> Yeah, and all of you who think Japanese is "cool" should also read this. Also, just read it.
>
> -- Dave

Being one of the aforementioned weirdo anime geeks, I've seen that before. ;) Yep, it's still amusing.

One of my friends is taking Japanese right now, and she drew out a chart of hirigana and katakana for me last time she came over, and explained a few of the basic rules... not even grammar rules, just how the different symbols sound, and how adding more lines changes the sound, but ONLY for a few symbols, and yeesh. Complex.

I'm good with languages, and I understand quite a bit of simple spoken Japanese simply by virtue of having been exposed to so much of it, but having to learn a whole new alphabet adds another dimension of complexity... let alone THREE whole new alphabets. Oy. If it was just romanji, I'd be okay, but it's not (and even romanization can be horribly inconsistent, making studies of Eastern art and history horribly confusing).

And point three is SO true. *snirk* There are 'know-it-alls' who know nothing in ever hobby, but it just becomes FAR more amusing when it involves cross-cultural things. My personal favorite stupid thing those people do is calling their significant other their 'koi'.

They're trying to shorten 'koibito', which means 'lover', but neglect to note that 'koi' means 'carp'. Heh.

Sosi"Oh, my carp!"qui