Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (January 31, 2023)

9 comments

1. This sentence: 宿題は今やろうとしていたところだよ popped up on a question, with the English translation: “I was just about to do my homework”.

   What purpose is the “ていた” serving here? Wouldn’t it mean the same thing if the sentence was just やろうとするところ?

   Also, why is that clause in the past tense?

2. From Shin Kanzen master N3 vocab book, shouldn’t particle も in this sentence actually be にも?

   山田さんの家のお子さんは、とてもいいお子さんで、親の言うこと**も**先生の言うこと**も**何でも「はい」と言って、よく聞くんですよ。

   If not, why is it correct? What particle is も replacing?

3. Are there any alternatives to Forvo? I like hearing and downloading the pronunciation of words for Anki, has a good range compared to the dictionary (I use the sakura paris one). However it is a pain to use and I hate having to log in so much. Any websites/apps that let you download the audio and has a good range of vocab?

4. Having trouble with this sentence from Genki:

   「好きな人がいますか。」

   Pretty sure it means “Do you have a person you like?” but the 好きな is throwing me off. What is the な particle even doing here? I don’t remember having gone over it yet.

5. Can なんて be used similarly to putting *NOT!* at the end of a joke? I was watching a show where one character was teasing the other and putting なんて at the end, but the other character kept missing the なんて and thinking she was serious. I know なんて in general is used to mark something as absurd or incredulous so it feels like it kinda fits

6. I was reading the script for Final Fantasy IV and I saw this:

   ギルバート、私はそろそろ行かなければ・・・・大きな魂と一つになる為に・・・・

   I was wondering, is this “大きな魂と一つ” just something they made up for this game or is it something encountered elsewhere in literature or something?

   For context, this is said by a ghost who is visiting one of the character, but the ghost must soon leave.

7. I was wondering about this:

   > あんたが、娘さんがうわ言で言っていた セシルさんかい。 大事にしておやり。

   大事にしておやり, can someone explain what’s going on with this sentence ending?

   大事にする means “take good care of”

   I think the rest says something like, “You, are you the cecil this girl was talking about while delirious?”

   For context, it’s from this script: http://ff4com.s4.xrea.com/ff4conve/conve003.html

8. Any recommendations on websites that have a full Hiragana audio chart? I have a set of sounds saved as audio files, but I would like to know if any experts, or native speakers, know of any that they would recommend that may be more accurate than the ones I have? Also, if you know of any sites that have words or sentences, too. This is for my own notes only. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated.

9. How can I memorize vocab better? I use an anki deck with around 1000 vocab words on it, I’m 140 words in and I’m having a pretty difficult time remembering a lot of the words, especially the “ru” verbs. I am also using JLab and got through the Tae Kim portion of it, but I know almost every word in there at first glance by heart. I know that seeing them in context helps a ton to memorize them, but trying to memorize just plain words is really difficult for me. I know it sounds like I answered my own question, but is there any other way to learn these words except by themselves? I try and do at least one news article from easy NHK a day, but I rarely see the verbs I have difficulty with pop up in these. When I do see them, they stick really well. Is this just the process of learning? I just feel like using any type of core or tango deck is very difficult unless you have a great memory for these things.