LOL speaking as one who can read hiragana butr noit much kanji i can tell you that the general rule is that the important stuff is in kanji 
i.e.
“you must find the (kanji), and (kanji-kanji)”
" so what do you say (kanji) or (kanji) … your life depends on your response…"
i know how you feel, joshmason…i am learning japanese myself, and only know about half the hiragana…so everytime i look at a japanese website or game, i get reminded of just what i don’t know…
you’re better than me though LOL…i’m still at the point of getting all excited while watching an anime and pulling on my boyfriend going “See that symbol on that sign!!! that’s the symbol for GA!”
quote:
Originally posted by ladyphoenix:
i know how you feel, joshmason...i am learning japanese myself, and only know about half the hiragana....so everytime i look at a japanese website or game, i get reminded of just what i don't know...you're better than me though [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] LOL...i'm still at the point of getting all excited while watching an anime and pulling on my boyfriend going "See that symbol on that sign?!?!?! that's the symbol for GA!"
LOL! A poll then: how many on the boards can read more or less fluently Japanese and play, understand and enjoy the games in their original games? (and yet buy PP games to support them [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img])
I can’t read Japanese yet I still buy games in Japanese if the subject matter intrests me enough. I’ll definitly buy all the Peach Princess games to support the English Market.
Er…me? I understand more Japanese than I can actually speak or write it, yet I buy English-translated products all the same (sometimes to see how well the lines are translated; other times to figure out what the parts I don’t understand actually mean). Being fluent in Chinese definitely has its advantages in that I can understand the kanji and then can guess the meaning of the sentence out of sheer context.
Just being able to recognize the Kanji does help doesn’t it? (I do wish my Mandarin was a bit better though.)
Hmm, and to tell you the truth, I’ve been learning Japanese for years and when you get down to it, the stuff that is formally taught doesn’t help all that much. (I won’t even mention the terms we begged our sensei to teach us but she always refused ) My meager ability tends to be more from watching subtitles anime and talking with native Japanese. Granted, it doesn’t help with the kanji but hiragana and katakana stuff starts to make a lot more sense.
quote:
Originally posted by Jeffrey:
Being fluent in [b]Chinese definitely has its advantages in that I can understand the kanji and then can guess the meaning of the sentence out of sheer context.[/b]
Yes, yes... I can't agree with you more! Being fluent in Chinese does have its advantages! I handle the Jap stuff by the kanji myself as most of the crucial terms are written in kanji anyway...
I studied in a Chinese school for 13 years and grew up in a Chinese household but my level of Chinese is nowhere near a China native's... it's that tricky to master! I can imagine how much more difficult it can be for western audiences.