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  • AvatarDiego 03/30/2020 at 5:10 am on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – March 2020I took a few days of review-only mode so I fell short this month. 1) I reached 953 on Kanji Kingdom 2) I only got through the first one, which was surprisingly difficult actually
  • Avataryass 03/29/2020 at 1:45 am on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – April 2020So this month probably will an interesting challenge. I expect to not leave my apartment for pretty much all of it, so slight modifications: 1) Keep going through the remainder of Jalup-Expert, then start Hero. Do not ever do more than 15 cards per day....
  • Avataryass 03/29/2020 at 1:32 am on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – March 2020Oh well, the world has changed this month, feels a bit weird to compare oneself to the beginning of it. But still here we go: 1) Will reach 900 by the 31st, so about 15/day. Felt much less then that, but the numbers don't lie....
  • Avatarladdr 03/28/2020 at 1:44 pm on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – April 2020Okay first month 'in the wild' post-Jalup. This will take some getting used to as I no longer have a super clear path forward each month but I do have a lot of ideas. As I have said many times I am open to any...
  • AvatarAndrew 03/27/2020 at 7:31 am on Do you Really Need to Study Pitch Accent?Yes, there are videos of Adam speaking on youtube. Also, his Patreon has similar content, and some off it is unscripted with another person. From what I've learned about pitch accent, it does affect how you are understood in some instances, but it's not required....
  • AvatarBret 03/27/2020 at 3:11 am on Do you Really Need to Study Pitch Accent?(1) I'm curious to hear your Japanese -- is there a sample on YouTube or something? That way, I can differentiate between someone who focused on pitch accent (Dogen) vs. someone who did not (you), and then decide for myself which path to take. I...
  • Matt VMatt V. 03/26/2020 at 10:03 pm on Say Something in Japanese!Ooh that's a good idea. I use that to get a laugh out of JP speakers, but it'd totally work for this case too now that you mention it. 「下がれ、下がれ悪漢どもよ！その目を見開き、しかと見よう！この、正義の一撃を！」
  • AvatarAndrew 03/26/2020 at 4:27 pm on Japan’s Recent Decision To Change To A Simplified Kanji SystemLol, well, the bright side is, even if they did decide to do this, it really wouldn't matter. All the massive amounts of media that Japan has already produced would always be available in the original way it was written (enough for a lifetime) and...
  • AvatarLuke 03/26/2020 at 11:47 am on Japan’s Recent Decision To Change To A Simplified Kanji SystemI'm writing my senior thesis on character simplification in Japan and China, and I think I nearly started crying when I read this article.
  • AvatarGareth 03/26/2020 at 1:27 am on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – March 20201. I made it to Japan just in time before the world went completely crazy, and thankfully also got back just before flights started to get cancelled worldwide eeep! I did ok at the not stressing about being able to use Japanese in daily life,...
  • AvatarOkamaKuma 03/25/2020 at 4:56 pm on Say Something in Japanese!Just say a badass anime catchphrase with a really cool accent if you have any memorised
  • AvatarManan 03/25/2020 at 4:55 pm on Everything I Experienced from Intense Power LevelingSee the comment below for reply (-_-;)
  • AvatarManan 03/25/2020 at 4:50 pm on Everything I Experienced from Intense Power LevelingHaha, haven't checked this site in a while. To answer your question (for future readers), I had to look up the first 100ish cards in English on a case by case basis. That didn't really help because even the English definitions were vague. Then it...
  • AvatarManan 03/25/2020 at 4:44 pm on Everything I Experienced from Intense Power LevelingThanks for reading!
  • Avatarladdr 03/24/2020 at 3:10 pm on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – March 2020Well the bad news is the world fell apart this month. The good news is I finished all of jalup!! As planned I finished a little early this month so I can plan out better how I want to tackle things on my own now....
  • AvatarJared 03/22/2020 at 9:17 am on Jalup App: Time WarpSo I woke up to 80 intermediate reviews after having an awful sleep and this feature definitely helps a lot. I can slim down my reviews for the day and be back in full force tomorrow. Thanks again Adam!
  • AvatarToddg 03/21/2020 at 3:26 pm on Say Something in Japanese!Haha-I usually go with the literal 何か日本語で！分かる？ The other person typically seems astonished by such a silly-and sarcastic-reply. If only it were that easy to be fluent! :)
  • AvatarJared 03/20/2020 at 8:34 am on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – March 2020Update 1: I just finished adding new cards from the intermediate deck today!!! I had to take a few days off to review while i was on a micro vacation otherwise i might have gone crazy near the end there. Tomorrow I am gonna get...
  • Matt VMatthew 03/20/2020 at 1:44 am on Say Something in Japanese!In a similar vein to this, I just go with the navi line that got burned into my memory from driving in Hokkaido: 「速度超過を感知しました。安全な運転を心がけましょう」 I swear I wasn't even going that fast - people were zooming by on the right at +20kph and the navi...
  • Avataryass 03/17/2020 at 10:20 am on Say Something in Japanese!I really like the idea with the self introduction. Not only because it is good practice, but also because there will be some words which your conversation partner will understand (e.g. your name) which gives them the feeling to understand what is going on and...
  • AdamAdam 03/16/2020 at 8:39 pm on Say Something in Japanese!Being asked for translation on the spot is tough. It can be even worse when they want you to then teach them how to say it.
  • AdamAdam 03/16/2020 at 8:38 pm on Say Something in Japanese!I agree that it's definitely a harmless question. Figuring out a reaction can save you in being caught off guard though
  • AdamAdam 03/16/2020 at 8:36 pm on Say Something in Japanese!I actually really like this. Bonus points if said in a train announcer voice: まもなく1番線に電車がまいります。危ないですから 黄色い線の内側まで お下がり下さい。
  • AdamAdam 03/16/2020 at 8:31 pm on Test Your Japanese Might: Stage 2Awesome :) That's impressive progress, and you should be very proud. Looking forward to seeing you come back for level 80!
  • AvatarNicholas Dragon 03/16/2020 at 4:44 pm on Say Something in Japanese!I've asked that same question as well.
  • Avatarladdr 03/16/2020 at 4:02 pm on Say Something in Japanese!This has happened to me a couple times and caught me off balance. After pausing for a minute because I couldn't think of what to say then they asked a specific line. That's extra hard because now I have to play English to Japanese translator...
  • AvatarHwesta 03/16/2020 at 3:43 pm on Say Something in Japanese!This (amusing) thread has some good options https://twitter.com/daphne_mir/status/1204173635683930112 notably この番組はご覧のスポンサーの提供でお送りします
  • Avataryass 03/16/2020 at 10:58 am on Say Something in Japanese!I have only been in this situation once, and did not expect the question, so I just replied something along the lines "Would you be able to understand if I did?". The other person did concede that she would not and we moved on to...
  • AvatarChris 03/16/2020 at 10:37 am on Test Your Japanese Might: Stage 2When I first started learning Japanese and found this site. I could barely read the first few levels now 1 year and 9 months later I can read level 50 with ease. It's crazy when I think about it. I first started wondering if I...
  • AvatarEclair E. Egglayer 03/13/2020 at 1:55 am on Why you Should Read and Watch OverlordI feel that I should point out that Overlord is NOT and should not be considered one of the many, many game/isekai stories to be inspired by the success of S.A.O.! Yes, it certainly can be seen as a new take on a very crowded...
  • AvatarMatthew 03/10/2020 at 5:25 am on Achieving Your Japanese Goals – March 2020For March -Finish reading 悪夢のエレベーター. -Start reading サバイバー or another 悪夢 book. For April -Finish reading コンビニ人間 -Finish reading サバイバー -Find and watch an interesting TV series on Netflix...
  • AvatarLily 03/08/2020 at 3:43 am on The Great Filter of Learning Japanese and Some Numbers to Cheer you UpIt reminds me when I took a Japanese language course at college. I think like two thirds of the class ended up dropping out. It was just a semester long class at introduction level.
  • AdamAdam 03/06/2020 at 6:40 pm on Is Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) the Best J-Drama Ever?GTO is incredibly cheesy at times, but can still bring the tears :)
  • AdamAdam 03/06/2020 at 6:38 pm on You’ve Finished Jalup – Now What?As Andrew said - the 10k number that people like doesn't include the kanji cards.
  • AvatarHL 03/06/2020 at 10:12 am on Is Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) the Best J-Drama Ever?I'm super late but YES! I couldn't agree more. GTO (Takashi Sorimachi) is just the best! I felt in love with the tv/movie adaptations & was using my savings just to buy them & let me tell you, I was poor.. T_T But, it's worth...