Spring Came!

Minasan Konnichiwa! Moo Haru desu ne! (It's Spring already! -areas in north hemisphere)
Hope you're doing well! :) Here is a photo of Sakura. We can see this in a week here in Japan!

I'd like to inform today that..
Currently we're having Spring Sale on Japanese Conversational Video Course!
Kochira desu: http://bit.ly/H7sewR
Now massive 50% off for limited time.
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.


Well, I hope you enjoy this sakura photo,
I took it last year in Osaka :)

Have a great day!
-Kazue

Kawaii, Kiree, Utsukushii ?

Minasan konnichiwa!

I received a question from a reader.
Q: What are the differences between: Kawaii, Kiree and Utsukushii ?

All are positive adjectives to show compliment for someone’s appearance especially for women and objects.

Kawaii means cute, and can be used for both toddlers (girl or boy) and good-looking young adults.

Nowadays, kawaii is also used to describe a guy with a baby face. Like you see below:

You can call him “ikemen” –abbreviation for Iketeru men. -Iketeru is a slang and means, cool. So Iketeru + men = Ikemen.
(good/cool looking guy) So, this photo, Koike Teppei is known as "Kawaii Ikemen".
(As a matter of fact, I like this type of guys :p)

On the other hand, Kiree is normally meant to depict a woman’s beauty.

However, nowadays there are some Kiree na otoko (beautiful guy) like Gackt.
So he is a "kiree na Ikemen" -beautiful looking guy.



By the way, Kiree can also be used for describing things or cleanliness.

Lastly, Utsukushii has a matured, decent and gorgeous image, like you see in this image:
“berusaiyu no bara” -it's a well-know comic story for girls in Japan.
Oh well, Gackt can be Utsukushii as well.



If you have any question about usage of Japanese language, please ask me :) I'd like to share with everyone in this blog.

Japanese Language Tips: 3 Common Mistakes amongst Foreigners

Minasan konnichiwa!

As a Japanese teacher myself, I find some common mistakes amongst learners of Japanese due to the culture difference behind the language. So today, I'd like to discuss 3 common mistakes.

Sayoonara :“I won’t see you again!” -– said by a souvenir shop keeper

You probably learnt “goodbye” as Sayoonara in Japanese. Yes, that’s how we (Japanese people) learnt it at school and that’s why your Japanese teacher taught you this way.

However, in the real world (outside school), we rarely use “sayoonara” amongst ourselves. Even when we do, it is used with different meanings in different contexts. Sayoonara is used in farewell or breaking up situations. Especially in the latter case, it means “goodbye forever”. Therefore, if you’re a shop clerk, don’t say “sayoonara” to your customers, but “arigatoo gozaimashita” (Thank you very much). Otherwise, you might end up in losing your regulars!

Watashi no nihongo wa warui desu :“My Japanese is vicious” – said by a student



A common tendency is to simply translate our native language. In this case, the student probably wanted to say “My Japanese is bad”. Yes, warui means bad, but in a moralistic way. Therefore, in the situation “He has a fault” or “She is wrong”, we can say “kare/kanojo ga warui desu”. However, your Japanese cannot be moralistically bad! If you want to say “My Japanese is bad/not good”, you need to say it another way, like “I’m not good at Japanese”. So in Japanese, say “Watashi wa nihongo ga heta desu”. (I hope you won’t have to say that though!)

Anata mo genki desu ka? :“Hey stranger, are you fine too?” – said by a close friend



Even some Japanese teachers teach “you” as “anata”. However, the usage of “anata” is different from that of “you” in English. We hardly ever call our friends “anata”, except jokingly. We use the person’s name. (For example, Kazue mo genki? Or Tanaka-san mo 0-genki desu ka?) Japanese love to be called by name; we feel a bit sad when we’re called “anata”, because we each have our unique name.

Hope it's all clear. :) but don't worry making mistakes! By making mistakes, I can notice and correct them.
I made a lot of mistakes in English too :P (and still... maybe forever!?)

I'll update once I find some more. Jaa mata ne!

七夕: The Story of Tanabata

7月7日、今日は七夕です。kyoo wa tanabata desu!
July 7th is the day of the Tanabata Festival.

I remember that I had lots of fun in Tanabata festivals in elementary school.　We wrote our wishes on strips of paper called tanzaku, which we tied to bamboo branches.

Actually, Tanabata is based on a Chinese legend about a princess and a cowherd who fell in love. They are symbolized by the stars Altair and Vega that only cross paths once a year – on July 7th!

Some people say Tanabata is a mixture of ancient Japanese and Chinese legends. ‘Tanabata’ means ‘cloth of the loom’ and has nothing to do with the letters 七夕 (Qi Xi in Chinese, Chilseok in Korean), which mean ‘Night of the Sevens’.

We even have a Tanabata song in Japan:)

Sasanoha sarasara

Nokiba ni yureru

Ohoshisama kirakira

Kin gin sunago

Bamboo leaves rustle

Quivering at the eaves

Stars glitter

Gold and silver sands

Goshiki no tanzaku

Watashi ga kaita

Ohoshisama kirakira

Sora kara miteru

Strips of paper with five colors

I wrote them

Stars glitter

Look down from the above

Let's look up the sky and enjoy the Tanabata night! :)

Japanese Language Tips: “ごろ:goro”

Minasan Konnichiwa!



This week’s ‘Japanese language tip’ is about goro – meaning “about”!

Have you noticed Japanese people being deliberately vague? They think it’s more polite to express themselves vaguely rather than clearly and directly. Here’s a good example when talking about the time.

A: Nan-ji goro ikimasu ka?

B: Hachi-ji goro ikimasu.

---

A: What time will you go?

B: At 8 o’clock.

Hachi-ji goro actually means “About eight o’clock”, but don’t be deceived! People use goro even when they mean the exact time. And if you’ve been invited to a friend’s house at hachi-ji goro – don’t be late! In Japan, you’re usually expected to turn up on time.

–Of course, that doesn’t apply to boys meeting their girlfriends for a date…boys cannot be late and should arrive even earlier (my opinion, hahaha).

And please note if it’s a business meeting, you’re expected to turn up five to ten minutes early!!
So ki o tsukete! (be careful!)



Mata ne!

–Kazue

なっとう Nattō

Minasan konnichiwa!

I’m going to talk about Japanese food today.
Not all that stuff everyone loves – tempura, sushi, raamen, gyōza, (yum!) – but the food foreigners (and some Japanese) just can’t get used to!
Let’s start with this:

Nattō - one of my favorite Japanese food :)





Oh no! Some people are already turning away in disgust! But wait – nattō is really delicious when you get used to it! Really – hontō da yo!

Nattō is just fermented soybeans. The fermenting process creates this sticky slime that holds the whole thing together and gets everywhere! Just the sight of that puts most foreigners off!

But once you’ve tried it a few times (and got used to the smell – oh, I forgot to mention that!) you might just get hooked.

Best way of eating? Just try it on a bowl of rice, as in the picture. Wave your chopsticks about to catch the strands of slime, and you’ll soon be saying Gochisō-sama! (Thanks for the meal!) Or even O-kawari arimasu ka? (Can I have some more?)

More strange Japanese foods coming soon.



Jaa mata ne!

–Kazue

Minasan konnichiwa!

I just love old Japanese proverbs. Some of them are so funny! So I’m going to introduce the best ones here.

Here’s one of my favorites:

サルも木から落ちる

Saru-mo ki-kara ochiru

“Even monkeys fall out of trees!”



Monkeys aren’t supposed to fall out of trees. They’re supposed to know what they’re doing! But you know – even monkeys fall out of trees?

Got it? It’s what people say when someone has made a mistake they’re not expected to make.

In English, people say “Well… No one’s perfect” Or “We all make mistakes.” But I prefer that mental image of a monkey falling out of a tree. What would the other monkeys say to make it feel better?

Here’s another one that means almost the same thing:

弘法にも筆の誤り

Kōbō nimo fude no ayamari


“Even (the famous calligrapher) Kobo (Taishi) made mistakes with the brush”

It’s not so funny, is it?

If you look these up in a dictionary, you might find this one in English:

“Even Homer sometimes nods”

But I don’t think you would ever say this – would you??

I’d rather think of that monkey falling out of its tree.





More funny Japanese proverbs coming soon!

Jaa mata ne

–Kazue

Japanese Signboards

Minasan konnichiwa!



Japanese signboards are fascinating and attract a lot of photographers from overseas. The best ones are huge, three-dimensional signs that look more like characters in a manga.

This is probably the most famous one of all. It’s a sign for a restaurant called Kani Dōraku in Dōtonbori, Osaka. Can you guess what the restaurant sells…?



…YES! It’s a crab restaurant! The sign is six meters across, and would you believe, the legs on the crab actually move! It was built in 1960 and is still moving!!

I’m fascinated by Japanese signboards as well. When they’re cute, I just have to stop and kiss them.



Want to know who I’m kissing here?



The answer is “kaaru ojisan”
(Ojisan means, middle aged man)

Kawaii ne?
Cute, isn’t it?

Actually, I was not kissing him, I was trying to get the snack from him...

Jaa mata ne!

P.S. The answer of the last post is "koin landorii": coin laundry (=laundromat).
:)

–Kazue

Scenery in my hometown

Minasan konnichiwa!

Ogenki desu ka?
Watashi wa ima nihon no jikka ni imasu.
Now I'm in Japan, in my home town (Saitama).

The weather here is perfect past three days, nice, crisp, no clouds.
Totemo ii tenki de, kimochi ga iidesu.
It's been very nice weather and feel good.

Atsu sugizu, samu sugizu.
Not too hot or too cold.

Kono shashin wa uchi no kinjo desu.
This photo is taken in my neighborhood.



Tanbo - rice paddy.

My home town is a residential area and about 1hrs away from Tokyo by train.

Totemo shizuka desu. Very quiet.

Kyoo wa chotto kinjo o sanpo shimashita.

I took a walk in my neighborhood.

I just saw this signboard along the way.

Can you guess what shop is this?



Hehehe, if you cannot guess, please  learn Japanese Katakana!

http://learnjapanese123.com/HiraganaKatakana

You can download pdf sample textbook and practice Japanese from the above link too.

Kotae wa tsugi no blog post de!
I'll show you the answer in the next blog post :)

Mata ne!

Kazue

Japanese Language Tips: “ね:ne”

Minasan konnichiwa!





Have you heard Japanese people saying “ne?” at the end of a sentence – even when they’re speaking English?

Here are some examples:

––This is your tax form, ne?

––You understand, ne?



Crazy! But what’s it for?

You’ll see from this conversation:

A: Sumimasen, B-san no denwa bangō wa nan-ban desu ka?

B: 738-2910 desu.

A: 738-2910 desu ne?

B: Hai, sō desu.

---

A: Excuse me, B, what’s your telephone number?

B: It’s 738-2910.

A: 738-2910?

B: Yes, that’s right.

So here, “ne” is used to confirm that you heard something correctly, especially when you’re certain you’ve got it right.

“Ne” is also used to express a shared feeling or emotion, or to seek a person’s agreement.

A: Ii tenki desu ne.

B: Sō desu ne.

---

A: It’s nice weather, isn’t it?

B: Yes, it is. (indeed).

“ne” is quite close to English “isn’t it”, or “yes?”, or “OK?” at the end of a sentence.

Actually, if you listen carefully, you’ll even hear me saying it on my Japanese video course!   http://learnjapanese123.com/conversation You'll find a sample video there.

In fact, you’ll hear it everywhere you go in Japan. One little word to express all those things – Benri desu ne! (Convenient, isn’t it!)

Dewa, mata ne! (See you again – OK!)

–Kazue

Dekoboko friends

Minasan konnichiwa!

Kyoo no bideo wa 凸凹(deko boko) friends desu!

Totemo kawaii desu! zehi mite kudasai.
It's very cute, please watch it!


It has been broadcasting on NHK kyooiku
*Kyooiku means education
(Nippon Hoosoo Kyoku -Japan broadcasting corporation
-a government-run broadcasting) since 2002.

It's an animation for kids though, fun to watch for adults too :)



They always start with knocking door twice "knock knock",
in Japanese "トントン-ton ton".

(Btw, Japanese always knock twice when knock a door.)

Then, each  funny character appears and introduce oneself.

みなさんは どのキャラクターが すきですか？
Which character do you like?

I like "kuishinbon" -greedy hog.
He says, "mata kuru yo" -I'll come again- when he leaves.

.

.

Mata kuru yo.
Jaa ne!

-Kazue

How to socialize with Japanese? -first time meeting-

Minasan Ohisashiburi desu. (long time no see, everyone)

Ogenki desu ka?

I’m sorry for not being updated for a while.

I conducted a seminar this week and I had been busy for preparing for it... (iiwake desu ne.. -am I excusing? hehe sorry..)

Today I’d like to introduce you one Japanese business tip from the seminar, about do and don’t while socializing with Japanese.

First step:

Here are the things you can talk about in the first time meeting. –Just general topics.

Onamae wa? What’s your name?

Oshigoto wa? What’s your job?

Osumai wa? Where do you live?

gokazoku wa? How’s your family?

goshusshin wa? Where are you from?

Building a good relationship with Japanese in business

Generally, it takes longer time to build a good relationship with Japanese compared to that in other countries. There are some topics you want to avoid in the first time meeting. Such as..

gokekkon wa? (Are you married?)

Okosan wa? (Do you have any children?)

Otoshi wa? (= oikutsu desu ka? / nan-sai desu ka? – How old are you?)

If you ask such questions, normally Japanese will give you a wry smile.

Actually it depends, as younger generations tend to be more open and casual, but the chances are still high. If you want to ask such questions, you may want to become a volunteer yourself first, such as marital status -but not in the first meeting- and wait until they open up to you.

hehe, is it "mendokusai?" -bothersome?

Smile and get used to it :)



Have a great friendship with Japanese!

Jaa mata ne!

Kazue

oikura desu ka?

What if you are at a shop and cannot find a price tag, what to do?

Yes, you need to ask the price. How?

Sumimasen, ikura desu ka? or more decently,
Sumimasen, oikura desu ka?

What is this "o" in front of "ikura"?
This "o" is a prefix showing politeness. It just sounds nicer.
This "o" can attach to most of Japanese words, but not all of them.

Examples:
kane -> okane money
heya -> oheya room
sushi -> osushi sushi
miyage -> omiyage souvenir
denwa -> odenwa telephone

Also, you cannot attach "o" to foreign words.
Thus, we don't say "okonpyuutaa"(computer) or "otakushii" (taxi)

Some words start with "o", but it doesn't mean polite or not.
e.g.  ohayoo (good morning). However, "hayoo" doesn't make sense.

dewa mata!
-Kazue
http://learnjapanese123.com

Why Japanese apologize so often?

“Mooshiwake gozaimasen”

I’l like to introduce an interesting aspect of Japanese speech.

Japanese often start their ceremony greeting with apology.

Displaying of modesty is considered a sign of virtue, and thus opening conversation with apology words prepare the amicable atmosphere and promote interaction. Saying “sumimasen” or “mooshiwake arimasen” are translated as “I’m sorry”.

However, it’s not admitting their fault. It’s a process of getting to the main discussion topic.

Interesting isn’t it?

-Kazue
The best way to Learn Japanese Online:
http://learnjapanese123.com 

Counting numbers 2 ~Conv. L5~

Minasan konnichiwa!

So you’ve learnt counting no. 1-10.

Next is 11-100.

Don’t worry, it’s quite easy.

After 10 (jyuu),

11: jyuu-ichi

12: jyuu-ni

13: jyuu-san

14: jyuu-yon ….

So, basically just repeating 1-9 after “jyuu”.

How about 20, 30, 40…

20: ni-jyuu

30: san-jyuu

40: yon-jyuu….

Easy right?

Well then how about 33?

san-jyuu san.

71?

nana-jyuu ichi.

Wow! so systematic. 

100?

Hyaku.

101?

Hyaku ichi.

Yasashii desu ne! (easy, isn’t it?)

Jaa mata!

-Kazue
Let's learn Japanese online! --> http://learnjapanese123.com 

Ohayoo! -Conv L3- counting numbers

Minasan, ohayoo gozaimasu!

Ogenki desu ka?

I said “ohayoo!” this is casual greeting in the morning to friends.

When you greet to your senior, please say “ohayoo gozaimasu” 

Dewa, kyoo no lesson desu.

counting no. 0-10

0:  zero or rei

1. ichi
2. ni
3. san
4. yon / shi
5. go
6. roku
7. nana / shichi
8. hachi
9. kyuu / ku
10. jyuu

muzukashii? (difficult?)

yasashii? (easy?)

jaa mata ashita!

-Kazue
Check this out! -> http://learnjapanese123.com 

Hajimemashite!

Hi!  Welcome to the blog: LearnJapanese123!


Minasan, hajimemashite! (Hello everyone, (for the first time))
My name is Kazue.  I'm a native Japanese and I've been teaching Japanese past 10yrs at various places.

I'd like to share the information about learning Japanese with you!

Please enjoy my blog :)
Your comments are always welcome!

Yoroshiku!
-Kazue
PS: Please check the online learning Japanese course! -> http://learnjapanese123.com