@Sophira
ソフィラさん、こんにちは！はじめまして！よろしくお願いします。
I'm sorry for replying to you individually due to some circumstances on my end.
I can really see how hard you are working on your Japanese studies.
Specifically, I noticed how you handled "日本語は勉強する (Nihongo wa benkyou suru)." In Japanese, we use the character "は (ha)" when writing, but we pronounce it as "wa." I could tell you’ve studied that distinction, and I’m impressed!
I feel like I need to keep studying hard too. Learning a new language is always a challenge for both of us, but let’s do our best together!
May 05 · 2 days ago
5 Comments ↓
はい、がんばりましょう! <3
Your English is much better than my Japanese! I'm happy to help if you have any questions, or if you'd like to chat.
日本語は使いいたも！ちょっとわかいます、でもじしょ使える。
🍀 knshow [OP] · May 05 at 21:01:
If you saw my original English, it might look like some kind of secret code, lol.
Right now, I'm getting a little help from Gemini AI to translate my Japanese into English. It's really helpful because it also explains the nuances and why it chose those specific words.
"日本語の使い方もちょっと分かります。でも辞書使える。"
(nihongo no tsukaikata mo chotto wakarimasu. demo jisho tsukaeru.)
I bet this is what you wanted to say:
"I understand how to use Japanese a little bit. But I can use a dictionary."
Your Japanese is clear enough for me to understand—I’m actually a bit jealous!
That makes sense, and honestly I think that's perfectly okay! A lot of people use AI and if it lets people talk together, I'm all for it.
As for what I meant to say, thank you for the correction! In English, what I was going for was:
"I want to speak Japanese also (in addition to helping you with English if you want it)! I only understand a little [Japanese], but I can use a dictionary."
I did think at first of using「言いたい」 instead of「使いたい」, but my understanding was that 言う is more like "to say" rather than "to speak", and in English "I want to say Japanese" doesn't make sense unless you want to say the word "Japanese". When I looked at my dictionary (which I'll link below if you're interested!), it seemed that 使う was probably the right verb here. It's possible I got that wrong - if so, I apologise! Maybe 「話したい」 would have been a better choice?
— Tagaini Jisho, the dictionary I'm using
I hadn't known about the -方 verb ending before. I'll remember that! Thank you.
Do you have any questions for me about English? I'm very happy to help in whatever way I can.
🍀 knshow [OP] · May 06 at 02:08:
I’m glad we’re on the same page! That’s exactly why I decided to step into the English-speaking world, even if it means relying on AI to bridge the gap.
Ah, I see! Now it all makes sense.
Actually, since the difference between "使いいた" and "使いたい," or "わかいます" and "わかります" is so small, I initially thought they were just typos. I interpreted your message as "日本語を使いたい！ちょっとわかります" (I want to use Japanese! I understand a little).
OMG... if I were in your shoes with my current English level, I definitely would have said "I want to say English" lol. I didn't realize that in English, it sounds like you just want to pronounce the word itself. That’s a great lesson for me!
In Japanese, for this specific case, whether you use "使いたい" (want to use), "言いたい" (want to say), or "話したい" (want to speak), we can understand that you want to have a conversation in Japanese. Actually, in Japanese, the particles (助詞) might be more important than the verbs themselves:
日本語 "を" 使いたい/言いたい/話したい： Normal/Neutral.
日本語 "が" or "で" 使いたい/言いたい/話したい： Using "で" feels like you have a stronger desire or intent than using "が."
日本語 "は" 使いたい/言いたい/話したい： To a native speaker, this sounds a bit unnatural, but it's a common mistake for learners, so we still get the gist of what you want to say!
Regarding "〜方" (kata), it might be easier to think of it as "method/way of doing" (方法 - houhou).
To show you my "shaky" English: I want to learn using this dictionary. (I want to learn the "way" to use this dictionary / この辞書の使い方を学びたい/この辞書を使う方法を学びたい).
(And just in case, here is the AI's cleaner translation: I want to learn how to use this dictionary.)
There are other ways to use "〜方," but it gets complicated, so let’s stick with this for now!
Reading your messages, I can really feel your desire to use Japanese. Whether you choose the verb "use," "speak," or "say," the core reason is that you want to communicate. So, omitting "use" and just saying "speak" or "say" is perfectly fine.
I often say to my friends, "I want to use English to talk someday" or "I want to talk in English someday." The nuance is basically the same!
I wanted to talk more about the dictionary too, but this is getting long, so I'll save it for next time! I’ll definitely check out the link you sent.
I got so excited to reply that this turned into a very long message—sorry about that! Thank you so much for reading it all the way to the end!
Hello!
Sorry for the delay in responding to your message! I'm going to respond to parts individually.
I’m glad we’re on the same page! That’s exactly why I decided to step into the English-speaking world, even if it means relying on AI to bridge the gap.
And it's nice to meet you! I know many people don't like AI. Personally, I use it for some personal projects but not for anything that I do publicly or release publicly.
Ah, I see! Now it all makes sense.
Actually, since the difference between "使いいた" and "使いたい," or "わかいます" and "わかります" is so small, I initially thought they were just typos. I interpreted your message as "日本語を使いたい！ちょっとわかります" (I want to use Japanese! I understand a little).
I'm actually not certain what 使いいた would mean in this case. Does it mean anything? (It almost feels like "I went to the messenger", except without a に or へ.)
OMG... if I were in your shoes with my current English level, I definitely would have said "I want to say English" lol. I didn't realize that in English, it sounds like you just want to pronounce the word itself. That’s a great lesson for me!
That's understandable! Would I be right in thinking that if you wanted to say that in Japanese, it would be more like 「日本語」と言いたい rather than 日本語を言いたい?
In Japanese, for this specific case, whether you use "使いたい" (want to use), "言いたい" (want to say), or "話したい" (want to speak), we can understand that you want to have a conversation in Japanese. Actually, in Japanese, the particles (助詞) might be more important than the verbs themselves:
I somehow forgot about the particles, I feel a little embarrassed >//> I do know about them but it's been a while and I completely forgot! I think I was thinking "On the topic of Japanese, I want to speak it too", but only because I forgot about を. Oops!
日本語 "を" 使いたい/言いたい/話したい： Normal/Neutral.
日本語 "が" or "で" 使いたい/言いたい/話したい： Using "で" feels like you have a stronger desire or intent than using "が."
日本語 "は" 使いたい/言いたい/話したい： To a native speaker, this sounds a bit unnatural, but it's a common mistake for learners, so we still get the gist of what you want to say!
Thank you! I actually didn't realise that が or で would be valid here, in the same way that は isn't valid. I'm learning more every day. :)
Regarding "〜方" (kata), it might be easier to think of it as "method/way of doing" (方法 - houhou).
To show you my "shaky" English: I want to learn using this dictionary. (I want to learn the "way" to use this dictionary / この辞書の使い方を学びたい/この辞書を使う方法を学びたい).
(And just in case, here is the AI's cleaner translation: I want to learn how to use this dictionary.)
There are other ways to use "〜方," but it gets complicated, so let’s stick with this for now!
That makes sense, and it's something I was already thinking when I saw your reply, so it's good to know that's exactly what was meant!
I didn't know about the verb 学ぶ before. How does it differ from using 勉強する? I know the latter is technically a noun + する, but I don't know the details of when one would be more appropriate than the other.
Reading your messages, I can really feel your desire to use Japanese. Whether you choose the verb "use," "speak," or "say," the core reason is that you want to communicate. So, omitting "use" and just saying "speak" or "say" is perfectly fine.
I often say to my friends, "I want to use English to talk someday" or "I want to talk in English someday." The nuance is basically the same!
Yeah, the same is true in English!
I wanted to talk more about the dictionary too, but this is getting long, so I'll save it for next time! I’ll definitely check out the link you sent.
I'm absolutely fine with long posts, and sorry again for the delay in responding! I wanted to make sure I gave it the thought I needed to.
I got so excited to reply that this turned into a very long message—sorry about that! Thank you so much for reading it all the way to the end!
And thank you for sending it!
あなたはLINEかDiscordを使うか？話したいか？