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Post by Nalacakes on Mar 11, 2010 12:30:53 GMT -5
Hmmm... see, I never really thought of Japanese grammar as being all that complex. If anything, I'd say it's one of the easiest languages I'm familiar with, grammar-wise. There are no gendered words, no real differences between singular and plural forms, and conjugation follows a set of rules that have comparatively few exceptions when placed side by side with other languages. Written Japanese is my bane, thanks to kanji, but spoken Japanese is really not that bad at all. Its biggest issue is that it's so DIFFERENT from the Germanic languages we're used to... but IMHO, it makes a hell of a lot more sense, too. English is WAY more complicated than Japanese.  -Tom You're right, I suppose complex was the wrong word, and I didn't really mean it as a measure of difficulty. The whole 'Japanese is impossible!' thing is actually a pet peeve of mine, and outside of kanji (which I find more time consuming and frustrating than genuinely difficult) and the initial hurdle of it being really, really different to English, I've never felt Japanese is anywhere near as difficult as its fearsome reputation would suggest. I actually go out of my way to encourage people to try learning it when they're interested.  I suppose more than complex, it's like a big box of Lego to me. There's a multitude of pieces of different shapes and sizes, and the thought of actually building something can seem a little daunting if you just look at the box. But examine every piece a little bit closer, and things become simpler - clippy bits fit into clippy bits and blocks with little circles on top lock into each other. Japanese grammar always felt like something very carefully and meticulously crafted to me; there are lots of rules, but they often tend to be rules rather than guidelines. I guess what I miss in Mandarin is that grammar doesn't always have clippy bits or interlocking blocks. Things aren't always completely logical, and hard and fast rules are rarely hard or fast. If constructing a sentence in Japanese is like building a house out of Lego blocks that have all been designed to fit together a certain way, constructing one in Mandarin is like trying to build one out of a big pile of timber and stones. In one way it's really exciting, and the somewhat more flexible, fuzzy rules sometimes make it easier to deal with: there's less rote memorisation than in Japanese, and far less than in something like French or Russian. On the other, I often miss my big box of Lego. |
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Post by Ashurei on Mar 12, 2010 0:00:03 GMT -5
I plan on trying to relearn what I've buried in my memory and learning what I can in the years I have left before I get my B.S. degree. Once that happens I can rely on immersion~! If all goes according to plan, anyhow.
Also, today was very much ONE OF THOSE DAMN DAYS. The past 2 hours have been filled with rage growing exponentially. A horrid series of events compounding together, conspiring to make my evening a living hell. Buy new headphones, soundcard is no longer recognized on PC after update. System restore - restore point is corrupted. Try different sound card - not recognized. Try to eat some cereal - milk is chunky and hasn't expired yet. Try to make some popcorn - it burns. Go back to computer - sound card magically decides it's working again. Try out new headphones... the plug is frayed.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
>________________________________<
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Post by Mutagene on Mar 12, 2010 0:50:44 GMT -5
Wow, I think you're the first person I know to have worse luck than me.
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Post by Incog Neato on Mar 12, 2010 6:20:33 GMT -5
One of the problems I have in learning Japanese is the sentence structure and grammar rules. ^^ My brain seems to switch itself off every time I get to those lessons ... which makes it very hard to learn the language. :P
Unrelated thinky thoughts:
My friend told me that the demo to Brutal Legend is misleading and that there's a lot of real-time strategy involved in it. :( Not that I mind RTS (if it's like C&C and whateverCraft) but the hacking and slashing is so fun! ;__;
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Post by Nalacakes on Mar 12, 2010 6:50:40 GMT -5
For some reason, in my experience of Japanese class (something that I'd like to try again sometime, when I don't have my proper school at risk of failure), I can't see Japanese being a beautiful language. It sounds weird, but I just can't fathom Japanese writing being as poetic as English can be. That's just me though. I can completely sympathise with this, as I often felt the same way when I started learning Japanese. I used to replay games I had played in English in Japanese for practice, and while it was exciting in a 'Wow, I'm really doing this!' sort of way, I often found myself feeling that much of the dialogue I understood came off as stiff or unnatural. The characters seemed somehow less colourful than they were in English, moments that were meant to make me laugh never did, and lines that really got to me in my native language left me feeling blank in Japanese. Even three or four years ago, I'd try reading Japanese poetry or literature and find it so...underwhelming? Over the last couple of years, though, something has clicked for me with Japanese. Perhaps I've learned enough that I'm no longer struggling to understand what's being said, and can put all my energy into appreciating how it's being said. Or maybe I've just grown so used to Japanese that turns of phrase that used to seem awkward to me now seem like the most natural things in the world. Regardless, I've started to see Japanese as every bit as beautiful as English. I think for me it's the difference between learning a language and learning to appreciate a language. The former can be accomplished in a matter of years (less if you're someone much smarter than me~!), but the latter is almost a lifelong endeavour, and something we're probably still doing to some extent with our native languages. Really appreciating a language doesn't just require a mastery of grammar or enough vocabulary to understand the basic meaning. You need to have a good grasp of culture, literary conventions, speech styles, the subtle nuances of words, the way humour is conveyed in the language... And I think that's something that you can't really learn from classes or textbooks. It only comes with prolonged exposure to the language. I'd assume what I'm saying here is sort of a given to people who have multiple native languages, or who have studied a great number of languages. But I think for an English native speaker with no experience studying foreign languages to a high level, it can be a difficult concept to wrap your head around, and it came as something of a shock to me. While studying Japanese, I frequently found myself thinking back to a Chinese friend I had in high school. She had only lived here for two years, and while her English was really good comprehension-wise, she seemed to understand the language without really appreciating it. I'd show her a poem, or we'd watch silly sitcoms on TV, and she'd frequently ask me why I laughed at a joke, or why I thought a certain turn of phrase was especially beautiful. I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but it actually frustrated me quite a bit. To me these things just were funny, moving, or nicely written. I didn't know how to explain why they were because, to me, if you understood English you ought to know already. I couldn't understand how she could grasp the meaning of the language while missing its poetry. I feel like I understand why she was asking a lot better now. |
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Post by Incog Neato on Mar 12, 2010 9:49:42 GMT -5
Ugh.
All this talk about learning Japanese makes me want to learn again. ..... But I have no motivation or initiative. ^^ This is despite the fact that almost all the manga I own is in Japanese and a good chunk of my video game (and guidebooks) collection is in that language too. :P
Guess I'm content milling around the land of illiteracy. .______.
This is actually quite a silly problem seeing that I get urges to write guides and walkthroughs for games from Falcom and such. :P In fact, I'm so good at masking my powers of Japanese illiteracy that wyrd thought I knew the language! XD
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Post by Ashurei on Mar 12, 2010 15:13:59 GMT -5
Wow, I think you're the first person I know to have worse luck than me. Worse yet, after writing my final paper on the definition of life (while watching Akira, so it wasn't all bad!) and studying sum calc (which is always lame!), I finally decided to go to bed around 1am. Then at 3am a couple of shits right outside my bedroom window decide to start blaring some loudass music and partying it up. I did not sleep well last nite. AND THE DIATRIBE ENDS. It is now spring break, and I shall spend it doing not school and not rage. Fishing, backpacking, Ren Faire, spending time with friends and family, playin' me sum ff13. It shall be a grand time. |
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Post by Incog Neato on Mar 13, 2010 5:49:41 GMT -5
PlayStation Move controller is cute. ^^; Edit: Oh geez. I'm still having second thoughts on getting Brutal Legend. Looks like (from screenshots) the strategy parts play like Overlord. Hopefully, it's not as frustrating as that. I think I'll seek out some gameplay videos today to get a better understanding. :3 More editing: Ahahaha. So lame: kotaku.com/5492071/final-fantasy-fans-are-far-too-sensitive-about-the-xbox-360 |
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Post by ausdoerrt on Mar 13, 2010 8:25:20 GMT -5
One of the problems I have in learning Japanese is the sentence structure and grammar rules. ^^ My brain seems to switch itself off every time I get to those lessons ... which makes it very hard to learn the language. :P Eeh, the Japanese sentence structure is pretty easy and logical once you get over the fact that the logic in asian languages in general is a bit different from european ones. It's the nuance differences between different ways of expressing the same thing that's hard to get. Also, I was too lazy to learn multiple readings for kanji, so I dropped my class ::) As for whoever said that Japanese isn't poetic... Well, it's a very rhythmic language for all it's worth, although not exactly a very smooth-flowing one. Also, the vagueness of expression is what makes it beautiful in literature. Or so I heard. But neither is English a very poetic language, anyway. It's a bit more flowy, but very unrhythmic and with poor rhyming capabilities. Try German, Italian, Ukrainian, ancient Chinese. |
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 13, 2010 10:56:08 GMT -5
I'm no longer engaged. I had to make my own decision this time, and I made the right one. We were doomed to moral adversity. There wasn't going to be any working through it.
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Post by Justin on Mar 13, 2010 11:19:25 GMT -5
I'm no longer engaged. I had to make my own decision this time, and I made the right one. We were doomed to moral adversity. There wasn't going to be any working through it. You were engaged? |
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 13, 2010 11:21:28 GMT -5
Yeah, but I broke it off. "Damaged goods" doesn't mix well with much of anything that isn't "damaged goods", you know.
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Post by Justin on Mar 13, 2010 11:24:00 GMT -5
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 13, 2010 12:06:51 GMT -5
She knew, she cared, and she knew everything there was to learn about me. It's just I've been fighting with myself for over three years "what's right", "what's wrong", "what can I do to fix this", etc. -- regardless, this bipolar "it's okay -- NO NO IT'S NOT" bullshit was too much, I just couldn't take it anymore. It's like leprousy in my case. I felt the pull of "I'm infected, she's not" weighing on me. In the end, I've concluded that I have no right to give her a choice. You can't possibly love someone that you'd consider hurting like that. Given that I was entirely bipolar about that, it wouldn't have been good for me to slip and say it's okay, and then afterward be like "oh shit, it's not okay, and now I feel terrible because I made a mistake".
And then I realized I have a choice. The past said "Hello, you infected me. I'm sorry, and I realize now all that's been done. I'm tired of the games, I'm just going to want what I want and go for it." -- so now I'm learning a valuable history lesson.
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 13, 2010 12:38:15 GMT -5
Yeah, I'm okay with it. I regret that we couldn't be friends and that I had to hurt her, but it was ultimately the right choice for everyone concerned. I'm going to go for what I want now. Someone just as damaged as I am, knows how it feels, and can relate to me in every way. I know it was a dirty rotten move, but the right move can be rotten sometimes.
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Post by AllenSmithee on Mar 13, 2010 13:31:29 GMT -5
I don't want to say the wrong thing about this. I'm young, and my words come out as offensive, but they're really not. I understand what went on though from reading this, and I can see that you're really clear headed about this.
To be honest my friend, I can see you've come to a point where you realized what must happen for you to enjoy your life, and for her not be hurt, and that's great. To see such things with such great clarity, and then act on them is no easy task, and I respect you for doing that. I know I've realized what's right and had a hard time doing something about it.
If you're anything like me, after making the right choice, you'll think it may have been the wrong choice, but it really isn't. Be strong in the path you've chosen.
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Post by AllenSmithee on Mar 13, 2010 13:48:57 GMT -5
I guess I'll post what's been going down for me, recently.
I've finally gotten over the girl that I've been talking about for so long. It was hard, but it's done. It was hard for a while, to be her friend, and to be a good friend, while I knew it was a "look but don't touch" sort of situation. So I'd want her, and I'd want to hold her like I could before, but it'd never be.
It took a while too. I'd admit in my head all of the attractive girls I knew, but I didn't want any. And none of their personalities were the same. So it wasn't exactly a time to look, y'know? I figured, "Okay, I'll just try and get over her... I can find a possible girlfriend later (given my luck, probably not)".
It was weird what really did it for me though. There was a spirit week at my school and me and her weren't completely getting along so well, which felt really terrible. The thing to note though is that a friend was on a trip to the tropics during this week and I was missing her a bit. It wasn't until she got back though that I realized how much I had missed her! I talked to her, and I noticed how much I missed her laugh, her smile, everything.
It's been a week since she got back, and I'm hanging out with her over March Break. Plus, me and the girl I've finally gotten over have gotten along great this entire last week. I feel like I've been freed. I no longer want something so far away, and I've mended a friendship too.
I can only hope I don't make the same mistakes this time... if I get as far as I did last time I need to remind myself that every guy has a first girlfriend, everybody has a first kiss. I need to remember that if somebody likes me and I like them there's a reason for it and they're obviously not too good for me. I'm not a piece of shit, because no beautiful girl would ever love a piece of shit.
This is of course assuming I get as far as I did last time.
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Post by Incog Neato on Mar 13, 2010 17:41:43 GMT -5
GameStop and Barnes & Noble are owned by the same company???
Haven't Googled for the answer yet since I felt like posting here first. XD
Anyway, I thought of the question because I just wrote to EB to get a game cancelled from my order and the last half of the e-mail read like this:
"For Barnes & Noble orders, refunds are processed within 3-5 business days. If your order was placed with a GameStop gift card or Edge Card, please note that any related authorization hold on the card should fall off within 3-5 business days."
o_O
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Post by Raison D'etritus on Mar 13, 2010 20:40:43 GMT -5
Yup. My own ex-fiancee was an assistant manager in the cafe at a Barnes and Nibbler and she used to get me discounts on all my games. I can't remember if it was ten, fifteen, or twenty percent though. I want to say fifteen. I think that's right. Whatever it was, it was a damn good deal.
Since Ex-fiancee's seems to be a recurring topic here: Sayuki, the good news is, as long as you learn from your mistakes they aren't really mistakes. In a few years you'll be much stronger for the experiences and won't hold any regrets. And stop with the "damaged goods" nonsense. We deem our own value and the world comes to reflect what we project.
The only difference between a Napoleon and a prostitute is -WILL-. If you want to conquer the world, you can, you just need to realize you can first. Take this from somebody who has made the climb from the bottom.
Also, hold onto the ring until you desperately need the cash. It acts as a kind of Deus ex Machina in emergencies. Just don't expect any more than 5% what you paid for it.
Also from experience. . . (I sold my own engagement ring after several years just a few weeks ago. "$350, YAY. Now I can get an Xbox360" . . . four days later, laptop dies. Good thing I have that 350... and no XBOX. . .)
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Post by Ascended Mermaid on Mar 14, 2010 4:11:32 GMT -5
Alright, so my sister Dawn ended up with two Lady Gaga - The Fame CDs on Christmas -- and she already owned one, which makes three. So Shawn did a gift exchange, and I... was left with a copy from Amazon. XD So I just now unwrap it, and pop the fucker in. Why not?
...and WOW I am so blown away by how fucking amazing this CD is!
Can you tell I'm in a good mood? My mood is so good, I swear to god, if I could assimilate with the air around me with every fiber, neuron and cell of my being, my entire molecular structure all as one and each one as all, it'd be pure love -- if oxygen can be any MORE enriching, if my horse can be any higher than cloud nine, pigs can grow wings, magic is truly a thing of non-fiction, and angels are watching over the world lovingly.
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