Japanese conversations are very different to Western conversations. In this post we are going to look at a short Japanese conversation. Imgaine you are on the train on your way to Shibuya in Tokyo. A man sitting next to you asks you questions about where you are from and what you do.
Japanese Conversation Example
A: あの、アメリカじんですか
B： はい。そうです。
A: しゅっしん は どこですか
B: ニュウヨーク です
A: りゅうがくせいですか
B: はい。
A: にほんはどうですか
B: だいすきです。
The first question is something I am asked all the time in Japan despite the fact that I am not American. Japanese are generally ignorant of the other countries. They assume most white foreigners in Japan are American.
アメリカじんですか – Are you American? じん means person or people. Adding じん to a country name gives you the nationality.
The reply はい。 そうです means “Yes. I am.”
The next question is asking where your place of birth or hometown is. しゅっしん means hometown. どこですか is the question phrase “Where is..? You reply dropping the subject and just stating New York with です。
The third question りゅうがくせいですか is asking if you are an overseas student. がくせい means student. Adding りゅう can mean exchange, overseas or international student.
Finally the last question is asking your opinion of Japan. どうでか basically means “What do you think of……? So にほんはどうですか translates to “What do you think of Japan?”
You love Japan so your answer is だいすきです. Notice again how you don’t need to state the subject which in this case is Japan.
Also notice how each line of this conversation ends with either です or ですか
Here is the conversation in English
A: あの、アメリカじんですか
B： はい。そうです。
A: しゅっしん は どこですか
B: ニュウヨーク です
A: りゅうがくせいですか
B: はい。
A: にほんはどうですか
B: だいすきです。
A: Um…… Are you American?
B: Yes. I am.
A: Where is your hometown?
B: New York
A: What do you think of Japan
B: I love (Japan)
Time to learn some basic Japanese phrases and Japanese words relating to things you like doing – your hobbies. “Hobby” has a slightly different meaning in Japan. Japanese consider things like shopping, eating favorite foods and even sleepping as hobbies. The word for hobby in Japanese is しゅみ (shumi). The Japanese symbol or kanji for this word is 趣味.
Japanese Phrases Lesson
In this lesson you will learn how to ask and answer questions relating to hobbies. We have upload many videos to youtube. Video language lessons are a great way to learn Japanese. We hope you like this one. This is a basic Japanese lesson, but hopefully you will learn something.
Structure
私のしゅみは……………です。
Watashi no shumi wa……desu.
My hobby is………………
My hobbies are………….
Vocabulary
| ひらがな | Romaji | English |
| らくがき | Rakugaki | Drawing, graffitti |
| うんどう | Undou | Exercise |
| かるい | Karui | Light |
| たべる | Taberu | Eat |
| ひく | Hiku | Play (a musical instrument) |
Grammar Note
verb + こと
Adding “koto” will nominalize the verb; change it into a noun.
たべる － Eat ; たべること － Eating
After watching the video try to read the sentences and questions below.
（あなたの）しゅみは何ですか。
わたしのしゅみは、すしをたべることです。
私の趣味はらくがきをすることです。
私の趣味はかるく、うんどうすることです。
私の趣味はギターをひくことです。
私の趣味はピアノをひくことです。
趣味はないですよ。
趣味のじかんがない。
趣味とまではいかないけど、どくしょがすきです。
ねることがわたしのしゅみです。
In this lesson you will learn the On (Chinese) and Kun (Japanese) readings of 5 common Kanji characters. I have provided an example sentence for each one. I am assuming that you can read Hiragana and have some basic Japanese under your belt. If you are unable to read hiragana please subscribe to our youtube videos – http://www.youtube.com/user/sodapencil
Learning Japanese characters is a great way to build vocabulary quickly. Also, I find Japanese writing to be quite beautiful. It is actually a pleasure to be able to write in Japanese. Learning to read and write Japanese characters is very worthwhile and something you should consider doing it immediately if you are serious about learning Japanese. Don’t bother wasting your time with romaji. Get straight into learning Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.
Common Japanese Characters
| Kanji | On-Yomi | Kun-Yomiu | Meaning |
| 水 | すい | みず | Water |
なつ のとき よく 水 を のみます。
I drink a lot of water in summer.
| Kanji | On-Yomi | Kun-Yomi | Meaning |
| 本 | ほん | もと | Book, basics |
本 を よむ のは 好きです。
I like to read books.
| Kanji | On-Yomi | Kun-Yomi | Meaning |
| 人 | じん、にん | ひと | People, person |
あの 人 あなた の ともだち ですか
Is that person your friend?
| Kanji | On-Yomi | Kun-Yomi | Meaning |
| 気 | き | - | Spirit |
気 に しないで ください
Please, don’t worry about it.
| Kanji | On-Yomi | Kun-Yomi | Meaning |
| 元 | げん | - | Origin |
元気 ですか
How are you?
If you want to learn how to start reading Kanji with in 30 days please check out Read Japanese Fast
Everyone knows some Japanese. You probably have heard or know these Japanese words and meanings; kamikaze, keisha, kimono, karaoke, samurai and so on. Many Japanese words and phrases have deep cultural significance which can make it hard for students to learn Japanese. However, Japanese words aren’t always deeply culturally rooted – there are some wacky words. While living in Japan I came across some ridiculous Japanese words that could only exists in Japan. The Japanese have a knack for stealing foreign words and giving them new meanings. Let’s learn a few.
Funny Japanese Words and Meanings
My pet hate Japanese word is juice, in katakana ジュース. In Japanese “juice” basically means soft drink. It can even mean canned coffee. How could they get this word so wrong. So if a Japanese offers you “juice” in Japan don’t be surprised if you are giving a glass of coke.
Snack, スナック, is an other word Japanese give new meaning to. Instead of relating to eating food the word is all about drinking. In Japanese snack means bar. But not just any bar. Snack bars are small drinking places usually for the older generation where Japanese can drown their sorrows with whisky or beer and belt out some enka. These places are very popular with men as they are sort of a hostess bar where you’re charged quite a lot to drink with female company. Enka is traditional Japanese music- songs about lots love. These places are probably the most depressing places you could ever visit in Japan.
Viking is one of my favorite’s. It is pronounced “Bye -king” and written in katakana バイキング. Japanese most likely wouldn’t know who the Vikings were. Yet, at least one Japanese picked up on their eating habits and coined the phrase to mean buffet. Viking means “all-you-can- eat” . It can also mean ”all-you-can-drink”.
Ice comes close. It means ice cream. In katakana アイス. This is an example of how Japanese will take English words and shorten them or abbreviate them. Japanese generally like to communicate with the least amount of words. They will take a foreign word shorten it, give it a new meaning, and eventually it slips into main stream vocabulary.
When you first learn or discover these words you will feel dumbfounded . You will either feel amused or annoyed. It is quite hard to believe that the words I just taught you are meaningful and common words in the Japanese language. It certainly took me a while to accept and use them. One of the most frustrating things is many Japanese believe that they are speaking English when using these loan words. Good reason enough not to even consider teaching English in Japan……just joking.
To speak Japanese fluently is usually the ultimate goal of anyone studying the Japanese language. To reach the level where you can speak Japanese fluently can become quite a time consuming challenge. Not because the language is so difficult, but because most of the methods people use to learn or study Japanese are unproductive and too confusing.
In my experience the best foreign speakers of Japanese are usually people who have taken no formal Japanese classes, can’t read or write hiragana or katakana, don’t know any kanji and don’t have a clue about Japanese grammar. They are also usually non-English speakers as well. How are they able to speak the language so well? They are forced to because of there job. Due to their environment or situation they have no option but to speak Japanese.
Why English Teachers Living In Japan Can’t Speak Japanese Fluently
When living in Japan I met hundreds of English teachers who could speak Japanese, but never at a fluent level. They were taking classes, studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, and investing quite a lot of money on text books and audio programs. They studied hard but just couldn’t get to a fluent level. Then occasionally I would met someone from Turkey or India. They would speak the language like a native. Yet, they had taken no classes or purchased little in the way of study material.
These speakers of Japanese wouldn’t learn or study the language in the traditional sense. They wouldn’t spend time learning hiragana or katakana. They certainly wouldn’t learn kanji or study grammar. In fact they would no nothing about the language except they could speak fluently. They would just soak up and use the language from their environment. They learnt the language from example and experience. The fastest and most effective way to study anything, especially a language.
Learn To Speak Japanese Fluently
In order to speak Japanese fluently you need to surround yourself with Japanese speakers and also not speak your native language. If you put yourself in a situation where you are forced to speak the language daily your Japanese will improve in leaps and bounds. If you spend too much time on rules about the language you will become knowledgeable about the structure of language and whatnot, but your speak ability will progress very slowly.
To develop the ability to speak you must observe how Japanese interact and then basically model what you see over and over. You have to become a bit of a actor and become Japanese. Japanese has to become a part or most of your life. Now, the problem is not many of us can just drop what we are doing and fly of to Japan.
So how can you learn to speak Japanese without studying the language?
Surround yourself with as much Japanese as possible. Immerse yourself in real language as much as possible. This means making Japanese friends, getting a Japanese girlfriend or boy friend, watching Japanese television and listening to Japanese radio. You need to listen to Japanese speaking the real thing. Don’t listen to podcasts that are designed to teach you Japanese. There is too much in the way of explanation and unrealistic examples. Most of what is taught is too formalized anyway.
Focus your life on mimicking Japanese. Speak to yourself in Japanese. So now you know what you need to do if you want to speak Japanese fluently. If you follow my advice you end up saving yourself a whole lot of time and money.
