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日本語 and me the next round TAC 2012 Team い | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5980 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 201 of 333 28 August 2012 at 10:42pm | IP Logged |
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@montmorency don't worry, I don't think you're interrupting any flow as such!
My post made perfect sense to me when I wrote it this morning, but since I was still waiting for my first caffeine fix of the day to kick in, I can see now that I wouldn't have scored top marks for clarity :) To be clear: Assimil German with Ease: I have with English as the base language and bought it from the Book Depository Assimil Japanese with Ease: I have vol. 1 only with English as the base language, which I incidentally also bought from the Book Depository, although this has little relevance to what I am doing at present. By the time I'd bought it, I was at too advanced a level for it to be of much use. I wish I'd discovered it around 3 years ago. Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen: this I actually bought from Dussmann when I was in Berlin a few weeks ago, along with the audio book on MP3 CD. However, you can also buy both book and audio from the Book Depository at quite a reasonable price. Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers came from FNAC in Paris. I haven't got the audio yet although again, you can buy both from Book Depository, at quite a reasonable price. ハリー・ポッターと賢者の石 on the other hand came from amazon.co.jp and it still hurts when I think about how much I had to pay for a paperback book which has the price 950円 printed on the back. Needless to say, it is not available from Book Depository. The expense of ordering books in from Japan is ridiculous, but there are precious few alternatives if you want to read anything legally. Oh, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone came to me by way of an 18th birthday present, over a decade ago. I don't even like Harry Potter all that much... 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5980 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 202 of 333 29 August 2012 at 12:08am | IP Logged |
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I had another 2 hour session with my German tutor tonight. Not only did I seem to surprise her by how much I seemed to know, but I also managed to surprise myself. I still know next to nothing in the grand scheme of things, but I definitely know more than I did this time last week.
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| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5980 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 203 of 333 31 August 2012 at 12:05am | IP Logged |
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Ahh, double negatives in Japanese are good fun, aren't they? I think I've got the hang of ～なければならない, it almost falls of the tongue now. And I can definitely do things like ～ない訳がない or ～ない訳じゃない on a good day. But today I got completely unhinged by ～ないこともない. Especially when the notes in the textbook I was using gave by way as explanation the following: 受け取らないこともない = 受け取る. Well, it kind of makes sense I guess. The thing of us not accepting does not exist. Therefore, we accept.
I think it's time I went to bed! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Brun Ugle Diglot Senior Member Norway brunugle.wordpress.c Joined 6618 days ago 1292 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English*, NorwegianC1 Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, Spanish, Finnish | Message 204 of 333 31 August 2012 at 7:16am | IP Logged |
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-1*-4=4
Two negatives give a positive, so it makes perfect sense. Really it sounds like it must either be emphasizing the point or softening it. I'm leaning more toward the first option, but I really know nothing about it. I've probably come across this in HP, but never noted it, and without the context, I can't tell what it means. But it has to mean something otherwise why would anyone make the effort of saying it in such a round-about fashion? What textbook do you use? How is it? I feel sometimes, like I should find a good textbook with exercises for more advanced grammar points. I have a grammar dictionary, so I suppose I could make some of my own exercises, but it's nice to have some pre-made ones with an answer key. I have a so-called "advanced" textbook, however the grammar covered in it is no more advanced than what was covered in the second half of my elementary textbook. I have another one that could be better, but I don't have the CD and haven't managed to find it. Maybe I should try again. Someone must sell it somewhere. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5980 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 205 of 333 31 August 2012 at 7:56am | IP Logged |
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Good Japanese grammar textbooks for intermediate to advanced are frustratingly hard to find. Most of the ones I've seen on the market seem to be missing something fundamental, be it explanations, an answer key, or any type of exercise apart from JLPT style multiple choice drills. I think if some of the more general textbooks were updated to include answer keys it wouldn't be too bad, but at present they are pretty useless for self study.
The book I was using last night was actually the Unicom N3 reading book. No grammar exercises (since it's a reading book) but the notes and explanations for each reading exercise are actually really helpful. I would say it's one of the few JLPT prep books I've seen that I would recommend to people who don't intend to sit the exam. It acts as a nice bridge to more advanced materials. I did some of the exercises before I sat the exam, but now I think it's still worth finishing the rest of them. Which book are you missing the cd for? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Brun Ugle Diglot Senior Member Norway brunugle.wordpress.c Joined 6618 days ago 1292 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English*, NorwegianC1 Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, Spanish, Finnish | Message 206 of 333 31 August 2012 at 8:23am | IP Logged |
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Actually, I found the CD on White Rabbit. It's been a few years since I actually looked, so I decided to search for it and suddenly it's everywhere. I bought the book some years ago even though I couldn't get the CD. I just figured I use it without, but that turned out to be almost impossible since most of the stuff requires audio. It actually looks like the book might be useful for me, so I think I will get the CD and try it. It's called J301 by the way, and there is also a J501 which I might get if this one turns out to be good.
Shopping is bad for me though. I see all those books and I want them all. On the other hand, the grammar dictionaries are much cheaper there than I've seen other places, so I might order them too. I think I'll just get the intermediate one for now, and get the advanced one later, when I get J501 or whenever. It's funny that J301 which is supposedly an intermediate textbook is more advanced than my advanced textbook. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5980 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 207 of 333 31 August 2012 at 9:23am | IP Logged |
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The problem with J301 and J501 is the lack of an answer key. It's a real shame. I don't own them and was really torn over whether to get them last time I was at JP Books in London... I think they might both have a separate teachers book which may have answers, but then it gets expensive. I wish more advanced textbooks like that were refreshed and packaged more like Japanese for Busy People, so that audio and answers are more easily available to students. Even if you go to a class, it's so useful to have them to study with in your own time.
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| Brun Ugle Diglot Senior Member Norway brunugle.wordpress.c Joined 6618 days ago 1292 posts - 1766 votes Speaks: English*, NorwegianC1 Studies: Japanese, Esperanto, Spanish, Finnish | Message 208 of 333 31 August 2012 at 11:03am | IP Logged |
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There is a teacher's manual, though it's not available from White Rabbit, so I'd have to buy it separately and as you said, it would be expensive to buy all that. However, since I already have the book, I might as well give it a try to see if I can do it without the teacher's manual. If I find it goes well, I can buy J501 and if not, I won't. Of course, if there is some exercise I'm unsure of, I suppose I can ask at lang-8. I've seen other people do it.
Suddenly, I'm very interested in getting back to using a textbook. I think I needed a break to just enjoy the language, but now I'm ready to start brushing up and solidifying my grammar and hopefully learn some more. I haven't bought books from White Rabbit before, but browsing through them has made me want to get everything. What about Tobira? Have you used it/looked at it? It's another one I was considering, perhaps in conjunction with J301, but I don't know. That's the problem with internet shopping. Back in the day you could go to a bookstore and sit down with a pile of books and just look through them and compare them for hours before you bought them. Nowadays, with the internet, you only get to see a few pages. Of course, I would never find a bookstore with all the stuff I want, so I suppose the internet is better anyway. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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