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EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

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ec2953
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EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 10th, 2014 3:16 am

{EDIT}

I will add every question / comment about the lessons that I wrote and got answered. I think it can become even more useful that way for people who might want to ask the same things. I am sometimes somehow picky and usually don't leave behind what I would not perfectly understand ^^ -it starts from post 7 of the thread !


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{EDIT 2}

I started a Reading Section in post 11 given that reading skills are necessary for quick improvements (among other things).

Reading practice 1 - Page 1, post 11
Reading practice 2 - Page 3, post 2
Reading practice 3 - Page 4, post 7
Reading practice 4 - Page 5, post 1
Reading practice 5 - Page 6, post 7


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{EDIT 3} It's been two months since I'm actively using Japanesepod101.com so I've decided to start typing some posts in Japanese in order to put in practice my current knowledge and to gain some confidence.

Christmas is soon :D Enjoy everyone !

Writing practice 1 - Page 3, post 6


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{EDIT 4} Monday, February 2, 2015 Crazy purchase: 新完全マスター (文法) for the JLPT N2 !! I know its difficulty is really off the charts for Beginners, but please read my 3rd post on page 5 to understanding my motives !
Wednesday, February 4, 2015 : The JLPT N2 is too difficult right now, so I got the 新完全マスター (文法) N3 instead. I have started to write down the vocabulary list of the words that can be found in the Kanzen JLPT 3 (Grammar)

Shin Kanzen JLPT 3 (Grammar book)
Vocabulary list - Page 5, post 7 (points 1 to 9)
Vocabulary list - Page 5, post 10 (points 10 to 18)


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{EDIT 5} Additional books that I got during the middle of February 2015 in lights of the preparation for the JLPT 3 and 2 in the future :

Shin Kanzen Master (Listening N3)

Shin Kanzen Master (Reading N2)

Shin Kanzen Master (Vocabulary N2)

Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken "Target" 2000 N2 Tango (日本語能力試験ターゲット2000 ー N2 単語)

Nihongo Tango "Speed Master" (Quick master of vocabulary, INTERMEDIATE 2500 - Including 2 CDs) (日本語単語スピードマスター)


---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------

Hey folks,

I know this post looks very personal but I just wanted to share with everyone my progress on the website as a self-motivational gimmick. I will try to record the number of lessons I consider being "mastered" in a specific day provided that I will must have learned by heart all the kanjis (except for some names, at least for now), grammar points, vocab and important expressions or even at some point the full dialogs in order to feel comfortable with checking a lesson off the list).

I must admit that I learned a bit of Chinese before so this will greatly help me out with learning the kanjis and even guessing more instinctively the "onyomi" or Chinese pronunciation of some known characters.

I hope this can somehow be helpful for some people who might want to compare their results and/or routine with a random guy like me. I wish to become fluent someday (at the very least in spoken Japanese), although I don't know if I will as it has to do a lot with time, hard work, memory and above all else, motivation (the latter explains everything, and I think it could be interesting to share with each other the triggering factors of our learning :lol: more importantly, I am pretty sure that at least a few of you have already considered giving up for some particular reasons).

I might edit this post from time to time in order to add some food for thoughts or any idea or opinion I would deem relatively interesting.

---

As a beginner who already studied a bit Japanese with some other materials before joining Japanesepod101.com, I've skipped most of the Absolute Beginner lessons.

---

Here we go ! よっしゃ!
Last edited by ec2953 on February 23rd, 2015 2:30 pm, edited 22 times in total.

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 10th, 2014 3:31 am

I think I can become comfortable with daily conversations and maybe even a bit more than that once I reach 1000.

(~# stands for # lessons have been started but are still not fully "mastered" in the day). Please note that memory plays a crucial role, so I (we) will have to review very often in order to not forget, which might either seemingly slow down the learning curve or even lead to a decrease of the number of "mastered" lessons).

I am going fast through the first dozen of lessons because these are stuffs I've already learned previously.
Please note that some of them are way more complicated than some others. Slightly changing the rhythm is a good challenge for our brain and a great idea from the creators of the different seasons in my opinion.

So here it is:

October 27, 2014:

20 (~10) lessons (Beginner, Season 1)

October 28

31 (~9)

October 29

39 (~13)

October 30

39 (~21)

October 31

50 (~15)

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ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 11th, 2014 4:11 am

November 1 through November 10, 2014

67 (~9) (Beginner S1)

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 12th, 2014 5:32 am

Wednesday 11 November

67 (~12)

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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby community.japanese » November 12th, 2014 9:52 am

ec2953 san,
konnichiwa.
Thank you for sharing your experience.

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 19th, 2014 1:40 am

Thank you for your kind words, Yuki 先生〜 ^^

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 19th, 2014 1:42 am

(I will add every question / comment about the lessons that I wrote and got answered. I think it can become even more useful that way for people who might want to ask the same things. I am sometimes somehow picky and usually don't leave behind what I would no perfectly understand ^^)

Tons of thanks and my best wishes to Yuki Sensei, Natsuko Sensei and Engla for their generous replies =D (and of course the rest of the team that is doing such an awesome and huge work !!)

LESSON 10 (Last Episode of The Year ! - Beginner S1)

ec2953
OCTOBER 28TH, 2014 AT 9:01 AM
Hi guys ! Well, regarding お年玉 (O-toshidama), if it helps, 玉 means “jade” in Chinese, which conclusively refers to money. I think it could be more understandable that way (rather than thinking in terms of “balls”), just in case :wink:

JapanesePod101.com
NOVEMBER 2ND, 2014 AT 3:20 PM
ec2953san,
konnichiwa.

お年玉 was written御年魂in old days.
In Shinto religion 8,000,000 gods exist and each nature has spirit.
It is said that the reason why we celebrate oshougasu is New Year god is coming and it can impart it’s spirit to everyone.
The part, actually white rice cake was called 御年魂.
I don’t why the kanji changed. It may be a bit difficult…

Yuki 由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

LESSON 51 (The Dating Game - Beginner S1)

ec2953
NOVEMBER 10TH, 2014 AT 5:15 AM
Hello~

I’d like to ask if anyone knows the difference between 了解 (りょうかい)and 理解(りかい)?
There’s also a difference in Chinese, which I can sort of little bit understand, but I am not sure whether it does translate in the same way in Japanese?

Thank you !

Ed

JapanesePod101.com
NOVEMBER 12TH, 2014 AT 10:01 PM
Ed-san,
konnichiwa!

The biggest difference between 了解 and 理解 is that 了解 is not just “to understand” what
someone says, but it also means the person who does 了解 “gives the permission to execute it”.
This is also the reason why you cannot use 了解 to someone you should pay respect to. :wink:

Hope this helps!

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

LESSON 78 (Toppings Galore - Beginner S1)

ec2953
NOVEMBER 12TH, 2014 AT 11:01 AM
Hello there,

I have a question about the vocabulary expansion.

It’s about the pineapple thing:

“パイナップルのせハンバーガーが好きだ”

I couldn’t manage to get anything about the meaning of のせ / せ in many dictionaries. Could anyone help me out? I’d appreciate that, thanks =)

JapanesePod101.com
NOVEMBER 12TH, 2014 AT 10:37 PM
> ec2953-san,
konnichiwa!
のせ is from the verb のせる meaning “to put [something] on [something]”.
So we use のせ to describe “something on something else” especially when we refer to
topping of food and/or food presentation.
Hope this helps!

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

LESSON 81 (Rainy Season Getaway II - Beginner S1)

Ec2953
NOVEMBER 15TH, 2014 AT 11:42 AM
Hello everyone!

Hope all is well :)

I’ve got a question about a sample sentence from the PDF (I guess it’s the same example that appears in the vocab expansion part)!

It’s about:

タコが海を泳いでいる

My failure to understand concerns the use of the particle を in this particular context. Why isn’t で or something like の中には used here? I don’t get the grammatical meaning behind を here.

Thanks for your lights!

Ed

JapanesePod101.com
NOVEMBER 18TH, 2014 AT 4:26 PM
Ec2953-san,
konnichiwa! :smile:
Good question!
The particle to mark “the place of action” is usually で, like you know.
However, in the sentence 海を泳いでいる, this を marks rather “place to go through”.
The particle を is often used with intransitive verbs which involves transfer/moving from
one place to another, and it’s then mark the “path”.
In summary, grammatically both 海で泳いでいる and 海を泳いでいる are both correct, but
their meanings and/or nuance are different.
(”Octopus is swimming “through” the ocean.” vs “Octopus is swimming “in” the ocean.
although you might not say “through in English.)

Hope this helps!

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com
Last edited by ec2953 on November 25th, 2014 2:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 19th, 2014 2:12 am

Please note in Lesson 73 (Classroom Quizz - Beginner S1) the difference of spelling for "big": 大きな (ooki na) vs 大きい (ookii)

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 19th, 2014 3:10 am

November 12 to 19, 2014
76 (~12)

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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 20th, 2014 11:01 pm

November 20, 2014

78 (~17)
Last edited by ec2953 on November 25th, 2014 2:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 21st, 2014 12:00 pm

Hello there !

So today I deemed very important to improve my reading skills. I will try to use online materials that are not from Japanesepod101 but that are still very easy to find. I will force myself to "decipher" a random but relatively accessible text every 25 lessons I would check off from the Beginner Series from now on.

I am starting off today with something related to the weather. I believe that it is doable since the grammar points that I've covered so far might be enough to understand the structures (at least I hope ^^). The tough part will mostly concern the vocabulary. Here are some of the related lessons from the Beginner S1 Serie that I consider to be helpful in terms of vocab:

16) It's Cold
52) Rainy Day
59) Weather Forecast
79) Rainy Season Getaway
85) First Day of Summer


The following extract comes from Yahoo! 天気・災害 (てんき・さいがい Weather forecast / Disaster !! - November 22, 2014).

I will list down the words I don't know so far.

I will attempt to write a translation when I'm back home, but I would like to make apologies in advance since I am not a native speaker of English.

http://weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/

(I would like to upload a screenshot of it but I don't know how to do so here)

あすは北日本を寒冷前線が通過します。北海道と東北北部は雲が多く、日本海側を中心に雨や雷雨となるでしょう。暖かい空気が残り、あすも平地では雪ではなく雨が降る見込みです。東北南部から近畿は広く晴れるでしょう。中国や四国、九州も晴れ間がありますが、にわか雨の所がありそうです。最高気温は全国的に平年より高く、関東から九州は20度前後まで上がるでしょう。

あす: Tomorrow
北日本(きたにほん): North of Japan
寒冷(かんれい): Cold / Coldness / Chilliness 
前線(ぜんせん): (Weather): Front
通過する(つうかする): Passage through / transit
東北(とうほく): North-East / Tohoku
北部(ほくぶ): Northern part
海側(うみがわ): Seaward side
中心(ちゅうしん): Center, middle, heart
雷雨(らいう): Thunderstorm
残り(のこり): Remnant, residue, remaining, left-over
平地(ひらち): Level ground, plain
見込む(みこむ): To anticipate, to estimate, to expect
南部(なんぶ): Southern part
近畿 (きんき): Kinki (region around Osaka, Kyoto, Nara)
広く(ひろく): Widely, far and wide
晴れ間(はれま): Break (in the weather, esp. rain or snow)
にわか : Sudden, abrupt, unexpected, improvised, offhand
にわか雨(にわかあめ): Rainshower
ありそう : Probable
気温 (きおん): Atmospheric temperature
全国的(ぜんこくてき): Countrywide, nationwide
平年(へいねん): Non-leap year, normal year
関東(かんとう): Kanto (Eastern half of Japan, including Tokyo)
前後(ぜんご): Around, about, approximately, nearly

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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 23rd, 2014 1:05 am

Here is my non-native English translation. I would like to know if anyone could give me a hand as there are still some shady parts?

あすは北日本を寒冷前線が通過します。北海道と東北北部は雲が多く、
Tomorrow, the cold front will cross the north of Japan. It will be very cloudy in Hokkaido and in the north of Tohoku.

(I'm not sure about the meaning of the next sentence, could anyone possibly help me break down the grammatical structures and explain the use of を and に in this particular context? Thanks in advance !)

日本海側を中心に雨や雷雨となるでしょう。
(I think that) the rain and the thunderstorm from the center will approach Japan's seaside -> it will be rainy and stormy near the seasides of the country?

暖かい空気が残り、あすも平地では雪ではなく雨が降る見込みです。
There will be remaining hot/warm air (?). Rain but no snow are (also) to be expected tomorrow.

東北南部から近畿は広く晴れるでしょう。
Kinki from the south of Tohoku will clear up widely.

中国や四国、九州も晴れ間がありますが、にわか雨の所がありそうです。
There will be some moments of clear skies in Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyushu, however it seems that were will also be some areas exposed to rain showers.

最高気温は全国的に平年より高く、
Nationwide, the maximum temperature will be higher than usual.

関東から九州は20度前後まで上がるでしょう。
It will probably go up to about 20 degrees (celsius) in Kyushu from Kanto (I don't get this one? Is there a place called Kyushu in the Kanto?)

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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby community.japanese » November 23rd, 2014 5:12 am

ec2953 san,

こんにちは。
Your translation is pretty good.

日本海側を中心に雨や雷雨となるでしょう。
It will be rain and a thunderstorm on the Sea of Japan side mainly.

暖かい空気が残り、あすも平地では雪ではなく雨が降る見込みです。
Warm air will be left, and it will be expected to rain not snow on the plain tomorrow.

東北南部から近畿は広く晴れるでしょう。
Kinki from South Tohoku will clear widely.

中国や四国、九州も晴れ間がありますが、にわか雨の所がありそうです。
There is a some moments of clear skies in China and Shikoku, Kyushu, but it seems that some places will have shower.

最高気温は全国的に平年より高く、
Nationwide, the maximum temperature will be higher than usual. Correct!

関東から九州は20度前後まで上がるでしょう。
It will probably go up to about 20 degrees (Celsius) in the area from from Kanto to Kyushu. Correct!

Kushu is southern island and is’t not in Kanto area.
The meaning is that the area from Kanto to Kyushu.

I hope it could help you.

Yuki  由紀
Team JapanesePod101.com

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 25th, 2014 1:58 am

Hi again Yuki 先生 ^.^

Thank you so much for your answer and your words !

Hope to hear from you soon :)

Keep up the good job !

Ed

ec2953
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Re: EC2953 の Progress (Beginner)

Postby ec2953 » November 25th, 2014 2:05 am

November 21 to 24 (I was a bit slow during this weekend)

85 (~15). Tadaaa ! I'm finally relatively confident with about half of the 170 lessons from the Beginner S1 series.

But wow, lesson 98 (Cell Phone #2 - Beginner S1) was and is still challenging for me ! It's gonna take some time for me to go past this wall.

-------------------

Here is one comment I left on

LESSON 85 (First Day of Summer - Beginner S1)

Hello folks !

Well, I’d like to say that there’s something that is kind of intriguing me.

厳しい (kibishii) means strict, severe, but it is translated as “tight” here in the lesson.

I wonder if the right kanji to be used shouldn’t be 緊?

I know that many dictionaries (including the iphone’s Japanese input) do not give much benefits to the use of 緊 in 緊しい, but I still think this character has to be used if we strictly follow the meaning of the Chinese characters in Chinese itself. Furthermore, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/緊 gives “kibishii” as a possible kunyomi.

厳 = 嚴 in traditional Chinese (used in Hong Kong, Taiwan, some places overseas and probably in Korean newspapers). It translates as severe and strict like in Japanese. 緊 (trad. character) also means tight in both languages.

Therefore I think it would be more correct to use 緊 in the transcripts :)

Thanks for reading,

Ed
Last edited by ec2953 on February 17th, 2015 12:30 am, edited 2 times in total.

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