Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Japanese phrases at meal time

go-chiso^ sama deshita 御ちそうさまでした

The thing to say after partaking of a hearty Japanese feast in gratitude showing your thanks. It is a custom in Japan grounded in buddhist tradition, that after every meal the partaker of that meal should say go-chiso^ sama deshita 御ちそうさまでした. It should be considered mandatory to outsiders that it is necessary to say this after a meal. Perhaps to say the least. It most likely would show a host family in Japan rude manners, uncultured. So make it a point to say go-chiso^ sama deshita 御ちそうさまでしたafter every meal eaten in Japan, whether or not anybody is there.

Japanese adverbs

Some Japanese adverbs

jissai ni 実際に- actually
omo ni 主に- mostly
seishinsei de 聖心精で - sincerely
kataku 堅く- firmly
majime 真面目(ni)- serious(ly)
rikoteki利己的 - selfish
kicho^ na 貴重- precious

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Command Form Basic Japanese Grammar

http://feeds.feedburner.com/ Japanetics-DynamicJapaneseLanguageLearning

Basic Japanese Grammar Crash Course
Accelerated Japanese Mastery
Base II + NASAI なさい – Lesser command form
To boss people around, or tell people what to do, commanding them in Japanese you will need to know this Japanese Grammar construction:

Verb (base II) + NASAI なさい - Do verb! Command form.

Examples

1.Suwarinasai! 坐りなさい!
“Take your seat!”
a.Suwaru 座る - v. to sit down
b.suwaru 座るin base II is suwari 坐り
c.suwari坐り + nasai なさい = suwarinasai坐りなさい Sit!

2.Shukudai o shinasai! 宿題をしなさい
“Do your homework!”
a.suruする – v. to do
b.suru in base II = shiし
c.shiし + nasaiなさい = shinasaiしなさい “DO IT!”


3.Ikinasai! 行きなさい
“Go!”
a.iku 行く– v . to go
b.iku 行くin base II is iki 行き
c.iki行き + nasaiなさい = ikinasai行きなさい “GO!”

Plug in your favorite Japanese verbs into this Japanese Grammar Construction and start making your own cool sentences then test them on your Japanese friends.

As always,
Ganbatte Ne! 頑張ってね
Do Your Best!
Makurasuki まくらすき

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Japanese grammar for Intend to verb

Japanese Language Mastery in 130 modernized lessons.
Ghetto Grammar Lesson #115 – The Japanese bunpo of Intentions

In Japanese it is easy to construct sentences that tell others your intentions. To say that you intend on doing something in Japanese, put a verb in either baseIII or baseI (i.e. iku or ikanai) and add tsumori desu. As long as the locutor has a handle on the pronunciation of the tsu syllable (see pronunciation tips #13), then his/her spoken intentions will also be easily understood. Tsumori is the word we use when we want to show an intention. Putting tsumoru into baseII[1] gives you tsumori.
We can understand more about the bunpo of intentions (today’s grammar principle) by taking a closer look at the meaning of the word tsumori and/or its etymology. Of course don’t neglect to listen to your surroundings especially when you are blessed with an immersive environment. If you are not already in Japan, try listening for words you have learned via Japanese T.V. or from any other means to feel the way in which those words are used by native Japanese speakers. Paying attention to how it is used in the real world. Tsumoru is the verb to accumulate or to be piled or stacked up. Also note that tsumeru means to stuff, pack, or cram, and although the kanji is not exactly the same, they both seem to have stemmed from a common source. Tsumori is also related to the widely used common term tsumaranai which is the word for something that is worthless or trivial or something that is not worth your time worrying about.

Ghetto Grammar Lesson #115 – Intend to verb

English
Japanese
-intend to + verb
verb (Base III) + tsumori
-no intention to + verb
verb (Base I) + tsumori
You must add the polite form of the verb to be (de aru) after tsumori to show politeness as well as to show whether the intention was a past or present, negative or positive intention. A few examples will show you how to use this bunpo principle.

Practice Tip – Take all the Japanese verbs you know and put them into the tsumori bunpo. Have fun with words like fart, choke, drown, dumpster dive etc. Remember Ghetto Grammar is not only useful, its fun. Just be careful not to get too ghetto and always use the polite form for verbs. Steer clear of anything plain form or lower. ex.1 - I intend to win.
- Watakushi wa katsu tsumori desu.

ex.2 - He intends to speak with her.
- Kare wa kanojo to hanasu tsumori desu.

ex.3 - I don't intend to go.
- Ikanai tsumori desu. (Rarely used)

ex.3a - I have no intentions to go.
- Iku tsumori wa nai desu. (More frequently)
- Iku tsumori wa arimasen. (More polite)

ex.4 - It was my intention to do the dishes.
- Sara o arau tsumori deshita.

ex.4a - I had intended to go
- Iku tsumori deshita.

Most often literal translations of Japanese to English rarely come out in a comprehensible fashion.They are usually so far from what is really being said that the meaning comes out all wrong. In studying a language it is sometime good, however, to learn about word etymology if possible. Try listening for other uses of the same term. By getting use to hearing a certain phrase more than one way, you are setting the stage for solid language acquisition. In our tsumori bunpo we would want to know how meanings would affect our usage. Since tsumoru means to accumulate, to be piled or to be stacked up, when we literally translate example 1 above it becomes something like this - I have accumulated much the act of winning, Or, -I have a lot of winning put aside, the winning is all piled up over there. I hope you get my point here. It may sound a little wacky but remember… this is ‘ghetto’ grammar baby! Intentions are like a stack of things piled so high that the shear weight of it gives verbs and our ghetto grammar principles intentional potential.

This lesson brought to you by Makurasuki Sensei, Brett McCluskey Wishing all the best in your endeavors toward improving your Japanese. Ganbatte ne! Do your Best! Ja Mata Kondo! If you found this article helpful and want to really get good at Japanese or any language for that matter look for my articles at squidoo.com and also check out http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2328430-10446709/ for the best dictionary in the galaxy.




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[1] For more about how verbs are put into bases in Japanese see http://squidoo.com/

On how to count in Japanese

http://r.yuwie.com/japanese

Since older beginners are said to have past the threshold of native pronunciation, once past that point, native pronunciation is unattainable. This may be physiologically true but we can through practice and hard work get close enough to fake a native or two. Once our tongues have hardened or the brain function coordinated with the muscles of the tongue are stuck in our primary language, they say this usually happens around the age of 12-14, then our tongue is no longer moldable and cannot attain the shape to pronounce things.past the point where the native pronunciation line can be drawn, we can draw near unto only a good pronunciation fter learning 1 through 10 On Counting in Japanese: a study strategy

It is rare with so many romance languages being touted around in the USA, with Mexico south of the border and French Canada high on its heels behind us yet close enough to have its influence felt. It is rare to find someone who has actually learned from a friend or a Japanese teacher how to count in Japanese. Americans are starving for some variety in the choices our students our given in the public or private schools. Where in the curriculum does it provide for Japanese, or Korean, or any of the 1000's of languages the world knows.

First learn the first 10 numbers in Japanese.

1 – ichi
2 – ni
3 – san
4 – shi, yon
5 – go
6 - roku
7 –shichi, nana
8 – hachi, ha
9 – kyu, ku
10 – ju, to

At this point, I just want to say that if you feel at all uncomfortable with the numbers up to 10 then stop and just study these numbers for a couple of days before going on. Use every opportunity to use Japanese. Give yourself two hours each day that you only speak Nihongo. If someone asks you what time it is answer in both Japanese and English. Try doing any simple math that you would normally find yourself doing around the house ; any calculations you find yourself in try to remember to keep pace with your goals. The price of your Stater Bros items and even say the total in Japanese as you are waiting to pay. That is a good way to study even if you are not in Japan. Just make sure you can first say from 1 to 10 in Japanese frontwards and backwards with your eyes closed and without any help from some book, however you decide to memorize the numbers The idea behind all of this is to get the locuter speaking more in the target language giving him opportunity to

Now on to the teens. Like most languages, the numbers become compound so 11 in Japanese is actually like saying ten one, ten two, ten three, ten four &tc.
11 – ju ichi
12 – ju ni
13 – ju san
...
and so forth... I'll let you finish studying the rest of the tens 14-19

Now on to the twenties. Here as in the teens the numbers are compounded so that you will be saying two ten, two ten one, two ten three &tc.
20 –ni ju
21 – ni ju ichi
22 – ni ju ni
and so on...

The 30's through the 90's are also done in this fashion. Once you have recited aloud the numbers 20 to 99 review them all and go on to do the 100's after you learn the word for
30 – san ju
31 - san ju ichi
95 – kyu ju go
99 – kyu ju kyu
100 – hyaku
101 – hyaku ichi
108 – hyaku hachi
197 – hyaku kyu ju nana (shichi)
200 – ni hyaku
300 – sam byaku
400 – yon hyaku
500 –go hyaku
600 – roppyaku
700 – nanahyaku
800 – happyaku
900 – kyuhyaku
1000 – sen
1001 – sen ichi
2000 ni sen
Etc
Some of my best spent hours studying Japanese were when I recited to myself the numbers in Japanese from zero to one million, and then back to zero again. Yes it got a little tedious and after a while I would think to myself, “O.K. Enough is enough! I mean gee… to 1 million and back… that is going a little out of the way just to learn some language don’t you think?” Not to a die-hard that really wants to speak the language. I was extremely determined to master Japanese, that is why I recited the numbers from zero to one million and then back again over and over again.
Other things I did which are strategies worth considering was that I would count from 0 to 1 million by 2’s, by 3’s, by 4’s and by 5’s, 6’s, 7’s, 8’s, 9’s, and 10’s. Some numbers seemed for some reason or another harder than the others, so I would concentrate more on the hard ones. I don’t think I tried 11’s but it could produce the same results. It surely stems from basically the same idea. The more your mouth and brain coordinate their efforts in the target languages the better prepared you will be to use them in the real world. So go ahead use you try some of these out until you can say them without hesitation.

Ways to practice counting so as to get better in speaking Japanese, always practice with correct pronunciation and begin slowly and then build up speed and swiftness of speech.

1. Count from 0 to 1 million and go backwards once you arrive at a million to get to zero once again. Again if 1 million seems tough, it would be o.k. to go as far as you can, but maybe stretch yourself a little, a least 99000 or something. You want to get good don’t you?
2. Count up the odd numbers from 0 to 1 million
3. Count up the even numbers from 0 to 1 million
4. do #2 and #3 backwards from 1 million
5. count through your numbers by 3’s, 4’s 5’s etc
6. do long division by saying out loud in Japanese the problem
Here are some nice handy math words that will give you hours of word play:
To add – tasu
To divide – waru
To multiply -kakeru
To subtract – hiku

I don’t think it sinks into your being until you’ve actually recited the numbers from zero to one million (1,000,000) a couple of times through without hesitation and eventually to do it without even thinking about it. That is one of the secrets of fluency. It sprouts from one’s ability to think in the target language. If you catch yourself thinking in the target language that is a good sign; if you catch yourself dreaming in the target language you have reached bliss, SLA bliss. You are heading towards fluency. I got to a point where my dreams would be in Japanese and it didn’t matter who or what type of people were in my dreams, everybody spoke in Japanese. I remember my mom and dad who aren’t too familiar with the Japanese language, but in my dreams were conversing with me full on like natives themselves. So what is the point of all this? The point is akin to the old adage,’when in Rome do as the Romans do’.
The more one thinks in the target language the more apt they are to acquire the language. Lets face it there is no quick road to fluency except hard work, goal oriented study, persistent practice and an iron will coupled with an abundance of motivation. I hope this little lesson won’t discourage anyone about learning languages. Because there will be some that are too lazy start the training, their motivation will be sub par for their needs, and thus they will not make it to fluency. But those who persevere and but instead will inspire people to go for it, even though the road to fluency isn’t yellow nor bricked. These are things that I know of that will enable an SL learner how to speak in a foreign tongue and bring them closer to near perfect fluency.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Japanese adjectives

ADJECTIVES ALWAYS END IN A DIPTHONG OR TWO VOWEL SOUNDS TOGETHER. they can end in ai, ei, oi, ii, ui, The adjectives ending in ei somehow came to be irregular and don't follow the nice pattern set up for us by the other vowel comination endings. akai, kirei, aoi, utsukushii, atsui a i u e o in like manner are set up to become verb bumpo akakunaru, even kirekunaru, atsukunaru, aokunaru "its turning blue or its turning red" okikunaru- its growing larger or getting bigger"

Some Japanese Grammar for all its for free

This is JPPGG© bunpo principle #87.
Japanese Plug and Play Ghetto Grammar Japanese Language Learning
By Makurasuki Sensei, Brett McCluskey
Towards better Japanese Mastery.

To say in Japanese that you used to ~ verb, (at fairly regular intervals and at some point in the past) use the following construction:

I. (I/You/He/She/They/We/It) used to ~ verb.

I. yoku verb(base TA) mono desu.

The following examples will help you grasp today’s JPPGG construction. After you get a feel for how this grammar is made, just keep plugging new verbs into the verb area in Base TA and then continue playing by making your own unique and interesting sentences. And don’t forget to practice saying all your newly created sentences out-loud. Drilling and killing, or plugging and playing words into the constructions in this way is bound to improve your Japanese conversation skills quickly. You’ll be adding yet another grammar principle to your Japanese language arsenal, for your benefit and use at any time you see fit. Keep plugging and playing until your friends tell you they can’t stand how much you practice your Japanese or until they say stop. But even if you start bugging people because you practice too much just keep telling yourself that the practice that I am doing will surely cause me to improve. Just keep practicing the grammar constructions and saying to yourself new sentences of your own creation until your friends or you go to sleep, whichever comes first. You want to get better at Japanese, don’t you? Well don’t bicker…do quicker! Here are some nice examples with an occasional ghetto phrase sprinkled in here or there to spice up the flavorful fun, so that you can have a good time studying Japanese.

1. When I was younger, I used to ride my bike to school.

Watakushi ga motto wakai koro, jitensha de yoku gakko ni itta mono desu.
{As for I, in the more young time, by bike often school went thing is.}1


2. He used to cheat, but the teacher busted him, and now he is a good boy.

Kare wa mae yoku kanningu shita mono desu keredomo sensei ni barete shimatte ima orikosan desu.



3. I used to play there a lot.

Watakushi wa soko de yoku asonda mono da.


G.A.B. or the Ghetto After Blast – One point advice
The Japanese verb nareru means, “To get used to” which is similar to the used to that you have been getting used to in this bunpo. Nareru is a really cool word, and you will hear it a lot in Japanese conversation.

Ex.1 He is used to that job.
Kare wa sono shigoto ni narete imasu.

As Always, Do your Best! Ganbatte Ne!
Makurasuki Sensei.


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