I've just seen the phrase 「よくないんじゃないですか？」. Is that really grammatically correct? I mean, it's a double negative isn't it?

EDIT: Also, I've been wanting to have a stab at reading some raw manga lately, for practice, but obviously since I'm still pretty much a beginner it would need to be something simple, so... does anyone know of some manga titles aimed at kids that I could try?

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Negative question forms are extremely common in Japanese. Rather than asking, "Are you cold?" they'll ask, "Aren't you cold?" 「さむくないですか？」　It's also really common for people to turn statements into questions by tacking on a じゃない at the end. So really 「よくないじゃないですか？」 is just like asking, "Isn't it great?" in a way that implies you think it's great. But...it could also feasibly mean, "Isn't that bad?" depending on context, I think. It's probably more grammatically correct than 「いいじゃない」 which is also commonly spoken.

I can't seem to explain it very well, but you start to get used to it if you listen to lots of spoken Japanese.

As for manga, everyone seems to recommend Yotsuba for beginners. It's not exactly for kids, but because the main character is a little girl the vocabulary tends to be fairly simple. That doesn't mean you won't have to look up every other word at first. And in fact, some of the jokes are a little confusing because they revolve around her misuse of Japanese. Here's a link recommending a few others: http://japanesetease.net/easy-to-read-ma...ginners-vol-01/

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I like tea!

I would interpret that sentence as "that's not good, is it?" As I understand it, with those kind of sentences, whatever precedes んじゃない is what the speaker thinks. The last part adds a very Japanese element of uncertainty by phrasing it as a negative question instead of a direct assertion (see also 行きませんか - do you want to go?)

I don't think いいんじゃない? is any less grammatically correct.

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Upon Kaz's suggestion, I'm bringing this thread back! Feel free to ask or discuss anything relevant.

カゼくんが申し入れたんで、このトピを引き戻すことに したよ。ぜひ、質問を聞いたり、関連したことについて 話したりしてみぃ。

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You have to remember, arren, that MiyazakiGirl doesn't speak the language, yet. She plans to take it soon, tho... Have to tone it back a bit, at least in parts for her..

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I realise it wasn't clear, but I'm continuing to make each post here in English and in Japanese. So anybody who can't read Japanese isn't missing out on anything, don't worry!

明らかやなかったけど、今も全てのポストを英語でも日 本語でも書いて続いてる。だから、日本語が読めない人 もきっと分かるはずやで。気にしないで！

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I need to start using Lang-8 again. Feel like my vocabulary's dried up a lot since I sat my N4 exam.

大学で、日本語の授業は僕の好きなのです。僕のクラス メートは先生があまり好きじゃないですけど、僕は好き です。

(At university, Japanese class is my favourite one. My classmates don't like the teacher very much, but I do.)

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What's Lang-8? A textbook? If it's actually been mentioned here before then I apologise.

Lang-8っては？教科書?本当はもう述べていたら、すまん。

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I used to know quite a bt of spoken Japanese from when I was over there, but through disuse, have forgotten most of it. I still answer the phone with ,"moshi, moshi, anonai" sometimes, just to confuse people...

hahaha, or thank people with,"domo arigato gozaimus"... lol I usually get, HUH?...lol

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こんな長時間にこのスレッドは使われなかったに今まで 気づいてないけど、まぁ、バンプしたらどう？いつも通 り日本語でコミュニケーションしたり、勉強についての 質問をしたりしようよ。

まず言いたいのは、私の前のポストを投稿してからLang- 8が何かを見つけたんだ。勉強するためホンマにいいサ� �トと思う。よく使ってる。


I didn't realise this thread had gone unused for such a long time, but how about we bump it back up? Let's talk in Japanese, ask questions about studies and so on as usual.

What I want to say first is that since my last post, I found out what Lang-8 is. I think it's a great site for studying! I use it a lot.

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Sadly not fluent. I've only picked up words like Hana and Kaze and basic nouns like that.

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3,2,1, Let's jam.

Well, it's interesting, and I was indeed planning to at least attempt to relearn some vocab and kanji. I was already really happy that, while in Boston's pokemon event, I was able to communicate with the japanese players pretty fluently (according to them anyway).

But I'm really more interested in speech, and that hard anywhere because I only have one japanese friend and I don't meet her often. And, well, the "she" part complicates things further. It's like regardless of language I still can't talk to girls well, lol.

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I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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金曜日に大学へ帰ります（戻ります？）。授業は来週の 火曜日に始まります。勉強するのが必要です…この夏休 みで、あまり勉強しませんでした。少し漢字と文法を忘 れただと思います。まあ、そうなのに、帰るのが楽しみ にしています。＾＾

翻訳： I go back to university on Friday. Classes start next Tuesday. I really need to study... I haven't studied much this summer. I think I've forgotten some kanji and grammar. Well, even so, I'm looking forward to going back. ^^

Yeah, should I use 帰る or 戻る in this case?

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「戻る」かなぁ．．．ある日私は「帰る」って言うた時 、添削してくれた人によると故郷とかについてじゃなか ったら、「戻る」のほうが合ってるそうだった。そうと すると、「大学へ戻る」って言うたらほうがいいかも。

Maybe 戻る. One day when I used 帰る, somebody correcting it said that if you aren't talking about your hometown or something, 戻る is a better fit. Assuming that's right, then saying 大学へ戻る might be better.

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そうですね。ありがとう。＾＾そうだと思いました。

じゃあ、もう一つ。発音について質問があります。普通 で、「おう」の発音は「おー」でしょう。でもいつもそ うですか。例えば、「子牛」の発音は本当に「こーし」 ですか。なんとか、「こ・うし」と言いたいです。

翻訳：Right, thank you. ^^ I thought that might be the case.

Now, one other thing. I have a question about pronounciation. Normally, "ou" is pronounced "ō", right? But is this always the case? For example, is "koushi" (calf) really pronounced "kōshi"? Somehow I want to say "ko - ushi".

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Nah, ko-ushi is right, in the same way that when you get different words next to each other, the sounds don't turn into one. Like, 一個を売った isn't pronounced いっこーーった. Basically, if the sounds that look like they'd be a long vowel belong to two different kanji, you pronounce them like separate words.

Actually, you also get words with sounds together that you'd think might make them an even longer vowel than normal, like 装う(よそおう), but at some point you do have to separate them, and pronounce おう as お-う.

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Ah, okay. I get that, it makes sense. I tried writing down how it makes sense but couldn't quite explain it. I do get it though. XD; The sounds made by individual kanji don't bleed into each other or into neighbouring hiragana or katakana, they stay inside. They're contained. 分かりました。 また、ありがとう。

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I think the reasoning between kaeru and modoru is the place you are going back to. Kaeru would normally suggest returning to a place of dwelling, while modoru is a broader term used when you are returning to a specific point/location. More specifically, when you were at a place, went elsewhere, and are returning to that earlier place. Kaeru is more specific in the sense that you are returning to an original, or first, point, generally your home.

Would that be a good explanation?

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I am me.
I am who I am.
I am Roarkiller.
No one else is me.

Roarkiller.net
Isakaya High RPG Site

quote:

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Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

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http://9gag.com/gag/aWWVy12?ref=pn

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Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

So a few weeks back I picked up a single volume of yaoi manga at the JP Books sale. A few minutes ago I decided to have a go at translating the blurb on the cover, just for fun.

The first line is:
朝、目覚めると、目の前に尻があったーーー。

"I woke up that morning, and before my eyes there was an ass..."

I looked at first page, and it's true. There was indeed an ass.

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