Learn Japanese FAQ

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Q: What are the Seven Japanese Gods?

A: I guess you mean the 七福神 Shichi Fukujin - the seven lucky gods whose pictures you see everywhere over new year?

Well according to Wikipedia, here they are:

Of course the only one I ever remember is Ebisu!

P.S.  Just out of interest, 七 (shichi) is seven of course, and for those of you who live in 福岡(fukuoka) the 福 is the same “lucky” as 七福神.  And the 神 is the same 神 as Tenjin – 天神 – the biggest shopping area in Fukuoka! Please ignore this last big if you live anywhere else!

Q: Hi! How do you say “Sorry for my bad Japanese”? I think I might need this phrase! Also how do you say “I like…” e.g I like reading? Thank you! – Chessy

A: Probably the most humble way to say “sorry for my bad Japanese” is probably something like すみません、日本語はちょっと。。。 sumimasen  nihongo  wa chotto … and fade the sentence off. It means “sorry (my) Japanese is a bit …..”   Usually you will be guaranteed a reply of いいえ、お上手ですよ！ iie, o jyouzu desu yo! – no, you’re amazing!

To say “I like” you say 好き- suki.  So “I like reading” would be 読むのが好き　yomu no ga suki

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Could you teach us some traditional Japanese proverbs?

A:  There are quite a few really good traditional Japanese proverbs.   Here are a couple that I use all the time:

朝飯前 – asa meshi mae – morning meal before – before breakfast = dead easy!

If someone says できる？ – dekiru?  - “Can you do it?” you just say “朝飯前” to mean “a piece of cake!”  It gives the other person a lot of confidence in you! Provided you can do it of course!

Or another good one is

猫に小判 = neko ni koban = a koban (coin) to a cat = they are not worthy

For example if someone has a 64GB 3G iPad and all they are doing is playing solitaire then you can say “猫に小判” to mean “they’re not worthy of having that!”.   Of course you say it in a joking way!

Do you want any more Japanese proverbs?

Be genki,

Richard

Q: Where can I find japanese koi fish drawings?

A: I’m not sure where you’d find original koi fish drawings, but I imagine that Amazonwould have some prints that you could look up.  Or if you are visiting Japan then just about all the お土産 – omiyage – souvenir – shops have plenty of things with koi fish all over them.  Although I have a feeling you want it for a tattoo maybe??

Or of course you try your own japanese koi fish drawing!

If you can’t see the video, click here for the online version!

Q: Actually, I find the whole notions of counters a complete mess. What’s the counter for dreams? What’s the counter for rivers? What’s the counter for mountains? How about lakes? Stars? – John

A: Japanese is great because if in doubt you can always cheat!  Just use the generic counters, you’ll be understood and if you’re lucky the person you are speaking to will teach you the correct one.   But nobody knows every counter, try asking a friend what the counter for “okoto” is!

Anyway, here’s your cheat list of generic counters:

So using the cheat counters, how would say 9 coconuts??? : )

Q: Hello Richard:

—Dan—

A:  Hi Dan,

It’s difficult to give specific examples because it seems the key is to listen to stuff you enjoy the most.  For anime fans it’s obviously anime,  if you’re into fashion then figure out what the keyword in Japanese is (use google translate) and then search for interesting videos with that keyword in Youtube.   I wouldn’t really want to give specific recommendations as we’re all so different.

But seeing as you did ask what I specifically liked….  it was totally Star Wars!  After growing up memorising the entire script, the first time I saw the videos dubbed in Japanese I knew exactly the meanings and found it a cool way to pick up new words.

Just be careful that movie language isn’t always the language you should use in real life!  I spent ages going round saying 俺 (ore) – hey Yoda uses it so it must be polite I thought,  before I was quietly assured that 私　watashi or 僕 boku are better for work!

Q: how do you say whats up in japanese?-   burtrel

A: I guess the best translation would be “Genki?” !!  Or if you wanted to say “What’s up?” meaning “What’s wrong?” say if someone’s crying or something, you’d say どうした？ doushita?

Q: I am really interested to do my master degree in JAPAN in information technology .When I visited embassy of japan in our country they told me learn Japanese and go for MEXT scholarship exam. my question is how much difficult is to learn this language? and also as I am Indian how many Indian students are there studying in Japan in technological field? -  Pragati

A: It’s not that hard.  Usually they say a year of full time hard study to get completely proficient.  However in IT many of the terminologies are similar to English so it’s a lot easier to get up to speed than say studying medicine where you would have a whole new bunch of tough kanji to learn.

Having said that I do believe that many of the MEXT (or other) scholarships usually contain language study components to get you a good level of Japanese before and during your main studies.

There aren’t that many Indian students in Japan, but there is a reasonably sized community in the larger cities.

Q: How do I write my name in Japanese? – from just about everyone!

A: After a couple of posts about how to write your name in Japanese,  ”How do I write my name in Japanese” has become the most popular question asked here!  Luckily I think I’ve found a resource that should help you!

http://www.whatismynameinjapanese.com/main01000.html

Scroll past the adverts and there is a great long list of Western names in Japanese.  I haven’t check the accuracy, and the katakana is the version you’ll always use in Japan, but hopefully it should help!

Be genki,

リチャード

Q: What does Wii mean in Japanese?

A: “Wii” doesn’t actually mean anything in Japanese!  Apparently it’s supposed to be a play on the English word “we”.   If you say “wii”  people will always think of the console.  Having said that you also hear just “nintendo” which is one of the few Japanese companies with cool kanji: 任天堂　which means “trust”, “heaven” (as in 天気 – tenki – for weather) and “dou” for “hall” or “building”