I'm in Matsue, they speak... well kinda Matsue-ben here And a lot of people in Izumo don't actually speak it, a lot of them are from different cities. The joy of living in a transfer-society But this lady is born and bred Izumo. Did you know that ぬくい means "too hot" in Izumo-ben? You do now Plus in Matsue, we say "しちょー" while in Izumo they say "しとる" (regular Japanese している). Oh yes. There are differences. Ah, if there was a dialects section on the JLPT, it would be owned. So owned. Speaking of the JLPT, who is planning to take it this year? I have an intense year of study ahead of me, because my vocabulary is shocking. Dialects, no problem. Casual swearing, no problem. Read a newspaper? No f-ing chance
OT Question: Is it easier to be/live in Japan while learning Japanese rather than being in a non-Japanese-speaking country? Seeing that a few of the forum members are living in Japan right now, I would think that you all would be completely fluent, but it seems like that's not exactly the case. Can you easily survive in Japan with an elementary knowledge of the language?
You can live in Japan with no Japanese, really. It's difficult, but can be done. I think the question of living here/not living here really depends on the person themselves. I know people who have lived here for 20 or so years yet still can't speak a work. Compare that to a person who studies a lot in their native country and could hold a conversation fairly fluently. It all depends on you, your environment, and how much effort you put in. Of course living here gives you an advantage if you're the studious type, and you want to take advantage of it, but it's not the be all and end all of language fluency. My two cents.
I need help of someone who be excel in Japanese. Or sort of. I just need that at least, someone guess from the context. I'm translating Sayaka's Q&A at the Team K PB, however, there are 2 kanjis and a sentence I cannot figure out. I find Sayaka's calligraphy really beautiful, but these parts just beat me. The worst part is that I know I've seen those before 1. My transcription: 携帯ストラップは？ ヴィヴィアンのストラップ。 友達が[ ? ]のお守りにくれた ?= 2. My transcription: 面白いと思うメンバーは？ かよ、シンディ。 …まぁ、あたしにいかなわんけどネ… （嘘） Did I read ok? 3. My transcription: ファンの方々に一言！ いつも本当にありがとうございます。 これからも努力して[ ? ]りますのでよろしくお願いします。 ?= I spent like one hour searching something like that kanji in my "Nelson dictionary". XD Failed, though. Thanx in advance, to whoever wants to help me.
I'm pretty good with my Nelson's, so here are my guesses: 1. My transcription: 携帯ストラップは？ ヴィヴィアンのストラップ。 友達が米白のお守りにくれた YOUR CELLPHONE STRAP? It's a VIVIAN strap. It's an off-white colored charm that a friend gave me. 米白 means "off-white" in Chinese. I'm guessing it means the same in Japanese, though I don't know how to say it. 2. My transcription: 面白いと思うメンバーは？ かよ、シンディ。 …まぁ、あたしにいかなわんけどネ… （嘘） Did I read ok? The transcription looks okay, but what is ikanawan? いかな −> 如何な？ 3. My transcription: ファンの方々に一言！ いつも本当にありがとうございます。 これからも努力して参りますのでよろしくお願いします。 The three strokes at the bottom of the kanji was the clue.
Thanx fosensei! Nelson is a great dictionary. Ok. Let me see... 1. 米白 I can't find a Japanese meaning for this. The second kanji is clearly SHIRO/HAKU. But the other one, if, 米... I don't know. I'll think of it as "off-white", unless I can find more hints. 2. Ikana, yes. What you say. About "wan". My guess is it's a contraction of "warau". 3. I thought of that, too. But I always thought this radical was on the top. But yes, "mairu" makes sense.
Holy cow, you guys are amazing! I stared at the 48 Questions for like...10 minutes and then gave up because I couldn't read most of her penmanship. I so have a long way to go...
Cmon giddy, it's not that difficult. I spent a lot of hours doing it, though. I'm good at reading, but my listening is so-so. Plus, I love Sayaka so, that my effort rocketed the results. Haha! I insist Sayaka's calligraphy looks pretty mature, so it is hard to understand. BTW, do u have a Nelson, giddy?
Well, if it took you a lot of hours, then it's gotta be difficult. And no matter what, I always feel like I have a long way to go with respect to my Japanese skills. When I looked at her penmanship, I kept seeing red blobs. Maybe if her answers were blown up more or if she used a fine-tipped pen, I'd have been able to read it better. And yes, I do have a Nelson.
I was going to post this earlier, but I had to leave for work. I think I may have figured out this line: …まぁ、あたしにいかなわんけどネ… （嘘） That 「い」, might actually be an extra 「に」, which I think is a mistake. Hey, it could happen to anyone...I screw up all the time …まぁ、あたしにいかなわんけどネ… （嘘） Anyway, if we leave it out, then we get a sentence that kinda makes sense: …まぁ、あたしにかなわんけどネ… （嘘） I'm pretty sure the 『ん」is a contraction of 「ない」, so if I replace「かなわない」with 「敵わない」, we get what seems like a meaningful result: 面白いと思うメンバーは？ かよ、シンディ。 …まぁ、あたしに敵わないけどネ… （嘘） WHICH MEMBERS DO YOU THINK ARE INTERESTING? Kayo, Cindy. ...Well, I'm no match for them... (I'm lyin') Does that look right?
ありがとうございます、fosensei. Your theory is pretty satisfactory. I don't like the idea of Sayaka making a mistake, though. LOL. I had taken "omoshiroi" as "fun" instead of "interesting". But you explanation makes sense. Thank you. I'll re-read every answer she gave in case I can correct some points. I'll do a couple of new questions now: There is a question which says: 業界関係者の皆さまに一言！ That's businessmen, right? And the other question may be stupid but よろしくお願いします is giving me problems. Sayaka is asked to give a word to Akimoto Yasushi, so she answers: 秋元才加。今年もよろしくお願いします！ So, "yoroshiku..." would mean she's somehow ready to do do her job this year, too? I read "yoroshiku..." translated as "I'm up and running", once. That sounds neat. Or instead, Sayaka is saying "I count on you"?
今年もよろしくお願いします is what people say to friends etc at the beginning of the year, but I think is difficult to translate into anything sounding like natural English. But kinda like... I hope things go well again this year, let's do our best, please don't graduate me suddenly... etc etc
I think 「業界関係者の皆さま」is more like "everyone in the industry". But what industry? The Idol industry? I like what Tara said. I've seen JDramas where they translate it as "I'll be counting on your support (again) this year". Ehh, that's too literal of a translation. It's a way to thank people that support you or you work for, or do things for you, like your boss, friends, family(?), postal workers, fans who buy your CDs...
Thanx for the yoroshiky explanation. That's of the things I saw in my first day of Japanese classes... 8 years ago. So I don't really remember it well. Too bad. That's why I wonder, it may be the idol industry, too. They used 芸能界 in a prior question. Maybe they are referring to it and they're just no repeating the same word?
Hey guyz, any recommended website if wanted to learn japanese online? Including with teaching of pronunciation. If anyone have the link please post it here. Your help will be thank and appreciated by me >.<
if you want to learn some less normal phrases or slang-y things this website might help? http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/jslang/jibiki.htm
another useful site (well...i find it useful most of the time) is エキサイト翻訳 function from http://www.excite.co.jp/ roll down the page and you'll be able to translate Japanese to English or Japanese to English the translations are rarely ever perfect. but they give you a GENERAL IDEA of how it should sound in Japanese or what it means in English. GENERAL IDEA ONLY PEOPLE! don't depend on it!
