[DurryVony]

I'm just wondering, how many people here actually DON'T know how to speak, read, or write in Korean, Japanese, Chinese, etc.?

Other then me that is.

[WertyNtont]

I don't im I started learning japanese on my own 2 months after i started kendo. I have an okay vocab and most of the hiragana down.

[sabbixsweraco]

I think I speak decently. I picked up some japanese from watching cartoons, but i doubt they're any useful.
My friend taught me some Cantonese, but I'm having issues with intonation.

[DianaDrk]

The only japanese words I know are those that I hear during the kendo classes. I have no contacts with Korean or Chinese languages.

I just don't care.

[bapimporb]

It's probably easier to ask who does speak an East Asian language, as I'm pretty sure 90% of people here don't.

I've studied Japanese for 4 years and lived in Japan for 18 months total. I'm fairly competent and aim to take my Level 1 JLPT in the next year or so.

I've recently begun to study Mandarin Chinese, and I can just about introduce myself. My written Chinese is much better than my spoken, because I'm used to writing in kanji.

I don't speak any Korean.

[dwestemesse]

We speak "Nihongrish" at my home.
I never took a test for fluency, but I can mostly understand the "Dotchi" cooking show.
Does that count?

[gardeniyas]

I can understand preety much what Oshita Sensei says to me most of the time.

But then "crappo" is fairly easy to work out let's be honest.

Yet more supposed jocularity

[husartrof]

I guess I'm fluent in Chinese(Manderin).. just the occasional twinkie turrets.
I've been taking Japanese in College for ... too long, still useless in it. Actually stayed there for a summer back in highschool to try to pick up more of the language.

[Qxsumehj]

I know a very few words in japanese basically kendo related words or "joke-words" or stuff like that, but I hardly speak or read anything.

[Cyclicymn]

I'm strong enough in Korean to not be completely lost when I go to Korea, and have been learning Japanese for the past two years.

[HelenTay]

I'm fluent in Mandarin and Hokkien (a chinese dialect) and competent in Cantonese. I'm seriously thinking about learning Japanese. Not too sure where to start though.

[BPitt]

Not too sure where to start though.

How about at あ?

Oroshi -> im envious of you getting to study nipponese properly... ive cobbled it together somehow!! "Ropey" is a good description....

[AricGoffgog]

Oroshi -> im envious of you getting to study nipponese properly... ive cobbled it together somehow!! "Ropey" is a good description....

Most of my knowledge comes from my formal education, but a fair amount is what I've worked out on my own (I taught myself most of the kanji I know, for example). Having teachers does help though, especially with grammar! I realise I'm lucky.

When I lived in Japan I learned to speak a rough approximation of Kobe ben, but unfortunately my lecturers here don't care too much for it...

[weO1bVp1]

That's Kansai-ben... Where did you go to school in Kobe?

[Adwetyren]

When I lived in Japan I learned to speak a rough approximation of Kobe ben, but unfortunately my lecturers here don't care too much for it...

I recently met someone who spoke the most amazing 標準語 (he was Japanese of-course) and I realised that I have no friends that speak like that (except king?) ... it was a bit... 女々しい if you ask me!

I spotted a new 関西弁入門 book in the shop the other day.. looks good. Fancied getting it to learn proper 関西弁丁寧語 but it has a stupid cd with it that made the price sillly.

[xsVfF9Em]

Kobe-ben is slightly different to Osaka-ben (the 'standard' Kansai-ben, I guess). One difference is that in Kobe they say やっとう instead of やっとる. Okayama-ben's the same, I think. It's still close to Osaka-ben. One of my best friends has a really strong Kobe dialect so I needed to learn it to talk to her properly! It's sometimes hard for me to juggle 標準語 and 方言, so I tend not to use the dialect unless I'm around Kansai people.

I was at Kobe Gakuin University for a year as an exchange student, and I lived quite close to Akashi. I'm hoping I can get back to Kobe for work once I graduate.

[sztc38tg]

How about at あ?

LMAO!!! Indeed!

[Vagtlaldo]

I'm fluent in spoken Cantonese and Shanghai dialect.

My Mandarin and Japanese skills are work in progress.

[Alex Photographer]

I'm hoping I can get back to Kobe for work once I graduate.

レッツ稽古！

I lived in 広島 for a couple of years. Of course they have じゃけん and しっとる　（知っている） etc but ive found that that some things that are classed as classic 関西弁 (like ほんま) and such are found everywhere from 京都～福岡. I guess its the influence of TV.

>>やっとう instead of やっとる

[priordine]

レッツ稽古！

押っ忍！

dont you mean やってん？I get it from all sides... 京都・大阪・神戸 so im all mixed up. I think I might have slipped up - I didn't go to Osaka much so I was mainly exposed to Hyogo dialects (like Viking is in Takarazuka! I only just spotted that). I might have mixed it up with Gifu-ben - I lived in Gifu-ken for a short while too.

In Kobe they have the long vowel sounds, so やってる becomes やっとう. Instead of やってん, they'll say やっとん. Hence a favourite phrase of my teacher's, 「何やっとんネン！」

My fave 関西弁 at the moment is こった・もろった　and I really need to work on my はる for 丁寧語 (やっぱ関西弁入門買うわ) My regional 敬語 isn't too hot, but in Kobe they use ～って instead of ～はる, so 「行かれますか」 becomes 「行ってですか。」 I can understand it, but there's no way I'm going to be able to use it any time soon. (俺もさ、何か関西弁についての本を買わないとなぁ)