A long time girlfriend of mine passed the Japanese translator's exam and did arbitrage over there...

Posted by MtHoodIllini on February 19, 2026, 20:44:02, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

for several years. When I would occasionally ask her to speak to me about anything in Japanese it was like she was suddenly an alien. Incomprehensible to me. I could count to ten from my years in karate classes. That's it. Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June.

The only word you need to know is takoyaki*

Posted by Sounder on February 18, 2026, 11:44:03, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June.

There are 50,000 letters. Like, the government had to step in.

Posted by doubledown on February 18, 2026, 11:41:37, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

But I already know about 20 letters so far. So this is going great. Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June.

6 times out of 10 if you say it as English in a katakana accent, it’ll be fine.

Posted by assassin on February 15, 2026, 13:42:18, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

Yell SUMIMASEN when you want to order, and Arrigato gozimashta when you leave and you’re good Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June. Brandon Schrock of Laredo, Texas, told the federal government that his employer was “poop,” and his occupation was “pooper.”

send a message to youtuber xiaoma for tips. dude knows like 100 languages*

Posted by lcubed on February 15, 2026, 13:18:59, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June.

We won a war so you don’t have to learn that shit*

Posted by timmer on February 15, 2026, 12:31:12, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June. (for rent)

More power to you. But having visited Japan, including Tokyo, a couple of summers ago, you can get

Posted by DocWalk20 on February 15, 2026, 11:59:00, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

by with English just fine. Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June.

Hai*

Posted by CWR10 on February 15, 2026, 11:55:06, in reply to "I’m taking a trip to Tokyo in June, and even though I can probably get by, I decided to try to learn"

Previous Message a little Japanese. Now I don’t know. It feels like I needed to start two years ago to have any shot at knowing even a tiny bit. This is no way to run a language. These motherfuckers have THREE ALPHABETS! An alphabet for children, an alphabet for foreign words they thought were cool, and an alphabet for “fuck it, let’s just make our own Chinese.” But I’m no quitter. So I’m gonna see how much I can pick up by June.