Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (May 31, 2024)

15 comments

1. From [https://ibb.co/5vn4sKd](https://ibb.co/5vn4sKd)

   What’s the purpose of ぼか prefix?

2. N5 grammar: Is context the only way to distinguish which meaning the ている form takes?

   Like, when I first learned it, it was explained to me that it depends whether the verb is an “action” verb or a “state-changing” verb. As an example, it said that 食べている would mean “is (currently or habitually) eating”. But since then I’ve also come across sentences where 食べている means “has eaten”.

   So are there verbs that only take one meaning of ている, and if yes is there a way to recognize them?

3. 今日は朝から大雨でいやだなあ。 (a.そういう b.こんな)日はどこへも出かけたくない。

   The answer is b. Both answers seem correct to me. What’s the reason そういう is wrong?

   And what’s the difference with the そういう that is used in this sentence -> この川では最近全く魚が釣れない。そういうことは今までなかった。 In this sentence, is it wrong to use こんな in place of そういう then?

4. Looking for any recommendations for shows that have a lot of group conversation. Anime and stuff always has one person talking at a time. In conversations, I’ve found that it’s pretty likely there’s a few.. and when there’s more than 3, no matter how good I am at normal conversations my brain decides to fry itself and I lose brain cells instantly with a lack of understanding.

   I’m not looking for something too difficult, and I need a place to watch it. I really want to watch 水曜日のダウンタウン but can’t find it anywhere (the full show, there are bits subbed available online though). If you do recommend a show, please do recommend a place to watch it– I’m not getting anywhere finding these on anything– I’m willing to pay for whatever service it is (eg. netflix or something)

5. I got taught that if your sentence end with a verb you use iru instead of da/desu but i also learned that iru is impolite tried googling if there was a polite version of iru without success.

6. Why doesn’t yomitan pickup words with a combination of Kanji and Hiragana?
   eg: when I scanned “見とれて” it only shows me :”見る”, but when I scan “見惚れる” it gives me the deifnition, is there a way to change this?

7. Hi, any suggestions on where I can start learning japanese for a 2 week vacation to Japan? I know a tiny bit of Japanese from the years of watching anime and japanese shows/movies, but probably not enough to have some basic conversation.

   I’ve heard duolingo isn’t recommended, can someone point me to the right direction?

8. I learned that you can place an adjective before or after a noun.

   綺麗な公園です/公園は綺麗です

   If I want to negate the first sentence above, in polite form, do I say
   綺麗じゃありません公園です　？

   Is negating the second sentence more natural/ common?

9. My reading/immersion sucks. I know I need to read but frankly even in English there aren’t many topics that hold my interest. Last December missed N2 by 2 questions. Thinking about getting a Switch in Japan and buying games there.

   * Heard good things about Animal Crossing, is that a good place to start? Anything conversational is pretty easy for me.

   * Witcher 3, I’ve been wanting to play this game for years. I have kids and I don’t believe I can do more than 15-30 minutes at a time. How is the Japanese level?

   * Any other games that someone would recommend? Last time I played video games was 5 years ago before kids. I’m a filthy casual.

   Thanks!

10. From [https://ibb.co/WWbyJf5](https://ibb.co/WWbyJf5)

    I wonder what ちょっと怖い means here. I don’t think it means “I’m little scared.” (The lady who spoke it is 店長.)

11. From Anki:
    「もっと勉強しなければいけないと思った」”I thought I would have to study more”

    My hangup is actually just on the purpose of the negative form 「いけない」, wouldn’t you want the positive 「いける」because the more you study, the better it will go?

12. Is it better to complete Anki reviews before immersion/mining session or after with the new words? Or is there no real difference?

13. I have started learning over the past week or so (very very new) using renshuu.org.

    Should I be learning the katakana and hiragana at the same time?

14. I’ve noticed that some verbs, such as aku (開く) have both -mashou and -deshou forms. But what is the difference between the two, if they’re both polite volitional forms of the same verb?

15. Hi,

    There is a long sentence in Quartet2 Ch11 読み物2 that is throwing me off. To give context for it, below is the paragraph that it is from: 

      「こうした事実は、おそらく、使用する言語によって、私たちの性格もまた大きく異なってくることを示している。一般によく言われるように、身振り手振りよろしく母音をふんだんに響かせるイタリア語は、陽気なイタリア人をつくり、抑制のきいたキングズ・イングリッシュは、落ち着いたイギリス人をつくるといったことも、あながち、俗論とばかりは言いきれまい。その点からすれば日本語は、比較的、おとなしく平板な国民を生み出しているように思われる」

    My translation attempt for this is as follows: “And this fact, probably, is showing that our personality also greatly differs depending on the differences of the language we use. As it is generally said, it is not necessarily a popular opinion that the Italian language (which uses gestures and abundantly resounds vowels) produces cheerful Italians, or that the restrained King’s English produces calm English people. From that point, it is thought that the Japanese language yields relatively quiet and flat citizens”

    ——

    I feel like i’m translating it wrong, because the middle sentence seems to be the opposite of what i was expecting. I was expecting the author to ~claim~ that the Italian/English languages were ~indeed~ creating their cheerful/calm people. Also, i (likely mistakenly) feel that the 一般によく言われるように is contradicting the 俗論とばかりは言いきれまい. 

    Can anyone tell from my thought process where i am going wrong / mistranslating? 

    Thank you