Where do i learn the Japanese Language?

I'm writing a book about three people going on an adventure together, One speaks only Japanese, the other, English, and the last one is the translator for the English person so as he can understand the woman's speech.


Here's the thing. I do not know the Japanese Language, only a few words like "Baka" or "Chibi". Is there a site out there that tells you what diffrent words in English mean in Japanese?

If not, then is there a book out there that does it? (A Japanese/English Dictonary)

If not, then is there a computer program out there where it teachers you how to speak the Japanese Language?

Thanks.

Google.com is your friend.

It is really simple to just search the internet... something like "Japanese/English Dictionary" maybe?

And if you have no knowledge of Google...

http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/...ad.php?t=16292

It's funny, it was just below this thread, too.

This should've been under Temple of Knowledge, but as your question has been answered..

Arck, well, moved to Knowledge Center at least.

^That's not it! I searched and i found a site: "Bad Japanese Words" but that's not going to help me with my book (How do i know if all those words are assumed as bad in Japan or not?). I need to know a site where it has english words and sentences translated into Japanese. Not just a few of those. I mean, what if i had the Japanese girl go:

"Where's the map, Joe....Oh no...I remember now..I left it at home before we started. We are in trouble." when they get lost, but remeber, she speaks Japanese, so i need to know how to translate that to Japanese.

This is the site i found.

www.intercom.net/user/logan1/jap.htm

Great, but it doesn't have something...okay, i'll be specific.

Is there a site out there that can translate English sentences to Japanese sentences? (NOT characters like when you are writing, i mean speaking. Like some guy talking)

http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html

All it took was two words on google.

*sigh*

^How do you use it? Do you type in any sentence and they change it to Japanese?

*Tries it* Huh?! It doesn't work. I typed in: "Hello, My name is Link." in the box and clicked on search and it didn't do it. What am i doing wrong?

You have to type in single words...as it is a dictionary. Just find the word hello, which is konichiwa...see i helped you there lol. Then find my, then name and then is and then link yah?

Well, when i typed it and checked the box "exact", i got nothing, but when i unchecked it, i got: moshimoshi

What does the result box with the numbers on it mean?

I don't think its possible for a site to translate a sentance into Japanese from English. The two languages are very different. There's the whole sentance structure, and some words in English have multiple meanings, and there are idioms (sp?) and everything. You can't really find a site that translates whole sentances. Bablefish is commonly used for sentances, but I think you need to use Japanese characters, and it's pretty poor at translating. A computer just can't do it for you. The much easier thing really would just be to learn the basics of the language...

Why, exactly, are you writing a book with a character who speaks a langauge you can't? You're not going to be able to translate English into Japanese, and if you find a way with the internet, chances are the sentances you'll get will be illegible in Japanese. And you won't know, cuz you don't speak it. Go with Spanish or something more similar to English, because Japanese is just so far removed from English...

Don't even bother. Seriously.

Don't use the online translators. They SUCK. Become friends with someone who knows Japanese and ask them for some help. Their has to be someone who know Japanese.

Yeah, don't even bother trying to write a story with someone with a language you can't even understand. O.o...I've been studying how to speak the language, and with a tutor's help I'm getting a lot further, but I'm a little far from being totally fluent and I'm WAY too far away from being able to read and write it. Grammer is tedious @_@

And don't even bother trying to learn Japanese watching anime; I learned that the hard way.

Originally Posted by Haruhiko

Yeah, don't even bother trying to write a story with someone with a language you can't even understand. O.o...I've been studying how to speak the language, and with a tutor's help I'm getting a lot further, but I'm a little far from being totally fluent and I'm WAY too far away from being able to read and write it. Grammer is tedious @_@

And don't even bother trying to learn Japanese watching anime; I learned that the hard way.

すげぇ～！あなたはどれくらい、日本語を勉強しましたか？日本語ができますか?

Like others have said, it's not worth it. What most authors seem to do is write the lines in English but make note that the character actually said it in another language.

You're not just going to learn Japanese from online translators. The Japanese have a WAY different sentence structure then us, Japanese and English are two very different languages it's not something you can learn in 5 minutes by using Google. Why would you make a character that speaks Japanese if you barley even understand the language anyway? Like Eijiro said, you can just write what he says in English, and say he said it in Japanese.

Originally Posted by Link the Zora

I'm writing a book about three people going on an adventure together, One speaks only Japanese, the other, English, and the last one is the translator for the English person so as he can understand the woman's speech.


Here's the thing. I do not know the Japanese Language, only a few words like "Baka" or "Chibi". Is there a site out there that tells you what diffrent words in English mean in Japanese?

If not, then is there a book out there that does it? (A Japanese/English Dictonary)

If not, then is there a computer program out there where it teachers you how to speak the Japanese Language?

Thanks.

You can buy a language CD online, theyre really helpful, but really basic, so probably not going to be much use to you. You can get a book for about £20, or i can get one for you, quick a thick one. I can speak japanese, and found that these two were helpful, the latter for the more fluent. Hope this helps

Originally Posted by Aqua_saxbat

You can buy a language CD online, theyre really helpful, but really basic, so probably not going to be much use to you. You can get a book for about £20, or i can get one for you, quick a thick one. I can speak japanese, and found that these two were helpful, the latter for the more fluent. Hope this helps

Reading a book and/or listening to a CD does not mean you can speak a language, my friend

This is a ridiculous idea. Just stop. Now. Unless you are very serious about learning the language, you will not. You're doing it for the wrong reason, so I doubt you have the drive to learn the language. You can't just pick up a book and learn Japanese. There is no "Learn Japanese in 30 Days!" type of book or tape out there, I'm afraid. And if there is, it's bull****. My best advice is find a friend who knows Japanese and you can simply ask them how to say certain phrases. That's your best bet, and basically your only one. Easier said than done, though.

Or how about this:
When i'm writing my book, i can make a note in the beginning that the Japanese people DO speak english but with their own accent, but every one else around them that is NOT on the adventure DOES speak Japanese and when they are talking, I could have the woman translate it to the main character.

Example: (This takes place in the middle)

Guy: (Speaks)

Woman: He says: "How do you plan on scaling the mountain with little to no medical supplies?"

Bob: o_O;

See? That's better. I can have it take place in Japan, but have the main characters speak english (Hey, Miyamoto speaks english even though he's a Japanese, right?) and all the other characters (NPC, or characters that are not the main characters) speak Japanese (while some speaking English)

How's that? (I don't have a Japanese friend, so that's out of the option list. This is the only way i know how to do it. Now, to do research on Japan and Martial Arts so as i don't sound like an idiot when i write the story. For all i know, people who do Martial Arts scream half the time and jump around and punch the baddie in the guts. I gotta know the truth.)

Just a note to Eijiro, like I said...I can't read it XD. I've found that reading it is much more difficult than English because the kanji and hiragana (some cases katakana) don't have spaces. He just taught me the alphabet in hiragana, but that's it so far. Neeha...

Originally Posted by Eijiro

すげぇ～！あなたはどれくらい、日本語を勉強しましたか？日本語ができますか?

Originally Posted by Haruhiko

Just a note to Eijiro, like I said...I can't read it XD. I've found that reading it is much more difficult than English because the kanji and hiragana (some cases katakana) don't have spaces. He just taught me the alphabet in hiragana, but that's it so far. Neeha...

"Sugee~! Anata wa dore-kurai, nihongo o benkyou shimash¡ta ka? Nihongo ga dekimasu ka?"

That's what he said in Romaji. Understand now? If you've been studying speech you should probably be able to, since it's fairly basic. Although "すげぇ～!" is kinda slang.