I keep coming to the message boards to see if people have replied to the posts I’m currently at and then I start looking up new ones. Then I sit and read them. Then my english paper/astronomy homework/japanese homework/(insert homework) doesnt get done til like 1am cause I got lost reading stuff here. Please tell me I’m not the only one who has become addicted!!!
(sorry if this has been done before)
I do the same thing but in my case it isn’t homework that doesn’t get done. It’s the really cool stuff, like dishes and other equally fun tasks. I absolutely refuse to stay up until 1 AM. Actually, if I could make it until 10 PM I would be doing good. I actually nodded off while sitting at my computer reading threads one night. 
Hi, my name ISN’T dropzone; it’s Mike and I’m a Dopaholic. I lurk at work and haunt at home and this is the third computer from which I’ve posted today.
But I’m going to bed Real Soon Now.
“My name is Grendel and I have a Dope problem.”
<chorus> “Hi Grendel.”
“It started about half a year ago. It used to be a something that I did several times a week. Now, I start to feel empty if I don’t get to it several times a day.”
“It’s ok. We’ve all been there Grendel. A problem with marijuana is an addiction. A disease.”
“Who said anything about pot? This is the Straight Dopeaholic’s Anonymous meeting isn’t it?”
<flees room>
I got addicted over the summer, when I could spare the time. Even now as I write this, however, my immunology textbook is lying open next to me. I’ve been trying to finish this chapter all night and failing. I’m in deep doo-doo if I don’t learn to control myself.
You’re not the only one. I should be working right now. And IQM, although I’d be willing to help out with your Japanese homework, you’re on your own with astronomy.
–sublight.
Oh really Sublight??? I have a mid trem friday and I still dont really get the difference between the particals ga and wa. I dont see why you should use one instead of the other, but that’s another thread all together.
Smeghead I’m doing the same thing with my astronomy book but after I look at a few more posts I’m off to bed. Isnt college fun?
You have any examples IQM? I’ve taken ol’ nihongo for so long that what I remember is largely instinct, but I’m willing to try to help. I’m also too tired to think of the rules on my own… I’m assuming you’re talking about using them to mark the subject, instead of the “ga arimasu” “ga suki” usage ('cause that’d just be too easy)…
Eh, screw it. Send a shout out for **teach, who’s teaching in Japan she (IIRC) should be able to help you out real quick.
Hi, I’m Jon, and I am a SD addict. Am behind at work in part because I need to check the boards at least twice a day at work, and have a browser open to the site at all times at home.
Hi, I forgot my real name because I’m an addict. The only reason I can live is because the name printed on my paychecks is the same as the one the bank knows me as. But I’m not sure if it’s my real name any more. The sad truth is that, unlike Narile, who is showing signs of addiction, I have a browser open to the boards at all hours during work and also post a bit when I get home…
Hey, is that Edward Norton?
It’s all about immuno Smeghead 
Intriguing Question Mark, you just asked the question that defines learning Japanese. I just asked the three native speakers sitting around me, and all three scrunched up their faces, stared into the distance for a minute, then said they didn’t know the answer.
I guess a good rule of thumb (with a 50/50 chance of being right):
If the verb involves an action (I close the door, I play tennis, I go to the bank.), then you normally use wa after the subject, but you can use ga if you want to emphasize the subject (Does he go to the bank? No, I go to the bank). Also, if the verb uses wa then the -te imasu form of the verb also uses wa, so I wait (watashi wa matsu) uses the same particle as I am waiting (watashi wa matte imasu).
If the verb involves a condition (The door is closed, I am in the room.), then you must use ga after the subject. You also need to use ga after the object in a few cases, the most common being with dekiru and suki.
Most of what I’ve just said is probably wrong. It would probably be easier to bring a laptop into the classroom and ask us the questions on your exam. Good luck!
–sublight.
I’m only teaching when I can find time to get away from the SDMB. I’m not the most prolific poster, but I’m always here. IQM, you’re definitely not alone.
BTW, I teach English, but I do know quite a bit about Japanese. I have to in order to do my job. My students certainly don’t know English.
Heh, figured you would know better than us poor schmucks trying to learn it in school…
Yep. Learning another language is certainly easier when you live in a country where it’s spoken everywhere.
Or is it? Here’s a topic someone might want to start (in GD or GQ perhaps): “To become proficient in a foreign language do you have to live in a country where the language is spoken in most situations?”
Not that I’m trying to feed anyone’s addiction, of course.
Hi there!
I’m supposed to be designing some new products this week. this message board can be the bane of the self-employed, if one is not careful. I don’t have a boss peering over my shoulder while I hang out here, but I don’t get any PAYING work done, either.
(Hey- if I get something done today, and I find a market for it, I might be able to buy a faster 'puter than the dinosaur I now post from…Hmmm) 
Yup. SD is always open on my computer, I search my name and watch the list to see if anyone has posted. I also always have the AIM open so that if my frinds get on I stop what homework I’m working on and chat til we’re tired of eachother
Where is the place to open a post for japanese help?
I thought Sublight did a pretty good job on the wa and ga thing. If you really want to fuel your 'Net addiction, however, try this place: http://www.jsd.org/
Of course, there are plenty of us around here at the SDMB to answer Japanese questions. You can check out but you can never leave.
I’m not only an addict, I’m a pusher! Oh the shame, the shame…
<much wringing of hands amd gnashing of teeth>
“My name is Robin, and I’m a Dopaholic.”
I’m an SDMB addict too (and a chocoholic) :eek:
I’ve become more productive since I learnt how to type documents in one window, then post here (2nd window) while the documents are printing.
Mind you, I have to fit all this in to playing computer games on my other computer…