I see in years past there have been various Genki I (the textbook) threads. I don’t see one currently.
Is anyone currently enrolled in a course using this textbook? I work full-time and so can’t take a (daytime) class. But I’m working with a tutor individually, and we’re keeping up with a university course she’s teaching at the same time.
Anyway, it’d be nice to know if others are struggling with the same things I am (currently the dreaded Cpt 8/9/10 combo of plain form + all the fun things you can do with it).
Thanks @gfyh455ji6wegrtjyaja. It’s not so much a problem as it is just missing the camraderie of mutually complaining to someone who’s experiencing the same thing at the same time and helping each other out, etc. I should just find an online class.
@Noctis92 ありがとうございます 。
I did see that, but it appears it closed a couple of weeks ago. Also, asynchronous is really key for me and my crazy schedule. 大丈夫です、I’ll keep my eyes out for opportunities elsewhere.
Since this thread’s already up, we could use it for help with Genki related questions. Would that work for you?
I did Genki I and II not too long ago and can help if necessary
@WeebPotato ありがとうございますも！
That’s very kind of you! I can certainly give that a go, and actually your post-Genki perspective might be super-helpful.
My current struggle is with embedding these indirect clauses (と思います / と言っていました）in something else.
For example, in English I can say:
I think George said he is going to the store.
When I put that together with what I know, I get:
ゲオルグがスーパーに行くと言っていたと思います。
It’s kinda clear that I’m the one who’s thinking, not George. But I can see where this could get messy really fast – for example, if you throw で来る in there.
Is this just a case of “hold your horses, you’ll learn about that later”? I’m totally fine with that answer if that’s the case. Otherwise, is there some way to indicate the subject (not topic) nicely in these cases?
I think George would be ジョージ, but otherwise the sentence looks okay. Why would it get more complicated with で来る? Or did you mean 〜てくる and in what context?
A subject would still be indicated with が inside the clause and you can precede everything with 僕は／私は／etc. for further clarity, but in general restructure the sentence so it sounds less like it’s in English. You can express uncertainty with えっと at the beginning of the sentence:
えっと、ジョージはスーパーに行くと言っていました。
I was thinking 出来る (didn’t use the right kanji ) would be a problem in something like “Jill realised that George could think about cats” due to needing ことが with 出来る. But I just realised that 思うこと wouldn’t require its own subject. I think I’m probably going at this from a too-English perspective.
Anyway… thank you very much. Writing it out is helping lessen my confusion.
I think the further into Genki you get, the easier it will be to express certain ideas in Japanese using the Japanese you already know . I think the sentence structure with Jill sounds very much like English so one would have to consider what is the message the sentence is going to convey? Is it about George’s ability (potential form) to think about cats? Or maybe the fact that George was likely thinking about cats?
One could do it like this: ジルはジョージが猫のことを考えるかもしれないことに気がついた。 Jill realized that George might be thinking about cats.
or like this: ジルはジョージが猫のことばかり考えることに気がついた。 Jill realized that Georg is thinking only about cats.
Saying that “George could (has the ability to) think about cats” might sound slightly weird, I think.
Poor Jill, who must think George is obsessed at this point.
Thanks very much for the encouraging thought about getting farther into Genki. Your answer and (super-helpful) example sentences make me wonder: has learning Japanese changed the way you think about language? I suspect that’s my core problem – Swedish wasn’t anywhere near this level of struggle!
At some point you’ll start thinking about the meaning instead of the words.
You say: I think George said he is going to the store
You mean: George either literally said he was going to the store and you’re unsure if he actually means to do so, or you are unsure of whether you heard George say that he was going to the store.
The former: ジョージがスーパーに行くと思います
The latter: ジョージがスーパーに行くと言ったと思います
It’s not so much a problem as it is just missing the camraderie of mutually complaining to someone who’s experiencing the same thing at the same time 
and helping each other out, etc. I should just find an online class.
) would be a problem in something like “Jill realised that George could think about cats” due to needing ことが with 出来る. But I just realised that 思うこと wouldn’t require its own subject. I think I’m probably going at this from a too-English perspective.