Jun 30, 2008

Japanese Negative Imperative

The construction for negative imperative as in Don't verb

is

verb (plain form) + na! Don't verb

Something you might not get a chance to say but maybe you might is the Negative Imperative grammar use of the particle na after verbs in base III or plain form.

Shimesu na! Don't Show!
Taberu na! Don't Eat!
Iku na! Don't go!
Nomu na! Don't drink!
Noru na! Don't ride!
Miru na! Don't look!

minaide or mittara dame also same as miru na!

A secret to learn any language and Japanese too

A Secret So Easy, it will turn the tedious and sometimes daunting task of learning another language into a fun and exciting adventure.

I know what is good for me!
JPPGG© #91
How to say, “I know what to verb so that it would be good.”
NAN NAN SHITARA YOI KA SHITTE IRU
Verb (Base TA) + RA + YOI

YOI is the word for good and for all intents and purposes is equivalent to ii so that
*YOI = ii in any case (pronounced ee)

YOKA – can be heard often in the Fukuoka region. It is a part of the hakata-ben dialect. It means essentially– “Nah...”, or “I’m good!”

TASHIKA is not an adjective like AKAI, UTSUKUSHII, AKARUI, OR SURUDOI. It is irregular like TOMEI therefore it uses the connective particle NA

As is true in the pursuit of any language mastery, you must have an understanding of what is meant by the phrase, “milk before meat”. You cannot expect to learn something hard or complicated, or expect to eat meat with fully-grown canines and flesh piercing teeth before you are able to ingest the milk from a tender mother breast. Therefore, it is wise for any language learner to begin at the beginning, and spend some time there… and hang out…even they should try singing songs about the alphabet. Alphabets being the small parts of a language that when strung together form words, and make languages, living organisms. Learning the alphabet or syllabary for the language you are learning right now will make your progress and improvement in that language easier later by doing so.
Herein lies a key to language mastery. If an alphabet is available for the language, start studying it! The best way for you to get close to a language is by studying, and saying in your mouth the little parts of the language, saying them repeatedly as we all do at one point or another in civilized society. Only through a careful study of the smallest and simplest parts of a language can you get to know it as intimately as you would get to know your native language.
As a child, who does not remember singing an alphabet song, reading a book for the first time, looking up a word in the dictionary for the first time, or simply reciting the alphabet? Language is something that must be learned, and it is true in English and Japanese. Get yourself some Hiragana and katakana flash cards and memorize the look, feel and shape of each one being able to correctly identify each one, just as you do with the English letters. Learning the alphabet in another language is the first step towards understanding.
Please take a moment to reflect on the first times you sang ‘The Alphabet Song', or recited your A,B,C’s. Now reflect upon how you came to know that 5 X 5 is = 25. I know that if you gain a solid grasp of the Japanese Syllabary, the 46 syllables that make up all the sounds of Japanese then learning Japanese will be as a piece of cake for you. It will be easy to learn the Japanese language. That’s it! The trick to learning a foreign language is starts with learning the alphabet. In the case of the Japanese language, their alphabet, is not an alphabet because it is not made up of just letters, it is made up of syllables. There are 46 syllables in Japanese, and even though it is more than the number of letters in the English language (English letters in the alphabet = 26) it really is not that many once you see how it is set up.
The Japanese syllabary consists of 46 syllables and represents all sounds necessary for the formation of any Japanese word. It is just like the English’s Alphabet but it is called the GOJUON, or chart of the 50 sounds. The GOJUON is grouped in a way that facilitates learning of Japanese, especially the adjectives. Endings of adjectives follow the first 5 syllables or the Japanese vowels; a, i, u, e , o. I admonish any aspiring Japanese language learner to earnestly study the 46 syllables of the GOJUON or Japanese alphabet.
By the time we are 12 years of age, we usually forget how we came to be able to speak and utilize the English language and are so familiar with the Alphabet that we have forgotten that it was due to its recitation that we would know what we know. Reading and Writing are two sides of a coin that are wholly influenced by its contributing language’s Alphabet as are Speaking and Listening to a lesser extent. The alphabet itself is so ingrained into our language, it is often hard to remember that in order to be a successful learner of any language, that we must study first the primary components and basic building that we forget to take it for what it was when we try to apply these learning techniques to the way we would learn Japanese. For the purposes of learning how to read, write, speak and listen in English, it was necessary to study the core of the language at first, and that was the Alphabet. A good way to get at the core, or the heart of a language is by studying its Alphabet. We can do that in a similar or even the same way you would learn your times tables. How much did you get for memorizing your times tables? Offer yourself a cookie and say to yourself, “If I start my Japanese study (or any language study) by learning the syllables that make up their words then I will be ahead of the learning game later on when it really gets complicated.
Like I said...milk before meat. A house is built on a solid foundation. In other words, boiling it down to what I am trying to relate to those desirous of the ability to speak in another language and communicate, down the line Don’t want to cheat myself out of learning Japanese and retaining it, but good! Your parents, masters, or mentors may have promised you $5 if you memorized the times tables up to 12, but you can also do it for free…on your own… and you can reward yourself with a big surprise.
Be consistently insistent on diligent Japanese study and you will be able to communicate. And the ability to communicate with others of another country can open up whole truck loads of cool stuff. Catch the fever… learn Japanese. Tell everyone at the PTA meetings that Japanese is not a hard language to learn. In my opinion it is much easier than English to learn.

Japanese Adjectives The adjectives follow the syllabic structure found in the vowel row of the Gojuon, or indeci showing the 46 symbols of the Japanese syllabary in this order: A, I, U, E , and O. that represent of all sounds necessary for Japanese word formation.
The first five syllables in
the GOJU ON A
あ I
い U
う E*
え O

The first five adjectivial endings + the irregular EI AI
あい II
いい UI
うい EI
,えい OI
おい
Example adjectives showing the various endings ARAI
あらい ATARASHII
あたらしい FURUI
ふるい KIREI*
きれい OSOI
おそい

* EI endings are for the most
TASHIKA itself is the adjective for our English term, “certain”. It is highly likely that the ka of TASHIKA has been artificially transplanted into adjectives in the Fukuoka region. TASHIKA means for certain in English and TASHIKA NI means certainly. As is the case with the irregular Japanese class of adjectives ending in EI, TASHIKA can be followed by the particle NI so that the NI can be roughly translated in sentences involving adjectives as –ly.

Below are some common Japanese adjectives that I have found most useful.

可愛 kawai かわい - cute
恐い kowai こわい - scary
近い chikai ちかい - close
鋭い surudoi するどい sharp
賢い kashikoi かしこい - smart
堅い katai かたい - hard

短い mijikai みじかい - short
細い hosoi ほそい - narrow
長い nagai ながい - long
明るい akarui あかるい - bright

太い futoi ふとい - fat
厚いatsui あつい - thick
暑いatsui あつい - thick
熱いatsui あつい - hot
寒いsamui さむい – cold

涼しいsuzushii すずしい – cool
激しいhageshii はげしい - violent
難しmuzukashii むつ"かしい - difficult
簡単kantan かんたん – easy
眠いnemui ねむい - sleepy

眠たいnemutai ねむたい - sleepy
低いhikui ひくい - low
高いtakai たかい - tall
珍しいmezurashii めずらしい - rare
大きいookii おおきいい - big

小さいchiisai ちいさい – small
古いfurui ふるい - old
若いwakai わかい - young
広いhiroi ひろい - wide
安いyasui やすい - cheap, easy

目覚しい mezamashii めざましい - alert
凄いtsumetai つめたい - chilly
強いtsuyoi つよい - strong
弱いyowai よわい - weak
柔らかい yawarakai - soft

早い hayai - fast
遅いosoi - slow
重い omoi - heavy
暗い kurai くらい - dark
重たい omotai おもたい - heavy
軽い karui かるい - light

恥ずかしい hazukashii はずかしい - embarassing
喧しいyakamashii やかましい – loud, obnoxious
静か shizuka しずか - quiet
素晴らしい subarashii すばらしい - wonderful
美味しい oishii おいしい – delicious

酸っぱいsuppai すっぱい - sour
甘い あまい amai あまい - sweet
狭い せまいsemai せまい – narrow
悔しい kuyashii くやしいvexing, mortifying
怪しいayashii – doubtful, suspicious


辛いtsurai つらい – hard, difficult
美しいutsukushi うつくし - beautiful
面白いomoshiroi おもしろい - interesting
chikarazuyoiちからずよい - powerful
かこいkakoi – stylish, handsome
惜しいoshii – regretful




Brett McCluskey, EzineArticles.com Basic Author


http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/mybloglog1294a476cec8f56ae2cc

Japanese can be fun to learn

How to study Japanese for the first week and why kanji is so cool.

There is spoken language and the written language. Kanji has deep meanings contained within each one. This is much different from what we are expecting, because we have become through continuous use of our own native language, stifled by the alphabet. We can see the meaning of things inside the kanji. Therefore from the get go, we should try to wean ourselves from the temptation to look up words in Romaji to decipher meaning. We should use a dictionary like Sanseido’s daily concise wa-ei jiten.

Week 1

Verbs - Drink, Sleep, Eat, Go, Work (nomu, neru, taberu, hataraku).
- Be able to put learned verbs in all their bases. Bases I – V
- create sentences using all base forms from I – V
- Test your created sentences on an actual Nihonjin to make sure they really work.

Nouns: coffee, tea, milk, water, coca cola, sake, Aquarius, beer, juice (KO-hi, o-cha, gyu^nyu^, mizu, koka kora, sake, akuariusu, bi-ru, ju-su

Adjectives – oishii, suteki na, benri na, okii, nagai, samui, atsui, chisai, mijikai. (Delicious, cool, convenient, big, long, cold, hot, small, short etc.)
- Adjectives- are fun to play with. Practice putting the adjectives in front of nouns etc

Grammar - Know the masu, masen, mashita, masen deshita etc (polite formations of verbs)
- Become acquainted with the various levels of politeness; humble, honorific, plain form

Example Grammar Construction –

Verb (Base II) + Tai desu = I want to verb - polite form. - Without desu, its plain form or P.F.

Verb (Base II) + masho^ = Shall we +verb or let’s +verb

Pronunciation - (distinguish between long and short vowel sounds) =

Be careful when studying Japanese for the first couple of times to make sure and pay attention to detail. The Romanization methods employed by the various types of Romanization of the Japanese Syllabary should be duly noted. For example in Japanese vowels can extend themselves into their double impressions where two vowels are connected into one yet the true pronunciation will be an elongated double vowel sound.






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Learn some Japanese Vocabulary

Need some Japanese vocabulary to study? Here are 50 sets of 15 words
I called them the Japanese Vocabulary Blasters -

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 1 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 2 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 3 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 4 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 5
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 6 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 7 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 8 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 9 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 10
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 11 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 12 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 13 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 14 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 15
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 16 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 17 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 18 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 19 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 20
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 21 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 22 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 23 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 24 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 25
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 26 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 27 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 28 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 29 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 30
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 31 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 32 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 33 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 34 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 35
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 36 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 37 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 38 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 39 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 40
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 1 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 42 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 43 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 44 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 45
Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 46 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 47 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 48 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 49 Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 50

Just some Thoughts Japanese Language Learning

一日中 - ichi nichi jyuu

whether the romanization of the above jyuu should be written as

1. jyuu - 中

2. ju -

3. ju^ - the ^ carat used as the long vowel sound.


美人 - びじん (Bijin)- A babe, a beautiful lady, lit. beautiful person The first kanji in this kanji compound is the kanji for utsukushii that is read as Bijin (pronounced bee-jeen). Lot of space in the mouth when pronouncing this i or the bi or ji or ee to bee or jeen; as in kanojo wa bijin da ne!

人数 ninzu - literally a person number, a count of the people, a census, population; as in ninzu ga oi.

The word for peacock in Japanese is easy to remember if you had ever seen the T.V. show Cojak. I always related that show Cojak to the Japanese word kujaku or peacock. Cojak and kujaku are pronounced very nearly the same. You want to build your vocabulary from a strong base not a weak one. Through this and other such cognitives to help me remember all the words in Japanese even though, I am past the threshold of ever possessing the tongue of a native, nor the understanding of one. But still in all the endeavors which ever did stir tal wilkinfield I want to marry her. I hope she is still available.

Strong word associations like these are the keys to long lasting memory. Strong visual cues, an infinite possibility. Fibonacci88. I have never forgotten the word for peacock, kujaku, since I first put to it my imagery and unique way of identifying with a known word and fudging the pronunciation of the words a little bit and before long, you will have that 6000 word vocabulary... but can you wield it correctly? How do you know you are doing it right?

word and may never lose the ability to forget that word. Because all my Japanese to English thteth are hethieoht

Learn some Japanese

Here is yet another grammar construction that you can use plug and play style. What I mean by this is that you stick verbs into the construction and you can make sentences that make sense. Practice speaking Japanese by inserting in the place of To say that someone seems ‘about to’ verb in Japanese, use the following construction:

Japanese Grammar construction #109 Verb (Base II) + So^ desu.


This one is an easily constructed grammar principle. First take a Japanese verb of our choosing then transform it or put it into base II. It is a pre-requisite for learners just beginning their study of the Japanese language to know thoroughly the concepts surrounding verb conjugation and how to put verbs into bases. There are five bases which correspond to the first five syllables (also called mora) of the Japanese language.. If you want to start using this grammar today however, I can cheat for you just this once so that you can start speaking today without even knowing anything about verb bases and Japanese verb conjugation. But… I might get reprimanded and other teachers may call me ghetto. Oh thats righ… this is ghetto grammar…it is JPPGG or Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar … I forgot….

Don’t delay too long, the study of the Japanese verb bases and how to use them and what they do etc. However, just today, I’ll make it easy for anybody to start speaking Japanese with the verbs you choose from a dictionary you might have or online. All you need is a dictionary or have in your possession or knowledge Japanese verbs. (I hate any Japanese dictionary that allows you to read it in Roman letters (Romaji), but for today’s purpose of getting you to be able to speak in the Japanese language quickly, we will bypass a few things, cut corners and proceed without too much hassle. Today I’ll even let you use the despised Romaji EI-WA dictionary.)

Use any verbs or action words you like at all. Some examples might be

Go – IKU
Leave – DERU
Love – AI SURU
To be absent - SHUSSEKI SURU


I’ll explain to you how to put verbs into base II, but first let me briefly state a few ke points to keep in mind about Japanese verbs. All Japanese verbs will end in some sort of consonant + u combination. U itself is an ending as are the following. (Please refer to a katakana chart or hiragana chart to find the middle row that contains the syllables that end in u)our letter the u (pronounced ooh in Japanese), and it also may end with 9 other possible consonant combinations.

Instructions for putting regular Japanese verbs into base II:

1. Look in your English Japanese dictionary for the verb you want to use.
2. Put your chosen verb into base II


(In order to use the JPPGG (Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar) system, you’ll really need to know how to we put Japanese verbs into their various bases. I admonish you to begin your study now if you intend on having any degree of skill speaking in the Japanese language.)

I can tell you that all verbs listed in the dictionary are in a form know as plain form. All verbs will end in one of the following syllabic combination

ku,
su,
tsu,
nu,
h, (no fu line)
mu,
y, (no yu line)
ru,

and u

Instrutions: Take the dictionary form and decide which type of verb it is, whether it be an ichidan or a yodan verb. This distinction will determine how to make it base II.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that in Japanese grammar, there is an I before E except after C type rule. Now you should realize the two types of Japanese verbs. Verbs ending in eru or iru are called ICHIDAN verbs. The other type of verbs, that is, any verb that doesn’t end with the three roman letters of eru or iru, are called Yo^dan verbs.

With each of the these verbs comes distinctly separate rules or ways to form them, or put them into base II. Today’s grammar construction says to put the verb into base II then add + so^ desu. If we can form this construction, we will then be able to makes sentences that make sense and convey meanings to other speakers of Japanese. So First we must learn how to put verbs into base II.

Rule #1
Putting ICHIDAN verbs into base II:

Drop the final syllable of the verb, “ru”, so that only either i or e remain.

Here is an example of putting an ichidan verb into base II. Ochiru ends in iru making it an ICHIDIAN verb, we drop the ru and leave the i., so that

ochiru – ru = ochi
ochiru in base II is ochi

OCHIRU (落ちる) - to fall - Ochiru (base II) = OCHI


Ochi would be considered the stem before putting the verb into any base, as is the case with ichidan verbs. It is often referred to as the stem.

Rule #2
Putting Yodan verbs into base II is to drop u and change u into an i with whatever consonant may have preceded it.

Possible outcomes -

If verb ends in ku then the verb in base II will end in ki,
If verb ends in gu then the verb in base II will end in gu,
If verb ends in bu then the verb in base II will end in bi,
If verb ends in pu then the verb in base II will end in pi,
If verb ends in su then the verb in base II will end in shi,
If verb ends in tsu then the verb in base II will end in chi,
If verb ends in nu then the verb in base II will end in ni,
If verb ends in mu then the verb in base II will end in mi,
If verb ends in ru then the verb in base II will end in ri.

Hopefully you are gaining a handle on this base II stuff. Ganbatte Ne. Do your best!


All we have left to do for this grammar construction and start making sentences that make senses is to add the + SO^ DESU to our verbs in base II. Simple. For IRU and ERU ending verbs (i.e. ichidan verbs) simply drop off the last syllable ru and add + SO^ DESU. For all other verbs put into i ending of the consonant combination that precedes the u and and add + SO^ DESU

When you practice pronouncing the sentences that you create by using the above construction remember the double vowels, to hold them longer on the So^ desu. Note the ^ symbol stands for the double vowel sound so So^ is sounded Sou ,or so with a long o.

HANASU (話す) - to speak -
Hanasu (base II) = HANASHI

NAKU ( 泣く) - to cry
NAKU (base II) = NAKI

By adding So^ + desu to a Japanese verb in base II, the verb takes on a nuance that the verb in question the action word is about to take place. It could also be interpreted to mean , “ It look like (seems, appears as if etc.) that they (he, she, it, them , us , we, her, my granddad etc) are going to verb soon. I find it unnecessary to think of the sentences I construct in this way as - seems ‘about to’ verb. On the verge of verb’ing

HANASHI SO^ DESU (話しそう)
HANASHISO^ DESU - It seems he is about to speak

OCHI SO^ DESU (落ちそう です)
OCHISO^ DESU - looks like they are about to fall down




As always, Ganbatte Ne!
Do your best!
Makurasuki Sensei


http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/Ahsh

A special thanks to NJ Japanese word processor which concocted the following _

話す - 話し -

落ちる- 落ち -

泣く - 泣き - 泣きそう

出席する

行く

愛 する

Jun 29, 2008

Some especially useful Japanese Grammar

X dake ja naku Y (mo) – Not only X, but y (also)

The word dake (pronounced dah - kay) means only. Ja naku is one form of the negative present copula “to be”. Ja naku is an abbreviated version of the more formal expression for “isn’t” dewa nakute, or dewai naku. Dewa has over the years become ja for all intents and purposes.

Examples

• Ringo dake ja naku banana mo kaimashita

• Not only apples but I also bought banana’s.


Works best where x and y are tangible nouns.

Jun 28, 2008

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 13

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 10

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 4

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 14

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 18

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 16

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 8

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 40

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Learn Japanese Vocabulary series #35

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 31

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 21

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 20

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 37

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 23

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

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Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 25

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

read more | digg story

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 27

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

read more | digg story

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 29

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

read more | digg story

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 28

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

read more | digg story

Japanese Vocabulary Blaster 26

Get your Japanese language skills up to par with these useful words to add to your Japanese vocabulary.

read more | digg story

Jun 25, 2008

Jun 13, 2008

Base Ta mono desu Japanese Grammar

This is JPPGG bunpo principle #87.
Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar

To say in Japanese that you used to ~ verb, (at fairly regular intervals and at some point in the past) use the following construction:

used to ~ (~ is any verb)
yoku verb(base TA) mono desu.

The following examples will help you grasp today's JPPGG construction. After you get a feel for how this grammar is made, just keep plugging new verbs into the verb area in Base TA and then continue playing by making your own unique and interesting sentences. Don't forget to practice by saying all your newly created sentences out-loud. Drilling and killing, or plugging and playing your way to building a solid base from which your Japanese conversational skills will surely improve. Each new grammar principle you learn is like adding another weapon to your formidable Japanese language arsenal, which you will be able to use whenever the need arises. Keep plugging and playing until your friends tell you they can't stand how much you practice your Japanese or until they say stop. But even if you start bugging people because you practice too much, just keep telling yourself its all for my own good. Just keep practicing the grammar constructions and saying to yourself new sentences of your own creation. If you want to improve your Japanese, don’t fret too much on annoying the slackers that don’t want to master another language as badly as you do. The following are example sentences to show you how the construction is typically used so you too can take it and make it your own. Once again the construction for #87 Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar is as follows:

English - used to ~ (where ~ is any verb)

Japanese - yoku verb(base TA) mono desu.

1. When I was younger, I used to go to school by bicycle.
Watakushi ga motto wakai koro, jitensha de yoku gakko ni itta mono desu.
{As for I, in the more young time, by bike often school went thing is.}[1]
a. The main verb in 1. is iku - v. to go.
b. Putting the verb into its past tense -TA form ending gives you itta.
c. Insert iku, verb(base TA) or in this case itta into the construction and
d. you have your new sentence.
yoku itta mono da or I used to go.

2. He used to cheat, but the teacher busted him, and now he is a good boy.
Kare wa mae yoku kanningu[2] shita mono desu keredomo sensei ni barete shimatte ima orikosan desu.

3. I used to play there a lot.
Watakushi wa soko de yoku asonda mono da. [3]

G.A.B. or the Ghetto After Blast - One point advice -
The Japanese verb nareru means, "To get used to" which is similar to the used to that you have been getting used to in this bunpo. Nareru is a really cool word, and you will hear it a lot in Japanese conversation.

Ex.1 He is used to that job.
Kare wa sono shigoto ni narete imasu.[4]

As Always, Do your Best!
Ganbatte Ne!
Makurasuki Sensei.

[1] Given here in its' literal translation; its easy to see why not to translate literally as can be seen from the corruption madness of its form and sound.
[2] From the English adjective cunning.
[3] Non-polite plain form of the copula desu = da.
[4] See JPPGG Ghetto Grammar #88: 'Verbing' -verb (base TE) + iru or the Japanese Gerund.
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As always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Toward Better Japanese
Makurasuki Sensei.

japanese kinfolk to the English Demonstrative Pronoun

Here…There… And Everywhere
JPPGG supplement # 92
Japanese Kinfolk to the Demonstrative Pronoun

Notice in the following that

Interrogatives (questions) tend toward  D
here proximity  K
there proximity  S
over there proximity  A

Donna ni okii desu – How Big
Konna ni okii desu - About this big
Sonna ni okii desu – About that big
Anna ni okii desu – about that big (over there).

Dore gurai? About how much do you think?
Kore gurai! About this much!
Sore gurai ! About that much!
Are gurai! About (over there) that much

Dochi? –which one?
Kochi – this one
Sochi –that one
Achi – that one (over there)

Doko? – Where?
Koko – here
Soko – there
Muko – over there

Dokora – where abouts?
Kokora – around here
Sokora –around there

** Bonus Ghetto Word Section**
please don’t even dare thinking about using the following words

Dare? –
Koitsu! – This mofo, or this dude, or this guy, or this person!
Soitsu! - That dude! Or that bonehead there!
Aitsu! – That person over there!



Learn these useful words that all begin with mai or every

毎- まい - Mai – Every

毎日 - まいにち - Mainichi –Every Day

毎晩 - まいばん - Maiban – Every night

毎週 - まいしゅう - Maishu^ - Every week

毎月 - まいつき - Maitsuki – Every Month

毎年 - まいとし - Maitoshi – Every year

毎年 - まいねん - Mainen - Every year

毎度 - まいど - Maido – Every time

毎朝 - まいあさ Maiasa – Every morning


As always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Quick Japanese lesson

Quick and easy Japanese lesson
First we start off with the Japanese word for big or large.

Notice in the following that

questions start with D sounds
here proximity starts with K sound
there proximity starts with S sound
over there proximity starts with A sound

Donna ni okii desu – How Big
Konna ni okii desu - About this big
Sonna ni okii desu – About that big
Anna ni okii desu – about that big (over there).


Dore gurai? About how much do you think?
Kore gurai! About this much!
Sore gurai ! About that much!
Are gurai! About (over there) that much

Dochi? –which one?
Kochi – this one
Sochi –that one
Achi – that one (over there)

Doko? – Where?
Koko – here
Soko – there
Muko – over there

Dokora – where abouts?
Kokora – around here
Sokora –around there



Learn these useful words that all begin with mai or every

Mainichi –Every Day
Mainen - Every year
Maishu^ - Every week
Maitoshi – Every year
Maitsuki – Every Month
Maiban – every night

Mai – Every

毎- まい

毎日 - まいにち - mainichi

毎晩 - まいばん - maiban

毎週 - まいしゅう - maishuu

毎月 - まいつき - maitsuki

毎年 - まいとし - maitoshi (same as mainen)

毎年 - まいねん - mainen (two readings for the word toshi or year)

As always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Jun 11, 2008

JPPGG 107 Japanese Plug and Play Grammar Learning

Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar #107 JPPGG
by Makurasuki Sensei &
Brought to you in part by the Japanese Language Learner Assistance League and The San BrettskerinoJapanetic Enthusiasts of America club. International.
Let's say that one day, while visiting Japan, you find yourself wanting to get someone to do you a favor. We must tell them that we need them to do us a favor and the more specific we are, the better . . . I mean . . . you're probably notgoing to want just any old thing, I mean... watcha wa... what do you really want?! What in the world could YOU possibly want? If the sushi is not up to your liking and you find yourself wanting instead some good ol'fashioned American Apple Pie, then you've got to get some Japanese language skills. In some parts of the ghetto they're called skillz!
This lens will help us acquire those skillz. We'll learn how to rap in Japanese, and learn how to say this kind of stuff in Japanese . . . "but you're getting so much more" . . . "and more" . . . (steps back)," And More!" Furthermore. . . this system is simple. All you have to do is plug words, usually verbs, into the JPPGG Japanese Plug and play Ghetto Grammar constructions. (49 grammar lessons numbered from JPPGG70 to JPPGG119. If you would like, when your are done with JPPGG and the system that helps in the acquisition of Japanese as a second language ou can take your ghetto grammar over to the east side . Even unto a deluxe apartment in the sky. Here we are sure that everyone's Japanese skillz is moving on up!
Ok so where was I... Oh yeah . . . about you wanting things done, favors you may ask, or things you may need to get done, finished, accomplished, completed. During my stay in Japan I sometimes felt 'homesick'. I would want to see a good ol American movie. I wasn't happy unless I got to see a real American Movie. Not a Chinese movie starring Jackie Chan overdubbed in Japanese for my viewing pleasure... oh no...I wanted something specific and I wouldn't be satisfied unless I got to watch my favorite American movies starring James Dean or Harrison Ford? (They comprise what are the only movies available in English and rentable in Japanese video stores.) Yepper's, not much of a selection. . . but, Look on the btight side, I can recite the dialogue of the movie, Rebel Without A Cause from memory
This lense is about to show you via my simple JLSystem's Japanese Plug & Play Ghetto Grammar or Japanese to the P squared G squared JPPGG® method, how to say that you want something or that you want something done (by someone or something else).
The Japanese word around which we are basing today's Ghetto Grammar is hoshii. Hoshii is a Japanese adjective and its meaning according to Sanseido's Daily Concise Japanese English Dictionary is a want, or a wish for. Its kanji is made up of two radicals which resemble the words for tani (valley) and ketsu (lack, or missing, but is also in words related to thirst and throat) and together inside of the kanji for this word hoshii, it makes me think of somebody out in the middle of Death Valley California having no water but really, really wishing that they had something to drink. That is a wish or a want for something.
The Japanese construction for the equivalent English phrase of
--- I want noun - noun ga hoshii desu or emphatic no desu
Ex. a.) I want an apple! - Ringo ga hoshii desu!
Ex. b.) I want it now! - Ima hoshii! Etc.
--- I want you to verb - Verb (base TE) hoshii desu. Polite form
Plain form would be verb (base TE) hoshii without any copula, or by adding the emphatic all purpose sentence ending ...no da. This is less polite.
Super polite form would be - verb (base TE) hoshuu gozaimasu. This may be a little too polite for any circumstance. Because you are in the personal realms anyway you are relaying to someone else your wishes for somebody to do something. This bunpo will work when asked questions such as the following:
Ex. 1) What do you want done? Nani shite hoshii desu ka? Or, simply Nani o shite hoshii? (Not as polite - What do you want me to do?)
Putting hoshii into its negative present form you can get sentences that mean I don't want you to do something as in Ex. 2
Ex. 2. I don't want anything done. Nanimo shite hoshikunai desu! (Without the copula)
Ex. 3. I want you to see a television show that I like. Suki na terebi no bangumi o mite hoshii desu!
Since this adjective serves as an auxiliary, you can also put hoshii into the past or past negative as in Ex.4
Ex. 4. Kite hoshikatta kedo konakatta - I wanted you to come but you never came. (This little phrase turns out to be quite the alliterative tongue-a-twisty. Say it 5 times fast! I dare you!)
Or
Ex. 5) Kurisumasu puresento o akeru no o matte hoshikatta, ammari akete hoshikunakatta no desu, zannen... Mou, shikata ga nai . I wanted you to wait before you opened the Christmas presents, I really didn't want you to open them at all. Too bad and so sad but I guess there is nothing we can do about it now...
Hoshii can be made into a verb by adding dropping the final i, forming the plain form stem hoshi and adding ku adjective linker adding the verb, "to become" or, naru (One of the most used verbs in all Japanese). Hoshi-i naru becomes hoshikunaru.
Another way of saying the same thing would be by dropping the final i of hoshii and adding garu becoming hoshigaru (v. to wish for, want).
A common mistake made in Japanese is to mis-pronounce double vowels as single vowels. Two ii together in Japanese needs to be pronounced like two different i's. Actually you re-utter the second i. A lot of times double vowels will sound like the same vowels just drawn out.
Here is a good example of which witch is which. Don't mistake hoshii, the adjective for wanting, with hoshi, the noun for the word star. The former being having its final vowel sound i held twice as long.
***BONUS SENTENCE - Not available in any text book anywhere! ***
***Zutto mae kara kanojo o hoshigatte iru no ja nai to desu ka? Didn't you want to make her your girlfriend like forever now? Or, "You have been wanting that chick for a while now haven't you?"
This concludes today's Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar bunpo method JPPGG© for the month of July. Stay tuned for more incredible methods to help improve your Japanese language skills.
What about a lense on the middle school teenager girl who died because she was 1-2 minutes late to school and the gate closed in on her. Japan is strict on things like school and stuff yo! No joke about that. Conform! Conform! Conform! Conform! ... Just kidding.

Ganbatte ne! Do your Best! Makurasuki Sensei.

Don't Verb in Japanese Easy construction

The construction for negative imperative as in Don't verb

is

verb (plain form) + na! Don't verb

Something you might not get a chance to say but maybe you might is the Negative Imperative grammar use of the particle na after verbs in base III or plain form.

Shimesu na! Don't Show!
Taberu na! Don't Eat!
Iku na! Don't go!
Nomu na! Don't drink!
Noru na! Don't ride!
Miru na! Don't look!

minaide or mittara dame also same as miru na!

Why Japanese Isn't as hard to learn as everyone thinks!

Why would anyone think that Japanese is harder than any other language to learn?

Why the learning of the Japanese language has been unfairly labeled as a difficult language, I'll never know. I feel that if you want to learn a language you should try the Japanese language. There are plenty of reasons why but let me first tell you a few of the reasons why I think that Japanese is in fact one of the easier languages to learn.

One reason why Japanese might be an easier language to learn is because there are only four tenses in which a verb can take. A lot less than English which has a multitude of various irregularities to deal with. Another big reason why Japanese might be easier to learn than other languages is because, there are so many common words that are exactly the same in Japanese as they are in English. It only takes a little bit of time before one can start getting use to Japanese pronunciation, but when one does then a plethora of vocabulary words will be at your command.

In Japanese, foreign words are heavily borrowed. I would almost venture to say that if you want to speak to a Japanese person, all you would have to do is say what you want in English but with a Japanese accent or pronunciation, and your communication is likely to be understood. New words or words that are borrowed from other countries (gairaigo) are numerous and continiue to grow in number. Let me give you a few examples:

Spoon - supun -
Fork - fouku
Ball - bouru
Door - doa
Curtain - kaaten
Card - kaado
Toaster - tosuta
Juice - juusu

These are just typical everyday words, but the list goes on and on.

The Japanese language is a fascinating language to learn. They use different letters and script for writing their words. Their system for writing words and communicating through ideographs is very old. The kanji (symbols-ideographs-ideas represented by pictures or even pictographs) has been used in Japan for quite a long time. is a very ancient tradition and the language has evolved Let me tell you something: You can do anything you put your mind to! Now having said that, I would like to give a couple of reasons why I feel that Japanese is in fact an easier language to learn than English.

The symbol shown above is the Kanji, or Chinese character, which represents the word ai, or love in Japanese. Start today to recognize parts of the kanji as you would a constellation. The ai kanji itself is made up of various components (the heart kanji among other ones) that will become easier to recognize the more times you see it. Who said a little drill and kill will hurt you?

There are a lot of reasons why people might think that the Japanese language is a hard language to learn. People seem to think that learning Japanese is too big a task. A mountain can be moved with a little persistence and some good goals, so get to setting them up!
A couple of more Ideas on how to overcome the fear of learning Japanese
How to study Japanese for the first week and why kanji is so cool.
There is spoken language and the written language. Kanji has deep meanings contained within each one. This is much different from what we are expecting, because we have become through continuous use of our own native language, stifled by the alphabet. We can see the meaning of things inside the kanji. Therefore from the get go, we should try to wean ourselves from the temptation to look up words in Romaji to decipher meaning. We should use a dictionary like Sanseido's daily concise wa-ei jiten.

Week 1

Verbs - Drink, Sleep, Eat, Go, Work (nomu, neru, taberu, hataraku).
- Be able to put learned verbs in all their bases. Bases I - V
- create sentences using all base forms from I - V
- Test your created sentences on an actual Nihonjin to make sure they really work.

Nouns: coffee, tea, milk, water, coca cola, sake, Aquarius, beer, juice (KO-hi, o-cha, gyu^nyu^, mizu, koka kora, sake, akuariusu, bi-ru, ju-su

Adjectives - oishii, suteki na, benri na, okii, nagai, samui, atsui, chisai, mijikai. (Delicious, cool, convenient, big, long, cold, hot, small, short etc.)
- Adjectives- are fun to play with. Practice putting the adjectives in front of nouns etc

Grammar - Know the masu, masen, mashita, masen deshita etc (polite formations of verbs)
- Become acquainted with the various levels of politeness; humble, honorific, plain form

Example Grammar Construction -

Verb (Base II) + Tai desu = I want to verb - polite form. - Without desu, its plain form or P.F.

Verb (Base II) + masho^ = Shall we +verb or let's +verb

Pronunciation - (distinguish between long and short vowel sounds) =

Be careful when studying Japanese for the first couple of times to make sure and pay attention to detail. The Romanization methods employed by the various types of Romanization of the Japanese Syllabary should be duly noted. For example in Japanese vowels can extend themselves into their double impressions where two vowels are connected into one yet the true pronunciation will be an elongated double vowel sound.
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The biggest and most worthy of Dictionaries available to you. The mother load is in Blue. Sanseido has always been my reliable back pocket friend. I love my sanseido. Mua!
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3 types of Japanese trains


3 types of Japanese trains + 1 bonus train
There are three basic types of trains that a gaijin living in Japan should know about. Without knowledge of the different types of trains, you could find yourself at the wrong eki (train station), get off at the wrong place and this could cause you to arrive late and we can't have that. If you are a gaijin living in Japan you'll run across these terms sooner or later but its better that you get introduced to them here so that you won’t be confused about the different types of passenger trains you’ll come across when you roam about the land of the rising sun, Japan.

There are 3 basic types of trains that run in Japan. There are few cities in Japan that aren't covered with some mileage of train track, but not much. The crossing whistles always blow and the crossing gates are constantly opening and shutting. Of course the trains stop running usually by 1 or 2 am. The three types of trains that are regularly used in Japan are, in order of frequency of stops from most to least are as follow:

Tokkyu (special limited),
Kyuukou (limited express), and
Futsuu (regular).

Tokkyu trains stop at only the major train stations and are much faster in terms of getting you there quicker. Kyukoo trains stop more periodic, while the Futsuu trains stop at every stop in between, and are thus quite slower than the other two. Ideally you would want to ride a Tokkyu train, get off and wait for a Kyuukou unless that train doesn't go to your destination, and using Kyukoo for small train rides to the very next station etc. If your destination is a small hamlet in the country side then you will have to take for at least a small portion of your ride the Futsuu train.

The train I haven’t mentioned which has incorporated the use of the new maglev technology and has achieved speeds in the upper 500 km/hr is the Shinkansen, or bullet train, isn’t your everyday run of the mill train. Essentially the shinkansen is a very classy and expensive ride that covers great distances, like from Tokyo to Osaka for example. Hopefully you will enjoy all your train rides and become accustomed to this type of culture in constant transit during your visits to the land of the rising sun, Japan.

Some base TA bunpo

Verb (base TA) + bakari desu - to just 'verb'


First putting some verbs into base TA like -


iku --> itta
dasu --> dashita
suru --> shita
kuru --> kita
umu --> unda
deru --> detta
tatsu --> tatta
abiru --> abita
suwaru --> suwatta
umareru --> umareta
etc.

then adding the polite sentence ending desu to bakari (just)

verb (base TA) + bakari desu - to just 'verb"

ex.1 suwatta bakari desu. I just sat down

ex.2 deta bakari da! He just left.

ex.3. umareta bakari desu


As Always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!

Makurasuki

SUGIRU - Japanese Grammar for "Too Much"

In Excess – too much
When enough, is ENOUGH!
Verb (base II) + sugiru

Do you overeat? Are there things which you indulge upon which others consider to be excessive. Gambling, money, sex, watching too much T.V.?

To say that you verb too much in Japanese, use the following construct:

Verb (base II) + SUGIRU

Any verb put into Base II can be added unto, with sugiru.

Yaru in base II + sugiru (sugi)
yarisugi da ne – you over do it man!

Adjectives can also use sugiru:

oso^sugi – becomes – “its too late”,
hayasugi (too early),
nagasugi ( too long),
okiisugi (too big).

 ~tai of base II forming "to want to" endings becomes

Verb(Base II) + tasugi- even tai which is a form of the verb tagaru acts as adjectivial end meaning to desire the verb excessively

suru in base II + tagaru
shitagaru - to want to do it

Kudasaru, kureru, morau, and itadaku

This post will show you how to get someone to do something for you in Japanese. After you get the hang of these constructions it is advised top use any verb you learn from here on out by making sentences of your own. Be creative as best you can, even making the way you learn the verbs and constructions you put them into sound out-landish, extravagant or otherwise. The more bizarre you make the image of the meaning of words and the way you associate word terms and meanings together the more memorable will be their image and greater will be your vocabulary retention.

Remember, it isn't always the total amount of words that make one fluent. It is on the founded only after mastery of the various grammar forms are handled as well as total amount of vocabulary held at the locutors disposal as well. My advice to any do-it your-self-er Japanes language learner will greatly benefit from practicing Japanese with sentences which the studier creates from scratch. Using in a sentance some grammatical construction featuring verbs which are well retained and at one's disposal.

There are mainly three levels of politeness in Japanese. There is also any shade in between these levels which can be obtained and implied through the various endings each verb in a sentence can take. There are three distinct latitudes or heights (Or depths as some may see it) at which spoken Japanese can be vocalized and interpreted, all different yet all manifesting meaning. Politeness levels are in large part determined by the age difference between ocutors in a two way conversation. In Japanese, one would speak in more respectful ways to persons who are upwards of your age. It is natural to speek less formally to people who are in your same graduating class or to people younger than you.

It is usually all right to speak in plain form to people your age or less unless it is people who you have just met or the boss of your company, grandparent or god-father. The shacho or boss of a company is always spoken to in the highest possible forms of polite forms of Japanese. In these constructions, aru is replaced by its specialized counterpart gozaru, so instead of arimasu(polite aru baseII+masu) you would use gozaimasu. (Super polite form of aru.)

On first meeting with someone in Japan, it would be rude to automatically assume that you were well acquainted with them or assumed that you knew him/her. When first meeting someone always assume that he or she is your great uncle who had died and left you his fortune. Don't automatically assume enough familiarity with them to speak to them in theplain form or lower levels of speech. Remember plain form is the type of language that is spoken to dogs, so how much respect does a human being deserve over a og.
It is important to understand the distinctions made between the levels of politeness in speech. Plain form just isn't polite, try to avoid it by always keeping your mouth clean and out of trouble.

If you are a gaijin, your mouth and manners are already out of thwack with the customs and traditional courtesies of the Japanese nation. When in Rome we do as the Romans do and when in Japan our feet can't stink. In order to avoid sounding like a beast with no manners, try always speaking in Japanaese at higher more respectful levels. There are two levels of speech and 2 conditions of the verbs + future, - future, past +, past -. plain form. One above that level and another beneath. In all three levels. We can make sentences that are crystal clear and come out in our speech imbued with beautiful hues and hints of wonderful meanings making our Japanese not different from a samurai overlord.

In the present tense, plain form verbs always end in one of five vowels, a, i u e, or, o which corresponding to the five bases (I,II,III,IV,V) of a verb.

The polite form of a verb is made up of a verb in base II or the i line of the syllabayry and by adding ~masu. The ~masu ending is always adequately polite. Speaking in plain form or leaving the verb in dictionary form or base (III) is less polite and could be construed as very rude speech. (*In my Ghetto Grammar lesson plain form is denoted P.F.) Polite form is also categorized in degrees or levels of politeness.

In Japanese there are 4 basic states or tenses a verb can take. There are 2 present tense verb forms that are polite and 2 in the past tense, each tense having its' affirmative or + side and, or its' negative , {future/present + or - } and {past + or -}. In Japanese, the latter part of the verb is where the conjugations occur, at the tail of a verb, not the stem. There are many endings which can be constructed. Each ending can change the meaning of the Japanese words ever so subtley, yet significantly. In other words, there are many levels of politeness possible even using the same word(s).

When you want to get someone to do something for you, you'll have to consider how polite you want to sound. You won't get very far in getting your boss to give you a raise by speaking to him in less polite language which usual equates to what we call the plain form Japanese. Not being careful of your politeness level can really get you into trouble. With the boss example it could give him more reason to dislike you or even fire you for insubordination. Sometimes speaking in the plain form Japanese can be dangerous, making you sound even barbaric at times, childish at others, straight out rude at times, piggish, bossy, arrogant to name a few of the ways you jeopardize your potential to speaking fluid, beatifully perfect Japanese speaking. Be mindful that respect to others is shown through the Japanese langauge via the levels of speech:
Politeness levels in the Japanese Language - From low to high:

1. Base speech(rude, raunchy and raw Japanese, spoken to lesser creatures, animals, underlings, fledglings and disciples.
2 . Plain form or basically neutral status speaking Japanese, or the humble and exalted levels of speech. Humble and exalted levels of speech considered from the same tree and is globally known as
3. Honorifics

In getting a commitment out of someone you would use the verb itadauku with a verb in base TE to get a yes or no answer. However, if your demands weren't that life threatening, or is not in need of immediate attention, then there are 3 other choices of verb to use when you want somebody to do something for you. The verbs involved in getting someone to do an action for you are these:

morau - (to get, be given, receive),
kureru - (to receive from) and
kudasaru ( to be so kind as to receive from )with the masu ending being the highest.
* Itadaku means literally to humbly partake of something or someone doing something for you that equates to a will you…? type sentence in English.

Here are the constructions for "Will you verb?" in Japanese.

Verb (base TE) + morau - Do you think you could verb for me?
Verb (base TE) +yaru - I will verb for you. (This is least polite and only said amongst the closest of friends, more of a male oriented word).
Verb (base TE) + kureru - Would you verb for me? (Either because I physically or otherwise can't do it myself or simply because you are kind or respected by me).
Verb (base TE) + ageru - I'll verb for you.
Verb (base TE) + kudasaru - Will you kindly verb for me? *Kudasaru is one of the first words you usaully learn in Japanese and it is shown by the kanji for the word meaning below, underneath, under, or down. The meaning is opposite to that of the word Ue (Up, on top, above etc.)
This is where the construction for -please verb- or verb (base TE) + kudasai comes from.
Verb (base TE) + itadaku (The commitment word evoking only a yes or no answer). Equivalent to "Will you verb?" in English.

Ex. 1 Will you quit smoking. Tabako o suu koto o yamete itadakimasu ka?
Ex. 2. Can I get you to turn the light off for me? Denki o keshite moraimasu ka?
Or
Ex. 3 Could you turn the light off for me? Denki o keshite kuremasu ka?
Ex. 4 Will you kindly lend me $1000 dollars Grandmother? Obaachan… ano 1 sen doru o kashite kudasaimasu ka?
Ex. 5 Could you tell me your phone number?
a. Denwa bango o oshiete kudasaimasu ka?
b. Denwa bango o oshiete kuremasu ka?
c. Denwa bango o oshiete itadakimasu ka? Will you tell me your phone number? Yes or no? This is ultimately polite yet evokes only two answers, yes or no.
Ex. 6 Shall I open it for you? Akete yarou ka? (Less polite form)
Ex. 7 Shall I read it for you? Yonde agemashou ka? (more formal form)
Ex. 8 Lets get him to pay for us. Haratte moraimashou.
Ex. 9 I wanted him to draw a picture for us. E o kaite moraitakatta n' desu.
Ex. 10 I am going to need you to come in on Sunday. Nichiyoubi nimo kaisha ni kite moraitakatta no desu?

Thats the end of this post but as always I wish you the best in your endeavors towards better Japanese and Ganbatte Ne! Do Your Best!
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Why Japanese...?

Why the learning of the Japanese language has been unfairly labeled as a difficult language, I’ll never know. I feel that if you want to learn a language you should try the Japanese language. There are plenty of reasons why but let me first tell you a few of the reasons why I think that Japanese is in fact one of the easier languages to learn.

One reason why Japanese might be an easier language to learn is because there are only four tenses in which a verb can take. A lot less than English which has a multitude of various irregularities to deal with. Another big reason why Japanese might be easier to learn than other languages is because, there are so many common words that are exactly the same in Japanese as they are in English. It only takes a little bit of time before one can start getting use to Japanese pronunciation, but when one does then a plethora of vocabulary words will be at your command.

In Japanese, foreign words are heavily borrowed. I would almost venture to say that if you want to speak to a Japanese person, all you would have to do is say what you want in English but with a Japanese accent or pronunciation, and your communication is likely to be understood. New words or words that are borrowed from other countries (gairaigo) are numerous and continiue to grow in number. Let me give you a few examples:

Spoon – supun –
Fork – fouku
Ball – bouru
Door – doa
Curtain – kaaten
Card – kaado
Toaster – tosuta
Juice – juusu

These are just typical everyday words, but the list goes on and on.

The Japanese language is a fascinating language to learn. They use different letters and script for writing their words. Their system for writing words and communicating through ideographs is very old. The kanji (symbols-ideographs-ideas represented by pictures or even pictographs) has been used in Japan for quite a long time. is a very ancient tradition and the language has evolved Let me tell you something: You can do anything you put your mind to! Now having said that, I would like to give a couple of reasons why I feel that Japanese is in fact an easier language to learn than English.

The symbol shown above is the Kanji, or Chinese character, which represents the word ai, or love in Japanese. Start today to recognize parts of the kanji as you would a constellation. The ai kanji itself is made up of various components (the heart kanji among other ones) that will become easier to recognize the more times you see it. Who said a little drill and kill will hurt you?

There are a lot of reasons why people might think that the Japanese language is a hard language to learn. People seem to think that learning Japanese is too big a task. A mountain can be moved with a little persistence and some good goals, so get to setting them up!

How big - Donna ni okii

Donna ni okii desu – How Big
Sonna ni okii desu – About that big
Konna ni okii desu - About this big
Anna ni okii desu – about that big.


Dore gurai? About how much do you think?
Sore gurai ! About that much!
Kore gurai! About this much!
Are gurai! About (over there) that much

Mainichi –Every Day
Mainen - Every year
Maishu^ - Every week
Maitoshi – Every year
Maitsuki – Every Month
Maiban – every night
Mai – Every

What in the world learn a ol Japanese language

Table 1 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary (romanized)
a
ka
sa
ta
na
ha
ma
ya
ra
wa
n
i
ki
shi
chi
ni
hi
mi

ri
u
ku
su
tsu
nu
fu
mu
yu
ru
e
ke
se
te
ne
he
me

re
o
ko
so
to
no
ho
mo
yo
ro
wo

Table 2 - The 46 Syllables of the Japanese Syllabary called the gojuon or 50 sounds (Hiragana)
¤¢
¤«
¤µ
¤¿
¤Ê
¤Ï
¤Þ
¤ä
¤é
¤ï
¤ó
¤¤
¤­
¤·
¤Á
¤Ë
¤Ò
¤ß

¤ê
¤¦
¤¯
¤¹
¤Ä
¤Ì
¤Õ
¤à
¤æ
¤ë
¤¨
¤±
¤»
¤Æ
¤Í
¤Ø
¤á

¤ì
¤ª
¤³
¤½
¤È
¤Î
¤Û
¤â
¤è
¤í
¤ò


When the tsu syllable is added before the syllables beginning with k,p, and t (ie. the consonants sounds of k,p, or t), a hardened double consonant sound is produced. You literally spit out the sounds or, as I like to put it, smack the consonants. To better understand where I am coming from, imagine two billiard balls sitting on a pool table. One of the balls is a word that contains a single consonant sound like k, the other ball is the syllable tsu. Now shoot the k ball with your cue ball and when they hit upon impact kk sound. when the consonant sounds are doubled. This doubled consonant phenomenon can be likened to the English word bookkeeper. In bookkeeper the sound of the consonant k is doubled, adding the syllable tsu to ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, ta chi, tsu, te, to or, pa,pi,pu,pe,or po doubles the consonant sound of the consonant sound of the syllable immediately following it.

Japanese pronunciation rule #1 - A small ¤Ä(tsu) doubles the consonant sound that immediately follows it.

Examples:
makka ? deep red, completely red
jikken ? experiment or test
shuppan ? publish , shuppatsu ? departure
zettai ? absoluteness
tokkyo ? patent (not the city toukyou which has the elongated
happi ? the English word happy in katakana
gakkou ? school
chotto ? a little bit, a dink
appuru - apple


When n is not connected to a vowel (ie. usage of the last syllable of the Japanese syllabary or ¤ó(n) , it is like a syllable unto itself. It receives a full count if language were a music it would receive the same amount of time that a 2 lettered syllable receives., and is denoted by the apostrophe ¡Æ. For example:
1. Kin¡Çen this is Japanese for no smoking not kinen or the word for anniversary.
so it has 4 syllables and the word for anniversary has 3.

To get a better feel of how the Japanese say words that begin with ra, ri, ru, re, or ro, do this: First, say to yourself in English the word Eddy then, make sure the tip of your tongue is touching delicately behind the upper front teeth and say it again Pronouncing it with just the right amount of lightness of tongue and a flicking forward of the tongue in this manner, you will come close to an acceptable pronunciation of the Japanese word for eri or collar.

Jun 8, 2008

In Japan, Cellphones Have Become Too Complex to Use

Steve Jobs' new iPhone, expected to be unveiled Monday, is headed to Japan by the end of the year. But the device's famed ease of use may actually be a put off in Japan, where consumers want features, not simplicity.

read more | digg story