Learn Japanese FAQ

Hello,
I am Rebecca, and I am trying to learn Japanese. I am having a hard time because I am learning Spanish in school as well. I am a very busy person, and I plan to move to Japan once I have graduated high school. I am absolutely fascinated by Japan and it’s culture. Is there anything you can recommend for me to do to help me balance both languages at the same time? I want to learn Japanese more than Spanish, but Spanish is required for school. Thank you so much for helping people like me who want to try and learn another language. Especially Japanese, because it gets very frustrating at times! Thank you so much, Rebecca

A: Hi Rebecca,  well done on wanting to learn both!  It is very doable,  most people in the World speak more than 1 or 2 languages, so it’s not that hard – unlike what many people who only speak English believe!

When you study two languages together, it’s the things that are similar that tend to confuse you.  So you should have no problems with the writing, but as Spanish and Japanese sound quite similar then that does bring up quite a bit of confusion.

What I would recommend would be to use totally different websites, CDs and ways of learning for the two different languages.  That should help a lot.

I learnt Spanish using the Pimsleur materials, but then found that if I use Pimsleur to learn any other language I just keep going to back to Spanish!  Similarly I did Italian in my final year of Uni, but when I tried using the same system to start Japanese it just didn’t work.  But now I try learning several new languages at once always in different ways and it seems to be working!

So try using different materials is my top tip.  And unfortunately that means is you are using www.GenkiJapan.net to learn Japanese it’s probably not a good idea to use www.GenkiSpanish.com to learn Spanish!

Q: I was wondering if all Japanese people know how to read romanji? – Gopina

A: Hi Gopina,  the short answer is that yes all Japanese people should know how to read romaji (no “n”!)

Everyone learnt it in school.  Unfortunately they learnt two systems, one in elementary school “romaji” lessons and one in junior high school English lessons.   Hence they often get confused as to weather つ　is tu or tsu or づ is dzu or some other crazy romanisation.

Anyway,  if you’re writing names, place names or simple one word things then you should be fine.  But writing a whole letter or email in romaji is a real, real headache to read in Japanese (without the kanji it’s difficult to scan for meaning!) hence a lot of people take one look at roman letters and just go “横文字読めない！”　- yokomoji yomenai – I can’t read horizontal writing i.e. romaji !

Q: Hey, I was wondering do you think it helps to watch tv in japanese? I recently found the channel on my tv and im not sure if it will help or hurt my learning process. thanks! – Lexi

A: Well apart from the fact that watching normal TV is generally bad for you (programme makers tend to use fear and scarcity to keep you depressed and watching all day!) then there’s nothing particular bad about watching it in Japanese.  If it’s something fun that you enjoy then it’s probably a good experience of the culture and a nice way to practice some listening!

Q: When someone in the United States sneezes, people usually say “Bless you”. Is there a correct response to when somebody sneezes in Japan. Thanks – Rick

A: The short answer is… no!  You could translate it into Japanese but usually you don’t say anything, and it would probably sound strange if you did.  I think the most common thing you’d hear would be people who’d say “Bless you” in English because a lot of people find it quite cute that we do have an expression for it in English!

One similar phrase that you could use is お大事に (o daiji ni) which sort of means “take care of yourself”   You hear it quite a lot when you do something like going out into the cold!

Q: Hi there
This question links in to the question asked about proverbs… my favourite is Nana korobi ya oki, meaning Fall down 7 times, get up 8. But I’d really like this as a tattoo, but want to make certain that the japanese writing for it is spot on! I’ve been told that a mixture of hirigana and kanji is the best way to write it but I’m not too familiar with writing ..? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Many thanks, Claire p.s. love your website

A; Thank you ; )

Nana Korobi Ya Oki is one of my favourite Japanese proverbs, because although everyone knows it, they never put it into practice until you remind them!

It’s usually written as 七転び八起き  which is mostly kanji with a couple of hirgana as well.

BUT ….. and this is a big but that applies to all Japanese Tattoo designs,  is that due to the way the internet interprets different characters in differnt ways I can’t guarantee that what you see on your particular computer screen will be exactly the correct characters!  For example when I have a look at this post in Google Chrome it actually shows up the characters as Chinese Hanji, not Japanese Kanji!  (This is a very annoying problem with Chrome!)

So if you want it to be totally correct I’d recommend getting someone to actually check a print out of the design you hope to use.

Or if any of you know any good online Japanese tattoo designers who are reliable then let me know and I’ll try and link them up for everyone to use because I get asked about Japanese tattoos a lot!

But then again at the end of the day, having a Tattoo in Japanese will look silly in Japan whatever you do.  It’s like those  T-shirts with weird English that you see all over Japan!

Q: Hey Richard! I would first of all like to thank you for your Genki Japan website; it has been very helpful in my beginner learning; phrases and such. My dream is to become a translator as languages are my life; I also am doing my GCSE German. I wanted to ask about the Japanese “Hanko” stamp that they use to sign documents with. If I were to live in Japan, which I hope to one day, would I need one? And if so, would my name be written in katakana on one of them: ジョシュア? I would be very happy if you were able to answer. Thanks! じゃね。- Josh

A: Hi Josh,

Thanks for the nice words about the Genki Japan website

To answer your question, yes you will need a hanko stamp / seal.  They are used instead of signatures and you’ll need one for anything official that you would usually sign back home e.g. rent agreements, salary, banks etc. etc.   They are really easy to have made, you pop into a hanko shop and they ask how much you want to spend and they make one up in a couple of days.

Usually it would have your surname on it, rather than your first name, and yes they are usually in katakana for non Japanese.  Most people just have a small one wood one they carry around with them (you can even buy them in 100 yen stores for common Japanese names!) although if you are into big business you can have your hanko registered for extra protection e.g. if someone stole your unregistered hanko they could hypothetically marry you off to someone without you knowing!

When you set up a company you also have to have a special set of hanko made.  These cost a fortune but look absolutely gorgeous, I’m always impressed with the ones we got made!

P.S.  also have a look at http://GenkiGerman.com

Q: Hi Richard!

Sayounara,
Marina

A:  Hi Marina,

Usually when you are talking it’s quite soft, almost silent.  But of course you can make it stronger for more emphasis e.g. a great big ohayou gozaimasUUUUU  in the morning if you’d have way too much coffee.

Again I’m afraid I’m going to have to say to forget the grammar rule (there isn’t one!) and just listen to lots of people talking! You’ll pick it up without even realising it.

It’s like asking “when do you New Yorkers pronounce the “t” in the middle of a word and when not!”  Over there (and in Northen England) we hardly ever say it, but just sometimes we do to keep you on your toes!

Q: What do Japanese people wear?

A: The sad, I think, fact is that most people in Japan wear exactly the same clothes as the rest of the developed world!   Teenage girls usually have really good fashion sense, but other than that working age guys all wear grey suits and everyone else wears jeans, t-shirts & coats!

If you want to see Kimono, or Yukata, then the best time to visit is 成人の日 – seijin no hi – adults day – in January where 20 year olds girls wear their best kimono.   Or any of the big fireworks festivals during the summer where girls usually dress up in summer Yukata!

Q: Hi richard, I really want to go to Japan but it’s so expensive.  Do you know which month would have the cheapest rates to fly from the US to Japan? – Aaron

A: Hi Aaron,

It’s probably not a case of which month to go as such, it’s probably a case of which year.  This year the yen is super high so everything is really expensive.  It also was about 10 years ago.  But two years ago the yen was really down and there were some really, really  cheap flights to Japan.  So I’d say keep an eye on the exchange rates!

Having said that, the biggest expense probably wouldn’t be the international flight in getting here, but the internal flights or trains you’ll need to take inside Japan.   So definitely avoid Obon  ( mid to end August) , Golden Week (last week of April, first week of May) and New Year because everyone in Japan is on the move and prices go through the roof!  Weather wise May and October are probably the nicest.

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Could you recommend me a Japan language school in Nagoya? I would like send my students to Japan for Japanese language study. Yours earliest reply is much appreciated. Thank you – Danny

A:  Hi Danny, unfortunately I don’t know any good schools in Nagoya as yet.  I know a couple in Fukuoka that friends have said are very good.  But I have been thinking about popping into some schools in other cities, checking them out and videoing them as I do my Summer Tour this year.  Do you think that would be a good idea?

For those of  you who run a language school in Japan then get in touch and I’ll see if I can pop in.  Be warned though it will be a one take  video so you had better be good!