Yup, tensai is one word for genius.

Tensai = てんさい (hiragana) or 天才 in kanji.

Argh, I'm trying to download them so that I can upload to the Gmail account, but there are no seeders for some of the files!

ninjamerah, do you have all the files?

i think 'itoshii - 愛しい' would be good.

how to call bf/gf in japanese. i mean how do they call each other?
and "what are you doing now" wa nihon-go de nan desu ka?

nani o shimasu ka? this?

I'm planning on preparing basic japanese lessons by adapting them from a book that I'm reading. Hopefully, this'll be carried out on a "3 days a week" basis, although I cant promise much in case I'm busy. To start it of, we shall first look at the basics of the japanese language.

Try to keep spam to a minimum here, so that reading through the thread is easier. And while it is good to be able to learn hiragana, katakana and kanji, everything here will be romanji, cause I figured it'd be easier that way for the casual reader. Of course, those who are capable of reading japanese can feel free to contribute with japanese text for everyone's benefit, and also to correct me if I made any mistakes.

LESSON 1
Pronounciation guide
The japanese alphabet is made up of sounds created by mixing the 5 vowels (a, e, i, o, u) with a consonant (letters which are not vowels). While it is quite easy to pronounce most words, sometimes special care is taken when dealing with certain elements. These are a) long syllables, B) the letter n, c) double consonants, d) silent vowels and e) pronounciation of non-japanese words. I will cover each of these in order.

a) Long syllables
Whenever the - symbol is written above a particular vowel, it indicates that the sound is a long sound. An example of this is the word Tōkyō, which when spoken sounds like to-o-kyo-o. In other words, you hold the sound for twice the normal length.

B) The letter "n"
In the japanese language, the letter "n" is a syllable by itself. For example, konnichiwa (hello) is spoken as ko-n-ni-chi-wa and not ko-ni-chi-wa or kon-ni-chi-wa. Also, when n is followed by p, b or m, its sound softens to a "m" sound. For example, ganbatte (good luck) is spoken as gambatte, and sanpaku (three nights) is spoken as sampaku.

Where n is followed by a vowel, an apostrophe (') is used to distinguish the sound "n" from the sounds na, ni, nu, ne and no. For example, ten'in (shopkeeper) is pronounced as te-n-i-n and not te-ni-n.

c) Double consonants
A double consonant indicates that you should pause slightly before saying it, as you would in the english words headdress (pause after the hea- not head dress) and bookcase (pause after boo). In japanese, these are the double consonants that are usually encountered: -kk, ss, tt, tc, pp. For example, the words gambatte (good luck), hokkaido (north island of japan), massugu (straight on).

d) Silent vowels
Sometimes, the vowels i and u are silent and almost unvoiced. This will be indicated as brackets around the vowel. For example, des(u) (it is) is almost always pronounced as des, s(u)ki as s-ki, and ikimas(u) as ikimas.

e) Pronounciation of non-japanese words
Foreign words often have to be adapted to the japanese sound system. For example: Sukotto - Scott, Furansu - France, Satchā - Thatcher, etc. There is no th sound in japanese, so s is used instead (just as b is used to replace v e.g. Ba-ra-ri-i for Valerie.

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Links to other lessons:
LESSON 2: How to pronounce syllables, here
LESSON 3: Hajimemashite - how do you do?, here
LESSON 4: Marēshia-jin desu - I'm Malaysian, here
LESSON 5: O-shigoto wa nan desu ka - what is your occupation?, here
LESSON 6: Sūji - numbers (Part 1), here
LESSON 7: Kazoku wa gonin desu = there are five people in my family, here
LESSON 8: Ima nanji desu ka = what time is it now?, here
LESSON 9: Ikura desu ka = how much is it?, here
LESSON 10: Yūbinkyoku wa doko desu ka = where is the post office?, here
LESSON 11: Nichiyōbi ni nani o shimasu ka = what do you do on Sundays?, here
LESSON 12: Pāti o shimashō = let's have a party!, here
LESSON 13: Sūji - numbers (Part 2), here
LESSON 14: Senshū Kyōto ni ikimashita = last week I went to Kyoto, here
LESSON 15: Ii o-tenki desu ne = it's nice weather, isn't it?, here
LESSON 16: Supōtsu wa tenisu ga suki desu = the sport I like is tennis, here
LESSON 17a: Kaimono = shopping, here
LESSON 17b: Kaimono = shopping, here
LESSON 18: Bīru o ippon kudasai = a bottle of beer, please, here
LESSON 19: O-kane = money, here
LESSON 20: Yoyaku shitai desu = I want to make a reservation, here
LESSON 21: Asobi ni kite kudasai = please come and visit, here

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Places offering Japanese language classes in Malaysia
Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur's directory: here (Contributed by boringpig)

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Useful links to other Japanese self-study websites
ECIS (an audio and video progamme): here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
Free Japanese Lessons: here (Contributed by netfan)
Japanese-Online.com: here (Contributed by netfan)
Learn Japanese Online: here (Contributed by netfan)
Meguro Language Center (Tokyo) Free Study Materials: here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
mic-J Audio Visual Resources for Japanese Instruction: here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
NHK World Japanese Lessons: here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
Nihongo.3Yen.com: here
Nihongo o oshiete: here
Real World Japanese: here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
TheJapanesePage.com: here

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Online resources e.g. dictionaries, etc.
Free Japanese Dictionary: here (Contributed by xxboxx)
Improve your kanji: here (Contributed by oe_kintaro)
Japanese-English Learner's Dictionary: here (Contributed by Zeten)
Japanese<->English Dictionary: here
Kanji Converter: here (Contributed by shinchan^^)

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Online proficiency tests
English-Japanese Vocabulary Quizzes: here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
Internet Japanese test: here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
Sample questions for JLPT (Level 1-4): here (Contributed by ninjamerah)
Some review questions: here (Contributed by aburex)

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Downloads
Head on over to Gmail and use the following information to access some e-books.

Username: japlesson
Password: japlesson123

So far the following e-books are uploaded:
1. Japanese for Busy People - Kana Workbook
2. Lets Learn Japanese Basic 1 - Volume 1
3. Lets Learn Japanese Basic 1 - Volume 2
4. Lets Learn Japanese Basic 1 - Volume 3
5. JLPT 1991-1999 Level 1 Test Papers (Contributed by ninjamerah)
6. JLPT 1991-1999 Level 2 Test Papers (Contributed by ninjamerah)
7. JLPT 1991-1999 Level 3 Test Papers (Contributed by ninjamerah)
8. JLPT 1991-1999 Level 4 Test Papers (Contributed by ninjamerah)
9. 1000 Kanji

PLEASE PLEASE do not misuse this email address. Just get the files you need, and dont do anything else. Thanks!
Files have been deleted by an unknown person(s).

Special download!
Declan's Flashcard software for learning Kanji. Download here! Many thanks to Dark Steno for the file hosting!

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Video Lessons! (DEFINITELY not 56k friendly )
Streaming videos of japanese lessons hosted at www.youtube.com. These videos go hand in hand with the Let's Learn Japanese Basic 1 series of e-books which you can get from the Gmail account above.

If you want to view the videos, my advice is that you allow the videos to load, read up the appropriate chapter (print them out if possible), and use the readings as a guide when you watch the videos. It'll really help!

All videos have been removed by Youtube.com

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Tips (Contributed by netfan)
Try searching for and entering Japanese chat rooms on MSN or Yahoo that offer Japanese lessons, or have native japanese who are willing to practise with you. But er...no hanky panky ok?

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Learn hiragana,katakana and kanji (Contributed by shinmei88)
http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...&#entry18040984
(edited by HMMaster)

Ohaiyo !!

It's me again , seeking help to understand the japanese sentence below.

"kyou koneko wo hiroi masita."

I tried to translate myself, but it turns out to sound something like this,

"kitten is widen today."
Hopefully someone can give me the correct translation of the sentence to english.
Thanks you so much.

How do I say A is much better than B in Japanese.

I know that to say A is better than B, it would be A wa B yori ii desu or A no hou ga B yori ii desu.

But if I want to add the "much" to the sentence I don't know what's the appropriate word to use and where do I place it.

Can "ima made" be used to mean "all this years"?

結婚式の費用は百万円までにしておこう。

What's the meaning/usage of the shite okou at the end?

いつきましたか。

きのうの　よる　こちら＿＿＿　つきました。

Question:

1.what is the best particle to used in the blank?

2. what is the dictionary form of つきました?　

Wow, what level of Japanese is this? So many ka, I can hardly understand what he is trying to say. I'm also very interested in how this will translate. Pros pls help

Wow, what level of Japanese is this? So many ka, I can hardly understand what he is trying to say. I'm also very interested in how this will translate. Pros pls help

Btw did you type this yourself or it this the real text. Cause some parts I can't make sense out of the kanji, like '安く手に入れられて' . 安く(ku for of adjective cheap) 手(hand) に(in) 入れられて(able to put in/able to get admitted)???

It is alright for tsunami?　or are you fine with tsunami?

and the romaji should be tsunami wa daijyobu deshita ka

津浪は大丈夫でしたか。

as the writer didnt use proper grammar, it maybe difficult for non-native to understand what he tried to say.

my rough translation would be:

もう一つ名案があります。私は妻と離婚しました。だからクリスの姉妹親戚と結婚してクリスと兄弟になるのはどうですか

I have another idea. I had divorced my wife. So how about this? I marry one of Chris sisters (elder or younger), by doing that I will become Chris brother-in-law.



それとも何か二人で会社を初めるかマレーシアで安く手に入れられて日本で高く売れるものかその逆でもクリスと私が親戚になるか
Or maybe Chris and i can be brothers by doing business together, like, set up a company in Malaysia, then export goods to Japan or vice versa.
(buy cheap item from Malaysia and export to Japan where we can sell at higher price, or buy cheap item in Japan and then sell in Malaysia at higher price).

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Added on November 5, 2009, 6:06 pm

'安く手に入れられて' . means "can be bought cheaply/in low price".

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Added on November 5, 2009, 6:52 pm

the kanji is wrong; it should be 津波。

and the translation somehow smell unnatural.
maybe better if translated as;

I heard that currently tsunami happened(in your country), so how are you? (are you affected? any damages?)

can someone help me translate a wiring diagram from japanese to english? help needed   

Thank you so much for ur translation, it really help a lot. ^.^

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Added on November 7, 2009, 3:53 am

クリスと私が親戚になるとか私がクリスの親戚と結婚するとか色々方法はあると思う！私も新しいビジネスがしたい！そのために力お貸して欲しい！一度ゆっくり話たい
please help me translate.. thanks ^^

教室に　世界地図が　はって　ありますか.

what is the dictionary form of はって?

ユニットバスのお湯を拔いて水気を綺麗に拭き取ったバスタブの中で丸まりながら。

can someone please explain the underlined words and the whole sentence?

also the 拔 is actually a chinese word, the real one should be without the dot, please teach me how to pronounce it too

How to say these few lines in Japanese? I mean the casual way ( how guys talk ), not the writing one. Using it for some role plays =D. I know only some, not complete ones so..

1. I will fight forever..alone.
2. I don't care what all of you said.
3. I'm just doing what I like.

please help me translate:

ここては　カードで　はらっても　かまいません

ねつが　なかったら、おふろに　はいっても　かまいません

thanks very much