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Tag Archives: Japanese


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NanoPoblano Day 7 – The Tour Guide

Perhaps because of my Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt this week, I thought of an interesting way to connect today’s Japanese lesson with a fascinating story. Please keep reading after school’s out… don’t worry, the lesson’s a quick one.

Neko (ne-ko). Translation: cat.

That’s that. On with the story.

Now I know I’ve written this story out before, but I can’t for the life of me figure out where. I can’t find it on my blog which leads me to believe that I wrote it in the comments. Anyway, if you’ve heard it before, I apologize.

It was ten years ago, the first time I visited Japan. I stayed in a little town called Onomichi. My hotel was right at the top of the mountain.

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See the white building on the right at the top? That was me. When I arrived in town I took a taxi up. (Note: I had to point. Luckily I knew from the internet what the place looked like because even in a tiny little place like Onomichi, unless you have GPS coordinates, you ain’t goin’ nowhere.) Once I was settled in, I decided to walk back down into town. And you got it – I got lost. The stairs down the mountain looked a little like this.

Actually, they look a lot like this. These are the actual stairs. So I was walking along, minding my own business when I realized I had been walking “along” and not “down” for quite some time. I stopped when I came across a cat, sitting on a waist-high wall. I stared at him and he stared at me, and I said to him, “I’m lost.” I figured he didn’t speak English but I thought what the hell. He’s just a cat. He regarded me for a few seconds more and then he got up and started walking along the top of the wall, back the way I’d come. So I did what any rational human being would do: I followed him. We took a few turns and a couple of times he stopped and looked back to make sure I was still behaving myself and I hadn’t turned and gone back the other way. He didn’t stop and sit down, however, until he got to the stairs. He stared at me, and then down the hill and back at me. I said, “Thank you,” and went on my way… sure enough, I went straight down to the town.

What I found really funny was this:

There’s a Cat Street View of Onomichi. Watch the video – you’ll see the stairs I walked up and down ten years ago. Apparently the neko know best.


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NanoPoblano Day 6 – It’s not just for kicks!

It’s a bit of a no-brainer – we all need the internet. Right? I mean, it’s a basic necessity, right there near the bottom of the pyramid that is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. So what if we’re in Japan and, say, our WiFi doesn’t work in our hotel room? This was my Japanese lesson for today, so it will also be yours.

WiFi o shigoto o shimasen* (Wifi o shee-go-to o shee-mass-en) -keep in mind the “o” is always long.

Translation: Wifi doesn’t work. This phrase will obviously be accompanied by much red-faced hair-pulling jumping up and down, whilst gently cradling your laptop in one arm. I’ll leave you for a while to picture this…

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So as I was saying, if such a thing occurs, and you manage to get your point across, chances are the person manning the front desk (assuming they don’t call the police on the crazy lady/man with the portable computer) will hand you your very own modem to plug in in your room, giving you the best WiFi you’ve probably ever experienced.

Conclusion: This phrase is definitely worth learning.

*I’m learning Japanese – if this is wrong PLEASE let me know. I don’t want to pull my hair out (or worse) for nothing.

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This essential post has been brought to you in conjunction with Nano Poblano. Try it, for a healthy diet!


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NanoPoblano Day 5 – It’s not Alaska

It’s the fifth day of the nifty challenge, Nano Poblano, and we’re back on track with our next Japanese lesson. Today there will be greetings. But not just any greetings; today we will practice saying “Good morning.” Translated: “Ohayou gozaimasu.”

I’m going to do this kind of like one would play charades, in that we’ll start with the second word, only because I’m not sure quite what it means but it keeps showing up in polite conversation. “Gozaimasu” (go-za-i-mass) is also stuck on the end of “Thank you very much,” so it’s gotta be important, right? So with that out of the way…

The first word in the Japanese phrase for “Good morning” is “Ohayou” (o-ha-yo). It’s pronounced like “Ohio” in the good old U. S. of A. Ohayou gozaimasu is used obviously before lunchtime and can be uttered to anyone you wish to be friendly with or just in passing on the street.

Conclusion: if you can leave off the aforementioned politeness factor, all you have to do is remember which state you need to state, and you’re laughing. Note: I had actually thought of saying “Cincinnati” to people in the morning, but they may not get the joke.

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This farcical yet incredibly factual post is brought to you by Nano Poblano.


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NanoPoblano Day 3 – Where am I?

Getting lost in Japan, as you know if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, is one of my favourite things to do. Knowing this even before I went there last December, I learned what I thought was a helpful phrase:

Koko desu ka? (ko-ko dess ka)

Where am I? Or, directly translated, means “where is here?” Since it is assumed when speaking in Japanese that you’re speaking about yourself, the “I” is not necessary. Makes sense so far, right? HA! I have had more strange looks asking this question than I got that time I told someone “I have woman” in French.* Ask a Japanese person “Koko desu ka?” and you will invariably be blessed with a facial expression that says, “Is this a trick question?” Perhaps it’s because people there don’t walk around carrying maps, though I seriously doubt it considering how difficult it is to find anything. Actually, the Japanese love maps. Probably because they can’t find anything.

Conclusion: Carry a GPS.

*In French, if you’re hungry, you say “J’ai faim” which directly translated means “I have hunger.” If you pronounce the word “faim” as “femme,” which means “woman,” people will look in your backpack.

Nano Poblano is fun! Check out some more posts at Rarasaur’s blog!


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NanoPoblano Day 2 – Gotta go!!

Today’s Japanese lesson involves something that affects all of humankind. Nay, all animated being-kind. It is a need unsurpassed since the dawn of time. No, not coffee. Though coffee is essential! Don’t get me wrong.

No, this requirement outweighs all other requirements.  From mere brewing to utter urgency, it is a force to be reckoned with. It is… the need to go to the toilet. And it is a must to learn in any language native to where you’re traveling. So let us consider the phrase in Japanese, “Where is the washroom?”

Say it with me:

O-tearai wa, doko desu ka?

Directly translated it means, “The toilet, where is it?” As you can see, the word for toilet has a lot of vowels in it. In Japanese, we pronounce each one individually. So, “O” always sounds like an O in the alphabet; “te” has a soft “e” sound, as does “a,” and “i” always sounds like “ee.” I give you: O-te-a-ra-ee. Try it. Try it again. Now imagine you’re bursting at the seams and try it again. It makes the rest; “do-ko dess ka” seem like a leisurely stroll in the park, doesn’t it?

Conclusion – cross your legs and eyes and whine. Someone will point you in the right direction. It’s a human thing, after all.

 

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This post has been part of Nano Poblano, found here: https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015/#comment-53592 You can also type “Nanopoblano” into the search tabs in your reader to read more entries.


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NanoPoblano Day 1 – What was I thinking?

Hello. My name is Linda and I am a Pepper. I have been addicted to blogging for some time now – I do it often when I shouldn’t and I participate in challenges that could easily kill me since I’m unable to back down once I start. This is my confession.

On the demand urging of Sirius Bizinus over at Amusing Nonsense, I’ve decided to participate in the blog hop fondly called NanoPoblano once again. Which wouldn’t be so bad except I’m going to Japan from the 19th to the 30th of this month, so I’ll have to pre-schedule those posts. The good news is, I’ve figured out how to work this to my advantage, and you’re all going to suffer enjoy it with me. 😀 How are we going to do this? We’re all going to learn Japanese together!

I’ll keep it simple for our first day. The word of the day is, “Konnichiwa” (kon-ee-chee-wa). It means hello. It’s a word used when meeting someone for the first time during the day (but not in the evening, that’s a different word). If pronounced properly and with enough authenticity as to make the listener think you actually know the language, it is followed by light and extremely fast conversation that will both confuse you and make you wish you’d mispronounced it.

Conclusion – hello in any other language is preferable.

Tomorrow we will start into commonly used phrases. Bring a notepad and a pencil. Sharpen the latter if you wish to take notes. (Disclaimer: Sharpening the former may lead to paper cuts.)

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This post has been part of Nano Poblano. Should you wish to participate, there’s still time! Go here to sign up:  https://rarasaur.wordpress.com/nanopoblano-2015/#comment-53592 You can also type “Nanopoblano” into the search tabs in your reader to read more entries.