Hi everyone! Thank you for visiting Maggie’s room. Feel free to leave a message (Even just say Hello! 👋 ) I don’t do translations, check your long writing or help your homework for school here but I can answer one or two simple Japanese questions. Love you all! 🐶❤️
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Hello! I’ve just came across your website via an Anki Card Pack mention. Your website looks like a great resource to learn Japanese. Having only dabbled in learning it, I wanted to know your opinion on two things.
1) Which is better, learning Kanji and Hiragana before or after learning how to speak Japanese? I’ve been debating on it since learning how to write seems a lot harder than learning how to speak it.
2) What do you think of Duolingo and such things in the aid of teaching someone Japanese?
Thank you and hope you two have a lovely day!
PS: Maggie is very cute. <3
Hi Dan
OK, here’s my advice
1) I know everybody has their preference and way of studying Japanese, and it depends on their goal, but if you are an absolute beginner, I would recommend learning hiragana/katakana and speaking at the same time, as it helps strengthen both speaking and reading skills together, even if you rely on romaji at the beginning to learn speech patterns. Once you’ve mastered hiragana/katakana, you can gradually start learning kanji.
2) I think Duolingo is a great tool for building up vocabulary and sentence structures. I would recommend you use it in your spare time as a helpful supplement to your studies.
And thank you! 😊
Have a lovely day too!
Good evening Maggie. In this sentence, is the dictionary form of 摘まれたら つまむ or つむ?
お腹摘まれたらこんな顔しそうですね。
And in this sentence is it つまむ or つむ?
妻ドラウパディーが求めた花を摘みに行ったビーマは。。。
Hello Rafael
お腹摘まれたらこんな顔しそうですね。
→the dictionary form つまむ = to pinch
妻ドラウパディーが求めた花を摘みに行ったビーマは。。。
→the dictionary form つむ = to pick (flowers/tea/fruits)
Hello Maggie sensei,
I have a question about these two sentences:
1. 私は日本の歴史に興味があります。
2. 私は日本の歴史に興味を持っている。
Especially with an abstract object such as 興味, what is #2 implying with 持っている, instead of あります?
The reason why I ask is that curious Japanese often ask me about what I am doing in Japan. So, it is a frequent topic. If there is a meaning difference between #1 and #2 then it might be useful for me. For example, does #2 put more emphasis on the personal interest, and #1 is a more neutral statement of fact?
Thanks.
Hi Michael
この間は、☕️有り難うございました！☺️
Does #2 put more emphasis on the personal interest, and #1 is a more neutral statement of fact?
→Yes, you are right!
They could be translated the same way, but
1) 私は日本の歴史に興味があります
= I’m interested in Japanese history.
It simply expresses your interest as a fact.
2) 私は日本の歴史に興味を持っている
= I have an interest in Japanese history.
It emphasizes that you actively hold this interest, so it sounds stronger than 1)
There are some untranslatable Japanese words/grammatical forms that I am finally beginning to get a feel for.
But, this is also true for any two languages. One word in language A does not always have an exact translation in language B. Sometimes you need an entire sentence in B to explain the meaning of one word in A.
You’re absolutely right! Every language has words and expressions that don’t have a direct equivalent in another, and that’s part of what makes language learning so fascinating.
Your interpretation of the difference between the two phrases is very accurate, which means you’re getting to know the nuanced differences.
Good afternoon Maggie, I have a question about the following sentence: 聖剣のアルトリアより合理的、かつ冷静になってはいるが、人間性は失われていない。
I would like to know the function of は in なってはいる and why not just use なっている.
Hi Pedro
You can say なっている as well. When you want to emphasize or highlight the contrast between different aspects, you add は.
2025年になりました。みなさん、明けましておめでとうございます。
今年もどうぞよろしくお願いします。🐶🩷
去年は大変お世話になりました。
Dear Michael
今年もよろしくお願いします。☺️