What is the Grammar newletter

Hi

The Grammar newsletter seems the same as the Grammar section on the course.

Is there any differance?

Quote from grejyedi
Hi

The Grammar newsletter seems the same as the Grammar section on the course.

Is there any differance?

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.

何でもない

デレック

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

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 !

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

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!)

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

Argh so close!

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).

Quote from Sayaka
出礼句-san,

An odd combination of Kanji... but certainly unique 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

さやかさん,

Indeed it is slightly odd and unique, but also shorter by a "ッ" when writing it . 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

どうもありがとう!

出礼句

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.)

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

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

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

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