learning japanese

v1hypersg

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not sure about ikoma, so cannot comment, you can call or check their website,

JCS do provide notes and you have to take notes as well and the textbook is not used so often maybe because in the beginning, you need to have the foundation first,
 

PingJun

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I have asked Ikoma regarding the extra notes.

Yup, the teachers also provide the notes.

When you all learn the lang (regardless of which school), do you all need the dictionary in class?
 

PingJun

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Regarding JCS, are there many people register for the Jap course (Elementary regular / intensive) every year?
 

khaos83

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bunka's admin office is at the end. opposite the washrooms.
i had trouble finding it the 1st time i was there too.
 

ender51244

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PingJun said:
Regarding JCS, are there many people register for the Jap course (Elementary regular / intensive) every year?
you bet.

last time its super long... but now... think shortened already. but~ it is always better to queue early. if not you will end up in the waiting list for the Xth time.
 

ender51244

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eh~ this time share a bit of kansai dialect, which is known as 関西弁 (kansai ben).

[intro extract from wikipedia]
Kansai-ben (Japanese: 関西弁, -ben "dialect") is a distinct group of related Japanese dialects found in the Kansai region of Japan. They are typified by the speech of Osaka, which is referred to specifically as Osaka-ben. It is characterized as being both more melodic and more "harsh" by speakers of the standard language.

Technically Kansai-ben is not a single dialect, but a group of related dialects of the region. Each major city represents a particular dialect with thousands of years of history. Thus there are specific dialects such as Kyoto-ben, Kobe-ben, Nara-ben, Wakayama-ben, etc. Since Osaka is the largest city of the region, and since its speakers have gained the most media exposure in the last century, non-Kansai-ben Japanese speakers may associate the dialect of Osaka with the entire Kansai region. Most people outside of the Kansai region equate Osaka-ben with Kansai-ben in general, mostly due to the former's extensive media exposure. Thus anyone habitually saying akan or honma to a Tokyoite is invariably going to be labelled as a Kansai-ben speaker and probably an Osaka-jin whether they are from Osaka or not. This may grate on the nerves of a few speakers of non-Osakan Kansai dialects, but no particular effort is underway to correct the misassumption.

Since Kansai-ben is the most common atypical dialect of Japanese, it has become a favorite with Japanese authors, manga and anime artists, and the like as the choice for representing a somewhat "different" character from the norm. The use of Kansai-ben is closely associated with comedy throughout most of non-Kansai Japan. This is due both to the prevalence of comedians from Osaka in Japanese media as compared to people from other cities and regions, and to the willingness of Osaka comedians to use their own dialect while on stage.

Because of this association, speakers of Kansai-ben are often viewed as being more humorous or more witty than the average Tokyoite. Tokyo people even occasionally imitate Kansai-ben to provoke laughter or inject humor into a situation.

Kansai-ben is strongly associated with Manzai and comedy in general. Some believe this is because Yoshimoto Kogyo, one of the country's main comedy television production companies, is based in Osaka, and thus Kansai comedians are better promoted.

Historically, nearly every village in the Kansai area had a style of speech which differed somewhat from its neighbors; it was once possible for well-travelled people to identify the particular area from which a speaker came. Due to the increasing influence of the Tokyo and Kanto dialects over the last four hundred years, the intraregional differences have been declining across all of Kansai. However, citizens of each major city and prefecture still take some pride in their particular dialectical variations, and this has preserved a number of differences between each area in the region.

The primary dialects of Kansai-ben can be roughly divided into cities. There is Osaka-ben, the most famous and well known. Following it are Kyoto-ben, known for its indirectness and politeness, and Kobe-ben known for its -tō/-ton verb conjugation. Others include Nara-ben, Wakayama-ben, Shiga-ben, Mie-ben, and Hyogo-ben.


and my saturday, sunday & monday input:

あかん (akan)
---> means "not allowed" or "cannot"
standard japanese would be "だめ" (dame)

アホ (aho)
---> means fool, stupid / foolish
standard japanese would be "バカ" (baka)

めっちゃ (meccha)
---> means "very"
standard japanese would be "とても" (totemo)
 

PingJun

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ender51244 said:
you bet.

last time its super long... but now... think shortened already. but~ it is always better to queue early. if not you will end up in the waiting list for the Xth time.

You know roughly whether the registration day is on weekday or on weekend?

Anyway, I have registered with Ikoma & am now also on a waiting list.

Going to register with JCS on this yr dec.

Hehehe.....
 

ender51244

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think its a sunday of dunno which week of Dec.

Please remember to call up at the end of November to enquire about the date coz its only 1 day. miss that day and its next June / December liao.
 

PingJun

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ender51244 said:
think its a sunday of dunno which week of Dec.

Please remember to call up at the end of November to enquire about the date coz its only 1 day. miss that day and its next June / December liao.

1 day only???

There was this particular yr where I went there to register (last min) & then found out that I have went to wrong place (went to Japanese Association of S'pore instead of JCS).

Miss the registration of intake.......
 

ShougunX

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ender51244 said:
eh~ this time share a bit of kansai dialect, which is known as 関西弁 (kansai ben).

and my saturday, sunday & monday input:

あかん (akan)
---> means "not allowed" or "cannot"
standard japanese would be "だめ" (dame)

アホ (aho)
---> means fool, stupid / foolish
standard japanese would be "バカ" (baka)

めっちゃ (meccha)
---> means "very"
standard japanese would be "とても" (totemo)
wooo...kansai ben, ,my fav dialect. Haven been here for quite some time.

アホ means fool n ドアホー means BIG fool. haha.

めっちゃ is also commonly used in 標準日本語 (in tokyo) as well.

おもろい関西弁ってちょっと分からへんやねん (omoroi kansai ben tte chotto wakarahen ya nen)
おもろい--面白い (omoroi -- omoshiroii)
分からへん--分からない (wakarahen -- wakaranai)
やねん--だね (yanen -- dane)
 

ender51244

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PingJun said:
1 day only???

There was this particular yr where I went there to register (last min) & then found out that I have went to wrong place (went to Japanese Association of S'pore instead of JCS).

Miss the registration of intake.......
yes. only 1 day. at least that was the "rule" when i queued up to enrol 3 years ago. think not much changes ?
 

ender51244

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ShougunX said:
wooo...kansai ben, ,my fav dialect. Haven been here for quite some time.

アホ means fool n ドアホー means BIG fool. haha.

めっちゃ is also commonly used in 標準日本語 (in tokyo) as well.

おもろい関西弁ってちょっと分からへんやねん (omoroi kansai ben tte chotto wakarahen ya nen)
おもろい--面白い (omoroi -- omoshiroii)
分からへん--分からない (wakarahen -- wakaranai)
やねん--だね (yanen -- dane)
aww~~ sugei~

i love kansai ben too. if you know japanese well enough... u will find it quite warm and friendly, just like the streets of osaka. this is one of the "sub-japanese" i learnt together with the standard Japanese.
 

ender51244

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input for tuesday & wednesday:

(kansai ben continues!)

しんどい (shindoi)
---> tired, exhausted
standard Japanese: 疲れた (tsukareta)

ほんま (honma)
---> true, real
Standard Japanese: 本当 (honto)
 

ender51244

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input for thursday, friday, saturday & sunday:

腹を黒い (hara wo kuroi)
---> means to be pretentious. its almost like english for "black-hearted" but they use the stomach instead of the heart. literal translation means "stomach is black"

腹がよじれる (hara ga yojireru)
---> means very hilarious. literal translation means... "stomach being twisted"

腹のへった (hara no hetta)
---> means to be hungry. literal translation means ... "bad at the stomach"

腹いっぱい (hara ippai)
---> means to be full.
 

PingJun

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Wow. Seems very difficult.

Anyway, I have successfully applied to a Japanese course :D :D

Going to register again in JCS this Dec :D
 

v1hypersg

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thinking of buying an electronic dictionary for checking japanese, chinese and english,

can anyone recommend any good ones ?
 

ender51244

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eh... i can't really recommend you a electronic dictiionary for japanese, chinese & english. i have seen on though, and it is considered a bit big (in my opinion). eh... the person uses Casio brand, so i think it should be okay ? its about 1.5 the size of my japanese & english dictionary. (me use seiko brand, recommend by my teacher).

what i can tell you is that it is better to buy in Japan. if you have any friend going there or something, ask them to get it for you. do not buy it in singapore. it will cost around 40,000 yen (or around 600 sgd) when you buy it in japan. but in singapore, it will be much higher.

my friend and i are using the same electronic dictionary (since its reommended by the teacher) and she lost hers. she placed it in the drawer during lessons and forgot to take it. the next japanese class student took it obviously since its right after my class and the dictionary was never found. anyway, she went kinokuniya and saw the exact same model. she wanted to buy but on price enquiry, it is 200 dollars more than the what she paid for. *our teacher went Japan to buy it for us at around 300 sgd, which is 20,000 yen.

so no choice, ended up she waited for a few more weeks when my teacher heads for Japan (for business trip again) and she got him to buy her the model again.
 
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ender51244

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PingJun said:
Wow. Seems very difficult.

Anyway, I have successfully applied to a Japanese course :D :D

Going to register again in JCS this Dec :D
hmm~~~~ where did you applied for the Japanese course ? and if so, why do you still plan on moviing to JCS ? hahaha.

coz it sounds weird to me. if the school is okay with you, you will normally stay on and not change school or class right ?
 

v1hypersg

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ender51244 said:
eh... i can't really recommend you a electronic dictiionary for japanese, chinese & english. i have seen on though, and it is considered a bit big (in my opinion). eh... the person uses Casio brand, so i think it should be okay ? its about 1.5 the size of my japanese & english dictionary. (me use seiko brand, recommend by my teacher).

what i can tell you is that it is better to buy in Japan. if you have any friend going there or something, ask them to get it for you. do not buy it in singapore. it will cost around 40,000 yen (or around 600 sgd) when you buy it in japan. but in singapore, it will be much higher.

my friend and i are using the same electronic dictionary (since its reommended by the teacher) and she lost hers. she placed it in the drawer during lessons and forgot to take it. the next japanese class student took it obviously since its right after my class and the dictionary was never found. anyway, she went kinokuniya and saw the exact same model. she wanted to buy but on price enquiry, it is 200 dollars more than the what she paid for. *our teacher went Japan to buy it for us at around 300 sgd, which is 20,000 yen.

so no choice, ended up she waited for a few more weeks when my teacher heads for Japan (for business trip again) and she got him to buy her the model again.


can i ask what is the model ? maybe can get friend who might be going to japan to buy for me,

is it good ?
 

PingJun

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ender51244 said:
hmm~~~~ where did you applied for the Japanese course ? and if so, why do you still plan on moviing to JCS ? hahaha.

coz it sounds weird to me. if the school is okay with you, you will normally stay on and not change school or class right ?

Reason is because for JCS, need to wait till Dec to register & Jan for class. (Almost another 6 - 7 more months from now). Also, I may or may not be able to get a place for it.

In addition, I have wanted to learn this language for a very long time, & have self -learned & stopped many times for the past 10 years. Now that I finally have time, I do not wish to waste any more time.

If I really can get a place at JCS in Dec, then for the 1st yr, I learn from 2 schools.

BTW, is Ikoma a reputated & good school? Because from earlier postings, I can see that it is, but would like to double confirm. Anyway, I have applied & made a down payment @ Ikoma. Now waiting very impatiently for the "Big" day to come :D :D
 
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