hello,
my name is Ramon, I am from Brazil and I like to study japanese as everyone here. I am a beginner and have great dificulty with kanjis and also collocation. So, this on-line disho became a suberb toll. Thanks a lot for the developers! I use it almost everyday.

Hope to progress in the study together with you guys!

Posted By: MDean

Hi, name's Michael. I stumbled upon this nifty site while looking for (you guessed it) Japanese learning/translation aid; I had been using Breen's JWPCE quite often but the thing that got me hooked here was the Search by Radical function (I find it infinitely easier than Jim's) and it started all from there; I haven't had any formal Japanese teaching, most of this is self learned (And I'm pretty sure that if I took a test I would fail, miserably) but it's something of a hobby, I like the culture and I really think that the key to understanding culture is understanding its language.

I will probably come here and bug some of you with help with a sentence or two that might help (I had the dubious honor of bugging Kim before with an interjection based question) and I hope to pull more and more people here later on.

Welcome to the forums!

I started my Japanese studies with self learning as well, I wish you good luck :) While it's far from as fast as "proper" education in Japanese, it's without a doubt possible to become very good if you're determined. If you need advice on more resources for learning japanese on your own, feel free to ask!

Well, well, I've pretty much just discovered Denshi Jisho. Don't know much about it, going through a few of the forum posts. Anyway, my name is Francis, but I suppose since this is a japanese site, feel free to call me Furanchisu. I'm just a random kid very much interested in cultures and language overall, but I find japanese especially fascinating. I don't really know why, but I find that the language is beautiful. The words kind of flow on your tongue, you know? I could probably attempt a sort-of conversation in japanese with the amount I know, but some of it would have to be improvised. I hardly know any kanji/kana/hiragana, but I intend to learn quite soon. I also want to take classes in the fall, so that'll do me a lot of good. I hope that I'll be able to practice some of my language skills with you here and to learn as much as I possibly can in the time I am given.

Thank you~

Yo.

I've been using this site for a while now, and I love it. It almost always has exactly what I need. I can't seem to get my computer to make typing in kana easy for me, but I spend a lot of time translating song lyrics for my friends, and if I had any encoding software you can bet I'd be on a fansubbing team for some anime or other.

I started taking Japanese in college because all the Spanish classes were full when I went to sign up. I wanted an easy credit, so I picked the only other language I knew anything about - Japanese. Now that I've gone through all the courses my university has to offer, the only way I have to improve is watching anime and using this site.

Hi everyone,

My name is Diana and I'm from California. I am a Japanese major at UC Berkeley. I started using this densi jisho when I got tired of hauling my two heavy dictionaries around campus. Denshi Jisho is great because when I'm learning new vocabulary, I can find the individual meanings of the kanji. Also, I can look up words fast when I'm writing a composition and don't know a word. Those are only some of the things I use this site for - it's been a lifesaver!

I began having an interest in Japan when I was really small - around kindergarten. It was because my family was involved with a Japanese exchange student program. This program brought Japanese college students to stay with American families over Christmas/winter break. The exchange students became like cousins to me, and I naturally thought of Japan as an extension of my identity - a place where I had family and had a connection to. So it only seemed natural for me to pursue learning the language so I could communicate when I went to Japan (I already decided I would be going to live in Japan when I was 10).

So here I am, using Denshi Jisho and studying Japanese in CA. Nice to meet you!

-Diana

Hi William,

seeing you are from the Netherlands, please also keep an eye out for http://www.rangaku.org/ (shameless self promotion) which is aimed at Dutch/Japanese.

Hi. My name's Sharon. I'm from Britain and I've been having a love affair with the Japanese language and culture for the past year. I'll be taking my JLPT level 4 next month. As of yet I've never been to Japan but I intend to go, really want to experience the culture and improve my Japanese. Love the site, been so helpful especially when I forget certain words or when I come across words in anime or lyrics that I don't know. Once I'm more confident with my understanding of the language I'll try to write in Japanese and please point out any mistakes I make. How else will I learn? Bye for now.

I'm Shannon, and I'm a freshman at Miami University in Ohio. I'm actually a visual arts and studio art major, but I'm planning on completing the Japanese minor ASAP.

I started taking Japanese classes way back in Junior high, at the wee age of 12. I continued studying, and I spent a summer abroad between my sophomore and junior years of high school. I was in a small town on Okinawa, and had lots of fun, but I was totally overwhelmed! I kept at studying though, and completed the AP Japanese exam with a 4 this past year.

Right now I'm in the junior and senior level Japanese class, and even though most of the material is familiar to me, I still feel overwhelmed because I haven't yet developed the study habits to move so quickly in a class. My teacher linked us here, and I've been using it ever since. It's a major help when I'm pressed for time. Between Japanese and Art I'm pretty busy, but I'm hoping to continue Japanese beyond the 400 level with independent studies and hopefully go abroad. How I'll fit it all in with the demands of being an art student, I really have no clue, but I'll find some way.

After college I'd like to become a JET before I go off to grad school, and hopefully use Japanese to help with the financial issues of being an artist.

Hiya My name is Carol, I'm from Argentina and I'm new here!

Happy new year!!!!

Hello all. Tim and Adam here, first year students from America and we LOVE your site. We are both music students as well as language nuts. We enjoy anime to an extent, tho it is certainly not the main reason for wanting to learn Japanese. I am Tim, and I am a composition student. I have found an amzing amount of inspiration in music from Japan. Adam might be on later, but he is studying to be an Ethnomusicologist. Japanese is his minor. Nice to see you all.

Late writing this, but what the hell, better late than never!

Hello! My name is Steve and I'm an English Teacher living in Tokyo. I've been in Japan for just over a year (pics are up at http://sconning.blogspot.com if you want to see some of Japan). I finished using the Genki textbooks and now I'm just starting the 中級へ行こう book. I go to a Japanese school in Iidabashi. I took the 3級 JLPT this year, and I expect to get the results back that I just barely failed. (I'm sooo optimistic.) I make a lot of silly mistakes that I know better, but I'm getting better. よろしくお願いします！

Edit: Changed name from sconning to Aodh, my screen name for everything else. And turns out I just barely passed 3級 JLPT.

Hello Im Juan im from Puerto Rico and im taking japanese classes and i love it. I wish this forum was more alive since it seems like such a helpful place oh well nice to meet everyone see you around.

Hey everyone!!!!
Am Nina from America...am a beginner of japanese language.. n i registered here cuz i really wanto to learn japanese...
me n my frenzz r so excitedd to learn it....
:D:D
thnx all

今日は皆さん
はじめまして、僕はイタリアの人です。しゅっしんはナポリです。どうぞよろしくお願いします。
にほんごがだいすきです。僕は本とに勉強したいです。六か月前から日本語の勉強をはじめました。
今毎日僕の町の大学で日本語をべんきょしています。とても楽しいです。
この電子辞書は大変便利だと思ういますそれでキムさんありがとうございました。

じゃあ　また　ね　^__^.

My name is Louis, I'm 19, and I'm a Computer Science student at Imperial College in London, England, where I also take a module in Japanese. Like many people here I've had a strong interest in Japan since I was a kid (thanks, video games!), but only recently began to study the language. Last summer I happened upon a little bit of JPop online, which sparked my interest in learning the language and eventually snowballed into me being nearly obsessed with constantly studying Japanese about eight months later.

I've never been to Japan, unfortunately.

Thanks to Kim for creating Denshi Jisho which since quite early on has been my go to Japanese dictionary.

みなさん、はじめまして！
静夫です。
おれの日本語は上手じゃないけどがんばります。
一年生です。　八月に日本語のべんきょうをはじめました。
どぞよろしくおねがします！

こんばんは皆さん！

I'm Abel, from Costa Rica, 23 years old. My story with Japanese is similar to Kim's in the sense that it's been an on/off kind of thing. I started taking Japanese lessons at age 16, but never really put much effort into it ,therefore, I have always had this feeling of failure regarding me learning it.

This year I realized that I needed to snap out of my lazy/procrastinative state towards it and study for real, so I contacted a friend who is currently living In Japan and she referred me to Jisho.

I'm currently majoring in English teaching at Universidad Nacional here in Costa Rica, I wish there were a Japanese major though. Throughout all my years trying to study Japanese, I've used several online dictionaries but Jisho has proven to be the best one. Its simple and clean interface is very welcoming and it's all together very easy to use.

I like watching anime but I enjoy watching Jdorama better. I've written articles about Jdoramas such as Gokusen, Stand UP, and others as well as articles about K-movies for website http://ticotaku.com/.

I'm also currently fansubing the English version of the dorama Oshin under the nickname serebi. You can grab the episodes here http://www.mvpgroup.tk/. The website is run by the friend of mine, I know almost nothing about web coding so maybe some of you could help us a little ^^.

Anyone who would like to practice Japanese or share a random thought can email me at: abelcmcr@gmail.com

I'll join, why not?

I'm Damon I'm from PA in the USA. I've been trying to grasp Japanese on and off for a while. I have grammar down (my hobby is constructing languages so grammar isn't hard for me) pretty well now.

I learned Kanji by going cold turky on Romaji. I still only know a few I have to use a lot, but I'm learning more as I go.

You don't need any Japanese language program, you just need to tell Windows you want to be able to write in Japanese. It's in the regional settings in the control panel, you can't miss it.

Hi, my name here is 'naito', as i am a ナイトメア fan.

I'm a British born Chinese, born and raised and living in England

I got into Japanese music through watching Animes like Fullmetal Alchemist, and Bleach. So i got into artists like UVERworld and Gackt, and since January this year i got into the band ナイトメア.

I started to teach myself Japanese by just learning to sing songs which meant finding Romaji lyrics. Then i started to wonder about meanings, which is when i realised i'd need Kanji too. So i found Denshi Jisho - YAY!

Also watching Japanese Dramas helped, like the Gokusen series, Bloody Monday, Kurosagi, 1 Litre of Tears.

At any rate right now ナイトメア is the driving force behind me learning Japanese at this point in time

Hi everyone,
I'm Fabien, 31 year old, software developper, from France. As many people in my country, I had some interest in japanese culture (a lots of anime were broadcasted on french TV when I were young), but not much more than that. Two years ago, I began to listen japanese music (anime often have nice opening songs), and I eventualy made a great 3 weeks-long holiday trip there last year.
Then I started to learn japanese language by myself for fun (I started something like 10 months also, already!), without any precise goal. I started to write a program to learn the kana and vocabulary, but I quickly switched to Anki (great program!). jisho.org is one of my main source of vocabulary, very quick, very nice to use (as clean as google, I love it). I also used to listen the educative mp3 from the NHK (which are great).
Even if I am spending something like 40mn a day learning (I'm also learning italian), my current skill would only allow me to have a very basic conversation. But I spend great time learning, and I hope that the next time I go to Japan (maybe in 3-4 years) what I learned will help me to meet non-english-spearking people.
cheers!

hi all

iam glad that i found this site, it's really helpful and i've learnt alot from this site.
first i would like to introduce myself, iam indonesian female who has been learning japanese for ages..i guess.!! but till now i havent pass my JLPT level 2 and never been to Japan, my motivation learning japanese sometimes up and down. so perhaps anyone could give me the tips how to learn and pass the JLPT level 2.
i would like to make friends and exchange the experience learn japanese, so feel free to drop me an email to bbehoshi@yahoo.com

Hello everyone, I just found this site and it seems like a great resource to network with people from all over the world.

みんなさん、はじめまして！

My name is Chad and im 27 yrs old hailing from Colorado, USA. I am a currently a software developer for a medical company, and hold a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science/Mathematics. I have had a deep desire to learn a 2nd language for a few years now, and recently (about 6 months ago) decided that I would give Japanese a serious go. I chose Japanese mostly because i had a higher exposure rate to it already than any other language, through anime. Spanish is occasionally spoken in the area that i am from, but I wanted to learn a language completely separated from the roman alphabet. From the moment i became serious about learning Japanese, i have attempted to saturate my daily life in Japanese to keep me motivated... and it has worked, so far! ;) Between listening to japanese music, watching Anime/J-Dorama, studying, and frequenting many japanese-oriented sites, there is rarely an hour that goes by that i am not working at my japanese. I am currently only self-taught, as i live in a mountain town with no easily accessible language learning school in the area. At some point in the near future, i plan to formally study Japanese at an institution, but for now my self-studies will have to do :) I am contemplating the possibility of giving the JET program a serious go, as i am not really tied to my career and find myself prioritizing my language learning over all else these days.

I ran across Denshi Jisho after i learned about Jim Breem's WWWJDICT and all the work that had gone into it. I appreciate the work that Kim has done in constructing Denshi Jisho around the WWWJDICT data, as it has provided a much needed style upgrade! The features that i specifically appreciate about Denshi Jisho at this point are the Kanji Details page (where i can lookup SKIP index!), the ease of usability and simplicity of the search interface, and the "easy on the eyes" color scheme :)

I look forward to continuing my studies of the Japanese language, and am excited to be a part of the community.

よろしくお願いします！

Hi guys!
皆さん、始めまして！あたしはユーザーネイム通り、アンナと言います。
オーストラリアから(後2ヶ月で）18歳のスェーデン人ｘ日本人ハーフです（母が日本の人）。
大学一年生、検眼医のコースをやっています。よろしく＾＾
日本語はずっと小さい頃から使っているけど、本気に日本語を習いたいと思ったのは一年前かな。
その時までは「日本語はどうでもいい」「オーストラリアに住んでるのになんで日本語なんか勉強しなきゃいけないんだ」って
感じな態度だったから実はハーフのくせに私はまだ日本語下手なのです。
真剣に日本語をもっと上手になりたいと思ったのはその時まではあまり見るチャンスのなかった
アニメや漫画を色々日本人の友達からかりて、ハーフなのに字幕の無いアニメや振り仮名の着いてない漫画
を良く理解できないのがガッカリで、そんな事態で日本語に興味が生み出されました。
つまり何年も掛けて勉強したいほどアニメや漫画愛していますｗｗ　
何はともあれ、日本語って本当に美しいですね。聞くのも、見た目も。そのうつくしさもっと前に気づけばよかったな。
日本はもう六回くらい行った事あるので、来年のお正月五日くらい父と旅行で行きます。
その前は一ヶ月父と一緒にスェーデンへ行くので超待てない！！
父の地元は北の方にあるKlimpfjallと言う小さい町。このスレのスェーデンジンは聞いたことあるのでしょう？
残念な事だが私スェーデン語全然話せません。将来スェーデン語も習いたいなぁ．．．
日本語にくらべ、母国語は英語の人にはスェーデン語を習うのはどのくらい難しいのかな？

かなりなが～い自己紹介になったけど、全部読んでくれたらありがとうございます。
Kim-さんも、ありがとうございます。私にとって電子辞書は凄く便利なツールで他のサイトより使いやすくて何度も電子辞書に頼っています。
皆、日本語の勉強一緒に精一杯頑張ろうね！