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

Stuffed animal promoting stg..

　
近所でみかけたゆるキャラ君たち。彼らは何かをプロモートしてると思うのだけれど、何だろう。。

I met them in my neighborhood. They must be promoting something, but I wonder what it is.

PS 日本に来て、日本語を学ぼう！
Let's go to Japan and learn Japanese.
   Before that, here is convenient basic Japanese lessons with iPhone!

   

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!

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

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

Conversational Japanese Video Course Launched!

Minasan Konnichiwa!

Today, I have a very special announcement.

The Conversational Japanese Video Course is just launched!

Please check this out!

http://learnjapanese123.com/conversation

Now it comes with 2 irresistible bonuses!
So please don't miss out this opportunity!

You might probably wonder...
"So What about the course?"

"What are the irresistable bonuses?"

Let's find them out!

http://learnjapanese123.com/conversation

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!

-Kazue

moshi moshi

Minasan konnichiwa!
Kazue desu.

Have you heard this phrase “moshi moshi”

Moshi moshi is like “Hello”, used in a telephone conversation.

“moshi moshi, ano.. terebi asahi desu ka?”  -excuse me, (eh..) Is this Asahi TV?   - "Ano… " is a hesitation.

However, in an office, you’re supposed to say “Hai, --(co. name) no ( your name) desu.”.

“Moshi moshi"  is too casual in a business situation.

During casual conversation, we sometimes say “moshi moshi” for the meaning of  “are you listening me?” ironically.

Also, “moshi moshi” has a meaning of “Hello, excuse me” when you talk to a stranger.

Let's learn practical Japanese!

Dewa mata!

Kazue

chotto...

Minasan Konnichiwa!

Ogenki desu ka?

Kyoo wa totemo suzushii desu!

It’s very cooling here now.

Today, I’d like to talk about a phrase “chotto”

If you learnt Japanese before, you might heard a phrase “chotto...”

So what is chotto means?

Its literal meaning is “a little” but chotto can be used in different way too.

1. To get attention:

e.g. chotto!  Excuse me!, Lesten! (very informal, used when angry)

*sumimasen and chotto are commonly used together.

e.g. sumimasen, chotto iidesu ka?  -Excuse me, attention please!.

2. Hesitation

e.g. chotto sumimasen.  Sorry to disturb you..

3. Little

e.g. miruku o chotto irete kudasai. 　Please add a little milk.

e.g. sumimasen, ima chotto iidesu ka?  Excuse me, do you have a minute now?

4. Very (negative)

e.g. Uu-n chotto muzukashii desu ne.  hmmm.. it sounds a bit difficult.

(Actually it could be “very difficult” and they often say “chotto muzukashii” with very difficult facial expression.

5. No.

e.g. A: eega o mimasen ka?  Would you like to watch movie?

B: Sumimasen, chotto…  Sorry, no.

To avoid saying exact meaning, there are varieties of expressions in Japanese.

Such as gurai(about), goro(about, around), hodo(about), tabun(maybe), etc. In addition, they like to say in a roundabout sort of way, like “Probably it seems that they say ..” if it’s literally translated into English.

They use vague expressions often because they don’t want to lose the other party’s face, as well as they try to avoid unnecessary argument especially when they have to say something negative.

Is it confusing? or interesting? It’s a culture.

You can learn such subtle cultural and linguistic differences in my Conversational Video Course!

Ja, mata ne.

-Kazue

elevator girl

Why don’t Japanese look me in the eyes?

In Japanese society, looking at someone directly is sometimes considered as showing strong hostility, especially towards to your seniors (However, it matters what you want to communicate e.g. a questioning look, a puzzled look, a disagreeing look. Sometimes we need to look directly at somebody to convey these). This can be traced back to the strict class system during Edo period (1600-1867)

For a job interview, we are advised to look around the tie area of the interviewer. Of course, we should look at the interviewer’s eyes sometimes, but not for too long.

Have you noticed that elevator girl?  (a girl who presses the floor buttons for you at high-class department stores, such as Mitsukoshi) They normally wear a wide-brimmed hat so that they can avoid direct eye contact with customers.

Anyhow Japanese are generally shy and not used to looking at the opponents’ eyes directly for long time. So please don’t worry even if they seem not to be looking at you. They are still listening to you!

Ogenki desu ka? ~Conv. L2~

Minasan konnichiwa!

Kyoo wa L2 desu. (Today is Lesson2)

Greeting part 2

1. Ogenki desu ka? (How are you?)
2. Hai, genki desu. (Yes, I’m fine. Reply from above question)
3. ~ san wa? (how about you, Mr/Ms ~ . Please call them using their name)
4. Dewa mata (see you again”)
5. Jaa mata (see you again (casual))

Additional New Vocab

1. Hai (Yes)
2. Iie (No)
3. kyoo (today)

Jaa mata!!

-Kazue
Probably the best way to learn Japanese! -> http://learnjapanese123.com