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

8 comments

1. For Japanese words are that are borrowed from English, if a dictionary or vocabulary list shows another form with kanji, how does someone who is fluent in Japanese choose which one they use daily? For example, ソープ / 石鹸 and タップ / 蛇口. Is it just personal preference and varies from person to person, or is there usually one that is much more common?

2. Are there instances in which it’s grammatically necessary to use けれど instead of けど? I’ve occasionally noticed in the past that natives correcting my writing would change my けど to けれど in the midst of other corrections. I’m just curious as to whether it’s a case of formal vs. informal writing or if there are grammatical situations that necessitate one over the other.

3. I have Genki 1 & 2, Wanikani (paid) and Bunpo (free). Are these resources enough to learn Japanese? At least, to a readable and conversable point?

   Also, should I buy Bunpo’s lifetime subscription as it is 50% off? I’ve heard its the go-to for grammar.

4. Is there an app mix between memrise and anki cause only thing I’d like with anki is instead of show answer button to be 4 or more buttons to pick a right answer like with memrise

5. What does it mean the ねぇ form of a verb? It’s just the informal version of ない, right?

   I was listening to a song that had that form in this part:
   僕等の太陽 動かねぇ残像
   ※ずっとずっと沈まねぇぞ 太陽
   あなたの後ろめたさを ずっと
   沈まねぇ太陽 動かねぇ残像※

   Thanks in advance!

6. I love how “narrow-minded” is “narrow-hearted” in Japanese (心が狭), while “smart” is “good headed” (頭がいい). Got any more of these metaphors that change in translation?

7. I recently started learning Japanese. With the new college semester about to start, I’ll only have about 30 mins max on the weekdays to study Japanese, and some extra time on Sundays. I’m torn between learning the Genki vocab and using a WaniKani anki deck, and learning solely Genki vocab with the Kanji attached to it, skipping Kanji study all together. I’m just really overwhelmed with the opinions on how to study Kanji.

8. Was the following paragraph written by a native?

   家族の重要性　子供が出来て育てていくのは極当たり前の事だと思っていました。子供が幼児の頃一人旅をしたことがあります。常に子供が居たらここは見せたいな，とかこれは食べさせたいなと子供目線だった事に気付いて自分にビックリ。

   What is the ここ that the writer is referring to here?
   “常に子供が居たらここは見せたい”
   “ if there are constantly children, I want to show them here “

   How does the 子供目線 link to everything else in the sentence?

   事に気付いて自分にビックリ。
   She was surprised that those things were from a child’s perspective?

   This is one of those cases were the vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure are really simple but I have no clue how what the writer is actually saying at all