The Japanese thread

[KazumaSB]

I thought I would start a thread here about learning Japanese(nihongo). I figured we could use this thread to post Japanese words or phrases. You can post them in the romaji form or both romaji and it's original reading in Japanese. Romaji is the Japanese words spelled with English letters.
Every day I will try to post something new. Feel free to post your own words too.

Nihongo means the Japanese language.

[Lady Shiori]

i heard japanese was kinda hard. the only language i know is english, thats enough for me.

[Momo Neko]

<.< slacker and i think this is a cool thread me and Kat are going to take the online japanese class in school next year:3

[KazumaSB]

Well in my opinion Japanese isn't much harder than other languages to learn how to speak, it's the reading that is hard. Learning all of the thousands of Kanji is what's difficult.

That's cool Momo. After you get done with that class you'll probably know more than me.


Word of the Day: Konnichiwa こんにちは
Meaning: (Hello) Good Afternoon.
It is a form of greeting used usually from around 10am to about 4 or 5pm. You would not use this in the morning or in the evening. There are separate greetings for those times.

Note: And if anyone knows enough Hiragana to read the Japanese, no I didn't make a mistake with the 'ha'. That is really how the word is spelled. The 'ha' is just spoken as a 'wa'.

[Momo Neko]

oh and Sensei is teacher right?^^

[KazumaSB]

oh and Sensei is teacher right?^^

Yep Sensei is teacher.

[Lunar Wolf]

>~> *Luna likes this thread*

[Momo Neko]

oh and Sensei is teacher right?^^

Yep Sensei is teacher.

woho!!~ i was right~:]

[Lunar Wolf]

>< MOO

[KazumaSB]

Yep, correct!

Ohayo gozaimasu (おはようございます)
This is the formal way to say "Good Morning" to some one.
The informal way would be just Ohayo, without the gozaimasu.

[Lunar Wolf]

in english it sounds like, Oh-hi-oh Gahs-eye-mus

[Momo Neko]

i knew the Ohayo part ^^

[KazumaSB]

in english it sounds like, Oh-hi-oh Gahs-eye-mus

Yep that's how it sounds. Thanks Luna.

[KazumaSB]

Otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu.
It is the formal way to to say happy birthday in Japanese.
It sounds like Oh-ton-jo-bee Oh-meh-deh-toe.

The casual way to say it to a close relative or friend would be,
Tanjoubi omedetou, without the O or the gozaimasu.
Gozaimasu always makes something more formal or polite. You will hear it used a lot.

[Lunar Wolf]

haaaahhhhh o.o

[Momo Neko]

wow i love this threadX3

[KazumaSB]

wow i love this threadX3

I'm glad to hear that my posts are not in vain.
I'm sorry about skipping a day. I was on vacation yesterday and today. I was 150 miles away from home hiking my feet off! I am dead tired but it was awesome.

Anyway back to the Japanese stuff.

Word of the day:
Arigatou (ありがとう) - this means 'Thank you' in Japanese but you will most always hear it said with the 'gozaimasu' added to make it more polite.
Arigatou gozaimasu (ありがとうございます)

Sometimes you will hear:
Domo arigatou gozaimasu, which means 'Thank you very much'.


Arigatou sounds like, ah-ree-gah-toe.
Domo sounds like, Doe-mow (Doe like John Doe, and mow, like mowing the lawn).

[Momo Neko]

i'm gonna ace my japanese class when i take it next year:3

[KazumaSB]

That would be great if you did.


Word of the day:
Konbanwa (こんばんは) - It means 'Good evening'. It is a greeting used in the evening. This greeting replaces Konnichiwa that is used in the day time once it reaches 4 or 5 in the evening.

It sounds like: Cone-bahn-wah.

[Momo Neko]

i'm gonna start using japanese words now instead of english:3

[KazumaSB]

i'm gonna start using japanese words now instead of english:3

Hehe.


Word of the Day:
Tomodachi (ともだち) - it means friend.

It sounds like: toe-mow-dah-chee.

[KazumaSB]

Word of the Day:
Kazoku (かぞく) - it means 'family'.

It sounds like: kah-zo-koo.

[Momo Neko]

ok i got this i will speack in japanese>:]

[KazumaSB]

Word of the Day:
Doko (どこ) - it means 'where'.

The 'o' sound is long, as in the English word 'Go'.

[KazumaSB]

Word of the Day:
Watashi (わたし) - it means 'I' or 'me'.

Sounds like: Wah-tah-she.

This word is the most common word used as I or me by both genders. But there are other words used, and in some cases only or mostly by one gender, some of them are:

Ore (おれ) - used mostly by males. Sounds like: Oh-reh.
Boku (ぼく) - used mostly by males. Sounds like: Bo-koo.
Atashi (あたし) - used mostly by females. Sounds like: Ah-tah-she.


Note: The Japanese do not use 'I' as often as we do. They say a lot of things where 'I' is implied and not directly said.

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