JapanSugoi

Japanese is a difficult language for many foreigners to learn. Besides tones,  katakana and hiragana, there are numerous expressions and slang to learn.  Japan based comedian “Ken Tanaka” (David Ury) and his assistant Remi February have a funny video on how to speak fluent Japanese without saying a single word and how to speak fluent Japanese by speaking English! Enjoy.

speak fluent Japanese without saying a single word

speak fluent Japanese by speaking English!

Learning Japanese?  Know how to say parts of the body?  Here are some basic vocabulary words.

1. Head あたま atama 2. Eye 目 me  3. Forehead ひたい hitai 4. Nose 鼻 hana 5. Chin あご ago 6. Eyebrow まゆげ mayuge 7. Ears 耳 mimi 8. Mouth 口 kuchi 9. Cheeks ほっぺ hoppe 10. Tongue  舌 shita 11. Hair 髪の毛 kami no ke – 12.  Shoulder かた kata 13. Arm うで ude 14. Elbow ひじ hiji 15. Hand 手 te -16. Thumb 親指 oyayubi 17. Chest 胸 mune 18. Stomach おなか onaka 19. Foot あし ashi  20. Eyelash  まつげ 21.  Toe つまさき 22. Underarm わきの下 23. Back 背中 24. Neck 首 25. Finger  指  Read more...

In most countries traffic lights have the standard red, yellow and green colors.  In Japan, green traffic lights are considered “blue” and described as ao shingō (青信号). In modern Japanese although there is a word for “green” (”midori 緑”), which is a relatively new term that has only been used since the Heian Period. Even after “midori” came into use, green was still thought of as a shade of “ao” instead of an independent color and only became distinguished after World War II. In today’s Japan the word “ao” is still used to describe certain items (such as vegetables, traffic lights) that are actually green. The word “ao” can also mean “youth”.  Read more...

Japanese school girls have been creating urban slang continually and sometimes that slang crosses into the general population and  becomes a social phenomenon.   One slang term is “KY” which does not refer to  K-Y Jelly.   KY’s “K” stands for “Kuuki” which means “air” and “Y” stands for “Yomenai” which means “cannot read”.  In direct translation it would become “one cannot read the air.” In fact, it is used to describe “a person who cannot sense the atmosphere” or “a person who cannot read between the lines.” It would be used in a sentence such as “He is such a KY. He always brings up trouble when all of us are having a great time”  Read more...

Learning Japanese?  Hiragana Megane is an excellent online tool (furigana injector) for those of you who enjoy reading Japanese news articles and blogs but struggle to remember the readings of every kanji you come across.  With Hiragana Megane all you have to do is enter the URL of the website or blog you want to add furigana 振り仮名 to and click on the Go button.

The website/blog will then now show furigana above all of the kanji in the text.  There are some  other alternatives such as usingthe Mozilla plug-in Rikaichan, and the slow-and-tedious method of copy/pasting unknown kanji into an online dictionary but we personally find Hiragana Megane quite useful.  Read more...

One of most common Japanese expressions that has no direct translation in English, is itadakimasu ( which literally means ’I am receiving something’).

It’s said before eating a meal and can basically be equated with ‘saying grace’ or saying “bon appetite”.  It is used to show a person’s gratitude for the food they are about to eat and is said before a family or group meal commences.

Japanese onomatopoeia is fascinating.  After watching a bit of anime or reading manga in Japanese, it will quickly become apparent that the Japanese have words for sounds that cannot be heard.  It’s also very interesting to see how sounds change between languages, and what two languages are further apart than English and Japanese? For example, frogs say “gero gero” instead of “ribbit”, and dogs bark “wan wan”.  Read more...

• a = (whoah)
• ba = (arrows shooting)
• ba = (whoosh)
• ba = (fling)
• ba = (fwoosh)
• ba = (shake)
• ba = (tearing off clothes)

Check out these videos from JPN Podcast to learn some Hiragana basics

Learning Hiragana Videos

5 basic vowels

Learn 15 Hiragana

Learn another 13 Hiragana

Here are some common and popular Japanese boys and girls FIRST names beginning G-E.

Names A-F here, M-Z here.
The gender of a person can normally be guessed by the ending of his/her first name. First names ending with -ro, -shi, -ya, or -o are typically male whilest names ending in -ko, -mi, -e and -yo are typically female.

GA female means “silver”

GORO male, means “fifth son”

HACHIRO male, means “eighth son”

HANA female, “favourite” or “flower”

HANAKO female, means “flower child”

HARUKA female, means “far off”

HARUKO female, means “sprg child” or “sunny child”  Read more...