I Just started to watch This YouTube Video. There are so many ways to say because in japanese. How do you even know which one to use? Will it start to make more sense in a few more months / years of learning japanese?
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Because, therefore, that’s why, hence, since, thanks to, owing to, due to… Sometimes there just are several ways to say pretty the same thing in any language.
I only skimmed this video without audio because I can’t play sound at the moment, but I feel like in this case it’s also an issue stemming from letting English translations abuse you. Yes it’s true that から and もん can both translate as “because” in English, but they have a rather distinct meaning in Japanese and derive from very different underlying construct and carry different nuances.
This will feel overwhelming at first and it’s perfectly normal, my advice is to not overthink it. If you want a starting point, から is probably the most versatile of those, just use that and people will probably get what you mean. As you get more and more exposure to the language you’ll build a feeling for it and you’ll understand the nuances better.
Also notice that this video seems aimed at N3 learners, which is about intermediate level. If you’re just starting to study grammar, you probably want N5 or similar content. This video seems to quickly skim over a lot of constructs, probably expecting the viewer to be decently comfortable with basic Japanese grammar.
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Yes, I didn’t expext to learn anything from it. I was Just curious what awaits me at n3 and then I got shocked by so many ways of saying “because”. I’m still N5/N4.
I feel like this video will be most useful for a student already familiar with these constructs and who is just looking for a quick refresh and maybe identifying blind spot that they have to study more closely. As an introduction to these grammar points, it seems rather terrible.
Nothing wrong looking ahead to future courses and already getting familiar with more complicated constructions, but don’t let it overwhelm you! You’ll have plenty of opportunities to revisit all of these things.
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Judging by the first 10 example grammar points covered in that video, it’s exactly at the level that I need. Maybe I will change my opinion as I get further into it, but so far it’s ideal for me.
I am at an N4+ level - and while some of those constructs are new to me, I know most of the vocab used in the examples (although not all of the kanji yet), so it’s not so advanced as to discourage me, rather I’m finding it to be very encouraging.
@CherryApple thanks for sharing that - I will try to go through the entire video (multiple times, perhaps), with shirabe jisho in my hand, pausing and repeating as necessary - and it should be a great help (even though I’m not actually studying for nor planning to take the N3).
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I’m also Not studying for JLPT, but I think it could be a good orientation to decide what to learn next.
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I’ve watched up to the 40 grammar points mark so far (out of a total of a bit more than 100 to be covered by the end of the video).
It’s certainly challenging at times (although there have been some items that I already knew) - but it’s giving me a good ‘mental workout’ and I’m expecting that it’s preparing me well for future studies.
In a way it’s like reading ahead of the assigned material in the textbook, so that when the class eventually gets to that point it will seem like a review. I didn’t do nearly enough of that way back when I was in school, but it’s never too late to start…
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It’s a bit off topic, and I’m sorta talking to myself here, but…
I temporarily switched off of the original N3 grammar points video to a different one from nihongo no mori - this one is also geared toward N3 study, but it is conducted entirely in Japanese and it reviews a number of different types of test questions - in each case, the instructor first highlights the correct answer and then steps through each incorrect answer, explaining why those are not the right choices.
It was also both challenging for me as well as extremely useful, as I was mostly able to closely follow the discussion every step of the way - with quick clicks on the video run/pause button and shirabe jisho in hand to do lots of lookups of unfamiliar vocab (as well as looking up kanji and/or vocab that should have been familiar but which I had forgotten) - and I did surprisingly well and got a great deal of good practice out of it, even though (or, more likely, because) it was just a bit more advanced than what I could handle comfortably, but not so advanced as to lose my way.
The only thing that I had some trouble with was reading the teacher’s handwriting scribbled against the printed slides - but that’s a minor point, because I could mostly understand what he was saying with his explanations, and was exposed to plenty of new vocabulary along the way.
So, it was a serendipitous discovery, thanks to @CherryApple
I’ve been encouraged to pick up on studying again after having walked away from WK for a long time due to having been overwhelmed with IRL stuff (work, etc.)
The video that I jumped into is this one:
Now I’ll either look for more N3 videos from nihongo no mori, or jump back to the original one with the 100 or so grammar points in rapid succession…
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It seems that I had landed on video #5 in a series from Ogawa sensei
I will have to check out the others:
And… I’ve completed all five Ogawa Pink Sensei N3 study videos.
They were great - I understood most of the spoken and written material and learned a ton of useful kanji and vocab - hope that I can remember it all, maybe will have to do a refresher at some point - but for now, back to the 100-plus N3 grammar points video.
(and maybe will seek other N3 study material as well, because that seems to be a good match to my current capabilities)
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