Learn Japanese FAQ

Archive for September, 2009

Q: hey, i love this site, it is awesome. I just have 2 questions
1: is it normal for when you hear a japanese word you know you just get the translation in your head without needing to think about it or do you actually need to think about it?

A: Glad you love the site!  Rather than hearing a Japanese word and then thinking about the translation, what good speakers do is to hear the Japanese word then relate it directly to the thing, feeling, object without going through English at all.  For example if you hear the word “inu” you instantly bring to mind a dog without ever thinking of the English word.   This naturally occurs once you reach a certain level, but you can improve yourself considerably if you try and nurture this skill as soon as you can!

Q: 2: you say that tradional textbooks and things teach you old boring stuff that nobody uses, how can i know which one do that and which ones teach you good stuff. – espio

A:  Well, GenkiJapan.net only has good stuff!  Most textbooks are really, really bad and to be honest I’d say if it’s a textbook then leave it.  But if it’s real Japanese like a real manga, anime or Youtube video then you can be pretty sure it will be authentic!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: 1) When would I say “Mushi Mushi”? I know to say it when answering the phone…but what is it? Is it just a greeting?

2) Does Aishteru mean I love you??? - Zayna

A: Hi Zayna.  ”Mushi” actually means “bug” so I think you probably mean “moshi moshi”! : )   It’s doesn’t actually mean anything as such, you just use it to make sure the other person can hear you on the phone!  You hear it all the time in offices as people pick up the phone and say “moshi moshi”.

And yes Aishiteru 愛してる means “I love you”  - but it’s a very potent way of saying it, so make sure you really feel it!

Be genki,

Richard

Q:  I  have 3 questions…  I thought I heard you saying that you should learn to speak Japanese before learning to write it, is it true that you said that?

A: Yes, absolutely!

Q:I was wondering if watching Japanese anime or listening to Japanese, with English subtitles could help with learning Japanese…

A:  It certainly won’t do any harm!  It’s not the most efficient way of doing things but if you like anime then it’s a pretty much effortless way to learn some Japanese.

Q: And I heard that if you go to Japan, the people there aren’t very friendly to foreign people…  Of course I don’t think that is true, but is there negativity towards them? - Pyro

A: Japan is a blatently racist country in that people will always treat you differently, but in all my travels to every corner of Japan I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t friendly!

Be genki,

Richard

I’ve had many people asking me what “genki” means.  It basically means “Energetic”, “Exciting” or “Full of Life”.   So instead of saying “How are you?” in Japanese we actually say “Are you energised and excited and full of life?” i.e. genki?

Have a look at the video above for more plus a few other really useful bits of Japanese!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: How you doing richard! Your site is a great asset to me at the moment, i just want to say thank you! I’m currently doing a tefl course and i plan to finish it in the next month.

My question to you is:
Unfortunatly i dont have a degree,so im hoping you can give me some advice on finding work when i arrive in Japan without a degree but with a tefl certificate……is there any hope for me?!?!?  Cheers   Anthony

A: Hi Anthony, thanks for the email and the nice words!  I’m glad the site is proving useful.

There is hope .. but it depends on where you come from!  Usually we say you need a degree to work in Japan not necessarily from the job finding aspect, but because it’s usually a requirment to get a visa to work in Japan.

However if you are lucky enough to be from a country that has working holiday visa relationships with Japan (I think, but don’t quote me on this, UK, Australia and New Zealand have them)  then this can be the easiest way to get in!

If you’re from the US or another country that doesn’t participate in working holiday visas then a degree is probably the only way.

Here’s a video a did a few months ago that has a few more details,  plus be sure to check out my TEFL training videos on Youtube!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: I have a question about Japanese. I know all of the Hiragana characters and how to pronounce them(つ-tsu, か-ka, etc) but what does this line thing mean? ” 一 ” how is it pronounced and when is it used?

A: Another good question!  The ー Japanese symbol doesn’t have a meaning, it’s just a piece of short hand.

For example if you have the sound “ma” and you want to add an extra “a” to the end,  instead of writing it again you just put the ー　line.    Having said that you don’t often use it with Hiragana, it’s used much, much more in katakana e.g. “email” in Japanese is me e ru,  which you could write as メエル but it looks silly and is too much hard work to write, so for the repeated “e” sound you just use the ー　 to make it メール。　Dead easy.

There’s also a kanji version that you can use when you can’t be bothered to write the same kanji twice.  For example the surname Sasaki could be written as 佐佐木, but instead of writing out the second 佐  you always use the 々　symbol which means “repeat the previous kanji” so you end up with 佐々木。

Hope that helps!

Be genki,

Richard

It’s exactly a year since I started uploading these videos of bits and pieces from Japan. I never imagined you’d all find them so useful!

Funnily enough this week I was actually staying again at the place I took the first video – the one with the flaming breakfast! This year I went with the “Western Breakfast” option instead of the “Japanese Option” which meant I had a salad and bread instead of rice!

Thanks for all your support over the year, I’ve still got a ton more great videos to upload for you all, so keep subscribing!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: How do you say- Where is it? and- strawberry in Japanese? – Christy

Q: How do I ask stuff like *Where is the dog?* and stuff? Eleanor

A: Thanks for the questions!   “Where” is simply どこ : do ko?

One beautiful thing about Japanese is that you can use the question just like that,  just say “doko?” to mean the whole sentence of “Where is it?”

In Japanese dog is 犬　inu.   (The kanji looks like the symbol for “big” 大 but with a little extra mark on the top right).   So to say “Where is the dog?” you just “Inu wa doko?”

Strawberry is 苺 ichigo (yep, pronounced just like the name Ichigo)    So the question of the day is, how do you say “Where is the strawberry?” in Japanese?

Be genki,

Richard

P.S.  You can hear the word “doko” in the video below:

Download Version is here.