Learn Japanese FAQ

Archive for March, 2010

It’s Cherry Blossom time in Japan!  Here’s a video I did for Japanese people to learn English, but it also works for you guys learning Japanese!  How do you say “full bloom” in Japanese?

My tips to learn Japanese at http://www.GenkiJapan.net

Hi guys,

I’m in Japan this weekend and it just happens to be 花見 time! 花見 (Hanami) is where everyone goes out to have a picnic and look (見る miru ）at the flowers (花 hana)

Of course the main flower is the bud of the 桜　- sakura – cherry blossom tree.

Unfortunately today was horrible weather so I couldn’t get any decent pictures of the trees. So I thought I’d just do a quick run around so you can see some of the atmosphere.

We’re out again tomorrow so fingers crossed that the weather will be better and I can try and get some better pictures of the beautiful 桜！

Would you like me to upload them if I can?

Be genki,

Richard

P.S.  If you can’t see the video, here’s the online link.

Q: Richard

I feel like your “answer” to Emily was a bit offensive and decidedly off point.  Perhaps you are having a bad day because this is uncharacteristic for you.

The fact is, as I understand it, all kanji characters (or symbols) have an ONYOMI as well as a KUNYOMI meaning.  It is important for folks who wish to become proficient with Japanese to understand this.  Am I wrong?

I’m surprised you did not talk about this some.

As I read Emily’s question, I too wanted to know the answer.  Your reply was .. well … lacking.

Could you be a bit more forthcoming, please?

TJ

And

Q: The quality of answer to this email was very poor. If your responses to other valid queries are as bad it will be my intention to mark your future emails as junk  - Anthony

A: Sorry guys!  I wasn’t trying to be off, I was just trying to get you to think about how we solve problems in English, because very often that gives us the way to solve problem sin Japanese.  I guess the zen like approach didn’t come across as I intended!

(Here’s the original reply just for the record)

I was trying to compare the Japanese way of having different readings with the English way of having different readings for the same word.  i.e. the word “read” where you can read it as “reed” or sometimes it can be read like “red”.

You could think about the grammar rule of which reading to use where.  But in reality you just read the correct reading based on your previous listening experience. For example your brain just knows that it sounds wrong.

Your Japanese teacher will probably tell you otherwise (as do English teachers over here) but Japanese kanji are exactly the same.  There are different readings and there are grammar rules to explain them.  But in the vast majority of cases you unconciously decide which reading to use based on your past listening experiences.

For example if you saw 日本　you could potentially read it as “hi hon” or something, but it sounds wrong so you go back and read it until you hit on “nippon”.   Now this does sound like a long way round.  But it is the most natural way to do it – I can guarantee it!

Luckily Japanese TV, and hence youtube, is super great in this respect because they have a habit of kanjing up nearly every show in TV.   So by doing lots of listening to TV shows you get lots of subconcious yomikata (reading) practice.

As I say this isn’t the way they teach you in school, but it is the way those of us who have learnt to speak Japanese use all the time.

Does that get me off the black list now?? : )

Be genki,

Richard

Here’s a video we did to promote bungy jumping in Japan – in Japanese of course!

Yes, “bungy jumping” is pronounced バンジージャンプ in Japanese.  And you might also hear the word 怖い (kowai) which means “scary” quite a few times!

P.S.  If you can’t see the video, click here to see it online.

Q: What is the meaning of urayamashii – Mahesha

A: I’m so jealous!   You also often hear いいな　iina to mean “You lucky thing!”

Q: Richard. I know that you often pronounce wo as “o” then why do they sing wo instead of o in songs?
i am a bit confuse? can you please help? thanks.  - Cindy

A: Hi Cindy, it’s mainly just artistic reasons.  The real sound is sort of inbetween, but it can vary.  So just like in English songwriters sometimes change things around a bit to make them sound better!

Q: Hi, Richard!  I love your site and videos! Would you mind telling me how to learn to pronounce the kanji? Even if I know what they mean, I’m still in trouble if I can’t pronounce them! My problem is that there seems to be so many different ways of doing that. I’ve heard of the kun-yomi and on-yomi readings, and I have a few resources to help me learn, but I still find them confusing. For example, I have heard that you pronounce the kanji for “fire” 火 as, “ka,” according to one of my sources. (The excellent Mangajin magazines.) However, the Kanji de Manga book I have lists, “hi,” “bi,” and “ka” as being possible pronunciations. Huh?! How do I know which one to use? I’d appreciate any advice you could give. I would love to be able to read Japanese, especially because I’m sure it would help me learn to speak it better, but I don’t think I’m going to get too far if I can’t figure out the kanji!　　Thanks for your help!　　–Emily

A:  Let’s take an English word, let’s say, “read”.   Now, how did you read that word?  Would you have read it any differently this time?  So to re-ask your question, how do you know which one to use in English?

Be genki,

Richard