Archive for October, 2009

Q: There have been questions recently about learning to speak Japanese vs. learning to write Japanese first. I was under the impression that it was best to learn hiragana before diving into learning Japanese (I’m already familiar with some Japanese basics, but I haven’t gone headlong in yet) so that you can learn in hiragana rather than romanji. This seems to make sense to me, and I figured that if I was learning hiragana first, I might as well learn to write it at the same time. Is that a good way to approach it?

A: No! : )     It’s true that you should always learn hiragana instead of romaji because romanji really kills your accent.   And if you are a word orientated person then it probably is just as well to learn to write hiragana at the same time you learn to read it.

But ….  before doing any of those then learning to speak quite a bit of Japanese, by listening and then talking, is the most important first step.  This is why everyone in Holland speaks such good English, because they listened to English TV as kids.  And it’s why people in Japan are usually terrible at speaking English, because they learnt to read and write it from textbooks!  Luckily we’re in the Youtube era so it’s possible to get lots of really good Japanese listening input every day.

But just learning hiragana on its own doesn’t actually help you to speak, or learn to speak, Japanese.

Q: I have a question how do u develope the Japanese accent? u sound so cool when you speak japanese   - rika

A: Thank you!  It just depends how you learn.  If you learn from a book or use roman abc letters then there’s a very good chance you’ll have a horrible accent.  It’ll probably sound good to you or your friends, but not so in Japan!

I guess the key is to just listen to lots and lots of real Japanese and learn to speak it by copying what you hear, rather than trying to read and speak it.

One other really fantastic trick I use is to really mickey take the accent of the language I’m learning.

For example, speak an English phrase, but then say it in the thickest most stereotypical Japanese accent you can possibly imagine.  Really, really go over the top.   Then try saying it in Japanese with the same ultra thick accent.  You’ll think it sounds silly, but it really, really works!

Having said that unlike say Italian or French where the stereotypical accent is still current, be careful you don’t copy a Japanese “samurai style” accent because no-one speaks like that anymore, as I found from experience!

Instead get a favourite anime character, or even better a Japanese TV comedian, and really try and imitate their accent.  When you speak, speak like you are that person, really get in their head and speak just like they do.  Copy their face and body language as well  This will really, really help!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Hi hi Richard!
First of all, arigatō ^^, your web page is really helpful to learn the basics of japanese language, beside it’s FREE!! which is a very good thing (the courses in the Chilean-Japanese Cultural institute are rather expensive for me :p)

I read the FAQ of Aishiteru, so I wonder what is the word for saying “I love you”,but refer to a friend? because you said that aishiteru has the powerful meaning (couple) and I don’t want to give the wrong idea XD.  That’s it for now ^^, and thanks again.  -  María Gabriela

A: Ooo, good question!  I can pretty much say you’d never really use aishiteru for a friend, that is usually way too strong.  The other way of saying “I love you” is “大好き！” (daisuki) which you can also use for food or other things e.g. ラーメン大好き！　(ramen daisuki) = I love ramen  or even for a teacher リチャード先生大好き！　  So I guess you could say 大好き for a friend, but just be careful how you say it, as with English all the meaning comes from how, not necesarily what, you say!  But to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they “love” a friend over here!

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A: This will seem a little complicated!  But trust me it gets easier with practice!

“San” is the safe option, it’s usually just means “mr / ms / mrs” but you can also get away with it with kids.  e.g. tanaka san.   If in doubt, use “san”

“kun” – is used pretty much exclusively for boys, it’s looking down on them so for example teachers use it with students e.g. tanaka kun.  Or in a company a boss might say “tanaka kun”    If in doubt, don’t use this, stick with “san”

“chan” is the the super kawaii word of the moment.  Usually it’s used for girls who are lower or the same rank as you e.g. noriko chan.    You hear it all the time amongst friends.  Girls also use it to talk about their boyfriends and of course cute characters are chan e.g. kitty chan.   In high school, although boys are called “kun” girls are called “san” as “chan” is really too cute for school!

Does that help at all?  As with anything else in Japanese, practice is the key.  Watch lots of Youtube videos and your brain will naturally figure out which one to use where.  And of course because Japanese is a living language you’ll also find a million and one exceptions to all the rules above!

Be genki,

Richard

Before you watch the video, what do you think is in the Japanese refridgerator?

(P.S. If you can’t see the video on the email version, just click the title at the top of the post to watch it  online!)