Learn Japanese FAQ

Best Nintendo DS games for learning Kanji

Richard — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:44:55 +0000

I started learning japanese 2 months ago, I take 2 classes, I also have several books and Rosetta Stone

I also have a NDS and a few games that teach Japanese.

Ive finished learning the kana already.

Can you recommend any games that I can learn Kanji with for my NDS.

(I already have the Kanji de Manga book)

Q: I started learning japanese 2 months ago, I take 2 classes, I also have several books and Rosetta Stone. I also have a Nintendo DS and a few games that teach Japanese. Ive finished learning the kana already. Can you recommend any games that I can learn Kanji with for my Nintendo DS. (I already have the Kanji de Manga book) – Leor

A: Hi Leor. I don’t have any specific recomendations, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about most of the DS kanji games. So I’d say read some of the reviews over at amazon and choose the one that suits you the best!

Be genki,

Richard

How do you use a Japanese bus?

Richard — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:13:34 +0000

Q: How do you use a Japanese bus? I never know when to pay or what to ask for!

A: Here you go, I made a video for you!

These are for normal, everyday buses though. For the airport buses, which are called “limousine” buses (for some reason!), you pay before you get on!

Be genki,

Richard

Difference between “sumimasen” and “gomen nasai”? + Michel Thomas

Richard — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:56:09 +0000

Q: Hi Richard
Firstly I would like to thank you so much for all the great resources on your site – they have been a great help to me in my quest to learn Japanese. I have finished a Level 1 course at a language college but now as I am unable to afford any further lessons I am learning on my own using the Michel Thomas method you recommended on your site but I miss having a tutor to query things with so I hope that you could answer some queries for me.

1. I was taught at the college that the negative of desu was dewa arimasen but on my Michel Thomas course they use ja arimasen – Which one is the right one to use please?

A: You can use either, they’re pretty much the same, both are cool.

2. Also I have been watching a great Japanese drama (1 litre of tears) and this has been great in showing me the use of the language in everyday life but has confused me as to which sorry to use – sumimasen or gomenasai? The girl seemed to use gomen alot whereas the mother used sumimasen but not always so please can you clarify the right use?

A: すみません (sumimasen) is more of an “excuse me” way of saying “sorry”, f or example getting a waiter’s attention in a restaurant.

ごめんなさい (gomen nasai) you’d usually only use if you’ve actually done something wrong, you’re sort of apologising and asking for forgiveness! Just like in English, taking responsibility and apologising show strong character so are usually good things to do if you have done something a bit bad!

Thank you so much for your time and again for your great site. Liz -^^-

No problem!

Be genki,

Richard

Tokyo Tower & New Zealand Rugby Ball

Richard — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:31:00 +0000

I was invited to an event by Tourism New Zealand at the Tokyo Tower this weekend. And when I say at Tokyo Tower, I mean right underneath it!

If you’re in the area over the next couple of days be sure to pop along to the New Zealand Ruby Ball they’ve put there, there’s an amazing show inside!

Be genki,

Richard
http://www.GenkiJapan.net

Use your iPhone to learn Japanese with real Japanese people

Richard — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:44:55 +0000

One of the keys to learning a language is to actually use it. Sites like www.LiveMocha.com give you a great chance to do free language exchanges with real Japanese people i.e. you teach them a bit of English and they teach you a bit of Japanese.

But after the initial “Konnnichi wa, o genki desu ka?”s then it can get a bit awkward to think what to talk about!

We’ve been solving this problem using Video Letters. You simply video something, like your lunch, your room, your birthday present or whatever whilst describing it in Japanese. Then you send it to a partner you find on www.LiveMocha.com

The best bit is they then send you a video back – with real Japanese! How cool is that?

The thing is that technically it can be a real hassle trying to do this on a PC or Mac. But… if you have have the new iPhone 3GS it is so, so, so easy! Just check out this video. I made it for teachers wanting to do this with their students, but I think you’re going to love how easy it is as well – plus you get a free shot of my real Japanese ramen lunch!

Be genki,

Richard

P.S. If you’d like to video your lunch or breakfast to show our students in Japan, please do so, put it on Youtube and send me a link, they’d love to see it! Keep the English (or Japanese!) simple and tell us where you are!

Left Hand Japanese, Calligraphy, when to learn hiragana

Richard — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:22:19 +0000

Q: There have been questions recently about learning to speak Japanese vs. learning to write Japanese first. I was under the impression that it was best to learn hiragana before diving into learning Japanese (I’m already familiar with some Japanese basics, but I haven’t gone headlong in yet) so that you can learn in hiragana rather than romanji. This seems to make sense to me, and I figured that if I was learning hiragana first, I might as well learn to write it at the same time. Is that a good way to approach it?

A: No! : ) It’s true that you should always learn hiragana instead of romaji because romanji really kills your accent. And if you are a word orientated person then it probably is just as well to learn to write hiragana at the same time you learn to read it.

But …. before doing any of those then learning to speak quite a bit of Japanese, by listening and then talking, is the most important first step. This is why everyone in Holland speaks such good English, because they listened to English TV as kids. And it’s why people in Japan are usually terrible at speaking English, because they learnt to read and write it from textbooks! Luckily we’re in the Youtube era so it’s possible to get lots of really good Japanese listening input every day.

But just learning hiragana on its own doesn’t actually help you to speak, or learn to speak, Japanese.

Q; Second, I write left-handed. I was wondering if the Japanese also have left-handed writers, or if they train kids to all write right-handed as it used to be here. If there are Japanese left-handed writers, do they write differently than right-handed writers? For example, I write “O” counter-clockwise and cross “T” from right to left, which I believe is backwards from right-handed writing.

A: Good question! At the moment almost all left handed kids are “corrected” in school and forced to write the characters right handed. There are lots of reasons given for this, but I have a feeling it will only take one major left handed celebrity to say it’s not fair and teachers might start thinking again.

Q: Third, I’ve noticed that on all of the hiragana worksheets I have found on various websites, the strokes and complete characters are completely calligraphic. Is there a trick to figuring out what your strokes and complete characters should look like (all the little flips and hooks) if you are using a pencil or ball-point pen? Or is it recommended to practice with some sort of calligraphy or other specialized pen?

A: Another good question! Japanese kids practice calligraphy as an integral part of their character learning. Good handwriters would always use a “fude” brush or brush type calligraphy pen to write and never resort to a ball point pen! I’d really recommend getting a calligraphy pen, they look really cool.

As far as learning all the little hooks and loops, that’s a whole art form in itself. It’s called 書道　- shodou – the way (or tao) of writing. There are “dan” rankings just like in karate or judo, my office manager has a “black belt” in it!

Q* Fourth, I visit a lot of Japanese websites with projects and activities for kids. I noticed that generally when kanji are used, the hiragana are included in small type either above or beside the kanji. I assume this is so that Japanese children can read the material prior to having an understanding of kanji.

A: Correct. And also for adults. No adult in Japan can read a whole newspaper and know all the characters.

At what age do Japanese children begin learning kanji?

A: Easy kanji start in first grade of primary school. It’s a never ending journey from there!

When do they begin learning hiragana? Katakana?

A: Just before they learn the kanji. Although some parents push their kids to learn the kanas when they are still in kindergarten.

Q: Fifth, in your Numbers video, you use nana for 7, with shichi in parenthesis. When my cousin (by marriage) visited from Japan in the mid 1980s, she taught me to count to 10 with shichi for 7. What is the difference between the two? Are they used at different times, or for different usages, or are they completely interchangeable?

A: Different times and different usages sometimes, although most of the time they are interchangeable. Especially if you are on the phone then “shichi” can be a little hard to hear, so “nana” is sometimes used then. But it’s just like in English with “one thousand five hundred” or “fifteen hundred” , there are some rules but mostly it’s just a feeling you pick up for each one when you’ve done lots of listening! No need to worry about it, just relax and enjoy listening!

Thank you for your help and your wonderful websites and resources. -Janet,

No problem!

Be genki,

Richard

How to develop a Japanese accent

Richard — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:12:59 +0000

Q: I have a question how do u develope the Japanese accent? u sound so cool when you speak japanese - rika

A: Thank you! It just depends how you learn. If you learn from a book or use roman abc letters then there’s a very good chance you’ll have a horrible accent. It’ll probably sound good to you or your friends, but not so in Japan!

I guess the key is to just listen to lots and lots of real Japanese and learn to speak it by copying what you hear, rather than trying to read and speak it.

One other really fantastic trick I use is to really mickey take the accent of the language I’m learning.

For example, speak an English phrase, but then say it in the thickest most stereotypical Japanese accent you can possibly imagine. Really, really go over the top. Then try saying it in Japanese with the same ultra thick accent. You’ll think it sounds silly, but it really, really works!

Having said that unlike say Italian or French where the stereotypical accent is still current, be careful you don’t copy a Japanese “samurai style” accent because no-one speaks like that anymore, as I found from experience!

Instead get a favourite anime character, or even better a Japanese TV comedian, and really try and imitate their accent. When you speak, speak like you are that person, really get in their head and speak just like they do. Copy their face and body language as well This will really, really help!

Be genki,

Richard

What about “love” for friends?

Richard — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:49:46 +0000

Q: Hi hi Richard!
First of all, arigatō ^^, your web page is really helpful to learn the basics of japanese language, beside it’s FREE!! which is a very good thing (the courses in the Chilean-Japanese Cultural institute are rather expensive for me :p)

I read the FAQ of Aishiteru, so I wonder what is the word for saying “I love you”,but refer to a friend? because you said that aishiteru has the powerful meaning (couple) and I don’t want to give the wrong idea XD. That’s it for now ^^, and thanks again. - María Gabriela

A: Ooo, good question! I can pretty much say you’d never really use aishiteru for a friend, that is usually way too strong. The other way of saying “I love you” is “大好き！” (daisuki) which you can also use for food or other things e.g. ラーメン大好き！　(ramen daisuki) = I love ramen or even for a teacher リチャード先生大好き！　 So I guess you could say 大好き for a friend, but just be careful how you say it, as with English all the meaning comes from how, not necesarily what, you say! But to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they “love” a friend over here!

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Richard — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:10:16 +0000

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“Sorry” and “Excuse me” in Japanese + Chan, kun, san

Richard — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:02:54 +0000

Q: 1. how do u say “I’m sorry” and “excuse me” and other common phrase in Japanese and when do I use them?

A: “I’m sorry” is usually translated as ごめんなさい　- gomen nasai. Use it if you are late or something where you’ve done something bad.

For “Excuse me” you’d usually use すみません – sumimasen. Use it when you want to get someone’s attention.

Just like English though there is a little overlap in the meanings some times!

For other simple phrases, have a look at the Cool Japanese Phrases page on the Genki Japan site.

Q: 2. when do you use -san, -kun, -chan….?? – Han

A: This will seem a little complicated! But trust me it gets easier with practice!

“San” is the safe option, it’s usually just means “mr / ms / mrs” but you can also get away with it with kids. e.g. tanaka san. If in doubt, use “san”

“kun” – is used pretty much exclusively for boys, it’s looking down on them so for example teachers use it with students e.g. tanaka kun. Or in a company a boss might say “tanaka kun” If in doubt, don’t use this, stick with “san”

“chan” is the the super kawaii word of the moment. Usually it’s used for girls who are lower or the same rank as you e.g. noriko chan. You hear it all the time amongst friends. Girls also use it to talk about their boyfriends and of course cute characters are chan e.g. kitty chan. In high school, although boys are called “kun” girls are called “san” as “chan” is really too cute for school!

Does that help at all? As with anything else in Japanese, practice is the key. Watch lots of Youtube videos and your brain will naturally figure out which one to use where. And of course because Japanese is a living language you’ll also find a million and one exceptions to all the rules above!

Be genki,

Richard

Learn Japanese FAQ

Best Nintendo DS games for learning Kanji

How do you use a Japanese bus?

Difference between “sumimasen” and “gomen nasai”? + Michel Thomas

Tokyo Tower & New Zealand Rugby Ball

Use your iPhone to learn Japanese with real Japanese people

Left Hand Japanese, Calligraphy, when to learn hiragana

How to develop a Japanese accent

What about “love” for friends?

New Bonus Hiragana Worksheets

How to get really good at Japanese really quickly,

Plus Buy Today & get 3 Incredible Bonus Offers:

Plus New BONUS:

“Sorry” and “Excuse me” in Japanese + Chan, kun, san

Plus Buy Today & get
3 Incredible Bonus Offers: