Tuesday, April 29, 2014

How can I call you?

The word "you" might be translated into あなた/anata/ or 君(きみ)/kimi/ in Japanese.
Or you might have seen お前(まえ)/omae/ which also means "you".

Maybe your textbook explains that  is a friendly term of  "you" and あなた is more polite term, right? These words are often used in Anime, Manga comics, dramas, books, and song lyrics.

But... to tell the truth, I rarely use these words in daily life. :(



My family and friends have never called me as  nor あなた. I'll be surprise if they call me like that. And I'm sure they will also feel a bit gross if I call them like that. Actually, I have been told by my husband "NEVER CALL ME 君, STOP IT". I sometimes called my husband 君 ( especially when I'm in bad mood!), which made him really uncomfortable and irritated.

Some Japanese people feel that sounds condescending and patronizing. It sometimes makes people feel being looked down.


あなた technically means "you" in a polite way. But we never use this word between friends. Some women call their husband あなた, but I don't. It sounds... too sweet for me. lol

お前 sounds really rude. Frankly, I use it sometimes. (I hope my mom doesn't read my blog. lol) Well, only when I'm playing sports and really excited.



We usually call one's name/nickname between friends. If we're not close, I call his/her family name with "さん". For example, if one's family name is 田中, I call him/her 田中さん.


So, how to call someone shows the relationship between them.



*Japanese Word of the Day*
えっと、なんて呼(よ)べばいい?
/etto, nante yobeba ii?/
Well... How can I call you?

*なんて:how
*呼ぶ: call
*いい/良(い)い: okay, fine, good

*呼べばいい: literally means "okay to call"

「とも」で良(い)いよ、みんなそう呼(よ)んでるから。
/Tomo de ii yo, min'na so yonderu kara/
You can call me "Tomo", cuz everyone calls me like that.

*みんな: everybody
*そう: like this/that, so
*~から: because...

なんであの人(ひと)と結婚(けっこん)したの?
Why did you get married with him?
だって、金持(かねも)ちだから
It's because he's rich. (*なadjective + だから / いadjective + から)

から usually shows the reason, but it also expresses the starting point.

今日(きょう)から君(きみ)は独身(どくしん)だ。
You are single from today.
から学校まで、自転車で15分です。
It takes 15 mins from my house to our school.



By the way, I'm going back to Japan this weekend, and stay in my hometown for about a week. I think I can share you some pics next time!! :D

Friday, April 25, 2014

Ring any bells?

I've been feeling sick these days... :(

Is it because I eat a hamburger and potatoes everyday? Or is it because I stare at my laptop all day long? Or, because I sleep over 10 hours a day? Tell me why!! Is it because I scratch my ears so hard?



*Japanese Word of the Day*
なにか思(おも)い当(あ)たる節(ふし)があるの?
/nanika omoiataru-fushi ga aru no?/
Do you have something come to mind?/Did you remember something?/Ring any bells?

*なにか:something, anything
*思い当たる:come to mind, hit on, call to mind
*思い当たる節がある:it kinda rings a bell


いや、ありすぎてわからない。
/iya, arisugite wakaranai/
Well, I'm not sure because there're too many things.

*ある:exist, have, there's/ there're...
*~すぎる:too much
*わからない:not understand, not know, not sure

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Japanese Phrases for Language Exchange

Learning foreign languages is really fun, don't you think so? :D

I do love the idea of the Language Exchange (LE). Maybe you guys already knew it, or have done it before. It's simple, I teach you my mother language (Japanese!), and you teach me your language instead.




The title of this video is "How to Become Fluent in English", but it also applies to other language learners. If you want to be able to speak your target language, the best way is, to speak.


So, I'm gonna tell you the GOLDEN PHRASES in Japanese for LE today!!
(informal/friendly term)

(1) How do you say ~ in Japanese?
~は日本語(にほんご)でなんて言(い)うの?
/...wa nihongo de nante iu no?/

(2) Can you write it down?
書(か)いてくれる?
/kaite kureru?/

(3) Can you say it again?
もう一回(いっかい)言(い)ってくれる?
/mou ikkai itte kureru?/

(4) What does ~ mean?
~ってどういう意味(いみ)?
/...tte douiu imi?/

(5) Can you speak more slowly?
もっとゆっくり言(い)ってくれる?
/motto yukkuri itte kureru?/

(6) Is it correct?
合(あ)ってる?
/atteru?/

Any other phrases? Hmm, let me know if you have ideas.
And here, some more phrases to make the conversation go smoothly.

(7) Yeah / Right / Yes, it is
そうそう
/so so/

(8) I see.
なるほど~
/naruhodoo/

(9) Oh, I got it!
お~、わかった!
/oh, wakatta!/


Japanese people tend to give responses (like うん, へ~, そっか~ etc.) many times during the conversation. If you want to find a language exchange partner, look at this post.

That's all for today! Thank you for reading guys! See you again.. ;)

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Unique Japanese Words

I found an interesting article on BUSINESS INSIDER! :D

8 Incredibly Useful Japanese Words That Have No English Equivalent


1. どうも /doumo/
2. おおざっぱ/oozappa/
3. びみょう /bimyou/
4. 居留守(いるす) /irusu/
5. 中途半端(ちゅうとはんぱ) /chutohanpa/
6. 真面目(まじめ) /majime/
7. お疲(つか)れさまです /otsukare sama desu/
8. よろしくおねがいします/yorosiku onegai shimasu/

These are the words the article above introduces. Please click the link to know the meanings and usages of them.

It's not interesting only with pasting the link, so I recorded an audio file for you guys! ;)



Friday, April 4, 2014

Cherry Blossoms in Japan!!

The season of cherry blossoms has come!! XD
You know, Japanese people do love cherry blossoms. In Spring, we have "cherry blossom forecast" on TV, just like a weather forecast.

Please look at this website.
http://sakura.weathermap.jp/

The lines on this map show the blooming dates of cherry blossoms. We call it 桜(さくら)前線(ぜんせん) /Sakura Zensen/, which literally means "cherry blossoms front".


What will Japanese people do when cherry blossoms bloomed? Do you know?



Lay out vinyl sheets, sit under the trees, enjoy viewing the blossoms, dink, eat,
and have fun!! XD That's what we call 花見(はなみ)/hanami/ in Japanese.

花見 isn't only for daytime.

It's more and more awesome to see cherry blossoms lit up in the night.
We especially call the cherry blossoms at night as 夜桜(よざくら)/yozakura/.

(The title of this video)  兼六園(けんろくえん)で夜桜(よざくら)見物(けんぶつ)
Viewing cherry blossoms at night in Kenrokuen garden

When I was small, my parents used to take my siblings and me to Kenrokuen garden.

We walked along white gravel paths, viewing cherry blossoms and the castle lit up at night. The stalls by the roadside were really attractive to us. :D My two brothers and I often asked our parents to buy toys and snacks.


Do you have cherry blossoms in your town? :)



*Japanese Word of the Day*
花(はな)より団子(だんご)
/hana yori dango/
Dumplings rather than flowers (※Japanese proverb)

*花/hana/ means flowers, but in this saying, it implies cherry blossoms.
*団子/dango/ is a sweet dumpling. It's common to eat them during 花見.


*A より B = B rather than A

Are you more interested in eating and drinking than appreciating the beauty of flowers during 花見? Then, it's 花より団子. The practical is preferred over aesthetic. XD


Me? Well.. Um.. I love dumplings!!