Eh? Didn't you lived and go to school in Japan for a while? It must have been really hard. I couldn't even order stuff besides touru kouhii.
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EstherM wrote:

Amazing indeed, people tell me Arabic is really difficult to learn if it�Ls not your mothertongue. So is Japanese, ne. Self-studying doesn�Lt work for me and I walked out of my Japanese class during the second lesson So kudos to you

Yes, Arabic is considered difficult. Not to mention the "Many" dialects there are, as well as some difficult pronunciations, so yeah I'm grateful.

Give it a try, watching J-dramas and listening to J-music will keep you there at least, and Thanks. ^^

tabana wrote:

Eh? Didn't you lived and go to school in Japan for a while? It must have been really hard. I couldn't even order stuff besides touru kouhii.

Yes I had Japanese classes in Japan thaught from day one in Japanese. It�Ls great and I can recommend it but you lose to much time guessing and trying to communicate (body language doesn�Lt work either cause it�Ls different).
First day dialogue:
Teacher pointing at her nose: Watashi
My friend Isabel: Hah?
Me: Nose!!!!
My friend Isabel: How weird starting with bodyparts!

Our poor teachers were really relieved when me and Isa returned to Europe.

When I came back I tried classes but I couldn�Lt fit them with my working hours so I had to quit ... plus the teacher reminded me too much of Musselini ...

Lifo wrote:

Give it a try, watching J-dramas and listening to J-music will keep you there at least, and Thanks. ^^

I do that instead of classes with Mussolini

Hilarious. ... but Japanese from day one, that's almost impossible if you don't know the basics. At least you weren't alone and teachers were patients. Your Mussolini teacher would have sent you to a prison camp somewhere...

For body language, drama helps a lot. For slang too. Stuff like "maji de".
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tabana wrote:

For body language, drama helps a lot. For slang too. Stuff like "maji de".

I was really badly prepared for Japan - I got accepted for the exchange programme end of June, finished my MBA project end of July, spent August moving out of my appartment in Barcelona and getting my visa sorted.
When I arrived in Japan I had just read one book on cultural differences and the Lonely Planet
First key learning point: knowing lots of mangas and animes dosen�Lt help ...

EstherM wrote:

First key learning point: knowing lots of mangas and animes dosen�Lt help ...

Awwww nuts.
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Wanna trade? My Drama List (UPDATED: July, 2013)

English.

I think I also mentioned the binary language of moisture vaporators.

English,Spanish..

French, a little Spanish (default for California) and working on my Japanese of course...
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i understand alittle japanese
alittle korean
alittle chinese
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Never posted here. I wish I could speak at least 10 languages but I doubt that will ever happen. Here is what I know in order of fluency-

1. English. Born and raised in Michigan so it's a given. Or not, maybe...

2. Italian- All family is Italian. Grandparents moved here in the 50s. It's a second language. I even studied it to get really good.

2.5. Ciociaro- Italian dialect of where my family is from. I understand it really well but can't actually speak it that great myself.

3. Japanese- Studied for two years in college now and for a long time before that on and off by myself. I'm pretty good at understanding and speaking, but not fluent yet.

4. French- Studied for three years in high school but I barely remember it. I can't understand it spoken that well and I take forever to formulate a sentence but I can read a little still. (not write)

To be really anal-
5. Spanish- Briefly studied. Similar to Italian.
6. Mandarin- Few phrases I've picked up from Taiwanese dramas and songs. Want to learn it next.
7. Korean- Just a couple words and things from dramas.
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marspeach wrote:

Never posted here. I wish I could speak at least 10 languages but I doubt that will ever happen. Here is what I know in order of fluency- 1. English. Born and raised in Michigan so it's a given. Or not, maybe... 2. Italian- All family is Italian. Grandparents moved here in the 50s. It's a second language. I even studied it to get really good. 2.5. Ciociaro- Italian dialect of where my family is from. I understand it really well but can't actually speak it that great myself. 3. Japanese- Studied for two years in college now and for a long time before that on and off by myself. I'm pretty good at understanding and speaking, but not fluent yet. 4. French- Studied for three years in high school but I barely remember it. I can't understand it spoken that well and I take forever to formulate a sentence but I can read a little still. (not write) To be really anal- 5. Spanish- Briefly studied. Similar to Italian. 6. Mandarin- Few phrases I've picked up from Taiwanese dramas and songs. Want to learn it next. 7. Korean- Just a couple words and things from dramas.

Yow, once the Japanese moves into the number two spot, we've gotta get you subbing...

Im studying Norwegian currently.

After taking Japanese lessons for awhile it is a lot easier, as it has so many similarities to English. But the pronunciation is not easy. There are several sounds Ive never made before. Ex: Kjaere sounds like chara with an s at the beginning...
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I wish I could speak more....
as for me .. is

English, Mandarin, Cantonese being the most fluent languages.. which I use everyday.

plus..
a little little of Japanese (learning now)
a little little little of Hokkien (kinda similar to the Taiwan language)
a little little little little of Malay
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I want to learn Chinese, because I think it's really important. I need chokakoi to teach me then.

Eve wrote:

Im studying Norwegian currently. There are several sounds Ive never made before. Ex: Kjaere sounds like chara with an s at the beginning...

That's what SHellberg keeps telling me. (But I think he's full of kjit)

I see most in here can speak asian languages. Unfortunately i don't know any but i would do anything to understand every single one of them(thats certainly impossible for me). The ones i do know are english, romanian, spanish, italian, i can understand french but thats it, i can't speak it, read it and certainly not write it. I learned french mostly from DBZ cuz i have them in a french version that doesn't even have a good picture. As for japanese i watch jdramas, anime, movies etc. for about 2 years now and i still only understand a few words. Hey but i can at least recognize it when i hear it. LOL

vicky20 wrote:

I see most in here can speak asian languages. Unfortunately i don't know any but i would do anything to understand every single one of them(thats certainly impossible for me). The ones i do know are english, romanian, spanish, italian, i can understand french but thats it, i can't speak it, read it and certainly not write it. I learned french mostly from DBZ cuz i have them in a french version that doesn't even have a good picture. As for japanese i watch jdramas, anime, movies etc. for about 2 years now and i still only understand a few words. Hey but i can at least recognize it when i hear it. LOL

Speaking 4 (!) languages is quite an achievement, even if these 4 have no asian origin and are derived from latin, romance and germanic.
I am impressed.

Quote:

Speaking 4 (!) languages is quite an achievement, even if these 4 have no asian origin and are derived from latin, romance and germanic. Applaud Applaud Applaud I am impressed.

Ya, well romanian, italian, spanish have pretty much in common so knowing just one of them very well enables you to understand all three, so its not such a big deal as it looks, learning all three would be easier than learning japanese for anyone. Well you might get confused if you learn all three at once cuz the fraze compositions are not the same and the words are so much alike but they mean different things most of the times. But the japanese still is terribly much harder to learn!!!