Japanese Help

[Dante]

こにちは、私の名前はパスケールです。私は大学院せいです。アリゾナで物理学を勉強します。私は物理学が大好きです。でも、それはとてもむすかしいですね。

ガールフレンドをいません。いちにちじゅう、物理学と数学を勉強します。ガールフレンドをいましたい。でも、物理学はガールフレンドがきらいです。。。たいへん。たいへんですね。Ｔ＿Ｔ

ああ、ケーキはうそです。

全部あなたの基地をわたしの属します。

Translation: Good afternoon, my name is Pascal. I am a graduate student. In Arizona, I study physics. I greatly like physics. However, physics is very difficult.

There is no girlfriend. All the time, I study physics and math. I wish I had a girlfriend. But, physics hates girlfriends... terrible. It is terrible is not? T_T

The cake is a lie

All your base are belong to us.

[kat-su-chan]

O.o I hve no idea what about anything about physics, or Japanese physics for that matter.
On a completly different note though, they have Japanese English Bibles
Too cool, I want one. Has anyone read one before?

[Manillien]

こんにちは！どうぞよろしく、　私　は　ケイトリン　です。　みな　は　日本語の話すがんばりますよ。　何歳ですか
konnichiwa, douzo yoroshiku. watashi ha keitorinn desu. mina ha nihon no hanasu ganbarimasuyo.　nansai desuka
(Hello! Nice to meet you, I'm kaitlyn. Everyone, let's do our best at talking in japanese. how old are you (all))

Hi, sorry, have a question about this sentence right here. I haven't been studying Japanese for long at all, but I have just learned that the polite "let's" form of a verb is -mashoo. So why is ganbarimasu used here instead of ganbarimashoo, when the translation says "let's do our best"?

Thanks in advance!

[kat-su-chan]

You're absolutely right about mashou. I think I translated it as Let's do our best (although you're right, technically it would be gannbarimashou)
I also should have used ne instead of yo, since yo is more of an affirmative ending.
The reason I used let's is because I said mina - or everyone. So it would have to be everyone, lets do our best to speak english.
Does that make sense? Because I was talking to a collective...
iunno! lol

[Manillien]

Yeah, that makes kind of sense I guess! As it is now, could it also be taken to mean "Everyone are doing their best in ..."?
(This is just to make sure that I understand how the verbs work, not to be difficult!)

[kat-su-chan]

I think so yeah. haha ^^

[Tsukuyomi]

Konbanwa, watashi wa, Tsukuyomi desu ^ ^

You can say hello that way right o.o?

I've been learning Japanese to. I now know the basic hiragana symbols for "a","i","u","e", and "o". I also know (kinda) "ka","ki","ku",ke", and "ko" ^ ^ Still get some confused as well as some words. Like,"Sore", "Kore", and "Docchi","Kocchi", and "acchi" ^ ^;

Does anyone have any suggestions to how I can remember them o.o?
Hope I'm not breaking any rules here ^ ^;

[Manillien]

I don't know if this is what you mean, but I'm learning that stuff too, and it seems like there's a whole bunch of words in japanese beginning with either
ko-, so-, a- or do-. For those words, the following is in general true, I think:

ko-words refer to something that is close to the speaker. Kore means "this thing here", koko means "here" and kocchi means "in this direction", for example.

so-words refer to something that is close to the listener. Sore means "that thing there", soko means "there", and socchi means "in that direction"

a-words refer to something that is far from both the listener and the speaker.
Are means "that thing over there", asoko (a slight irregularity here with the -so- in the middle) means "over there" and acchi means "in that direction" (probably a different direction that socchi)

do-words are question words. Dore means "which thing where?", doko means "where", and docchi means "in which direction?"`

(Oh, socchi, kocchi, acchi and docchi can also be words that points out one thing from a bunch of things - docchi: "Which of these?" socchi: "This one" (of several).)

Hmm that's how I remember those words, or at least the basic thing they're trying to say!

Hope it helps...

[Tsukuyomi]

Yes it did ^ ^ I shall try to remember those ^ ^ Thank you so much ^ ^

[RidleyofZebes]

Hmmm... I got a question:

Awhile back, one of my friends told me this one greeting which, in english, meant something along the lines of "This is our first time meeting, please treat me nicely" or something like that.

Anyway, the only part of it I can remember is "Hajimemashite", and it was like, on the end of it. Does anyone know the whole thing?

ｷﾀ━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━ｯ!

[Dante]

Hajimemashite, *Insert last name here... NEVER ATTACH SAN TO YOUR OWN NAME... only sama (the last part is a joke)* desu. douzo yoroshiku.

At least if I remember correctly... of course... it could be...

Hajimemashite, *Insert first name here* da. Boku ha (Pronounced wa by the powers that be) shinda hito ni au.

(THIS IS DEFINITELY JUST A JOKE... DON'T USE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE... EVEN IF IT'S TRUE )

For some strange reason though... this second sentance gets me the strangest looks from Japanese people... I'm sure I'm just not pronouncing it right, but they laugh a little and humor me about it... but then they don't want to talk to me anymore. And I thought they were more social than that.

[EricTheFred]

I don't know if this is what you mean, but I'm learning that stuff too, and it seems like there's a whole bunch of words in japanese beginning with either
ko-, so-, a- or do-. For those words, the following is in general true, I think:

ko-words refer to something that is close to the speaker. Kore means "this thing here", koko means "here" and kocchi means "in this direction", for example.

so-words refer to something that is close to the listener. Sore means "that thing there", soko means "there", and socchi means "in that direction"

a-words refer to something that is far from both the listener and the speaker.
Are means "that thing over there", asoko (a slight irregularity here with the -so- in the middle) means "over there" and acchi means "in that direction" (probably a different direction that socchi)

do-words are question words. Dore means "which thing where?", doko means "where", and docchi means "in which direction?"`

(Oh, socchi, kocchi, acchi and docchi can also be words that points out one thing from a bunch of things - docchi: "Which of these?" socchi: "This one" (of several).)

Hmm that's how I remember those words, or at least the basic thing they're trying to say!

Hope it helps...

I learned (from Pimsleur, IIRC) the rule: Ko- = 'in this place', So- = 'can be reached within a couple steps), A- (Aso-)='farther away'. Thus "Koko" = here,
Kore="This one", Soko="there", Sore="that one", Asoko="Over there", Are="That one over there"...

This is not a hundred percent accurate, though. "Soko" and "Sore" are also used when the distance to the speaker is not clear in context, rather than "Asoko" and "Are".

Incidentally, in formal speech, the 'docchi', 'socchi', etc are actually 'docchira','socchira', etc. The short forms are like the change from watakushi to watashi or atashi, or the dropping of the 'oo' at the end of 'desu' or 'arimasu'. Semiformal and informal speech drop and elide a lot. (like going from 'dessoo' to 'dess' to 'da'.) I think the 'ra' drops at about the same level as the 'oo' or stepping down to 'watashi/atashi', but I'm not sure. It might be even more informal than these, like going down to 'da'.

[EricTheFred]

[quote="Tsukuyomi (post: 1206521)"]Konbanwa, watashi wa, Tsukuyomi desu ^ ^

You can say hello that way right o.o?

I've been learning Japanese to. I now know the basic hiragana symbols for "a","i","u","e", and "o". I also know (kinda) "ka","ki","ku",ke", and "ko" ^ ^ Still get some confused as well as some words. Like,"Sore", "Kore", and "Docchi","Kocchi", and "acchi" ^ ^]

I think you're talking about the written forms, right? I'm afraid that just rote memory is the way to go on this. The shapes are simplifications of the Kanji they descended from, but this isn't much help. You have to recognize them the way you recognize the Latin alphabet. The shape has to actually mean the sound to your eye. Flash cards work very well for this, and it's how I learned. (or, 'am learning', since I am still very slow and clumsy at this. But improving.)

This isn't the case with Kanji. It's the meaning that counts first, so you can remember the word that goes with the picture, then recognize the symbol as the picture of that. Other readings of the symbol usually follow logically from there.

If I was at home on my computer I could do this better, but here at work I can't get Asian typography to work. Here is an example, though. The symbol used in the words for 'day', 'daily', etc. is a picture of the Sun. The Sun is out in the daytime, so Sun= day. Because of the need for fast brushwork (and the fact that they used brushes instead of pens) all circles turned into squares early in history, so it's a square. I can't remember why the line through the middle, but I vaguely recall it helps distinguish it from another symbol.

Similarly, the 'man' symbol is actually a stick figure.

[Aka-chan]

Slight correction: acchi, socchi, and kocchi's more formal versions are achira, sochira, and kochira (without the glottal stops.)

Also, to elaborate on those:
Ko- can refer not only to things near to the speaker, but also to the speaker itself. For instance "この手をつないでほしい." ("kono te wo tsunaide hoshii") seems to mean "I want you to hold this hand," but basically means "I want you hold my hand."

Similarly, so- can refer to the person to whom you are speaking. For instance, the manga series "Sono te wo dokero" means roughly, "Keep your hands to yourself!" The "sono" is very clearly referring to the person to whom the speaker is addressing.

Also, a- usually refers to someone/something not present in the conversation, but known to both parties in the dialogue. "Aitsu" refers neither to the speaker nor the second, but to someone else they both know (and are probably not too fond of). It has a rather distancing feel to it.

Hope that helps.

[EricTheFred]

First, let me say "Irrasshaimase!" Welcome to CAA.

Also, get some resource for hearing the language. There are a number of free resources on the web (often fellow Anime fans) but you can't learn a spoken language out of a book properly.

I am guessing that you mean the closing 'n' sound, not the sound at the beginning, which is pronounced identically to English.

The closing 'n' sound depends on the situation. At the end of the word, it is an extremely light sound, barely closing the tongue to the roof of the mouth at all. If it closes a syllable in the middle of the word, though, it varies. Before vowel sounds it will usually turn into a clear 'n', but before certain consonants it will sometimes become more of an 'm' sound. The word "Kanpai" (the Japanese 'Cheers' before drinking) is more often transliterated "Kampai" because of this. Even though "Konbanwa" doesn't get transliterated with an 'm', you can hear many Japanese saying something more like "Kombanwa". The 'n' before the 'b' turns into an 'm', while that before the 'w' does not.

Now here's the good news. You do NOT need to memorize when you do or don't pronounce the 'n' differently. The book mentioned this primarily so you wouldn't be confused when you heard it. If you pronounced all your closing 'n's with an extremely light touch, you would be perfectly understandable. You only mess it up if you pronounce them hard like in English.

Here's an exercise for you. Listen for 'san', 'chan' and 'kun' in Anime. You will hear these constantly (they are about as prevalent in Japanese speech as 'the' or 'a' in English). At first, they nearly sound like 'saw', 'chaw' and 'coo'. Listen more closely, though, and you will begin to detect the closing 'n' sound.

[ilikegir33]

I know hiragana, katakana and a few kanji.
おはようございます。 ぼくのなまえはアイライクガㅡです。 ぼくは14歳である。でも、ぼくは唯一に日本学生である。
(Good morning. My name's ilikegir33. I'm 14, but I'm still a Japanese student.)

[EricTheFred]

Resurrecting this thread to ask a question:

I ran across a kanji usage in an anime that I've yet to translate. It was flashed in bold on the screen several times.

Basically, in context it obviously meant "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3", but what was being printed was the (Romaji) numeral followed by the kanjis for "Nichi" (sun) and "Me" (eye).

So the question is not, what does it mean, but how do I say it? -me is a valid counter, for an ordered list, but I thought it was written using the hiragana "me", not the kanji for "eye". Was this truly "Ichi nichi-me, Ni nichi-me, San nichi-me" etc., (and I have never heard days counted this way before, if it is) or is this to be read some other way? Perhaps, is this a way to spell the -ka day counters?

I have two dictionaries at home, neither of which could shed any light on this. Anyone?

[AsianBlossom]

I also have a question: in regards to the phrase "itadakimasu" (translated as "I humbly receive" or "thank you for the food") used before eating, is this said as thanks to whoever made the food, or is it like a mealtime prayer? And, if it's a mealtime prayer, should I really be saying it? O_o

[ShiroiHikari]

Perhaps, is this a way to spell the -ka day counters?

I think that's correct.

Uh, as for "itadakimasu", I don't think it's like a prayer really. There shouldn't be any problem with saying it.

[Eddosan]

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae ha Eddo desu, soshite nijuuichi-sai desu. Futsuu anmari nihongo wo hanasanai kedo, daisuki desu yo! Shikashi, mada nihongo no kyuu ni ikanakute ha ikemasen. "guidetojapanese.org" ga nihongo wo benkyoushite tsukaimasu.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

(Glad to meet you! My name is Eddo (username) and I'm 21 years old. Although I usually don't speak much Japanese, I love it! However, I still need to go to a Japanese class. "Guidetojapanese.org" is what I use to study.)

-----
I hope I got that right.

So yeah. Hi! I'z need some Japanese learnin'.

[EricTheFred]

I think that's correct.

Thanks. I'd forgotten this, but I never did find a suitable answer. It did make sense in context.

Uh, as for "itadakimasu", I don't think it's like a prayer really. There shouldn't be any problem with saying it.

Actually, one could think of it as a prayer, by addressing it to Providence as well as your host. It's a gesture of respect to the one who provided the food, after all. Anyway, it's a perfectly appropriate Christian sentiment. I have absolutely no doubt that Christian Japanese use it just like the rest of their countrymen.

Hajimemashite! Watashi no namae ha Eddo desu, soshite nijuuichi-sai desu. Futsuu anmari nihongo wo hanasanai kedo, daisuki desu yo! Shikashi, mada nihongo no kyuu ni ikanakute ha ikemasen. "guidetojapanese.org" ga nihongo wo benkyoushite tsukaimasu.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

(Glad to meet you! My name is Eddo (username) and I'm 21 years old. Although I usually don't speak much Japanese, I love it! However, I still need to go to a Japanese class. "Guidetojapanese.org" is what I use to study.)

-----
I hope I got that right.

So yeah. Hi! I'z need some Japanese learnin'.

Irasshaimase! Hajime mashite! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

I believe you got it right, (except I may not be the best judge of correct use of particles.) We don't argue 'correct' Romaji spellings, but most of the time the written 'ha' is transliterated as pronounced, 'wa'. Many people transliterate the 'wo' kana as 'o', as well. But, it's perfectly understandable as is, since you're matching the kana.

Since you were speaking formally, you could have gone with the more formal 'Eddo to moushimasu' instead of 'Watashi no Namae wa Eddo desu', ('Namae' is a garbled form of the English word 'name', so it isn't Yamato) but I don't think there's actually anything wrong with using it.)

I've never figured out whether 'anmari' and 'amari' are just alternate forms of the same word, or if one uses 'anmari' at different formality levels than 'amari'. I always go with 'amari'. I have the same problem with 'totemo' and 'tottemo'.

[AsianBlossom]

To ErictheFred: Ah, I get it. So I can be addressing God with it as well...cool...thanks so much--er...I mean...arigatou gozaimasu! ^_^

And thank you too, ShiroiHikari.

[Eddosan]

Since you were speaking formally, you could have gone with the more formal 'Eddo to moushimasu' instead of 'Watashi no Namae wa Eddo desu', ('Namae' is a garbled form of the English word 'name', so it isn't Yamato) but I don't think there's actually anything wrong with using it.)

Is " 'name' to moushimasu" common?

[EricTheFred]

I'm not sure if it's as common, but I'm of the understanding it's a little more formal. Since you used Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu instead of Douzou Yoroshiku, for example, it just seems to me that the to moushimasu is more the same level of formality.

Of course Watashi no namae wa is better than just 'name' desu so it isn't like it's informal or something.

This is the opinion of a fellow student of the language, though. Take it for what its worth, not as authoritative.

[Eddosan]

I'm not sure if it's as common, but I'm of the understanding it's a little more formal. Since you used Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu instead of Douzou Yoroshiku, for example, it just seems to me that the to moushimasu is more the same level of formality.

I forgot about douzo yoroshiku...

Let's just say I never introduce myself in Japanese.

[Bobtheduck]

Minna-san, Ohayou Gozaimasu! (yes, that's right, Ohayou Gozaimasu... Anyone who's been talking to me for the last few months should know this by now)

Watashi wa mainichi nihongo wo benkyoushiteismasu. Demo, mada mada desu. Tokidoki nanika kotoba wo shisshimasu. Motto kokoromite benkyoushiteimasu. Nihonjin to hanashitain desu, demo ojite imasu.

I had to look up shisshiru, kokoromiru, and ojite... I need to try to remember those ones, though I learned a different word for "try" in the pimsleur lessons, and I can't remember it at the moment.

Is " 'name' to moushimasu" common?

Yes. Informally, people say "Watashi wa (name) desu" Formally they say "Watashi wa (name) to moshimasu." As far as I know, Namae only ever gets put on paper. It's like how Japanese people don't tend to say "Ikaka desu ka?" reffering to a person... You ask if they're healthy / energetic, but you don't just ask how they are.

[Kaori]

"Itadakimasu" is literally "I humbly receive." It's used for receiving something from a social superior--if you received a present from your boss, for example, you would say "itadakimashita." I always think of receiving from God when I say "itadakimasu."

Basically, in context it obviously meant "Day 1", "Day 2", "Day 3", but what was being printed was the (Romaji) numeral followed by the kanjis for "Nichi" (sun) and "Me" (eye).

So the question is not, what does it mean, but how do I say it? -me is a valid counter, for an ordered list, but I thought it was written using the hiragana "me", not the kanji for "eye". Was this truly "Ichi nichi-me, Ni nichi-me, San nichi-me" etc., (and I have never heard days counted this way before, if it is) or is this to be read some other way? Perhaps, is this a way to spell the -ka day counters?

I have two dictionaries at home, neither of which could shed any light on this. Anyone?

Did you ever find an answer to this? All I can tell you is that when "me" is used as part of a counter, it is really the kanji for "eye," like in ～段目 (~danme is ~th shelf) or　二番目、三番目 (nibanme is second, sanbanme is third, etc). I haven't heard of what you describe, and it wasn't even in my electric dictionary. It's definitely not the usual way of counting dates/days of the month.

[AsianBlossom]

"Itadakimasu" is literally "I humbly receive." It's used for receiving something from a social superior--if you received a present from your boss, for example, you would say "itadakimashita." I always think of receiving from God when I say "itadakimasu."

Ahhh...I see. Arigatou gozaimasu, Kaori-san.

[EricTheFred]

[quote="Kaori (post: 1255806)"]Did you ever find an answer to this? All I can tell you is that when "me" is used as part of a counter, it is really the kanji for "eye," like in ～]

Thanks. I think I'm going to stand with the theory that it was to be read with the day '-ka' counters. (Ichinichi, futsuka, mikka, yokka...) It occurs to me that with the 'nichi' and without the 'me' kanji, these would be read as dates (Tsuitachi,futsuka, mikka..., in other words 'the first','the second', 'the third'...) Mostly the same words, but slightly different meaning.

That anime (I've forgotten at this point what it was!) was the only place I've ever seen this particular spelling. Maybe I'll run across it again somewhere else.

[Eddosan]

お久しぶりですね。。。