Where in Japanese

Let's take a look at the word for "where" in Japanese.

The word for "where" in Japanese is

DOKO

1. Where are you from?
Doko kara kimashita ka?

To which you can answer - I am from America.
Amerika kara kimashita.

DOKODEMO - anywhere

2. Where should I put this?
Doko ni oittara ii desu ka?

To which you could answer - Anywhere.
Dokodemo.






Towards Better Japanese
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

The Word for Termite in Japanese

I just thought everyone would like to know a little thing I learned in Japanese but never made a correlation to it in English. This great discovery is that ants aren't too much different from termites. In fact, it is only the color that changes the insect.

In Japanese

ants = ari 蟻 or アリ - in katakana
termites = shiro ari  シロアリ - white ant

Shiroi is the Japanese word for white. Since shiroi, or 白い is in adjectivial form, before a noun we take away the i, or い , so that we have "shiroari", 白アリ or termite instead of shiroi ari. (In the case above, the word for termite is written in all Katakana, which implies that the Japanese think that termites aren't of Japanese origin. However, they still call them white ants because of the shiro part, they just don't use the kanji part for white, 白い.)

That is to say that termites are just ants that are white, or white ants. Doesn't that make sense? In English we totally get screwed up thinking that termites are an all together different species of insect, but really, they are just white ants that like to eat wood.

The word for ladybug and snail in Japanese

I happened to see a lady bug in my front lawn or yard and since it the season of spring is basically here in my new state of Georgia, I thought about posting the Japanese word which is てんとう虫 for all Japanetics users.

I also was thinking about the word (ladybug) and how it may have came to be etymologically. I mean we have words like dandelion which have the word lion in them - is it because the dandelion looks like the tail of a lion? perhaps... then what about the word - ladybug - Does it look like or act like a lady in some way? perhaps...

I also wanted to post here the word for snail かたつむり since it is so slow and since the French find them appetizing, and used in so many different ways in English, it might also be useful in Japanese.

This much I do find useful - the word mushi 虫 is often used in Japan and I love its kanji which actually looks like a bug - for example the word for rotted tooth or cavity is 虫歯 or mushiba - together that would be bug tooth.

in summary the words for today's Japanese lesson are

1. ladybug - or てんとう虫 tento^ mushi
2. tooth cavity - 虫歯 - mushiba
3. snail - かたつむり - katatsumuri

* saying katatsumuri outloud makes me feel sluggish especially the tsumu part --- yuck!@#$% I can see the snail trail from here! Yikes!



Towards Better Japanese
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

A So^ desu ka?

When I was a kid, I can remember trying to make fun of oriental people by pulling back on my eyes so they appeared slanted and saying," Ah so desu ka". It wasn't until I lived in Japan that I realized that Japanese kids also make fun of westerners by pointing out that we have big noses and round eyes. It turns out that that there really is a phrase, "A so^ desu ka?". It means, "Is that so?" In this instance so seems to mean the same thing in both English and Japanese.

あ そう です か？a so^ desu ka? - Is that so?

so^ = so

So^, is a cool little word because it seems we can use it the same way in both Japanese and English.

How to say WTF in Japanese

Nan ba shiyo^ to^? - What the hell are you doing? This is one way to say it.

As always
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki