Hi The Grammar newsletter seems the same as the Grammar section on the course. Is there any differance?

Hi there! The grammar section of the Rocket Japanese Premium course is an 'updated' version of the grammar newsletters. For instance, there is another section 'Writing -section' which introduces 5 Hiragana syllables each time, with a handwriting video and explanation accompanying it. After the Hiragana and Katakana's are covered, you move on to the most useful and common Kanji, such as numbers, and days of the week. All of them are accompanied by a handwriting video, which you can follow along. Also, the grammar newsletter series does not include quizzes, whereas the members area does. I hope that helps! -Sayaka :P

[quo]*Quote from * grejyedi Hi The Grammar newsletter seems the same as the Grammar section on the course. Is there any differance?[/quo] If you wanna know the history of it, before they had this nice and easy to use drop-down menu navigation style of website it used to be a simpler HTML page with links. There were two ways to get grammar lessons, you either downloaded them or you subscribe to the newsletters. The benefit of the subscribing is that RJ would automatically set the pace for how often you do a grammar lessons. Since then they've implemented this newer and more convenient web layout so as Sayaka said the difference is that the newsletters are "obsolete" and the drop-down menu is continuously being updated.

Thanks for that informative feedback Derek-san! -Sayaka :P

何でもない デレック

デレックさん Just as a note... I am assuming you wrote 何でもない to say _"It's nothing"_ in response to a ありがとう _(thank you)_, however, it doesn't quite work the same way the English phrase does. In Japanese 何でもない is more like saying "It's nothing" in the context of a person asking you, どうしたの？ _(What's going on?)_ but not used in response to ありがとう. You're safer to just say: どういたしまして _(You're welcome)_ You could also say いいえ、どんでもない。(iie, tondemonai) which is a little less formal and suggests your help was sort of a matter of course and the other person (who you have helped) doesn't need to feel like he/she should thank you. You can also simply say とんでもない (tondemonai) which is like saying "don't mention it", or "it's nothing". -Sayaka :P

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka デレックさん Just as a note... I am assuming you wrote 何でもない to say _"It's nothing"_ in response to a ありがとう _(thank you)_, however, it doesn't quite work the same way the English phrase does. In Japanese 何でもない is more like saying "It's nothing" in the context of a person asking you, どうしたの？ _(What's going on?)_ but not used in response to ありがとう. You're safer to just say: どういたしまして _(You're welcome)_ You could also say いいえ、どんでもない。(iie, tondemonai) which is a little less formal and suggests your help was sort of a matter of course and the other person (who you have helped) doesn't need to feel like he/she should thank you. You can also simply say とんでもない (tondemonai) which is like saying "don't mention it", or "it's nothing". -Sayaka :P[/quo] さやかさん、 Indeed that was my intentions, I had a feeling it was wrong but I didn't know of とんでもない so I wasn't too sure. Truly your right in that I'm safer to say どういたしまして！ and then bowing in a real life situation, but a great way to learn is through making mistakes which means taking risks which I did and well, yeah... lesson learned :lol: ! いつも、教えるにどうもありがとうございます！ それではまたね、 出礼句

デレックさん、 It is my pleasure to give you some tips so that you can excel in Japanese! And on that note... You wrote: いつも、教えるにどうもありがとうございます！ _("Thank you for always teaching me")_ I can understand the meaning perfectly, however, it is not quite 100% correct - (sorry!) :cry: The part that needs correction is here: *いつも、__教えるに__どうもありがとうございます！* When someone is doing you a favor, such as, _someone teaching you, someone making you something, someone going somewhere for you,_ you use the te-form of a verb and the suffix ～くれて. So, for example: *おしえる　→　おしえて　→　おしえてくれて　＋　ありがとう* _dic.form　→　te-form　→　te-form+kurete　＋　arigato/arigato gozaimasu/domo arigato gozaimasu_ *つくる　→　つくって　→　つけってくれて　＋　ありがとう* _dic.form　→　te-form　→　te-form+kurete　＋ arigato *"Thank you for making (it) for me"*_ *たべる　→　たべて　→　たべてくれて　＋　ありがとう* _dic.form　→　te-form　→　te-form+kurete　＋ arigato　*"Thank you for eating (it) for me"*_ The correct sentence would therefore be: *いつも、__おしえてくれて__どうもありがとう！* -Sayaka :P

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka デレックさん、 It is my pleasure to give you some tips so that you can excel in Japanese! And on that note... You wrote: いつも、教えるにどうもありがとうございます！ _("Thank you for always teaching me")_ I can understand the meaning perfectly, however, it is not quite 100% correct - (sorry!) :cry: The part that needs correction is here: *いつも、__教えるに__どうもありがとうございます！* When someone is doing you a favor, such as, _someone teaching you, someone making you something, someone going somewhere for you,_ you use the te-form of a verb and the suffix ～くれて. So, for example: *おしえる　→　おしえて　→　おしえてくれて　＋　ありがとう* _dic.form　→　te-form　→　te-form+kurete　＋　arigato/arigato gozaimasu/domo arigato gozaimasu_ *つくる　→　つくって　→　つけってくれて　＋　ありがとう* _dic.form　→　te-form　→　te-form+kurete　＋ arigato *"Thank you for making (it) for me"*_ *たべる　→　たべて　→　たべてくれて　＋　ありがとう* _dic.form　→　te-form　→　te-form+kurete　＋ arigato　*"Thank you for eating (it) for me"*_ The correct sentence would therefore be: *いつも、__おしえてくれて__どうもありがとう！* -Sayaka :P[/quo] Argh so close! :lol: I was wondering about the Te form, but I forgot about -くれて. いつも、教えてくれてどうもありがとう！ 出礼句 (Could you let me know if the kanji for my name sounds right and/or means anything bad in Japanese? A Japanese friend translated but I just want to be sure).

出礼句-san, An odd combination of Kanji... but certainly unique :P and does read *De-Rei-Ku* 出 = exit, leave, go, come out 礼 = manners, courtesy, the act of respecting one; reverence 句 = phrase, sentence -Sayaka

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka 出礼句-san, An odd combination of Kanji... but certainly unique :P and does read *De-Rei-Ku* 出 = exit, leave, go, come out 礼 = manners, courtesy, the act of respecting one; reverence 句 = phrase, sentence -Sayaka[/quo] さやかさん, Indeed it is slightly odd and unique, but also shorter by a "ッ" when writing it :lol:. Now I know how the person who gave me the name got the translation of "Polite man who speaks kind words" well sort of atleast... I don't know where "Polite man" would come from but the "speaking kind words" is clearly the last two kanji... I'll have to practicing writing those three Kanji... It'd be nice to be able to write my own name when I'm in Japan :lol: :P どうもありがとう! 出礼句

Konnichiwa, I just wanted to ask if you are really "the" Sayaka-san from the audio lessons I listen to, or if several employees assume this same user name to moderate the forum and answer posts. Just curious. You do appear to "sound" like Sayaka-san from the course, though, when I read your posts here. And, De-Rei-Ku, you have a very proficient grasp on this language. I hope to reach your level of expertise sooner, rather than later. While on that subject, I was researching last year online (before I knew about Rocket Japanese) to find out what my name would be in Japanese. "James" was transliterated as "Jeimuzu" the few places I could find it. Is that correct? Arigato (I just joined Rocket Japanese recently and I have just today visited the forums.)

[quo]*Quote from * yanagi Konnichiwa, I just wanted to ask if you are really "the" Sayaka-san from the audio lessons I listen to, or if several employees assume this same user name to moderate the forum and answer posts. Just curious. You do appear to "sound" like Sayaka-san from the course, though, when I read your posts here. And, De-Rei-Ku, you have a very proficient grasp on this language. I hope to reach your level of expertise sooner, rather than later. While on that subject, I was researching last year online (before I knew about Rocket Japanese) to find out what my name would be in Japanese. "James" was transliterated as "Jeimuzu" the few places I could find it. Is that correct? Arigato (I just joined Rocket Japanese recently and I have just today visited the forums.)[/quo] ヤナギさん、こんにちは！ 一年だけに勉強しています。だから、本当に私の日本語は凄く下手です。 (I've only been studying for year. Therefore, honestly my Japanese really isn't that good.) As for whether Sayaka is the true Sayaka or not... The world may never know. However, you probably would have offended her and since she's Japanese, she probably wouldn't directly state it though as Japanese are a little more reserved. So my point is, while in the US, Brittain and etc. that question might be just blown off and not really mean much, in Japan it might be something like the equivalent of calling someone out in other cultures. So yeah be careful with that question... Again, I wouldn't say I'm much of an expert really I have a long ways to go before I could call myself proficient in the language. Although, for the most part Rocket Japanese will get you "there" much quicker than any other program I've tried. If you want to know how I used the program, I would listen to 2 audio lessons a day. One review and one new. The review would be the one I listened to the day prior and the new one would be one I haven't listened to yet. I just went with numerical order and spoke and practiced etc. Really it's very easy to do and all you need is time to do it, same goes with practicing and learning kana and kanji. As for transcriptions of names, I found out that while a foreigner with a Kanji name is unique... It wouldn't exactly fit too well for real world application. If not, it'd cause a lot of problems. My friend who was an english teacher in Japan for four years got married to a Japanese woman and moved back to the states. His wife was a person who organized Japanese exchange students to go to english speaking countries and he was a teacher who taught higher level English conversations. She also organized exchange students coming into Japan, and she learned through indirect experience that a Kanji name with a foreigner may not be the best idea. So I'm sticking with katakana xD and maybe asking good Japanese friends while I'm in Japan next year if it'd be a good idea or not. As for your name, ジェームズ (Jie-muzu) would probably be what most Japanese would think your name would be spelled as. If you read all that, good job! I really ranted too much there xD! それではまたね、 ファーステンベーグデレク

Oh, that's really good...I potentially offended Sayaka-san with my first post on this forum. Way to go gaijin! :cry: So much for making a good first impression. Anyway, for what it's worth, there was absolutely no insult intended whatsoever. I was merely being curious as to the persona behind the online log-in ID. So, Sayaka-san, my deepest apologies to you if you feel the least bit insulted. Gomennasai ごめんあさい . (This is what my IME program displayed when I typed it.) ごめんなさい。(This is what the dictionary showed as correct hiragana.) Derek-san, thanks for the discourse on foreign names, too. I'll be checking back in periodically. I'm still trying to get on a schedule with all these language lessons, etc. じぇむず

デレックさん＆ジェームズさん。 こんにちは！ Thank you Derek-san for standing up for me! And please do not apologize James-san for your question. I am not offended at all :P Regarding your names - just a tip on why you should keep it in Katakana... it's "cooler" - believe me, having a name written in Katakana is unique. All Japanese names are written either in Hiragana or Kanji - so it might be best to write it in Katakana just so your name stands out in the list. - Jyane :P

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka デレックさん＆ジェームズさん。 こんにちは！ Thank you Derek-san for standing up for me! And please do not apologize James-san for your question. I am not offended at all :P Regarding your names - just a tip on why you should keep it in Katakana... it's "cooler" - believe me, having a name written in Katakana is unique. All Japanese names are written either in Hiragana or Kanji - so it might be best to write it in Katakana just so your name stands out in the list. - Jyane :P[/quo] こんにちはさやかさん！ Truth be told that's the reason why I want in Kanji so as to not stand out. However, I've had many people, including you tell me otherwise so hence why I changed back to katakana. Some people choose to spell it デレク others デレック honestly I like the shorter of the two, because I'm lazy like that xD... I don't know if you know of this celebrity さやかさん、 but is HG（ハードゲイ） a foreigner or Japanese. He's really funny, but in awkward ways however it's truly the reason why he's so funny. じゃね～！ デレク

デレクさん、 From what I know, HG's real name is: 住谷 正樹（すみたに まさき）Sumitani Masaki and ハードゲイ is his nickname. So, yes, he's Japanese! -Sayaka :P

[quo]*Quote from * Sayaka デレクさん、 From what I know, HG's real name is: 住谷 正樹（すみたに まさき）Sumitani Masaki and ハードゲイ is his nickname. So, yes, he's Japanese! -Sayaka :P[/quo] さやかせんせい、 I learned the other day from my Japanese friends on Skype that HG is really old in Japan. As in the joke is old not the person... So I've kinda lost interest in his comedy, but it was funny while it lasted! Although honestly I think it would've been more interesting if he was a foreigner in which case how would that reflect upon the country he came from 0.o. 教えてくれてどうもありがとう！ デレク