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American who lived and worked in Japan for 10 years as an IT professional. I am currently a professional translator, but after returning to the US, my speaking ability has significantly deteriorated. I would like to regain/improve my speaking ability, write better business email messages to my clients, and finally improve my listening ability so that it at least matches my reading ability.
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Japanese
Chinese (Mandarin)
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EnglishNative
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  • Commented

    Thanks for the all the feedback, even if slightly off topic to my original question!

     

    Basically, Miriam understood my issue and responded perfectly.

     

    As I know nothing about Chinese, my first reaction to Pinyin was that it is just a harmful crutch as with romaji and learning Japanese.

     

    I think it would be obvious that I realize the two languages are completely different, so no need to keep emphasizing that, thanks.

     

    I will just start as I guess everyone else does.

    Anyway, just listening to the newbie stuff on Chinesepod at the moment.

     

    On that note, why do some people sound rough, some sound overdramatic, and some sound really soft and gentle. In particular, I really like the way Jenny on Chinesepod sounds, if you know who that is.

    0 voted
    February 2, 2016
    0
  • Commented

    Miriam,


    That was very helpful and exactly what I needed to know!


    Thanks.

    0 voted
    February 1, 2016
    0
  • Commented

    Good points.


    I am not sure how Chinese people themselves look up words in dictionaries.

    As I still know nothing of Chinese, I have no basis for comparison, but I just know that it is a HUGE mistake to start learning Japanese using the romaji system. It takes a short time to learn at least hiragana and katakana, and that really must be done at the beginning before trying to really get anywhere in the language.


    I guess it is because of that experience, I am hesitant on bothering with Pinyin. But, if there is nothing similar to hiragana in Chinese, then I guess it is necessary?  How exactly do native speakers look up new words?


    I did sign up for Chinesepod and I am going through the Say it Right series of videos right now. 

    Thanks for the other tips and links.

    0 voted
    January 30, 2016
    0
  • Posted
    Advice wanted on getting started (unique background)

    Hello,

    I would like to start learning Chinese, but not sure how to get started.

    I am fluent in Japanese already. I work as a professional translator, so reading is my best ability.

    I noticed that most sites recommend learning Pinyin at first, but I wonder if I should just not bother since I can already read a fair number of characters. I would like some advice on that.


    I would also like any points of advice on getting started, especially considering my background and how that may or may not help.

    January 30, 2016
    15
    0
  • Answered
    For your intended purpose as stated, きれい is good for most situations. うつくしい is more like awe-inspiring beauty. The object doesn't matter though regarding きれい, so don't worry about that. If you want to say lovely though, かわいい might be better, which of course, most Japanese prefer using and being called this word. Of course it just depends on what exact nuance you want to express.
    0 voted
    October 31, 2015
    0
  • Answered
    You can simply say すげー！ (sugei!) change to すごい (sugoi) if you want to tone down your level of enthusiasm. saying another person is cool either by appearance or athletic ability/unique skill, then you can say かっこいい　（kakkoii）.
    0 voted
    October 22, 2015
    0
  • Answered
    このゲームが私の気に入り。 または、　「このゲームにはまっている。」
    0 voted
    October 21, 2015
    5
  • Answered
    Don't use it at all until you really understand what it communicates and that is exactly what you want to communicate at that particular moment. At that time, you should be able to decide between the two, but 3 should be sufficient.
    0 voted
    October 21, 2015
    2
  • Answered
    Q1. 2, 3, 1, 4 Q2. 2, 3, 4, 1
    0 voted
    October 21, 2015
    0
  • Answered
    It was one of the many suffixes added to names to indicate relationship and level of intimacy. Kun is generally used for males that are younger than yourself or the same age as you if you are fairly close to the person, but this is not a fixed rule. It is occasionally used towards girls, though I don't know what causes a Japanese to specifically choose kun over chan.
    0 voted
    October 21, 2015
    1