HOME | DD

nyctoshing In reply to ??? [2015-11-09 07:30:57 +0000 UTC]

You can. it's not too late to learn. Do you love anime? Learning makes it easier if you do. (*´ω｀*)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SonadowStories In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-09 15:48:34 +0000 UTC]

Well, I know a few words. Like Itadakimasu and Arigatou. Sensei and Senpai (of course.) And couple of others. But I would like to learn the language and learn the right pronuncuation. My teacher once said: you don't know a language unless you know atleast a 1000 words. XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to SonadowStories [2015-11-10 17:07:31 +0000 UTC]

You already know a couple, that's good. Keep them vocabularies coming. v(^_~)v The grammar comes next to apply those vocabularies in it.Yup, that may be true but consider this: if you have a good grasp of your own language, you won't be having a hard time learning another. I used to teach japanese for foreign people as a part time job. I could give you grammar tips if you want. :3

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SonadowStories In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-10 19:22:06 +0000 UTC]

Oh, please, tell them! :3

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to SonadowStories [2015-11-13 12:55:56 +0000 UTC]

Here's a list of expressions that are commonly used. I think you know some of them already:   

Ohayou gozaimasu -> Good morning

Kombanwa -> Good evening

Konnichiwa -> Good Afternoon

Oyasumi nasai/Oyasumi (informal) -> Good night

Itadakimasu --> said BEFORE eating (Similar to saying grace)

Gochisousama deshita --> said AFTER eating

Arigatou gozaimasu/ Doumo (informal) --> Thank you

Dou itashimashite --> You're welcome (This is not often used. Japanese rarely use this because it gives a vibe of superiority because they did you a favor. Instead, japanese reply with "Iie, iie" /"ii desu" it's similar to --> It's not a problem)

Otsukaresama deshita -> Thank you for your hard work/ Good job (Note: This is commonly used in the workplace. You would often hear people using this phrase a lot)

Hajimemashite -> Pleased to meet you

(place/country) kara kimashita --> I came from (place/country)

Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu --> This has no direct translation but it's often used especially after introducing yourself.

onegaishimasu -> Please

Sumimasen --> Excuse me/ I'm sorry (mild apology)

Gomen nasai/ Gomen (informal) --> I'm sorry (When at fault/More serious than Sumimasen)

Ano.... --> Uhmm... (Used when calling the attention of someone)

 E--to....  --> Similar to "Uhmmm..." but the difference from the first one is, this expression is mainly used when you have problems thinking of what to say next,  this expression is very useful to fill in those gaps. 

For example: A: What do you think about the play?
                   B: (Thinking) E--to....


ARE?!!! (read as AH-REH) --> Expression used for "surprise" (can be used if it's unbelievable)

For example: A: I got an A in math. 
                   B: ARE?!!!!

Ne --> Girls often add this at the end of the sentence to soften the tone.

Nan/Nani --> What
Doushite --> Why
Itsu --> When
Doko/Dochira (formal) --> Where
Dare/Donata (formal) --> Who
Douyatte --> How

Yes --> Hai
No--> Iie

********************
Basic Grammar:

Pattern I. Watashi wa (name) desu. ----> I am _____

So this first grammar is basically introducing yourself. 

Watashi wa Nyctoshing desu. --> I am Nyctoshing.

(Now try it)

*******************
Pattern II. (Country) kara kimashita. ---> I came from (country)

Note: In japanese, there are certain ways to say a country.

America --> AMERIKA
Japan --> NIHON
Italy --> ITARIA
China --> CHUUGOKU
Spain --> SUPEIN
Germany --> DOITSU
France --> FURANSU

**And many more...I'll just give these examples**

For example: 

So if you want to say "I came from Japan" you say it like this:

--> NIHON kara kimashita.

*******************
III. Nationality

If you want to specify your nationality, you add (JIN)
For example: 

AMERICAN --> AMERIKA-JIN
JAPANESE --> NIHON-JIN
ITALIAN --> ITARIA-JIN
CHINESE --> CHUUGOKU-JIN
SPAIN --> SUPEIN-JIN
GERMAN --> DOITSU-JIN.
FRENCH --> FURANSU-JIN

You're going to use the same grammar pattern in the first pattern --> Watashi wa (nationality) desu. 

For example:

I am japanese. --> Watashi wa NIHON-JIN desu. (OR, in some cases, you can omit 'Watashi wa' to avoid repetition) so it would be like. 

NIHON-JIN desu. 


Here's an example of how to basically introduce yourself.

Hajimemashite, <-- Always start with this phrase.

Watashi wa Nyctoshing desu.
Nihon Kara kimashita/ nihonjin desu (You can choose I came from ___ or nationality)
Dozo Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu. <-- Always end it with this phrase. 

<>>

(So here's some tips...How was it? I can add more if you want)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SonadowStories In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-13 21:37:48 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, quite a few of these I knew already, but there are also quite a bit I didn't know about.
Any other tips? C8 I'm eager to know! C8

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to SonadowStories [2015-11-15 05:15:20 +0000 UTC]

Good to know that you already do. 8D

How about counting? Reading numbers in japanese could be quite a challenge because of their special readings but here's some guidelines:

Basic counting: 

One - ichi
Two - ni
Three - san
Four - shi/yon
five - go
six - roku
seven - shichi/nana
eight - hachi
nine - kyuu/ku
ten - juu

**Note the numbers with special readings - 4, 7, 9 <-- These readings change depending on usage. **

Now that's covered, let's count from 11-19 (this one is easy because you're just going to add the basic counting at the end. Take note of the special numbers)

11 - juu ichi
12 - juu ni
13 - juu san
14 - juu yon (We use YON not shi this time)
15 - juu go
16 - juu roku
17 - juu nana (NANA is preferred. We don't use shichi for the rest of the numbers except for time and date)
18 - juu hachi
19 - juu kyuu (We use KYUU not ku)

**It's similar to basic counting but just added JUU because it's in the 10's**

Now let's count in 10's (JUU)

(this is easy because you're just going to reuse the basic number readings while adding "JUU" at the END this time. Take note also for the special numbers..)

Here goes: 

10 - juu
20 - ni juu
30 - san juu
*40 - YON juu (**Note: we don't read 40 as SHI juu, instead we use YON)
50 - Go juu
60 - roku juu
70 - nana juu (**Note: NANA is used instead of shichi)
80 - hachi juu
90 - kyuu juu (**Note: KYUU is used instead of ku)

===

Now that we know how to read some numbers. Here are more examples:

Let's say you want to say... 23...How do we say 23 in japanese?

Twenty three --> What is twenty in japanese? Nijuu
                         What is three in japanese? san

Combine them and you will have the japanese reading of 23 --> ni juu san

here's some other ones:

35 - san juu go
22 - ni juu ni
65 - roku juu go

Number combinations with special readings:

57 - go juu nana (Nana is used, not shichi)
44 - Yon juu yon (Note: YON is used, not shi)
99 - kyuu juu kyuu (Kyuu is used, not ku)

---
Now that we got that covered, let's go to hundreds (HYAKU)...This has a couple of special readings that you may want to take note of:

100 - hyaku
200 - ni hyaku
300 - sam BYAKU (Note: Hyaku becomes BYAKU here. It's special)
400 - yon hyaku
500 - go hyaku
600 - ROPPYAKU (Special reading Alert: we don't use ROKUHYAKU, instead it's read as ROPPyaku)**
700 - nana hyaku
800 - HAPPYAKU (Special reading Alert: Not HACHIHYAKU but HAPPyaku)**
900 - kyuu hyaku

**Whew, now that's quite a lot of special readings** We have 300, 600 and 900. ^^

--
Now, we go to thousands... (SEN)

1000 - sen/ isen
2000 - ni sen
3000 - san ZEN (Special reading Alert: ZEN is used here)
4000 - yon sen 
5000 - go sen
6000 - roku sen
7000 - nana sen
8000 - HASSEN (Special reading alert: Hachi sen is not used. We read it HASSEN)
9000 - kyuu sen

----
Now, we go to ten thousands... (MAN) This is not so hard compared to the others since you will just add MAN at the end.

10,000 - ichi man
20,000 - ni man
30,000 - san man
40,000 - yon man
50,000 - go man
60,000 - roku man
70,000 - nana man
80,000 - hachi man
90,000 - kyuu man
100,000 - juu man

I'll end it here since 10,000 and above might be more complicated but here are the basics. ^^

--

+++by the way, these numbers can't be used alone when stating age, counting things, etc because there's a special way of saying it.++

I'll cover AGE in this, too.

So, how do we say how old are you in japanese? we ask them this -->

Nan sai desu ka? (sai means age)

For those older than us (e.g. senpai) we use this --> oikutsu desu ka? (this is formal)

>>Culture Alert: Some japanese find it rude when asked about their age so be extra careful when asking them unless you are already friends. <<

So how do we state our age? We add SAI at the end. (Stay alert for the special readings again)

Here goes: 

1 year old - ISSAI (We don't say ICHI SAI, instead it's ISSAI)
2 years old - NI SAI 
3 - san SAI
4 - yon SAI (We don't say SHI SAI)
5 - go SAI
6 - roku SAI
7 - nana SAI (not Shichi SAI)
8 - HASSAI (not hachi SAI)
9 - kyuu sai 
10 - JUSSAI/JISSAI **

11 - Juu ISSAI (back to the basic)
12 - Juu ni SAI


**The rest follow the basic counting like the one discussed on the first. However, there's a special reading for those who are 20 years old)

20 years old is read as HATACHI not Nijuu sai So for those who are 20, you say hatachi without adding SAI. ^^

Here are some examples of number combination with age: 

37 years old - san juu nana SAI
42 years old - yon juu ni SAI
19 years old - juu kyuu SAI
28 years old - ni juu HASSAI
21 years old - ni juu ISSAI
15 years old - juu go SAI
--

  To sum it all up, japan has a complicated way in stating numbers...DATE and TIME to be specific (<-- The students I've taught to hated DATE and TIME the most) 

How was it?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SonadowStories In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-25 15:46:25 +0000 UTC]

I can count in Japanese now!

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

nyctoshing In reply to SonadowStories [2015-11-30 09:31:22 +0000 UTC]

Sorry about 14th - Juu yon NICHI (it's a typo, It's supposed to be Juu Yokka)

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

SonadowStories In reply to nyctoshing [2015-12-23 16:16:17 +0000 UTC]

Ah, I see!
It's difficult to say. XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

nyctoshing In reply to SonadowStories [2015-11-29 05:41:01 +0000 UTC]

Yatta! Yokatta desu ne. (That's good)   Really happy that these tips are helping.

How about telling the Day of the week? Here goes. 

Japan based their days of the week from certain symbols so remembering them would be easy.

-YOUBI stands for day of the week

Getsuyoubi - Monday 月 (moon) 
Kayoubi - Tuesday　火 (fire)
Suiyoubi - Wednesday 水 (water)
Mokuyoubi - Thursday 木 (tree)
Kinyoubi - Friday 金 (gold/money)
Doyoubi - Saturday 土 (soil)
Nichiyoubi - Sunday 日 (day/sun)

It's memorized like this Getsu-Ka-Sui-Moku-Kin-Do-Nichi like a chant. LOL.

Week is covered, let's go to the DATE. 

Stating the month is easy as counting from 1 to 12. we just need to add "GATSU" because it means month. Here goes. (Note: Special readings ALERT)

January - Ichi GATSU
February - Ni GATSU
March - San GATSU
April - SHI GATSU **Alert: SHI is now used instead of YON)
May - Go GATSU 
June - Roku GATSU
July - SHICHI GATSU ** Alert: SHICHI is now used instead of NANA)
August - HACHI GATSU
September - KU GATSU ** Alert: KU is now used instead of KYUU)
October - JUU GATSU
November - JUU ICHI GATSU
December - JUU NI GATSU

((Special readings = April, July and September))

Now here comes the tricky part. Stating the day of the month. It's not that difficult but it can be confusing to some because you're going to apply new readings. But the good news is, it's only applicable to the first 10 and few others. Here goes.

1st day of the month - Tsuitachi
2nd - Futsuka
3rd - Mikka 
4th - Yokka 
5th - Itsuka
6th - Muika 
7th - Nanoka
8th - YOUKA
9th - Kokonoka
10th - Tooka 

Note: 4 and 8 can be confusing. Just keep in mind that 4 has two K's and 8 is read with a long vowel. YOKKA and YOUKA

For 11 until 31 we just have to add NICHI and I'm going to note some special readings.

11th - Juu ichi NICHI
12th - Juu ni NICHI
13th - Juu san NICHI
14th - Juu yon NICHI
15th - Juu go NICHI
16th - Juu roku NICHI
17th - Juu shichi NICHI (Alert: Juu shichi is used because we're stating dates and months)
18th - Juu hachi NICHI
19th - Juu ku NICHI (Alert: Juu KU is used here)

---SPECIAL: 20th is read as HATSUKA--- (Japan thinks the 20th is special. LOL)

21st - Ni juu ichi NICHI
22nd - Ni juu ni NICHI
23rd - Ni juu san NICHI
24th - Ni juu YOKKA (SPECIAL: We use YOKKA here and not yon nichi or shi nichi)
25th - Ni juu go NICHI
26th - Ni juu roku NICHI
27th - Ni juu shichi NICHI (Special: SHICHI Is used)
28th - Ni juu hachi nichi (Hachi is now used not YOUKA)
29th - Ni juu ku nichi (Special: KU is still used)
30th - San juu nichi 
31st - San juu ichi nichi

--   That covers the date. LOL. 

Now you can state the date now by combining the date and the day of the month

Let's say November 29 --> Juu ichi gatsu ni juu ku nichi. 

December 25 - Juu ni gatsu ni juu go nichi

January 1 - Ichi gatsu TSUITACHI

June 20 - Roku gatsu HATSUKA

So how do we ask for the date and day of the month in japanese? We use this phrase

Kyou wa NAN GATSU, NAN NICHI desu ka? (What month/day of the month is today?)

(Kyou means today. 'wa' is an indicator of a subject like the one used in 'Watashi wa' )

Nan/Nani means  'What'

: To answer the question, we reply like this: Kyou wa (Date/Day of the month) desu.

For example: Kyou wa Juu Ichi gatsu Ni Juu Ku Nichi desu.

Asking for the day of the week is the same. It goes like this:

Kyou wa NAN YOUBI desu ka? 

: To reply, we say: Kyou wa nichiyoubi desu. 

>>Additional: You can now state your date of birth now, too.   

Birthday is Tanjoubi. 

If you want to say 'My birthday is on....' you use this phrase:

Watashi NO Tanjoubi wa (Date/Day of the month) desu.

(No -- indicates possession so Watshi no tanjoubi literally translates MY BIRTHDAY))

For example: Watashi no Tanjoubi wa Juu ni Gatsu Ni Juu Go Nichi desu.   

And that covers up the Date and month. How was it? LOL. 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

The-Nina-Beans88 In reply to ??? [2015-11-08 05:01:58 +0000 UTC]

hmm.... how does English class work in Japan any way? is it like Spanish?

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to The-Nina-Beans88 [2015-11-08 11:04:42 +0000 UTC]

They just teach the very basic ones with a lot of quizzes, oral exercises, essay writing and reading but I could say that learning english from the media is much reliable than school alone xD teachers can't get the pronunciation right.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

The-Nina-Beans88 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-08 11:28:24 +0000 UTC]

Ah....I see!

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

ChibiLove64 In reply to ??? [2015-11-08 04:44:57 +0000 UTC]

Be my sensei

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to ChibiLove64 [2015-11-08 11:02:28 +0000 UTC]

Oh he would be, soon xD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

ChibiLove64 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-09 08:12:08 +0000 UTC]

Yay
 

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Pancake06 In reply to ??? [2015-11-08 04:16:54 +0000 UTC]

Sensei!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to Pancake06 [2015-11-08 11:01:22 +0000 UTC]

かっこい先生(〃^ー^〃) it would be nice if he's a teacher xD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pancake06 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-08 15:13:02 +0000 UTC]

I was gonna say that xD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to Pancake06 [2015-11-09 07:32:39 +0000 UTC]

Haha. XD i wonder if he gives an A.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Pancake06 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-09 16:52:32 +0000 UTC]

I wish ~<3

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Sayrinn In reply to ??? [2015-11-08 03:23:37 +0000 UTC]

Oh damn well now I wish I could go back to school again ._.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to Sayrinn [2015-11-08 10:57:55 +0000 UTC]

Yeah,me too.Shadow makes us like school for some reason xD

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Sayrinn In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-08 18:53:24 +0000 UTC]

Yep >u<

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Roscela In reply to ??? [2015-11-08 01:41:03 +0000 UTC]

ah so dreamy ,but I bet you have to do your best to impress him X,D haha cool ,the colouring seems smooth and nice >u< 
keep it up!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to Roscela [2015-11-08 10:55:27 +0000 UTC]

Thank you :3 yes, we have the exact headcanon of what Shadow would be like as a teacher. (*´ω｀*)(≧∇≦)

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

DCLeadboot In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 23:41:17 +0000 UTC]

Heh, looks like quite a cool-looking teacher there, in those smart clothes!

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to DCLeadboot [2015-11-08 10:41:20 +0000 UTC]

Yup, he sure is xD Something in him just screams "teacher"

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

drazzy-the-dragoness In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 23:22:29 +0000 UTC]

Is not batman, but I'm content XD 

OMG!! that's a good image!!   I love it! 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to drazzy-the-dragoness [2015-11-08 10:40:22 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! Yup, seeing Shadow as a teacher is just fangirl material xP

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

AshP15 In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 22:24:39 +0000 UTC]

人々は実際に買うのですか？

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to AshP15 [2015-11-08 10:37:30 +0000 UTC]

Hidden by Commenter

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AshP15 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-09 04:42:03 +0000 UTC]

what? 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to AshP15 [2015-11-09 05:43:39 +0000 UTC]

ごめん、携帯で返事しましたので。ちょっと壊れた。うん、ここで絵を売ることができると言いました。

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

AshP15 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-10 04:46:35 +0000 UTC]

ああ、すごいです

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

UltimateEquilibrium In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 22:17:40 +0000 UTC]

I think Shadow would make a good teacher

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to UltimateEquilibrium [2015-11-08 10:35:47 +0000 UTC]

LoL. I agree with that. A strict one, too.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

GothNebula In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 21:08:37 +0000 UTC]

Man, I always want to learn how to read Japanese but its very hard.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

nyctoshing In reply to GothNebula [2015-11-08 10:26:34 +0000 UTC]

Kanji can be hard. Even japanese people can't read them all but instead rely on the radicals to know the meaning but hiragana and katakana are easy You can start with hiragana then proceed to katakana. Kanji is the last. That's how it's taught to us in school (^-^)v

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

GothNebula In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-08 15:46:52 +0000 UTC]

thanks for the tip

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to GothNebula [2015-11-09 07:31:40 +0000 UTC]

No problem (*^_^*)

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

victoriame In reply to GothNebula [2015-11-07 23:14:58 +0000 UTC]

that is true. Its so hard for me too ^^"

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Red-Love41 In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 21:05:30 +0000 UTC]

So many quizzes 

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to Red-Love41 [2015-11-08 10:16:51 +0000 UTC]

Yep xD Our teacher used to give us a lot of quizzes before. I bet Shadow would be the same type of teacher.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Red-Love41 In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-08 13:56:13 +0000 UTC]

Nice XD

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

TheRumTumTiger In reply to ??? [2015-11-07 21:01:23 +0000 UTC]

He is my teacher.   

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to TheRumTumTiger [2015-11-08 10:14:03 +0000 UTC]

Awesome!!! XD how is he in class? X3 I bet he's one strict teacher. XP

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

TheRumTumTiger In reply to nyctoshing [2015-11-08 18:15:33 +0000 UTC]

Yup, but his handsomeness makes up for it. :3

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

nyctoshing In reply to TheRumTumTiger [2015-11-09 07:28:37 +0000 UTC]

Lawl xD +10 for handsome teacher.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1