--- In [email protected], "sarutobi111"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Yes, the expression has a metaphorical meaning (i.e. rotten to the
> core), but it's seldom used in that sense. I've never used it in my
life and I don't think I've ever heard someone use it in real
life. "Oshoku" is a completely different word, meaning corruption
> among bureaucrats and politicians (e.g. taking bribe, embezzling,
> etc), and there's no verb form (in othre words, you can't
say "oshoku suru").>
Hmm, maybe that's an idiom used in certain regional dialects, not
hyoojungo.
So "harawata ga kusatta" would be used to describe someone as being
morally corrupt beyond redemption, as opposed to someone who just
happens to have a questionable moral character? If that is so then
the meaning would be too strong even for informal conversation.
> You are misinformed. The expression means to "beat up someone
until he/she bleeds all over".>
Sounds to me like a quote that Yakuza would use.
> Yes, there is a big chance that you'll get misunderstood if you use
> those idioms you learned from the book. One reason is that some of
> them are really old-fashioned, almost archaic. Another reason is
> that some of the explanations are either inappropriate or wrong.
> Since you seem to have far more than a basic knowledge of the
> Japanese language, why don't you forget about dictionaries and
> textbooks and expose yourself to "real" Japanese? That way you'll
> learn a lot more than you get from books about Japeanese written in
> English.
>
> Kamui>
"Real" Japanese? Hmm, wouldn't that be a bit hard to achieve?
Well, I am at a point where I can read modern editions of the Bible
in Japanese, albeit with some difficulty. (There are certain kanji
whose reading I yet do not know.) I can also write letters in
Japanese, but I still need practice with formulating sentences longer
than two clauses. To be brief, let's say you can give me an edition
of the Asahi Shimbun and I would be able to understand about 70% of
what is written therein.
As for spoken Japanese, I yet have to train my ear to the point where
I can listen to two Japanese persons in conversation and know exactly
what they are saying. (I do not live in New York City, so I'd be hard-
pressed to find a speaker of anything other than English or Spanish.)
I still need to expand my vocabulary, but at least I have a grasp of
honorifics and how they influence what verbs are used. ("Itadaku"
vs. "uketoru".) Even so, there are times when I used something
like "kaite agemasu" and was told that I was "pushing my kindness".
To keep it short, I could use an immersion course at the moment.
Watching Japanese language movies and videoclips (sometimes without
the subtitles) does help, but it's only in real-life conversation
that I can actually refine my ear for the language.
- Arian I.
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