Learning (or rather relearning) Japanese

[Kotatsu]

I used to study Japanese for two years, but at the time, it was mainly for fun, and I didn't put as much effort into it as I should have. Consequently, my knowledge of Japanese, mainly through disuse, is approaching zero.

However, I was recently visiting an old friend in Würzburg, who speaks Japanese like a native, ad I was much inspired to learn it all over again. Partly, this is because I will likely go collect material for my PhD in Japan next year, and I'm planning to take the opportunity to do some sight-seeing as well. This means I will want to be able to understand people, and to have them understand me. The material collection alone will involve close daily contact with bird ringers at some bird observatory (I have no details worked out yet), and I'm one of those people who love to learn the language of the place I'm visiting even if it's just for a few days.

Thus, having realised that my previous Japanese-education was basically wasted away, I have decided to take as much time as possible to learn Japanese again. I'll pretend I've never studied it, and will therefore start from the beginning with the basic vocabulary, kanji and grammar.

I have a plan on how to study this, and I hope I'll be able to stick to it. However, I would like to, if possible, get input from others who have studied Japanese, are studying Japanese, or are Japanese, as well as more or less anyone who has an experience in studying languages. I would say I have no problems learning a language as such, and only lack of intellectual maturity stopped me from learning it the first time around, but there's no point in redoing mistakes because you never asked anyone more experienced first.

My approach this time will be manifold:
1. Studying my old textbooks (Genki 1 + 2, and Japansk Språklära) and lecture notes;
2. Studying my old kanji notes (handed out by the University, and probably originally written by them as well);
3. Reading manga in Japanese, initially aided by the Nelson dictionary;
4. Kanji cards which I am starting to write myself;
5. Obsessive writing of kanji and vocabulary;
6. Translating sentences and stuff, both from English and from Japanese (and probably from German and Swedish as well);
7. Listening to Japanese music, and attempt to learn the lyrics (1) by heart;
8. Having conversations with three friends, all of which speak Japanese fluently, and all of which are eager and willing to help me.
9. Watching anime.

Is this a good start? What else should I include? Can something be excluded?

I'm also interested in books I should read. I have, apart from the ones listed above, some recommendations from friends, but the consensus seems to be that none of them are actually good at all things. Either their grammar parts is bad, or their kanji part, or their vocabulary part, and so on.

Further, if you know something else (webpages, podcasts, whatever) that would help, I'd be very grateful if you'd share.

---
(1) A friend of mine managed to learn quite a lot of Swahili by doing only that. She did have to have help by her Kenyan friends and husband and such like to actually get the words, but her sentence structure, she claims, was greatly improved.

[andyandy]

gambatte ne ;)

If you do all that you'll be pera pera in no time :D

[Solus]

I have slowly begin to develop a stronger interest in anime and I'm beginning to really dislike reading subtitles as I'm coming to understand the translations are sub par with almost no exceptions.

Believe it or not there is another JREF forum.http://www.jref.com/forum/ In this case a japan reference forum. A good idea would be either searching the language section or asking your questions there.

I was particularly interested in this site:http://japanesepod101.com/ Although with your level of understanding. This might be too simple

Well good luck Rukia san :)

[shuize]

http://jlpt.renshuu.org/

[Ryokan]

In addition to listening to Japanese music, why not watch Japanese movies and anime as well?

[Kotatsu]

gambatte ne ;)

If you do all that you'll be pera pera in no time :D

Well, at least I hope so. Unless my PhD gets in the way.:D

I have slowly begin to develop a stronger interest in anime and I'm beginning to really dislike reading subtitles as I'm coming to understand the translations are sub par with almost no exceptions.

Believe it or not there is another JREF forum.http://www.jref.com/forum/ In this case a japan reference forum. A good idea would be either searching the language section or asking your questions there.

That's a humourous coincidence. Now I've registered, and it seems a good place.

I was particularly interested in this site:http://japanesepod101.com/ Although with your level of understanding. This might be too simple

Ah, I remember now that I see it again that one of my friends recommended this immensely also. It's a bit expensive, though... On the other hand, if I'm going to study as much Japanese as I plan to above, I won't have time to spend money on other, less important, things anyway.

Well good luck Rukia san :)

ありがとうございます、ソルスさん。
Or perhaps ソオルスさん?

http://jlpt.renshuu.org/

Oh, this looks wonderful! Thank you!

In addition to listening to Japanese music, why not watch Japanese movies and anime as well?

Like this one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qDSGmx8c2AM
?

More seriously, I plan to do that as well (it is number 9 in the list above), but I've always preferred reading manga to watching anime. But yes, if I can get a new flat where there's room for a TV, I will get a lot of anime and other movies (I have a list of things people have recommended that is longer than my arm). It's not highly prioritised at the moment, though, as I feel I need to have a much broader basis to stand on before I try to watch anime without subtitles. I'm lousy at staying away from subtitles if there are any...

And just in case there's anyone else who's in the same situation as I am, or want to know more supposedly good Japanese-learning pages, I thought I'd contribute with some of my own )note that I have only very little actual experience with them myself, but that a good friend of mine in Würzburg, who has used them a lot, thinks they are good; I trust her completely):

http://wadoku.de/
- A German-Japanese dictionary, which is easy to use and, as I understand it, quite exautive.

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html

http://www.bibiko.de/kanji/

And, to end with something related, but not really the same, facemark.jp:
http://www.facemark.jp/facemark.htm

[Matteo Martini]

I used to study Japanese for two years, but at the time, it was mainly for fun, and I didn't put as much effort into it as I should have. Consequently, my knowledge of Japanese, mainly through disuse, is approaching zero.

I am studying Japanese since 2005.
The most difficult language I have tried to learn, so far.
It is difficult, but you can make it.
Just takes time.
I am 2-kyuu now, hope to get the 1-kyuu soon.

[Matteo Martini]

日本語は凄い難しいけれど若し貴方は頑張ったら出来ると思う

[Jeremy]

日本語は凄い難しいけれど若し貴方は頑張ったら出来ると思う

What does that mean? I have been studying Japanese for 3 years at my high school, and though I recognize elements of that sentence, there are several kanji I don't recognize and probably some grammar I have yet to learn. All I got was that you think something about Japanese that involves difficulty and (?) leaving (出来る).

[andyandy]

I am studying Japanese since 2005.
The most difficult language I have tried to learn, so far.
It is difficult, but you can make it.
Just takes time.
I am 2-kyuu now, hope to get the 1-kyuu soon.

wow....you made 2-kyuu in two years? Impressive - are you studying full time or just naturally gifted? :)

I made 3-kyuu, but the gap between that and 2-kyuu was rather overwhelming and i stopped with the proficiency tests after that...they could do with a 2.5-kyuu :D

I never met anyone who'd passed 1-kyuu....

[Soseki]

I never met anyone who'd passed 1-kyuu....

Well, you have now - if conversing over the net counts as meeting, that is. ;)

I think Kotatsu's plan is a very good one and covers most if not all of the fundamentals. While there are a lot of different texts and approaches out there, the only sure way to get good is basically to work your butt off - there aren't really any short cuts. A good approach to kanji and vocab is to be completely obsessive - write down everything you hear and see, and test yourself on it every day. Set yourself targets, like 10 kanji per week, and make sure you stick to them.

Of course, once you get to Japan this process will be many times more effective, as you'll be constantly surrounded with Japanese and will be using it every day. Nothing like being there.

Anyway, let me suggest a few sites I've found useful over the years:

http://www.kantango.com allows you to create your own online vocab and kanji flashcards, which you can save, modify, and use to test yourself online, or even print out if you want to do it with hard copy. Its weakness is that the inbuilt dictionary it uses is not particularly comprehensive when you get to higher levels, but for basic and intermediate level that shouldn't be a problem.

http://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/Download.htm contains a stack of free materials you can download and work your way through. The level varies and some may be too basic for you, but what's really useful are the Vocab lists for JLPT levels 4 to 1, which you can download and work your way through. They're right at the bottom of the page though.

If you haven't already, I would strongly suggest that you sign up to take at least 3-kyu this coming December (in Japan if necessary). Studying for the JLPT is one of the most effective motivators you can get, and you even get a nice little certificate at the end of it which is widely recognised as an index of Japanese language skill.

http://www.rikai.com is a very useful page for reading and digesting e.g. newspaper articles online in Japanese. Simply cut and paste the URL into the box on the left, and it will display a version of that page where each word is glossed in English when your mouse hovers over it.

Also, perhaps a couple of books I might recommend, if you have the spare cash:

Jay Rubin's Making Sense of Japanese (http://www.amazon.com/Making-Sense-Japanese-Textbooks-Kodanshas/dp/4770028024) is almost worth reading just for itself since it's superbly well written; Rubin (Professor of Japanese Lit. at Harvard, though shortly to retire) has a wonderful sense of humour and is very good at explaining some of the trickier points of Japanese grammar, such as the difference between wa and ga. It's only about $10US, too, so definitely worth considering.

Makino and Tsutsui's Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (http://www.amazon.com/Dictionary-Basic-Japanese-Grammar/dp/4789004546/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6276051-7047053?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184510049&sr=1-1)and the corresponding Intermediate version are, while very dry, still about the best one-stop reference book for Japanese grammar (and, importantly, the rules that govern each construction) that I've seen. For some reason, while there's a Basic and Intermediate edition, there isn't an Advanced one.

Finally, when you get to Japan, I would recommend in the strongest possible terms that you get yourself a denshi jisho 電子辞書 or electronic dictionary. They can be pricey - you can expect to pay about 20,000 yen or $200 - but you will probably never make a better investment in your Japanese-learning life, and you will find that it makes everything much, much easier if you always have it on hand. I was a bit of a Luddite for the first five years of my Japanese career and didn't have one. Then I bought one and now I seriously wonder how on earth I lived without it. Up to you, of course, but it will make your learning many times more efficient.

Also, Jeremy - Matteo's sentence is transliterated as nihongo wa sugoi muzukashii keredo moshi anata wa ganbattara dekiru to omou, and could be translated as something like "Japanese is damn hard, but I reckon if you stick at it you'll be able to do it". 出来る is できる, which as you probably know means 'can' or 'be able'.

This isn't a criticism of Matteo - it's highly impressive that he knows the kanji - but most Japanese natives probably wouldn't use the relevant kanji to write 'moshi' （若し） or 'anata' (貴方) except in very formal written Japanese - they'd likely just write the words in hiragana. Sometimes, possibly, because they don't always know the relevant kanji themselves...

[Puppycow]

Kotatsu: Good luck with your studies. I studied by the Jordan method, which I recommend. I am sure there are other good methods too, but I don't know as much about them. I know that you can find Japanese podcasts on iTunes
(BTW, you don't need an iPod to use iTunes. You can listen to podcasts on your computer.)

I have slowly begin to develop a stronger interest in anime and I'm beginning to really dislike reading subtitles as I'm coming to understand the translations are sub par with almost no exceptions.
I happen to work in translation and I think that the reason why subtitles usually differ greatly is that there are simply some aspects of language that cannot be translated very well. Recently, the Sopranos came out on DVD in Japan, and I've been renting it and watching with the wife. I listen to the English and we use the Japanese subtitles. Many of the lines in TV or Anime include cultural references that you cannot translate directly without background explanation. Most humor is culturally specific. Therefore, subtitles are often not direct translations but tend to leave out information or supply alternative information that is understandable by the typical native speaker of the target language.

日本語は凄い難しいけれど若し貴方は頑張ったら出来ると思う

This means: Japanese is very hard, but if you give it your all, I think you can do it. 出来る is just dekiru with kanji; it is usually written in hiragana. 凄い is sugoi with kanji.

I never met anyone who'd passed 1-kyuu....
I did! On my second try. :D (Been studying since 98 and have worked at a Japanese translation company since 2001.)

[Soseki]

I happen to work in translation and I think that the reason why subtitles usually differ greatly is that there are simply some aspects of language that cannot be translated very well. Recently, the Sopranos came out on DVD in Japan, and I've been renting it and watching with the wife. I listen to the English and we use the Japanese subtitles. Many of the lines in TV or Anime include cultural references that you cannot translate directly without background explanation. Most humor is culturally specific. Therefore, subtitles are often not direct translations but tend to leave out information or supply alternative information that is understandable by the typical native speaker of the target language.

Very true - and you have limited space on the screen for the subtitles, so some info necessarily has to go.

There are times, though, when the translator who compiles the subtitles simply isn't up to the job. I can recall a couple of examples off the top of my head; one, from Mission Impossible, where the original English of "Ah, the penny drops" is translated as 'yokubaranaide 欲張らないで' or "Don't be greedy", and another from Meet Joe Black where Brad Pitt as Death is talking to a dying West Indian woman, who talks about 'de paizon (poison) inside me', and that's rendered as something about "the pies (as in confectionery) inside me".

Admittedly I think we can probably forgive the last one, as dialect or accents can flummox even the most skilled translator (though the translation that was put out is still nonsensical), but the example from Mission Impossible is just plain lazy - it may be idiomatic English, but 30 seconds with a denshi jisho will give you the right translation.

I've heard that the people who do the subtitles are often required to do a film in 24 hours or less, so perhaps time constraints have something to do with this. Though of course Puppycow would know more than I would.

[Kotatsu]

What does that mean? I have been studying Japanese for 3 years at my high school, and though I recognize elements of that sentence, there are several kanji I don't recognize and probably some grammar I have yet to learn. All I got was that you think something about Japanese that involves difficulty and (?) leaving (出来る).

The same here... I've sadly forgotten all but the most basic kanji, and my sentence structure knowledge sucks. However, I've been making kanji cards all day, and I find that as soon as I start reading and writing again, it's quite easy. Of course, I've done nothing harder than 大学生　yet, so maybe I shoukdn't be too hasty.

I think Kotatsu's plan is a very good one and covers most if not all of the fundamentals. While there are a lot of different texts and approaches out there, the only sure way to get good is basically to work your butt off - there aren't really any short cuts. A good approach to kanji and vocab is to be completely obsessive - write down everything you hear and see, and test yourself on it every day. Set yourself targets, like 10 kanji per week, and make sure you stick to them.

Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it, especially because most of the webpages my friend recommended to me are German-Japanese, and my German, while certainly better than my Japanese, is nowhere near my English...

As a matter of fact, I am planning to apply to the JLPT this winter, probably in Stuttgart to be able to visit my friend at the same time. I'll go for 3-kyu, as that would correspond to the level of knowledge I'd have if I'd remembered all of what I learned. The goal is also to be able to take the 2-kyu sometime in the future, but I don't think the 1-kyu is realistic for me, except in some extremely distant part of the future. Apart from collection trips and occasional vacations, I don't think I'll ever be able to lie there (though you never know).

I'll get those books you recommended. I also found a series of books by Chino Nakao and Tamiya Taeko when looking for books on the JLPT on Amazon yesterday. They seemed interesting, but most didn't have any reviews on them. Do you (or anyone else here) know if they are any good? They have titles like "All about particles", "Dictionary of Japanese Adverbs and Adjectives" and so on. They weren't too expensive, but as I said, I am willing to spend quite a lot of money and time on this, so even more pricey books won't discourage me if I have reason to believe they are good.

By the way, has anyone ever tried those "learn Kanji through manga" kind of books? Are they any good, or just for kids?

My friend showed me her electronic dictionary, and I was VERY impressed. I have already resolved to get one --- the same as the one she has --- but it will have to wait for a while until I have built up at least some basic understanding again. I can't remember what brand she had, though.

Kotatsu: Good luck with your studies.

Thank you!

I happen to work in translation and I think that the reason why subtitles usually differ greatly is that there are simply some aspects of language that cannot be translated very well. Recently, the Sopranos came out on DVD in Japan, and I've been renting it and watching with the wife. I listen to the English and we use the Japanese subtitles. Many of the lines in TV or Anime include cultural references that you cannot translate directly without background explanation. Most humor is culturally specific. Therefore, subtitles are often not direct translations but tend to leave out information or supply alternative information that is understandable by the typical native speaker of the target language.

Last year, I went to listen to a speech by a guy who translates manga into Swedish. He was talking mainly about how frustrating that can be, especially when you have heaps of young people who are purists and write hate mail when you don't translate the "correct" way. He had this example of a word (detective superintendent or something similar) which was just four kanji long, and thus had a very small speech bubble, but which in Swedish (the target language) was considerably longer, and difficult to fit into the bubble at all. He opted for writing "Hey you!" instead, which was a bad move.

[Kotatsu]

I've heard that the people who do the subtitles are often required to do a film in 24 hours or less, so perhaps time constraints have something to do with this. Though of course Puppycow would know more than I would.

If true, that would explain quite a lot.

[Ryokan]

Like this one:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qDSGmx8c2AM
?

Genius! :D

Shame about the language barrier. Japanese comedy is wonderful, and if it was more accesible to people in the west, I think it could be pretty popular.

[Soseki]

Hah! I'll see your http://youtube.com/watch?v=qDSGmx8c2AM and raise you a http://youtube.com/watch?v=0b75cl4-qRE. なるほど、侍の国ですね。

I'm afraid I've not used any of the books you mention - I only ever took 1-kyu - so I can't really comment. There are a number of books out there (Kanzen Mastaa springs to mind) that are aimed specifically at the grammar and kanji you need for the level in question and which are usually a good investment.

I've not used any of the learn-Japanese-through-manga materials either, but I think they could be quite effective if you're into that kind of thing anyway, since combining personal interests and study is a winning strategy (I learned a lot of Japanese from watching football and baseball games on TV over there). Manga are often written with a deliberately limited range of kanji so as to prove comprehensible to younger readers, but so long as you don't confine yourself exclusively to manga (or start talking like manga characters...), I think they definitely have a place.

Re: denshi jisho, you can set many of them to display in English if you're concerned about not knowing how to use them. Moreover, if you're not confident in your kanji use you should look for one with a good "Jump" function (which allows you to check the kanji and then come back) and which allows you to look up compounds at the same time. I understand that at the really high end of the market you can get models that allow you to add extra dictionaries (e.g. of Classical Japanese, really comprehensive (50,000+) kanji dictionaries, etc) through a slot in the side like a memory card on a digital camera. Though right at the moment you probably don't need more than the basics. I have a Canon IDF-4100, which, while it's fairly old and out of date (bought it in 2003) is still more than capable of doing what I need it to.

[andyandy]

Well, you have now - if conversing over the net counts as meeting, that is. ;)
...


I did! On my second try. :D (Been studying since 98 and have worked at a Japanese translation company since 2001.)


1-kyuu is all 2000~ kanji and about 10,000 words isn't it? muri desu yo! :)

i am in constant awe of collective JREF cleverness :D

[Kotatsu]

Hah! I'll see your http://youtube.com/watch?v=qDSGmx8c2AM and raise you a http://youtube.com/watch?v=0b75cl4-qRE. なるほど、侍の国ですね

This is gari. No one knows where it comes from!

Excellence!

Sadly, my knowledge of funny and relevant Youtube clips sort f stopped there. Unless you count http://youtube.com/watch?v=0pAmVipomcA but that's not as much funny as really amazing, though.

I'm afraid I've not used any of the books you mention - I only ever took 1-kyu - so I can't really comment. There are a number of books out there (Kanzen Mastaa springs to mind) that are aimed specifically at the grammar and kanji you need for the level in question and which are usually a good investment.

I've not used any of the learn-Japanese-through-manga materials either, but I think they could be quite effective if you're into that kind of thing anyway, since combining personal interests and study is a winning strategy (I learned a lot of Japanese from watching football and baseball games on TV over there). Manga are often written with a deliberately limited range of kanji so as to prove comprehensible to younger readers, but so long as you don't confine yourself exclusively to manga (or start talking like manga characters...), I think they definitely have a place.

Re: denshi jisho, you can set many of them to display in English if you're concerned about not knowing how to use them. Moreover, if you're not confident in your kanji use you should look for one with a good "Jump" function (which allows you to check the kanji and then come back) and which allows you to look up compounds at the same time. I understand that at the really high end of the market you can get models that allow you to add extra dictionaries (e.g. of Classical Japanese, really comprehensive (50,000+) kanji dictionaries, etc) through a slot in the side like a memory card on a digital camera. Though right at the moment you probably don't need more than the basics. I have a Canon IDF-4100, which, while it's fairly old and out of date (bought it in 2003) is still more than capable of doing what I need it to.

Thank you for all your help! It will take some time to digest everything and sort of sift through and see what I need. I've been making kanji cards all day (145 of them), and will likely continue doing so for the next few days.

[Matteo Martini]

wow....you made 2-kyuu in two years? Impressive - are you studying full time or just naturally gifted? :)

I made 3-kyuu, but the gap between that and 2-kyuu was rather overwhelming and i stopped with the proficiency tests after that...they could do with a 2.5-kyuu :D

I never met anyone who'd passed 1-kyuu....

I suppose we are both speaking about JLPT, right?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JLPT

It all depends on which level you want to achieve.

If you want just to talk Japanese, maybe you do not need to know many kanjis
If you want to read fluently, and read a newspaper, you certainly need 2-kyuu, and some extensive, if not complete, knowledge, of 1-kyuu
But, in order to read any scientific paper, or anything else, 2-kyuu is not enough.

I have been studying for at least one hour a day, for two years.

I used the following programs, which I found the best ones:
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~ik2r-myr/kanji/kanji1a.htm ( very useful, you get close to finish 1-kyuu with this.. )
http://web.uvic.ca/kanji-gold/ ( excellent free program, you can study all the kanji you want, here, there are much more kanjis that in the JLPT. There are over 6000 kanjis, here, but, you can not read them so well, on the screen ).
http://www.jlpt-kanji.com/ ( this is also good, but I did not use it, as it does not have English translations of compounds )

[Matteo Martini]

I did! On my second try. :D (Been studying since 98 and have worked at a Japanese translation company since 2001.)

偉い！！！！

[Matteo Martini]

and raise you a http://youtube.com/watch?v=0b75cl4-qRE. なるほど、侍の国ですね。


先のビデオ百パーセント本当ではないよ!!
七十五パーセント位と思う

This video is not competely true, especially, the custom of leaving a small pots of salt outside the doors of the sushi-ya!!

[Soseki]

Thank you for all your help! It will take some time to digest everything and sort of sift through and see what I need. I've been making kanji cards all day (145 of them), and will likely continue doing so for the next few days.

Not at all. I did think of some more stuff, but I don't want to overwhelm you at this stage; you can always PM one of us or come back to this thread some time later to let us know how you get on. In fact, it might not be a bad idea to do that anyway, as we might be able to help out if you get stuck on something.

This video is not competely true, especially, the custom of leaving a small pots of salt outside the doors of the sushi-ya!!

Well, OK, it may not be completely accurate, but it's still damn funny. :D

[Matteo Martini]

Well, OK, it may not be completely accurate, but it's still damn funny. :D

Agreed
:)

[Kotatsu]

Okay, a question:

I was making kanji flash cards today, and came to 開. This, I know, is "to open (something)" (開ける) or "(something) opens" (開く). However, my textbook also provides the interpretation 開く = ひらく = "to open (something)". I called and asked a friend of mine, who in turn consulted his Japanese/Korean girlfriend, however nothing conclusive resulted. They felt that ひらく was perhaps more polite, but could be used both transitively and intransitively; my friend didn't think he'd ever used it, though, and his girlfriend was uncertain.

According to Nelson's dictionary and wadoku.de, ひらく seems to overlap in meaning with the others, so I can't really make any sense of it. Could anyone please explain if there is some sort of difference in when one should be used, or if there is no difference. My friend and his girlfriend recommended just ignoring the ひらく reading.

EDIT:
Man, it feels nice to able to write hiragana and kanji on this computer. My old PC was a bit too idiotic to understand such things (or perhas I was just too lazy to find out how...). Anyway, I'm feeling that starting to learn Japanese again feels good. I can't understand why I ever stopped. I LOVE KANJI!

[Matteo Martini]

Okay, a question:

I was making kanji flash cards today, and came to 開. This, I know, is "to open (something)" (開ける) or "(something) opens" (開く). However, my textbook also provides the interpretation 開く = ひらく = "to open (something)". I called and asked a friend of mine, who in turn consulted his Japanese/Korean girlfriend, however nothing conclusive resulted. They felt that ひらく was perhaps more polite, but could be used both transitively and intransitively; my friend didn't think he'd ever used it, though, and his girlfriend was uncertain.

According to Nelson's dictionary and wadoku.de, ひらく seems to overlap in meaning with the others, so I can't really make any sense of it. Could anyone please explain if there is some sort of difference in when one should be used, or if there is no difference. My friend and his girlfriend recommended just ignoring the ひらく reading.

EDIT:
Man, it feels nice to able to write hiragana and kanji on this computer. My old PC was a bit too idiotic to understand such things (or perhas I was just too lazy to find out how...). Anyway, I'm feeling that starting to learn Japanese again feels good. I can't understand why I ever stopped. I LOVE KANJI!

I really do not know the difference of the two.
I had studied something, but I do not remember.
Anyway, you can ell the difference, as the hiragana part after the 開　kanji is different.
I forgot another suggestion.
You can read all the articles using Google Translation Service, and you are able to see the pronounciation of each kanji too

[Soseki]

According to Nelson's dictionary and wadoku.de, ひらく seems to overlap in meaning with the others, so I can't really make any sense of it. Could anyone please explain if there is some sort of difference in when one should be used, or if there is no difference. My friend and his girlfriend recommended just ignoring the ひらく reading.

G'day Kotatsu.

Short answer, there isn't much of a difference practically speaking, though 'hiraku' has a couple of additional meanings that 'akeru' doesn't (e.g. to hold an event -　パーティーを開く (paatii o hiraku), hold a party). I wouldn't ignore the reading, though, because it will probably come up fairly frequently.

Long answer can be found here - http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?stage=2&sn=128. It's all in Japanese, so allow me to attempt a rough and ready translation:

What's the difference between 'hiraku' and 'akeru'?

'Akeru' has the sense of creating space by removing a barrier or division, or displaying something that was inside.

For instance, in the case of 'mado o akeru' (open the window) one removes a flat plane (the window pane) which had been separating the inside and outside, and a space which links inside and outside is thereby created. Likewise, with 'hako o akeru' (open a box), what was inside is exposed to view by means of removing the lid separating the inside and outside.

By contrast, 'hiraku' is normally used with items such as doors and windows where the opening and closing motion is considered part of their normal function. That is to say that with 'hiraku' one's focus is on the operation of opening or closing itself, which is realised by changing the angle of a flat surface. The act of opening a book involves changing the angles of two flat surfaces, in other words rotating two flat surfaces that had been on top of one another around a single axis to pull them apart. In the case of 'kasa o hiraku' (open an umbrella) or 'parashuuto o hiraku' (open a parachute) the two surfaces (like with the book) are assumed to be infinite, and the motion is understood as originating around a single point.

Thus, with 'akeru' the focus is on the space that is created as a result of the act of removing a barrier or division, or the continuity between inside and outside that is thereby created. With 'hiraku', by contrast, the focus is on the movement of a surface around a central area or point. Accordingly, with 'mado o hiraku' we can speak of the space that is created as a result of the action and so it is possible to also use 'akeru', but as there is no particular space that is created as a result of opening a book (hon o hiraku), we cannot say 'hon o akeru'.

Clear as mud, I'm sure. Still, I hope that gives you the basic idea..? I wasn't entirely sure myself...hey, we're all learning things today!

[Kahalachan]

Best of luck to you.

Babelfish is good to translate Japanese/English websites. It doesn't get it down perfectly but it's helpful for developing heuristics.

[Quakeulf]

Good ***** luck with the pronounciation. The schwa of many of yours can kill almost any attempt at such a language!

I've done a 2 years university major in Japanese, but after living in Japan for 5 months, I totally lost interest because everything felt hopeless.

[Kotatsu]

G'day Kotatsu.

Short answer, there isn't much of a difference practically speaking, though 'hiraku' has a couple of additional meanings that 'akeru' doesn't (e.g. to hold an event -　パーティーを開く (paatii o hiraku), hold a party). I wouldn't ignore the reading, though, because it will probably come up fairly frequently.

Long answer can be found here - http://home.alc.co.jp/db/owa/jpn_npa?stage=2&sn=128. It's all in Japanese, so allow me to attempt a rough and ready translation:

Clear as mud, I'm sure. Still, I hope that gives you the basic idea..? I wasn't entirely sure myself...hey, we're all learning things today!

Thank you! It seems my friend must have used it sometime, then, but just couldn't remember what to do with it. Hmmm. I'll have to study the translations in Nelson more thoroughly, I guess.