Japanese 101

Awesomeness, pt. 2

On Wednesdays we have a different sensei come in, a younger guy who chooses to speak primarily in Japanese. At one point he's going over random words from the Hiragana that he thought we would find useful. At one point he wrote out some familiar characters on the chalkboard:

(O) (RE)

Then he asked me to say it out loud. I (once again) struck a pose and yelled, "Ore...SANJOU!!"

Nobody else in the class knew what was going on, but sensei was laughing his head off!

You do realize that your classmates are going to think you're cracked, right?

Mikazuki said:

You do realize that your classmates are going to think you're cracked, right?

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The first time only sensei and I were in the room, but I don't really think it matters because they are all anime fans who are used to this sort of thing.

I always laugh when I read that people will 'teach themselves Japanese'

I also always laugh when I see people using references to Japanese anime and tokusatsu series in classrooms.

Alf17 said:

I always laugh when I read that people will 'teach themselves Japanese'

I also always laugh when I see people using references to Japanese anime and tokusatsu series in classrooms.

Both make you look like a retard, IMHO.

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Do you know how OFFENSIVE saying that someone looks retarded? Do you even have a CLUE about how HURTFUL that comment is towards people who have family members who ARE mentally disabled? A mentally disabled person - a "retard" - has no choice in how s/he is capable of learning. What's your excuse for being a complete and total asshole?

Thread fucking locked all thanks to one asshole who thinks people look like retards by trying to learn something.

Mikazuki's right, but this thread doesn't need to be closed as we do have good discussions going on in here. Let's move on, folks, but keep in mind that the next time this comes up harsher punishments will be thrown around.

First off let me say that it was certainly not my intention to hurt anyone's feelings and if I did I apologize for that. Furthermore, I agree that my choice of words was poor and I won't be using that particular word again in this forum anymore. Sometimes, people use words without thinking and I've made that mistake in this thread.

However, I do stand by my opinion. I don't make fun of people who try to learn something, quite the contrary. I'm a firm believer of life-long learning myself.

Was does bother me though, is how lightly people take things: some consider they are 'fluent' at a language by just speaking 10 words. Writing that you will learn Japanese by yourself shows a certain naivety as it's impossible to achieve this. The same goes for using examples from kid's shows in a serious classroom setting. For me it's a sign of immaturity (it's OK to use that word, right?) to tackle serious studies that way and that was the point I wanted to make.

I'm just tired of reading wapanese posts in various forums of people claiming they've mastered Japanese (or any language) by watching TV shows.

Studying is good, very good, but at least be serious and realistic about it. That's all I wanted to say.

PS: I agree that my wording was wrong but if you pick on me and change my post, perhaps the same should be done with the 100+ other posts in this forum where that word is used?

Alf17, there's really no need to apologize.

Alf17 said:

Was does bother me though, is how lightly people take things: some consider they are 'fluent' at a language by just speaking 10 words. Writing that you will learn Japanese by yourself shows a certain naivety as it's impossible to achieve this. The same goes for using examples from kid's shows in a serious classroom setting. For me it's a sign of immaturity (it's OK to use that word, right?) to tackle serious studies that way and that was the point I wanted to make.

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I can agree with that however that's not what you posted. You said, "I always laugh when I read that people will 'teach themselves Japanese'". One can learn the basics... just like those who want to learn English will first learn the Alphabet.

Doggy Kruger said:

Alf17, there's really no need to apologize.

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Actually, he did and since you were not the offended party then please don't say an apology was NOT needed.

Mikazuki said:

I can agree with that however that's not what you posted. You said, "I always laugh when I read that people will 'teach themselves Japanese'". One can learn the basics... just like those who want to learn English will first learn the Alphabet.

Actually, he did and since you were not the offended party then please don't say an apology was NOT needed.

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Not trying to revive something that IDK if it's dead or not, but I agree with Mikazuki on that one, an apology was needed, & I think that was offensive, & since people should take responsibility for their actions, I would like to know why an apology wasn't needed.

& yeah also stated by Mikazuki, it's not stupid because one can learn the basics.