I know..I know...learning Japanese is not easy feat. ANd probably have to take proper lessons to get it right. But just want to learn some words and phrases...so I can feel like I understand when I watch j-dramas or anime and say..'Oh...I know that word!

ANYWAY! I may be so mean in suggesting our beloved kewpie-chan for a sensai position, as you did a great little job in one of the other thread.
I'm not asking for full-on teaching lessons. I thought we could ask simple words or phrases that we've heard and wanted to know about. Or how to pronounce certain words.

An other other people have any words that can be shared, Please do so.

Arigato, Konnichiwa, Saynora, hai, iie (I finally know how to say that properly...yeah!) ...and some other's are pretty okay....somehow I can't list the others I know at the moment...will fill up the list.

baka_neko: idiotic cat...I watched Fruits Basket, and that word just sprung out and stuck...hehehe...

* *

OK, just for starters. Could I ask...
the english word 'What?...

Is that 'nande' or 'nani'? and sometimes I hear 'Nande-o'

And what is exactly the meaning of 'Mo-e'?


******

:blush And although...I am so funny bunny in starting a athread that I won't keep up for a while...since I'm going on my little trip to Japan/Korea at Easter time. But...I'm not trying to learn Japanese in 36 hours or anything...as I am going with a tour group with a guide. It's about knowing to pick up simple phrases. Just got excited.

Kewpie-chan sensei? Sure, I can do that.
Jaa minamsan kyo no jyugyo wa Paige-san no shitsumon desu. (translation: So today's lesson everyone is Paige's question.) To answer your question on how to say "what" in Japanese is: Nani.

"why" in Japanese is: nande

The phrase "nande yo" means: why is that
if you change one letter to....
The phrase "nanda yo" it means: what is it

Ijyou desu. Matta ne! (That's it. Until next time!) :wave
kewpie-chan sensei

*claps hand together*

Arigato!

That is why I keep hearing the Nande, nani, Nanda o...and the translations is around the what is that etc, what..I wasn't sure
hai!

I'm off. Sayanora.

PS: One more question about the 'mo-e'...?

I'll be away for 2 weeks..so take your time.

"mo-e"?? :blink: Hmmm, do you mean "mou ii"?? If so, it means It's okay. or That's okay. Here's an example using it in a sentence...

"Kono chirashi wo mada mazeruno?"
"Iya, mou ii yo."

Translation:
"Do I still mix this chirashi?"
"No that's okay."

kewpie-chan sensei :)

This is now my most favorite thread here! (well, besides the pic thread)
I have been butchering this beautiful language for far too long! :lol: I have no one to test it on, or correct the pronunciation, you see... :(
I, like Paige, am mostly for the phrases and short info sentences.
Yay!!! Arigato, Kewpie for taking time and helping us! :clap

Here's another handy phrase:

You're welcome. Douitashimashite. (To be used after someone thanks you.)

As in the sentence: You're welcome everyone! Minasan douitashimashite!

I'm thankful to you kewpie-chan,
and Paige too,for opening this thread :D

For someone who speaks Greek,Japanese language,seem easier
than others.(exept writing...)I can't find a teacher here,so,I'm trying
on my own.Of course I can't find a grammar book,and thats my problem
but in a way our grammar has many similarities,and many Japanese words have the same pronunciation,but different,meaning like:mimi,ha,shita,me,e.t.c.
So I LOVE this tread....
Thanx again.

Yutakagr, please thank Paige for starting this thread, I was only too happy to oblige and put on my sensei (teacher) hat. :D

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
PAIGE. :D :D

I know this is going to sound stupid, but I got some of the words you've used here from watching Shogun again. I got it on DVD, and the Japanese lessons between Anjin-san and Mariko explained a lot. It was really interesting. Lame, I know :unsure:

Oh Kristi....
Shogun.....so many sweet memories
My favorite tv series ever.
I thought that Japanese are an easy language
as Mariko-san said.
Sometimes with my husband we still use ''wakarimas ka''?when we talk,and
of course''nanda yo?''all the time.I remember this from Retana movie,and Takeshi Kitano's ''Zatoichi''
(I wonder...what am i suppose to do next year,when i'm going to visit Tokyo????I won't be able to speak nothing.Not even 'ohaio'...)Sensei save us :)

AND I DON'T THINK IT'S STUPID at all

AHHH! I myself stole a TON of stuff from Shogun! :lol: :D :lol:
This just gets better and better! My Mommy let me stay up on school nights so I could watch all of this fantastic mini-series, and I think this began my intense love affair with all thing Asian. I watched it again as a grown up just like, 3 months ago! Those Samauri hair pieces gave me a laugh I can tell ya! Still loved it, still cried when Mariko died.:(
I actually had a hamster named "Anjin". (my lameness was apparent early on, friends.<_<)
****aahhh, good times....
:happy:

Oh joy!! :D Not as lame as I thought!

Thanks guys! :blissysmile :blissysmile

I am trying to learn Japanse? but do it on my own and very slowly
but I have learned hiragana and try hard on katakana - it appeared too difficult to learn
私の名前は見込です。 :rolleyes:
hajimemashite. Dozoyorushiku))))

Ahhh, Shogun...I remember that. My mother was sooooooo in love with Anjin-san I think it made my father jealous. LOL! I think someone told me it's available for rent on Netflix for those who want to stroll down memory lane. :lol:

In any case, what is the question for sensei today? :blink:

how to say "I am terribly sorry, but my Japanese is very bad. Would you be as kind as to speak English, please!" - I really need to know how to say this in Japanese)))) would you help me with that?
thanks in advance

kambawa! (Good evening)

greetings from err..actually I'm in Korea now.

Sensei, sensai!! What is going on. Tell me, is the baka word...a swear word!!?? Like equivilent to the f-word.. :blink: Aiya...that is what the tour guide said when my friend exclaimed under a circumstance, thinking, as I told her, that it was for 'idiot!'. That is what I gathered from the J-drama...said very normally, as 'you idiot!'. and as I mentioned, in Fruit Baskets anime...stupid cat (baka neko). Please explain all...so I don't think about that word in a wrong way...and say it in a wrong way.

Ta dah..free internet at the moment, so I'll surf a bit here. Japan was gorgeous! Sakura came out in full bloom (for us) on the last day...thank goodness.

Sayonara!

Paige, i think "baka" means "stupid" or "fool"

:bounce:

Mikomi, I agree...I think Baka means just what you think. Fool, Idiot.
The first time I ever heard it was in "Golden Bowl". Akutagawa (Beloved Turtle!) says some dumb thing to Hitomi, and when she stomps away hurt, he puts his fingers up to his head like a gun, shoots, and says "Baka"!!
The subtitles said ""Fool"!!

As far as it being perceived as a rude thing to say in public? I am not sure...My Grandma would slap the nap off you if you said "Shut-up" to someone in public. :huh: (she was hard-core, my granny)
Maybe its a matter personal taste, or it may differ slightly in meaning from region to region?

cinxxx, thanks for that
and thanks for specifying some certain things abouot the abusive language :happy:

one more thing....
I would really appreciate if you, guys helped me with my question here
I really need to know
because I only begin learning Japanese and not sure if I can say it well

but I will try to write it here the way I would have said it - and if I am incorrect - would you tell me if there are mistakes and who should I say that

so - the phrase:
"I am terribly sorry, but my Japanese is very bad. Would you be as kind as to speak English, please!"

and the way I would say that:

ごめんなさい, で も 私の日本語は いちばん-わるい。英語 待って下さい。
gomennasai, de mo watshi no Nihongo wa itchiban-warui. Eigo matte kudasai.

or this way:

ごめんなさい, 私はほとんど 日本語 をはなせません。これを英語して 待って下さい。
Gomennasai, watashiwa hotondo nihongo o hanasemasen. Kore o Eigo-shite matte kudasai.



I am not sure about both of them, but I hope at least I was appriximate :blush
again - I am not sure even about anything, so forgive me for my Japanese and for my ignorance...BUt I really need this TXMAS2

Gomen ne minasan, sensei wa chotto kaze hikimashita.
(Translation: Sorry everyone but Teacher has caught a cold.)

In answer to Paige's question if "baka" is the F word, no. Baka literally means fool. But it's also used to say or call something/someone: idiot, stupid, silly. I've no idea why the tour guide even implied it was even close to the F word when it's not.

In answer to Cinxxx's question, as for swearing out in public places, well no you don't generally swear out loud where others can hear you. It's just in Japan it's frowned upon as it shows very bad manners on your part and not having proper etiquette. But "baka" isn't considered a real swear word so no big worries there...just don't be around the elders else you may get a whooping or at least a glare letting you know they think you were raised by wolves or something. :lol: This shows disrespect to your elders if you swear.

Mikomi-san, as for your question, since you are requesting the other speaker to do you a favor, you should say: Moushiwake gozaimasendesuga watashi hotondo nihongo hanashimasennode douka eigo de hanashite kudasai. Arigato gozaimasu.

Loosely translates to "I'm very sorry (to impose my request) but I don't speak Japanese very well so please speak in English. Thank you very much."

Dai Dai Yi Ma...? (I'm back)

Gomen (sorry) for the incorrect speeling of the above greeting. That is one of the words we learnt to say in Japan when he all got together back on the bus. Please correct the spelling and the proniunciation as well if needed.

Thank you sensei kewpie-chan for taking time to help us.

The 'Baka' situation. I don't know why the tour guide exclaimed so shocked.. saying it is not a good word (she was married, but not an old old lady at all). Seriously, the times I hear it in the dramas...esp funny ones, it seemed so normal. I mean, in a teasing/easy way...'you fool!'.

Going back a bit. My last Q before I went away.

The word 'Moe' - the way you explained it didn't seem to fit in teh context to where I heard it. Perhaps, I spelt it wrong, but I often see it as subtitled as that. It seems to be in terms or either 'cute' or adorable' or something along teh line of an exclaimation when someone does something likeable or so. As Kawaii' is cute, I thought this 'Moe' may be something else. And aslo, people tend to just saiy that word by itself...in a long drawn out eee: 'Moeeee'

Paige, in your greeting where you're saying "I'm back" were you trying to say in Japanese "Tadaima"?

Hmmm, as for your original question about "moe", I'm still not sure what you mean and I'm wondering too if you're writing it out correctly. Too bad you can't find the word in question in actual Japanese and paste it up here cuz I could tell you right then and there what it means. Gomen ne!

How lame is this? At my fav lunch place, my waitress is an adorable Japanese-Korean girl, and she has been recruited to my cause and speaks Japanese to me whenever I come in! :lol: She is SO funny! She knows that I have NO idea what I am saying, and we have the best time together! I, too, have been "helping" her with her english, and she tells me, "your english "pretty good" for american person" (like I haven't been speaking it ALL my life!)
I never realised just how confusing english can be for a person not raised speaking it. It really seems harder to learn coz there are so many "literal" meanings we take for granted in our "slang".
(example: to exclaim in surprise "shut-up!" as in "no kidding?" very confusing to a non-english speaker)
I am most grateful for her insights, and for your hard work here, Kewpie!
Who knew?! :blink:
**we had a riot "translating" together, this story she was reading in Korean. She kept stumbling on this one word that she thought was "Spoon", right? So I asked her to put it in the sentence for me, and maybe I could help her figure it out?
"The girl walks down the beach, searching for just the right "spoon". ? :huh:
After a few minutes, we worked it out that it was "shell", not spoon!
My lunches no longer involve actual food :D...I am getting thinner and having way too much fun!
Keep up the good work, girls! learning new things is WAY fun!

Uh...I fell sick last few days..and little sick still.

But wanted to say thanks, kewpie.

Tadaima...could be right ..I heard someone say it in a j-drama..like that...sounds like da da ma..... as yours...no 'yi'....so don't know why we were pronouncing it with 4 parts.

Anyway...aww, cinxxx, that great. Often wish I had a Japanese friend nearby so I could practice with them...or leech off thier skills to translates things for me....hahaha...could work for my motivation as well. But hey, when I was younger, I was going to chinese school, beacsue my parents made us go. But I think, eveyrthing was more by memory, I didn't actually learn much personally. It's only after I wanted to read those entertainment section of the chinese newspapers, and was sick of asking my mum every second word, that I was motivated to get my act together and learn chinese properly. That by quitting mandarin (which I don't speak at home). Started a new school, learn cantonese, get my foundation for words in written langauge. Later I changed back to mandarin, but it was much easier, since I knew the words.

Ha...ok, longshot in me doing that in terms of learning Japanese, but that is slightly different, as Chinese is my main languge, I guess I should attempt it (but you be surprised how many overseas born younger generation only know how to speak (or can't speak properly even) and cannot read chinese at all).

Anyway...will be back..saynora for now! No further Qs..give sensai a little rest.

Doesn't anyone else want to share any Japanese words/phrases they somehow kept to mind or just like saying...?

thank you so much for that :heart:

Here are some site:
http://www.kanjisite.com/
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/
http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/
http://www.japanese-online.com/
http://www.learn-japanese.info/

Some of the books that I think are really good:

Beginner's Japanese with 2 Audio CDs (Hippocrene Beginner's Series) (Paperback)

Japanese Step by Step : An Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese (Paperback)

Berlitz Japanese in 30 Days (Berlitz in 30 Days) (Audio CD)

The dummies and Idiot guides are also really good if you can't find these. ;)

Hi guys,
I got an evaluation on ebay from a Japanese seller. I do not know but he had the great idea of writing it in Japanese :huh:, and guess what: I do not understand one word!

Can anyone be so kind and translate the following for me? Many thanks!

Konotabi wa Taihen Arigtou! Mata Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu

He/she is simply thanking you for your bid etc., that's all :lol: ...don't worry...

Correct me if I'm wrong kewpie and creme...but it means something like he/she wants to take the opportunity (the occasion) to send his/her very best regards and thanks you very much...

That's all? Nothing more? Like: you are the best customer I had; I loved doing business with you; please come to Japan when you have time.... :lol: JUST KIDDING!!

Thanks Miki for your kind help :) !

Yes...that's all in included of course ltk00...very subtle...when you can read between the lines..with a microscope :lol:

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu means "Nice to meet you" and also "Thank you in advance."

So if you are going to Japan you can use the phrase saying:
Watashi wa ltk00 desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
My name is ltk00. Nice to meet you.

Pronounce it like German but leave the u at the end silent.

Miki, you hit it right on the nail. That's correct! Looks like you won't need kewpie-chan sensei's help in here at the rate you are all doing so well! :clap

Dear sensei,kewpie-chan

I hear these words very often,but don't know their meaning,please help me to understand:''ano'',''dakara'' <_<
thank you :rolleyes:

A very good question! How can I put this simply without taking the entire page to explain....

"Ano" = that, those
Basically means 2 things depending on how you use it in a sentence. One is to refer to something which is in sight and relatively far both from the speaker and from the listener(s). The other is to refer to something which is not in sight but which is familiar both to the speaker and to the listener(s).

For example - Ano hito wa dare desu ka? means
"Who is that person?"

"Ano" (where the "o" sounds long) = uh, um, er
This is a pause filler.

"Dakara" = that's why, for that reason

For example - Ame ga furidashita. Dakara gaishutsu o yameta yo. means
"It started to rain. That's why we gave up on going out."

Wakarimashita ka? (Do you understand?)
kewpie-chan sensei :heart:

Thank you thank you thank you dear sensei :clap :clap :clap

You couldn't explain better :D kewpie-chan-sensei-master-.....
hi,wakarimas,arigato gozaimas
I have another puestion to ask,but because it's a stupid one,i'll sent you a pm ;)

(Don't want to expose myself in public! :ph43r: )

Glad I was able to explain it clearly to you. Yes I received your PM and replied back. :whistle

Thanx dear for the reply :D

Now could you give me an explanation about dearest
Takeshi Kaneshiro name????I only know that ''shiro''is the white color but i'm not sure if Takeshi means ''brave''?warrior?none of these?and of course what is ''Kane''???? <_<

(And sensei I don't want to bother you with questions,but how I'm i going to learn hehehehehehe :lol: )

OMG!! yutakagr! I have been meaning to ask a similar question as well. But I thought kewpie was going away, and I'll leave it closer to when she comes back.

I even had my PS blocks and character all set up.

Actually to tell the truth. I thought I'll cheat and go to the kanji parts first since it's close to chinese. And the even more truth, was that I wasn't sure if Takeshi's chinese name is same as a proper Japanese kanji name...and so his name wasn't going to be the first example I was going to use.

Anyway, maybe I'm jumping the gun here. yutakagr's Question is asking whether 'Takeshi Kaneshiro' means something specific from Japanese?

It seems simple enough...if kewpie -chan is still around the forum.

I'll post my selection of kanji and questions later. Sorry for a nonsense post.

And I've finally got reading materials on Japanese. I got 4 out of 5 questions right for the first exercise. Watashi, desu, wa, ka, kore, . ..they are making sense...yippeee...

As far as I know...and I don't know much...Takeshi means the same as Wu...Warrior.
So it's the same in three languages (Wu, Mo, Takeshi)...

Gold in Japanese is go-rudo or kojane or kin...doesn't quite fit...but
Kane means metal or money
So the meaning is similar here...it's a kind of "treasure"...should be the same in all three languages (Mandarin/Cantonese/Japanese) too..Chin (Jin)-cheng Wu, Gam-sing Mo or Gum-sing Mo...hope this is correct Paige..cheng means city, jin (or chin) means gold, right?

And yes, shiro means white yutakagr...but we should seperate the shi from the ro...(just like the J. to/from the Lo, Shi to/from the Ro...very funny Miki <_< Gomen)
Shi...means city like shiti, tokai, toshi, shigai...

And again...the same in all three languages...

Warrior of (the) Gold(en) City


And don't know where I read this...should be LCDA but I remember that someone wrote that this was indeed his dad's intention...TK's name making sense in all these languages and meaning more or less the same...

And there is another thing... the ro...means boy, son ...should be a male ending...as we are talking about a male warrior... ;)

Sabu-ro means third son
But:
Shi-ro means fourth son

I read somewhere in an interview that TK himself made a joke about this "four" thing...but it doesn't make too much sense here...the golden fourth son...hmmm...TK isn't the fourth son I guess...and the 4 is an unlucky number in Japan and China too btw...

Yutaka btw means rich, full :lol:


OK kids, that's all from me today...school's out now... :blissysmile
Miki <_<