1. Gomen (ne)/Gomen-ne-sai - Sorry // nasai is the correct spelling
2. Arigato/Arigato-gosaimus - Thank you // gozaimasu is the correct spelling
3. So ka? / So ka... - Really?/Really... // Sou
4. Onegai - Please
5. Kuso (I don't know if I can put curse words on here, so I won't put the English) // This means shit
6. Zi-bou - Ceramic pot
7. Ne-ge-dae! - Run away! // Nigete, 逃げて
8. So-re-wa... - That is...
9. Temne! - You! // Temee
10. Shin-de/Shinu - Die, died

1. Nani? - What?
2. Kawaii - Cute
3. Hai!/Hou - Okay // Hou is not specifically OK, it's an affirmitive grunt
4. Sumimasen - Sorry
5. Ju - Ten // Juu
6. Sanse-da - I agree
7. Maseka! - It can't be! // Masaka
8. Betsuni-nani-moe - Nothing really // nanimo
9. Konnichiwa - Hello
10. Sayonara/Ja/Ja-ne - Good-bye // Jaa is the correct spelling


Why do all these sound like it's from some lame samurai movie?

@ SinProbably because of the words "Die, and Run away"

Anyways Nani kore "what is that" Exchange student said this alot. (lol I love her regardless)

Heheh, I don't watch anime or anything in Japanese, so the only Japanese I know is really classroom Japanese. We don't learn things like "Nigede," "Masaka," or "kuso" in class.

:yawn:


Nigete. its a commanding form of nigeru, to flee.
Kuso is "shit" for all purposes, from its literal meaning (garbage/rubbish) to something like "damn".
There's way too many words that have similar meanings as Masaka, the more common words being Hontou and Maji(ka). Masaka is used in less varied context, with negative connotations.




seriously, there should be some serious Japanese teaching thread or something.. :mellow:

Lol. Glancing through this thread I've learned something: Japanese doesn't come naturally to foreigners, no matter how much they... erm... try.:\

"Why do all these sound like it's from some lame samurai movie?"

Because they probably are. I'm guessing you probably thought samurai because of my little title thing, but it's not really a movie. I told on the other thread that it was from anime... so the words are probably really whacked and has no real reference to real life.

Yes, I know there lots of different ways to say things. -.- Ah... I've never been so bad at spelling in my life...

1. Daijoubu - Don't worry
2. Hon-touni? - Really?
3. Yakuza - Gang member
4. Ikazo - Let's go
5. Tze-bayou... - Hey... (trying to get someone's attention, hey...)
6. Oukashi - Weird
7. Ahoyi - Blue
8. Akai - Red
9. Muri - Impossible
10. Watashi no... - My... (something)

2. the "ni" is not needed.
4. Ikuzo, Ikuze, Ikou, etc. dialects and "badass" language. the grammatically correct (and polite) form is Ikimashou/Ikou.
5. Sounds more like Chinese, there is no "Tze" in Jap. and there's way too many words that mean "hey"
6. Okashii
7. Aoi


you should learn the vocabulary in a systematic manner, sorted by topics and difficulty. random words bunched up like this won't help.

One word will get you somewhere in Japan. "HI". Or just nod softly XD

Well, I had to do that when I was these vitnamese people were talking to me. I just nodded....O_o

English will pretty much get you anywhere in Japan. I went to a McDonalds there and the cashier was like "How may I help you?" They study English pretty extensively in school.

All right, I will try to... group it together. Hm... short phrases, I suppose.

1. Swoitzoi - That's great
2. Yukaro - Very well
3. Tasukede - Help me
4. To-renzou - I can't get through
5. Kesama! - You!
6. Matte - Wait
7. Wagatane - You don't get it...
8. Chotto - Hey!
9. Moero! - Burn!
10. Ino - It's all right

Well, it's more that you need grammar if you want to say anything other than things like "we must escape!" You can learn as many words as you want, but unless you know how to apply them it's somewhat useless in a real life situation.

English will pretty much get you anywhere in Japan. I went to a McDonalds there and the cashier was like "How may I help you?" They study English pretty extensively in school.

Most of the time, they'll just say "sorry, no English no English". mainly because they are too piss shy of speaking it.
But yeah.. some of the younger generation eager to show off their English skills might talk back to you XD



1. Swoitzoi - That's great
2. Yukaro - Very well
3. Tasukede - Help me
4. To-renzou - I can't get through
5. Kesama! - You!
6. Matte - Wait
7. Wagatane - You don't get it...
8. Chotto - Hey!
9. Moero! - Burn!
10. Ino - It's all right


*backs head against the wall*
this is like... *bangs head on the wall more*

1. what the heck.. you trying to say "sugoizo" (again.. the zo at the end is colloquial not formal) or what..
2. Yokarou. and you would hear this kind of talk more from Ikari Gendo in one episode of Evangelion then you would in your entire life spent in Japan.
4. another Wapanese that I'm incapable of translating into Japanese.
5. Kisama. Have in mind that Japanese is extremely polite language. Even though calling people this is offensive, it still literally means "you sir".
Again millions of variations, too many to list and all of them used about as often as Yokarou.
7.Wapanese.
8.Chotto means "a little". often used with Matte to mean "wait a sec". Just on its own might mean "hey" or something to grab someone's attention, but you usually use sumimasen for situations like that.
9.I don't see how this is going to help you speak more Japanese...
10. Iino. colloquial, also used by ladies more than men.

All right...

To a complete stranger, how would you say, "How are you?" I have three different ways here, but if I post it, it's probably going to be more frustrating. So I'll just ask it this way.

First you would get there attention by saying excuse me (Sumimasen). Then ask them how they are (ogenki des ka). This is the very polite way of doing this (textbookish). I'm working on slang now (Oh God! Another slang dictionary search, which will, more than likely, turn up empty)

You could also say "dou desu ka," but that's a bit more among friends. Sort of.

Could "wagatane" have been "wakatta ne," which is like "I understood, you know?"

I'm guessing you probably thought samurai because of my little title thing
Not really. I've just seen a couple of movies that go like this:

Bad Guy: Your mom!
Good Guy 1: Temee!
*Good Guy 1 attacks Bad Guy
*Bad Guy stabs Good Guy 1
Good Guy 1: (To Good Guy 2) Nigete!
Good Guy 2: (In tears) Kuso!
*Good Guy 1 dies

Now count how many words from those lists fit in here.

Hm... wouldn't call it exactly lame samurai movie. Because obviously, if it was samurai, they wouldn't get stabbed. And they wouldn't be cowardly like, "Nigete!". But I would definitely agree if it was lame anime show. -.-

"Could "wagatane" have been "wakatta ne," which is like "I understood, you know?""

Probably. That would have fit in the context.

And Dango is dumplings right? Do they still make those?

Would this work for who are you? - Da-re-dake?

And, not to mention my Japanese spelling sucks, so... maybe that's why some of my words don't make any sense.

just a quick question
is it aishiteru or aishiteiru?
becuase i thought it was aishiteru but in a thingie i read aishiteiru...

Ai shite + iru = is loving

so then... whats ai shite?
and whats ai shite ru...?

ai shimasu = will love
ai shite = please love (command)
iru (imasu) = to exist
ai shite + iru = is loving
ai shiteru = nothing (to my knowledge, which is limited)
welcome to Japanese. :\

Ai Shiteru is probibly a corruption. I havent fount it in any casual speaking japanese books; so that's the only conclusion I have (If it actually exists)

So then, in nowadays, how would you say it?

Aishiteiru; or, formally, Aishiteimasu.

So there is a difference between saying "AishiteIru" and "Aishiteru"?

Yeah. Aishiteru doesn't mean anything. It's grammatically incorrect. But since it sounds so similar to the real thing (aishiteiru), I doubt it matters in speaking; only if you wrote it would it be wrong.

You could also say "daisuki da," which means "I really like you (informal)."

Ah... I see now. Erm... I have about... five different ways of saying "What are you doing" on here, so... how would you say it?

Depends on the formality.
Female really informal: nani yatteiru no?
Male really informal: nani yatteiru zo/yo/etc?
You wouldn't say this, but you could: nani yatte imasuka? :p
regular informal: nani shiteiru (no)(zo/yo/etc)?
formal: nani wo shiteimasuka?
all of the "nani" could become "nan," also.

All right. None of them are like the ones that I heard. *sigh*. Thank you.

Is "dousche-de?" Why?

Not douche-de... "doushite" is why. "Na-ze" also works.

Ah... what about "Doushita?"

You just changed the tense of the word by adding a verb suffix to a past postive.

Ah, I see. Wow, I never realized one letter would make a whole sentence different.

That means "what happened?"

If and only if you added a ka at the end.

In the form given (Doushita) it means: What happened [is].....
If you give it was a ka at the end (Doushita ka) it means: What happened?

I belive what he is saying is the causal way of speaking, Because I have heard it without the particle meaning both of the above sentences. It goes along with the notorious "Droping of Words" the Japanese do occationally when forming a sentence.

^Sorry for blasting your statement but it would be spoken incorrectly (well, incorrect according to how I was taught) if you said it in that form. I also understand that you used the question mark at the end to assume the ka particle. But, it is all about proper grammer. Make certain that the proper particles are used or else you will get somthing that sounds wierd or completely off-subject.

All right, what about something like: Naniendendaiyo? (Spelilng might be a little off... more than a little)

would it be ... WHAT ARE YOU DOING !!!!!!! ....??
i'm guessing.... i learn most of mai jap frm anime anyway ... =P
i'm pretty sure it's rong spelling ... but not entirely sure .. =/

I suck at spelling to but is it Nanebanaiyo?

would it be ... WHAT ARE YOU DOING !!!!!!! ....??
i'm guessing.... i learn most of mai jap frm anime anyway ... =P
i'm pretty sure it's rong spelling ... but not entirely sure .. =/

I'm pretty sure your English spelling is wrong too <_<

"Doushita ka?" sounds somewhat... virile; similarily, "Doushita nano?" would sound effeminate. "Ka" and "Kai" are informal ways for males to ask questions (it's informal if they ask the question in plain form). Stuff like "nano" and "no" make the question sound girly and informal.

Indeed, learning a more formal way is important. However, "doushita ka" isn't very formal. The more normal/formal way would be "dou shimashita ka?" If you add "ka" while in plain form, it doesn't make the sentance more formal, necessarily. You also have to have the correct verb usage.

As for that "naneiendiendaiyo" thing, I'm not sure. The closest I can come up with is simply "nandayo?!" which is more like "what the hell?!"

.... Hmmm.... I'm having some trouble with honorifics(sp?) and Nickname suffixes for names. I have some, but I'm missing a couple; could someone fill in the blanks for me?

-San
-Sama
-Kun
-Chan
-Sensei
-Chi/ Chii
-Chin
-Puu
-Ran
-Tan
-Bon
-Dono
-Han
-Sempai
-Nii
-Ne

I've got the basics and some nickname ones (including some corruptions on them; ex Chin/ Chan), but I'm at a loss for the others. Any help is apprecated.

Suffixes are made up (-pon? -rin?) all the time. There's no need to compile a complete list.

I'm pretty sure your English spelling is wrong too <_<


Nice. >.<

neko wa oishi desu....
my friend taught me that... he's weird.

The cat is delicious.

Apt if you are eating at a Chinese restaraunt, I suppose.

Sickos <_<

What? We don't eat Cat. O.o Maybe if you went to Hong Kong.

its just like saying every french person eats 50 snails a day :mellow:

stupid stereotypes not based on any fact

Mies: Don't need all that, -san and -kun is just about all you need.

So, how would you say older sister? Family names?

(insert family name here)-san

:yawn:

seriously.. senpai(who the hell spells it seMpai anyway? look at the bloody kanji for christ's sake. not to mention japanese romanization does not allow for such words (it would be seMUpai at best, if it was)),dono and all that crap.. strictly limited to parts of the society only..

i.e: use of Dono is almost exclusive to military and martial-arts related groups.

It's sempai in pronunciation though, even if it's spelled senpai.

It's a bit vague how to romanize stuff, stick with the spelling or the pronunciation? For example, we spell Osaka, the Japanese spell おおさか　(oosaka). Some people for whatever reason think it's Ousaka (since you normally extend the O sound with a u, however, Osaka is one of the exceptions to that rule).

BTW Kou, my Japanese friend told me that calling your sister or brother -san would be too unpersonal, she said you could use -chan for direct family.

I am spelling everything how it sounds phoneticlly; I have a hard time remebering the rules that in a the word like senpai the n turns to m.

o_O... I thought you call your brother and sister by (Name)-Nisan (or simply Name-nii) or (name)-Nechan. I guess it's somthing you have to go over to japan to understand, like everyone says... (_ _).

Another question: Is there any other paralanguage in japanese other than Eto or Ano?

if your brother is called Touya you'll call him Touya-niisan or Touya-niichan.

Niichan is more personal, san would be used it he was your brother in law or something.

Oh, I mean like, how do you *say* brother, sister, without specific names. Like, "I have a brother" or something.

I listen to Japanese music a lot and you kind of pick up things...off the top of my head I know boku is the romaji pronoun 'I'...one of my friends taught me that japanese equivalent for 'oi' one time, which I use a lot (uhi)

boku is just ぼく　romanized, it's not a special "romaji version" of the word.

"uhi" is a nice made up word but it doesn't mean "oi"

It's sempai in pronunciation though, even if it's spelled senpai.

It's a bit vague how to romanize stuff, stick with the spelling or the pronunciation? For example, we spell Osaka, the Japanese spell おおさか　(oosaka). Some people for whatever reason think it's Ousaka (since you normally extend the O sound with a u, however, Osaka is one of the exceptions to that rule).

BTW Kou, my Japanese friend told me that calling your sister or brother -san would be too unpersonal, she said you could use -chan for direct family.


senpai sempai san chan... all just colloquialism.


you'd only add -chan if you're a girl or you're talking to your sister/girlfriend etc.
most of the time you'd just drop the title if you're talking to a family member

*btw, boku's kanji is 僕, meaning "servant".. a way of humbling yourself when referring to you, probably

Oh, I mean like, how do you *say* brother, sister, without specific names. Like, "I have a brother" or something.

Brother:
-Yours
-->Kyodai
-Somone elses
-->Gokyodai

Sister:
-Yours
-->Shimai
-Someone elses
-->Goshimai

I'm not certain if this is approprate to say when in public or not. It seems like a similar situation to saying you when in a crowd. It could be deemed as too indirect and somewhat inapproprate. When in doubt, refer to the person using there famaly name and adding -san to the end of it (unless they are someone you respect highly or is a leader of a faction, which then it's -sama).

guys i dont know how to spell it right
or if i said it right but
can ya tell me what each words mean

Edit-Example(for Mies sake)
What does me sig mean?
Tell me what Orewa mean?
Did I spell it Right?
I did not need Mies to give me a lecture

Happy now Mies?

guys i dont know how to spell it right
or if i said it right but
can ya tell meone bye one what each word means

Read my sig thts wat i need to figure out
xD! you need to be forgiven?
Or something..

Confusion: All Romanji charaters in Japanese has a vowel tied into it right? Then what about San or Chan. If you untie each syllable you have Sa-n and Cha-n. The n exists without a vowel! I don't understand, are we just leaving a u off of its spelling because it's a silent vowel? Or am I missing a very basic princible(sp?) in Romanji?

@Vincent: I have a feeling angelic is going to smash you on how you wrote your post. I would suggest making the language a little clearer. (I must admit, you do take time in figuring out how to type slang articulations). As for your sig.... I'm a failure. I can't figure it out.

I told u i don't know how to spell it!

I wasn't trying to lecture, I was preventing a problem before it became one (which wasn't too severe to begin with; also the problem was mis-interperated, what I ment was the hint of AIM-speak in your post. The Mods smash down on people that type posts in that way). And my apologies if it caused you bad blood. I was just tring to help so that you don't have problems.

Back to your signature:

I'll work on it for a while...

Ore= I
wa= (follows the subject or point of a sentence)
yurusarethai=?
Ughm= paralanguage that doesn't exist; it's just a compound of random letters to sound like an sound. (I can't spell the word for this in english).
na=....... URAG!!! IT'S A PARTICLE THAT I CAN'T FIND
toko=?

There is not such thing as a "thai" in Japanese. They have no "th" sound, even for foreign words in katakana. I'm pretty sure "na" is a nound modifier for adjectives.

I knew I made most of them spelled in correctly
Im not sure if i just said it wrong

Say how ya say
I want to be forgiven in japanese?

Onegai, ore wa Yurushimasu=
Please, Forgive me.

(testing Japanese input...): 鬼外、俺輪ゆるします。 (yay it worked!!!... That took me forever when it should have taken only a second.)

(I think I got the Object-Subject-Verb right... BLASTED ENGLISH! Why are we so different from other languages?!)

Thank you for your help. All that helped me anyways.

I know, English seems such a trivial language compared to the others. So simple.

Yurusarethai na toko....is wrong
I think is yurusaretai ta toko
I think
is there any close words to yurusaretai?

If the verb is yurusu, which I am uncertain of, then the correct conjugation would be yurushitai.

On wat i heard really its yurusaretai
i hear it as thai
u know like thigh
but i guess "th" doesnt exist
This is complicated

This is gonna be long. I'm not sure if they're spelled correctly or anything but I think it's supposed to be that way. I won't do the numbers. Oh yeah, and this is Hiragana.

ai: love
aki: fall
anata: you (not used for superiors, since it sounds coarse that way)
asa: morning
baka: fool
bishounen: a young good looking guy
bishoujo: a young good looking girl
chi: blood
chibi: small
chizu: map
chotto: just a little
daijoubu: I'm okay, I'm fine
dare: who
densha: train
doko: where
eki: station
fune: ship
fuyu: winter
gaijin: foreigner
genki: full of energy
gomen: sorry
hai: yes, I understand
hata: flag
haru: spring
heya: room
hikari: light
hon: book
hoshi: star
iie: no, that is incorrect
inu: dog
iro: colors
ittekimasu: I'm off (literally 'I go and return')
ittarashai: please return (the response to "ittekimasu")
ittadakimasu: (there is no direct translation, closest would be "bon appetit"
ja: see ya
kana: native japanese characters
kanji: chinese style characters
kasa: umbrella
kawaii: cute, adorable
kemuri: smoke
ki: tree
koe: voice
konban wa: good evening
konnichi wa: good afternoon
kowai: scary
kuruma: car
makura: pillow
mama: so-so, ok
me: eye
mise: store
momo: peach
mon: gate
moshimoshi: hello, phone greeting
mushi: insect
namae: name
nani: what
natsu: summer
naze: why
neko: cat
nohara: field
numa: marsh
ohayo: good morning
okaeri: welcome back (the response to "tadaima")
okane: money
oyasumi: good night
rakuda: camel
rekishi: history
ringo: apple
risu: squirrel
rousoku: candle
rusu: absence
sakani: fish
sensei: teacher
shiki: four seasons
shio: salt
sora: sky
sumimasen: Excuse me
sushi: sushi
tadaima: I've returned (said when arriving home)
take: bamboo
tenki: weather
tokei: watch, clock
tsuki: moon
ue: above
umi: sea
wakarimasu: I understand
wata: cotton
yama: mountain
yappari: I knew it, I thought so
yasashi: easy
yoru: night
yuki: snow
:heh: :heh: :heh: :heh: :heh:

こんにちは！私はニクスで十七才です。六年間日本語を勉強していますけど、ろまじが書けませんが、かなで書 くことがろまじより好きです^^;。来年の三月に日本に行きます。十月間日本にとまります。楽しみにしてい ますね！だれか日本に行ったことがありますか。

Hmmm, forgive any dodgy grammar, I haven't spoken or written in Japanese for a while.

Trans: Hello! I am Nyx and I am 17 years old. I have been studying Japanese for 6 years but I can't write in romaji but I like writing in kana more than romaji ^^; . Next March I am going to Japan. I'm going to stay there for 10 months. I'm looking forward to it!　Has anyone else been to Japan before?

Romanji
And Kana
So these are different ways to speak japanese or something?

Romaji is spelling something in english like: konnichiwa
Kana is the term for the Japanese and Chinese alphabets, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji: こんにちは

I was never taught how to write Romaji properly so I rarely write in it as I've been known to confuse people with it XP lol

Romaji is spelling something in english like: konnichiwa
Kana is the term for the Japanese and Chinese alphabets, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji: こんにちは

I was never taught how to write Romaji properly so I rarely write in it as I've been known to confuse people with it XP lol

I believe kana is just katakana and hiragana.

ah ^^; Well there you go, learn something new everyday

GAH~! Rei-hime (honorary(sp?) for a princess- for those who don't know honoraries), please do make your formating a little easier on the eyes! But you did do what I didn't want to do. So the post is apprecated.

=S Yeah I probably should use spaces and stuff, but at school we usually write on genkouyoshi (spelling?) so I've gotten into the bad habbit of not bothering with spaces and stuff when I write Japanese horizontally XP lol.

"But you did do what I didn't want to do. So the post is apprecated."
Ummm I'll smile and nod because I don't know what you're talking about. Could be the fact I've only had 2 hours sleep in the past two nights ....

Neat little game that teaches you how to read Japanese (well... Elementary Japanese) http://lrnj.com/ I found it quite fun and it reminded me of the good old FFI days.

How do you say 18 years old? Because I've seen juuhas-sai and juuhachi-sai. O.o Although Juuhas-sai more often. And do you always need desu at the end of the sentence? Like if it's raining can't you just say "Ame"?

It's pronounced Jyuuhassai. And no you don't always need to put desu at the end of a sentence, that's called plain form, but if you were to say 'it is raining' in plain form you would say 'ame ga futteiru.' If you said just plain ame it just means rain, which is fine I suppose... I dunno if you are a guy or girl though lol So a girl is more like;y to say just plain 'ame' while a guy would probably say 'ameda' Or at least I think that's how it goes.... *excuse the long winded explanation*

::EDIT::
Crap Nyx beat me to it! Oh well, I'm not too good at Japanese anyways.

Well... If your asked: How old are you? (Oykutsu desu ka?)

You would respond: I'm ... years old. ([watashi]/[boku]/[ore] wa ... -sai desu.)

As for adding -Desu, -Masu, -Deshita, -Ja arimasen, -Ja arimasen deshita they are the equevlent of the word BE. So if your forming any sentence that deals with any form of existance, you should end it with one of these, but you don't HAVE to.

Of course, the japanese are natorious(sp?) for shortening sentences down (like removing everything except for the noun of the sentence- answering your "Ame" question), so sometimes these do not appear when they should. Also, the suffixes are somewhat of the "Polite" way of speaking; it is more common for females, I believe, to do this.

--All you japanese majors please address any problems in my post. I'm doing it all by self-study so there's likely to be some errors.

Er... *sweatdrop* why is the word eighteen changed? Isn't eight "hachi"? So why is it "has"?

As my Japanese teacher would say "Because the textbook says so!"
I really can't answer that question, it's just that with some numbers they change at a certain point, for instance dates:

hatsuka = 20th
ni jyuu ichi nichi=21st
ni jyuu san nichi = 23rd
ni jyuu yoka = 24th
ni jyuu youka = 28th

It's usually just 4 and 8 that change strangely, but you get used to it, and if you say jyuu hachi sai everyone will know what you mean anyways, it just makes your japanese sound clumsy.

I've never heard oykutsu desuka used before, omoshiroi...
You are completely self taught Mies? That's sort of impressive, I haven't met someone self taught who has been as fluent as you, or at least from what I've seen of your japanese.

(Hides his 20 dictionarys and Audio tapes (err... CDs) and several 100 page printouts on Japanese phonetics and general sentence constructions)

Yea... Though I'm pretty much the standard "polite" speaker (I cannot understand accents or parrodies on words, and the PUNS! Oh! the Puns!). I'm trying to learn some slang, but well... Yonekawa can only do so much for a speaker that isn't around it. Luckly Anime's been there to help me (lots of fun watching it without subtitles).

As for the word... I probibly spelled it wrong. A lot of my books leave off the false syllibles such as Desu is spelled Des. It really frustrates me!!! Especally when typeing in Japanese!

O_O Are you serious? That's dedication O_O Have you thought of taking up Japanese classes??? Hmmm, I don't really know much Japanese slang myself, I'm sure I'll learn plenty next year though XP lol Hmmm... I know someone who posted a list of Japanese slang and stuff on another website *goes to look for it*

EDIT: No I don't think it would be appropriate for me to post that here XD

Slang is always approprate. How else would someone know what Aniki means? Standard language uses Onii-chan/-san/-whatever, but some use Aniki instead. It took me a long time to understand that.

As a foreigner, you can expect that if they're not speaking English to you, Japanese will use proper Japanese, probably not slang. As for watching Anime and stuff, you'd need to know slang. But as a real-life practicality... it's nice to know and it helps your general vocabulary and understanding, but it's not a requirement if you're going to only have limited exposure to the language.

What does "Doko made mo" mean? I've heard it in a lot of anime songs. As far as I've noticed, it always has something to do with "anywhere".

Doko = where/ what place
Made = until/ till doing/ as far as
Mo (improper spelling; Someone didn't like it when I spelled things Phoneticlly) -> No = indicates possessive

As for combineing it, I just sux. That's all I know.

Hmmm... so you mean that "mo" should instead be "no"?

I'm pretty sure, but I can never be absolute as to my Defs. In lamens terms, I'm a n00b at Japanese.

"Mo" can mean "also," you know.

Pah, I'll learn PLENTY of Japanese slang next year I'm sure so I'm not going to bother learning any as of yet, I recon it'd be slightly weird if I turned up and managed to understand and come back at some prick speaking rudely to me just like that XP, I'll let the friends I make teach me, it'll be more interesting XP lol. So aniki means older brother? =S Where did the 'ki' come from I wonder?

Don Vercetti: Don't suppose you could put 'doko made mo' into context for us could you? It might make it easier to understand.

One of the many contexts is: "ima nara kitto aruite yukeru doko made mo"

And then we have "itsu made mo", like in: "Itsu made mo kokoro dake sunao na mama"

Well, it's hard for me to give you contexts because I don't really know where sentances start and end.

Pah, I'll learn PLENTY of Japanese slang next year I'm sure so I'm not going to bother learning any as of yet, I recon it'd be slightly weird if I turned up and managed to understand and come back at some prick speaking rudely to me just like that XP, I'll let the friends I make teach me, it'll be more interesting XP lol. So aniki means older brother? =S Where did the 'ki' come from I wonder?

Don Vercetti: Don't suppose you could put 'doko made mo' into context for us could you? It might make it easier to understand.

I believe that ki is a nickname suffix (ex Mi-ki for Mitsuki (I've only seen it like this in two animes, Full Moon wo Sagashite, and another I cannot remember)

What does "Doko made mo" mean? I've heard it in a lot of anime songs. As far as I've noticed, it always has something to do with "anywhere".

You had it in the first place ^_^ dokomademo means ANYWHERE so "yukeru doko made mo" means 'To go anywhere'

So itsumademo basically means forever... It's so simpley-complicated XP plah...

doko = place
made = until
and if mo is a grammar point that when added to 'doko made' it literally means until anywhere...

doko made mo = Anywhere
Itsu made mo= Forever/eternity

Thanks a lot! ^_^

^_^; Pah you didn't need our help =P I really do need to keep revising my Japanese XP

Hey, I realize that this thread has been dead for a while, but I didn't want to make another thread and get it closed, so here I go...

I'm currently learning (or at least trying to...) japanese, with pimsleur's japanese course. After the first lesson, i realized it would be alot easier to memorize this stuff if I was to take notes. Then I realized, because this is an audio tape, I have no idea how to write the words correctly in romanji.

So, I have come here ask those with knowledge of Japanese and its romanji to help me figure out how to write this stuff. On the left will be the word in English, on the right will be the pronouncation.

Excuse Me..............[Suh-me-mah-sen].............Sumimasen
Understand.............[wah-kah-dee-mahs]
English...................[Aye-goh(gah)]
Japanese................[knee-hohn-go(gah)]
You.......................[an-ah-tah wah]
Are (as in, you are)..[day-ss]
A little...................[shh-coe-ff]
no.........................[ee-ay]

Also, if anyone has a good english to romanji translator, could you please post a link to it? I googled but found none. thanks/arigatou

sumimasen
wakarimasu
eigo
nihongo
anata
desu
probably a really horrible pronunciation for sukoshi
iie

Well you see, I'm using Pimsluers, and its a japanese chick pronounciating it, and for some reason, she doesn't like to pronounciate constanants if they dont start or end the word...so i'm left with..well shh-coe-ff(which i actually messed up, it sounds more like [shh-coe-sch]

Anyways, thanks alot angelic, I'm doing a 30 lesson minute a day, so if Tosh isn't on IRC you might find me posting another set of words x.x.

EDIT: New set of words

But............[Deh-moe]
Yet............[mah-dah]
Well...........[Yo-ku(as in "you speak japanese well}
Very much...[Doh-moe]
can speak...[ha-na-se-mas]ne (Used in the sentence "Anata wa [yo-ku] [ha-na-se-mas]ne)

demo
mada
yoku
doumo
hanashimasu

KONICHIWA!!!!:w00t:
*hello*:china:

Thank once again Angelic.

Whoo, new words x.x

Avenue..........................[doi-ree-ah]
here..............................[koe-koe]
where............................[doe-kuu]
Over ( has in over there)...[ah-so-ko]
and................................[shows-deh]
Nevermind.......................[kay-koe-des]

thanks

I don't know about avenue.
rest:

koko
doko
asoko
soushite
kekko desu

edit: Asuka, maybe you should put some time into learning the Japanese writing style and how they pronounce stuff before you actually try to learn words.

avenue could come from the french of "cul de sac" if that helps

Well angelic, I am learning japanese off of audio tapes named Pimsluers Japanese I (it was like 100 dollars a course). Well while they have a booklet of notes, but that mostly just explains deeper meanings into words, and stuff like that. Since it's all audio I decided to make it alot easier on me, and just write down all the words I learn, and since I want to write them down correctly the first time, I asked for the correct spellings here. If that makes much sense x.x Though I think it might be kind of hard learning the writing style if I can't read what they are writing? Anyways, thanks for all the help Angelic.

Oh... I'm studying Japanese in school XD Will be a second-year-top-grade-student this year, I hope... I was a First-year-top-grader last year and we were only three out of eleven...

Konnichiwa. Watashi wa *beeep* desu. *bows* Gakkou de nihongo o benkyou o shimasu. Watshi no sensei wa Tomiyama-kuraason Youko-san desu. Nihon-jin desu. Watashi wa Sueeden-jin desu. Juurokusai desu. Watashi no o-tanjoubi wa hachigatsu kokonoka desu.

[translation:]
Good day. (actually it's evening where i live, but whatever) I am *beeep*. *bows* I'm studying Japanese at school. My teacher is Yôko Tomiyama-Claesson. She's Japanese. I'm Swedish. I'm 16. My bithday is August 9th.

I do know more, but it's kinda hard thinking in japanese when you haven't really used your japanese for about a month and a half.

Well angelic, I am learning japanese off of audio tapes named Pimsluers Japanese I (it was like 100 dollars a course). Well while they have a booklet of notes, but that mostly just explains deeper meanings into words, and stuff like that. Since it's all audio I decided to make it alot easier on me, and just write down all the words I learn, and since I want to write them down correctly the first time, I asked for the correct spellings here. If that makes much sense x.x Though I think it might be kind of hard learning the writing style if I can't read what they are writing? Anyways, thanks for all the help Angelic.

Point is, if you know how Japanese is written it's easy to hear what they're saying. Japanese has only 60-someting syllables (comparisation: Chinese has over 700 and Dutch over 900 - English is probably also in the 800+ range).

Take some time to study this:

http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~bestor/easy_pronunciation.htm

It'll give you some pointers that should be able to help you along the road ;)

@michi-chan: konnichiha, ore ha Anjeriku desu. Ore ha ichinen kan gurai daigaku ni Nihongo wo benkyoushimashita. Totemo omoshirokatta deshitaga, muzukashikatta desu.

Translation: Good day, I'm Angelic. I studied Japanese at University for about one year. It was very interesting but hard.

*yawn* I know that's boring but I've had too much beer to think of something better to say.

Alright, I'll have to study that. Thanks alot. But until i get a handle on it, I have some more words for you to translate please.

me.........................[wah-tah-shi]
I/you know..............[stey-mas]
want to eat.............[tah-bi-tai-des]
dont want to eat......[tah-bi-tak-oo arimasen]
something...............[nah-ni-kah]
want to drink...........[noh-mi-tai-des]
no thank you...........[iie keh-ko-des]

Thanks :)

that pronounciation makes it confusing... i'd stick to regular romanji and have a pronounciation table.

watashi
nani ka?
iie, keiko desu

ect

Alright, I'll have to study that. Thanks alot. But until i get a handle on it, I have some more words for you to translate please.

me.........................[wah-tah-shi]
I/you know..............[stey-mas]
want to eat.............[tah-bi-tai-des]
dont want to eat......[tah-bi-tak-oo arimasen]
something...............[nah-ni-kah]
want to drink...........[noh-mi-tai-des]
no thank you...........[iie keh-ko-des]

Thanks :)

How about you tried finding the proper spelling for them, then come and check if you got it right? :P

fine x.x lol

me - watashi
I/You Know - setaamasu
Want to eat - tabita desu
dont want to eat - tabitaku arimasen
something - nani ka
want to drink - nomita desu
dont want to drink - nomitaku arimasen
no thank you - iie, keiko desu

XD are those right? I tried O.o

I/you know - shite imasu
want to eat - tabetai desu
don't want to eat - tabetakunai
want to drink - nomitai desu
don't want to drink - nomitakunai
no, thank you - iie, kekko desu

Not all right, but practice makes perfect :)

Thanks, and for my new set...

my - watashi no
yes(informal) - eh
where at - doko de
place - dokoro (as in, watshi no dokoro)
me too - watashi mo
when - itsu
now - ima
later- atode
alright/fine - iedes

Thanks again :)

yes (informal) - n (prunounced unnn)
place - tokoro
alright/fine - ii desu

see? improving already ;)

Oh wow, thanks again. amazingly, there are only three words i don't know, the rest were in the notes.

I want - Oshi desu
I dont Want - hoshika arimasen
The name of a Well-Known Restaurant in Tokyo - Suehiro [Sway-hee-row]

It's alright if you don't know the last one, it's just a name anyways XD Thanks Again.

I want - hoshi desu (I want bread - pan ga hoshi desu)
I don't want - hoshikunai desu (I don't know where you get the arimasen from, I've never heard it with those words you mentioned earlier either x_x)

I have no idea about the restaurant.

I know some japanese , I think this is right. Does anybody mind checking to see if I'm right.
heres a couple of words:

newspaper: shimbun

That person over there what is her name:
Ano kata no namae wa nan desu ka

where is sally's dog: Sally no inu wa doko desu ka

I know some japanese , I think this is right. Does anybody mind checking to see if I'm right.
heres a couple of words:

newspaper: shimbun

That person over there what is her name:
Ano kata no namae wa nan desu ka

where is sally's dog: Sally no inu wa doko desu ka

I would actually say "Ano hito/ko no namae wa nan desu ka" to ask what a persons name is depending on if the person is a adult or child... :\ But the rewst where right ^_^

I know some japanese , I think this is right. Does anybody mind checking to see if I'm right.
heres a couple of words:

newspaper: shimbun

That person over there what is her name:
Ano kata no namae wa nan desu ka

where is sally's dog: Sally no inu wa doko desu ka

newspaper = shinbun

kata is fine, it's just polite. Hito is the more common form. Ko means child.

Sally would probably be spelled sari or something like that.

okay thanks minichan & angelic

I want - hoshi desu (I want bread - pan ga hoshi desu)
I don't want - hoshikunai desu (I don't know where you get the arimasen from, I've never heard it with those words you mentioned earlier either x_x)

I have no idea about the restaurant.

Meh, my course tells me to, so I do x.x Is it really that unnatural?

Anyways, more words for me to butcher :eat:

Lunch-Hirigohan
two-ni
(when counting slender items)-hon (as in "biiru ni hon, onegai shimasu)
or - ka
to do - shimasu ( as in nani o shimasu ka?)
Hotel - Hoteru
To buy something - kai tai desu
who - dade

Thanks alot.

hirugohan (hiru = afternoon, gohan = rice or meal)
or - ga (iitenki desuga, samui desu - it's nice weather, but it's cold)
to buy something - kaimasu. Kaitai desu = to want to buy
who - dare

Lunch-Hirigohan
two-ni
(when counting slender items)-hon (as in "biiru ni hon, onegai shimasu)
or - ka
to do - shimasu ( as in nani o shimasu ka?)
Hotel - Hoteru
To buy something - kai tai desu
who - dade


Lunch - hirugohan
who - dare

To buy something... I have learned it would be "kaimono suru". "kaitai desu" sound like you want to buy, but I'm not sure (since we haven't gone through that in my Japanese course)

The rest was correct as far as I know, though I'm very unsure about "or - ka" translation. Isn't "ka" the sound telling you it's a question? (as in "Anata no namae wa nan desu ka?")

Edit: I think I was a bit too late... I didn't see angelic's post. :heh: Sorry.

At what time? - Nanjini
O'clock - ji
at - ni (as in Ichiji ni)
8 - Hachi
9 - Ku
9 (when Counting - Kyuu
Would you like to drink? - Nomimasen ka?
or (when used in the beginning of a sentence) - Soretomo
Understood - Wakrimasta

I'd like to try my hand at that if I may...to see if I really AM on the right track(For now, I'm teaching myself. After I graduate, I'll be taking a class)
Or - Soredemo
Understood - Wakarimashita

not sure if any spaces between them, but I think that's how they're said

Soredemo is more like "But then/still" or "Nonwithstanding".

I was taught when making a disjunct to use `mata wa` (亦 (http://www.mahou.org/Kanji/4B72/) lit: also) or `arui ha` (或 (http://www.mahou.org/Kanji/303F/)いは lit: possibly, or); or even more informal, `aru`.

Thanks guys...onward now :)


Nanji Desu Ka - What Time is It?
Go - 5
San - 3
Yo - 4
Tabimasen ka - Would you like to eat?
Tabimasu - I'm going to eat
Nomimasu - I'm going to drink

Yon - 4

Isn't "Tabimasen/nomimasen ka" "are you not going to eat/drink?" Since the -masen means one don't do something or not going to do something. And tabimasu/nomimasu also means that one is eating/drinking.

I hope I didn't get it wrong and that you understand my crappy explaination.

Yeah I suppose it does mean that, but "would you like to eat?" and "Wouldn't like to eat?" Mean basically the same thing.

However, in Japanese, questions like "Wouldn't you like to eat?" If they wanted to eat, they would answer, "iie, tabitai desu" (No, I want to eat). While in english, we would say, "Yes, I want to eat." (I hope that made sense)

Thanks alot guys.

I think you misunderstood. I really meant "are you not going to eat"
and not "wouldn't you like to eat". To me it's much difference in those meanings. :heh: Well... I might be reading to deep in the meanings. x_x

That made sense to me. Maybe because I already knew. ^_^

tabemasenka basically means something like "shall we eat?"
tabetai desuka would mean "do you want to eat?"

tabemasenka? (shall we eat?)
hai, tabemashou (sure, let's eat)

Thanks for clearing things up Angelic :) Also, thanks to you both for correcting me, it really helps a bunch.

oh, tabemasu just means "to eat" (like "I eat").

taberu = to eat (tabemasu is the polite form)
taberu imasu = am eating (you're doing it right now)
tabetai = to want to eat

tabenai = to not eat
tabenakunai = not want to eat

Alright, more words... thanks

yoku - 6
sechi - 7
ju - 10
ja - then/in that case
comban - this evening
bangohan - dinner
ashta - tomorrow
ashta no ban - tomorrow evening
kyo - today
(I'm going to butcher these next three)
kideku desu sai - listen please
kyodeki desu sai - repeat please
ja matashta - see you tomorrow

Thanks alot guys :)

0 - rei/ zero
1 - ichi
2 - ni
3 - san
4 - yon/ shi
5 - go
6 - roku
7 - nana/ shichi
8 - hachi
9 - ku/ kyu
10 juu

konban (Japanese never use the C, they simply don't have it)
ashita
kiite kudasai
? (kyote kudasai? dunno x_x)
ja matta ashita

ashta - tomorrow
ashta no ban - tomorrow evening
kideku desu sai - listen please
ja matashta - see you tomorrow


Ashita - Even though you barely pronounce the "i", you still have to write it.

Ashita no ban

Kite kudasai - I think that what you was s'posed to write.

Ja mata ashita - no double t in mata.

kiite kudasay is correct, because the verb is kikimasu, the second ki becomes i when adding -te, so kiite.

You could be right about the mata. Always hated that word :P

Woooh, I can continue using this now that I've made it into the Pub (thanks to whoever accepted me). Anyways, more words O.o

moushi moushi - hello (when on phone)
ososu gemasu - It's Too Late
ikuda? - How much?
Desu Shoka - Would it be? (as in, Ikuda Desu Shoka?)

Thanks :)

moshi moshi
dunno (osoi desu == late)
ikuda would be informal. da = informal version of desu
deshouka = would it be?

Thanks again, aaaand, more words!

kiitemasu - I'm listening
Kyotekai shitamu - I'm Repeating
Komban Wa - Good Evening
Okane - Money
Mote masu - I Have
ii pon - One Bottle (My lesson said that when counting, you'll often change the pronounciation of the number depending on what you are counting, so does this just change the spelling or does is it just pronounciation?)
Doru - Dollar
Hai Douzo - Here you are (My lesson also said that Hai Douzo literally means yes, please, but you could also use to as Here you are[like when someone is giving you something)

Thanks :)

kiite imasu (although the i in imasu is often omitted making it kiitemasu)
dunnu
konban wa
motte imasu
it changes the spelling, Japanese have counting words for pretty much everything, which is a real pain in the arse
douzo = here you are

Thanks :)

Taksan - Many
Kudasai - Please Give
Gare imasu - There is/I have
Hage imasu - I'm giving/to give
Kai imasu - buy

Anata nii - for you
itte kimasu - I'm leaving
Tabetare imasu - I can eat
Kaii imasu - I can buy
Zen zen arimasen - Not at all/there isn't
hagetai desu - Want to give
Hagetaku arimasen - Don't want to give

Hagedarimasu - I am giving
Osugimasu - Too much
Juubun Desu - It's enough
Honishin desu ga - I would like to have
Dou itashimashita - You're Welcome

Kaimono - Shopping
Taka - Expensive (I am assuming this, because my lesson used it with Takasugimasu for "its too expensive")
Sugimasu - Too (as in, when something is too much, you add it in place of imasu [right?])
Haya - Fast (again, I assume this from Hayasugimasu)
Hayaku - Quickly
Watashi ni wa - For Me

A bit more than usual ^-^

Anata can also be kimi I think, Just don't use omae, temme or kisama. Then you'd get your ass kicked good and proper.

Kudasai is please.

kimi is more informal than anata though, so only use it with friends. Omae, temme and kisama are for pissing people off. Basically they mean something like "you bastard" so no, it's not a nice thing to say XD

Was everything I typed right? :o

To be honest, no, but I don't have the feeling you're really picking up any grammar. Get yourself japanese classes, because this way you simply won't get anywhere. You make the same grammatical errors as in the beginning (for example, Hagetaku arimasen - Don't want to give -- I told before that don't want to = hagetakunai.

edit: ugh, even that isn't right, it's agetakunai.

This is not learning Japanese at all. It's just learning random phrases.

Wow. *feels stupid* The only Japanese I know comes from Karate and Japanese sword lessons.

Ichi-one
Ni-two
San-three
Shi (or Yon)-four
Go-five
Roku-six
Shichi-seven
Hachi-eight
Ku-nine
Ju-ten

Hi-yes
Hajime-begin
Mate-wait
Yamai(sp?)-basically "hold everything!"
Konichiwa-hello
Arigato-thank you

Not much, and probably all of it has been posted before, but that's pretty much what I know.

lawl asuka's spoutin off teh pimsleur stuff....audio only so i guess his romanization of the sounds is a bit off i guess....pimsleur doesn't really teach the casual tense anyway, they use the formal which technically is correct usage for a first time learner but....yeah casual...not really :)

I know this may sound strange but how exactly do you pronounce "Uta" as in Tori no Uta? :heh:

oo-tah (i think is the phonetic sound...)

uhh only ones i actually use is matte (wait or hold up), oi (i don't even know if that's a japanese thing but i use it anyway....), and prolly a few other things i can't remember or be arsed to remember atm
i'm more of a mannerisms kind of person...bowing my head to say hi, waving my arms all about for various reasons such as out of embarassment or denial or something, tripping on something that apparently wasn't there cuz i'm clumsy...

bowing my head to say hi, waving my arms all about for various reasons such as out of embarassment or denial or something

Watch less anime.

yeah perhaps i should :P, i need to be getting back to school anyway XD

This may, or may not be the appropriate place to ask this, but:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/1772/whataf7.jpg

What does this translate to in English?

E- I'd prefer if the translation was PM'd to me, thanks.

"I hate you. Go away, ugly English speaking type!"

./laugh

There is no letter "L" in the japanese alphabet. In fact, I can't even think of a way to pronounce Solprishe in Japanese, considering the Japanese r is pronounced like the english letter d. Perhaps that word doesn't exsist at all?

However, translating that hirigana/kana, I got the closest spelling to be "itsuteratsushiimaze". I used a dictionary at www.mahou.org and found nothing. I don't know what else to tell you bud

Solprishe -> Sorupurishi ?

There is no letter "L" in the japanese alphabet. In fact, I can't even think of a way to pronounce Solprishe in Japanese, considering the Japanese r is pronounced like the english letter d. Perhaps that word doesn't exsist at all?

However, translating that hirigana/kana, I got the closest spelling to be "itsuteratsushiimaze". I used a dictionary at www.mahou.org and found nothing. I don't know what else to tell you bud

Dude, work on your reading, it's itterasshimase

edit: and if you want a Japanese dictionary use a real one like jisho.org, not some fanboy dictionary from an anime site

There is no letter "L" in the japanese alphabet. In fact, I can't even think of a way to pronounce Solprishe in Japanese, considering the Japanese r is pronounced like the english letter d. Perhaps that word doesn't exsist at all?

SOLPRISHE = CHARACTER USERNAME.

also on another note...isn't the letter r more usually pronounced as an L?
err i mean l is more in a round like r? like in the lecture...it's pronounced something like rectoru (prolly spelled wrong but i tried :()

English doesn't have the Japanese R sound - at all.

I dunno, its sort of like a rolling r with a d mixed into it o.o

I don't really know where the D comes from... but you're on the right path with the rolling R alright.

Like when you say D or T, your tongue is set behind the top of your teeth, while R comes from the back of your mouth, so when you say the japanese R, you start from the back of your throat and roll into the faint sound you make with your tongue behind your top teeth. I could be just mispronouncing the R all this time though x.x

thought this would be best place to ask: i need help with something on my kanji homework- i cant find the meaning of 月日 anywhere- i know that individually they are 'getsu/gatsu/tsuki' and 'nichi/jitsu/hi/ka'- but its not really much help *sighs*

am i being really thick and overlooking the obvious?

isn't the character you are looking for supposed to be written as sun moon not moon sun?

thats exactly what i thought when i saw it, but its not x_x

*still confused*

arent those used for after numbers to indicate you're talking about the months and days? (i think? perhaps?)

@ thorn can you photo copy the text or show us in any way so that we could try to help you?

my scanner's broken so ive done the next best thing and took a photo of the sheet.

as you can see from the others ive done, you have to pick a kanji from each of the top boxes to put in the empty ones below. ive done the others fine (apart from the 2nd from bottom where i had to use a character that wasnt in the boxes because i couldnt think of anything else)

and you'll have to excuse my messy writing x_x

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y107/Fish_Wet/S8000931.jpg

right, i asked my Japanese teacher because i was completely stuck and she told be the answer is 生年月日 (せいねんがっぴ)

why are the answers to seemingly impossible things so obvious once you know them? *kicks self*

well.. you usually don't relate DOB with XX月日

but yeah, seeing from the given list its semi obvious =.=;



and going a page back, seeing as how NO ONE answered what itterashaimase meant, it means "Go and come back safely"

"ittekimasu" is a very common greeting in Japan, used when a family member leaves house (meaning literally "I'll go and come back")

"itterashai" is a counter greeting to that, go and come back.

the mase at the end is sort of an accent, used often by housewives and women in general to show respect and politeness.

Thanks.

I think wa ima ichi means I don't like your girlfriend..but I'm not sure.

I thought anata wa no girlfrendo suki ja nai meant that^?

wa doesn't mean anything on its own. ima = now, ichi = 1.

I thought anata wa no girlfrendo suki ja nai meant that^?

wa doesnt belong in that sentence

and anyway, wouldnt it just be garufrendo ga kirain desu? (kirai= dislike)

I thought for significant other it was kanojo for girlfriend Kareshi for boyfriend. Ga-rufurendo and bo-ifurendo mean just a platonic relationship right? .-. look a squirrel.

It wouldn't be bo-ifurendo, that would sound silly. Just boifurendo.

Sorry, I meant that as a long sound, autoconvert is funny @_@ but it is a long oo*

But it doesn't have a long sound.

It doesn't? Darn, I must be more out of it than I thought.