Japanese in one minute: 1) George is overqualified to teach Japanese. 2) "Ru verb" is a poor naming convention, because there are too many exceptions that confuse the student. "Iru/eru verb" has much fewer exceptions, so the students get less confused, based on his many years of teaching experience.
When I saw your comment I thought this: it takes a foreigner to explain well a language (especially to foreigners). Native speakers sometimes don't find good rules, or they find good rules for native speakers (I've seen this happen so many times, and native teachers get very confused when I point it out). That's why, when I want learn a language, I usually trust foreigners more. Ideally, a foreigner that has "fought" with the language to make sense of it, and that has thought hard about how to extract rules and explain it. George is one of those. Probably the best Japanese teacher (at least the best I know). On top of that, he is also very fun and passionate, and I think that this is also super important when teaching.
George, just keep remembering that the trolls and haters will always be more vocal than the serious ambitioned learner. If the average listener is anything like me, then we watch these videos to learn and for entertainment and generally just ignore the drama. I for one would actually be fine with it if you just ignored the drama too and didn't feel the necessity for these rants. Hoping more positive feedback will get the trick done, so: Keep up the great work! Your efforts are really appreciated! Go George!
The world of otakus and those who want to learn would have less in life if George was not around! I totally agree, most of us aren't vocal....we like what we see, we don't need it to change. Plus even for me, I speak Chinese, English and thanks to George, some Japanese, and a bit of French for work, I mess up grammar between all 4 of them all the time! He's human and that fact he can teach live while there's that risk of messing up is amazing!
George I have learned so much Japanese from you and honestly your videos, more than anything, give me the moment to keep learning and studying Japanese, along with many other languages. Your stile of teaching is personally my favorite and I find it much easier to comprehend what you're teaching compared to any other language teachers I've had or come across. Thank you so much for being so consistent and pour in thousands upon thousands of hours into all these videos and work extremely hard for the benefit of people like me being able to learn Japanese. You're an awesome guy and a teacher. Thank you so much ^-^
I have been watching your videos since 2016, and this year, I'll be a high school exchange student to Japan. Going back, reviewing these lessons, mean a lot to me. This is by far the most comprehensive and yet easy to understand Japanese course I can find online. Thank you for your work!
Don't get too affected by those people, we all appreciate your work andIi personally think that your verb patterns are far superior to the ru-verb stuff :)
I believe that after seeing this video, everyone who wants to learn any language you can teach, will come to you. I have seen such passion to understand the material, to think that through, and recycle it from dictionaries to teaching form. That is how you know the man knows what he is talking about, that is how you know he didn't just copied a book and spent more time on video making. P.S. Before I've been told to check your channel, I just got to verbs conjugation, "3 groups", Godan, Ichidan, etc. And I was like "ayo what the heck" and almost threw that idea of learning language away.
Dear George Sensei I love it how you took the time to explain this so thoroughly Thank you very much for your efforts Be well and never stop teaching ❤️
When I first learned Japanese in college I was taught iru/eru verbs using the textbook "Situational Functional Japanese" by Tsukuba Language Group. Verbs were categorized as Group I - Regular / Group II - Iru/Eru / Group III - Irregular.
I have to say I have been trying to learn Japanese since I was a teenager. I had given up when I found these books and it's getting better and better, because I have fun learning, and that had never happened before. I think that when someone puts its heart in what they do, great things happen. And it shows in every video that you love what you do, and that makes it fun and easy (even for non-native English speakers like me). Thank you for these books and these videos George! Greetings from Argentina!
I came across this channel about a week ago after self studying Japanese for about 1 month. This channel has reinforced some of the things I already learnt and actually helped me to understand a lot of the things I had read but didnt understand. It was interesting to learn about your life so I am glad you made this video! Thank you for making the videos :)
What I love about you ギオrギ先生 is that you are humbly so self-aware. Thank you ありがとうございましてfo all of your excellent materials. I have been learning Japanese on and off for just under 4 years - but really made some real progress when I buckled down with your materials. Thanks to you and your 供 team.
This is waaaaay simpler that how I first learned it, being the standard ru/u verb naming convention. Before I discovered your book + video series, I was learning from another RU-vidr's online courses (which cost 8x as much as buying all 5 of your books btw). While he was fantastic in a number of ways, the standard way of teaching verbs just did not stick with me. In a matter of 15 minutes, you brilliantly narrowed this topic down by stating that anything not ending in ru is regular, and most of everything else falls under the iru/eru verb rule. Suddenly there is a lot less to try to remember and understand. Thank you for once again making a seemingly monstrous mountain appear as the molehill it actually is. Loving your series and your teaching philosophy!
Hi George, another silent learner here. I look forward to coming home every day from work to learn some Japanese from your videos. Thanks again for the wonderful lessons! You are a delight to learn from. Thank you again!
Totally agree with you George, especially about the way things are taught. Fifty years ago when I was an apprentice I asked my boss why we did a thing a certain way as I didn't;t think it was correct. After some thought his answer to me was, "Well, we've always done it that way". Well in my opinion he had been doing it in an outdated way. Same thing with the way language has been taught over the years. It's all very different now from when I was at school, and in a good way.
Your way of classifying the verb types is great and easy to understand. My first teacher used the group 1 and 2 method. Any verbs that do not follow the rule we were asked to just memorize them. It was confusing for beginners so I love your teaching much more!👍🏻👍🏻
To anyone considering skipping the introduction, don't. It's worth the extra time and you get a much greater appreciation for George and the work that he does as a result. I think if teachers in schools explained their process and ideas and history in this manner, then they would also be a lot more respected among students and peers.
Thanks Alex. I have a pattern of speech that loves to set a "mood" or a "preface". If you miss that the impact of what I'm saying can be lost. I appreciate your comment.
I had japanese classes at University and I understand your channel WAYYY MORE. Faster, more solid and more fluid comprehension. The way you're teaching is amazing and I'm always surprised of your comments to help understand it's really like you're in the heads of students. And you're really motivating, cheering also, I'm truly thankful for that. It's just saying. There will always be haters but I'm sure the number of good comments and grateful thanks beats those trolls or hating comments. And verbs types used to make me rage so much x) It's way easier to see it that way it makes more sense.
Great channel, sir. I am constantly drilling myself with flashcards and grammar exercises, but this is the only resource where I can both learn and be entertained. Your content is so perfectly paced and also funny as hell. Thanks for putting this all together.
George Sensei thank you so much for your hard work. I know you made this video years ago but in lockdown it's a lifesaver for me. Please know that you have students that are absolutely engaged in Japanese by you despite the occasional bad comment.
Now I wish every resource used your really simple set of 'rules', because it's the first thing that has made sense to me. Also, I enjoyed hearing your backstory :)
George Sensei, I know it's tough, but you've gotta forget about petty people. I've been studying Japanese for a meager 4 months or so, and out of all the resources out there; your content is by far my favorite. It is the easiest to understand and absorb, you make everything very clear and relatable. I just wanted to thank you and encourage your ongoing success.
George, I doubt you're still looking at comments on this video in the year of our Lord 2022, but I did want to say that I've been learning Japanese for a little over a year now and verb types and conjugations are something of a wall for me at the moment. I have been trying to learn Japanese through as many different sources as possible, both across textbooks and video tutorials, and it feels like every one of them has a different way of attacking verbs. But your Regular - いる/える - Irregular breakdown seems like the most straightforward one I've encountered thus far, so I'm going to keep plugging away at this series (and your books) until it clicks. It's like you said in the first video for book one, right? If you get stuck, just move forward.
George, thank you so much for these videos. I am a Chinese who just start learning Japanese now. You videos do help me a lot! I am also glad to hear you are learning Chinese now. I would like to answer any questions about Chinese language.
Living in Misawa right now, really neat to hear you talking about it! I've been learning Japanese since moving here a year and a half ago. Your vids have been a great help and very entertaining!
That is one fantastic portfolio. Best of luck to you and your business sir. Please only listen to creative criticism. There will always be trolls. I started to watch your videos about a week ago and I am becoming a big fan of your work. I started to learn japanese with no real use for it, apart from entertainement, but I love languages and it seems easy the way you explain it. Please keep up your good work.
You are amazing! Thanks so much for your videos. It's obvious that you're very passionate about teaching. I've been learning languages on my own and had just stumbled upon your videos. I totally get your method and style of teaching because I approach a new language the same way so it's good to know I'm on the right track. Like you, I share the same enthusiasm when I teach, there's just so much gratification in the process. Keep up the great work sensei!
The problem is with the (i may sound like racist and i hate it but it is true and i don't wanna beat around the bush) people is they don't like an American guy teaching Asian language and on the top that specially Japanese language and on the top of that when he has his own unique style and rules and also people just jealous of him But Mr George is different and i like him a lot. i learn a lot from him.
Actually, in my opinion, learning Japanese from a native English speaker who studied Japanese is a lot better because a native Japanese speaker usually has no idea how to teach a language he or she grew up in since they never really studied Japanese the way a foreigner did. What I'm saying is I trust a White, American guy teaching Asian language over an Asian who's okay in English but speaks well in their own native language. For example, My native language is English but that doesn't mean I am capable of teaching it. There are a lot of grammar rules I am not even concious of. I just know the rules without knowing them. So I wouldn't be a great fit to teach English to a non-english speaker.
Being scientifically oriented myself, I hate 'rules' that have a ton of exceptions. Say, for example, English. I like knowing that if it doesn't end in 'ru' and isn't one of the many (2) irregular verbs, it fits a pattern. And if it is "eru" or "iru", I need to look it up.
Krieghandt it's like the whole 'I before E except after C rule'. 60% of the time it works every time! But seriously, there are more words where I is after E then there are before it, and yet year after year they teach it in schools. It isn't helpful.
aviv kolberg dude, you should respect a teacher even he is bad because he is your teacher, i am an indian and we respect teacher. this is funny. jeorge trumbly- you are great i mean i learned so much from your videos and i watch every single day at least 3 video and i practice it. you are putting so much effort and hard work on your video and i can see it. studying japanese in collage in india and when i don't understand i come home and watch your video and then concept clear. i am really lucky that i found you in youtube. i wish i could buy your book but okane ga tari masen. love you jeorge trumbly you are the best.
I was actually really confused by the -u and -ru distinction. It just didn't click for me and this made a lot more sense. Don't feel the need to explain or justify what you teach. Different people learn in different ways and there are people (like me) for which your way of teaching is a huge help. That's all that matters really.
I am not the brightest guy in the room and I am totally confused by what seems like a rant. I am a big fan of your books and teaching method but this was a sea of confusion with nothing to grab onto. I am not discouraged despite this effort.
As soon as someone mentions skin colour in their comment then you know they are being racist and their comment has no further value. You are teaching Japanese because YOU ARE GOOD AT IT! That's all that should matter. Your JFZ Book 1 got me started on learning Japanese and I'm now doing a University course to improve my grasp of the language. Thank you for getting me started and keep up the good work!
Let me say I have all of your books and if one day I have he opportunity to teach Japanese I will use them, because they are wonderful. They address all of the questions other books leave unanswered, I also can learn better from you because you teach in my own language, you can make your points across, I am already waiting for your next book. So ignore the trolls and listen to us the ones that appreciate your work.
I also thought from when I started learning Japanese that the (standard) way verbs are explained is needlessly made complicated, albeit not wrong. It's like in math, there's literally an infinite number of ways to write any number, equation, etc, but some are more complex than others and can be simplified.
Wow I had no idea you did all of that! I knew you went to Japan with your father as a boy but that was all I knew. I'm sure you get a lot of trolls that say things like "oh great, another white guy who taught English in Japan because he's a loser in his home country and he's a weeaboo with yellow fever". I'm not sure if you get that but I know a lot of English teachers in Japan get that all the time. You actually have a really unique story and have a lot of balls. Much respect.
to be honest i skipt this video , cuz i already trust in your teaching methode also , you really dont have to prove yourself you're awsom and many ppl here are so much thankful for this videos
well as a student i certainly found this whole iru eru thing very easy to comprehend - not sure about this whole "ru" / ichidan bullshit , it certainly sounds too confusing for what it's worth though
I think you're overcomplicating things, wakaru is a godan verb (with a ru ending), taberu is an ichidan verb, you just have to memorize whether a verb is ichidan or godan, then again, maybe it's easy for me because I practiced that for a long time. I totally agree that calling a verb a ru one or an u one can be confusing especially for beginners.
i dont even know what an ichidan or godan verb is lol. Its hard to remember in my opinion. I started learning it like that and the terms just werent easy to remember so I ended up learning verbs being called many different things.
Well... from my perspective, now YOU are the one that's over-complicating things haha. At this point, I really think it's just on which method clicks for you.
I think it's a lot easier when you know the kanji. Taberu has 2 okurigana: 食べる, the first of which is an 'e' sound; so we know it is a group-2 verb (iru/eru or 'ichidan'). 分かる has two okurigana, which is unusual for a group-1 verb; however, the first okurigana is an 'a' sound, not 'i' or 'e', which rules it out as a group-2 (iru/eru) verb. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
I know this video is old, but don't let redditors get to you, man. Attacking even the tiniest aspects of anything that someone else created is just what they do. It stems from insecurity/jealousy over the fact that 99.9% of them aren't creating a damn thing.
Wow... I feel kind of stressed out after that...George, don't bother with that lot (I know it's easier said than done and I feel like I would probably react much worse than you did if people were ignorantly criticising me). But the fact is that your core following are not the reddit crowd. It's the people who go to your website, the people who have been following you books and the people who have been watching these videos (in order and from the beginning). Just keep'em coming buddy.
This video ended up adding a lot of confusion that wasn't there before... why would you teach using the Ru verb naming if it's so bad? Now I'm stuck with it and you're trying to change it after all these lessons. I have no idea what's going on now.
To be honest reddit is a terrible place in general, you're dealing with A LOT of antisocial know it alls. George sensei if this helps, you have helped me so much with my understanding of the japanese language. On top of that your learning system is so fun that i sometimes think im pretty lucky to have a teacher who writes his books AND does youtube videos, but a random person on the internet has the audacity to criticize you.
I like your method best. It's so much easier than trying to memorise the never ending list of verbs ending in RU that aren't actually RU verbs! But I understand why Reddit Users like the RU verbs so much. It's because the initials spell RU. Conspiracy? Illuminati confirmed.
Actually when I started learning japanese i reached to the same conclusion as you; too difficult to understand just because sticking to the terminology of RU verbs, starts messing in your head.
Of course you're not a psycho. Trolling affects everyone whether they admit it or not. The key is to not let it show or they get what they wanted. You have to become the troll to defeat the troll.
George I am happy to know more about your background, but to me what is more important is that you created a path to learn Japanese; a structure that I couldn't find elsewhere, You actually feel that you are learning and see progress. I trust you as a teacher, and I think most of the people who see your videos do so as well, therefore don't care about the haters.
You don't even need to explain yourself to trolls, but I am glad you did because I never knew your history. Awesome level skyrockets! lol. Inspirational.
George, just wanted to tell you that I am a beginner in learning Japanese and I was first exposed to verbs through your JFZ series. And i REALLY found myself ENJOYING the learning process MORE AND MORE, especially now that I'm learning verb conjugations. I have looked at other materials before and the whole U-verb and RU-verb is just too confusing. So I really appreciate how you put in your best effort to make learning as easy and fun as possible for beginners like me. Don't let the trollers get to you! cheers!
George's method makes so much more sense! I studied Japanese from absolutely nothing in college in Bulgaria for 1 year,one intense year(linguistics)I had to learn katakana and hiragana in 2 weeks. I dropped out due to relocation,but by the end of the year I was probably about book 3 of JFZ and that was 8 years ago. Since then I have forgotten 90 percent,but recently got my interest in again I gotta say that this is the point where I started to get a bit depressed,a bit confused and falling behind. Now I realize that it was due to the way it was taught. I ordered recently JFZ 1 and even though most of the beginning stuff for me is remembering it, this is the point where things get important and the way you learn it could made a lifetime difference! P.s. I love your rants George and your teaching methods! 👍
omg there are even words for iru eru verbs in japanese! 上一段 kami ichi dan = iru ending 下一段 shimo ichi dan = eru ending who even came up with "ru verbs"?
I actually learned it the る-verb う-verb way and when you mention your いる/える naming convention I actually looked for verbs ending with る in the dictionary to see if the rule holds true, which it did. Thanks for sharing, your teachings are amazing as always!
Hello, I don't really comment a lot in videos.. but you seriously helped me in so many ways, I have only a week to study before I have to go work here in japan, That job requires only minimal japanese and I have been here for two years and I didnt really study because I was depressed, now I found your videos yesterday and have been watching them video by video, I hope i can get the job, The first few lessons are mostly stuff I already know so it was a good review and the later ones helped me strengthen the broken foundations of japanese language i built over the years being here without properly studying. I deeply regret not finding your video the first time I was here and my lack of self confidence and motivation but now that I found these wonferful videos it really helped me so much.. because you arent just a teacher but also an entertainer that keeps me engaged, I know this is a bit late and you probably won't see this but don't listen to the haters, they are just asking for attention but people like me who truly find knowledge in your videos are very grateful for it. sorry for the long comment , not an english native either so I hope you still properly understood :) ほんとうにありがとうございます。
Hey George! I've been following your latest series of videos (Book 1 and now Book 2) and I have been very impressed with your well-thought-out approach and your friendly teaching style. Here's why... I have occasional one-to-one lessons with a native Japanese teacher and although he is widely regarded as an extremely effective teacher I'm actually learning and enjoying the process more with you. I think the fact that you are a westerner and you teach sympathetically for a western audience really helps me get my head around this challenging language (I'm English but live in Vancouver). Your experience of learning Japanese whilst living in Japan combined with your natural enthusiasm and obvious love of all things Japanese, for me at least, makes you an inspiring teacher. It's easy to say, but ignore your critics and don't allow them to undermine you or your great work. After all, critics rarely contribute anything to enrich our lives. Creating something out of nothing is hard and what you've created over many years is impressive and something to be proud of. Just my 10 cents...!
I admire your attitude, justifying your views and explaining them in that detail. That's dedication. I also agree with you here. Keep up the good work. All the best from kyoto.
I hope George will see this comment. I haven't put many comments here, but now I wanna say that you are the best and the greatest Japanese teacher. English is my second language, and at the beginning I was worried that I would not be able to get everything. I'm 19 years old, and I have been trying to learn this language since I was 12, but I could not find any source of inspiration to not give up. In August 2020 I discovered this great channel and realized that this channel is what I need. I immediately bought all you 6 books, including kanji from zero, and now I am finishing 2nd book, and I am sooo happy that I can say many phrases in Jp without thinking, can write all Jp letters and some kanji. I think you have changed so many lives, as mine, inspiring people to learn this beautiful language and visiting Japan. I really want to thank you!! You are an amazing person. Hello from Turkmenistan!!
@@japanesefromzero yep, I continue to learn Japanese with your books, and they have helped me a lot! I passed preliminary screening of MEXT program and I will probably come to Japan next year!! I'm so happy that my dream is becoming true step by step. And I hope that I will have a chance to meet you in Japan and say thanks straightforward to you:)
@@japanesefromzero yep, I continue to learn Japanese with your books, and they have helped me a lot! I passed preliminary screening of MEXT program and I will probably come to Japan next year!! I'm so happy that my dream is becoming true step by step. And I hope that I will have a chance to meet you in Japan and say thanks straightforward to you:)
I completely agree with you George. When I was taught U and RU verbs I was so confused and frustrated cause it didn't make any sense. They all ended in U to me. But when I started watching your videos and you explained it as regular and iru/eru I immediately got it. You're way is so much easier and makes so much more sense. Especially for beginners.
I was learning it the "ru" way before, It was hard and I had to go on intuition most of the time. I kind of gave up and decided to focus on kanji instead (which in and of itself has been pretty neat). The only problem though was that I was pretty much unable to construct simple sentences. Then I found this channel, and it really has helped a lot! I look forward to following the rest of the series ^_^
The people on /r/learnjapanese hold genki in high regards and most of the people over there started with it. Saying any content in it is bad is equal to insulting their foundation.
Well said George. I had the exact same confusion when I was reading Tae Kim's guide... Thank you for making the concept easier to understand. Essentially, if a word DOES NOT rhyme with いる/える, it MUST follow the "Regular Verb Conjugation Rules". If a word rhymes with いる/える, it most likely follows the "いる/える Conjugation Rules", bar the 17(??) exception words. v^.^v 有難うございます。
George! You may remember me as Luke101018 from YJ. Whilst my childhood passion of learning Japanese faded as my life changed throughout my teenage years, I still subscribe here and watch every video you put out. It's not that I'm learning Japanese again, but you remain to this day a huge role model to me, and I like watching you teach Japanese and feeling the nostalgia of it all. Watching you justify your credibility was hard, man! It's crazy to me; YOU were the reason I studied and was so passionate. Whilst working a part-time retail job a few years back, a Japanese customer came in - an exchange student if I remember rightly; his English was very low-level, so I was able to speak to him in Japanese using the skills you taught me years ago. It was only a basic conversation: 'sure, just over here' and stuff like that, but the delight on his face was impossible to misread; his day was MADE. He did not expect someone to speak to him in his language and make his retail purchase that much easier for him, even at the basic level I could manage. Bit of a long comment I know, and I know you know you're a damn worthy teacher; I just don't want you ever doubting the impact you've had, even years after I actively stopped studying. All the best, see you in the next video!
George I have learned so much watching you videos over the last few months. I started to learn Japanese about a decade ago. I got a couple of months into my studies and classes when lots of things happened and life threw me a series of vicious curve balls. Long story short, I stopped with Japanese language learning. I always had the intention of picking it back up when life settled back down... So at the ripe old (middle) age of 37, I started up my Japanese language adventure. Amazingly even after a decade I still remembered all my hiragana and most of the katakana and a couple of hundred kanji (the kanji I learned outside of class for fun). Before I had stopped my previous Japanese studies I had just gotten into verb conjugation and I remember I was so confused because the classroom book was one of those texts that talked in "RU" and "U" verbs. I like your descriptions so much better. So much simpler. Though when someone says "RU" or U" verbs to me now...I instinctively add the word "Dropping" in my mind. "U" Dropping "RU" Dropping Anyway. Thank you for the great books and wonderful videos. Keep up the good work and don't let the trolls out there get you down.
This is SO true. When I was first learning verbs it was the other way. But then I heard George-sensei's version and it made everything clear. 分かりやすいですよ！
George - I could not agree more with your comment that 'just because something has been taught one way for a long time' that is the right way. I am an aviation educator - and I see countless examples that long-time conventions have lead to broad misunderstanding of some simple but important concepts.
George I just want you to know that no student of yours would ever troll you or spew out hate comments ever. It is just the fedora wearing redditors usually who don't know how awesome you are. Don't let them get to you.
いる・える vs Regular verbs changed my life. During high school, and even during University, we learned "る・う" verbs and I was so confused trying to work it out. The absolute bane of my existence. The best way my teacher this year teaches us is "is it like たべる ("いる・える") or のむ (regular)." It's so easy to memorise the いる・える exceptions, and the two rules, and be on your way. Calling them Regular verbs is so much less confusing. Good explaining!
This way of teaching makes the most sense to me. I think the reason some books do it the other way is because they always begin teaching verbs in ます-form. Can't say I've studied a lot or for a long time, but I had no idea that you could say たべる before watching your videos. It's always たべます. So I guess the whole "ru-verb" thing could be a way of explaining that there is another way of doing it other than ます-form. The name might be terrible, but it might have a purpose still. For example, I learned the word のみます in the beginning of my studies, and I don't know how the "ru-form" of that verb is or even if there is such a thing. What do you think? is there a better name, or is there no reason to even have the "non-masu-form" as a distincion?
Marcus Johanson The distinction is important for reasons that I'm pretty sure George will discuss in later videos. The 'non-masu' form is the root form of a verb and is usually referred to as the 'dictionary form' (you wont find 'masu' form in any dictionary) or the 'plain form' as it's the most basic form of a verb.
