Japanese Language Stack Exchange
Japanese Language Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [learning]

日本語学習. Improving your proficiency in the Japanese language.

Questions regarding improving one's proficiency in the Japanese language.

107 questions
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Does anyone have advice on how to get over/through/around the intermediate language plateau? (Self-learner)

How do you get through this? Especially in regards to reading. How do you practice reading at beyond the beginner level (No little black sambo's or whatever other children's books like I found in the local free bin when I was a teenager) when a…
Joshua Olson
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Is the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) a good measure of my Japanese language ability?

Given that there has been discussion by the Japanese government to use the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) as one of the measures by which permanent residences or citizenship might be granted, how good of a measure of it of actual real…
user51
16
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7 answers

Linguistics and Japanese study

Firstly, I apologise if this has been asked before or if I have asked this in the wrong place (should I have asked on the meta site?). I've studied Japanese for (going on) 5 years, now. It's been mostly classroom based, but I gained a lot of…
Jamie Taylor
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2 answers

How many verb endings to express "do this (please)"?

I'm familiar with the て and てください forms of a verb to give a command/request and request, respectively. However, I've run across these other forms and really don't know which to use in what situation. I'll just list all the ones I've run…
dotnetN00b
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3 answers

Why does the g tends to sound more like a m or n?

I have heard words such as shigoto, sugata, sugu (ni) and they end up sounding like shimoto, sunata, and sunu ni. Even in sentence such as Haru ga kimasu. I've heard sound like: Haru na kimasu. So why is that? Do the Japanese not like the g sound…
dotnetN00b
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3 answers

Is Japanese that lacks proofreading likely to contain bad spelling or grammar?

Regarding written English that isn't proofread ... it's quality definately leaves alot to be desired. I would advise people against treating written English that wasn't professionally written (for example, mailing lists or Stack Overflow questions)…
Andrew Grimm
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5 answers

What is the learning curve for learning Japanese writing?

What is the learning curve like for learning Japanese writing? Are you able to use what you've learnt as you're progressing, or are you only realistically able to start reading real text once you've learnt about two or three thousand kanji? Related…
Andrew Grimm
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11
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8 answers

What are the advantages/disadvantages of writing in romaji instead of in kanji and kana?

Romaji is somewhat of a conversion from kanji and kana to the Roman alphabet. What are the disadvantages of learning only or mostly romaji aside from being unable to read/write in kanji? I don't think there are many advantages.
Madcowe
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2 answers

Does it matter whether you drop vowels in spoken Japanese?

(This question started as a dual question about when to drop vowels and whether it matters. The first question is well answered at What are the rules regarding "mute vowels" ("u" after "s" and "i" after "sh")?.) I'm just starting to learn Japanese,…
MattK
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アニメと漫画で日本語を勉強することについて (On learning Japanese from anime/manga)

最近、漫画好きな外国人が増えたので、日本のアニメや漫画で日本語を勉強する外国人も多くなっています。アニメの日本語が日常の会話であまり使わないので、アニメで日本語を勉強することで日本語をちゃんと学べると思いますか。 (Many foreigners have been learning Japanese through manga and anime due to its popularity outside of Japan. Due to the fact that many phrases…
Ken Li
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9
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Do people actually look down on you if you use a regional dialect as a Gaijin?

My brother got on a scholarship to go to university in Japan, he was given a year an half language training and then had to apply to Japanese universities. I suggested he study in Osaka as I'd visited there and knew some people he could hang about…
Omar Kooheji
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4 answers

What should I look for in a dictionary to help me study?

As per the title, what should I look for in a dictionary to help me study Japanese? Are there certain things that I should look for in the dictionary or are they all pretty much the same? To elaborate a bit, what should one be looking for when they…
user51
9
votes
4 answers

Is there an online list of frequently used words in the news?

There are a few books with lists of words and kanji compounds found in the news. Like this one, this one, and this one. However, unless one wants to spend a lot of time doing data entry, they don't lend themselves well to modern flashcard programs,…
Questioner
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A tales and stories children book suitable for adult learners?

I like to read children literature in foreign languages I am learning. I usually do not have troubles picking them in european language, but I would need recommendation for Japanese. I would like a book with a small vocabulary (and eventually a…
ogerard
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Is there a study available on the similarities between Japanese and Turkish grammars?

No I'm not claiming the Altaic hypothesis so try not to bring that up in answers. Still there are grammatical similarities between Japanese and Turkish such as agglutination and use of postpositions rather than prepositions. My knowledge of Japanese…
hippietrail
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