Mr.Styx

Oh, I remember a video they did where Jun explained how tall he was as a kid. That was rather amusing.

There are a bunch of Japanese language and culture channels on YouTube, and so I thought I'd start a list here. If you know any others, then post them as a comment here. "Japanese for Morons": The channel features a westerner named Victor who lives in Japan and is married to a Japanese woman. http://www.youtube.com/user/japaneseformorons/

While looking at Japanese YouTube channels, I came across this one for Chinese called, "Learn Chinese Now", http://www.youtube.com/user/learnchinesenow. The reason this caught my eye was because it features a white guy who can apparently speak perfect Mandarin (as far as I can tell). Also, here's a video with him on another channel where they demonstrate and discuss the differences between Cantonese and Mandarin.

I use proper English regardless of the circumstances, though I will make some of the substitutions as mentioned above. There are, however, cases where I am able to convey my thoughts "better" by speaking in a less-than-grammatical manner. Sometimes people find my way of speaking-- a tad "intimidating"... I will also try to change the "style" of my language in order to better fit the social context. So I end up with problems similar to this, .

geez. Now this thread seems so gloomy... ha?

So in other words... Thanks guys...

I don't know much about those particular rap bands, but yet, there is "japanese rap", though I think they use the term "hip hop" more. This group "Rip Slyme" is in that genre, I think. I don't know anything more specific than that. RIP SLYME - Super shooter

wow, I did not realize so many people attached a negative stigma to "lol". What about laughter onomatopoeias, like "hah"?

Oh, that actually reminded me of a video I found awhile back. It involves Durarara again, but that's only because someone brought it up. :-p Some Japanese fans reenacted the opening video theme to Durarara, but in real life with cosplay and stuff. Real-life Cosplay version:

Wow, that sounds sort of interesting. I did not realize such a thing existed. I know there are fandubs, but doing it for a song like that seems clever. Do you happen to have any links to them? If that's okay with you.

Hmm, I actually hadn't thought of that one. Though, alternatively, they could have invented the "space". heh :-p

I once knew someone who named their dog, "ROFL". They pronounced it as "Raw-Ful". I should add that this was in a college town and he was another student.

I have two; both of a philosophical nature. Often I see others who scoff at talking about the "philosophical implications" of some scientific theory, as though it is possible to do science without any regard to philosophical thought. Simply put, it is not. This next one is in German, so I also included various "popular" ways it is "translated" into English: Popular Translations: People are far too often willing to tell you their opinion, while prefacing their opinion with an admission that they actually don't know what they are talking about. "I don't know much about X, but I know this..." Ignorance is not a sin, as it is so often treated. Everyone is born into ignorance, but it is how we handle that ignorance that really defines our cognitive character.

Oh? It is not derived from "bug"? Well in any case, its similarity to "buzz off" seemed worth mentioning. *shrugs* Also, "bluer" as in melancholy? Vulgar, yes, melancholic-- I'd have to disagree there.

"Buzz off": To leave immediately. Mainly used in US English. "Bugger off": To leave immediately (only more vulgar and rude). Mainly used in UK English, but is much stronger than the US equivalent.

I bet there are millions of students in Japan who feel similarly, lol. The thing is, language is a cultural construct, and thus depends on the context of the current culture and historical traditions. It is almost impossible to "learn a language" without "learning about the culture". Though, if you want a language without the chinese characters, look to Korean. The Korean language has an alphabet called Hangul, where every stroke of every letter is designed to be meaningful (unlike english which has the "double-U" which looks like a "double-V", but sounds like neither!).

Okay I'll admit it: I sing along to Jpop and the theme songs to the anime I watch. In fact I am doing so now, "Complication" by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D (OP2 of Durarara!!). I started doing this as a way to learn and practice pronouncing Japanese words, but then, I must admit, I sort of liked it. Is there anyone else with a similar habit that is willing to come forth?

Anime and manga are my main motivators for learning Japanese, and I am usually not ashamed to admit that. Ultimately I'd like to be able to read untranslated manga and listen to anime without relying on the subtitles.

I am trying to get back into learning Japanese, after stopping for a few years. I know some basic grammar and the standard particles, and have memorized (maybe) about 100-200 vocab words, but I have only a weird "familiarity" with the kana. I have studied hiragana and katakana, but I ended up relying on romaji in my lessons. I remember some kana, sometimes, but I usually end up having to refer back to a kana-to-romaji chart when doing a lesson that involves kana. The habit seems to have persisted too long and ended up inhibiting my learning. Has anyone else had a similar issue or has any hints on how to break this habit?