Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (July 12, 2023)

20 comments

1. 日本語は分かりにくいから日本語で話せないです
   Is this how you say ” I can’t speak Japanese because the language is too hard to understand” ?

   Any Suggestions on how to make this sound more natural is appreicated 🙂

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3. This is a random sentence that I came up with. Wanted to know if its the correct way a native would say it. Any tips is greatly appreciated

   ​

   CONTEXT: I`m walking on the sidewalk beside my friend, and my ice cream just melted.

   やばい！暑すぎているからアイスクリーム溶けてちゃった！！。というわけだ夏より冬のほうが好きです。。。

   ​

   What I wanted to say : “OMG! My ice cream just melted because its really hot out here. This is why I like winter more than summer”

4. Another passage I am having some difficulty with:

   移動という周囲の目的の中で、自分だけが異なっていた。手の甲を相手側に向け、二本の指で、ホストの財布を挟んだ。

   Context: A pickpocket has (apparently) taken the wallet of a fancy host (ホスト) type guy.

   The first sentence seems really awkward for me to try to translate but it’s something like “Among the “movement” objective of this environment, I alone am different” and I think it’s something about, he is analyzing the surroundings and how to move through them.

   But the part that’s actually giving me more trouble is trouble 手の甲を相手側に向け、二本の指で、ホストの財布を挟んだ。

   Specifically, 向け is intransitive, and my understanding is that this means it uses the を particle somewhat differently than how a transitive verb uses it. I know sort of how to use it with something like でる, where it would indicate what you are moving *through* I believe. But I find it a bit confusing here, and I’m not sure it’s specific purpose. My guess is this is something like, “facing the back of my hand to the other side, with two fingers, I pinched the host’s wallet” but I’m not too sure.

5. The nuance behind のも

   I found grammars that use のも but dont explain what it does?I understand It could mean “also” but thats not the case with these?

   Example: what does のも mean here

   by _tasogare_: このまま放っておくのもあれだしね

   others:

   ってのもあり→ (It) sounds like a nice plan. ってのもあり過ぎる→(It) sounds like even better. (It) sounds like a awesome plan.

   のももっともだ　（is this commonly used? to say “no wonder”)　[https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/のももっともだ-no-mo-motto-mo-da-meaning/](https://jlptsensei.com/learn-japanese-grammar/のももっともだ-no-mo-motto-mo-da-meaning/)

   と言うのも which equals to と言うのは　the も here apprently has no meaning [https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2020/11/02/japanese-expression-というのも-to-iu-no-mo/](https://selftaughtjapanese.com/2020/11/02/japanese-expression-というのも-to-iu-no-mo/)

6. How do y’all decide when to move on from a grammar point… when you remember it 100% or just whenever you feel like you can’t study more and just need to learn with practice?

7. そのまま、袖を引かれるように外へ連れて行かれる。 what nuance and or meaning does adding ように in this sentence add

   I just find it confusing because the character did in fact actually get his sleeve pulled

8. I’m wondering if anyone would know how you’d say

   “Smells good” E.g: The food smells good
   “Looks good E.g: The food looks good
   “Tastes good” E.g: The food tastes good

9. What’s the meaning of “してあげませんか” in this phrase:

   “毎週月曜日の朝テストがあるので、 してあげませんか が、昼間はだいじょうぶです”

10. 満更でもない, ok fair enough i get its meaning. Is 満更である a thing then or has civilization not come to this point yet?

11. what is した doing here?

    すらっと: slender

    すらっとした女性が好きです

12. When doing Flashcards for vocab for example, do you only do one card per vocab (i.e. front JP and back the translation) or also the other way around (have a second card where the translation is in the front and you have to guess the Japanese word).

    I always did the latter but recently someone told me that it also works for them to just have it one way. Just want to hear some experiences from others 🙂

13. Hello, I’m at the point where I want to start learning Kanji but first I want to learn radicals, my question is how many radicals should I study? I want to try to learn all or most the radicals for n5-1 kanji so as to give me a wider range of radicals for Mnemonics sentences while studying. Also, when studying radicals what should I study (stroke, meaning, pronunciations On/Kun’yomi or both) and I know that some are also Kanji when alone, so should I not study the pronunciation of the radicals that aren’t Kanji and only study the pronunciation of the radicals that are kanji? (Summary, I’m lost at what information about each radical i need to study.) Thank you!!

14. Could somebody tell me why であれ is unnatural in the following sentence?

    * 彼女は英語の能力を向上させようという目的で思い切ってイギリスに留学したので、相手が日本人であれ、日本語学者であれ、日本語で声をかけられても英語で返してしまいます。

    * 彼女は英語の能力を向上させようという目的で思い切ってイギリスに留学したので、相手が日本人であろうとなかろうと、日本語で声をかけられても英語で返してしまいます

    My Japanese friends said that the second is more natural but I don’t understand why. I’ve read a number of dictionaries In English and Japanese, and they all say that they have the same meaning. Some even list them.

    https://nihongonosensei.net/?p=19882

    https://tanosuke.com/deare

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nSnmDdv0_94

    My message is the that “she won’t speak Japanese under any circumstances. The listener being Japanese is completely 関係ない”

15. i skipped half of the みんなの日本語初級 2 and started with 上級へのとびら and also reading Satori little by little, is it fine if I keep on like that, or should I go back to MNN and complete it otherwise I will lack knowledge or something?

16. How do you study grammar? I could understand the grammar in genki very well because of all the exercises but after finishing tobira, I feel like I don’t really remember the grammar well… after tobira I dont quite know how to study new vocab and how much grammar is enough

17. If I see hiragana and katakana characters I know their romanji (a,e,I,o,u etc) but if I see the romanji I cant tell theire characters is that enough?
    Does anyone have a good way I can test if I’ve memorised all hiragana and katakana?
    Once I have memorised them should I go onto begginer vocab and grammar?

18. Can somebody recommend a resource for learning when to use ている vs just the verb? I have read many explanations by now and still make mistakes. I would appreciate a resource with example sentences and a short explanation why which of the forms would be the appropriate one. Thanks!

19. Practicing my texting in Japanese, and while askin while my friend didn’t have a good day, they responded with “会えばよかった”. I recognize the words used, but im not totally familiar with the conjugation, and translation apps just say it means “nice to meet you” which doesnt make sense. Whats it mean in this context?

20. What do you call the little sleeve that goes around a to-go cup of coffee so it doesn’t burn your hands? Like, if I needed to ask for one, what would I ask for?