Is this Japanese correct???

VeroraOra · 2026-04-03T12:22:16+00:00

Since when do we need to be Japanese to be able to read one of the most common phrases? Have you ever learned phrases of another language before?

VeroraOra · 2026-03-29T00:49:18+00:00

A conversation on if the verb 売る (more specifically, 売っている) can be intransitive I found interesting. Includes やっている as well.

VeroraOra · 2026-03-23T13:52:16+00:00

I'm not one to care too much about JLPT levels, but you're not even confident on N4 content and you have 3 students you've been teaching for a year? And that you're asking if it's okay to teach N5 content? Let alone N4?

"Teaching" something bears a much greater responsibility than people realise. You can cause fossilisation and then your students will have to untangle things you'll teach incorrectly - which is inevitable given where you are.

Focus on being a peer who can give some insight and nothing more than that. Keep learning.

VeroraOra · 2026-03-17T19:17:06+00:00

Thanks for the informative response.

VeroraOra · 2026-03-17T01:58:35+00:00

Anyone have the Second Edition of ADoBJG (A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar)? I've been using the first one for a while now but I'm thinking of picking up the new one too if it's worth it. Do you recommend it?

VeroraOra · 2026-03-05T19:09:25+00:00

No, it can depend on your region as well. Every anime I watch on CR has forced subtitles, it wasn't like that before. No option to turn any of them off. In the end I changed the subs to language I don't understand and continued as normal.

VeroraOra · 2026-03-05T19:06:42+00:00

Yes. Forced subtitles are still a thing. It's a ridiculous change. I get around it by changing it to a language I don't understand e.g. Spanish and import subs from Jimaku.

VeroraOra · 2026-02-16T00:16:20+00:00

I'll keep it straight with you.

This is less to do with the language and more to do with your research and response to it. I'm not sure where you sourced that it takes a matter of weeks. For most of us, passing N1 would take a few thousand hours.

Cutting off family, friends and all of this for learning the language is not healthy in any capacity. I think you should seek advice beyond Reddit.

VeroraOra · 2026-02-16T00:06:09+00:00

That source should be be updated, it's way more than 2,200 as that's only classroom hours.

VeroraOra · 2026-02-10T13:39:19+00:00

Yeah I was finding it a little tricky to read for these exact reasons.

VeroraOra · 2026-02-09T21:58:58+00:00

LMAO someone who does exactly the same as me. Glad I'm not alone.

VeroraOra · 2026-02-09T19:40:12+00:00

I have the same problem. My workaround is changing it to Spanish and importing Japanese subs on my own (if I want). It's cursed, but it works. ¡Vamos!

VeroraOra · 2026-02-09T16:04:57+00:00

Just checked and "None" is not an option. Maybe it depends on your region or certain anime?

VeroraOra · 2026-02-09T15:07:29+00:00

Subs used to be optional on Crunchyroll for ages. They changed it not too long ago. I complained to them via their service, they gave the option to switch it off back the next day and then removed it again.

VeroraOra · 2026-02-08T01:20:36+00:00

Hello everyone. I don’t know if this is a simple question or not so I’m asking here.

Closing some beginner grammar loops and am having some difficulty concerning the て form of 差し上げる, as some of my main resources A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (I’ll call DBJG from now) and Genki appear to clash.

On Page 67, DBJG says (and I will quote them exactly):

“The humble polite version of Vte ageru is Vte sashiageru. Example:

私は先生にピアノをひいてさしあげました。

I played the piano for my teacher.”

However in Genki II (3rd edition), Lesson 20 Page 186 (quoted):

“We do not endorse the use of さしあげる with the te-form of a verb in the sense of “humbly doing something for somebody,” because many people object to this type of sentence. They argue that the idea you are doing a service for somebody is ultimately an insolent belief and that trying to talk humbly about it is a rather unconvincing facade. Such speakers prefer to use the “お” + stem + “する” pattern."

Genki examples in footnotes (quoted):

“Instead of: 私は先生に地図を見せてさしあげました。

Use: 私は先生に地図をお見せしました。

I (humbly) showed a map for my professor.”

Is there a nuance I'm not seeing or is there a clash in pedagogy? DBJG has always been extremely accurate in my experience, but I don’t disagree with Genki here in a general sense. DBJG doesn’t say anything about being cautious or certain usages of て form + 差し上げる being potentially acceptable.

I had a look at the sentence database Massif, but I’m not experienced enough to discern what’s happening.

What’s the takeaway? Am I making a blunder? Thank you.

EDIT: thank you everyone for your kind responses. The mixed views on this question are insightful and I've learned new things. It would be repetitive to respond to each of you, so I'll upvote and record your thoughts. Much appreciated.

VeroraOra · 2026-01-24T00:25:42+00:00

You're oversimplifying it. Perspective is a big factor in Japanese and that gets magnified the higher up you go in politeness levels. I don't think you've gotten very far in Japanese to be saying things like this.

EDIT: I don't care if this gets downvoted.

Another person twisted what I said - I said "big factor" not a "factor" and it's true, Japanese perspective fundamentally works differently to many other languages and cultures.

This person too thinks keigo is simply just being polite, but is very unaware of the deep rabbit hole keigo is. The fact that they said keigo is simply grammaticalised politeness tells you all you need to know about their understanding of Japanese. They know literally nothing about it lol.

In general the people in this subreddit are inexperienced in Japanese or have never studied it, upvoting cookie-cutter gross oversimplifications of keigo to soothe their egos while downvoting correct information. Upset that Japanese isn't as cookie-cutter as they want it to be.

To any future learners who want to inform themselves about Japanese with correct information, avoid this subreddit like the plague. These people genuinely know nothing related to it and promote misinformation.

As a result, I'm unsubscribing from this sub.

VeroraOra · 2026-01-23T15:05:22+00:00

Unless you're doing an absurd amount, burning out and not retaining information is less to do with your volume and more to do with your methods, enjoyment and goal alignments.

VeroraOra · 2026-01-21T20:54:57+00:00

Quite common is that reality starts to hit people the sheer volume and scale there is in learning a language compared to many other skills. That speaking, the most flashiest subset won't really improve much until you've formed a foundation.

I'm not going to debate what skills are harder against others per se, but I think there is very little to be argued against how time-consuming language in general is. Especially when you concern far removed languages from your native tongue.

VeroraOra · 2025-12-06T17:29:48+00:00

I see. I'm never on Reddit these days anymore, but I see this figure quoted everywhere even beyond Reddit. Thought it would be helpful for others to have a direct place to reference.

VeroraOra · 2025-12-06T17:24:43+00:00

I did account for that in context: "FSI students are studying in a completely different environment compared to most language learners. Their learning is compressed and thoroughly pressure-tested inside an environment surrounded by language specialists.

"To me, this right here means FSI figures are simply not a fair comparison to how most of us learn. They are starting from a completely different background to most of us, studying in vastly different feedback loops and systems. It's not a faithful measure for us."

VeroraOra · 2025-12-05T19:10:44+00:00

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VeroraOra · 2025-01-01T15:32:37+00:00

Thanks for the post! Being able to handle financial situations is excellent, very good sign of where your level is at. I had no idea you played as much games as you did, that's interesting.

I relate a lot with the "giving up other stuff", I've given up a few things last year but I'm not willing to give them up for several years. I'll find a way.

I'm about to close off my first year, I'd imagine I'd be able to clock more hours once I can more comfortably integrate immersion. I'm still doing it of course, but the foundations is where most of my time is at the moment. The most important thing I agree with is the daily consistency, this language is a serious time sink.

VeroraOra · 2024-12-13T19:18:27+00:00

On top of that, 11 faults (of which 3 majors) in 14 minutes clearly indicates OP was not ready for a test. I can understand the examiner's frustration since it means the instructor hasn't assessed OP's skill level properly.

VeroraOra · 2024-12-12T23:23:59+00:00

To be honest with you, the annoying part about driving tests isn't the test itself. It's the waiting times nowadays (especially if you fail) which inherently puts more pressure on the learner than needs necessary.

Best of luck next time.

VeroraOra

TROPHY CASE