The Language-Learning Thread

G-Ratasaurus Rex wrote:

Archaeon wrote:Isn't Ecchi Baka Hentai a, um, thing in certain circles? Not that it would need the Baka bit, now that you tell me what it means

Using my dictionary, lol:

Ecchi(エッチ) is defined as indecent, lewd, frisky, sexy; to have sex. Apparently you can "do" ecchi, which is just to have sex. But I think that meaning has somewhat changed?

Baka is still stupid.

As you surely know, hentai (変態) means abnormality/pervert (lit. strange/unusual/change attitiude/appearance)

So yeah, unless you're being specific, you probably don't need to google it.

I think you're overthinking it. It's just someone/something usually a girl character throwing out insults. There's more than likely some form of space or exclamation mark. If there isn't it's basically like calling someone a perverted (lewd) idiot (stupid).

Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I've given up on JET now

Good to see you're enjoying China, Nova

Happy Chinese New Year fellas. 新年快樂！恭喜發財！

Congrats, Nova. Hope you have a great time.

Just as a point of interest, "ecchi" originated as a euphemism for "hentai", because "ecchi" is the Japanese phonetic pronunciation of the letter H. In terms of pornography, ecchi generally refers to softer stuff than outright hentai - things like dodgy panty shots rather than actual nudity. In terms of behaviour or actions, both can be used as insults, but ecchi has connotations more along the lines of being kinky rather than outright perverted. While "hentai" is almost always derogatory, I've heard "ecchi" used in flirty contexts.

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

kiera229 wrote:Just as a point of interest, "ecchi" originated as a euphemism for "hentai", because "ecchi" is the Japanese phonetic pronunciation of the letter H. In terms of pornography, ecchi generally refers to softer stuff than outright hentai - things like dodgy panty shots rather than actual nudity. In terms of behaviour or actions, both can be used as insults, but ecchi has connotations more along the lines of being kinky rather than outright perverted. While "hentai" is almost always derogatory, I've heard "ecchi" used in flirty contexts.

The more you know.

Fatal Exception wrote:

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

Keep at it! Where I'm living is hardly Shanghai, but train travel is so easy over here (even flying, to be honest) that you can basically get anywhere from any reasonable city.

Nova wrote:

Fatal Exception wrote:

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

Keep at it! Where I'm living is hardly Shanghai, but train travel is so easy over here (even flying, to be honest) that you can basically get anywhere from any reasonable city.

Sound like your having a great time. Is it really incredible there? in what way? I have never been to China. Could you describe to us why its so good? thanks
One of my friends who I have lost contact with went there initially to teach english but now hes moved there permanently.

Nova wrote:

Fatal Exception wrote:

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

Keep at it! Where I'm living is hardly Shanghai, but train travel is so easy over here (even flying, to be honest) that you can basically get anywhere from any reasonable city.

yeah I was there over summer. Shanghai travel is probably the most expensive anywhere in china, but it's still insanely cheap. It worked out only about 10p a journey more expensive than Beijing.

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

Nova wrote:

Fatal Exception wrote:

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

Keep at it! Where I'm living is hardly Shanghai, but train travel is so easy over here (even flying, to be honest) that you can basically get anywhere from any reasonable city.

Sound like your having a great time. Is it really incredible there? in what way? I have never been to China. Could you describe to us why its so good? thanks
One of my friends who I have lost contact with went there initially to teach english but now hes moved there permanently.

Perhaps not all of China is incredible (in fact, where I am is certainly not incredible), but Shanghai is a fantastic city. I love it because of the constant old vs new thing they have that runs throughout the centre (huge skyscrapers in Pudong against the Old City and the French Concession).

I certainly won't stay here for longer than the year my contract runs for, but there are such an enormous number of fantastic places to visit that I know sightseeing is going to be brilliant throughout the year. Next place to go for us is Qingdao, in early Feb. After that, we'll take a weekend to visit the Plum Blossom Festival on the side of a mountain in Nanjing. Can't wait!

And yeah, travel is very cheap indeed. The underground was 3RMB a trip (31p?), and taxis start at 14RMB but we shared with our friends a lot. The buses are dirt cheap if you can wait for them (in Jiangyin, where I live, every bus is 1RMB, which is crazy).

Pacman wrote:I've given up on JET now

Dear Mr. [Pacman],

Thank you for your application to the JET Programme.

We are pleased to provide you with early confirmation that you have been selected for interview. Your interview will take place on Wednesday, 8th February at 12:40hrs at the Embassy of Japan in London.

Aaron o/

Haha, either it's alphabetical, or my application was waaaaaaay better than yours.

But yeah, well done, obvs!

Your interview was today, right? How'd it go?

Guess you could say they do the applications... yearley...

StayDead wrote:Guess you could say they do the applications... yearley...

Nova wrote:

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

Nova wrote:

Fatal Exception wrote:

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

Keep at it! Where I'm living is hardly Shanghai, but train travel is so easy over here (even flying, to be honest) that you can basically get anywhere from any reasonable city.

Sound like your having a great time. Is it really incredible there? in what way? I have never been to China. Could you describe to us why its so good? thanks
One of my friends who I have lost contact with went there initially to teach english but now hes moved there permanently.

Perhaps not all of China is incredible (in fact, where I am is certainly not incredible), but Shanghai is a fantastic city. I love it because of the constant old vs new thing they have that runs throughout the centre (huge skyscrapers in Pudong against the Old City and the French Concession).

I certainly won't stay here for longer than the year my contract runs for, but there are such an enormous number of fantastic places to visit that I know sightseeing is going to be brilliant throughout the year. Next place to go for us is Qingdao, in early Feb. After that, we'll take a weekend to visit the Plum Blossom Festival on the side of a mountain in Nanjing. Can't wait!

And yeah, travel is very cheap indeed. The underground was 3RMB a trip (31p?), and taxis start at 14RMB but we shared with our friends a lot. The buses are dirt cheap if you can wait for them (in Jiangyin, where I live, every bus is 1RMB, which is crazy).

Ah nice, man. Qingdao is a quality city. Check out the beer factory or one of the beer festivals if there're any on when you're there. Great fun. Failing that, just drink lots of beer. If you've got some time to spend in Shandong, I'd recommended checking out Qufu (Confucius' home town) and Taishan (Mt. Tai) just outside Taian. It's one of the sacred mountains of China and it's pretty spectacular up top. Laoshan (Mt. Lao) just outside Qingda's worth a look-in, too. Jealous mate!

Kinetic wrote:

Nova wrote:

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

Nova wrote:

Fatal Exception wrote:

Nova wrote:Guys, I'm in China.

We got a job to work out here for a year, and now we're here. We have found an apartment in Wuxi, and have started a mini-holiday in Shanghai. This place is absolutely incredible!

I'm jelly bro. I keep applying for jobs in China but I've not heard anything yet.

Keep at it! Where I'm living is hardly Shanghai, but train travel is so easy over here (even flying, to be honest) that you can basically get anywhere from any reasonable city.

Sound like your having a great time. Is it really incredible there? in what way? I have never been to China. Could you describe to us why its so good? thanks
One of my friends who I have lost contact with went there initially to teach english but now hes moved there permanently.

Perhaps not all of China is incredible (in fact, where I am is certainly not incredible), but Shanghai is a fantastic city. I love it because of the constant old vs new thing they have that runs throughout the centre (huge skyscrapers in Pudong against the Old City and the French Concession).

I certainly won't stay here for longer than the year my contract runs for, but there are such an enormous number of fantastic places to visit that I know sightseeing is going to be brilliant throughout the year. Next place to go for us is Qingdao, in early Feb. After that, we'll take a weekend to visit the Plum Blossom Festival on the side of a mountain in Nanjing. Can't wait!

And yeah, travel is very cheap indeed. The underground was 3RMB a trip (31p?), and taxis start at 14RMB but we shared with our friends a lot. The buses are dirt cheap if you can wait for them (in Jiangyin, where I live, every bus is 1RMB, which is crazy).

If you've got some time to spend in Shandong, I'd recommended checking out Qufu (Confucius' home town) and Taishan (Mt. Tai) just outside Taian. It's one of the sacred mountains of China and it's pretty spectacular up top.

I'd add to these recommendations. Qufu is definitely worth a visit if you can as, unlike the Forbidden City and many of China's other temples/palaces, it hasn't had a silly amount of restoration work done to it so what you're seeing is the real deal. Confucius' graveyard itself is awesome and for some reason reminded me of the Forest Temple in Zelda. Taishan is also awesome but I wouldn't advise going there this time of year: I went in the middle of the summer and it was pretty chilly at the top even then.

Well if you're near/in Shanghai then you could see Xitang. It's not too far away and is a lovely water village. It's also where they shot part of Mission Impossible 3, supposedly in old Shanghai.