Whenever I talk to people about the ten years I lived in Japan, the conversation usually touches on the fact that Japanese is a very difficult language to learn because it is so polite and formal. While this is true, everyday conversational Japanese isn’t as formal as most people perceive. In fact, it is Japanese slang, colloquialisms, and regional dialects that make learning the language a challenge.
During my ten years in Japan I lived in a number of cities and smaller towns. The hardest thing I found was deciphering the different local dialects and colloquialisms. This made learning Japanese interesting yet laborious. At times I found it almost impossible to understand the local country bumpkins in my neighbourhood. Unfortunately, this meant most of my wife’s family.
Why You Should Learn Japanese Slang
Like with most languages, you’ll only discover Japanese slang in Japan. While there are books and websites dedicated to the subject, you need to see Japanese slang in use in order to understand it. I don’t think I knew a word of Japanese slang before I left for Japan many years ago. Now, I find most of my Japanese conversations are littered with slang words. My wife is so funny! She’ll be speaking slang all day for months to me and my son, but whenever she she meets a Japanese person for the first time she is all polite and bowing like a chicken.
Learn Japanese Slang
You should learn Japanese slang. It will really do wonders for you conversational ability and impress Japanese. Most Japanese slang isn’t rude language, it is just very casual and expressive language. I must say I miss listening to the many hundred’s of colloquialisms and slang words Japanese say and invent. Also, learning Japanese slang will give you a better understanding of the Japanese mindset and how certain social situations require a certain different language.
Examples of Japanese Slang
Here are a few Japanese slang words you must know. Just be careful of when and who you say them to.
Baka = A fool / idiot / imbecile
Dasai = Nerdy, out of fashion
Darui = Sluggish
Busu = An ugly looking girl
Debu = A fatso
Kakkoii = Cool
Sugoi = Cool, fantastic, wow!
Pittari = A perfect fit
Maa maa = So so
Kusojiji = An old fart
Kusotare = A shithead
Ijiwaru = Cruel
Mechakucha = Huge / extremley
Shibui = Smart, fancy
Chikushou = Shit!
Hentai = Pervert
Sukebe = pervert
Japanese Slang Expressions
Damare! = Shut up!
Baka yarou! = You are really stupid!
Masaka! = No way! / That can’t be!
Yatta! = I did it!
Kusoooo! = Shit!
Chikushou! = Shit! / Damn it!
Shimatta! = Damn it!
Hayaku shine! = Drop dead, bastard!
Uso tsuki! = Liar!
Busu! = You’re so ugly!
Bikkuri shita! = WOW! (Total shock or surprise)
Hottoke! = Lay off! / Stop bugging me! / Bug off!
Baka! = You idiot!
Baka mitai! = You really look stupid!
Gaman dekinai yo! =I can’t stand it!
Nani sun da yo! = What the hell are you doing?
Tanoshimi yo! = Let’s Party!
Well, that should be enough to get you started. Learning and using Japanese slang is lots of fun. Enjoy!
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。
Studying a language takes time, commitment, consistency and money. It can be a very time consuming process with little reward unless you have clear goals and use what you learn. Unfortunately, most people learn a language blindfoleded – that is to say they don’t map out a clear plan or road map so they can achieve their goals. If you are thinking about taking some Japanese language lessons then you better take some time to think about what you want to achieve. The when you are clear on what your goals are you can decide what you type of Japanese language lessons you’ll invest in.
Why do you want to take Japanese Language Lessons?
One question you can ask yourself right now is.. Why do you want to learn Japanese Japanese? For example, maybe you are planning a holiday to Japan and just want to learn the basics. Or, maybe you want to become a translator or interpreter and live long term in Japan. Whatever your goals are you should make sure that the money you invest in Japanese language lessons set you on the right path to achieve your goals.
So, what are you goals
I want to learn the basics of Japanese because I intend to travel in Japan
If this is you then I recommend you get on Youtube and take a look at all the growing database of free Japanese lessons you can access. We are so fortunate to have the internet. You could pretty much learn the basics on Japanese at Youtube. I would encourage you to make so Japanese friends or try to find a Japanese meet-up group. It really is important to start practicing what you learn with native speakers. Group Japanese lessons are an option. You might find your local community offers lessons at very affordable prices. I do not recommend private Japanese language schools or colleges unless you happy to spend money on lessons you could find on the internet and in podcasts.
I want to read and write Japanese
This was the goal I had when I first went to Japan. I was in love with Japan and wanted learn everything. Ambition can be your worst enemy. I had no real purpose to wanting to learn read and write Japanese, I just wanted to. I think my ego got the better of me and I wanted to impress myself, my family and friends. I had to spend many hours and invest a lot of money to achieve this goal. Looking back I something think I should have my time focusing on spoken Japanese. So, if you want to learn to read and write Japanese be sure their is a why. You’ll be investing a lot of money in private lessons, text books, online Japanese language lessons and test fees, such as the JLPT.
To get started I recommend you take a look at our Youtube Japanese Lessons
I have been studying and learning Japanese for over 15 years. When I first started learning Japanese the internet didn’t exist and I had to learn Japanese using traditional study methods and resources – text books, flashcards, group lessons and expensive audio programs on tape or CD. Now, we are fortunate enough to have the internet and can learn Japanese Online . Learning Japanese has never been better with hundreds of Youtube video lessons, free ebooks, private webcam lessons and beginner to advanced courses.
Over the years I have tried many study methods in my pursuit to master both spoken and written Japanese. I would like to share some alternative or unusual study methods I hope you find useful. I recommend you learn to read and write hiragana and katakana as soon as you can. This will really help you learn the phonetics and build you basic vocabulary quickly.
Watch a lot of Japanese dramas. I used to rent DVDs of popular dramas and watch the same episode over and over again. Some may argue that watching TV isn’t going to help improve your Japanese. However, if you take notes and repeat what the actors say you’ll be amazed by how much you can learn.
One program that I recommend to complete beginners is Rocket Japanese. I got myself the CD versions and basically went crazy with the program 30 days straight. The course basically promises that you will soon be able to speak Japanese at a restaurant, at a train station, with new friends… in basically every situation you can think of! This not quite true, but I certainly did learn a lot and recommend the course to beginners.
The 31 tracks in the Rocket Japanese Premium Interactive Audio Course average over 20 minutes in length each – that’s over 12 hours of audio lessons! Now you know why I went crazy with the program listening to two lessons twice a days for 30 days. They cover everything that you need to know to become part of a living, breathing Japanese community, from introducing yourself to getting around on public transportation, and a whole lot more in between. Japanese people just love it when tourists and travelers speak Japanese to them!
I know what it’s like getting discouraged when trying to make progress with a second language. It’s happened to most of us when we took a foreign language in school. Rocket Languages recognized years ago that there’s a better and easier way to learn a second language. They keep it real and make it fun and easy. (You still need to out in a effort though).
Rocket Japanese also has a Japanese Learner’s FORUM – your Rocket Japanese Premium purchase entitles you to full and unlimited access to the dynamic Rocket Japanese Premium Learner’s Forum, where you can get feedback from professionals and peers who all share a passion for the Japanese language!
The Rocket Japanese program is great for beginners. The audio quality is outstanding and the lessons are lots of fun.
You can take the lessons online or download them. The program also includes quizzes so you can track your progress.
Go check out their site to learn more.
Here are more articles on learning Japanese:
We are going to continue our study on Japanese grammar in this post with our third lesson on particles. We are going to take a look at the particle も.
The particle も can be used to indicate similarity as in the words ‘too’ or ‘also’. This particle replaces が or は, when used:
A: 私がえいがすきです。
B: 私もえいががすきです。
A: I like movies
B: I also like movies
This is a reasonably simple use of も, which can also be used in a double patternsuch as in the following sentence:
A: えいががすきですか、おんがくがすきですか。
B: えいがもおんがくもすきです。
A: Do [you] like movies, or do [you] like music?
B: [I] like both movies and music.
Remember that because も marks a similarity to something previously mentioned, you cannot use も out of the blue. It requires a prompt either by someone else, or by something you yourself just said.
A second use of も is after the て form of verbs and verbal adjectives. In this use, も acts as an emphatic contrasting particle, meaning something like the English “even [by/if] …”. The phrase below
“Even [by] leaving now, [you] probably won’t make it.” translates to いま いっても まにあわない でしょう。
There are two special things that concern this particle. One, a special case of this use of も is in combination with the copula です, which becomes でも. We will look at this in a later post.
The second is this particle can be used with question pronouns. Have a look at the examples below:
なに means “what”, なにも means “anything” when followed by positive verb or “nothing”, when followed by a negative verb.
どこ means “where”, どこも means “anywhere” when followed by a postive verb or “nowhere”, when followed by a negative verb.
だれ means “who”, だれも means “anyone” when followed by a postive verb or “no one”, when followed by a negative verb.
This rule continues for words like どんな (what kind of?), どっち (which way?), いつ (when?), どうして (why?) and so forth and so forth.
As you can see the simple use of particles can greatly change the context and meaning of the Japanese language. If you have ever taken the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) before you will know one whole section of the grammar test is devoted to particles. Particles are important. So we will continue our study of them. Look forward to the next post on the particle の.
