[/quote]I am not American, but I do know about that programme. Such a good programme...
Where I live do not have such programme...
So how is it? the school over there~ <33[/quote]
Is that so? I think it's good too.
ALT's participating in the same program as me come from a variety of different countries, but the majority are from English speaking countries.
Certainly many participants are Americans, though.
I'm no expert, but my understanding is that the difference between と and や is this: if you use と you are implying that you've listed everything on the list, not just a few examples. But や implies that there's other stuff you didn't mention, so it's often used with など (and such). I guess や means "things such as ~ and ~" instead of just "and". The particle とか basically means the same thing too.
For example:
学校で数学や理科を勉強します。
Quote:
At school, I study math and science. (And we probably study other subjects too, but I haven't listed them.)
好きな教科は数学と理科です。
Quote:
My favorite subjects are math and science. (That's it. I've listed all of my favorite subjects.)
I'd say the reading for 何語 is "nanigo" in that context. My students say "何語??" a lot when they hear something they don't understand and it sounds like "nanigo".
Okay, at least I understand your argument.
Previously, my basic class teacher tell me something about. Ya, use for multiple examples, to is just for this AND that. That is it.
Which make my eyes roll... not disrespect, but confusion.
Can you go through the prepositions with me too? XD I am bad with prepositons in English as well, now you know why I love Chinese. (I am a Chinese.)
items をverb
noun はadjective, verb n others.
noun が verb? I always confuse がｎは
place へ
place, noun に
place で - again, completely confused between all of them.
…Did I missed the others?
Probably won't be around too much in the next two weeks as I'll be busy with school and travelling. But I'm enjoying the dialogue here. Keep it up. \ o /
That's true, isn't it. I've had trouble reading Grumman's posts in Japanese up until now.
For example, "watashi no foruda ni wa" is incorrect. Writing it like this is better. (Folder should be written in katakana since it came from a foreign language and the particle "wa" should always written be with は. It's one of those things that you'll get the hang of pretty quickly with more exposure. So keep at it!)
But I'd recommend using a translating program as little as possible, because they make strange sounding sentences.
I hope I don't sound harsh, since I totally understand how hard it is to write when you're starting out. D: I nearly failed my first year of Japanese. But if you rely too much on a translator, then it's hard to know exactly what the meaning and functions of the words are. I felt like I could grasp the grammar better when I tried looking at example sentences using similar grammar, sometimes comparing with a translator, and sticking with the stuff I knew as much as possible.
By the way, as far as translation programs go, I kind of like this one: Translation Party You can enter words in either Japanese and English, and it repeats translating them back and forth until you reach an equilibrium. It's meant to be fun to watch the nonsense unfold, but it's nice to see how a translation retranslates, to see if it really matches what you're trying to say.
Can you go through the prepositions with me too? XD I am bad with prepositons in English as well, now you know why I love Chinese. (I am a Chinese.)
items をverb
noun はadjective, verb n others.
noun が verb? I always confuse がｎは
place へ
place, noun に
place で - again, completely confused between all of them.
…Did I missed the others?
I don't mind going over some of the basic functions, but they're so complex that there's no way I could cover everything. I use a reference book sometimes that explains the uses of the particles in brief sentences with a few examples, and that's over 140 pages long! (The book is called "All About Particles" by Naoko Chino, if you're interested.)
Anyway, here's my understanding:
を is mostly used to indicate something is the object of an action.
私はパンを食べました。
Quote:
I ate bread.
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は usually indicates that the word before it is the topic and the following words describe it in some way.
私はアメリカ人です。
Quote:
I am an American.
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が can be very similar to は. The difference between them is very complex and nuanced. But to keep it simple, it's used after nouns like は and the following words describe it in some way. But if they're used in a sentence together, usually は is the main topic and が is just the supporting topic.
象は鼻が長いです。
Quote:
The elephant - its nose is long. / Elephants have long noses.
が is also used with some verbs. It's used with intransitive verbs (stuff that happens without a person/thing directly doing the action, such as weather), verbs of ability (can/can't), and verbs that relate to emotions (like, want, etc.)
雨が降りました。
Quote:
It rained.
私は日本語が話せません。
Quote:
I can't speak Japanese.
私は猫が好きです。
Quote:
I like cats.
And が can be used as "but" between two sentences/clauses, especially when using ます/です (polite) language.
漢字は読めますが書けません。
Quote:
I can read kanji, but I can't write it.
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へ is used to indicate direction (such as going to a place) or a recipient (such as a letter written to someone). You could use に in the same exact way.
昨日、私は日本へ出発しました。
Quote:
I left for Japan yesterday.
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に is used for directions, but it's also used for other things. It's used to indicate something or someone is "in", "at", or "on" someplace (with あります/います). に is used with time expressions. And に is used with なる to show a change (A becomes B).
私は学校に行きました。
Quote:
I went to school.
今、田中さんは教室にいます。
Quote:
Mr. Tanaka is in the classroom now.
私は今朝６時に起きました。
Quote:
This morning, I woke up at 6.
田中さんは病気になりました。
Quote:
Mr. Tanaka became ill.
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で is used to explain location ("at" or "in"). If movement is involved, use に (going to, etc.) If you're talking about the existence or location of a specific thing （あります/います) use に. But if you're talking about an action that's happening at a location, then you use で.
私はレストランで夕食を食べました。
Quote:
I had dinner at a restaurant.
で can be used to mean "by" or "with" too. Basically it shows the means to do something.
私は自転車で学校に行きました。
Quote:
I went to school by bike.
私はペンで書きました。
Quote:
I wrote (something) with a pen.
彼は日本語で話しました。
Quote:
He spoke in Japanese.
Does that help? If you have more questions about other particles, I can help clarify. It's good for me to review/learn more about them too.
It really help a lot!
Ferra's explanation is easier to understand compare to some other places.
I am noting it down now~
If you really want to learn the language, you have to listen to it and write it, a lot and often.
I always think that after using the language in a long time, you will get better and better in using it. (means a bit differently in my Japanese though... but the gist is the same.)
First, get the alphabets recognise, then look into structure and grammar. Let's start from the easy writing or greeting~
Just pointing this out since you asked me to. In Japanese, 「病気です」 doesn't have quite the same meaning as "I'm sick" in English.
In English, saying "I feel sick" often means you have just a cold or feel under the weather. In Japanese, it's more often used for illnesses you'd actually go to the doctor to treat.
So here's a few ways to say I feel sick/unwell/crappy in Japanese:
Quote:
気分が悪い
I feel sick. I feel bad.
Quote:
具合が悪い
I feel sick. I feel bad. Something is wrong. Basically the same as above, but it can be used for things besides health, like your car isn't running well.
Quote:
体の調子がよくない / 体の調子が悪い
Not sick necessarily, but you feel "off". Basically means "I'm feeling bad" or "Not so good." If you substitute "体" (body) with something else, then you can say "the condition of ___ is bad/good".
@xuvrette: 説明は本当に分かりやすかったの？良かった！
ええ、一緒に勉強しましょうね～
SPOILERX
Quote:
The explanation was actually easy to understand? I'm so glad!
It's okay. You can still use it, just with the quote tags also. 
今までGrumman_Gooseの日本語のメッセージがぜんぜん読めないよね
I use a reference book sometimes that explains the uses of the particles in brief sentences with a few examples, and that's over 140 pages long! (The book is called "All About Particles" by Naoko Chino, if you're interested.)
In Japanese, 「病気です」 doesn't have quite the same meaning as "I'm sick" in English.