Adding to that, when using kanji for names the readings (typically) change again, and often aren't listed in kanji dictionaries under on/kun-yomi. It can get confusing trying to read

東京に住んでいるから日本語が分からなければだめだよ！！（笑）実は、四年間ぐらい勉強するのにちっとも日本語が上手じゃない。。日本語がとても難しいと思う。。。

I understand just enough words that when I read a sentence, I get pissed off because I don't understand enough words to get the full meaning. XD

My mind tends to read through the kana and then gloss over the kanji, even if I've seen it before. Bad habit! :(

Mac's have this cool little thing where you can press 3 keys and hover your mouse cursor over a word and the definition will pop up. I wonder if there would be a way to get it to recognize and translate Kanji? *researches*

EDIT: I didn't figure out how to do exactly what I wanted, but I did find out you can just turn on a regular Japanese-English dictionary on OS X.

If any of you guys have a Mac, here are the directions to turn it on: http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20100806134640960

Sukoshihanashimasu.HiraganatoKatakanatoKanjiowakarimasen.

there's a great program you can use for deciphering kanji online (and its FREE!)..Its called "rikai-chan" and it'll work for both MAC and PC...You can go here to download it:
http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/
The only down side (for some ppl) is that it only works with a firefox browswer...After you download the program you need to also download the english/japanese dictionary (theres multiple languages)..Once you've installed the program, all you have to do is click the smiley face on the lower right hand corner of your browser and it'll turn your rikai-chan on..After you've done that, you simply scroll over whatever kanji or hiragana you need deciphered and it'll not only tell you the hiragana meaning for the kanji, but also the english translation of any Japanese word...I've been studying Japanese for four years and this has been one of my most helpful tools..I was introduced to it by one of my teachers who required it for her online class...Let me know if you need any help with it!!

Watashi wa dake no hanasu eigo desu. Soshite, watashi wa gakushuu no nihongo desu.
(And for my skills of making japanese sentances - that is really good for me )

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I think you shouldn't say "Watashi wa dake"

If what you mean is "I only speak English" then "Watashi wa Eigo dake hanasemasu".

And.. I forgot what gakushuu is? What was it again?

PS: Correct me too if I do commit mistakes on my Japanese.

学習 = studies or learning

If you're having trouble with rikai-chan, you can also use their home site (http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl) to translate as well. It's pretty decent!

I am learning japanese , I can say thing like she is fat , he is tall , she is a girl , etc. I can say alot of other things too XD

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OMG! How can you live over there? :o Are you working in Japan or are you participating in some exchange programme? Waaah, I?m so jealous xDD You?re lucky And who doesn?t think Japanese is difficult anyway?