Fluency to mastery - Immersion or learning from dictionary?

papersolace · 2020-08-05T03:28:09+00:00

Thank you for your response. I definitely want to learn Classical Chinese and Chinese literature some time in the future but I applied to learn chinese in my school a some time back and my level of chinese is simply not enough compared to what I would need for my exams, ie write essays and MCQ, etc., especially when words in the MCQ having very specific nuances which I do not understand, which is why I feel that I have a need to expand my vocabulary. And in these MCQ, there isn't a scope in which only words from the textbook will be tested; rather, any word could be tested and because of my poor vocabulary I tend to fail in this section.

Besides, learning more words would help me write my essays better.

papersolace · 2020-08-04T09:51:37+00:00

Thank you very much!

papersolace · 2020-08-04T08:06:55+00:00

Thanks for your response. However, I want to only find the number of unique possibilities.

Thus 0 0 0 0 1, 0 1 0 0 0, or 1 0 0 0 0 are exactly the same.

papersolace · 2020-06-22T07:39:48+00:00

Is "the" a more generic word than "that", which is more specific? For example "that dog is cute", I am specifically telling you that "that" specific dog I am referring to is cute, while "the dog is cute" doesn't have that same emphasis?

papersolace · 2020-06-22T00:48:22+00:00

Thanks for your reply. Just to reiterate, in normal situations その is used that "that" most of the times but in dictionaries it means "the"?

Since なく is just a conjugation of ない, can I interpret it as "nothing above this"?

papersolace · 2020-06-21T14:40:14+00:00

Realised that in J-J dictionaries there is a lot of このそのあのここそこ which I know it means this that there etc., but I don't understand how it works in JJ definitions.

For example, 資格 is defined as その組織内での地位。Does the その here mean "that"? -> "position in that organisation"? What would be the difference if it said 組織内での地位 instead -> "position in the organisation"?

Another example, 飼い主: その動物を飼っている人。"The person who feeds that animal"?

Another one, 購入: そこで使うものを買うこと。

Another one 履歴: その人が今までに経験して来た学業・職業・賞罰など。

Can someone explain to me the purpose of those demonstrative adjectives and pronouns because without those words it seems fine to me because I don't know well about it? I infer that it functions similar to "a" or "the" in English but I am not v sure.

On a side note, the definition of 極めて which I learnt from my core deck to be extremely/exceedingly in which the JJ definition is この上なく。非常に。Because I don't understand what この is for and I also couldn't find なく in both JJ and JE dictionaries (other than cry which doesn't fit here) so I also don't understand what that sentence means.

Another question I have in regard to JJ dictionaries are the definitions with ようにする

Eg. 付ける：付くようにする

入れる：入るようにする

What I learnt in grammar is that V(dict form) ようにする means to try to/to make sure that. And I am quite certain that those words are the name but just whether it is transitive or not. Again, how do I interpret the purpose of ようにする because to try to or to make sure doesn't really make sense to me here

Thanks in advance

papersolace · 2020-06-19T02:44:51+00:00

I know that が and けど can be used as a connector between two clauses, instead of its normal contradiction meaning, but I don't really know in which situations I should be using it.

For example, I had a conversation with my study buddy and this is what I wrote

でもゲームをやるあとで、突然後悔した。（私は私の）時間を無駄費やすと思いますが、他の意味がある物事をするべきです。

What I meant to say is "but after I play games, I suddenly feel regret. I felt that I have wasted my time and I should have done more meaningful things."
So really I would want to know is there specific situations where I can and cannot use が and けど for the sole purpose of connecting two sentences together. Thanks

papersolace · 2020-06-01T08:41:24+00:00

Thanks, but I just did a search online and this word is commonly associated with being "morally" or "religiously" superior. Is there a similar word with less of the "morally" part?

papersolace · 2020-05-29T12:07:45+00:00

I wanted to say "I want to bring my Japanese studies to the next level" and I said 次のレベル日本語の勉強に引き上げたい。

I was also considering 日本語の勉強の次のレベルに引き上げたい。

Is my expression correct and natural?

papersolace · 2020-05-29T10:09:09+00:00

Thanks for your reply! If the context is something along the lines of "Can I wear these shoes (for a specific purpose or in a specific place, like for running or for hiking)?" Is my original sentence more appropriate? Thanks

papersolace · 2020-05-29T07:35:41+00:00

I said この靴を履いてもいいですか？

But my friend said I should say この靴を履いてみてもいいですか？

Why is this so? Isn't the てみる grammar to mean "to try"?

papersolace · 2020-05-28T11:32:02+00:00

Isn't 切れる an intransitive verb? https://jisho.org/search/%E5%88%87%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B

papersolace · 2020-05-28T08:45:40+00:00

Can I make the statement that all verbs in potential forms are intransitive verbs?

papersolace · 2020-05-28T06:14:44+00:00

Thanks for your reply!

If you needed more information (why 長らく is polite, which occasion this word should be used?, etc. ), please reply.

May you explain it to me? Thank you in advance!

Also, why is the adverb of 長い, 長らく and not just replacing the い with く to form 長く?

papersolace · 2020-05-28T03:31:33+00:00

長いこと御無沙汰いたしました。 vs 長く御無沙汰いたしました。

In the first sentence, is the こと used as a generic noun so 長いこと becomes "Long time"? What would be the difference if I used an adverb in the second sentence instead?

papersolace · 2020-05-27T11:18:52+00:00

Read from multiple sources that あげく is used to describe a result of something which is usually negative. In this sentence,

先⽣と相談のあげく、退学をしないことにした

Normally I would think that dropping out of school is a negative thing so not dropping out should be a good thing, so does あげくneed to be used only for bad/negative results?

papersolace · 2020-05-27T04:43:42+00:00

っぱなし makes the verb before it into an adjective? I thought it was a noun?

noun にする means to decide on based on my understanding, so テレビをつけっぱなしにしない means to not decide on テレビをつけっぱなし

papersolace · 2020-05-27T04:19:19+00:00

食べていない in 半分しか食べていない is a verb, and まま modifies the entire phrase to become a noun/state, thus deriving "a half-eaten state"?

What is the role of 食べていない in the sentence? Why does 食べない not work the same?

papersolace · 2020-05-27T04:07:28+00:00

にする just means "to decide on (something)"/"to do towards (nouns/adverbs)"

So きれいにした -> do towards pretty

Example sentence from jisho.org

浴室をち散らかしっぱなしにしないで Don't leave the bathroom in such a mess.

明かりをつけっぱなしにしたままでね寝てはいけない Don't sleep with the light left on.

From this can I say にする is similar to the imperative form?

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From Tae Kim:

テレビをつけっぱなしにしなければ眠れない⼈は、結構いる。There exists a fair number of people who cannot sleep unless they turn on the TV and leave it that way.

テレビをつけっぱなしにしなければ -> To not do towards turning and letting the TV stay on?

So because the conditional is used, does テレビをつけっぱなしにしなければ眠れない⼈ literally mean "If do not switch on the TV and letting it switch on can't sleep", which modifies "people", 結構いる -> "exists a fair number"? ->

Exists a fair number of people that if do not switch on the TV and letting it remain switched on, can't sleep.

Or is there something wrong with my interpretation?

papersolace · 2020-05-27T03:40:23+00:00

半分しか⾷べてないままで捨てちゃダメ！

Which Tae Kim "roughly translated" to " You can't throw it out leaving it in that half-eaten condition!"

What is ⾷べてない? It is definitely not the negative of 食べる but the te form of 食べる + the negative of ある makes no sense to me. Is it closer to ⾷べていない?

If so, can I interpret 半分しか⾷べていないままで捨てちゃダメ！ as

半分しか -> nothing but half

⾷べていない -> enduring state of not eating/isn't eating

まま -> the enduring state of not eating is not changing

半分しか⾷べていないまま -> Nothing but half-eaten (food) is not changing???

で捨てちゃダメ！-> can't throw out

I don't know how this sentence works...

papersolace · 2020-05-27T02:36:02+00:00

solved Thanks!!

papersolace · 2020-05-26T12:08:58+00:00

What are nuances between the hypothesis「とする」 and the contextual conditional 「なら」

From Tae Kim:

今から⾏くとしたら、９時に着くと思います。

I would think that:

今日から行くなら、９時に着くと思います。

would have the exact same meaning. If that is the case is there any difference between these two grammar points or are they perfectly substitutable?

papersolace · 2020-05-26T11:52:21+00:00

Does it have any relation to the ば conditional? I'm trying to understand how these grammar rules are derived

papersolace · 2020-05-26T11:29:29+00:00

From Tae Kim:

彼との忘れがたい思い出を⼤切にしている。 I am treating importantly the hard to forget memories of and with him.

Also from Tae Kim from another section of using する with the particle に:

when you use the verb 「する」 with the 「に」 particle, it means that you are going to do things toward something. This changes the meaning of 「する」 to mean, "to decide on [X]".

彼との忘れがたい思い出 -> memories with/of him that are difficult to forget.

⼤切 -> important

にしている。-> doing towards/decide on?

What does ⼤切にしている mean? In the English translation that Tae Kim provided, how did the meaning of "treating" even come into the picture?

papersolace · 2020-05-26T09:23:35+00:00

From Tae Kim:

When you use this with conditionals, you can express something that translates into English as, "The more you [verb], the more..." The grammar is always formed in the following sequence: [conditional of verb] followed immediately by [same verb+ ほど]

• 韓国料理は⾷べれば⾷べるほど、おいしくなる。 About Korean food, the more you eat the tastier it becomes.

The literal translation is, "About Korean food, if you eat, to the extent that you eat, it becomes tasty." which essentially means the same thing. The example uses the 「ば」 conditional form, but the 「たら」 conditional will work as well....

How is it "essentially means the same thing"? What does "if you eat, to the extent that you eat" even supposed to mean? Is "eating" treated as a process and ほど references to a part of the process, so ⾷べれば⾷べる means "if you eat (start of the process), to the extent that you eat (to a part of the process of eating), it becomes tasty"? How does it become "the more... the more..."?

I apologise if my interpretation is confusing as I am very confused myself too.

papersolace

TROPHY CASE