gdp's Comments

Wired in Japan : Do your best! Ganbatte! がんばって！

Fri, 18 Mar 2016 12:51:02 +0000

Always refer to a native speaker before getting a tattoo.

Wired in Japan : Do your best! Ganbatte! がんばって！

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:49:56 +0000

I would say はい、頑張ります (Hai, Ganbarimasu); yes, I will do my best.

Wired in Japan : The Problem with Learning Kanji

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 13:34:51 +0000

Thanks for the comment. Denshi Jisho is really helpful.

Wired in Japan : How to Learn Japanese Vocabulary, Realistically

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 02:01:05 +0000

For kanji especially, it is nice to have a friend along who can tell you how to pronounce it. There have been so many times that I've already known what the word meant, but couldn't tell what it was because it was written in kanji. It's too bad not all kanji come with furigana.

Wired in Japan : Learning to read Japanese with Japanese Graded Readers

Sat, 8 Sep 2012 21:02:06 +0000

For a while I was feeling kind of stagnant with my study, but these have given me some inspiration to keep practicing my reading. I received my books as a gift from a family member, so I think I'll buy a couple more volumes myself, and ask for the others for Christmas as well.

Wired in Japan : Learning to read Japanese with Japanese Graded Readers

Tue, 4 Sep 2012 00:38:30 +0000

Those are both good books too. I thought Read Real Japanese was a little advanced when I first saw it, but I think these Graded Readers will help me transition into that book. Maybe I'll try that one again after I finish these.

Wired in Japan : Wired Kana: Lesson 1

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 02:08:36 +0000

がんばって。

Wired in Japan : Do your best! Ganbatte! がんばって！

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:10:04 +0000

I would translate it as, \"Don't try too hard\" or more literally, \"don't do your best\", although I have a feeling it is the first, because the second sounds a little rude; it depends on the context.

Wired in Japan : Wired Kana: Lesson 1

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 21:53:05 +0000

Good luck. Keep studying!

Wired in Japan : Wired Kana: Lesson 1

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 14:21:07 +0000

Stay tuned, there are more to come!

Wired in Japan : Japanese Language Tools

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 16:32:14 +0000

Thanks for the note. I'll give it a whirl.

Wired in Japan : Wired Kanji - Kyōiku Grade 1

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:06:35 +0000

Hmm. I can't seem to find one. One of these days I'll have to try making some kanji charts. It might take a month or so.

Wired in Japan : Wired Kana - Hiragana and Katakana Practice Sheets

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 15:33:50 +0000

I'm still learning and have a long way to go. I'm glad that other people find them useful as well.

Foreign Language Mastery : A NOT To Do List for Successful Language Learners

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 21:16:20 +0000

"Do NOT worry about speaking too soon." I absolutely disagree. A lot of my fellow learners are decent at the mechanics of Japanese, but when we try to have a conversation or when they actually go to Japanese they stutter all over themselves because they have no working experiences to utilize everything they've learned. One of my tutors makes her students create videos of them speaking in Japanese based of simple prompts,using the vocabulary they've learned. They make many mistakes and sound a bit robotic, at first, but it's obvious that this is the key to a useable language center. Speak early, speak often.

Wired in Japan : Do your best! Ganbatte! がんばって！

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:21:40 +0000

Both are ok. Sukoshi is on the formal side of chotto. Depending on who you're talking to, sukoshi is probably the best bet. Although, chotto has a bit of flair to it; just rolls off the tongue.

Wired in Japan : Speaking in Japan

Tue, 9 Nov 2010 17:20:44 +0000

Thanks for the encouragement. Ganbarimashou, ne.

Wired in Japan : The Problem with Learning Kanji

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:20:00 +0000

If one has a purpose for using the knowledge and the opportunity to put it in practice, one can learn anything.

Wired in Japan : The Problem with Learning Kanji

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:40:09 +0000

Thanks for sharing. It has a bit of web design nostalgia, but its still effective for learning. With the little practice I have, I was excited to find out that I actually knew enough to pass level 1. On to level 2!

Wired in Japan : A Measure of Proficiency

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:52:38 +0000

Learning hiragana is a good place to start. I even have sheets to practice writing: http://is.gd/fzYGq The thing I like about learning from a teacher is that they are able to teach the character in direct relation to its pronunciation, which is crucial to speaking Japanese. When you learn kana on your own, there is a tendency to associate the characters with their English letters and pronunciations. It's old baggage that prevents you from picking up Japanese as quickly and naturally as you could. One thing that I've learned is that Japanese is not English. Once I got that mindset out of the way, Japanese began to make more sense on its own.

Wired in Japan : A Measure of Proficiency

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:09:15 +0000

That is great to hear. I suggest taking a class because it gets you actually using the language. It doesn't really matter what you learn, so long as your constantly practicing and using the language; most important of all, having fun.