[Tamago86]

I am trying to learn Japanese.
I have some questions:

Is "ae" pronounced as "eye" ?
Are the e's pronounced as "ee" or "aye"
Are the j's pronounced as "jay" or "hey"
How do you pronounce the r's?
Is "ui" pronounced as "we" or "oo-ee"?
Is "ai" pronounced as "eye" or "aye" or "a-ee"?

Thank you.

well just keep in mind that Japanese vowels in particular don't sound exactly like English or have 100% direct equivalents even if you use English words that resemble it, so everything is just an approximation, but..
ae is kind of like eye (unless you are pronouncing it slowly) but it has more of a eh at the end (not the canadian eh)..for example mai and mae are pronounced differently, and words like shiharai and shiharae have hugely different meanings just on that one vowel
e's are pronounced like the e in outlet..like eh
j's are pronounced like juh, neither jay nor hey is close, those are diphthongs (most english vowels are actually diphthongs too or a combination of multiple sounds, whereas vowels in european languages like german are usually pure) j is a consonant..so it'd be kind of like the j in jump
the r's are kind of inbetween an L and a D sound, they're basically a tap/flap of the tongue on the roof of your mouth, somewhat like spanish
ui can honestly be pronounced either depending how fast you are speaking, if you are speaking slower you sound out each vowel, if not it sounds more like we
same with ai, but more commonly like eye..
try to find a website with some sound files to help you

[jafa100]

I don't know any good japanese site, the only one i know is yahoo in japanese, so i would like to know if they have sites similar to the korean Daum, Naver, etc...?

[Tamago86]

I don't know any good japanese site, the only one i know is yahoo in japanese, so i would like to know if they have sites similar to the korean Daum, Naver, etc...?

http://japanese.about.com is pretty good if you want an introduction to the language, http://japanese.about.com/library/blsoundfile.htm in particular has lots of sound files for words and phrases if you want to get a feel for how it sounds

[jafa100]

http://japanese.about.com is pretty good if you want an introduction to the language, http://japanese.about.com/library/blsoundfile.htm in particular has lots of sound files for words and phrases if you want to get a feel for how it sounds

Thanks, i know that site ^^, i didn't mean a site to learn japanese ^^. What i want is japanese sites similar to the korean Daum or Naver. Maybe somebody else know what i mean...

[Tamago86]

Thanks, i know that site ^^, i didn't mean a site to learn japanese ^^. What i want is japanese sites similar to the korean Daum or Naver. Maybe somebody else know what i mean...

http://www.goo.ne.jp/ (japanese equivalent of daum/naver)
http://www.2ch.net/ (japanese message board, largest forum on the internet)
http://www.mixi.jp/ (japanese equivalent of cyworld basically)

[jafa100]

http://www.goo.ne.jp/ (japanese equivalent of daum/naver)
http://www.2ch.net/ (japanese message board, largest forum on the internet)
http://www.mixi.jp/ (japanese equivalent of cyworld basically)

Thanks a lot! That was exactly what i wanted !.

[Meezu]

After the Hiragana characters are mastered written, spoken, and reading wise, would I then move onto Katakana, and then Kanji? Or is there more I have to learn from Hiragana before I proceed?

Thank you.

[jaeka]

I'd learn katakana to the same standard as hiragana, "mastered written, spoken and reading wise.." then move onto kanji. (:

[1TYMRMYVZT]

I already asked in the Korean thread, but I'd like to know in Japanese too. How would I say "I wish I was as invisible as you make me feel"? In Japanese characters and romaji too, please.

Also, can anyone tell me a good site to learn kanji? (Sorry if it's been asked before or something.)

Thank you in advance.

[girl3744]

I already asked in the Korean thread, but I'd like to know in Japanese too. How would I say "I wish I was as invisible as you make me feel"? In Japanese characters and romaji too, please.

Also, can anyone tell me a good site to learn kanji? (Sorry if it's been asked before or something.)

Thank you in advance.

Here...you can start the first kanji here~

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/172

[suppaazn]

i'm currently taking japanese and i am stuck on one of my hw questionss..
　
「すみません。この　かさは　だれのですか。」

1.　「はい、だれです。」
2.　「いいえ、だれのは　ありません。」
3.　「それは、だれのです。」
4.　「だれのか　わかりません。」

can someone tell me which is the best answer? thank you in advance.

[missmartypants08]

this should be a good thread! i'm currently learning japanese @ school, so far we've only been practicing in speaking japanese. the hardest thing so far is remembering what to say in a conversation. It's great to practice the it by repetition, but I find myself forgetting to say the words off of memory. Does anyone have any tips for me in remembering the sounds/gestures of the language??

[TonePort]

the problem with my browser is that it cannot display Kanji (whatever, i dunno) characters properly. the only site is visited which really gave me a comprehensive take on Nippongo was Learn-Japanes.com i think albeit i was not able to write japanese as much. but then again i learned basic Japanese grammar so that helped.

[twinkle_l0ve]

i'm currently taking japanese and i am stuck on one of my hw questionss..
　
「すみません。この　かさは　だれのですか。」

1.　「はい、だれです。」
2.　「いいえ、だれのは　ありません。」
3.　「それは、だれのです。」
4.　「だれのか　わかりません。」

can someone tell me which is the best answer? thank you in advance.

#4 because (I'll translate for you)
1: "yes, it is who" (makes no sense at all)
2: "no, there is no who"
3: "that is who's"
4: "I don't know who's it is"

[1TYMRMYVZT]

Here...you can start the first kanji here~
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/172

Okay. Thank you! (: ありがとう ございます～！

[`Star]

I know Koizora means Sky of Love.

Can anyone romantizie:

Stars of Love

or

Clouds of Love

or

Rainbow?

Thank you (:

[`Star]

And is Umizora, Sea of love?

[tobyness]

How would you say

"Who will come to the party?"
"What time will the party end?"

[Tamago86]

I know Koizora means Sky of Love.

Can anyone romantizie:

Stars of Love

or

Clouds of Love

or

Rainbow?

Thank you (:

Well following the pattern of 恋空 you can say
恋星(koiboshi)　or 愛の星 (ai no hoshi)
恋雲 (koigumo)
恋虹 (koiniji) or 愛の虹 (ai no niji)

By the way 恋空, 恋星 doesn't exactly mean sky of love, star of love etc, but i really don't know how else you would say it in english lol..愛の空、愛の星 do literally mean it though, and sometimes might sound more common whereas 恋空, 恋星 sounds more poetic/romantic (thus why it sounds better as the title for a drama)
And umizora doesn't really mean anything (umi means sea and sora means sky)..love is koi, or ai. Sea of love is either 恋の海 (koi no umi) or 愛の海 (ai no umi)

[`Star]

I see.
Koizora was a drama name and the english translation was "sky of love"
so I thought it was an actual word that meant that.
Would it still mean the same thing?
Koi = love
Zora/Sora = sky
love sky? o.o''

So yeah. Hmm...
How would you say, "Sky of Hope" or "Sky of Dreams" in a lyrical/poetic/romantic way?
Would it be Yumezora? o.o' Dosen't make sense.
Yozora=night sky
Um.. 甘夢 かんむ sweet (pleasant) dreams
kan yume /kanmu

I'm trying to think of a good kind of name that goes along with Koizora...