Sprachen

Today’s vocab, directions! ✺◟( • ω • )◞✺ I think it really helps to have these in a picture and see where they all go. 

Language Mistakes | Etiquette Mistakes

Hey guys, first off Happy New Year! I can’t believe it’s already 2017. I had a pretty great year last year, but I’m much more excited for what this year will hold for me! Graduating from university, moving to Japan, etc.! It’s all very exciting.

My first post for 2017 is going to be on common mistakes that foreigners make when speaking Japanese and when they’re in Japan! Language Mistakes:

Particles - I think a lot of Japanese learners struggle with particles and more often than not, end up using the wrong particle in their sentence. は and が are often misused by non-native speakers. When は is used the meaning depends on the context that it was used in (it usually has multiple possible meanings and you just have to figure out what the meaning is depending on the type of situation it was used). For example: 私は魚です can mean “I’ll have fish” when speaking to a waiter or “I am a fish” in response to a question about yourself. As for が, it can be used to exclude other possibilities and to lock in your answer so 私が魚です means “I am a fish”. Another example is the overuse of と which means “and” but it can only be used to connect two nouns together. If you wanted to connect multiple nouns together you would have to conjugate and use て form not と.

Using the word ‘あなた’ for “you” - in Japanese they don’t use pronouns such as 'you’ when addressing each other, this concept is a little hard for some Japanese learners to grasp and they use あなた in Japanese, just like you would use “you” in English, but actually it’s kind of rude to refer to someone as あなた in Japanese so please try to refrain from using it.

Intonation and Nuances - intonation and nuances are important in Japanese, for example there are some words that have different meanings but are pronounced the same. 箸「はし」means chopsticks and 橋「はし」means bridge. If you want to say chopsticks you should place more emphasis on “は”, and if you want to say bridge you should place more emphasis on “し”. Another example is “ええ”, depending on what kind of intonation you use it in, it can mean “yes”, “what?!”, or “must I?”. Some Japanese learners speak in a monotone voice but it’s important to use intonation to properly convey your message across.

Etiquette Mistakes:

Taking a phone call on a train or bus - making or answering a phone call and having a conversation is a common mistake that foreigners make in Japan. Being loud in public transport is rude in most countries but Japan takes this especially seriously, so don’t get caught out committing this social faux pas!

Blowing your nose in public - this might seem strange to us foreigners who are quite used to openly blowing our noses in public and hearing others do it (all throughout my schooling life I’ve had class mates blow their noses in the class room so I’m quite used to this), but in Japan you won’t see this happening. So try to avoid this as much as possible.

After years and years (or better said, weeks) I have finally gotten around doing my Japanese language masterpost. All links listed are resources that I have used to study for (and pass!) the N5 exam, but they are great for beginners as wel! I would also like to thank lovely Julie @designstudy for giving me the inspiration (and motivation) to finish this mp! So here we go:

►Books

→ here are the books I’ve used to study and fully reccomend to others as well (all are great for beginners too)

Genki

Minna no Nihongo

Kanji Challenge

Japanese for busy people: I, II, II

►Mnemonics!

→life is hard, Japanese is harder, do yourself a favor and use mnemonics

Hiragana

Katakana

Kanji

►Kanji, Vocabulary and Grammar

→even if you don’t plan to take the N5, knowing these will definitely give you a better grasp of the language

Kanji List for N5

Vocabulary List for N5

Grammar List for N5

►Practice, practice, practice!

→I cannot stress this enough. If you want to make any progress in studying this language or getting good scores on your exam, practice is vital! 

Reading exercices for N5

Grammar exercices for N5

Kanji exercices for N5

Listening exercices for N5

►Grammar help

→because the internet has a lot to offer and it’s a shame not to take advantage

Useful Youtube channels: here, here, here, here and here

Useful websites for grammar: here and here

The coolest Japanese dictionary out there

►Music

→some of my favorite Japanese artists, beacuse let’s face it: studying a new language is 900% better when you also listen to music in that language

Kenshi Yonezu

Daoko

Utada Hikaru

Mondo Grosso

Ichiko Aoba

Galileo Galilei

►Fun stuff

→for when you want to chill but also learn

Read short stories in Japanese with translation

Read raw manga 

Watch literally any anime out there

Watch J-dramas

Watch Ghibli movies

Watch Japanese movies

►Some tricky stuff

→these are actually very useful w o w

Wa vs ga

Shi or tsu?

All you need to know about counters

Ya vs to vs mo

►Cool Japanese studyblrs:

 → these are definitely worth to stalk/follow!!

@japanese-randomstuff @japanese-langblr @glotpoly @atejapan @japaneseblr @learnjp @aringoaday @ilostmyheartintokyo @nodoyodobenkyou @playwithletters

…and on a final note, some tips:

Be consistent. From my experience, Japanese is a language that if not studied constantly, can be easily forgotten

Use separate notebooks/folders for grammar and vocabulary. You will thank me for this one later.

If you want your kanji/katakana/hiragana/whatever it is that you are writing to look neat, follow the stroke order ! ! !

Quizlet is your best friend when it comes to remembering vocabulary

Hope this helped someone!! Also if you have any questions/need some advice on where to begin, please don’t hesitate to hmu @sttudy

This cool little website, called readlang, allows you to upload your book, in your target language, from epub form into their website, right? And you just read your book from there. When you don’t know a word, what do you do? Do you go to google dot com and type in that word? Nope. You fucking click it. And it tells you the word. 

there are many more words from Italian, these are but a few.

Maltese | Italian | English;

abilità | abilità | ability

allura | allora | then / in that case

ammira | ammirare | to admire

attività | attività | activity

bżonn | bisogno | need

ġurnata | giorno | day

ġustizzja | giustizia | justice

grazzi | grazie | thank you

identità | identità | identity

imbotta | imbottare | to push

ipprova | provare | to try

irreaġixxa | reagire | to react

istess | stesso | same

kalzetta | calzetta | sock

libertà | libertà | liberty

minuta | minuto | minute

muntanja | muntagna | mountain

mużikali | musicale | musically

okkażjoni | occasione | occasion

passjoni | passione | passion

patata | patata | potato

Polonja | Polonia | Poland

priorità | priorità | priority

relazzjoni | realzione | relationship

reġina | regina | queen

rwol | ruolo | role

sekonda | secondo | second

sekwenza | sequenza | sequence

sinjur | signore | sir

spiċċa | spicciare | to finish

tabella | tabella | table

tradizzjoni | tradizione | tradition

uffiċjali | ufficiale | official

unità | unità | unity

verità | verità | truth

a literal translation is an inaccurate translation.

In a more well-known example,  Natsume Soseki, a great writer who wrote, I am a Cat, had his students translate “I love you,” to “the moon is beautiful [because of] having you beside tonight,” because Japanese men would not say such strong emotions right away. He said that it would be weird and Japanese men would have more elegance.

1. Le plus long palindrome de la langue française est « ressasser » On peut donc le dire dans les deux sens.

2. « Squelette » est le seul mot masculin qui se finit en « ette »

3. « Institutionnalisation » est le plus long lipogramme en « e » C'est-à-dire qu'il ne comporte aucun « e ».

4. L'anagramme de « guérison » est « soigneur »…c’est encourageant !

5. « Où » est le seul mot contenant un « u » avec un accent grave Il a aussi une touche de clavier à lui tout seul !

6. Le mot « simple » ne rime avec aucun autre mot. Tout comme « triomphe », « quatorze », « quinze », « pauvre », « meurtre , « monstre », « belge », « goinfre » ou « larve ».

7. « Endolori » est l'anagramme de son antonyme « indolore », ….ce qui est paradoxal.

8. « Délice », « amour » et « orgue » ont la particularité d'être de genre masculin et deviennent féminin à la forme plurielle

Le grand orgue joue un hymne au délice inavoué de leur amour tumultueux …MAIS : Les grandes orgues jouent un hymne aux délices inavouées de leurs amours tumultueuses.

9. « Oiseaux » est, avec 7 lettres, le plus long mot dont on ne prononce aucune des lettres : [o], [i], [s], [e], [a], [u], [x]

The French love to talk politics so here’s a collection of words and phrases to use when the topic of Donald Trump comes up! Enjoy :)

Idiot- Idiot

Imbécile- Moron

Raciste- Racist

Non-qualifié- Unqualified

Carotte Trempée- Soggy carrot

Sectaire- Bigot

Tête de Merde- Shit head

Petits Mains- Tiny hands

Petite Bite- Tiny dick

“J’étais là le onze Septembre”- I was at 9/11

“Les latinos, ils m’aiment!” The latinos, they love me!

Mur bête- Dumb wall

“Quand je parle, il y a du merde qui tombe de ma bouche”- When I talk, shit falls out of my mouth

Antisémite- antisemite

Sexiste- Sexist

l’Homme le moins séduisant du monde- The least attractive man in the world

Je démenage à Canada- I’m moving to Canada

Je ne suis pas Américain(e), s’il vous plaît ne me parle pas de Trump- I’m not American, please don’t talk to me about Trump

Je fais pleurer les bébés- I make babies cry

Fait gay les États-Unis encore- Make America Gay Again

continuation of this post

tu veux parier ? = wanna bet? 

moi, c'est [nom] = i’m [name]

tout aussi bien = just as well / just as good

se mettre en colère = to get angry

qu'est-ce qui t'arrive ? = what’s the matter ?

faire l'affaire = to do the trick / to fit the purpose

bien joué = well played

en quoi puis-je vous être utile ? = how may i help you? / what can i do for you?

c'est à moi = it’s mine 

trou perdu = middle of nowhere

je regrette = i am sorry / i regret

en vrai = for real

mes gamins = my kids

comment ça ? = how come? what do you mean?

il n'y a pas de quoi = you’re welcome / no problem (response to “thank you”)

ça risque d'être… = that risks being… / that runs the risk of being…

à quoi bon ? = what’s the point ?  

ça suffit ! = that’s enough ! 

s'occuper du reste = to take care of the rest / to deal with the rest 

vous y arriverez = you’ll make it 

c'est promis = i promise / it’s a promise 

une petite mise en garde = a little warning

pas question ! = no way! / no question !

j'ai tenu ma parole = i’ve kept my word / i’ve stuck to my word

il a vu juste = he got it right / he guessed right

缘木求鱼 （緣木求魚）yuán mù qiú yú “To climb a tree looking for fish,” a fruitless approach.