Miya

I just downloaded a new Japanese dictionary app called Jsho. I like it a lot. It's easy to use and has enough information. They also tell you how to write Kanji properly (stroke order is provided). I think it's a great app to have. Best of all, you don't need to connect to the internet to use this app. That's great for me since there's no wifi in my dorm room. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ric.Jsho

I only check the dictionary (the online one that is) when I come across a word I don't know. The great thing about internet dictionaries is they also have the pronunciation for you to listen to. So if you don't know how to pronounce a word, just look it up online and they'll pronounce it for you

Most definitely. There are tons of dialects in English. Even those that live in the same place can speak different dialects of English.

In my opinion, you can't really fail creative writing when you're actually being graded on "creativity". Everyone is different and something that I write and find interesting might not be something you enjoy reading. But that doesn't mean that what I'm writing is wrong... it just means we have different interests. You can't really judge one's creativity, in my opinion. I think most people fail creative writing because of grammar/sentence structure problems. It's not a problem with their creativity, but with the way they actually write.

I do that too! Not for essays though... just for books and readings I'm interested in, lol.

I played this game for about a month and then I got stuck XD Then I never went back to it, lol.

Totally irrelevant to everything you said in your post but um... I love your username! (Also welcome. Come on over to the Japanese forums and let's practice our Japanese together!)

I'll be okay... I think. I can (more or less) understand Japanese and I can also speak broken Japanese. So I'll survive. I'll take this as a challenge to adapt into their culture! And thanks to whoever kidnapped me and paid for my ticket to Japan

I'm actually going to be teaching English in Japan in August. I'm SO SO nervous because my English is not perfect. There are tons of words that I don't know + I don't feel comfortable teaching grammar. I actually don't know HOW to explain grammar... I just know how to use it. So to answer the question: No I am not confident that I can teach others English. But I'm going to have to learn how to do so in the next few months.

Not a Spanish speaker, but I can tell you that taking 2 class is not enough to be fluent in any language. You'll have the basic foundation, but it's definitely not enough to go out and converse with other native speakers/live in the country.

Today I would like to introduce to you a game name Emoji Pop. It's basically a picture trivia game similar to 4 pictures 1 word except Emoji Pop comes in a variety of languages. To list a few, there's Chinese, English, and French available. If you're someone who's interested in learning slang (which is often omitted in textbooks), then I would reccomend trying this app. I've been playing this for a while and I'm currently at level 11 (been stuck there for a few days). It's not specifically designed to be a learning app, but if you play it enough you'll learn a lot more characters and phrases. Available via Android and IOS

Wait, so does that mean the chat conversations are automatically translated into whatever language of your choice? Or do you mean the menu items/name of items in the game are translated? (if you can't tell, I don't play games so I don't know how RPGs work XD)

I get annoyed when it's overused, but if it's just once in a while then it doesn't bother me.

^Maybe you can watch them privately on your computer? There are lots of streaming sites that provide subtitles for movies. They are subbed in different languages too so you can pick which one you want to turn on.

I think the official 'correct' way is every time. But I was also taught that everytime is okay (and it looks okay to me) XD

I know more than 3 languages, but I'm not fluent in all 3, lol. If you count Cantonese and Mandarin as different languages, then I know about 5 languages in total

I mix in languages all the time. Sometimes I do it for fun to make fun of myself for speaking broken Japanese (Let's go tabemasu!), but other times I add in English words because I can't think of the appropriate word to use in that language. Like in Chinese (Cantonese at least), the word for "project" has always been "project". There is a direct translation of the word "project" but it's used differently. So sometimes I'm forced to mix in English in my conversations.

When I first started studying Japanese, I watched my dramas and shows with English subtitles. Now that I'm a little bit more advanced, I've started to use Japanese subtitles. You have no idea how helpful it is. Even if you can't actually understand the story fully, it's nice to see the grammar structure and the vocab and such.

When I immigrated to the U.S. I could not speak ANY English. Since no one from my family speaks English, it was also pretty hard for me to settle in. But I went to a really good school and they were really focused on teaching me English so I assimiliated in like a year. It's hard to move to a country without knowing the language but it's not impossible.

I watch Japanese dramas to study Japanese. I'll use subtitles (Japanese) when available, but when it's not I just listen to the audio and try my best to understand.

I actually purchased the book way WAY before they decided to make a movie. Back then, it wasn't a very popular series yet. Unfortunately, I never had the time to read the book so it's just collecting dust on my book shelf. Haven't seen the movie either.

I've been taking Japanese for 3 years and honestly speaking, I still struggle with katakana. I actually find it more difficult than Kanji because you have to put the sounds together yourself and it usually doesn't sound like how it sounds like in English (or whatever foreign language the word is from).

My advice for SAT-takers is... don't overthink the questions! Go with your first instinct because they're usually right. And also, do not guess unless you can eliminate at least half of the choices. I know prep books and prep classes say "If you can eliminate at least one of the choices, then you should take the risk and guess." I don't really know why they say this, but I don't agree with it. The chances of getting the answer wrong is still pretty high even when you can eliminate one answer. Not to mention, there is also the chance that you eliminated the right answer from the start right? In that case, you are left with 3 wrong answers that no matter what you choose will result in a markdown. So in my experience, if you can eliminate 2/4, then it's worth a guess. Otherwise, just skip it. A zero is better than a negative.

I'm not comfortable with science, but I still found the ACT to be easier. Also, you don't get penalized for guessing on ACT (I think), but on the SAT, you get points taken off for wrong answers. So you might want to consider that when you're deciding which test to take.

Has anyone heard of Hoshi Shinichi? We read a short story of his in class the other day and I really enjoyed it! I think I'm going to buy some of his other works because I really like his stories and his writing style