The Final Fantasy Series Thread

[Commonmind]

I was going to apologize for the multiple posts but then I realized how insanely ironic this apology was based on the fact that I made a new post to post it. So, in an attempt to distract you from my momentary lapse of intelligence, I give you a picture of an adorable puppy:



...and so that I stay on topic and do not invite the wrath of the moderators...a picture of an adorable Chocobo face...

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by Commonmind

We were separated at birth, you and I. I had the same frustration. Though I did have an internet connection at the time, I was still on dial-up and the Playonline page was horribly slow. It didn't help that for every entry you were trying to locate you had to input a code and wait for a new page to load.

That is spooky indeed. Ah, the pain of dial-up. I remember it well.

I do. However, I will accept no fealty, I still need to keep my dictionary next to me when I play my imports as I have not (and likely never will) mastered the written language. I'm waiting for the day when the Japanese Ministry of Education finally decides to abolish Kanji altogether and moves permanently to the Kana system - which I believe to be a matter of time.

Yeah but dude. Duuude! You speak Japanese! I'd love to speak Japanese. But....wakarimasen. Nihongo ga dekimasen.

Kanji, well, they say it's nigh on impossible for a foreigner, unless you're a real cunning linguist. Kana is a collective term for both Hiragana and Katakana? They look a bit more manageable, but are still pretty confusing (very confusing) for me at the stage I'm at. Which is nowhere.

Speaking it is good enough for me. I hope I can learn one day.


Oh, loving the puppy and chocobo, btw.

[Commonmind]

Correct, "kana" refers to both. The only way I found to master it was to stop trying to associate the phonetic symbol with the written romaji translation and start associating it with the sound. It takes an element out of the process that is really unnecessary to begin with. The sound "ka" is spelled ka, so rather than obsessing over trying to get it through my brain that カ or か was supposed to = "K" and "A" together as well as the sound "ka" I started writing down the symbol and speaking the sound aloud, leaving the romaji out of it entirely.

In English we have no third element. We do not need to say that か = the sound ka as well as = the letters k and A. A letter has a sound associated with it and that's where the complication ends. A westerner trying to learn Japanese has to learn as if he is a native himself. Learn that a phonetic has a sound association and not a translation as well as a sound association and pretty soon you'll be doing the same thing with whole words - your brain will not have to translate a word to understand what it means, the word will simply evoke an image; that's the first step to fluency.

Apologize for the long windedness I get a little carried away when it comes to languages.

Edit: Another nice feature from 1up that's definitely worth a read; they rate the entire Final Fantasy franchise: Final Fantasy Retro Roundup from 1UP.com

[Sephiroth]

No, I appreciate the advice. This is exactly what I was reading a couple of weeks back, and my friend who's in Japan atm says the same thing. I really need to find the time amidst the other stuff I'm doing to try and memorise all the sounds.

But after that...there's the characters themselves. They are pretty intimidating for me too. They don't look anything like things I'm used to looking at. If that makes sense? Seems like they are quite complicated to write down (I dread to think what the Kanji are like...well, I've seen it, it baffles me....).

How many languages do you speak, then?


And on-thread, thanks for the article. There are games in there that I didn't even know existed!!

[Sephiroth]

Although in retrospect, I'd like to kill whomever wrote that review of FFVII.


Could they be any more wrong about, well, all of it?


The story a mess? It's the only one with a first-class story!!

[Commonmind]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

No, I appreciate the advice. This is exactly what I was reading a couple of weeks back, and my friend who's in Japan atm says the same thing. I really need to find the time amidst the other stuff I'm doing to try and memorise all the sounds.

But after that...there's the characters themselves. They are pretty intimidating for me too. They don't look anything like things I'm used to looking at. If that makes sense? Seems like they are quite complicated to write down (I dread to think what the Kanji are like...well, I've seen it, it baffles me....).

How many languages do you speak, then?


And on-thread, thanks for the article. There are games in there that I didn't even know existed!!

Some Italian, a little German, and Japanese of course (the latter of those being the only one I've put any great effort into). It's more the study of languages than language study that floats my boat. One of my first career choices was to go into the military as a Linguist and Cryptologist - I actually went so far as going to meps for the medical exam and taking the dlab test for my language assignment. Fortunately my wife smacked me around a bit and reminded me that even if I were to go into military intelligence that didn't mean I was too smart for a bullet. Needless to say, I pursued my musical interests instead

And yeah, his opinion of FFVII is very pot-stirrer'ish, but I'll let it pass only because it's Jeremy Parish and he's written enough quality material to get him out of trouble this time...this time.

[Lith]

Flash cards. They work wonders. They don't have to be professional ones, either, just notecards. The sooner you introduce the Japanese characters, the better later (though it's a pain in the butt for a while). After that, it's practice, practice, practice, reading and writing. And after several years of that, you'll still be picking through Famitsu scans bit by bit, not recognizing most of it. I know this from firsthand experience.

Anyway, that puppy's CUUUUUTTTEEEE!!!!

[Sephiroth]

Also, du sprichst ein bisschen Deutsch, CM? Mich auch, aber ich habe viele Vokabeln vergessen. Ich habe es am Schule gelernt (studiert?).

Linguistics fascinates me. I wish I was more proficient. Don't much fancy the bullet-taking side of it, though; think I'd rather be a civilian linguist.


Lith, you think I should spend more time practising with the flash-card program I downloaded then?! Yes, I think you're right. I'm so lazy, I don't know why I even moan. I have no right to speak Japanese, the effort I've put in so far.

But at the moment, the symbols on the cards (which, unfortunately, are Kanji) are still meaningless to me.

But thanks for the advice, guys.

[Commonmind]

Very little, yes, with a dwindling vocabulary like yourself. Never got the chance to study it in school unfortunately; the only language they offered when I attended high-school was Spanish and college was eaten up by more important courses. I would've tried to justify a frivolous language or three but I would've probably been swallowed by the stress monster.

[Commonmind]

Originally Posted by Lith

Anyway, that puppy's CUUUUUTTTEEEE!!!!

Isn't it? I want to find out who took that picture so I can go steal that little guy. I bet he's got a whole posse of cuteness following him around; like one of those furry kittens that look like little fuzz-balls; those tiny flying squirrels that aren't any bigger than your palm; he probably even knows a whole gang of baby kangaroos.

I miss my doggies Don't get me wrong, I love my cats, but they're about as personable as the wicker chair I'm sitting in.

[Sephiroth]

Spanish was the one I wanted to take at school, but it wasn't on offer. I'm pretty useless at German now, because of how much I've forgotten.

But thanks to Tolkien, I was always interested in linguistics.


I wouldn't mind a moogle. Sorbet, from XII, preferably. Or Stiltzkin.




Kupo!

[Commonmind]

How awesome would that be. Come home after a long day, put on the kettle, kick up your feet and snuggle with your moogle.

(I was a Gurdy man myself )

[thaddeus6th]

Linguistics are cool. Ich habe ein Abitur auf Deutsch, seit funf Jahren.

Also interesting is noting little patterns. If you live in the PAL area quite often you can choose different languages which is both educational and interesting. It makes little language patterns more obvious, like a German D can often become an English TH and a German B is sometimes an English V (Dorn = thorn, Dieb = Thief, Sieben = seven). Plus Du hast is very nearly thou hast.

Uh yeah...Final Fantasy... er started replaying XII. The combat system's great, I just wish there'd been more character development and Vaan (which is Latin for Useless And Disinteresting Moron) and Penelo had been replaced by cool characters. I'd prfeer Edge and Cecil from FFIV than those two morons.

[Mithridelle]

Sorta relates to FF, but it can relate to any game, really...

So are you a 'Story Player' or a 'Leveling Player'?

'Story Player' being one who rushes through the game to get through the story and only training when it is absolutely neccessary and 'Leveling Player' being one who takes the time to become strong and reach high levels from the beginning.


I am a 'Leveling Player'. I am just replaying FFVII and played for about 2 hrs and reached Lv.20 by the first save point in the reactor. My sister recently replayed FFVIII and was at Lv.50 before the Seed Exam.... that's freakish...

So what type are you?

[Cayal]

Story by a mile.