Why I started this blog.

As many percieve it, Japanese is a difficult language to learn.  It is the language that all of your favorite anime characters use, or the language that was used to create games like Super Mario Bro. and consoles like Nintentdo and Playstation.

But the question is, “Is Japanese really that difficult?”.

The answer, is obviously “YES”, but so are learning other languages. But what makes Japanese so difficult is 1) grammatical structures that are none like Latin-based languages 2) the conceptualization of the world (or the way the Japanese language “views” the world) ,  this combined with the fact that Japan has long history of being isolated from the rest of the world, keeps the language and culture so intact that it has less influence (or less similarities) to other languages.

This blog will focus on “hacking” the Japanese language. This means 1) easier ways to “formulate” sentences 2) understanding nuances/implications in certain words and phrases.  this will be done through the comparison between the English language.

Even being ethnically Japanese, with all my relatives being born in Japan, I still had the problem of understanding the language and also the cultural aspects that are so closely tied to the language itself.  As I have struggled my way through to unraveling the culture, I would like to share whatever I know so that those with ambitions for the language can do the same to others.

 

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Self Introductions 自己紹介 （じこしょうかい）

Something that I regularly get asked is how to do “self-introductions”. This seems to be the most preliminary stage of learning a language, yet could be the most pressuring because it is your initial contact with the person you are talking to, meaning that this wiill be your “first impression”.

One of my favorite sales/negotioation coach Brian Tracy says “You’ve heard it said that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” (Source: Brian Tracy International) So most of us know how important (and how pressuring!) this could be.

So here’s an imaginary character “Felipe（フェリペさん）” from Brazil. Like many foreigners trying to pave through a living in another country, he works 2 jobs. Let’s see what we can do.

We’ll have two versions of his introduction. 1) His original 2) Editted version based on his original.

1) Original Version
フェリペです。ブラジル人です。
29歳。　4年前ぐらい　日本へ　来ました。
東京に住んでいます。

今築地の会社、働いて、NHKします。

Translation:
I’m Felipe. I’m Brazilian. 29 years of age. 4 years ago, I cam to Japan. I live in Tokyo.
Right now, I work in a company (located) in Tsukiji, and do NHK.

Comments/Tips
This self-introduction is actually really good. Considering that it has “all the right contents”. You have the name, age, your relationship with Japan, and your current status (work). This should definitely get you going to conversation in different topics. I personally believe the only thing you will need to do is just combining the sentences.

2) Edited Version
フェリペです。4年前くらいから東京に住んでいます。29歳です。

今築地の会社で フルタイムで　働きながら、NHKでもバイトをしています。

Translation:
Hi, I’m Feliipe. I’ve been living in Japan since 4 years ago. I’m 29 years old.
I currently work fulltime at a company (located) in Tsukijji, and at the same time, I also work at NHK.

Comments/Tips
The above will sound something that a lot of native Japanese speakers would say. This also, has “all the right informaton” but at the same time, it concurs with the overall “trend” of how people speak Japanese today.

the structure follows this

Structure:
今、NOUN/ACTIVITY NAME （を）し＋ながら、PLACE(conceptual/physical) でも VERBて＋（い）ます。

a) 「NOUN （を）し＋ながら」 works verb similar with 「NOUN+します」　as the し=します。
b) 「でも」 in this case can be understood as conjunction of 「で（at, physical/conceptual）」and 「も（also）」。 *It is not the same 「でも」 meaning “but”
c) 「VERB て＋（い）ます」 or 「NOUNして＋（い）ます」 is also a good structure to use, when you are explaining something such as an occupation. Think of it as saying “I’m currently —-ing (i.e. working, studying, resting”.

The above should help you sound like most other natives.

Also, if you are looking to add that “extra twist” and make yourself more memorable, try to put in some joke about yourself based upon a true fact. These are just merely examples to start with, but you can come up with your own.

Adding that “extra” impression
After you’ve made your point, now it’s time you can be creative, or good around, and say something most impressionable that suits your character like. BUT make sure to say something like below, AFTER you’ve made your NORMAL self introduction!

東京で一番好きなレストランは　ロボットレストランです。
Translation:
My favorite restaurant in Tokyo is the “Robot Restaurant”.

「千と千尋の神隠し」は100万回以上見ました。
Translation:
I have seen “Spirited Away”, over a million times.

ボーカロイドの”初音ミクちゃん”は心の恋人です。
Translation:
The vocaloid known as “Hatsune Miku” is my imaginary girlfriend. (=in japanese it would be “Lover at my heart”)

The basic of a Japanese conversation is to first either a) make rapport b) mirror the person c) answer the person’s intended question without getting “too creative”. But after you’ve made enough initial engagement, give a shot with your whit and humor!

Arigatou-gozaimasu!]

Japanese accent (Intonation) dictionary

Intonation is one of the biggest keys to “sounding like a native speaker”.
This site explains about different ways to pronounce Japanese words with the correct intonation.

http://accent.u-biq.org/english.html

Different ways of making requests.

のせて＋ください。
のせて＋くれませんか？
のせて＋もらえませんか？
のせて＋いただけませんか？
のせて＋いただけないでしょうか？

ちかい、ちかく

ちかく　に　ありますか？ Is it at a nearby place?
ちかい ですか？ Is it close?

stating Personal opinions and remarks with 「～と 思います。 」

「～と　思います。」
I think that ～
I believe that ～

The literal translation for 「と思います。」means “I think that～” or “I believe that～” . It sounds like a rather conservative or reserved mannerism, but in a culture like that of Japan that avoids conflicts in confrontation, it is more appropriiate to say “I think it is～” or “I believe that it is～” to state an opinion.

Difference between used of に and で

Usual rules as follows, but in many cases often in colloquial languages に and で are also interchangeable, hence making it difficult to understand.

conceptual place に

physical location　で
actual opportunity で

thanks to Lucia, Felipe and Justin-san : )

How to say “Never”

A question I get asked often is how to say “Never” in Japanese.
This is a tricky question, so I would like to give you some explanation.

Here is the word for the word “never”
絶対（ぜったい）に　

however, the literal meaning of the word means “absolute(ly)

example.
絶対にない
absolutely none
= Eng. Absolutely not (Never)

the above sentence is followed by a negative phrase,
HOWEVER, when used in with conjunction with a positive phrasing, the meaning turns around 180 degrees and becomes a positive, or the connotative meaning is the antonym of “never”

example.
絶対に　おいしいに　違いない。
Absolutely must be not mistakenly delicious
= ENG It absolutely must be delicious = coll ENG. It must be delicious.

Hence there is no word for “never” and “eternally” (well… for “eternally” there is 永遠に but assuming from the word structure, this is presumably a word adopted from another foreign language)
The way to somewhat express these words are:

never = 絶対にない (absolutely not)
always = いつも

there doesn’t not seem to be an Japanese equivalent for the English word “ever”….

Uses for 申し訳ない

申し訳ない
state that of being apologetic, being sorry for

example.
申し訳ない　気分になりました。
My feelings became “that of an apologetic tone”

申し訳ないです。
(I am) in the state that of an apologetic one.
= Eng. I feel sorry (for the situation)

I remembered it 思い出しました。( おもいだしました）。

思い出しました。　I remembered it.

Good to use, when you literally, “remembered something”… something you might say in a language lesson, or a language exchange session.

Example.
ああ、思い出しました！
Yes I remembered it!

今日は　レッスンが　ないこと　（を）　思い出しました。
I remembered the fact that there was no lessons today
=Eng. I just realized that I didn’t have a lesson today.

How to say “That’s surprising to me” 驚きです。

Good way to react in a conversation is to say that you are “startled” “astonished” or “surprised”.
You can express these feelings (reactions) with the word 「驚き」 or the phrase 「驚きです」。

驚き（おどろき）=surprise, astonishment

example.
それは　驚きです。
That is surprising (to me)

そんなに　日本語を　話せるなんて　驚きです。
It’s a surprise that you can speak Japanese as such (or much as you are “right now”)
= It’s surprising that you can speak that much Japanese.