I saw that there was a thread for more intermediate Japanese learners, and though I would start one for beginners.
I just started learning Japanese this week with a combination of JapanesePod101 (which I am seriously thinking of getting a subscription to once I can afford to do the monthly cost on a regular basis) and Rosetta Stone (more immersive). It's one of those languages that I thought I could never learn, but am finding as I go along that it's easier than French in high school. I'm starting to learn it now so that I can go to Japanese websites for my anime and manga writing gig (although hubby thinks it's just so I can watch my anime shows with no subtitles
). I'm more focused on reading and writing, but am strengthening my listening and speaking skills in case I ever get an interview with a Japanese artist or industry person for my website.
So I thought what I would do here is put up a phrase and have someone respond in Japanese, then we can just have a conversation from there. If you don't know how to type in Japanese, go to Control Panel -> Language and regions -> Keyboard, and from there choose Japanese as one of the languages, selecting Microsoft IME as the option. Because I have no clue on Kanji, I'm only going to be typing in Hiragama and Kantana when appropriate (which means I won't be using spaces...sorry!). If you want to put up your own phrase to have someone respond to, you are welcome to it -- just let us know if you're starting another conversation.
So as the first phrase, I thought I would start with the following (appropriately):
こんにちわ。はじみましてロリです。よろしこおねがいします。
