Japanese Grammar Plug and Play

Japanese Lesson #95 - To verb and see
Base TE + Miru - To see about verb'ing; to verb and see.

When putting Japanese verbs into Base TE you need to remember the rules below
All verbs ending in BU,MU,or NU such as asobu, yomu, or shinu transform the respective ending syllable(s) (BU,MU,NU) to nde.BU MU NU --> NDE

BU MU NU - NDE

U TSU RU - TTE

KU - ITE

GU - IDE
Irregular

Suru - shite

Hanashite miru - I'll try talking to him, (Talk to him and see.)

Hanasu - v. to speak (with), to talk

Itte miru - I'll go check it out (Go and see)

Iku - v. to go.

Tabete miyo^ ka? -Shall we try it? Let's eat and see.

Taberu - v. to eat, chow down on, to grub

Nonde mitara - What if you tried to drink it, go ahead see what it tastes like. (Drink and
see)

Nomu - v. to drink, to ingest.

Monku o iute mitara ..? - What about voicing your complaints? (Complain and see)

Monku o iu - v. to complain, to say a 'monku'.

Yonde mireba? - Why don't you read it and see? Try reading it for yourself.

Yomu - v. to read

Tanonde miru - Ask and see.

Tanomu - v. to request, ask a favor, to ask.

Yatte miru - Try it and see.Yaru - v. to do, to try.

Mite mitara? - What if you take a look see?Miru - v. to see.

**mitara and mireba are interchangeable-- both conditional phrasings, one in base ta +ra
and the other base IV ba.

Til lates,

Mata Kondo

Ganbatte Ne!
Makurasuki

please see http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar95

How to say, "I'm hungry" in Japanese

To say "I'm hungry" in Japanese use the following phrase -
o - naka ga suita

Naka is a generic word for things in the middle. The kanji for naka is very simple - 中. It looks like a box with a line drawn through it.


o - naka  織中 おなか - stomach, belly, midsection, torso, etc. Literally,  "the honorific middle".

Here are some uses of o-naka -

1. o - naka ga suita - I'm hungry
織中が空いた
おなかがすいた
2. o - naka ga itai  - I have a stomach ache.
織中が痛い
おなかがいたい
3. o - naka no ko - The expected child.
織中 の 子

Closer to Mastering Japanese Grammar

Japanese Grammar Plug and Play #107 JPPGG

by Makurasuki Sensei &

Japanetics

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.

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 etc. 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) hoshu^ gozaimasu. This may be a little too polite for all circumstances. Because you are in the personal realms anyway you are relaying to someone else your wishes for somebody to do something. This bunpo(grammar) will work when put into question form like 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.

 

 

 

 

Towards Better Japanese
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Useful Japanese Adverbs That Intesify Other Japanese Words or Phrases

These Japanese words (mostly adverbs) help intesify or heat up other Japanese words and phrases. Learn these useful Japanese intesifiers.

1.  本当に -
Honto ni - Really

2.  非常に -
Hijo^ ni - Extremely

3.  凄く -
Sugoku - greatly, awfully (very)

4.  とっても-
Tottemo - very

5.  大変-
Taihen - awful (rough, hard)

6. どんなに -
Donna ni... - how...

7.  必ず-
Kanarazu - absolutely

Let's for example say we saw a very pretty woman, and your friend asks you, "How pretty was she...?
In Japanese he would ask you by saying -

Ano onna no hito wa donna ni kirei desu ka? - How pretty is that woman?

To which you could answer:

honto ni kirei desu - really pretty
hijo^ ni kirei desu - extremely pretty or
sugoku kirei desu - awfully pretty etc.

3 types of Japanese verbs

There are 3 types of Japanese verbs

1. Irregular ( kuru, suru)
2. Ichidan (always end in eru or iru)
3. Yo^dan


As Always,
Ganbatte ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki

Japanese Grammar - Ka do ka - iffy statements

P.F. + Ka do^ ka - Whether or not...
Basic Japanese grammar plug and play for "Whether or not...p.f."

In Japan, I always would hear Do^ ka na when I questioned someone about something for which they were uncertain of... Like I might ask, "Do you think the Hanshin Tigers will win? A simple not too complicated question to which may be replied, "I'm not sure really", or "Heck if I know, I wonder who will win too." etc. So that we would have

Hanshin ga katsu to omou? - Do you think Hanshin will win?
Do^ ka na. - "Heck if I know" or "I wonder...who..." or "Ummm, thats a tough one."

So in our Japanese grammar construction for today we have P.F. + ka do^ ka Whether or not A, B. Where A and B could be verbs or adjectives in plain form. It is in plain form because it is actually two questions nested nearby one another. Do^ ka is a question in itself meaning, "How is it?" In Japan you will hear Do^ by itself when someone wants to know the state or condition of somebody or something. If I say do^ with a certain inquisitive inflection you would be saying, "How are you" etc.

P.F. + ka do^ ka - Whether or not

Plain form verbs -

iku ka do^ ka shirimasen - I don't know whether he is coming or not.

Whether or not you know something or do something ka do^ ka is the question doubled Japanese grammar. This Japanese grammar

A secret for Learning Japanese + Japanese adjectives fun

Easy Japanese – Japanese lesson on “I know what’s good for me!”
Japanese Grammar Plug & Play

How to say, “I know how to verb”
NAN NAN SHITARA YOI KA何何したら良いか

Verb (Base TA) + RA + Yoi - I know what is good if I did it.

Yoi良い is the word for good and for all intents and purposes is equivalent to iiいいso that *yoi = ii in any case (Yokaよか – can be hear much in Fukuoka to mean – “Nah,” or “I’m good”)

TASHIKA たしかis not an adjective like AKAI 赤い, UTSUKUSHII 美しい, AKARUI 明るい, TOMEIとめい, OR SURUDOI 鋭い.

A Secret So Easy, It will turn the tedious and sometimes daunting task of learning another language fun to making language learning easy.

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 can’t 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 lays a key to language mastery. If an alphabet is available for the language, by all means 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 time and time again as we all do at one point or another in civilized society. Through a careful study of the smallest and simplest parts of a language you can get to know it as intimately as you would get to know you own native language and fluency is its byproduct.

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 平仮名, and katakana 片仮名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 you’re 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 the Japanese language, then learning Japanese will become a lot easier. It will be easy to learn the Japanese language. That’s it!

The trick to learning a foreign language starts with learning the alphabet of that language. In the case of the Japanese language, their alphabet, isn’t an alphabet because it is not made up of just letters, it is made up of syllables. There are 46 syllables in Japanese, and although that is more than the number of letters in the English language, (English letters in the alphabet = 26) it really isn’t that many more once you see how the Japanese alphabet is set up.

The Japanese syllabary is made up of 46 syllables and represents all sounds necessary to form any Japanese word. It is simiilar to the English Alphabet in a few respects and is called the gojuon 五十音, or chart of the 50 sounds. It is grouped into roughly 10 colums and 5 rows. The rows are of particular interest because from these we can transform verbs into other forms varying the meaning of verbs and this makes the learning of Japanese a lot easier.

Set up in groups that follow the first 5 syllables or the Japanese vowels:

a - あ,
i - い,
u - う,
e - え , and
o - お.

By the time we are 12 we usually forget that we had ever even learned 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 is so ingrained into our language that we forget to take it for what it was when we try to apply new learning techniquesto our already stubborn hard formed study habits.

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 it’s 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 really not that bad. Also I ask all of those who may harrow in their souls hatred against the Japanese people to end it now so that we can live peaceably amongst each others, and learn from one another.

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.
vowel combos

AI - あい
II - いい
UI - うい
EI - えい and
OI - おい

Here are a few Japanese adjectives for example:

KAWAI - 可愛
ATARASHII - 新しい
FURUI - 古い
KIREI - きれい
BOROI - ぼろい

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

Japanese Grammar Verbs in Base II + Hajimeru

Japanese Grammar – Fusing verbs to make new ones.
Verb(Base II) + Hajimeru – To begin to verb


You can usually make new Japanese words, verbs, or phrases by fusing two verbs together; The first verb in base II and the last verb conjugated normally. Let’s take some verbs and put them into base II then see what kind of new words, verbs and different Japanese phrases we can come up with.

1.Hatasu 果たす – to accomplish
2.settoku suru 説得する – to persuade
3.hiyakeru 日焼ける– to get sun burnt
4.kau 買う– to buy
5.umareru 生まれる– to give birth

Proceeding we will put these Japanese verbs into base II to form the extensor. As explained in previous lessons, base II extensor form for yo^dan verbs is made with the 2nd Japanese vowel i, pronounced ee. A verb in Base II will always end in the i vowel unless it is an chidan verb. Below, 1,2 and 4 are yo^dan verbs while 3 and 5 are ichidan verbs:

1.hatasu in base II = hatashi 果たし
2.settoku suru説得する is suru する in base II = shiし
3.hiyakeru日焼ける in base II = hiyake日焼け(In ichidan verbs, just drop the final ru)
4.kau 買う in base II = kai 買い (replace u with i)
5.umareru生まれる in base II = umare生まれ (ichidan)

Now we can proceed to make new verbs in Japanese to test on our Japanese friends, just to make sure that this makes sense. So we use the above Japanese grammar plug and Play construction Verb (base II) + hajimeru – to begin to verb, to make new Japanese words, verbs and phrases.

1.hatashi果たし + hajimeru始める= hatashihajimeru果たし始める – to begin to accomplish
2.settoku shi 説得し+ hajimeru 始める= settoku shihajimeru 説得し始める – to begin to persuade
3.hiyake日焼け+ hajimeru 始める = hiyakehajimeru日焼け始める – to begin to get sunburnt
4.kai 買い+ hajimeru始める = kaihajimeru買い始める – to begin to buy
5.umare 生まれ + hajimeru 始める = umarehajimeru 生まれ始める – to begin to be born

There you have the Japanese grammar plug and play for making new phrases in Japanese. Continue by plugging in your own verbs and making your own new sentences. As always, Ganbatte Ne! Do Your Best! Makurasuki まくらすき.

Base TE Japanese Grammar for fun

Japanese Grammar Made Easy – Base TE-て
By Brett McCluskey
Japanese lesson on learning how to use the Base TE-て form of Japanese verbs.

Remembering how verbs are put into base TE-て can be a challenging part of Japanese Grammar, but by singing the following syllables in the following order to the music of Silver Bells will help you better remember which verb ending syllable goes with what te ending.

(To be done to the music of Silver Bells, Bing Crosby’s version works well.)

verse 1

BU MU NU NDE

U TSU RU TTE

KU ITE

GU IDE

That’s the way we put verbs in base TE------

(Play it again Sam) repeat to verse 2

*Verbs ending in BU, MU, or NU become NDE. Verbs ending in U, TSU, RU become TTE or. Verbs ending in KU become ITE and verbs ending in GU become IDE.

Verbs ending in these syllables
Become these base Te endings

BU, MU, or NU - Base TE ending = NDE

U, TSU, or RU - Base TE ending = TTE

KU - Base TE ending = ITE

GU - Base TE ending = IDE

Here are a few examples of putting a verb into base te. The first example, asobu ends in bu so you can either use the above chart or sing the song!

Ex. 1. asobu 遊ぶ - to play – becomes asonde
1. asonde iru = playing
2. asonde kudasai = please play
3. asonde wa naranai = you can’t play here, its against the rules to play

Ex. 2. kamu 噛む – to chew – becomes kande
1. kande iru – chewing
2. kande kudasai – please chew
3. kande wa naranai – you mustn’t chew

Ex. 3. shinu 死ぬ - to die – becomes shinde
1. shinde iru – dying
2. shinde kudasai – please die
3. shinde wa naranai – you mustn’t die

Ex 4. harau 払う– to pay - becomes haratte
1. haratte iru – paying
2. haratte kudasai – please pay
3. haratte wa naranai – you had better not pay.

Ex 5. inoru 祈る – to pray – becomes inotte
1. inotte iru – praying
2. inotte kudasai – please pray
3. inotte wa naranai – its bad to pray here

Ex 6. utsu 打つ
– to hit becomes utte
1. utte iru – hitting
2. utte kudasai – please hit
3. utte wa naranai - its bad to hit here

Ex 7. hataraku働く– to work – becomes hataraite
1. hataraite iru – working
2. hataraite kudasai – please work
3. hataraite wa naranai – it is forbidden for you to work.

Ex 8. oyogu泳ぐ– to swim – becomes oyoide
1. oyoide iru – swimming
2. oyoide kudasai – please swim
3. oyoide wa naranai – you shouldn’t swim around here


Ganbatte ne!
Do your best
Makuarsuki まくらすき

For more Japanese grammar fun see - http://www.japanetics.blogspot.com or http://saketalkie.blogspot.com

Japanese words and Japanese Grammar for Mae Ni To Verb before real quick

BEFORE ~verb~ - ~verb~ MAE NI 前に

suru mae ni する前に - before I do
before you do,
before he/she does,
before they do,
before any of them do,

asobu mae ni 遊ぶ前に - before I play,
before you play,
before he/she plays,
before they play,
before any of them play,

tsukuru mae ni 作る前に - before I make,
before you make,
before he/she makes,
before they make
before all of em' play

I,you,he,she,they,it,and all the rest.

How to say you should in Japanese

How to say, “You should…” in Japanese.

Ho^ or Hou (方 ) (Pronounced like a Santa’s chuckle …ho, ho, ho…) is the focus of today’s Japanese grammar lesson. I always associated the Japanese word Hou (方 ) to the English word, “way” or “the way”. The kanji for hou (The Chinese character printed next to the word) looks as if it were indicating some direction or person offering a path or showing the way. I also associated Hou to another Japanese word Houhou (方法)which means method or the way of doing things. When we say in English that you ought to lean this way or that way, I could replace them straight way with the Japanese words kono hou or sono hou.

Today’s grammar uses hou after a verb in base TA (た) to help form sentences that indicate that you should, or shouldn’t do something. This isn’t a way of telling someone that they must do something, but only that they should do something.

To say that you should do something in Japanese, use the following Japanese grammar plug and play construction to make your own interesting Japanese sentences:

Verb TA (た) + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです) – …should verb…

First, put a Japanese verb into base TA then add + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです)

Example –
Dasu (出す) – v. to send
Dasu (出す) in base TA = dashita (出した)
Add + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです)
And presto… a new interesting sentence has been born.

You should send that letter. – ano tegami o deshita hou ga ii desuあの手紙を出した方がいいです

To say that you should not do something in Japanese, use the following Japanese grammar plug and play construction to make your own interesting Japanese sentences:
Verb base I+nai (ない) + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです) – …shouldn’t verb…

Example –
Dasu (出す) – v. to send
Dasu (出す) in base I + nai (ない) = dasanai (出さない) don't send
Add + hou ga ii desu (方がいいです)
And presto… a new interesting sentence has been born.

In the negative construction, you first put a verb into base I, add nai (ない), then add hou ga ii desu (方がいいです), desu being the polite form of the copula verb to be

1.Ume o tabeta hou ga ii desu. 梅を食べたほうがいいです – “You** should eat a Japanese plum.” (ume 梅 - plum)* They make sake out of ume called umeshu^ it is delicious

2.Byo^in ni itta hou ga ii desu. 病院に行ったほうがいいです “You should go to the hospital.” or “You better get yourself to a hospital.” *If someone tells you this, you should go anyway.

3.Nakanai hou ga ii desu. 泣かないほうがいいです “It is better not to cry.”, or “You shouldn’t cry.”

4.Konai hou ga ii desu. 来ないほうがいいです “You shouldn’t come.”

**In English, subject pronouns are rarely omitted during a two way conversation. In Japanese, however, the subject is almost always omitted. In Japanese, it is more common to omit the subject than to say specifically who, or what was doing the action in a sentence. Unless you get specific, there is no need to say as for me, or as for you, or as for them etc. Since it is generally understood in the course of a Japanese conversation, who or what is doing the action in a sentence.The Japanese usually omit subject pronouns,

As always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki まくらすき,

Using word association to master Japanese

How To Use Word Association To Master Japanese

A good goal when learning another language is to try to remember words so that you won’t ever forget them. That is a lofty goal. You make absurd associations that are meaningful to you and in this way by making absurd associations between something that reminds you of the meaning of the word in Japanese but sounds like that in English. The more absurd the associations, the less likely you are to forget them, unless you forget the association related to the words you are memorizing. For example tanjo^bi = birthday, anchovies have birthdays too or tan Jo be chilling cuz its her birthday yo wassup! Mentally picture a tan person named Jo talking ghetto cuz she be this and be that! You know what I’m saying. Get down and ghetto you can speak Japanese fluently only if you try. So this tan girl or guy named Jo be hunh? She be what? Who cares! As long as you can relate meaning to sound in a way that helps you remember the word until you reach the plateau of usefulness. Once a word that is new to you in another language is used, from the very first time to the 50th time, you get better with each use of the word.

Another good method I have found that when you are practicing your conversation skills, replace during the day any word that you would want and set aside 2 hours where you speak only in the target language at all costs. No matter what you can always get your meaning across. If you can’t practice this way and act normally in this type of situation then you won’t be able to last long in the land of the rising sun. So how do you do it? Simple! Let’s say you learned the word for paper that day, or you learned the phrase ha o migaku, to brush your teeth. Do you tell your mom or your roommates or whoever you live with that you are going to brush your teeth? NO! You say to them in Japanese and to all who will listen and put up with your intense desire to speak fluently the Japanese language, IIE HA O MIGAKIMASU or something to that effect.

Japanese Word Association Examples

SURU – Suru was the guy who would take over the ship in Star Trek if Captain Kirk couldn’t be there, and he was a busy guy. Suru was the guy who always was doing something. Make an association between the verb to do, and the guy named Suru on Star Trek. You’ll never forget words if they are associated in a meaningful way to you. SURU in Japanese is the verb to do.

NEKO – imagine Cleopatra with a long neck and her long neck cat called necko etc.

MIMI – the little girl whose ears were so cute you would always grab her by the ears O-mimi with the honorific prefix means the honorable ears, the ones affixed to your head.

DENKI – the electric light is so very tiny & dinky in Japan image etc.

Tofu can fly = TOBU means to fly, jump etc.

MUHO^SHU^ moo + hoe +shoe = free service

Young children often KURAI in the dark, I mean cry in the dark!

To sneeze is easy, in Japanese it sounds more like what we actually do than the English word to sneeze. In Japanese to sneeze is KURAKUSHON SURU.

One of the first Japanese I learned was the Don’t touch my mustache or Do Itashimashite

Now don’t go overboard with the associations. There must be a point at which you can enter back into real study mode to pull out the real words and not just what they sound like.

As Always, Ganbatte Ne! Do Your Best!
Makurasuki Sensei

http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar106
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http://squidoo.com/japanesedays

My suggestions for how to master and get good in Japanese

Deal the Zeal : Enthusiasm and its effects on second language Acquisition
Goals for Japanese Fluency
By Makurasuki, Brett McCluskey

This article was created to help those that need a boost to start or re-continue there quest for the acquisition and mastery of Japanese unto fluency.

You can improve your Japanese by following a few techniques I will show you and briefly outline here. In no time, your Japanese speaking skills will be better than you ever thought possible. Your success in second language acquisition should you accept the challenge, will be dependant upon the commitments you make to yourself to memorizing words part1, understanding, learning, memorizing then applying the basic Japanese grammar principlespart3+4 and finally your total amount of zeal you put into your efforts. The amount of success or failure you have in second language acquisition starts with you. The power is within you; now let us try to unlock it.

I want to share with you my zeal for learning another language and perhaps you might catch a little part of it and it might burn like the California fires of 2007 until you too have inspired others through your zeal and mastery of a foreign language. My roommates hated me when I was studying, because not only would I ask them to help me by quizzing me from my vocabulary list from which I studied without fail daily, but I would wake up very early in the morning to practice speaking Japanese. I would repeat sentences I learned like mantras until I got the chance to use what I learned in real life to see which ones actually worked. My roommates hated me. I had zeal for learning Japanese. It takes a great bit of it to be a successful language learner.

You MUST HAVE ZEAL for learning the language or you will become complacent and lazy. Determine within yourself now that you will find a way to harness zeal and enthusiasm towards the improvement of your Japanese unto acquisition. You must also have a purpose for your zeal. My purpose was to be able to speak with the Japanese people themselves, to communicate with them with no impediments of speech. ‘Like they say Quitters Never Win and Winners Never Quit’, so get going now and find your purpose and zeal it up.

The following is just one way and one example of what kind of language goals a person could set and realistically achieve, while at the same time making it challenging enough to maintain their interest. You might emulate these goals if you were learning Japanese; they are modeled after my own goals. They are in no way the only way to go, but they are, as I said, just one set of possible goals that you can use to help you attain fluency. They helped me acquire that ever-elusive second language (Japanese) and if they are couple with enough zeal, it will be very possible that they will help you get fluency too. Remember though, the amount of zeal you put into your work is exactly how much success you will achieve out of it. With the right amount of zeal, you are bound to be speaking native like a Japanese senator in no time flat. May your Nihongo wa jozu ni naru.

It has been said to be fluent a person must know a minimum 4000 words

Vocabulary –n. a list of words, and often phrases, abbreviations, inflectional forms, etc., usually arranged in alphabetical order and defined or otherwise identified as in a dictionary, or glossary.

It goes on to say that vocabulary is also all the words recognized and understood by a particular person although not necessarily used by him, these may be an interrelated group of nonverbal symbols, signs, gestures, etc. used for communication or expression.

Now let us do some math to see how long it will take us to learn 4000 words, or, what some have called, the minimum amount of vocabulary one must know and be able to use and still be considered fluent.

7 days a week
52 weeks per annum
4 weeks per month
12 months per annum

How long will it take to obtain a 4000 word vocabulary?

Well if we learned 4000 words in one day, it would only take us one day, but is it reasonable to assume that we will retain those words? Unless you have a photographic memory, we should consider something else. How about 4000 words in 1 month? Is that a reasonable goal? I do not think either of those goals are within a typical realizable amount attainable possible. We need a reasonable goal that is attainable that leaves us some breathing room to assimilate the vocabulary into our own speech system. I feel 6-8 words a day might be stretching us thin a little bit but it is the one I will recommend. Actually, the way I did it was to learn 15 words every two days but for sake of clarity, let us stick with words/day.

When learning Japanese or any language don't get burned out. Go at a good pace for you. We do not want to memorize too many words because we will end up worse than learning only one word a week. At one word a week, it would take us 4000 days, or almost 11 years to have such a vocabulary. That is too long if you figure that for an accelerated college degree program you will be spending 4-6 years to obtain your B.A. and still would not be fluent either way, 11 years is too long. These goals will be set for you to learn 4000 vocabulary terms in 1 year and 1 month from your starting date. This is still a very lofty goal. In order to learn 4000 vocabulary in 1 year and 1 month you will need to learn 10-11 words / day
That is the goal, 10-11 words / day, sunawachi everyday with no rest.

Day 1 goal – memorize 10 words today, tomorrow and 10 new words everyday for the next 9 months. Do not get discouraged after 9 months if you stick with your goals you will not be pera pera (fluent), but you will be enabled to handle almost any conversation that comes your way.


Day 2 goal -
Day 3 goal –
Weekly goal
Monthly goal
3-month goal
6-month goal

Beginning

So what exactly is fluency?

How do we measure fluency? There are indubitably quite a few ways to measure fluency. I am not aware of any fluency machine that can instantly measure your fluency like we can measure blood pressure, or body temperature. I have heard it said at least once that fluency is dependant upon total vocabulary memorized. In addition, they put a number on it of 4000 different words. I cannot say I totally agree with that statement. No doubt, other requirements for language fluency certainly exist, other than just knowledge of the vocabulary. Although many other complex processes are involved in fluency, we will start with how to set goals in memorizing words to increase our vocabulary power. Setting goals to memorizing vocabulary is a good place to start. So how much vocabulary power do you have under your belt?

The amount of words that you know and are able to translate those words into and out of your native tongue and into and out of your target language. Know the meaning of words so thoroughly that you can interchange them instantly. I suggest the use of mnemonics as helpful way to memorize Japanese words.

Just as one can word or phrase or apply any manipulation to the language so that its suits our purpose and the main purpose and reason is to get our meaning across. Sharing a As long as the method we use suffices to get our message across it does not even matter if we can speak Japanese or not. In any language, if you look like you have to go ‘pee’ you do not have to say a word people will understand you. If you look tired or motion your hands as if you are sleeping, our knowledge of Nihongo lets body language assume the role.

What is the shortest distance between you and getting what you want? You are allowed to use any and all means necessary to get your meaning across.

Please see my article on circumlocution for sure fire ways to get your meaning across even if you do not know the Japanese words for it. http://ezinearticles.com/?Japanese-Pronunciation-Tips-13&id=472520

About our own Native tongue -

Just in mannerisms and the exact vocabulary and grammatical structure employed by the speaker, can there be vast amounts of missed meanings to occur. Japanese could be spoken in any number of differing ways; intelligently, suave, brave, naive, sophisticated, charming, honorifically, stately, manly cunning, feminine, drunk, legendary all sorts of ways to speak like and just as we have the ish to make something in Nihongo the word becomes -ppoi.

Noun + ppoi = noun ‘ish’ - Beautifully, wonderfully or bold or any other way you can think of, it becomes like it and takes on its characteristic traits.

The levels Keigo and the cultural implications of Kokugo^ must know how to manipulate verbs, while memorizing and strengthening your store of Japanese words to put into your goal oriented language arsenal. With that arsenal and using all of your faculties to summon together the ability to speak inside of another tongue, and also to be able to open your ears to such an extent that they become even more sensitive to different words, consonants, vowels phonemes.
Along with your noun memorization oath. (See appendix) noun (do not take for granted any place names that are presented to you on your quest for complete Japanese mastery. You have to commit yourself to a reasonable yet challenging goal.

Japanese Grammar practice - Bakari

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. He (It) was just born.


As Always,
Ganbatte Ne!
Do Your Best!

Makurasuki

Favorable favors in Japanese Grammar

This 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 found only after mastery of the various grammar forms are handled as well as total amount of vocabulary held at your disposal. 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 sentence 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 many shades in between these levels which can be obtained and implied through the various endings a verb 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 levels of politeness.

Politeness levels are in large part determined by the age difference between locutors in a two way conversation. In Japanese, one would speak in more respectful ways to persons who are upwards of your age or older than you. It is natural to speak less formally to people who are in your same graduating class or to people younger than you, in other words, it is acceptable to speak to those of equal or lesser value in standard or plain form Japanese.

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. (gozaru is the super polite form of the verb aru, de aru is plain form of desu, de gozaru = de aru = desu.)

On first meeting someone in Japan, it would be rude to automatically assume that you were acquainted with them enough to speak plain form Japanese. There is something to say about polite speech. Polite speech makes people feel good. It makes the person you are speaking to feel like he is important and it makes you the speaker feel good when the same type of speaking is spoken back to you. We really can’t get this same feeling in English. It is possible that some event, like a royal wedding where everything was done prim and proper, or at a wedding and you are the bride or groom, then you may feel what it is like to be spoken up to and through speech made to feel good about yourself because of polite speech.

Otherwise, I have never felt so good as when someone speaks to me in Keigo compared to not having such a thing in English America. 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 the plain form or anything lower in politeness to anybody ever. You can get yourself in deep trouble. The Japanese are nice but words are a two edged sword powerful enough to cause wars so take car to always be as polite as you can. Remember plain form is the type of language that is spoken to dogs, so how much respect does a human being deserve over a dog, and plus, it’s easy if you tongue doesn’t become lazy. Just always practice speaking in polite Japanese and you won’t have any trouble.

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 Japanese 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 asking a favor of someone, you'll have to consider how polite you’ll want to sound with that person. You won't get very far by getting your boss to give you a raise when speaking to him in less polite language which equivocal to what is know as 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 for your request, use the verb ITADAKU, the same verb that is used in the expression, “Itadakimasu” before eating.

You will put this with a verb in base TE to get a yes or no answer. However, if your demands weren't that impending, or is not in need of immediate attention, then there are 3 further choice of verbs for those requests to become actions. The verbs involved in getting someone to do an action for you in Japanese, 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…? Or similar type English sentence.

Constructions for "Will you verb (for me)?" in Japanese.

Verb (base TE) + MORAU V (て) + もらう
Do you think you could verb for me?

Verb (base TE) +YARU V (て) + やる
I will verb for you. (This is least polite and only said amongst the closest of friends, more masculine.)

Verb (base TE) + KURERU V (て) + くれる-
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 V (て) + あげる
I'll verb for you.

Verb (base TE) + KUDASARU V (て) + 下さる
Will you kindly verb for me?

*Kudasaruくださる is one of the first learned Japanese words. It’s kanji represents the word meaning below, underneath, under, or down. The meaning is opposite to that of the word UE上 (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.

1. Will you quit smoking.
Tabako o su^ no o yamete itadakemasu ka?
たばこを吸うのを止めて頂けますか

2. Can I get you to turn the light off for me?
Denki o keshite moraimasu ka?
電機を消してもらいますか

3. Could you turn the light off for me?
Denki o keshite kuremasu ka?
電機をけしてくれますか


4. Will you kindly lend me $1000 dollars Grandmother?
Oba^chan@ ano 1 sen doru o kashite kudasaimasu ka?
おばあちゃん! あの 一千＄貸してくれますか

5. Could you tell me your phone number?

a. Denwa bango o oshiete kudasaimasu ka?
電話番号を教えて下さいますか?

b. Denwa bango o oshiete kuremasu ka?
電話番号を教えてくれますか

c. Denwa bango o oshiete itadakemasu ka?
電話番号をいただけますか

a.,b.,c. Will you tell me your phone number?

Itadaku - the yes or no verb
Itadaku頂く is special in that it forms changes from the itadaki to itadake form either Yes, or, No? Using the verb itadaku is ultimately polite yet it elicits only two answers from which to form a reply..

6. Shall I open it for you?
Akete yaro^ ka? (Less polite form V of verb yaru, downward politeness)
開けてやろうか?

7. Shall I read it for you?
Yonde agemasho^ ka? (masho^ is more polite, spoken to peers and above)
読んで挙げましょう

8. Lets get him to pay for us.
Haratte moraimasho^
払ってもらいましょう

9. I wanted him to draw a picture for us.
E o kaite moraitakatta n' desu.
絵を画いてもらいたかったのです.

10. I am going to need you to come in on Sunday (too).
Nichiyoubi nimo kaisha ni kite moraitakatta no desu ga…?
日曜日にも会社に来てもらいたかったのですが
That is straight out of “office space” yo!

Until next time, that’s the end of this short lesson in Japanese grammar. As always, I wish you the best in your endeavors towards better Japanese …

Ganbatte Ne!
頑張ってね
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki. まくらすき

Nochi Ato de Japanese grammar for after

Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar #94
JPPGG #94 - Three Ways of Saying, '...After... verb(ing') in Japanese.

After, After, and hopefully, happy ever... After...
There are 3 easy ways to say after or "after verbing” in Japanese -

1. verb (base TE) + KARA verb (base て) + から
2. verb (base TA) + ATO DE verb (base た) + あとで 後 = (あと)
3. verb (base TA) + NOCHI NI verb (base た) + のち に 後 = あと(ato),

or 後= のち に (nochi ni)

By themselves KARA (から), ATO DE (あとで) and NOCHI NI (のちに)
indicate the English term "after". Put verbs in base TE then add kara to
create phrases of doing something after doing something else. Put verbs
in base TA then add either ato de or nochi ni to create sentences or phrases
that tell us what will happen after we verb.

***So how do I plug and play? Let me explain: First go learn as many verbs
as you can and even a couple of nouns if you like, but ghetto grammar or
JPPGG consists mainly of knowing how to manipulate verbs. Before you can
manupulate verbs you need to memorize the word and also know how to pronounce
it correctly. What are you talking about when you say plug and play Japanese
Grammar? Preposterous! Its real simple. Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar
works like this:

1. Study hard your vocabulary, or list of Japanese words,

a. Set a goal to memorize 15 new words every two days. This is my best
recommendation for learning to speak in Japanese as quickly as humanly
possible.

b. Drill and kill your tango lists. ( I have plenty of vocabulary lists
or tango lists for you to study, print out or do what you... at
http://squidoo.com/japanesevocabularyindex )

2. Memorize all types of Japanese words and phrases. For the purposes of
being able to start speaking Japanese fast, you are going to have to pay
particular attention to verbs.

This is what I would suggest - Start learning
as many basic verbs as you can, and keep them tucked away under your belt,
memorized and ready to go so that you can use them effectively to communicate
later when your language skills in Japanese have been more fully developed.
We can construct almost any type of meaningful communication as long as we
know a few key Japanese verbs. ( Find the first 100 essential
Japanese vocabulary words here at http://squidoo.com/essentialjapanesewords)


3. Take your solidly retained, and newly memorized verbs from your tango
lists and start plugging them into the JPPGG system or the Ghetto Grammar
Constructions found in lessons 77 - 119).
To see the full index of JPPGG grammar construction pages go to
http://squidoo.com/ghettogrammar or just ghettogrammara> to start your plugging.