Weekly discussion and small questions thread

In response to user feedback, this is a recurring thread for general discussion about learning Japanese, and for asking your questions about grammar, learning resources, and so on. Let’s come together and share our successes, what we’ve been reading or watching and chat about the ups and downs of Japanese learning.

The /r/Japanese rules (see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/about/rules/)) still apply! Translation requests still belong in /r/translator and we ask that you be helpful and considerate of both your own level and the level of the person you’re responding to. If you have a question, please check the subreddit’s [frequently asked questions](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanese/?f=flair_name%3A%22FAQ%E3%83%BB%E3%82%88%E3%81%8F%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E8%B3%AA%E5%95%8F%22), but we won’t be as strict as usual on the rules here as we are for standalone threads.

4 comments
  1. Hi all!

    Long story short, my dad (who is Japanese) will be discharged from the hospital after an extended stay and is due to come home tomorrow. Is there a common Japanese phrase people will say to someone coming home from the hospital? I can speak Japanese and read Hiragana, but I grew up in London, so I’ve never had to know anything like this.

    Thanks!

  2. Hello there! English is my first and only language. I have some basic experience learning a small amount of Spanish in high school. I am motivated to learn conversational Japanese, but each time I try with an app (e.g.; DuoLingo) it seems too advanced for me since I don’t know any kanji and that is what they attempt to teach. I would like to learn to listen to and speak Japanese, but at this level where I know absolutely nothing I think learning kanji will be too difficult. Is there a book anyone can recommend for me that focuses on conversational Japanese without learning hiragana, katakana, kanji etc. ? I want to hear the words and understand, be able to speak sentences etc. I guess what I’m looking for is a book that will teach Romaji? (Correct me if I’m wrong please, as I said please think of me as level 0 where it comes to learning Japanese)

  3. Why do kanji have one pronunciation when used in isolation, and another, totally different pronunciation when used as part of a compound? And where do these two completely different pronunciations come from? (I mean, historically or etymologically. Did Japanese grow on top of two separate “root” languages?)

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