Tips for staying motivated

[Eishuu]

I totally get your point, Jundo. I'm not planning on just parrot-fashioning lots of phrases (although I did do that when I lived in Turkey and managed to have a lot of conversations, probably mostly the same conversation!). I like to understand the grammar and vocab. It's partly just approaching it from a different angle to keep up interest and improve my pronunciation - which is absolutely dreadful! I'll report back as to whether it's any good. I was a bit disappointed at the lack of explanation to be honest...I thought it was going to be a more rounded textbook. One thing I find hard about the spoken language is that the women seem to soften their voices a lot...I find it difficult to talk like this but when I do it does sound more authentic... A friend who had been to Japan explained to me that men and women speak differently...I think I speak like a man!

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

[Jundo]

... A friend who had been to Japan explained to me that men and women speak differently...I think I speak like a man!

Gassho
Lucy
ST/LAH

Oh, yes, quite different. There is an old joke that foreigners who learn too much Japanese from a wife or girlfriend, copying their speech, end up speaking as women. Many women even make their voices "Minnie Mouse" cute in public (how they speak in private is a different matter!)

For one small example, the "I" form, for example, girls and young women seem to say "atashi" often (a version of Watakushi). while men and boys will use the rougher, informal "ore" but a woman would not.

Gassho, J

STLAh