Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Languages and Linguistics

3catwoman3

(25,664 posts)

5. Any facility you have/had with the Romance languages will be of no...

Reply to TDale313 (Original post)

Mon Nov 8, 2021, 12:36 AM

Nov 2021

…help whatsoever.

Learning Japanese is more like memorizing chemistry. I lived there for 2 years during my second tour of duty with the Air Force nurse corps. I took 3 evening courses in Japanese, and learned enough to ask a few basic questions but not enough to understand the answers. The local people did seem to appreciate my making an effort.

The Japanese word for bread is pan, borrowed from Spanish, and the word for job/work is arubaito from the German arbeit. Other than that, I don’t remember any similarities to any western languages.

Good luck!

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

38 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

So, yeah... I've started trying to learn some Japanese [View all] TDale313 Nov 2021 OP

Good Luck to you, my dear TDale313! CaliforniaPeggy Nov 2021 #1

Thank you 😊 n/t TDale313 Nov 2021 #2

Very best of luck!!! GeoWilliam750 Nov 2021 #3

I first studied Japanese some 40 years ago and found it not at all difficult.. HUAJIAO Nov 2021 #4

Japanese romanized vowels are exactly like Spanish vowels EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #15

yes, agreed. HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #18

Japanese is fortunately not tonal EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #20

I never learned more than maybe 300 - 400 kanji HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #21

I actually was quite versed in the Kyoto dialect 京都弁 at one time EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #22

I learned Japanese in the 1980s and although I have been back several times in the last few years, HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #23

Well, that happens to all of us EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #24

Some more Kansaiben EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #25

I'm really interesed in hearing more from you EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #26

Well, I know some dynamite restaurants in Kyoto that are NOT on the tourist lists, HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #29

It's been a while since I've been to Kyoto EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #30

I have never had okonomiyaki in Osaka so I couldn't say. HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #33

These days, it seems like there are basically two okonomiyaki "styles", EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #37

The only one I remember right now is Ookini. HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #28

That's a good word to know in Kyoto! EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #31

This message was self-deleted by its author HUAJIAO Jan 2022 #19

Any facility you have/had with the Romance languages will be of no... 3catwoman3 Nov 2021 #5

Arubaito (アルバイト) means "part-time/temporary job" EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #16

There are actually a lot of English loan words in Japanese EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #32

I remember one of the teachers in the 3 classes... 3catwoman3 Jan 2022 #34

Japanese has changed a lot EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #35

Domo arigato multigraincracker Nov 2021 #6

🙂 TDale313 Nov 2021 #7

Was that Styx song, EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #27

It's too bad our savantic ability to naturally acquire languages pretty much dries up at puberty. PSPS Nov 2021 #8

Truth. TDale313 Nov 2021 #10

I started studying Japanese at 22 EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #36

Sugoi! Kablooie Nov 2021 #9

I never learned it despite working at some Japanese... Buckeye_Democrat Nov 2021 #11

My college roommate mastered it. He somehow got a job Tomconroy Nov 2021 #12

I've got a friend from a tiny Midwest town who became a Japanese interpreter. Midnight Writer Nov 2021 #13

I'd like to retire, EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #17

I just met with my co-workers today EastMeetsWest Jan 2022 #38

Check Out This Japanese Language Book At This Link..... global1 Nov 2021 #14