Questions about Japanese language

[Celexa]

I've been having an on-going argument with a friend, and before I make a COMPLETE ass out of myself, I would like to ask some people at the forums who are fluent in the language if they know some answers.

My main question is the definition of the word "hidama". My friend claims it just means "fireball", but according to my sources it means both "fireball" and "shooting star". This part of the argument has been going on for about a year now, and I'd really like to put it to rest.

My second isn't part of an argument, but I embarassed myself and would like some help with it ^^;; Is there any way in the Japanese language to phonetically spell "Amy"? If so, what are the phonetics? There's a girl at my school named Amy and I tried to spell her name (I wrote it as Ami, as well as in Hirigana) and my friend leaned over and said "That's wrong." Geeh, I was embarassed since I never got far enough to explain the phonetics to her. As well as the fact I should be writing it in Katakana. Please help? The only other way I get close is with "E-mi" but it sound like "Emmy" which really isn't too close to Amy ^^;;

My last is my friend's argument about learning Japanese. He claims once you're past, say two or five you can't learn Japanese in full (Like all the Kanji mostly). I firmly believe this is wrong, I'd just like a little confirmation.

Then I have on the side a question about conversion of dollars to yen and visa/versa. I'm guessing that, say, 1,000 yen will roughly equal 10.00, but isn't it technically 8.50? I'm confused ;.;

[Sailorasteroid]

My second isn't part of an argument, but I embarassed myself and would like some help with it ^^;; Is there any way in the Japanese language to phonetically spell "Amy"? If so, what are the phonetics? There's a girl at my school named Amy and I tried to spell her name (I wrote it as Ami, as well as in Hirigana) and my friend leaned over and said "That's wrong." Geeh, I was embarassed since I never got far enough to explain the phonetics to her. As well as the fact I should be writing it in Katakana. Please help? The only other way I get close is with "E-mi" but it sound like "Emmy" which really isn't too close to Amy ^^;;

One could, I suppose, say e-i-mi, which more closely resembles the sound but has the problem of being three kana, and thus three syllables. There is no phonetic equivalent of the long a in Japanese.

Then I have on the side a question about conversion of dollars to yen and visa/versa. I'm guessing that, say, 1,000 yen will roughly equal 10.00, but isn't it technically 8.50? I'm confused ;.;

As of right now, ¥1 (1 yen, if that symbol doesn't show up) = $0.912437--just over ninety-one cents. But that fluctuates continuously, not so much in a day, but over years, can be significantly different.

[RoastedTwinkies]

I can't answer all your questions fully, but I will try my best here.

My main question is the definition of the word "hidama". My friend claims it just means "fireball", but according to my sources it means both "fireball" and "shooting star". This part of the argument has been going on for about a year now, and I'd really like to put it to rest.

I have not looked up "hidama" yet, but in Japanese, often words will have more than one meaning. For example "kami" can mean "paper", "hair" and "god". Another example is with the Kanji "月". It has several meanings. It can mean "moon", "month", and "Monday". I could go on and on with examples, but I want to keep this concise. I would say that chances are, both you and your friend are right. Often times, when a word has different meanings, it's given a different Kanji for each meaning.

My second isn't part of an argument, but I embarassed myself and would like some help with it ^^;; Is there any way in the Japanese language to phonetically spell "Amy"? If so, what are the phonetics? There's a girl at my school named Amy and I tried to spell her name (I wrote it as Ami, as well as in Hirigana) and my friend leaned over and said "That's wrong." Geeh, I was embarassed since I never got far enough to explain the phonetics to her. As well as the fact I should be writing it in Katakana. Please help? The only other way I get close is with "E-mi" but it sound like "Emmy" which really isn't too close to Amy ^^;;

I can answer that. There was actually a girl in my Japanese class named Amy! If I'm not mistaken, Amy in katakana is spelled "エィミー" (Eimii).

My last is my friend's argument about learning Japanese. He claims once you're past, say two or five you can't learn Japanese in full (Like all the Kanji mostly). I firmly believe this is wrong, I'd just like a little confirmation.

My dad is a social worker, so I can answer that. According to his studies, a person begins losing their ability to learn a language at about 8 years old. You can still learn languages after that, but in most cases, it's a lot more difficult, but it is not impossible. I started learning French when I was in kindergarten, so I do find French easier than Japanese. However, you can beat those statistics if you're truly passionate about Japanese (or any language).

I hope that helps!

[Celexa]

Thank you guys. I really, truely owe you all one Tomorrow I'm gonna put an end to this nonsense and give Amy her actual name in the proper language and not a substitute.

[RoastedTwinkies]

Glad I could help!

Another thing I wanted to clarify with this, is that Sailorasteriod is correct to a point, but in "エィミー", you'll notice that it has a small "ィ" instead of a big "イ". When the "イ" is small, the word is pronounced as one syllible. "エィミー" would be pronounced as two syllibles in this case. the first part being pronounced as "eh" and the second part being pronounced as "me" (english phonetics, not Japanese). Just another thing I wanted to add. Does that makes sense?

EDIT: In lame terms, it would be pronounced more or less the same was as it is in english.

[AnimeGuru0]

Actually, a little correction Sailor Asteroid, one yen would be .91 CENTS, not .91 DOLLARS. So one yen is worth just under a penny. About 9/10 of a penny.

Also, it's usually pretty safe to say that if something is 7000 yen, it would be ABOUT 70 dollars in American dollars, or slightly less. Just move the decimal place over 2 since a yen is ALMOST as much as a penny.

Also, Celexa, there's no absolutes in this universe (except when dealing with math, and even then, that's questionable =P). Thus, ANYBODY can be just as fluent as a native speaking Japanese person and just as good as writing as well. It just takes a lot of work for someone who's older. If you put in the work, there's no stopping how high you can excel. This is a general rule for ALL things, not just learning languages, so it'd be helpful to remember that in the future.

Don't know about the Hidama thing. But words in Japanese tend to have more than one meaning, and since a "Shooting star" quite literally could be a "Fireball", I wouldn't be surprised if it meant both things.

[Celexa]

Don't know about the Hidama thing. But words in Japanese tend to have more than one meaning, and since a "Shooting star" quite literally could be a "Fireball", I wouldn't be surprised if it meant both things.

I made a typo ^^;; I meant falling star, not shooting star ^^;; Damn the Sailor Starlights, they invade everything I do. Next thing you know, my math tests will say "What is the diameter of this circle?" and my answer will say "Yaten's yellow rose"

[Sailorasteroid]

Actually, a little correction Sailor Asteroid, one yen would be .91 CENTS, not .91 DOLLARS. So one yen is worth just under a penny. About 9/10 of a penny.

Ah, yes, thank you. The financial converter page had .009etc., and I dropped those trying to convert. My apologies to the math gods.

[Celexa]

Also, Celexa, there's no absolutes in this universe (except when dealing with math, and even then, that's questionable =P). Thus, ANYBODY can be just as fluent as a native speaking Japanese person and just as good as writing as well. It just takes a lot of work for someone who's older. If you put in the work, there's no stopping how high you can excel. This is a general rule for ALL things, not just learning languages, so it'd be helpful to remember that in the future.

Wow, thanks a ton Bob-san, that's inspiring. I'll keep that in mind! It really helps since school seems like it's gonna kill me this year. And math happens to be my worst subject, so maybe I'll reach new heights with that