I think nearly everyone prefers to use romaji in the beginning. However, it is a barrier to proper pronunciation and sentence structure.

Learning to read kana is just as hard from Day 1 as it is from Day 100. This is why respected programs start on Day 1.

Kyle, I know you're speaking from your own experience, but my experience says otherwise.

"This is a failed analogy. You're not teaching etymology. You're teaching language usage."

now I know I'm being trolled.

ディス・オーピー・イズ・サッチ・ア・モロン！　:D

アイ・キャント・スタンド・ヒム！　:mtongue:

"Edit I think this conversation is getting out of hand. At first, we were all just "Hey, you really should use kana." But now your excuses for not getting it are getting more and more preposterous, so the tone of the conversation is switching.

You should by all means teach Japanese to others if you are qualified. But you should not make excuses about holding an intellectually lazy person's hand in the hopes that they somehow gain the ability to speak Japanese.

You are making a site that purports to teach Japanese. You should act like it. Right now, you're writing the web page equivalent of Making Out in Japanese."

This is why I called your point an opinion. I am going to repeat this for the last time, but my experience says otherwise. If you ever become a teacher and decide that "intellectually lazy" individuals need to be ignored and never thought of, then I feel bad for those kids.