Learn Japanese FAQ

Archive for November, 2009

Q: Hi! I love your site, most the japanese I know came from genkijapan.net. But i’ve always wondered, what does my name mean in japanese? My name is french for “graceful beauty” so do you know how to say “graceful beauty” in japanese? Arigato- Annabelle

A: Hi Annabelle.  Thank you for the nice words!  When dealing with names then 美 (mi) is the word that you most often use for “beautiful” . For example 美智子 (Michiko) or 美和(Miwa) or 美香 (Mika) which mean “beautiful knowledge child”, “Beautiful peace” and “Beautiful aroma” respectively.  It’s used a lot in names.  There isn’t really a suitable word for “graceful” in Japanese.    But unfortunately in Japan non-Japanese names are not translated for their meaning, but purely for the sound.   So you would become アナベル　(Anaberu) or アンナベル (Annaberu) in katakana!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Hey, how do you determine what is something put together? like for “hare” (晴　sunny) you put day and blue together. how do you come out with the finished product? help! -  blythe

A: The good news with single symbol characters is that you don’t!  They were nearly all decided a long time ago when they came from China.   So you can’t just invent a new combined character, for one thing you’d never be able to type it on a computer, you just have to learn them.  Having said that you could put one or two new characters side by side  to make a new word but you’d have to be really good, or a poet or something, to pull that off!  So once again with kanji, it’s just a case of sitting down and memorising them all!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Hi, Richard! I noticed that someone was asking about good Japanese textbooks, and for what it’s worth, I stumbled across one in Barnes and Noble that I thought was great! It’s called, Japanese the Manga Way
” and it takes panels from actual manga and then offers full translations, pronunciations, and cultural or textual information. Presenting the lessons this way makes them a lot easier to remember, and the explanations are simple but thorough. I’m in the process of working my way through it right now, and I’ve found it very helpful.
Thanks for your site and emails!  –Emily

A: Hi Emily, it’s always good to hear recommendations!  I have a feeling this might help a few people out with their Japanese (or maybe even Christmas presents!)

Q: Ohiyou gozimasu! O genki desu ka? How do you say: Be quiet. In japanese? - Ryukprincess

A: Ohayou, genki desu yo!  How to say “be quiet” in Japanese is a good one, you hear it all the time!  What you need is 静か　shizuka.  Which means “quiet” or “be quiet”.   You could also say 静かにしてください (shizuka ni shite kudasai) which means “please be quiet”.   Or what you hear on the street is “うるさい！”　(urusai) which means “noisy” but also means “shut up!”

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Hello there ^_^  My name is Lynn, im learning Japanese off of the internet from various different resourses…(your site was a big help!) but all this is a little overwelming….. I understand that there are different dialects in japanese, i was wondering how many? Im from Huntsville Alabama, but living here all my life, and i can tell you that some one from Huntsville will talk differently from someone from Scottsboro AL, and those 2 will sound differnet from someone from birmingham, and those 3 ppl will talk diffent from someone from Tennesee… and this is within a radius of only 20-30 miles! I can only imagine its the same in the North. Can you give me anyhelp with the diffent dialects? i dont want to be speaking japanese in way too many dialects…. Thank you again for the site!  - Genki in the Deep South, Lynn

A: Hi Lynn.  The good news is that you don’t need to worry at all about Japanese dialects!  There are some, but thanks to TV and a thing called “国語” (kokugo = national language) then everyone basically speaks and pronounces things in exactly the same way.  So although a Scot, a Londoner, a New Yorker and Aussie would all pronounce “Mary”, “Marry” and “Merry” in different ways, in Japan everyone pronounces the sounds almost the exact same way.

What we do instead is to mess around with the ends of words.  For example in Kansai they tend to add “hen” to the ends of words instead of “masen” so “shirimasen” (I don’t know) becomes “shirahen”.  But it’s really easy to pick up and only really used in bars or with friends.

If you go into the really, really deep countryside you might food a few old ladies who speak exotic dialetics, but in my ten years of travelling every prefecutre in the country I’ve only ever come across one person who spoke so differently that I couldn’t understand.  That was in the ZuZu area of Aomori where “hachi ji” became “hazizuzuzuzizuzuzuzzu”   – don’t ask, I had no idea!

So don’t worry about it, just learn from any modern Japanese person and you’ll be fine!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: How do you say “ever seen” in Japanese - Monica

A: Hi Monica.  This is quite a simple one, and you also hear it quite a lot.  You say …. 見たことありますか？　( mita koto arimasu ka?).     So “スターウォーズ見たことありますか？” = “Have you seen Star Wars?”

You also hear it a lot with 食べたことあります？ (tabeta koto arimasu ka?)  = have you eaten….  For example タコ食べたことありますか？　= have you ever eaten “taco” which is octopus!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: I started learning japanese 2 months ago, I take 2 classes, I also have several books and Rosetta Stone. I also have a Nintendo DS and a few games that teach Japanese.  Ive finished learning the kana already.  Can you recommend any games that I can learn Kanji with for my Nintendo DS.   (I already have the Kanji de Manga book) – Leor

A: Hi Leor.  I don’t have any specific recomendations, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about most of the DS kanji games.  So I’d say read some of the reviews over at amazon and choose the one that suits you the best!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: How do you use a Japanese bus?  I never know when to pay or what to ask for!

A: Here you go, I made a video for you!

These are for normal, everyday buses though.  For the airport buses, which are called “limousine” buses (for some reason!),  you pay before you get on!

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Hi Richard
Firstly I would like to thank you so much for all the great resources on your site – they have been a great help to me in my quest to learn Japanese.  I have finished a Level 1 course at a language college but now as I am unable to afford any further lessons I am learning on my own using the Michel Thomas method you recommended on your site but I miss having a tutor to query things with so I hope that you could answer some queries for me.

1. I was taught at the college that the negative of desu was dewa arimasen but on my Michel Thomas course they use ja arimasen – Which one is the right one to use please?

A:  You can use either, they’re pretty much the same, both are cool.

2. Also I have been watching a great Japanese drama (1 litre of tears) and this has been great in showing me the use of the language in everyday life but has confused me as to which sorry to use – sumimasen or gomenasai?  The girl seemed to use gomen alot whereas the mother used sumimasen but not always so please can you clarify the right use?

A: すみません (sumimasen) is more of an “excuse me” way of saying “sorry”, f or example getting a waiter’s attention in a restaurant.

ごめんなさい (gomen nasai) you’d usually only use if you’ve actually done something wrong, you’re sort of apologising and asking for forgiveness!  Just like in English, taking responsibility and apologising show strong character so are usually good things to do if you have done something a bit bad!

Thank you so much for your time and again for your great site. Liz -^^-

No problem!

Be genki,

Richard