Interesting attempts to learn

[queen2408]

In my, almost random, attempts to learn Japanese I decided to try to read raw mangas, of course, according to my tastes BL is probably the best choice, if I am going to rack my brains to understand something, I have to be really interested in it.
I am going to start with one of my favorite mangakas, Suzuki Tsuta, and one of her newest mangas

Comments

[ia_elenko]

keep it up ))))) I'm a begginer myself, but smth I can help you with.. Aoyama - family name. Sakki - usually is translated as "before". -n da/-n desu/ and I suppose to shorten polite form -n su kedo are used after verbs to give explanation, as if not saying "because", but just implying it. katte - "a state of things". So I'd translate it as: Senpai, you sure you won't come today to the mixer, 'cause you were invited to Aoyama? - little is left from the original, but sounds enlish

[queen2408]

wow you say you are a beginner but that sounds so much better as you translated it.
So, andawa is a verb?
And how does that katte (state of things) work there?

Thank you very much for your feedback...feels like I am filling the huge voids, and this is probably the easier part of the chapter haha.

[ia_elenko]

My diploma reads that I can translate things, so I'd say I just have a bit more experience in translating than you do, but in all the rest I'm a begginer in japanese. About katte and andawa - I don't know yet ))) If others won't enlighten you - let me know, I'll ask japanese senpais)))

[nishitamachi]

My two cents

[queen2408]

Thank you very much. I have will correct it in a while.
And about the word to word...hmmm, this is my way of studying maybe? I mean, I didn't know those details and I would probably pick them from grammar books but I can't concentrate to read them for long time. It is different when you see the applications and kind of "construct" things, when you make a lot of mistakes and this feedback happens you remember better right?
I hope to get better and better so that I can translate the whole sentences without thinking too much about each tiny detail :D

part 1

[nova_usagi]

Literal translations sound weird because people say and express thing a little differently in different languages, so don't sweat trying to keep it too literal when translating. Understanding is what's important

Part 2

[nova_usagi]

I'm not a YAOI/BL fan, but I think that translating the comic is great practice for you. It's going to be very tough for a while, but your interest in the comics you translate will help motivate you. It should help you better retain the info. Keep up the great work.

And, what are you doing for your speaking and listening skills?

Re: Part 2

[queen2408]

Oh thank you very much for taking your time with such dedication :D
Well, that's why I posted it that way, but rest assured I only have 2 chapters of this story and there is nothing weird happening so far that might offend the readers here :). I know it is though, very though, but I am the sort of person that enjoys knowing how things work in detail, so this is helping me a lot, in fact I have only been studying for a month, sporadically, and even so I feel like I am learning something at least!

Hmm, listening to drama CDs. Most of the times I don't get what they are talking about in detail, just the general idea, but it is great.
Sometimes I watch anime...I used to watch more in the past and that's how I can recognize some words and some speech patterns when I am studying. Also I have the Pimsleur Japanese audio curse but I need to dedicate more to it. I wanted to listen some music but I have no idea how to look for it well, since I am not a fan of pop or very sweet/cute music.

Re: Part 2

[nova_usagi]

I don't mind reading the dialogue, because I can't imagine the dialogue being graphic enough to bother me and I also threw out that (ie me not liking yaoi) to be clear from the start. Generally speaking, I don't mind if you like it and as long as you're into it, it'll help you remember Japanese

Re: Part 2

[queen2408]

Thanks for the advice! I'll have those in mind, specially for when I start to understand common words better. I even have a drama that's totally transcribed and then translated so I can follow it :)
"Also, some people like to change up their methods a lot and jump around in order to keep themselves from getting bored" Yep, this is me, I am always jumping around from one thing to other, so I have a lot of things to pick from when I am going to study :). I think this is a nice way because when you see the same thing in different places you make more connections to it, you remember better. But that's just my way of learning.

Oh I had an idea about that, I read somewhere that you can learn structure but you have to be careful when speaking real Japanese, so I am aware of it. Now, I know anime is the same , but is also this way with things like...Japanese Dramas?

[franzeska]

I don't know if this will come up during your studies, but do remember that EDICT accepts submissions. If you find a word (a real word, but slang does count) that isn't in there, you should totally submit it. I've added plenty of manga/BL/fangirl/etc. terminology over time plus lots of random weird historical things I ran across in manga.

[franzeska]

BTW, that page you linked to is good too, but I really prefer Tae Kim's guide to Japanese grammar: http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar

[queen2408]

Yeah that one is good too. And if I get some time I could add some words, right now I will become crazy with so much things to do!