Nihongo Everyday [Archive]

thomas

Aug 22, 2002, 01:21

Miyuki-san was so kind as to collect and publish all the daily nihongo lessons she had previously posted to the 'Nihongo Cabinet'. Check out the following site

=> http://miyuki.myjapan.com/nihongo/

Her lessons are available in kana, kanji, romaji and ...as sound files as well!

I really like your voice, Miyuki! Thanks for your tremendous effort!
:)

Please visit Nihongo Everyday (http://miyuki.myjapan.com/nihongo/)!

miyuki

Aug 22, 2002, 02:21

Thank you for your support,Thomas-san.

minasan, yoroshiku onegai shimasu.:bow:

samuraitora

Aug 22, 2002, 23:47

no translations though...that is a good thing. It makes me work for it.

Super Sweet!!!
doumo arigato gozaimasu miyukisan

ben0a4

Jan 22, 2003, 17:11

real kind of you miyuki:bow:

miyuki

Jan 22, 2003, 22:17

Thank you for visiting my site!
:happy:

Iron Chef

Mar 15, 2003, 18:12

Very nice indeed. Great job and thank you for making this valuable resource available.

:bow:

hennagaijin

Mar 15, 2003, 19:23

That is great! :happy:

It's so rewarding when I finally get a sentence translated to finnish! It takes some time for me to get it to something that actually makes sense, but it's worth it!

:bow:

miyuki

Mar 18, 2003, 02:10

2gatsu to 3gatsu wa up-date dekimasendeshita.
Demo, kono yo-ni hagemashite itadakuto
totemo ureshii desu.
Kongetsu no owari niwa up-date shimasu.
Mata yoroshiku onegai shimasu ne!;)

Erik

Apr 21, 2003, 17:58

Originally posted by thomas
Miyuki-san was so kind as to collect and publish all the daily nihongo lessons she had previously posted to the 'Nihongo Cabinet'. Check out the following site

=> http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/

Her lessons are available in kana, kanji, romaji and ...as sound files as well!

I really like your voice, Miyuki! Thanks for your tremendous effort!
:)

Please visit Nihongo Everyday (http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/)!

Not complaining, but it may be a good idea to indicate what level this is intended for. I realize it says "This is a room for Japanese learners. " but... IMO, I don't think this is at all good for someone who knows less than 10 words of japanese. Also, someone who hasn't even finished learning hiragana and katakana will not really be ready for that without explaination.

just my two yen...

chelo

Jun 3, 2003, 10:56

ohayo miyukisan!
hope you can post learning materials for people like me who are just starting to learn kana.
doomo arigatoo! :)

these smilies are so so cute... aren't they??? ^-^:clap:

AviFunniBunni

Jun 10, 2003, 00:24

Ohayoo,
I've just started to learn Japanese at uni and i was wondering if there are any good starting books to read.
kore fooramu ga dai suki desu.

Elizabeth

Jun 10, 2003, 01:53

Originally posted by AviFunniBunni
Ohayoo,
I've just started to learn Japanese at uni and i was wondering if there are any good starting books to read.
kore fooramu ga dai suki desu.
Hajimemashite AviFunniBunnisan! :wave:
And just a small correction. It should be "Kono fooramu ga daisuki desu." In this case you need to use"this" as an adjective and not a demonstrative pronoun. On the other hand, if you want to say something like "This is my most favorite forum" it would be "Kore wa watashi no daisukina forum desu." Chotto confusing desune. :p

Shadow

Jun 10, 2003, 02:00

Miyuki-san,

Your site is great, especially the .wav files~! I'm only a beginner so I have to look up some of the advanced words in my dictionary. But it's a great learning experience!

Thanks~~

miyuki

Jun 14, 2003, 11:46

all of your words encouraged me....
minasan, arigatougozaimasu.

dely88

Jun 25, 2003, 00:43

Miyuki you are very kind and congratulation for your home page! its very good and nice,
ciao from dely from osaka

Mae

Jul 5, 2003, 22:35

Miyuki, u did a good job indeed, i heard ur voice, sooo sweet, but the only problem is i don't know what they meant...:{

miyuki

Jul 6, 2003, 22:03

Yes,I only have Japanese-Roma ji pages.
I wish I could make&add Japanese-English pages(someday)...
:o

Mae

Jul 7, 2003, 10:24

I'm looking forward to see it!! Ganbatte! miyuki-chan!:blush:

miyuki

Jul 7, 2003, 23:51

arigatou,Mae-san.
mazu wa update kara desu ne!
(Let's start with update.):D

cacawate

Jul 31, 2003, 10:46

MIYUKI! I was on your page no more than 5 sec. when I quickly added it to my favorites. I think it is perfect, and please keep up the good work! Thank you!

ジェフ

miyuki

Jul 31, 2003, 19:08

I think I can update it soon.
Chotto omachi wo...
;)

serewen

Sep 5, 2003, 12:06

hi,minasan,korewa serewen desu, yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
こんにちは、私はこのフォーラムを連結する初めてのことです。
それは、日本語を学習するために興味を感じさせる人々にとってよいサイトでした
:clap:

yukinoyume

Oct 17, 2003, 23:06

Konnichi wa Miyuki-san!

Anata no "Nihongo Everyday" wa totemo miwaku-teki na "web-page" desu yo!
Kore nihongo genbun ga benri na dogu desu.

Arigato gozaimasu!!! ^_^

Mata ne!

V.I.B

Nov 4, 2003, 08:17

はじめまして~♪Miyuki-san、みんなさん。どうぞよろしく！_(_^_)_

このフォオラムサイトわとてもおもしろいです♪~

Miyuki-sanの"Nihongo Everyday"ページがすきです☆！！Had fun learning Japanese (and listening) on your site. ThanQ! And those sound files.. I luv your voice!｡･ﾟﾟ･(>_<)･ﾟﾟ･｡ Please keep the page going~!

Porl

Nov 19, 2003, 07:37

Eriku-san

Nov 20, 2003, 08:59

If you want to learn Hiragana and Katakana VERY quickly (within 1 week) you have to be able to put a little effort forward. Here is what I did. I searched the internet for romanji sentences and compiled about 6 pages worth. (about 30 to 40 sentences per page) You can usually find sentences with just romanji on Learn Japanese pages. Using this chart (http://www.bitboost.com/TT_aboutthekana/Kana-Chart-01-005.gif) I used only the Hiragana section on every example sentence. Then I went back and used Katakana on every example sentence. Take note that all i was trying to do was to memorize the symbols and not to actually translate the romanji to hiragana or katakana. I managed to memorize about 95% of the Hiragana in about a day and a half. I then learned the Katakana in about the same time. Just be sure to look over the symbols at least once every day or you will forget the less used ones (like wo, we, etc..) I am currently trying to learn Kanji. With kanji, you just have to study it and try to figure out why the symbols are the way they are (Sometimes you need to go out on a limb, but there is usually a logical answer to why each one is drawn the way it is.) I only know about 75 actual japanese words (watashi, desu, demo, kore, etc...) =) I will start on those after I learn about 100 Kanji. Also, please excuse any spelling errors I have made (I suck at spelling and grammar)

doudesuka

Dec 8, 2003, 17:13

Miyuki-san,

Your sight is awesome. I also saved as a favorite. I am hoping to study it and become more proficient and confident in my speaking.

Your the best, ganbare!

Golgo_13

Dec 9, 2003, 15:15

I bring this up just to let you know that the color green (midori) is sometimes referred to as blue (ao) in Japan. I don't know why they do this. So midori has one extra syllable--is saying "ao" so much easier?

I remember a time as a child I was speaking to someone and the subject of traffic lights came up. I said "midori shingou" (green light) and I was told that it's NOT midori shingou but AO SHINGOU, even though the light is physically green like in the U.S. or anywhere else in the world.

The shredded green seaweed that's sprinkled on top of Tako yaki or Okonomi yaki is called "Ao nori" (blue seaweed). There are other examples.

However, if you picked up a cucumber and asked what color it was, kore ao desuka? You'd probably get a reply "Ahoka! Sorewa midori ya naika!"

Porl

Dec 9, 2003, 19:10

Thanks Eriku-san. I've printed out the kana chart and i've been using it to help me learn hiragana. ;)

Porl''

heiji

Dec 15, 2003, 20:27

thank u ...the two sites are too nice ...
i will try to learn japanese in one or two weeks as i can..
one question
what yoroshiku onegaishimasu.means???

NANGI

Dec 17, 2003, 21:53

Konnichiwa Heiji-san!

"Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu" is a greeting that means respect. The Japanese use this word "Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu" to first meeting person or superior.:note:

NANGI

sadakoyamamura

Dec 30, 2003, 16:45

I want to learn Japanese too. I have just been to miyuki-sans's site.
Simple but kirei! Arigato Gozaimasu! You're site is a great help especially with the pronunciation.

Jian

Jan 13, 2004, 10:14

can't you also say どぞよろしく or はじめまして instead of the おねがいします？

NANGI

Jan 13, 2004, 20:34

Konnichiwa Jian-san!

Of course, "どうぞよろしく" or "はじめまして" are good greetings to first meeting person.;)

NANGI

Golgo_13

Jan 15, 2004, 10:54

There are various way to say this.

I once had a professor in college who asked me if "kare wa watashi no gakusei desu" meant "He's my student."

I told him "kare wa watashi no oshi'ego desu" is better. "Oshi'ego" literally means a child being taught, but it can be used to refer to adult students as well. This term implies a more personal teacher-student relationship than just a generic "gakusei"

"Gakusei" generally means students of middle school level and higher.

Primary school students are generally called "seito".

A student of a martial art, or any other type of traditional Japanese art, is called a "deshi" -- a disciple.

:bow:

Elizabeth

Jan 15, 2004, 11:20

Do you often use "jidou" or "gakudou" for primary school children as well? I asked my tutor about various terms for student the other day and gakusei, jidou came to mind right away but for some reason she had a harder time thinking of seito. 　　

Golgo_13

Jan 15, 2004, 11:47

"Jidou" is more like children, so it applies to kids in kindergarten as well. No connotation of someone who studies.

Seito is more appropriate for elementary schoolers.

Hardly anyone ever says Gakudou.

Elizabeth

Jan 15, 2004, 15:25

Originally posted by Golgo_13
"Jidou" is more like children, so it applies to kids in kindergarten as well. No connotation of someone who studies.

Seito is more appropriate for elementary schoolers.

Hardly anyone ever says Gakudou.
Gakudou is more like schoolchild/ren which of course we don't say much in the US either. And maybe the connection with jidou and pupil (or kindergarten student, sorry I forgot about them) was just a dictionary one. 　　

Golgo_13

Jan 16, 2004, 07:09

Child Abuse is "Jidou Gyakutai".

In ordinary conversations no one would say "jidou"; they'd just day "ko" or "kodomo"to refer to a child.

Elizabeth

Jan 16, 2004, 08:59

Oshiete Golgo_13san,

I also learned 先公 today as derisive slang for teacher. Is it used very often ? :)

Golgo_13

Jan 16, 2004, 09:12

It's used often on Japanese TV dramas, but in general . . . I don't hear it much.

No one really calls a teacher "hey, teach!" like in that movie "Up the Down Staircase" with Sandy Dennis. But then again, that movie was from a time when Sandy Dennis--an immense cat lvoer--almost looked like a teenager. LOL!

I shouldn't make fun of her. I once studied at HB Studios in NYC where she taught part-time.

Elizabeth

Jan 16, 2004, 09:21

公 would be similar to using 君 in this situation then. I don't know why I never realized that before.

Golgo_13

Jan 16, 2004, 09:55

"senkou" is still derisive. Kun (君) is used among peers. You would never call a teacher by his last name and a kun added.

In Japanese schools, kids do not refer to each other by their first names, ever. Boys are called by their last names with a "kun" added, and girls are called by their surnames with a "san" added. Boys who think they're leaders or bullies call other boys without the "kun" added.

It's no big deal to anyone in Japan. No one ever complains that that is gender discrimination

NANGI

Jan 16, 2004, 10:13

Konnichiwa Elizabeth-san! Golgo_13-san!

About "-kou"

You never use this word "-kou". This word "-kou" has several meaning, but "Senkou" means a contempt for teacher(Sensei). And "Polikou" means a contempt for policeman. Those words are very contempt and evil words, more than "-kun".:p

NANGI

Golgo_13

Jan 16, 2004, 10:26

Yes, that's what "derisive" means.

Ame-kou was used to refer to Americans during WWII.

Elizabeth

Jan 16, 2004, 17:40

So senkou is probably used more in describing a negative personal experience with a teacher. Do either/both of these sound natural as well?

あの先公は学生の扱い方が厳格すぎて人気がないです。

or

あの先公は運動場で学生を自分たちだけで遊ばせません。

Elizabeth

Jan 17, 2004, 01:48

Originally posted by NANGI
Konnichiwa Elizabeth-san! Golgo_13-san!

About "-kou"

You never use this word "-kou". This word "-kou" has several meaning, but "Senkou" means a contempt for teacher(Sensei). And "Polikou" means a contempt for policeman. Those words are very contempt and evil words, more than "-kun".:p

NANGI
こんにちわ南木さん！

それに”公”と語尾は付けられている「獲て公」と「イタ公」と二つの言葉を見つけたばかりです。ほかに何か頭に浮いて来たら、書いてください。　

そして間違いがあったら、訂正してくださいね。

:note:

Golgo_13

Jan 17, 2004, 04:40

Originally posted by Elizabeth
So senkou is probably used more in describing a negative personal experience with a teacher. Do either/both of these sound natural as well?

あの先公は学生の扱い方が厳格すぎて人気がないです。

or

あの先公は運動場で学生を自分たちだけで遊ばせません。

IMO, anyone who uses Keigo (polite speech) with "desu" and "masen" would NOT use "Senkou" in the same sentence.

Only good-fur-nothin' little punks use the word. An ordinary student would still say Sensei even if he/she had a negative experience.

:bow:

Elizabeth

Jan 17, 2004, 04:51

Originally posted by Golgo_13
IMO, anyone who uses Keigo (polite speech) with "desu" and "masen" would NOT use "Senkou" in the same sentence.

Only good-fur-nothin' little punks use the word. An ordinary student would still say Sensei even if he/she had a negative experience.

:bow:
OK--next one I'll try putting on my ruffian, holligan, goonish hat and come up with a better example. :p

Golgo_13

Jan 17, 2004, 06:34

"Incense" (the kind you burn in a temple) is "o-senkou". Did ya know?

Elizabeth

Jan 17, 2004, 07:17

Mou shite imasu. Arigatou. Soshite "osendou" wa Nihon no dentoutekina geijutsu (?) no hitotsu desune. Watashi ni wa chotto taikutsu sou desukedo. Osendou wo narau gakusei wa "deshi" to yobarete imasuka?

Golgo_13

Jan 17, 2004, 08:32

I'm not sure what "osendou" is. Art of dying (dye - ing)?

"Sadou" is the art of tea ceremony.

In any kind of traditional Japanese art, it is proper to call a disciple formerly accepted (nyumon) for training/skill as "deshi" Someone who does it casually as a hobby would not be a "deshi", however.

Sometimes it also applies to a commercial skill such as saba noodle making by hand, weaving silk, etc. in which training under a master/expert is required.

Elizabeth

Jan 17, 2004, 08:35

No, I meant the art/craft/tradition of incense mixing....

Golgo_13

Jan 17, 2004, 08:45

Liz,

I never knew there was such a thing, but I'm sure there is.

Still "Deshi".

The word is uni-sex, so it applies to both men and women.

How'd you learn so much Japanese? Ever lived/traveled there?

Elizabeth

Jan 17, 2004, 09:58

日本では四ヶ月だけ日本語を勉強しました。でも二回の滞在、ホームステイ父親が好きになってきました。今は愛情を抑えられないですよ。ちょっと大変ですね。その愛は冷めてしまったら、言葉を学ぶのにも興味を無くしてしまうかもしれません。:)

Golgo_13

Jan 17, 2004, 12:16

Liz,

I replied in a private message.

Museigen

Jan 22, 2004, 08:16

みゆきさん、そのサイトを乗せてくれてありがとうね！
中級日本語は本当に役に立っている。

MShingen

Feb 2, 2004, 14:34

毎日毎日、日本語で話すことか？ごめん、ここはやっぱりできないよ！

Golgo_13

Feb 28, 2004, 13:40

I don't know where my original thread went, so I'm putting them back here:

Arumi kan no u'e ni aru mikan

(tangerine on top of the aluminum can)
--------------------------

First Guy: Omae no otosan unsouya (trucker) ?

Second Guy: Un souya.
-----------------------

Student: Kono class ni wa Doitsu-jin ga imasu.

Teacher: Doitsu kara kita yatsu wa doitsu ya?
-----------------------

American: Can you tell me a pun?
Japanese: Pan wa taberu mon yaro?
--------------------------

First Guy: "Kono, Karajan (famous Austrian conductor pronounced "Karayan") no CD wa kaizokuban (knock-off) yane."

Second Guy: "Nande wakaruno?" (How can you tell?)

First Guy (shaking the case): "Kara yan!" ("It's empty" in Osaka-ben)
----------------------

Tori Niku wa Torinikui
---------------------

Upon finishing a meal: "Ah, uma katta. Ushi maketa."

-----------------------

First Guy: "Dokode kanojo to shiri'attano?"
Second Guy: "Koutsuu jiko no genba de."
Frist Guy: "Jaa, Jiko shoukai shitandane?"

Ewok85

Feb 29, 2004, 01:00

I can only remember one that i was taught;
ふとんが　ふっとんだ

The other one that was amusing was
まじで　でじま　まじでじま　(say it quick in the 3 parts)

Narau

Mar 5, 2004, 04:49

Does the Nihongo every day site still exist? I tried to go to http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/ but the page does not exist. Is there a new link perhaps?

Golgo_13

Mar 5, 2004, 05:48

I can only remember one that i was taught;
ふとんが　ふっとんだ

The other one that was amusing was
まじで　でじま　まじでじま　(say it quick in the 3 parts)

The words showed up as weird symbols, so can you please write it out in Romaji? :note:

kai_sethoris

Mar 6, 2004, 04:21

feh same here Narau, site not comin up

Golgo_13

Mar 6, 2004, 04:34

I can only remember one that i was taught;
$B$U$H$s$,!!$U$C$H$s$@(B

The other one that was amusing was
$B$^$8$G!!$G$8$^!!$^$8$G$8$^!!(B(say it quick in the 3 parts)

The first one is a good pun: "My Futon blew away"

but the second one doesn't quite make sense. Only word that has a meaning is "majide" and even then it's a slang. I don't know what the other words mean.

cacawate

Mar 9, 2004, 01:00

Yeah, where'd the site go? :bawling:

Golgo_13

Mar 9, 2004, 06:13

Golgo_13

Mar 10, 2004, 06:15

"Samui hi ni atsui coffe o nomuto hotto suru"

:D :D :D

Here's another one:

Yamanashi-ken niwa chanto Oukina yama ga arimasuyo!

cacawate

Mar 10, 2004, 07:36

err, uhhh. So, is it still around?

"I'n jost keedeeng!"
"Aye, dioth mio~"

Golgo_13

Mar 10, 2004, 08:46

err, uhhh. So, is it still around?

"I'n jost keedeeng!"
"Aye, dioth mio~"

What? The mountain? Where would it go?
Especially since it's Mt. Fuji in Yamanashi-Ken

In case you didn't get the pun, "nashi" means "there is none" and "yama" is mountain. The nashi in Yamanashi-Ken is a homonymn.

Golgo_13

Mar 17, 2004, 08:00

I always thought "Karaoke" meant "Empty barrel" (kara=empty; oke=wooden barrel) but I was wrong.

The "oke" in Karaoke stands for "oukesutora" or orchestra.

Who'd a thought . . . .

cacawate

Mar 17, 2004, 18:35

Golgo,
Naw man~. I mean the site; the link's still bad. But for a correction, oukina should be ookina, no? Most likely, I probably missed something in the joke... so I humbly PRE-apologize.

-Jeff (aka back to FFXI)

Golgo_13

Mar 18, 2004, 05:00

Aasoo. Boku no kanchigai datta.

People use "ou" and "oo" interchangeably. I prefer a single o with a horizontal line over it. I had a post about the pronunciation of "ou" sounds somwhere.

Golgo_13

Apr 29, 2004, 04:26

Being in Japan recently and seeing a lot of signs at train stations made me recall a sign for a Chinese restaurant I used to see as a child.

The sign used 4 Katakana letters: Ha, Ma, Mu, and Ra written top to bottom in that order. If you do that, you will see that the letters form a face: the Ha sort of looks like the hair or eye brows, Ma the eye, Mu the nose, and Ra the mouth. Try it and see.

:ramen:

cacawate

Apr 29, 2004, 06:30

ハ
マ
ム
ラ

lol.

PaulTB

Apr 29, 2004, 14:43

Aasoo. Boku no kanchigai datta.

People use "ou" and "oo" interchangeably.
For certain values of 'people'.
I prefer a single o with a horizontal line over it.
I've come to the conclusion that nobody who uses Hepburn romaji actually uses Hepburn romaji*. So there's no point in 'correcting' people's romaji unless they are using one of the standard Japanese systems.

'o with a horizontal line over it' looks the best, but is a right pain to reproduce in many systems & encodings. I use ou and oo because it's the only way to preserve the distinction between おお and おう. (Which makes it wa-puro romaji ;-)

* What they actually use is mostly Hepburn with whatever takes their fancy from other systems and wa-puro romaji.

serewen

Apr 30, 2004, 11:46

ハ
マ
ム
ラ

lol.
何何何何何何何?

Golgo_13

Apr 30, 2004, 12:07

read my post which preceded the one you don't understand in the last page.

e i e n

Apr 30, 2004, 12:15

what happened to the site :( ? is there a new link?

PaulTB

Apr 30, 2004, 23:11

Miyuki-san was so kind as to collect and publish all the daily nihongo lessons she had previously posted to the 'Nihongo Cabinet'. Check out the following site

=> http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/

Her lessons are available in kana, kanji, romaji and ...as sound files as well!

I really like your voice, Miyuki! Thanks for your tremendous effort!
:)

Please visit Nihongo Everyday (http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/)!

See the Internet Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20030606224521/http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/).

Unfortunately it doesn't archive .wav files.

e i e n

May 1, 2004, 13:24

See the Internet Wayback Machine (http://web.archive.org/web/20030606224521/http://miyuki.japanref.com/nihongo/).

Unfortunately it doesn't archive .wav files.

Thank you for the help!

Golgo_13

May 4, 2004, 09:14

I was reading a Golgo 13 manga and noticed something that many Japanese say. Golgo said that the percentage of any of his bullets being a "dud" should be "Rei konma yori hikui hazuda!"

"Rei Konma __" (zero comma __) to refer to a value less than 1 with a decimal point. E.g., 0.5=rei konma go, 0.8=rei konma hachi, 0.25=rei konma niigo, etc. They say "konma" for some reason but it's really a period.

On the other hand, to describe the ending of something, e.g., a career, the expression "piriodo o utsu" (strike a period (as if at the end of a sentence)) is used. In this case, the period (piriodo) is used properly.

soe

May 16, 2004, 18:30

er... i can't open it *tears*

thomas

May 16, 2004, 19:11

I just want to announce that we are going to relaunch Nihongo Everyday soon. :wave:

MShingen

May 17, 2004, 00:44

Oh is it? Thats great. Cheers to Japanese.

Golgo_13

May 20, 2004, 05:15

Who knows what "kuku" is?

hint: it has to do with arithmetic.

PaulTB

May 20, 2004, 06:19

Who knows what "kuku" is?

hint: it has to do with arithmetic.
Well the IME thinks it's 九九.

Golgo_13

May 20, 2004, 06:26

I know what it is and what it means.

Does anyone else?

If not, the answer to be followed later.

PaulTB

May 21, 2004, 17:20

I know what it is and what it means.

Does anyone else?
I know what it is ... but only because I checked WWWJDIC :relief:

Maths terms aren't my strong point in Japanese.

Golgo_13

May 22, 2004, 03:45

For the benefit of other members here, "kuku" is a mnemonic device of rhythmical chant to teach 2nd graders the multiplication table. For example,

Ninin ga shi (2x2=4)
nisan go roku (2x3=6)
nishi ga hachi (2x4=8)
nigou juu (2x5=10)
. . .
sango juugo (3x5=15)
saburoku juuhachi (3x6=18)
. . .
rokushi nijuushi (6x4=24)
rokugo sanjuu (6x5=30)
rokuroku sanjuu roku (6x6=36)
. . . etc.

The whole thing sounds like a song thereby making it easier for kids to remember.

Golgo_13

Jun 22, 2004, 05:56

There is a member here who named himself 悪魔 (most likely after an anime character), so I thought I'd bring this up.

The difference between 鬼 "oni" (demon) and 悪魔 "akuma" (devil, satan).

悪魔 is evil, malevolent. Period. Has no other usage.

Some time ago, a couple tried to name their newborn son "悪魔" and the city hall rejected their application. See at bottom of

news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ ap/20040611/ap_on_fe_st/japan_name_game_1

鬼, on the other hand, can sometimes be used as a compliment in a way, to describe someone who is to be feared but not necessarily evil: "Ring no oni" (demon inside the ring (in martial arts)) or "oni to yobareru keiji" (detective nicknamed "the demon"), etc. A marine drill sergeant might be called a "oni". If you named a child combining this Kanji (also pronounced "ki" in Kun-yomi) with another, city hall might still accept it. :cool:

Golgo_13

Jun 30, 2004, 11:13

Onomatopoeias in Japanese

"onomatopoeia" = the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it.

Here are some examples:

Completely = zen zen ("zenbu" = "all")

Describing a very dry surface, e.g., skin = kasa kasa

Describing a very rough surface, e.g., sand paper = zara zara

Describing a very sticky surface, e.g., fly paper = necha necha

Describing something broken apart into pieces = bara bara

Describing something smooth, e.g., skin = sara sara

Describing something fluffy = fuwa fuwa

Describing something crispy, e.g., fried food = kari kari

Describing something twitching = piku piku ugoiteru

Describing something that stings = chiku chiku

Describing someone who is very talkative = bera bera

Describing someone who speaks
another language competently = pera pera
Eigo wa dono kurai shabere masuka? ("How well do you speak English?") Pera pera desu ("I speak it pera pera")

Describing someone eating hungrliy = paku paku (thus "Pac Man" in Japanese pronounced "Pakku Man"

Golgo_13

Jul 28, 2004, 11:18

In English, the definition of the word "stamina" is endurance. E.g., a marathon runner has a lot of stamina.

In Japan, "sutamina" is meant as strength or vigor. Just the other day, I was eating in Little Tokyo and the restaurant's mama-san told me she herself does not eat much meat but her daughter eats a lot of it because she's a pro athlete (a golfer) and needs "sutamina".

NQT

Sep 3, 2004, 03:11

Is the link still active? I seem to have a problem accessing it.

thomas

Sep 3, 2004, 13:31

Is the link still active? I seem to have a problem accessing it.

It's currently not active. But we plan, with Miyuki's permission, to relaunch the page.

God

Sep 9, 2004, 19:17

What? Did she not give you permission or else you asked her and she said no?

thomas

Sep 9, 2004, 20:30

What? Did she not give you permission or else you asked her and she said no?
I haven't heard from Miyuki for quite a while, so if we relaunch the page under another domain we have to ask for her consent. It's on the to-do list, though not at the very top.

:-)

Shinhan7

Sep 22, 2004, 23:37

Dont know whats wrong, but I cant access that site. Is it still working?

PaulTB

Sep 22, 2004, 23:44

Dont know whats wrong, but I cant access that site. Is it still working?
Short answer : No.

Personally I think this thread could be unstickied as it isn't that impressive and every now and again somebody comes in and wonders why the links don't work.

hirobumi

Oct 28, 2004, 04:31

thanks miyukisan, couldn't open your page though...

thomas

Nov 1, 2004, 16:03

We have re-uploaded Miyuki's website.

Nihongo Everyday is now available here (http://miyuki.myjapan.com/nihongo/).
:wave:

PaulTB

Nov 1, 2004, 18:20

We have re-uploaded Miyuki's website.

Nihongo Everyday is now available here (http://miyuki.myjapan.com/nihongo/).
:wave:

Well WOOT! :p

I hope the link in the very first post in this thread works as well - or you'll keep getting people posting that they couldn't open it.

magwagwag

Dec 28, 2004, 01:34

Wow!!!!!!great....

miyuki

Dec 30, 2004, 00:19

I'm really sorry I haven't been here and I haven't updated Nihongo Everyday for a long long time.
I felt sick.It was not serious,but to come my work first,I had to save others.
Sorry...
I am very well now.

I will update 'Nihongo Everyday' next year.
Please wait for a minutes.
I really appreciate all of you here.
Thanks!!!!!

Rgchrono

Mar 21, 2005, 02:23

wow, thank you. This is very very usefull information. Thanks for taking your time to do it fo us learners. ^_^

slider

May 7, 2005, 06:02

MIYUKI! I was on your page no more than 5 sec. when I quickly added it to my favorites. I think it is perfect, and please keep up the good work! Thank you!

ジェフ

I have to agree this is truely excellent...

Doumo :cool:

Ziggy

May 29, 2005, 09:42

Coolio!! I've just had a look on your website...very nice!!! I wish i could understand it! haha.. ..

I have a rather dumb question : Is Romaji the name for how Japanese is spelt out frenetically (<--i cant spell ..doh) ...so you can read it out loud from english?

Im a super noobie at japanese....:bluush:

Porl''

Ro-man ji
Roman Character.
Roman Characters if you want to put it that way.
What it means is using the Roman vowels (a, i, u, e, o) as flat vowels, and the conosants as .. conosants.

If you not a native English speaker you will have no problem understanding this concept, whereas you may find it more problematic to get used to it as an English speaker.. specifically as an american!..

English, unlike Japanese has really mushed up vowels. I actually found it a problem when I had to find out the difference between words like '****' and 'sheet', and also understand that 'our' sounds a lot a lot a lot like 'are' (which until then I pronounced them as 'awer' and 'ar'). So just read them flat and you'll be fine.

By the way, some books about the Japanese language are often written in something that's not really Romanji. Like the Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook. They wrote things like "air-kon" instead of "ea-kon" to make it easier for you. Nevertheless, it's a good book that I would recommend just for those small "how do you say ... in Japanese?" kinds of questions.

Learning Kanna is a piece of cake. Try www.kanacards.com if it works for you, and there might be some palm software for you to also try and practice writing Kanna.

So I hope that answers your question.

Kaminari

Oct 31, 2005, 23:45

English alphabet is derived from the Roman alphabet. Japanese name for Rome is (as in Italian) Roma the "ji" in "Romaji" means written or printed character. Some Romaji is now pseudo Kanji - H (etchi/sex) and A (anime/animated cartoon). I don't know if there are others.

J C

Jan 13, 2006, 07:30

Romaji is creeping in quite a lot. "J" is used a bit (J-リーグ, J-ポップ, JR) - but it's all 新語.

koko

Feb 16, 2006, 22:40

What are the words 'cheapskate' or 'stingy' in Japanese? couldnt find one in my pocket dictionary. Is there any other slang for that words?

Thanks

Luthien Rogue

Feb 16, 2006, 22:52

Miyukiさん :wave:

I've been going to your page for a while now; it's very useful. :note:

Thank you for all your efforts. :gomen:

Ebu Huzeyfe

Apr 11, 2006, 21:01

Arigatoo gozaimasu!

pointlessneedles

Aug 8, 2006, 06:36

http://www.learn-japanese.info/lesson01.html

heres a great site for learning nahongo

nice gaijin

Aug 8, 2006, 07:09

what is "nahongo"?

pointlessneedles

Aug 9, 2006, 03:32

sorry misspelled nihongo lol

toritaiyo

Sep 19, 2006, 09:59

Hi Miyuki!
Love your website. It is really useful (especially for more advanced speakers -it's hard for us to find something challenging usually).
Would you mind if I added it to the browser toolbar that we offer at nipponster.com (http://nipponster.com)?
-Tori

yukio_michael

Sep 19, 2006, 12:15

What are the words 'cheapskate' or 'stingy' in Japanese? couldnt find one in my pocket dictionary. Is there any other slang for that words?You can't translate an idiomatic expression.

toritaiyo

Sep 19, 2006, 14:17

You can't translate an idiomatic expression.

there is a word for that actually. It is けち (kechi)

or according to jim breen, 吝嗇吝嗇【けちけち】 (adv,vs) (uk) stingy; tightfisted

yukio_michael

Sep 19, 2006, 21:51

there is a word for that actually. It is けち (kechi)
or according to jim breen, 吝嗇吝嗇【けちけち】 (adv,vs) (uk) stingy; tightfistedI still stand by what I said. It may be that someone has chosen the English word stingy to represent kechikechi, Nifty (http://tool.nifty.com/globalgate/) translates it to parsimonious, whereas Excite (http://excite.co.jp/world/english/) also translates it to stingy, or stingieness...

My point wasn't that you couldn't come up with a word that you could use in a similar way, but that it's not a good idea to start with an English idiom and then try to find a Japanese translation for that. The relationship between the Japanese phrase and the English one is fortuitous at best.

The translation also doesn't give you any idea about the politeness of that particular word, for which you would have to ask a native speaker--- It's similar to when English subtitles use English profanity to indicate Japanese politeness levels--- You're stripping away the culture of one language, and replacing it with another and losing some or all of the initial meaning.

Another good example is the translation of difficult to define words like omae, which may have a very specific tone in Japanese, but do not translate well to English.

toritaiyo

Sep 20, 2006, 03:36

I still stand by what I said. It may be that someone has chosen the English word stingy to represent kechikechi, Nifty (http://tool.nifty.com/globalgate/) translates it to parsimonious, whereas Excite (http://excite.co.jp/world/english/) also translates it to stingy, or stingieness...
My point wasn't that you couldn't come up with a word that you could use in a similar way, but that it's not a good idea to start with an English idiom and then try to find a Japanese translation for that. The relationship between the Japanese phrase and the English one is fortuitous at best.
The translation also doesn't give you any idea about the politeness of that particular word, for which you would have to ask a native speaker--- It's similar to when English subtitles use English profanity to indicate Japanese politeness levels--- You're stripping away the culture of one language, and replacing it with another and losing some or all of the initial meaning.
Another good example is the translation of difficult to define words like omae, which may have a very specific tone in Japanese, but do not translate well to English.
Good point. And I totally agree with you that there are many words and phrases that do not translate well. And translation more often than not is inaccurate because the contexts of the two languages are different (ex: politeness levels). There are some Japanese phrases that are impossible to grasp in an English context. Many of the things I can think or say freely in Japanese I would struggle to translate into English.
So it is probably best to "pick up" the language (by immersing yourself in it) than to look things up in a dictionary, right?

-----------------------------
Nipponster.com
(http://nipponster.com): Japanese language toolbar and the Japan search engine

yukio_michael

Sep 20, 2006, 08:24

So it is probably best to "pick up" the language (by immersing yourself in it) than to look things up in a dictionary, right?My strategy, one I've run by native speakers familiar with teaching the language who seem to think it's a good idea is to only think in Japanese; so instead of asking myself how do "some English phrase" in Japanese, I strictly think of the appropriate way in Japanese to communicate whatever I'm trying to ask or convey.

Immersion is good too. If I'm watching a movie whos plot I am familiar enough to understand what the characters are talking about, I'll turn off the subtitles so that I only concentrate on the spoken language.

Also, you know you can create a signature in settings? You seem to be doing it by hand. My Settings -> Signature... ;)

Elizabeth

Sep 20, 2006, 21:35

What are the words 'cheapskate' or 'stingy' in Japanese? couldnt find one in my pocket dictionary. Is there any other slang for that words?
Thanks
「けち」「みみっちい」are the normal, negative expressions for tightwad or tightfisted. しみったれる is also possible but I think it refers to a person's character or lifestyle more than just economic situation....:?

You'll need to call in the real experts for a slang or colloquial term. :gomen: :bow:

umbaba

Sep 21, 2006, 02:42

Elizabeth

Sep 21, 2006, 04:22

If you are talking about personality けち is perfectly fine. Then again I am not sure if they work like cheapskate and stingy. One thing I am concerned is けち does not tell his/her economical circumstances, it just refers the person's character as it is widely believed some people became rich BECAUSE they were けち and still they are. So you can call a rich 「けち」 depends on how he/she came to be rich.
Off topic but as Elizabeth said it is very negative, might as well say 節約上手(adj) or 節約家(noun) 倹約家(noun) if you want to be neutral/positive and polite.
In my understanding, けち(noun/adj/+るverb) is for someone who does not want to pay even for what he/she needs to live whereas 節約上手、節約家、倹約家 are for someone who knows how to cut down the cost for living well. They are slightly different but that stems from our attitude that leads tone of the speach.
Anyways at least to me both cheapskate and stingy are negative too, so you do not need to be sweet using 節約上手 there....
Thanks umbaba for elaborating on my very general understanding ! I haven't seen けち used except in economic situations. Cheapskate and stingy are very negative and both are useful for someone who is able to live normally but is annoyingly slow (prudent) about parting with even pocket change. Stingy expands to non-economical situations to describe a mindset of pettiness and small minded meanness. けち may be closest to miser in a technical sense but in English that usually refers to someone who is already rich and perhaps even positive if they are hoarding what they've earned to put to a good purpose.

I asked a friend as well and here is her feeling of the differences. :).

ただ「しみったれる」は自分の意思と反して、貧乏なためにお金が使えずみずぼらしい生活や格好をしているときに、良く使う気がします。「みみっちい」「けち」は経済的な状況と関係なく良く使います。