１。うごく、to move. compounds, like 運動（うんどう, exercise）or 動物 ("moving-thing," animal)
２。しんじる！自分を信じて！漫画で、多いですね。(to believe)
３。うたう、to sing. この漢字が好き：「歌いを歌います」と言うんだから。
４。つくる、to make. also さく. 作文、（さくぶん、essay）
５。GAH. この漢字を覚えているが、意味を忘れちゃった！ (google... ああ、そだっけ。戦争とか。war.)

it's Hiragana de wakarimasuka.
Do you understand Hiragana?

If a sentence ends in "ka" it's a question, though you always use this period 。
And you'll get it, it just takes a bit of time :)

scholar- そうです。　そうです。　そうです。　そうです。　XD　そうですは！！

Rinchi- Wow, that's quite the handful. I am glad that you are able to prosper despite that (: *clap, clap* ^^ hehe
Ah yes, kuroshinagami just helped you out with that hehe (: That character ga that you didn't know is in that but otherwise you would know that it says "hiragana" ^_^ but for the reference, those are some very good words to recognize.

にほんご / Nihongo: Japanese (language)
えいご / Eigo: English (language)
わかります / Wakarimasu: I understand.
わかりました / Wakarimashita: I understand what was said (and/or)done.
わかりません / Wakarimasen: I don't understand.

Good job so far and say so if you have any more confusions. (:

ho and ma: ほ and ま. In the H line, both ha and ho have a line as the first part of the character, as seen here: は、ほ. In regards to ま, remember that the top line does not go straight across the top, but is lower down. This imagery may or may not help you, but I learned as if it was a baby calling "mama". The two lines are its arms reaching out, and it is sitting on the floor. The loop is its, well, butt. xD And the other side of the loop which is a line, is its leg. (: Whether or not that imagery helps, it will be a character that you will recognize often because it is used in verbs extremely often.

ha and na: は and な. The differences between these characters are as such: は has a more straight line that in handwriting jumps to the next stroke, while な turns the opposite direction. The straight line in な is the first stroke, so you can see it is on the left rather than the right. Also, the first half of な is very much like its katakana version, ナ.

ru and ro: る and ろ. The way that I learned the difference between these two kana is this: る is holding rubies, while ろ is holding nothing.

nu and ne: ぬ and ね. In my perspective, ぬ is closer to め while ね is close to れ and わ. You can use these similarities to your advantage. DO recognize them as separate characters, however, you can think in your head that the first part starts the same and so that is how to write it.

So yeah, good luck and say anything more about this that you want. xD ^^

LOL about nu and ne. Anyone else seen the TV anime Read or Die? One of the main characters is a Japanese author, named Nenene (ねねね）who, in the first episode, travels to Hong Kong. Hilariously, the girl who comes to meet her doesn't have very good Japanese writing skills, and holds up a sign in the airport for ぬぬぬ (Nununu). It's riotously funny, particularly for people who have trouble themselves with those characters. *whistles and looks innocent*

でも、今とてもとても幸せです！今日は、私の五年anniversaryです！五年間、夫と結婚していた。 それより（はい、五年anniversaryより！）日本の大学の先生は、私にletter of affiliationを書いてくれます。(Er, my grammar just totally failed. Basically, a professor in a Japanese university agreed to write me a letter of affiliation... though awkwardly I turned in my application four hours ago, and will have to wait until the campus interviews in late September to add it to my application. But I have one! This seriously strengthens my application to the point where I'm actually beginning to think I have a chance of winning!)

このアニメを見ることありませんけどおもしろそうです。XD
おめでとうございます、Scholarさん！
What's the application for?

黒死神さん、「スカラちゃん」でいいよね。^_^
この申し込み（もうしこみ）は、フルブライトと言うスカラシップだよ。日本に行って、映画音楽（えいがおん がく）の作曲家（さっきょくか）に質問（しつもん）を聞きたいんだ。論文（ろんぶん）の研究（けんきゅう） なんだ。

ありがとう、スカラちゃん：）黒ちゃんはいいよ。:D
すごい！！とてもすごい、と思う！I can't think in Japanese right now, but good luck!!
私も日本に行きたいがお金がない。。。>.<

ありがとう。kuroshinagami, strange_dreams for the help. Those suggestions might help. I just wish it had a drag-and-drop and other activities for all the hiragana and kanji... do you know of any resourceful books on learning them?

hmm, not really. have you tried just writing them repeatedly and saying the sounds as you go? that might be helpful...

I learned from the Genki books, but in a classroom setting.

I also think japaneseclass.jp is really good.

Here is Hiragana Drag and Drop Exercise (Timed) and here is Katakana Drag and Drop Exercise (Timed) and if you want to you can also try out the other pages.

If you look at the Home page, you can see that this is especially for students out of the Genki book, but can be used for others who are not using it as well (: Enjoy!

Also, there is this website that I used in my Japanese class but you need a special login to use it. I used to have one but I'm not on the list anymore for moving away. I will see if there is like a guest login or something else I could use to access it. I just asked the teacher about that. There are plenty of games.

I've been using those drag and drops... although I haven't done the katakana one yet. Hmmn Genki book, I'll have to get that... if I can find it at our local bookstore. If not, somewhere online?

Also this symbol has been giving me trouble as I can't find it even on the font I have for japanese kanji.... maybe I'm just overlooking it... but is it possible to get it in text and the corresponding romanji? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...elisea/Ahk.jpg

Yeah, you can try that. I was trying to find the title of the book i first learned kana from, but it was from a library in Seaside, OR and I have no idea what it is anymore as I don't live there anymore.

And yes, I can help you with that character. That is a variation of the character そ (so), meaning it is just a different way of writing it. You may also see variations of き and さ. That is, when you hand write those characters, it is proper to jump and leave a space instead of connecting the lines as a whole. Here is a picture drew showing the above.

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...ashin/diff.jpg

Hello everyone! It's Obon celebration time on Okinawa. I read that we celebrate it on a different time than Mainland Japan. I am hoping that there will be a Bon festival close to my house so we don't have to go out today, there is going to be some traffic on the island!

Hey all. :) I don't know if I'll post frequently, but it would be nice to have a place to practice typing Japanese. My Japanese is abysmal, but I do get a lot of speaking practice now. I need to resume formal study, however. Might as well start with the questions on the front page:

はじめまして！フェーラと申します。
二十一才です。
四年間大学で日本語を勉強しました。
今、東北地方に住んでいますが、アメリカ出身です。
しゅみは写真をとって、映画を見て、テレビゲームをする事です。
色々な音楽が好きです。
スタッフ・メンバーですから、MENEWSHAのサイトにいます。
どうぞよろしく、お願いします。

@Liunesta: Up in northern Honshu, it's kind of the same way. They celebrated the tanabata festival much later than most parts of Japan and it was exceptionally crowded.

ありがとう. I need to learn a lot more :eager:.
I've now found This Place to be very useful as well. I love resources oo;

こんばんはフェーラさん！私は黒です。
私も写真を取ることがとても好きです。大学で写真学を勉強します。
どんな映画を見ますか。までタイム　バルトン　の アリス イン　ワンダランド　を見ることがありますか。
(That's Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland - カタカナがちょっときらいですよ！）

Wouldn't Tim Burton be ティム・バートン？ *is nitpicking*

(And whoohoo for me! A professor from Osaka University has agreed to write me a letter of invitation!)

Eh, probably. Like I said, my spelling with Katakana is sketchy at best :)
Congratulations!!! That's really amazing, Scholar-san!! XD

(ありがとう！私も、とてもわくわくする！）

For myself, with Katakana, I first imitate the word with a Japanese accent, and then try it out. So, "Tim Burton" becomes "Ti-mu Baaton" or maybe "chi-mu baaton." "Team," after all, is spelled チーム I believe.

Hmm, true. I try to spell it out, but I always end up putting the R's in the wrong place, or not putting them in when I need them, lol
英語で「わくわく」は何ですか。Excitedですか。
And I have no idea if I said the above correctly or not...I'm rusty!! I need to go back to school!! lol

ええ、「わくわく」と言うは英語で「excited」だよ。
Yeah, took me a couple years to stop putting R's in everywhere, too.

Cool, I guessed right!! Lol
How long have you been studying Japanese?

三年前から、だけど、去年日本語の授業を取れなかったから、悲しかった。

ああ、そうです。ざんねんですね。でも、今年日本語のクラスを取るか、または日本に行くんです か。

...okay, that's probably off.
What I'm trying to ask is are you taking another class this year or are you going to Japan?