🇯🇵If you can add to (or correct) anything I’ve said, I’d love to hear from you below. I’m sure I didn’t nail everything first time. Let’s see if we can make this a place where people can learn even more about Japanese 🇯🇵 And remember to head to nordvpn.com/robwords to get the two year plan with an exclusive deal PLUS 4 EXTRA MONTHS! It’s risk free with NordVPN’s 30 day money back guarantee.
What I think that what it have to be mentioned is that, "Hai" and "īe" is not actually like yes and no but more like true or false. If you're asked a negative question like "Don't you like it?", and when you do like it, you gotta say "īe" and not "hai" because it's false.
Maybe you can meet Dogen while you're there. He has helpful pronunciation videos and he's a linguist. I know etymology and morphology are different but theyre kind of under the same umbrella.
I remember a Japanese textbook saying “Gaikokujon deskara amari yoku wakarimasen.” Which it translated as “I’m a foreigner so I really don’t understand.” I Yeah, you don’t need that one.
Well, hai and iie are kinda tricky ones, hai is more of aizuchi (read about this one it's really interesting), BUT it can mean yes, it can mean no too tho, same for iie, sometimes it means yes, sometimes not. Japanese don't really have nor need words for yes or no, because it's like Latin for example, answers with the verb being used.Example: 日本語読みますか?(nihongo yomimasuka) "do you read Japanese?" the possible answers are: "読みます" (yomimasu) for yes, literally "I read" and 読みません(yomimasen) for no, again literally "I don't read". You probably can get a pass with hai and iie because you're a foreigner and nobody expects you to speak japanese, but keep in mind that it's not as simple as you might've thought initially.
As a Chinese person, when I went to Japan for a very short time, I found it delightful that I could understand many of the signs because they are written in Chinese characters. However, Japanese pronounce them totally differently from the Chinese pronunciation. When I had to ask for directions, I wrote the place name down on a piece of paper in Chinese characters and someone pointed us to the right direction. Usually writing is more complicated than speaking, especially for Chinese characters. But in this case that’s the only way for me to communicate with Japanese locals. Funny experience.
As an extra bonus (assuming my recollection is correct), most kanji apparently have two readings, one based on what they were used to mean in chinese (that is, the Japanese word for the thing) when Japan adopted them, and one based on what they sounded like to Japanese speakers when introduced (which, of course, has a completely different meaning). In most cases the pronunciation of both has drifted over time (as it will in any language). Or something like that.
@@laurencefraser Actually, most have at least 4 readings! Many have even more! Like this character 天, means "heaven" or "sky" and so is pronounced as either of the Japanese native words for the two (separate in Japanese) concepts. In names(for places, things, and people), things get even more complicated...
The idea that you only have to study to do semi-mind reading (What speech really is, if you think about it) with people all over the world is terrific.
I once gave a formal presentation (in English) to a group of about 200 scientists at a conference in Kyoto. After being introduced, I began my talk with "Kon'nichiwa." I was a bit startled when the entire room loudly responded "KON'NICHIWA" in unison. I agree with your view of Japan; it is an amazing place filled with wonderful people.
There seems to be an expectation that the audience will respond to a speaker's greeting here in Japan. When my high school students are giving speeches, they often start with a "Good morning" replied to likewise by many of the students, and I have to tell them later that they should not expect a return greeting when speaking before a non-Japanese audience. Usually we say "good morning" more casually and do not expect a reply from an audience. Oh, and another thing, the reply to a greeting is always the same. You never say "konnichiwa" and hear "ohayo" in response. It's so expected that when my students say "hello" to me and I respond with "good morning", they think they've made a mistake and then "correct" themselves and say "good morning". I have to tell all my classes that it's ok in English to mix replies: "hello" for "hi", "hi" for "good afternoon". It's apparently not a hard habit to break as even my kindergarten students quickly learn to mix replies and even seem to enjoy it.
@@GregConquest yes in Japan it'd be taken as a correction. I watched a Japanese drama and an office lady was majorly slighted by an upity superior jealous lady who responded 'ohaiyo' to her 'konnichiwa' iirc enough to put her to tears afterwards in context and tilt her interview.
Collective response seems to be very much a thing in Japan. Once at a hotel, when one member of a tour group was late to meet in the lobby, on his arrival, the entire group sighed "Ooooooh" in unison. The late individual was mortified. We began using it in our own internal meetings; even people who had not heard the story were mortified to hear the collective sigh.
Hi from Hiroshima! Congratulations on your marriage and as a Japanese fan of your videos, I’m very happy you chose Japan for your honeymoon! This is another great video of yours and I have no correction at all - but I’d like to add the two best Japanese phrases to say No politely when you’d like to refuse what you are offered. Although politeness may be the best virtue in Japan, there is nothing wrong to say No when necessary (we NEED to). There are 1 “Kekkodesu” (結構です）and 2 “Daijoubudesu” (大丈夫です). Phrase 1 means “No, thank you” and 2 “I’m fine (without what is offered).” In the end, politeness is not only a word but also a non-verbal expression that we can tell.
@@softpaw6234 like in English, saying "I'm good" in response to an offer is always understood as a refusal. If one wants to accept then they will say Hai and/or Arigatou instead.
I have met Japanese students who have been studying here and frankly they have been very polite and lovely people. My grandson had a school trip earlier this year to Japan and loved it. I saw on TH-cam The Tokyo Ballet Company. It was a great performance. Japanese women are so dainty, delicate and feminine. Typecast, but I mean it in a positive way. I love Japanese art as well.
@@patricianunes3521 Bet you'll get more satisfaction when you discover more Japanese culture, especially with the dialects. I'm from the Kansai region of Japan, which is in the southern part. They've got some really good food there. If I were to recommend some for you to try out, takoyaki's a no brainer
@@yuzuruizumieggy Takoyaki might not be the first thing id recommend somebody try who isn’t used to Japanese cuisine. Its an extremely unique texture that most Americans won’t be used to or enjoy. Same with ikayaki. For anybody curious, the texture of the meat in these cases is a bit more leathery or rubbery. If the texture doesn’t bother you, they’re quite delicious foods.
I learned twenty words before I went to Japan for 2 weeks and picked up many more whilst there. The Japanese fell over themselves in delight when I tried to use their language, no matter how badly. They helped me learn more and I was often given gifts for my efforts. I had an amazing time meeting these hospitable and kind people.
I'd imagine any nation's people are delighted when someone tries to learn their language (barring the French perhaps) even if they butcher it. For me personally, i enjoy it to an extent. When they start speaking "confidently" while still murdering the language to such an extent they change entire meanings of sentences and still think they said it right they are just annoying. Likewise, speaking to them they constantly misunderstand you and misconstrue the things you say and they get offended rather than asking for clarification. But yeah, tourists that come here having a go at our language is quite uplifting. Though i really hate my native language and wish we would just make the switch to English. It would simplify so much!
@@christiankroger2993 No, that wouldn't have happened. And I can tell you from long experience that almost everyone in Japan is absolutely delighted when a foreigner tries to speak Japanese and does it badly, but they become quite wary if you speak with any fluency.
@@RealCadde Yeah, I heard plenty about the legendary French disdain for tourists butchering the language... AND then in the Navy I was in Europe... and took a tour into Paris in time for the great wine show on the Champs Elycees... I had no trouble at all... got laughed at plenty for drinking the wine instead of spitting into the barrels... paced myself so not to pass out before I was able to politely enough make good an escape and see more of the city before it was time to get back to the hotel and later to the ship... THEN I found out what ticks French folks off so quick... It was something I'd found (originally) somewhat annoying in French class, but had overlooked bothering the teacher about at the time... "Bon jour"... She said it CONSTANTLY... It was the start of literally EVERY conversation with her, and it didn't matter that she'd already greeted the class with it, she'd greet you personally with it, and you just slowly got used to her... and eventually slid into the habit of it yourself... AND THAT (apparently) is the big trick... If you're ever back to France. REMEMBER to start conversations with "Bon jour" (or the appropriate greeting) absolutely EVERY time you talk to someone. It's a little thing, but they regard it as quite rude (and Paris is particularly prickly about it apparently) if you neglect that little formality... BUT put out the effort, remember to keep up the polite part... and yeah... I was raised in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee, so the Southern Drawl and lazy mouth muscles are NOTORIOUS around here. I'm clearly "the dumb-ass country bumpkin" anywhere else in the U.S. and of course, it carries its share of difficulties to any other language I attempt, and I'm quite SURE I've mutilated everything I've attempted to say pretty much everywhere... If you're not familiar, the old TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies" isn't exactly "spot on" but it's close enough to get you a fair idea of how I speak... at least to the "more or less accurate" degree... SO imagine Jed Clampet trying and failing utterly to communicate in any language you wish... and you have me at least for the first few minutes of practice and trial "out of the gate" as it were... Enjoy the chuckle... My French isn't completely criminal after I've had a full day of drills to limber up my mouth (mostly the back of my throat for those damnable R's... Then I'm just awful or thereabouts... BUT a few chuckles and some sheepishness tends to win over most folks I've interacted with. I was certainly (pleasantly) surprised to find they DO have a sense of humor! ;o)
Native Japanese here. Thanks for enjoying my country Rob, hearing about it makes me nostalgic. In addition to Sumimasen, I'd also add "Shitsurei" or 失礼. It roughly means the same thing, but is oddly both more rude and more polite at the same time. It's hard to get into the intricacies of politeness on a basic video aimed at tourists, but in short, Japanese has three levels of politeness in its speech. The one you'll hear most is Teinei-Go or "polite speech" as opposed to Kenjogo or Sonkeigo. Teineigo is what Rob pointed out, with the suffixes ending in -desu -masu in the present tense or -deshita -mashita in the past. Prefixes and Infixes of -o or -go also make words sound polite. -O for words originating in Japanese (Onyomi) and -Go for words originating from Chinese (kunyomi). As for other originating words (Gairaigo) such as "elevator" that robe mentioned, there simply is no prefix. Regarding konnichiwa and Ohayo, they got some interesting etymologies. Konnichiwa is actually the beginning of a sentence, meaning "today is....". In the before times, you were to follow it up by answering that, but over the ages konnichiwa simply became a greeting. As for ohayo, it has the -o prefix, followed by "isn't it early?" In regards to pronunciation, believe me, Japanese people have a lot harder time pronouncing English due to the uniqueness of the "r" sound. As Rob points out, Japanese has a blend of the L and R sound, so japanese people pretty much always mispronounced the "R". In regards to the Latin script used in Japan, something I've noticed Americans mess up on is the Japanese strictness on vowel sounds. A is identified with あ and so pronounced like the aw in "yawn". E is identified with え and so is always pronounced like the e in "net". I is identified with い so is always pronounced like the "ee" in "sweet". O is identified with お so always pronounced like the "o" in "know". U is identified with う so always pronounced like the "oo" in "too".
The problem is, nearly every English dialect pronounces the sample words differently (eg yawn = ä ~ ɑ ~ ɒ ~ ɔ ). Really need to get IPA installed on phone keyboards. Would benefit japanese too 😅
A small correction to what you categorize Japanese's writing system as: the Kana are syllabaries, while Kanji is a logography. Alphabets are systems that use 1 symbol for 1 sound (obviously that's not true for most modern alphabets, but that's the general idea), while syllabaries use syllable blocks to represent their sounds. Chinese also uses a logography, which is a system that has a symbol represent a full word or even an idea.
As a heads up to anyone who thinks this sounds difficult, learning the two kana syllabaries is actually easier than you think it might be. There are lots of mnemonic systems to help you learn. Several are available online for free. I learnt the kana in high school, and I can still remember it 3 decades later.
@@angelicasmodel I actually learned them in college and still remember them. Habitually use them instead of romaji any time I’m writing Japanese words because it looks weird in romaji. Hiragana was easier for me than katana for some reason. 😂😅
@@kitdubhran2968 Hiragana's easier to remember for two reasons. One is the variety of shapes compared to katakana, which has several that look very similar: ノンソゾシジツ. Also, hiragana's used much more often, so there's not as much opportunity to see or write katakana.
As a long time resident of Japan, the one word I tell people to know when they come over is "Domo". The literal meaning is "very" but in daily use it's just used for positive feelings. Works great for "thank you" situations and most "excuse me" situations. Add a slight bow and everyone knows you're trying to be positive and polite.
Your advice is correct and useful, but the literal meaning of どうも is not "very." Many people make that mistake, because "domo" is used as an abbreviation of "domo arigatou" (thank you very much). Literally, arigatou means "difficult to be" and expresses the speaker's embarrassment at having something done for him/her or given to him/her. Domo's literal meaning is "somehow or other." The word is used in many other expressions to convey the meaning of "a bit" when talking about feelings. It's a typical "fuzzy" Japanese word.
Important note to help your Japanese friends understand you: learn the rhythm of Japanese pronunciation. Each kana (usually a consonant-vowel or a standalone vowel) takes the same amount of time to pronounce. But some vowels are long and take twice the time to say. Romanji signs will have "ou" for a long 'o' sound (not like the dipthong in the word "out"). In that case, hold the 'o' sound twice as long. If you see a consonant doubled in Romanji, it is pronounced with a glottal stop (think of the gap in "uh-oh") followed by the consonant itself, taking twice as long. Oh, and Japanese doesn't have glided vowels. Native English speakers pronounce "oh" as an 'o' sound gliding into an 'uh' sound. Pretend you are hoarse, and the 'o' sound got stuck in your throat. (American English speakers can also use our pronunciation of the word "note" as a guide, since we add a very slight glottal stop between the 'o' and 't' sounds, which keeps the 'o' from gliding.) Pitch pattern is important, also. @ 11:55, "ohayo" is low -> high -> low, which is very easy for native English speakers since we tend to follow that pattern with those phonemes. Some pitch patterns may not come as naturally, but getting it right really helps Japanese listeners to comprehend our limited Japanese speaking skills.
This is a beginner video and pitch accent is not a beginner concept, I also disagree that it is important for most learners. First and foremost, most learners don't ever get fluent, they learn a bit and give up. Second, pitch accent is not something to focus on, you learn it through shadowing/mimicking. Thirdly, every region in Japan has a different pitch accent and yet they can still comprehend each other, it is not important for comprehension, only for sounding more native which is rarely a level any foreigner gets to. Pitch accent is useful if you intend to die in Japan, but if you're only here for a year just ignore it. You'll pick it up naturally anyway. A lot of "Japanese learners", especially those that treat it too academically will vastly overestimate the importance of pitch accent. Case in point I didn't even know about it until a year ago but I'm told my pronunciation is really good, yes including my pitch accent. Why? Mimickng.
@@27danjel The fuck are you talking about? "Accent negationist"? I'm stating that for the majority of learners of Japanese the accent is something you should definitely practoce but PITCH accent is not, Japanese pitch accent is a part of Japanese that weebs amd amateur linguists have gotten obsessed with in the last 5 years but before that nobody cared. In reality if you do mimicking properly you will pick up most pitch accent. I have been told my accent is near native by natives and guess how many times I practiced it explicitly? Zero. I did and still do mimicking and that's all you need, that's how natives learn their accent too, nobody learns the explicit pitch beats of the words, that is NOT how humans learn language, it's how weird obsessed people and linguists get their little dicks hard.
I lived in Japan for quite a few years, and this fun, easy to follow video is probably one of the most accurate, realistic and useful tutorials for first time visitors I've ever seen. Damn, that was a long sentence. Anyway, 上手です。👍🏻
@Carl_LaFong You could have written that in plain English you buffoon! Not everyone has been living in a foreign country and can read things of different symbols. At least write that in Romaji.
I've studied Japanese for years, the actual grammar and vocabulary is literally so easy to pick up, way easier than other langauges in my opinion. The two basic writing systems are also super easy to learn. Basically the most annoying part is learning kanji (wanikani is good for that though) and formal speech. I really recommend anyone to pick this language up, it's extremely rewarding and useful.
@@xohyuu I highly agree with you in learning honorific speech from the start. I first lived in Japan back in the 70's and began by only learning honorific Japanese which is more difficult but you can always save face by being too polite as opposed to even unintentionally coming off as rude or disrespectful. Further if you are staying there for anything more than 2 weeks spending the time to learn at least hiragana before learning ever approaching romaji will prove to be a great benefit in that your pronunciation will be set far closer to native Japanese. While it seems to be a lot of work you will find locking in the proper native sounds is not as hard as you would think. Initially learning Japanese through the memorization of romaji will permanently reveal your foreign roots.
Cheers for@@wintron's good comment^^; | my mother language is ⁰¹a grammatical relative of 日本 language ﹠ ⁰²belongs to Sinosphere. ⁰³日本 vocabularies, broken English expressions also were introduced too much. In my thought, only 日本, my mother language have the detailed honorific expressions among the whole languages of this planet, for 本州･九州 people are relatives of mine. i want people to learn 日本, Монголian, Türkiye, 南韓[ROK] languages, for they share similar grammar. | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
I really can't say I found Japanese grammar or vocab easy to learn, (but to be fair, I can only compare it to my study of Spanish, so of course it will seem hard).
Congratulations on your marriage! The fact that your new bride was filming you for this video on your honeymoon says that you married someone amazing. Thank you for a great video which I found relevant since I just started studying Japanese less than two weeks ago on Duolingo.
What a fun change of pace for RobWords to take the topic into Asian language for awhile. If it works with your schedule I certainly wouldn't mind some more vids exploring some languages from outside of NW Europe!
I second that! I’d be interested in a video on Afrikaans @RobWords. It has some similarities with English and Dutch, even some Malay. It’s a language you never knew you needed to know about 😂 Congrats on the honeymoon by the way 🎊 🎉
@@markrossow6303 you're welcome, Marky Malenkov Rossowovic-- been awhile since anyone called me that-- most are smart enough to just call me Joe Steel these days 💪
About the (non-)pronunciation of the "u" at the end of "-masu" (or "desu") : Dogen has made a video in his Japanese Pronunciation series about this phenomenon. It's called "devoicing" and it's a general rule of Japanese : The vowels "i" and "u" are devoiced/dropped when in-between two voiceless consonants (which are, in Japanese, p, t, k, s, h, and ch, as well as sh and f, which are variations of s and h), or when at the end of a word and preceded by a voiceless consonant. In both "-masu" and "desu", the "u" is at the end of a word and preceded by "s", which is a voiceless consonant, so the "u" is devoiced/dropped. For people actively learning Japanese, I really recommend Dogen's video on the topic, called "Japanese Pronunciation 101: Devoicing!", as it goes quite in-depth with examples.
Sometimes I voice them for fun. Also, sometimes Japanese will actually voice those vowels. It kind of emphasizes the words. On the other hand, most people won't even notice whether you voice them or not.
@@alukuhito Yeah, I know there are some Japanese accents that actually voice the "u" at the end of "desu" and "-masu" even without emphasis. I think it's mostly people from the North of the country, if I'm not mistaken.
That actually reminded me of a pro wrestling moment. When a pro wrestler from Ohio was competing in Japan, he once referenced that an opponent was receiving a message from Ohio. The Japanese crowd shouted "ohayo" in near unison after he said that. He probably had no idea why they did that.
My Japanese language teacher told of an American trying to find a bus to the city of Nara. Knowing that the prefix "o" makes words more polite (o-house means "your house" and so on), he asked if the bus went to "O-Nara", the bus driver laughed, passengers snickered (politely), and the driver motioned him onboard because yes, it did. You don't add "o" to city names. "Onara" means fart or something similar. (Been a while since the class)
I used to sometimes visit elementary schools in Japan and do little presentations, introducing myself. At that time, English wasn't part of the curriculum at elementary school. I would show them slides and things, and at some point I'd inevitably say something like, "Next I'd like to show you..." Whenever I said "show you", all the kids would repeat "shoyu", which means "soy sauce" in Japanese.
A note on "hai". Just because someone says "hai" to you, it does not always mean they're agreeing. It's also used as an acknowledgement of hearing/understanding you and indicating you to keep talking. So if you ask someone something and they say "hai" and then just look at you like they're expecting something from you, that's why. Especially if they do it while you're still speaking. That's a thing in Japanese, it's called aizuchi, and it's when you say a little phrase (there's a few you can use) to show that you're listening and understand what they're saying and it's considered polite.
5:25 "The crow agrees." Japanese transcribes the crow's call as "a-ho" (ah-haw), which means stupid. That's why in many anime you get a crow flying past in the background as a deadpan commentator.
Arigatou gosaimasu! I lived in Munich a year with a Japanese girlfriend back in the 80s. I just told her from the beginning, teach me five words a day, that way I would know over 1000 words in a year. it was a very simple method, but even today, I can remember everything that I learned. A great and interesting language!
Another important word I used a lot there was, "Dozo". It's like "Go ahead/after you", which is super necessary when trying to figure out what to eat or unsure if you're taking the right train. Queues are super important there
I've just watched this one now . . . and I couldn't help think that not only did you finish on a positive note, you also finished on a high/hai note. I know it is a small point to add to another brilliant slice of linguistic joy and appreciation ( one might say I feel a confelicity from your enthusiasm ) but there it is all the same ! Anyway, Happy New Year and all the best for 2024 !!!
I’ve been studying the language for three years now (it started as a lockdown hobby) and I have completely fallen in love with it. The way the language sounds, the way it’s written, the grammar, and everything about it are just pretty and satisfying. I’d encourage anyone to learn it
Loved this. You definitely covered most of the main words and phrases needed to get by on a visit to Japan. The only thing I would add is '...... wa doko des ka?' Literally 'Where is ......?' Crucial for navigating and finding things - like the lavatories. For example 'Sumimasen, toire wa doko des ka?'
I know a native Japanese speaker who grew up in the US. She had only been to Japan a few times, and she said the hardest thing was understanding when a Japanese person was trying to say No. Apparently it can be pretty indirect, and like you said euphemistic.
Another good word to know, or at least recognize, is “Irasshaimase!” which you’ll be greeted with upon entering any shop or restaurant. It translates to “welcome” or “come in,” and you aren’t expected to reply (except perhaps with a smile and a nod)
5:28 "The crow agrees." Funny you should say that because a common Japanese onomatopoeia for a crow's cry is アホ (aho), which also means "idiot" (the crow's words, not mine).
Rob, when the Normans invaded England in 1066. I remember reading that they had difficulty pronouncing words with S in them, and many English town names were changed because of this. Could you do a video on pre Norman and post Norman English ?
11:32 first trip to Japan from California. I got on the plane and I must have heard sumimasen 300 times before we took off. It is like thanks, sorry, excuse me, pardon my reach, don't mind me, oh of course, you are fine, all wrapped into one word. When my mom's 75 year old Japanese friend fell in my mom's house my mom asked me what "sue me ma sen" meant because her Japanese friend repeated it over and over.
I know I am a little late to this party (just recently started watching your channel), but one of the best things that I found about the Japanese language from what I learned throughout my schooling is their treatment of vowels. There are only ever 5 vowel sounds, and when you read the romaji, you can be confident in your pronunciation if you use the following guide: Anything with an "A" is pronounced "aa" ;like "apple". Anything with an "I" is pronounced "ee" ;like "police". Anything with an "U" is pronounced "oo" ;like "tube". Anything with an "E" is pronounced "eh" ;like "enjoy". Anything with an "O" is pronounced "oh" ;like "pope".
Hi Rob, I always enjoy your wonderful videos, and I find it particularly interesting to see how an established language specialist like you cover the Japanese language (my native tongue). You certainly did a great job. Congratulations ! Just a minor point, if I may mention. I think you said that the "u" in the combination "su" at the end of a sentence is never pronounced. This suppression of "u" is indeed quite universal in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. But in the Western part of Japan, the final "u" is pronounced clearly, and often even with a slight stress. The sound of this additional "u" is quite exotic to Tokyoites (like me), but people from Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, etc.) may want to give it a due status. I'm not a language specialist but I felt you might be interested in my non-professional remark.
I agree. I'm also from Kanto, so I really feel the "Kansai"-ness of the people who speak with the very clear "u" at the end of sentences. Also, to you as an English speaker, the "su" may sound the same as "s", but we, native speakers, hear the "u" being there in a form of co-articulation. Under certain circumstaces, the "u" actually is pronounced rather clearly even among Tokyo people.
Hi, Rob! I was literally procrastinating my Japanese study by watching TH-cam and found this delight. First things first: gokekkon omedetougozaimasu, congratulations on your marriage! What a delightful way to celebrate, by visiting Japan! S'anyway, I've been studying Japanese formally since October, and I thought this was a great introduction to Japanese. Yes, it can be a difficult (yet highly rewarding and beautiful) language to study, but I'll make a few general comments first: People get really daunted by the writing, but I point out that the two kana systems are like lower and upper case; you know nqr and NQR are the same three letters with different shapes, and for hiragana and katakana, they're the same sounds with different shapes. Ideograms like kanji may be daunting, but if I put this ⛔here, you know what that symbol means...so we already deal with three writing systems in English! Also, perhaps you could do a video on English words borrowed from Japanese. I keep finding more in my study, for instance, mousukoshi means "a little bit more" and I was like hmmm... so I looked it up, and yes, our word skosh "little bit" is in fact from Japanese.
I did not know that about “skosh”! Thanks! A Japanese friend used to answer the phone with something that sounded like “mosh-moshii” - is that at all related?
@@DawnDavidson もしもし (moshi moshi) is just how you say hello while picking up the phone in Japanese. It comes from the days when telephone had telephone operators. People would say the phrase to make sure their voice was reaching the telephone operators, it’s kinda like how people will say “check, check” when speaking into a microphone to make sure it is on. While we don’t use telephone operators anymore, people still use it as a greeting . :)
@@ayyaiden also, our use of hello isn't all that different from Japanese's use of "moshi moshi", as hello was a REALLY uncommon word until the telephone. (People would usually say things like 'good day', 'how are you' etc). People started using "hello" to check if someone could hear them on the other end!
Thanks for this. There was another video about Japanese I watched a while ago and I came away from that despairing of ever learning to read Japanese. I think my comment on that video was that I was amazed that anyone ever learned to read in Japan. This makes the idea of reading Japanese much less daunting!
Sugoi video! Years ago I took Aikido; every session would start with the class lining up on the mat and bowing to the teacher, saying "onegaishimasu" (with the correct pronunciation thankfully). I was told we were asking for instruction; now I know we were saying a very polite "please"!
the 'o' prefix is for politeness, the 'shimasu' at the end is the future/present form of the verb 'to do' - the 'negai' is the subject of the phrase. a 'negai' is a wish or desire or request. So to transliterate the phrase, it's kind of "I humbly request this of you".
It is considered impolite to listen quietly in a conversation in Japan. You are expected to make sounds that show you are on the edge of your seat in rapt attention to the speaker while they tell you something. It's called "aizuchi" and the easiest way to perform it is just to say "hai" (or the less formal "un") every time the speaker pauses to breathe.
This and your video about understanding french are incredible. Such great showcases of how you find easy entrypoints to those languages, instead of leading to complicated and boring stuff right away.
Rob couldn't find the videos he needed on Japanese, so he made one. And now he's an Honorary Inkling; Tolkien and Lewis said there were not enough of the kinds of books they liked, so they decided to write them themselves, Lewis writing about Space and Tolkien about Time.
Lived in Okinawa for 3 years during the pandemic. Spent every day studying it for half an hour to an hour via audiobooks in my car and probably hit 300 or so words. Watching the Okinawans faces light up when I would stumble through a sentence to try to converse with them was the most exhilarating feeling. “AHHHH, JOZU DES JOZU DES!!!”
@@HasekuraIsuna the structure of the language and some phrases were certainly different, but because of the huge American presence on the island and how it had integrated into the local culture over the past 70 years, it actually gave me a lot of latitude and grace while trying to learn. I could definitely tell a difference between conversing near my home on the seawall and spending time out at restaurants in Osaka
I posted elsewhere about teaching myself Japanese while in the Navy there, and the first time I tried something in public was at one of the railroad station magazine and snack kiosks. Most sailors just held out a wad of cash and got change back. I asked in Japanese how much it was, she cocked her head and shook her hand, I said I knew Japanese (what a lie!) and she told me, slowly, I understood and gave her exact change, and it sure surprised her. A real milestone in my progress.
Oh! Re: the note that Japanese doesn't seem to pronounce the 'u' at the end of -masu--it's voiceless. In Standard Japanese high vowels ('i' and 'u') are realized as voiceless after voiceless consonants. Underlyingly they're still present, and Japanese speakers hear themselves saying them, but it's really hard to hear for most non-speakers because they're basically whispered.
Yeah, we have some endings in German that tend to be "swallowed". However, due to the slight difference in length and emphasis at the end of a word, a mother-tongue speaker will know whether you're saying for example "ein" or "einen", "klein" or "kleinen" etc. These endings can be sounded out fully, but often aren't.
I have a friend from Madagascar and he told me they do that too. The way he described it was: "you mimic the sound but don't really pronounce it". Talk about making things confusing haha!
I came here to say this. When I visited Japan for work, I spent about an hour trying to say/not-say that end “u”. Much to the amusement of my colleagues.
I really loved the explanation of the two ways to say pleased. Looking back, I definitely used the wrong one with my taxi cab driver in Osaka! Oops! He was still SUPER polite, though. Very kind. Now I know better, so thank you! Also, congrats on your anniversary! I don't speak Japanese; I just got back from my first trip to Japan, so take the rest of this with a grain of salt ***in case of inaccuracies*** but here are the top 3 phrases I found most useful (in order): 1. Sumimasen. Truly, used for everything. 2. Eigo ga hanasemasu ka. "Do you speak English?" Use this and the first one together: "Sumimasen, eigo de hanasemasu ka." ("Excuse me/I'm sorry, do you speak English?") 3. Arigatou gozaimasu! You'll find shopkeepers saying this one profusely. I got the sense (but can't confirm) that when they say it like, "arigato gozaimaaaaaaaaaaasu!" and draw out the last "A," sound, they are trying to be more polite. Bonus: 4. Nihongo ga wakarimasen. "I don't understand Japanese." Use this with #1 and #2. "Sumimasen nihongo ga wakarimasen. Eigo ga hanasemasu ka." ("I'm sorry, I don't understand Japanese. Do you speak English?") You could argue you don't really need #2 and #4 because if you start speaking in English or another language, people will get that you don't speak Japanese, but I wanted to at least make the attempt to show politeness. But yes, sumimasen and arigatou gozaimasu are used all the time. "Please" (kudasai/onegaishimasu) is helpful, too. More complicated but still useful: 5. Fukuro. This one means bag, since most places charge for bags. You'll often hear it in variations of, "fukuro otsuke shimasu ka" ("Do you need a bag?") or "fukuro otsuke shimasu ka" ("Would you like a bag?") or similar. I never memorized those phrases but I could listen for "fukuro." Since you know it'll be coming at the end of the purchase transaction, you can be on guard for it. The polite way to decline is, "Daijoubu," which means "I'm fine." (Other more complicated variations are the more grammatically correct "Daijoubu desu," or "Sono mama ii desu" ("It's fine like that") but you'll be ok with daijoubu, or honestly, a shake of the head!) ii desu can be used other ways, too: "kado ii desu ka" ("Is card fine?" i.e. is it ok to pay with card?). desu means "is." ka is an interrogative particle, turning a statement into a question, e.g. kado ii desu ("Card is fine.") becomes kado ii desu ka ("Is card fine?"). masen makes certain words a negative, e.g. wakarimasu (understand) becomes wakarimasen (don't understand).
I agree, sumeemasen and oragato gozimus are great words to start and finish with. I used them first to find things (trains, shops, roads) and at the end of an interaction be thankful. A little bow always goes well. Japanese people are always wanting to help you.
*sumimasen or suimasen *arigatou gozaimasu I'm not trying to be that guy, but getting the spelling wrong early on will mean a lot of effort is required to correct your pronunciation later
The "city pop" one is funny... I once had a Japanese student I was teaching English to. She had "studied" English at her Japanese University and her understanding was great, her writing ok. But no English speaker could understand a single word she was saying (her pronunciation was that bad). I also had a Chinese student at the same time that I was teaching German to (yes, I have two mother-tongue languages). Her English pronunciation was excellent. I couldn't figure out why there would be such a vast difference, so I asked the Chinese student. She explained that there are many "English" words in Japanese (i think "necktie" is one of them) but they're pronounced very strangely. As a result many (?) Japanese apply these weird phonetics to the rest of English. Once I understood that, I taught the Japanese student how to read/pronounce her English vocabulary with the help of the phonetic Alphabet. It was hell trying to "untrain" all the mispronounced words.
What I most noticed about Japanese people speaking English was they stumbled greatly around concepts that aren't used much or don't exist in Japanese. Japanese has no plural nouns (or I suppose doesn't distinguish between singular and plural), so you say "one chair, two chair, three chair". etc. So Japanese speakers really fumble with "chairs", "houses", "mice". Also, "he", "she", and "it" aren't often used. Rather than say "he lives in Metropolis", you would ordinarily say "Kent-san lives in Metropolis", and I knew many Japanese speakers at work trying hard to use "he" and "she" properly.
It's similar to how there's that stereotype of Italians adding -a to words. Some languages only have some sounds in a combination, and it's just natural for them. In some languages, R never comes at the end of a word, it's always followed by something else. I'm not a native Spanish speaker, and for me, it's much harder to trill an R at the start of a word, or adjacent to some consonants, than it is in the middle of a word. Regarding Japanese, they're not actually alphabets but syllaberies. In an alphabet like Latin (used by English, German etc) or Cyrillic (used by Russian, Mongol etc), each sound GENERALLY has it's own symbol. B sounds like a B. Ж sounds like zh. With abjads, like Arabic and Hebrew, the consonants are written, the vowels aren't.... usually. Which is why they're not alphabets. With a syllabery, one character is one syllable. There is no letter K in Japanese. Instead they have 5 syllables, Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke and Ko. With the exception of "N", all characters of hiragana and katakana, are either 1 vowel, or 1 consonant followed by 1 vowel. This is why you'll find "extra" vowels. Let's take the parts of the UK. England is Ingurando. There is no G, just Ga, Gi, Gu, Ge, and Go. So you find which vowel sounds the closest when saying it quickly. Your handle, Moonhunter, MIGHT end up written as Munhānta (if you're non rhotic). You'd choose ha, as despite how it's spelt in English, you're wanting the sound to be closer, not the spelling. So as there's a bit of a restriction, it can mean it's not as straightforward to write things in Japanese from other languages. As there's no "si", just "shi", something like city centre will come out as shitī sentā. They lack V, so B is used, like, Bietunamu and Bikutoria, for Vietnam and Victoria.
When I was studying maths at university there was a Japanese lecturer whose English was almost completely incomprehensible. Fortunately I wasn't in his stream, but a friend suggested I go to one of his lectures just for the experience. After a while I managed to figure out a few translations -- a couple I remember were "ekoh-toh" --> "equal to" and "loh-pee-tah-ruh" --> "L'Hopital's Rule". I felt great sympathy for those who had to actually understand his lectures.
@Greg Ewing not that different from a lot of accents in the UK. Some have dropped the R fully, equate a number and equator number are perfect homophones in this area. And some replace median T and D with glottal stop, and L with W. Football comes out as foo-baww. North American English accents are far less varied, and tend to be spoken slower. You just start to understand it after a short while. Like standard Indian English.
To add on to the topic of refusing politely, one way to refuse when offered something is to say "daijoubu" （大丈夫）, which anime fans will likely recognize as meaning "fine" or "okay" as in "I'm fine, thanks". Pronouncing Japanese is also not too hard to learn (without getting into pitch accent) because they only have 5 vowel sounds and everything is pronounced mostly as written. As a general rule, you can pronounce Japanese words written in romaji as if they were Spanish, since the Spanish phonemic inventory is very similar to Japanese. (Fun fact: Japanese people also sometimes roll their r's when speaking roughly or crudely)
The way we write Japanese in the alphabet is a system called Hepburn and it uses English consonants and Italian vowels, so it's no surprise pronouncing them Spanishly would work quite well.
you say five... but to my recollection vowel Length is actually meaningful, so it's more like 10. Mind you, to confuse the world, English often uses this vowel length distinction as well. When it shows up it's usually something that's written as 'voiced stop + vowel' but actually said as 'unvoiced consonent + long vowel' (meanwhile 'unvoiced stop + vowel' is usually (there are exceptions, mostly when it's 's + unvoiced consonent + vowel', which is said as it is written) said as 'asperated consonent + short vowel')... How much this is a thing varies from dialect to dialect, of course.
@@laurencefraser Don't make it harder than it needs to be. It is five separate, distinct vowel sounds. There are words where they are combined and spoken consecutively, kind of like a diphthong, but the individual sounds don't change, they are just spoken consecutively.
@@laurencefraser It is true that vowel length is important, but counting that double? If you can say "i" you can say "ii", so there are only 5 vowel sounds you need to be able to pronounce.
Been learning Japanese for about a year and a half so far myself and a fun thing to note about the 3 alphabets thing is that there being 3 actually makes it easier to read. seems intimidating at first, learning all the Kana's then jumping into kanji, but since Japanese doesn't have any spaces or breaks apart from a full stop 。and comma(Tooten) 、it gets really difficult on complex sentences on which group of kana are a specific word or idea. So the Kanji are really useful for breaking up the sentence and allow for quicker reading. ex: これはにほんごでかいて、でもかんじのはむずかしかったですね。 これは日本語で書いて、でも漢字のは難しかったですね。 both say the same thing "This is written in Japanese, but kanji is difficult, yeah?" but I can read the bottom one way quicker than the top, especially on the second half of the sentence where 2 particles are used together. And I've noticed after I began to learn kanji that it just gets harder and harder to read straight kana by itself, anything complex and I have to stop and sound out each individual character to make sure I'm not missing anything xD
@@kathleenking47 シ and ツ. both are Katakana (similar to hiragana, but used for foreign words and emphasis). the first one is Shi (し is the hiragana version), the second one is Tsu(つ is the hiragana version). they are just part of the alphabet, used to make up words.
Oh my goodness congratulations! Long time watcher and have never commented before but SO HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH! (also, I too adore Japanese. I found it to be the easiest language to speak I have ever attempted to learn!)
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 Not sure if the grammer is that simple. While there are markers to indicate the topic-subject, subject and object, there are an awful lot of different tenses [even if most aren't regularly used], with the verb almost at the end of the sentence, sets the tone, followed by the end of sentence marker, which may turn the whole thing into a question. Just to make it trickier, no written word spaces and virtually none in spoken Japanese.
@@stephenarbon2227 Yes, the basics of it are that simple. I mentioned both sentence order with verb at the end, and trailing ka to make it a question. It won't make a foreigner sound like a native, but I don't know of any other language which can teach anything near as much in a single week.
Reading English words is very difficult, compared to DE, ES languages. Alphabet 'a' has many sounds ; a ʌ æ ə@@grizwoldphantasia5005 | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
Congratulations on the marriage, Rob. May the both of you have many happy years. Pendantic mode: I wish you would have used writing system instead of alphabet to refer to the writing systems of kanji, hiragana and katakana, since Japanese is *not* an alphabet, but a syllabary. Domo arigatou does get used, but you most likely only encounter it as domo when walking around as a tourist. For the bill, in most (casual) restaurants and places (like izakaya) you can also just cross your index fingers in front of your face to the waiter/waitress to indicate you wanting the bill.
It was a pleasure to watch this video, because it reminded me of the hundreds of flights to Japan I had. 🙂 To me it seems , that the pronunciation of Japanese is even easier for German speakers because the language is less "soft" than English. "Itadakimasu" (~Bon appétit) and "Gochisosama Deshita" (~Thank you for the meal) are also quite useful. And there are also German words turned into Japanese like "Arubaito" from "Arbeit" -> Job...some medical terms are borrowed from the German language as well. Also German umlauts (ä,ö,ü) are quite popular, when companies choose a brand-name, p.ex.: "Märchen" (= fairy tale) is the company which produces DIY-items like beads etc. - in Thailand you'll also find brands like "Mädel" (= girl). Even German names like "Roland" (musical instruments) are chosen for a company-name because of easy international comprehension...
I was told that "arubaito" actually means part-time work! Make of that what you will... Myself, I feel that Japanese has a lot in common with Italian, which seems to place vowels everywhere to break up consonant pairs. Arubaito could easily come from an Italian Gastarbeiter. Indeed, I remember hearing similar from a pair of Italian co-workers on a site in southern Germany.
@@andrewmole745 Only 2-3 decades ago, it had been common in German to use the English phrase "job" as a slightly derogatory term to describe full-time or part-time work below your qualifications (or in absence of qualifications, e.g. when still in college) to pay the rent. And which you would quit as soon as you scored a "real employment" or Arbeit.
Congrats Rob! As someone who's been teaching themselves Japanese for a couple years, I think it's so interesting to see the perspective of someone new to the language such as yourself and how you mentioned the special case of the R/L sound and the use of sayonara.
I agree with sumimasen as the absolutely most important word. Especially as it is normally used in situations where using a translation app would be impractical.
Really nice surprise episode! No corrections, just annotations. 4:19 Glass has two different pronounciations in Japanese, if you are referring to the material ("glass" is made of sand) then the pronounciation is ガラス /garasu/. But if you are referring to the recipient ("glass" to drink water) it's グラス /gurasu/. Yes, Japanese borrowed lots of English words especially after the occupation by the US army, however they had already started incorporating Dutch and German words way before when they were closed down and the only ones allowed up to the pier were the Dutch and their weapons. Others who were later allowed were the Portuguese monks who introduced the letter P to them. And regarding English words there are two large groups, 外来語 /gairaigo/ or words that kept their original meaning when being adopted (like テニス, /tenisu/ or tennis) and 和製英語 /wasei eigo/ which are words created by Japanese using English loan words but changing their original meaning. For example, カンニング /kanningu/ which came from "cunning" but they use it for "cheating", so even if you understand the word they are referring to it might still be that they are using it with a different meaning. 4:40 The R problem is for both Japanese speaking in English (who would pronounce it very softly) and English people speaking Japanese (who would, on the contrary, pronounce it extremely harshly). 5:18 Here is where Romance languages in general and Spanish in particular have a huge advantage at pronounciation because we have every Japanese syllable pronounciation (over 90% compared to the 80% you mentioned for English). The only real sounds we don't exactly mimic is the G sound (きがある, /ki ga aru/, there's a tree) which should sound as /ki NGA aru/ but our G doesn't bring that nasal part with it, nor the Japanese j which sounds more like Portuguese j (a /dy/ sound) rather than a pure Spanish j, nor the H sound but we can easily mimic with a half F. 9:55 "Domo arigato" is incomplete because when talking informally you just say thanks, maybe in English "very thanks" is fine but in Japanese you would go onwards, "Domo arigatou gozaimasu", "thank you very much". 10:44 これです /kore desu/ "This one!" brings an interesting point: Kore is "this thing that is near me". You have other nouns you can use like それ /sore/ which literally means "that thing that is near you" and あれ /are/ which would be "that thing that is far from both you and me". So, if you are pointing at the menu item you would say "Kore desu" but if the the waiter came with a bottle of wine in each hand you would point at one and say "Sore desu" because the object is nearer to him than to you. And if you were ordering and wanted to point to the sample takoyaki serving that is displayed at the entrance, you would point there and say "are desu" (actually you would say "are kudasai" but that's beside the point). 11:17 Politely would be すみませんでした /sumimasen deshita/ where deshita is the past tense of desu because you already bumped into someone. "Desu" by the way is a couple, it only gives the sentence a level of politeness. 12:00 That ohayou sounded pretty rare lol A monotonous pronounciation is better without accentuating the "ha". 13:25 True, さようなら /sayounara/ is used as a final goodbye, like when leaving a group, when traveling overseas, etc. またね /matane/ is actually a noun, また /mata/ which means "Again" and the suffix ね /ne/ which is usually used to seek confirmation by your interlocutor. So, it would literally mean "(see you) again, ok?". So you can also say just また /mata/ or add a noun, like またあした /mata ashita/ (see you) again tomorrow or また次回 /mata jikai/ (see you) again next time/ o また来週 /mata raishuu/ (see you) again next week. And バイバイ is indeed for teens, mostly girls. 14:13 おまかせ /omakase/ literally means "I trust your judgement" and can be used in several situations indeed. For example, if someone brings you several drawings for you to choose one for a sign you can return the whole stack and say it to get that people choose one. And the contrary is also true, people can ask for someone to do something and you can raise your hand and say おまかせ letting everyone know you will do it. 14:55 The dyptong ei in Japanese sounds like ee, so お会計 would be /okaikee/ but then again it's hard to explain the ee sound to an English speaker, it's a prolonged E sound, not a prolonged I sound (like bee in English would be /bii/ but we want an E sound that sounds like /e/ like the e in "men" but lasting twice as long). Another point is that the "o" at the beginning is a prefix to make the word polite, so the noun itself is only 会計 /kaikei/ but the お /o/ is added as a sign of respect (it would be like "(please bring) your respected/honourable bill (please)". 15:45 美味しい /oishii/ is an adjective which means "is delicious". Note the verb: in Japanese the adjectives are part verb and can be conjugated with similar (if not exactly the same) rules as a verb. Before eating the food おいしい /oishii, without the kanji/ could mean "seems delicious" (because you cannot affirm something is rich unless you have already eaten it) although the correct term would be おいしそう /oishisou/ which uses the volition suffix そう /sou/ (by the way, in Japanese the dyptong ou is pronounced as a long o). After you tasted the food you can say おいしい /oishii/, "is delicious". And after you have eaten everything, おいしかった /oishikatta/ "was delicious". That's just an example of how the adjective was conjugated. 17:00 As many mentioned, はい /hai/ means "I agree" whereas いいえ /iie/ means "I disagree". Beginners have a really hard time because sometimes you have to work against your senses, especially with negative sentences: agreeing that you can't go "Can't you go tomorrow?" in English would "No, I can't go" but in Spanish would be "Yes (I agree), I can't go". Disagreeing in English would be "Yes, I can" but in Japanese would be "No, I can".
Among 日本 words, there are Dutch[NL], Portuguese[PT] languages, for PT sold weapons to 日本﹠日本 sold 日本 people to PT. When 日本 was under seclusionism, 日本 shogunates accepted only the Netherlands@@RobWords | Cầu nguyện cho Үкраїна và hòa bình.
I always strongly recommend that people headed to Japan study the katakana syllable symbols. There are only 46 symbols and they are easy to learn. The katakana is used almost exclusively for foreign loan words. 99% of which are from English. The katakana all have an easily identifiable style so they are easy to spot amid the jumble of the mixed together 3 writing systems. This means that the Japanese have helpfully "Hi-lited" all the written words that you already know!! Many restaurants have at least 50% of the writing all in katakana. I was in a coffee shop where the sandwich menu was 100% katakana and therefore 100% English. All of us at the table were English speakers but I was the only one who could read it because I had learned the kana. Study the katakana before you go. While there, carry around a cheat sheet. With just a bit of practice you wont need the cheat sheet anymore. It was a lot of fun.
You did a great job! I took Japanese classes for 5 years and can attest that everything you said is correct (as far as I know). Really appreciated the description of sayonara and iie. Good work!
Love the video. Two words I’ve found useful living in Japan are, “I’m sorry”, Gomen'nasai, and by far the most useful word that I use all the time but I’ve never seen in any videos, “Daijōbu”, which can be used in many ways but basically means, “its ok”.
Thanks Rob, I don't expect to visit Japan but I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos; they are professional and made with humour. Probably the best videos I watch on You Tube
Hey Rob....Congrats on your honeymoon!!! . .. ... .... Back when I traveled to Japan there were no signs with Roman letters (I truly felt illiterate) yet I felt totally at home with their hospitality overcoming the language barrier. The Japanese have a truly impressive culture. . Apparently (not 100% confirmed).... Japanese "Arigato" comes from Portuguese"Obrigado". . I was impressed to see how Portuguese and Japanese have so many complimenting cultural similarities. Well the Portuguese were the first Europeans to Japan and among other things brought the Japanese culture of tea drinking back to Europe and the UK. Portuguese/Japanese word for tea is 'cha' - although same as Chinese it was the Japanese influence that stuck. . Oh the Portuguese learnt that bathing every day (and drinking tea) was route to good health. And apparently they brought this back to Europe.... BUT knowing the Japanese were into bathing every day, when the Portuguese came across soap (invented by the French) they traded it back to Japan who loved it and adopted it into their culture BUT the Japanese end up adopting the English word 'Sopu'.
_Arigatou_ is not from "obrigado" it is just coincidence. The stem word is _arigatai_ (or rather _aru)_ Just like Japanese for "name" is _namae_ is very close to the English word, it is too only coincidence. A very common word that is from Portuguese though, is _pan_ meaning "bread".
Technically, the Japanese used the imported word "shabon" for soap, though you don't hear it much these days with the possible exception of "shabon-dama" (soap bubbles). As for "soopu," you'd probably hear it more often in combination, such as "bodi-soopu" or "hando-soopu." By itself, "soopu" is more colloquially associated with a certain type of sex-trade establishment, short for "soopu-rando," at least among younger men. Besides the others mentioned, Japanese words borrowed from Portuguese include "tempura" and "kasutera".
@@HasekuraIsuna Thanks for the "Obrigado" clarity. I had my doubts about the Portuguese origin. Hey any comment on @Dan Vol 's "shabon-dama" having a Portuguese origin? "soap" in Portuguese is Sabao (and dama means give me in Portuguese).???
@@markplain2555 "Shabon" シャボン comes from the contemporary Spanish (xabón) for soap, not the Portuguese. The "dama" mentioned above is actually "tama" (玉), but the "t" adopts the voice from the preceding "n" and is pronounced in combination as "d". 玉 in this case just means a round object like a ball ... or a single soap bubble. シャボン玉 And as previously mentioned "arigatou" is the combination form of 有る "to be" and 難い, which means "difficult to (preceding verb)". So describing something as "arigatai" (or "difficult to be") shows the receiver's appreciation for the act as no small thing to be taken for granted - therefore expressing the meaning of being grateful or thankful for that thing. The "tou" ending is a evolution from "tai" (adjective) or "taku" (adverb) to an easier to say "tou" form which flows better. This is very common in many Japanese words including "good morning" - "ohayou" that Rob mentions. "Hayai" is the adjective meaning "early" (with a polite "o" prefix), which is then evolved to the smoother "(o)hayou". The Kyoto dialect in particular stands out to me as a modern Japanese speech where the "ou" endings are still used a lot in everyday polite speech.
I was taught that in business situations, where it is incredibly impolite to say "no", people say "choto musu kashi", which means "that is a difficult thing". Checking with other people who spoke Japanese and/or have lived there, they concur.
@@xohyuu Dude, was it not clear that I don't speak/read/write Japanese? I was given this tip by people who do speak Japanese, and/or have lived there. And when I check with Japanese people, they confirm that it's a standard thing there.
Rob, first things first: Congratulations and all the best wishes for getting married! I have learned chinese for some time and found it less initmidating than it actually is made to appear. Years later I was visiting Japan and was happy that while the Kanjis are pronounced differently, their meaining stays. Exit, for instance (looks like a gate). I picked up some Japanese as well and want to start learning it really this years with a course. Thanks for this introduction. :) Have a nice trip!
New subscriber here. Thanks for the video on Japan! I lived there for a year and a half and loved it so much. Everything about the language, culture, and people were wonderful to get acquainted with. I hope to go back someday.
Great concise video with lots of good tips! Two more simple words/phrases that are good to know: Dōzo (どうぞ) = help yourself, go ahead Ii desu ka? (いいですか) = may I? is it ok?
Hey Rob! I’m actually going to Japan very soon! Unfortunately I was very preoccupied with my finals and couldn’t dedicate myself to learning basic casual Japanese. This video will be very helpful, thank you!
Japanese actually has TWO words that mean “glass”: _garasu_ for the material or sheet, and _gurasu_ for the stuff you drink from! e.g. “Windowpane” is _mado garasu,_ while “wine glass” is _wain gurasu_ Also, make sure to say “Hai” with a lowering intonation. If you say “Hai?” it can be taken as “Say what?” or “Come again?” instead.
As well as some loan words. Two languages can't be spoken in such proximity without words being borrowed here and there. People who think knowing Spanish or French is going to help with Basque are in for quite a surprise though.
@@jasonjasonjasonjason That doesn’t make the languages related though, any more than Maltese (a Semitic language with a lot of Italian loanwords) is related to Italian (a Romance language).
@@ragnkjaTrue. but no one is saying that they're related，though，at least not yet. That person was just trying to perfect your statement，which is a brilliant one，by comparing Basque-Spanish to Japanese-Chinese
@@jasonjasonjasonjason Japanese loanwords from Chinese are notably *very* far removed from Mandarin Chinese, they mostly come from Middle Chinese varieties that Mandarin diverged quite heavily from compared to some other Chinese languages. words like 学生 for example are not at ALL intelligible between Mandarin Chinese and Japanese: ’xuésheng‘ in Mandarin, and ‘gakusei’ in Japanese. the writing system keeps the connection obvious, but in purely spoken language most of these loan words have diverged so far in pronunciation as to be unrecognizable between the two.
That's what I did when I bought my tickets to Japan, learn to say thank you sorry and please. With a few additions it really helped me throughout the trip, japanese people are considerate and helpful when you show respect and willingness to their culture
My nephew Chris went to Japan as an English teacher - learned the kanji and the language and became a youtuber - quite an amazing life he leads now because of it.
Glad you guys are loving Japan. I have been there before myself and I studied the language in university, which helped immensely to get around. I miss it and can’t wait to visit again. Great video as always!
I tend to not nitpick things, but as a linguist that lives in Japan, I was compelled to comment: When describing the Japanese "r", you say several times that it is a sound that we don't have in English, while at the same time correctly pointing out that we DO have it in English: it is the alveolar tap present in North American English, several Irish English dialects, and some West Country dialects. Japanese has extremely simple phonology and there is really no single phoneme that isn't present in English at all (though there are some blends/clusters we don't have). The biggest problem with English words in Japanese is that they are often nonsensical to English speakers. They have been adapted to Japanese phonology and are no longer "English". I've lived here for a long time and I still get confused by English loanwords because they don't sound like English anymore, and attempts to pronounce them the English way will lead to Japanese being totally unable to recognize the word. I can't tell you how many times a conversation has gotten completely stalled by both parties inability to comprehend the others pronunciation of a fairly simple English loanword. So, in order to communicate, I had to relearn the words. Also, the meanings of many English loanwords have changed completely. So, you can't count on words to mean what you think they do. Someone who is "high tension" is excited and energetic. "flying get" means to jump at an opportunity or to snatch something up quickly. "hambagu" is hamburger steak while "hambaga" is a hamburger.
Maybe it's more accurate (without getting into academic linguistic lingo) to say English doesn't have a dedicated letter for them? Having lived around different parts of the USA, I definitely know that there is the alleged "standard" pronunciation, and there is the local accent. These things can be quite different. 😆
Yes! English loan-words are Japonified to the point where English speakers don't understand them & Japanese speakers don't understand the original English, even though it's "the same word"! Eg, the many times in hs Japanese where the whole class was stumped by words like バレーボール (barebooru) or テレビ (terebi)... or the one time I was trying to talk to my host family about kitkats & they didn't understand until I properly said キットカット (kittokatto) XD A common Japanese feature that further obscures the original English is abbreviation (eg. コピペ (kopipe) from copy and paste, or スマホ (sumaho) from smart phone) I've been studying Japanese for years and am currently majoring in Linguistics so I find this stuff v interesting!!
@@mahna_mahna And one person's "standard" pronunciation is another person's blasphemous abomination. We don't have a dedicated letter for a lot of our sounds: we only have 5 letters for vowels yet we have 13~20 vowel sounds depending on who you ask and what dialect you're talking about. The same is true with consonants.
Isn't it a little bit different though? The Japanese alveolar tap is also lateral (which is why it sounds a little bit l-like as well), where the tap present in American English as an allophone of /t/ and /d/ isn't.
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The most useful word for eating out is betsubetsu. It means split the bill so you only pay for your meal and drinks (yes they will have recorded everything and you can just tick off each item).
I like how Japanese grammar is much simpler in how conjugations are formed and sentence structure is consistent. Grammar hasn't thrown me as much as vocabulary has.
Actually 🤓 "garasu" is a Dutch loanword. There are plenty of Dutch loanwords in Japanese that sound like English because of both Eng and Dutch being Germanic languages, like "biiru" (beer) from Dutch "bier", "retteru" (letter/label) from Dutch "letter", "koohii" (coffee) from Dutch "koffie" and many many others.
Yeah, lots of Dutch and German loanwords in Japanese. And some Portuguese. I got really confused when people expected me to understand "Damboru" (cardboard box/packing case) thinking it was an English loanword.
To clarify something for other readers: 'letter' in Dutch only means a symbol in the alphabet, not a note you might send by post, etc.; for that meaning, the word is 'brief' (and, in turn, you can see how English made that into a term for a legal document, or a spec list).
In the middle ages, 日本 had trades with only the Netherlands[オランダ≒Holland]. Before that, it had purchased weapons from Portuguese merchants | Пeрeмога Үкраїнi!
@@xohyuu The Netherlands (or actually called "The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands" back then) traded with Japan, starting around the year 1610, which was largely exclusive. From what I have learned in school the reasons were no Japanese trust at all to the outside world, with a little trust & stake put into relations with the most powerful navy & economy at the time. The distrust was due to wars with other nations, and a certain wish to keep the country & culture pure & pristine. The trust in "The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands", or rather its inseparability from the "VOC" (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; or translated as United East Indies Company; the first international financial holding & company, which was also Dutch itself), made it possible to monopolize trade with Japan, to defend it through its navy, and to control it for many years. The trust also came from a certain agreement by the Dutch sticking to certain ports, some Dutch settlements on Japanese shores, and agreeing to not travel inland too far, thus respecting boundaries, earning a level of trust with the Japanese political system. Apparently this trade was so long lasting and so exclusive, but fruitful, that many words from Japanese and Dutch were interchanged. Even though we seem to have forgotten which words in Dutch are Japanese. But apparently many Japanese words come from Dutch, especially marine lingo. From what I understand, in some languages (like English & French), even as remote and exclusive as Finnish, Russian, and Japanese, all marine words and concepts are directly taken from Dutch, as most, if not all trade by sea route for some nations was with or via the VOC. The Middle Ages were from the year 500 - 1500. 1610 is well into the Early Modern Era. The Portuguese tried to Christianize Japan before that, bulding many churches and monasteries in Japan at the time, which would have been roughly between 1500 and 1610, also after the Middle Ages. During the actual Middle Ages there was extremely little travel from Europe to anywhere else by sea. Columbus famously started out to try and find the Indies by going West, finding the Americas instead, in 1492. If the Netherlands did their trade with Japan in the Middle Ages, and the Portuguese did that before that, it would mean they did so in ancient times, when the Romans still held most of Europe. Which is not the case. Trade between Japan and the Netherlands started in 1610.
My favorite Dutch loan word is モルモット morumotto. Because that's the word they use for Guinea pigs, which I like. The Dutch called the Guinea pig a marmot, a completely different animal, and the word stuck.
A great way to make Katakana and Hiragana way less intimidating that I came across in my study of Japanese is to consider them in the same manner as upper and lower case. ‘A’ and ‘a’ look quite different but have the exact same pronunciation in English. Likewise in Japanese, ‘a’ (said ‘ah’) is ‘あ’ in Hiragana and ア in Katakana. Exactly the same sound but just different in appearance! 😊
@@carstenlechte at least with kana, the sounds stay relatively the same, as opposed to the Latin alphabet, where some letters can make up to 3 different sounds depending on context 😅
I came across 'sayonara' in a novel my Japanese-Canadian neighbour had written, and I challenged him on the word as meaning a final goodbye. He assures me that sayonara is a perfectly good word to use when parting... maybe it's just not as casual as 'mata ne'. To push the point, I asked him why his characters had just said "See you later" (in English), followed by "sayonara" ... it was used more as a slightly more formal term, he said, but not as strong, say, as 'farewell' or 'adieu'. We laughed when I said, simperingly, 'bei bei'! BTW, I really enjoy your videos. Thankyou, Rob.
Thanks for video Rob! Your videos of secrets of English are priceless! Congrats on your honeymooning and reaching Japan. I see your pronouncing (and I believe hearing of Japanese) still need a little bit practice. For example I hear in your pronounce more like arigAto (as you said in a Spanish way) instead of arIgatOo. But it’s just practice. Me and all my family using a lot of Japanese phrases on a daily basis here in Moscow for decades. It came from anime and tons of Japanese dioramas. So the more you hear the closer you get. And one more common English word in Japanese is Hoteru = Hotel. Thanks again for this quick tour. Sure most of your subscribers it opens mystical Japanese a little bit more. Good luck, dear!
I LOVE your channel. Do you think you would be willing to venture down the avenue of discussing proper grammar. It is sad to see how poorly people use our language and the more that creators discuss it, perhaps the more people will embrace proper grammar, or at least more proper... You could go over so many different avenues of grammar as well, maybe you could make a new channel, or even ad them in to this one here and there.
Always a great pleasure Rob -- I have zero interest/experience in Japanese but thoroughly enjoyed and was edified by your video -- great work as always ❤
Another word that could be useful is hitotsu, which is "one of" like when you want a single item at a restaurant or bar. The counting system can be a little confusing because there's many sets of counting words. The only other word i can think of that wasn't covered in the video was "dozo" which means "here you go" or "go ahead". When i was there i heard it quite a bit. I got asked "nan senchi" for "how many centimetres" a few times. I would hold up my fingers ✌️ because i was 200cm tall 😂 (my sister was a Japanese teacher in Australia, and went to teach English in Japan and i visited her, so she warned me about this) it made the girls giggle. i was big in Japan!
The one thing that really stood out to me when learning Japanese was realizing how rigid English (and Swedish as my native togue) is when it comes to nouns. For some wonderful reason it's often perfectly fine to omit who is doing what with whom as it's often clear from the context. As someone who forgets names much to often this has been a life saver on more than one occasion!
I believe this is true for East Asian languages in general. Bad translations will often totally mix up who is actually doing things because it isn't specified in the original. 😅
I worked for a Japanese company about 30 years ago and had forgotten most of these words, I do recall you could usually tell if the sentence was a question by the "ka" at the end. Also the sentence syntax was a bit hard to get used to e.g. (English subject-verb object) , Nihongo (subject -object-verb) and reading right to left.. Most Japanese people studied English in school and could usually figure out what I was trying to communicate. The younger people were actually eager to try out their English skills and we learned from each other. The biggest problem was that I come from the Southern US and between my accent and our sometimes unique idioms we had some "interesting" , but enjoyable times. I could rarely get a direct "no" as any answer to a question, it was usually "perhaps" , "that may work" or "that is interesting". This was a nostalgic and enjoyable video.
Maybe is fun to know that Japanese pronunciation is really similar to italian, one for the main differences is that they don't have our "ci" and that their "ki" is our "chi" but almost everything else is similar with sounds a little different but not so much, they have a few mute vowels like des(u) while italian pronounce every letter but still, so for an italian student is easier cause you can almost completely skip the pronunciation step.
Brilliant! Spot-on advice for non-Japanese speakers. Phrases and question words are unnecessary. Tourists get a pass on just about everything. As long as you are polite, (this includes bowing, following the rules, no tipping or being loud), you will get along splendidly. You honestly don’t need to know more than the words presented in this video. Cheers!
I wish I'd seen this before my wife and I went to Japan in last autumn to visit our son and his family. Will definitely revisit this vid before our next visit!
Years ago, back last century, I pick up some basic Japanese from watching the TV mini-series Shogun 😀 Written by James Clavell from his book of the same name. I believe he learnt Japanese while a POW. Thanks Rob. I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon in the Orient.
2:55 4 - romaji has its own rules too. It’s not just the same as English. Edit: for example, the famous Japanese food called “susi”, the season of “natu”, or the girls name “Tihiro”. There are at least 3 styles of Romaji. The best for English speakers is Hepburn because it’s phonetic (sushi, Natsu, Chihiro). The other styles are only usually phonetic.
From what I've seen on my Japanese language lessons with an actual Japanese, "shi" and "si" are used interchangeably so "sushi" is still a correct romaji transliteration. Either way, it's kinda irrelevant since you're supposed to learn and use し or シ in the end - romaji is just a stopgap solution. Some probably useless trivia: In polish phonetics, you'd write し as the "si" or even "ś"; though I think most Poles learning Japanese already know English so we use "shi" either way.
@@MrKata55 Romaji is useful for learning Japanese but the same is true for hiragana. Hiragana is also a stepping stone, and you'll see it alongside kanji in most kids books, etc. But romaji (and the individual letters) is often used in Japanese, especially in advertising and popular culture. Sometimes it's Japanese romaji, sometimes it's English, sometimes individual letters, and sometimes it's just a confusing mess. About romaji styles, although you could write, for example, "shishitou" or "sisitou", you shouldn't mix the styles and write "shisitou" or "sishitou". It's fascinating stuff. Good luck with your language studies!
Awesome video! I came back from my first visit to Japan a couple weeks ago and this was basically my vocabulary the whole time. I also used a LOT of gomen nasai (sorry!) and daijoubu (that’s okay!). It was pretty easy to get around Japan with a limited vocabulary like this, but for my next trip I’m committed to studying more so I can have some more in-depth conversations with people. Thanks so much for making this video, I thought it was great!
Sometimes I wish that you would say a little more, for example:- The -u at the end of "gozaimasu" is what some would describe as a "whispered vowel". It counts as a syllable in poetry. In Japan night workers greet each other with "ohayō gozaimasu", when they first see each other. Hotel workers, hospital staff, entertainers and "ladies of the night" follow this usage.
Having been learning this language for a little over 4 years, I think this kind of video is valuable for those who don't have the time to burn learning the intricacies of the language. Things rarely translate 1 to 1 and the slight nuances of words means all the difference. Thank you for highlighting how sayōnara actually comes off to the average speaker. I generally tell my friends to never use it because of how dramatic it makes you sound. Another example of the boundless nuance of the language is its honorifics which I think most people overcomplicate. Assume (their name)-san unless told otherwise. Also, its really rude to refer to someone by their given name so use their family name unless told otherwise. If you plan on staying in the country or talking on a more advanced level, good luck.
Besides the risk of getting eel guts for Omakase, could end up being very expensive. Where I live, anyway. Omakase is the best of the house, and priced accordingly. Don't be surprised by the number of digits on the bill, and the value of the first one!
I'm a bit late to the party, but if you're looking for a couple of - admittedly silly - mnemonics, I offer these: For "sumimasen" a friend came up with "excuse-me-masen". For "onegaishimasu" I came up with "on-you-go-shimasu". Silly, as I said. My understanding of "onegaishimas" was that it meant something like "please give so I may receive", but I'm sure there's way more to it than that. Much like "itadaikimasu" said before a meal means something like "to humbly receive", but in a monastic Buddhist context there's a feeling of receiving something which is much too good for you. Always fascinating. I loved studying Japanese at uni and it served me well (ten years later) when I went to Japan a couple of times for martial arts. Thank you for great video!
Although the kana are the same, the first N in what was transliterated as konban is actually pronounced like an English M (because it precedes a B or P sound). Also Japanese is very dialectical. The Okinawans emphasize the U in su at the end of a word. Photo gozaimasue
Ah, the memories. Japanese do say "domo domo!", btw. The "r" is actually like spanish "r" (not "rr") such as "caricia" and very close to English in "care", just not the strong american way. I also miss "dozo" as common, useful word.
@@tokeeriksen2425 Yes. I used it in a restaurant once when the waitress came over to clear the plates and the waitress said "You must have a Japanese wife."
🇯🇵If you can add to (or correct) anything I’ve said, I’d love to hear from you below. I’m sure I didn’t nail everything first time. Let’s see if we can make this a place where people can learn even more about Japanese 🇯🇵
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What I think that what it have to be mentioned is that,
"Hai" and "īe" is not actually like yes and no but more like true or false.
If you're asked a negative question like
"Don't you like it?", and when you do like it, you gotta say "īe" and not "hai" because it's false.
Maybe you can meet Dogen while you're there. He has helpful pronunciation videos and he's a linguist. I know etymology and morphology are different but theyre kind of under the same umbrella.
I remember a Japanese textbook saying “Gaikokujon deskara amari yoku wakarimasen.” Which it translated as “I’m a foreigner so I really don’t understand.” I
Yeah, you don’t need that one.
Arigatou gozaimasu = Thank you very much
Well, hai and iie are kinda tricky ones, hai is more of aizuchi (read about this one it's really interesting), BUT it can mean yes, it can mean no too tho, same for iie, sometimes it means yes, sometimes not. Japanese don't really have nor need words for yes or no, because it's like Latin for example, answers with the verb being used.Example: 日本語読みますか?(nihongo yomimasuka) "do you read Japanese?" the possible answers are: "読みます" (yomimasu) for yes, literally "I read" and 読みません(yomimasen) for no, again literally "I don't read". You probably can get a pass with hai and iie because you're a foreigner and nobody expects you to speak japanese, but keep in mind that it's not as simple as you might've thought initially.
As a Chinese person, when I went to Japan for a very short time, I found it delightful that I could understand many of the signs because they are written in Chinese characters. However, Japanese pronounce them totally differently from the Chinese pronunciation. When I had to ask for directions, I wrote the place name down on a piece of paper in Chinese characters and someone pointed us to the right direction. Usually writing is more complicated than speaking, especially for Chinese characters. But in this case that’s the only way for me to communicate with Japanese locals. Funny experience.
As an extra bonus (assuming my recollection is correct), most kanji apparently have two readings, one based on what they were used to mean in chinese (that is, the Japanese word for the thing) when Japan adopted them, and one based on what they sounded like to Japanese speakers when introduced (which, of course, has a completely different meaning). In most cases the pronunciation of both has drifted over time (as it will in any language). Or something like that.
Unless you are a takeaway you are a chinese person not a chinese
@@laurencefraser Actually, most have at least 4 readings! Many have even more! Like this character 天, means "heaven" or "sky" and so is pronounced as either of the Japanese native words for the two (separate in Japanese) concepts. In names(for places, things, and people), things get even more complicated...
In addition to being able to practically navigate the Japanese language, you apparently have very good written English language communication skills.
@@namename3130 thanks for correcting me
Your enthusiasm for language is so addictive! Congratulations again on your marriage; I hope you and your wife have had a wonderful trip.
También! Tengan una buena viaje!
Your Japanese name: ドーライトフル
The idea that you only have to study to do semi-mind reading (What speech really is, if you think about it) with people all over the world is terrific.
I once gave a formal presentation (in English) to a group of about 200 scientists at a conference in Kyoto. After being introduced, I began my talk with "Kon'nichiwa." I was a bit startled when the entire room loudly responded "KON'NICHIWA" in unison. I agree with your view of Japan; it is an amazing place filled with wonderful people.
There seems to be an expectation that the audience will respond to a speaker's greeting here in Japan. When my high school students are giving speeches, they often start with a "Good morning" replied to likewise by many of the students, and I have to tell them later that they should not expect a return greeting when speaking before a non-Japanese audience. Usually we say "good morning" more casually and do not expect a reply from an audience.
Oh, and another thing, the reply to a greeting is always the same. You never say "konnichiwa" and hear "ohayo" in response. It's so expected that when my students say "hello" to me and I respond with "good morning", they think they've made a mistake and then "correct" themselves and say "good morning". I have to tell all my classes that it's ok in English to mix replies: "hello" for "hi", "hi" for "good afternoon". It's apparently not a hard habit to break as even my kindergarten students quickly learn to mix replies and even seem to enjoy it.
i love it, i say it's the nearest you'll get to outer space, when i look up at the sky i expect to see rings like saturn.
@@GregConquest yes in Japan it'd be taken as a correction. I watched a Japanese drama and an office lady was majorly slighted by an upity superior jealous lady who responded 'ohaiyo' to her 'konnichiwa' iirc enough to put her to tears afterwards in context and tilt her interview.
Collective response seems to be very much a thing in Japan. Once at a hotel, when one member of a tour group was late to meet in the lobby, on his arrival, the entire group sighed "Ooooooh" in unison. The late individual was mortified.
We began using it in our own internal meetings; even people who had not heard the story were mortified to hear the collective sigh.
Arigato I thought ari cat
Hi from Hiroshima! Congratulations on your marriage and as a Japanese fan of your videos, I’m very happy you chose Japan for your honeymoon! This is another great video of yours and I have no correction at all - but I’d like to add the two best Japanese phrases to say No politely when you’d like to refuse what you are offered. Although politeness may be the best virtue in Japan, there is nothing wrong to say No when necessary (we NEED to). There are 1 “Kekkodesu” (結構です）and 2 “Daijoubudesu” (大丈夫です). Phrase 1 means “No, thank you” and 2 “I’m fine (without what is offered).” In the end, politeness is not only a word but also a non-verbal expression that we can tell.
thank you from another studying your beautiful language!
Wait, so いいえ is actually rude? I didn't know this and I visited Japan 2 times already 💀
Daijoubu could be misinterpreted as "I'm fine with that" could it not?
Yes, I was about to mention these two. I actually thought he was going to say both of these instead of いいえ.
@@softpaw6234 like in English, saying "I'm good" in response to an offer is always understood as a refusal. If one wants to accept then they will say Hai and/or Arigatou instead.
As a Japanese person, I am very surprised and honored to have your opinions on the Japanese language
It is interesting that Kanzi, Hiragana, Katakana all were from Chinese letters. | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
I have met Japanese students who have been studying here and frankly they have been very polite and lovely people. My grandson had a school trip earlier this year to Japan and loved it. I saw on TH-cam The Tokyo Ballet Company. It was a great performance. Japanese women are so dainty, delicate and feminine. Typecast, but I mean it in a positive way. I love Japanese art as well.
@@patricianunes3521 Bet you'll get more satisfaction when you discover more Japanese culture, especially with the dialects. I'm from the Kansai region of Japan, which is in the southern part. They've got some really good food there. If I were to recommend some for you to try out, takoyaki's a no brainer
Learning to read your language really does my head in at times, but I love it
@@yuzuruizumieggy
Takoyaki might not be the first thing id recommend somebody try who isn’t used to Japanese cuisine.
Its an extremely unique texture that most Americans won’t be used to or enjoy.
Same with ikayaki.
For anybody curious, the texture of the meat in these cases is a bit more leathery or rubbery. If the texture doesn’t bother you, they’re quite delicious foods.
I learned twenty words before I went to Japan for 2 weeks and picked up many more whilst there. The Japanese fell over themselves in delight when I tried to use their language, no matter how badly. They helped me learn more and I was often given gifts for my efforts. I had an amazing time meeting these hospitable and kind people.
I guess, you would have gotten gifts anyways. They have the costume of "サービス" (doing service) which is nothing different than giving little presents.
I'd imagine any nation's people are delighted when someone tries to learn their language (barring the French perhaps) even if they butcher it.
For me personally, i enjoy it to an extent. When they start speaking "confidently" while still murdering the language to such an extent they change entire meanings of sentences and still think they said it right they are just annoying. Likewise, speaking to them they constantly misunderstand you and misconstrue the things you say and they get offended rather than asking for clarification.
But yeah, tourists that come here having a go at our language is quite uplifting.
Though i really hate my native language and wish we would just make the switch to English. It would simplify so much!
@@christiankroger2993 No, that wouldn't have happened. And I can tell you from long experience that almost everyone in Japan is absolutely delighted when a foreigner tries to speak Japanese and does it badly, but they become quite wary if you speak with any fluency.
@@christiankroger2993No not true at all.
@@RealCadde Yeah, I heard plenty about the legendary French disdain for tourists butchering the language... AND then in the Navy I was in Europe... and took a tour into Paris in time for the great wine show on the Champs Elycees... I had no trouble at all... got laughed at plenty for drinking the wine instead of spitting into the barrels... paced myself so not to pass out before I was able to politely enough make good an escape and see more of the city before it was time to get back to the hotel and later to the ship...
THEN I found out what ticks French folks off so quick... It was something I'd found (originally) somewhat annoying in French class, but had overlooked bothering the teacher about at the time... "Bon jour"... She said it CONSTANTLY... It was the start of literally EVERY conversation with her, and it didn't matter that she'd already greeted the class with it, she'd greet you personally with it, and you just slowly got used to her... and eventually slid into the habit of it yourself...
AND THAT (apparently) is the big trick... If you're ever back to France. REMEMBER to start conversations with "Bon jour" (or the appropriate greeting) absolutely EVERY time you talk to someone. It's a little thing, but they regard it as quite rude (and Paris is particularly prickly about it apparently) if you neglect that little formality...
BUT put out the effort, remember to keep up the polite part... and yeah... I was raised in the Appalachian mountains of East Tennessee, so the Southern Drawl and lazy mouth muscles are NOTORIOUS around here. I'm clearly "the dumb-ass country bumpkin" anywhere else in the U.S. and of course, it carries its share of difficulties to any other language I attempt, and I'm quite SURE I've mutilated everything I've attempted to say pretty much everywhere... If you're not familiar, the old TV show "The Beverly Hillbillies" isn't exactly "spot on" but it's close enough to get you a fair idea of how I speak... at least to the "more or less accurate" degree...
SO imagine Jed Clampet trying and failing utterly to communicate in any language you wish... and you have me at least for the first few minutes of practice and trial "out of the gate" as it were... Enjoy the chuckle... My French isn't completely criminal after I've had a full day of drills to limber up my mouth (mostly the back of my throat for those damnable R's... Then I'm just awful or thereabouts... BUT a few chuckles and some sheepishness tends to win over most folks I've interacted with. I was certainly (pleasantly) surprised to find they DO have a sense of humor! ;o)
Love this guy's dedication to his craft. He doesn't stop on his honeymoon
Might be to help them get the fare back home.
Can you imagine Dorothy Parker doing that?
A cynic might suggest it could make his honeymoon allowable against tax
Well, I'd try it 🙄
It's odd
Shape of Japan, looks like a lower case Roman "j"..pulled by power of earth rotation🤔🇯🇵
Native Japanese here. Thanks for enjoying my country Rob, hearing about it makes me nostalgic. In addition to Sumimasen, I'd also add "Shitsurei" or 失礼. It roughly means the same thing, but is oddly both more rude and more polite at the same time.
It's hard to get into the intricacies of politeness on a basic video aimed at tourists, but in short, Japanese has three levels of politeness in its speech. The one you'll hear most is Teinei-Go or "polite speech" as opposed to Kenjogo or Sonkeigo. Teineigo is what Rob pointed out, with the suffixes ending in -desu -masu in the present tense or -deshita -mashita in the past. Prefixes and Infixes of -o or -go also make words sound polite. -O for words originating in Japanese (Onyomi) and -Go for words originating from Chinese (kunyomi). As for other originating words (Gairaigo) such as "elevator" that robe mentioned, there simply is no prefix.
Regarding konnichiwa and Ohayo, they got some interesting etymologies. Konnichiwa is actually the beginning of a sentence, meaning "today is....". In the before times, you were to follow it up by answering that, but over the ages konnichiwa simply became a greeting. As for ohayo, it has the -o prefix, followed by "isn't it early?"
In regards to pronunciation, believe me, Japanese people have a lot harder time pronouncing English due to the uniqueness of the "r" sound. As Rob points out, Japanese has a blend of the L and R sound, so japanese people pretty much always mispronounced the "R".
In regards to the Latin script used in Japan, something I've noticed Americans mess up on is the Japanese strictness on vowel sounds. A is identified with あ and so pronounced like the aw in "yawn". E is identified with え and so is always pronounced like the e in "net". I is identified with い so is always pronounced like the "ee" in "sweet". O is identified with お so always pronounced like the "o" in "know". U is identified with う so always pronounced like the "oo" in "too".
Funnily enough, when I let my japanese accent slip into my English, I've been told that I sound vaguely Russian.
As a native speaker of English who does not have the cot-caught merger, あ is quite far from my "yawn" vowel, even though your "yawn" might be close.
@@diribigal ditto, closer to the "a" in my "father".
English has really messy vowel pronounciation, with far too many diphthongs. Most other languages are much more straightforward with their vowels!
The problem is, nearly every English dialect pronounces the sample words differently (eg yawn = ä ~ ɑ ~ ɒ ~ ɔ ). Really need to get IPA installed on phone keyboards. Would benefit japanese too 😅
"Oh yeah, sue me!" (Oyasumi = goodnight) Was one of the first phrases I picked up in Japan
Now I see what Eminem did in the first track of "The Marshall Mathers LP" 😅
A small correction to what you categorize Japanese's writing system as: the Kana are syllabaries, while Kanji is a logography. Alphabets are systems that use 1 symbol for 1 sound (obviously that's not true for most modern alphabets, but that's the general idea), while syllabaries use syllable blocks to represent their sounds. Chinese also uses a logography, which is a system that has a symbol represent a full word or even an idea.
As a heads up to anyone who thinks this sounds difficult, learning the two kana syllabaries is actually easier than you think it might be. There are lots of mnemonic systems to help you learn. Several are available online for free. I learnt the kana in high school, and I can still remember it 3 decades later.
@@angelicasmodel I actually learned them in college and still remember them. Habitually use them instead of romaji any time I’m writing Japanese words because it looks weird in romaji.
Hiragana was easier for me than katana for some reason. 😂😅
A note to your correction: "alphabet" colloquially may refer to any writing system.
@@sergey1519kanji is also frequently referred to as an alphabet
@@kitdubhran2968 Hiragana's easier to remember for two reasons. One is the variety of shapes compared to katakana, which has several that look very similar: ノンソゾシジツ. Also, hiragana's used much more often, so there's not as much opportunity to see or write katakana.
As a long time resident of Japan, the one word I tell people to know when they come over is "Domo". The literal meaning is "very" but in daily use it's just used for positive feelings. Works great for "thank you" situations and most "excuse me" situations. Add a slight bow and everyone knows you're trying to be positive and polite.
Your advice is correct and useful, but the literal meaning of どうも is not "very." Many people make that mistake, because "domo" is used as an abbreviation of "domo arigatou" (thank you very much). Literally, arigatou means "difficult to be" and expresses the speaker's embarrassment at having something done for him/her or given to him/her. Domo's literal meaning is "somehow or other." The word is used in many other expressions to convey the meaning of "a bit" when talking about feelings. It's a typical "fuzzy" Japanese word.
@@DieFlabbergast I second this.
It can also be used for hello. Very informally.
@@thomaslawrence4695 I would say it is "business casual" and not "very informally"
I thought it was a formal greeting lol.
Important note to help your Japanese friends understand you: learn the rhythm of Japanese pronunciation. Each kana (usually a consonant-vowel or a standalone vowel) takes the same amount of time to pronounce. But some vowels are long and take twice the time to say. Romanji signs will have "ou" for a long 'o' sound (not like the dipthong in the word "out"). In that case, hold the 'o' sound twice as long. If you see a consonant doubled in Romanji, it is pronounced with a glottal stop (think of the gap in "uh-oh") followed by the consonant itself, taking twice as long. Oh, and Japanese doesn't have glided vowels. Native English speakers pronounce "oh" as an 'o' sound gliding into an 'uh' sound. Pretend you are hoarse, and the 'o' sound got stuck in your throat. (American English speakers can also use our pronunciation of the word "note" as a guide, since we add a very slight glottal stop between the 'o' and 't' sounds, which keeps the 'o' from gliding.)
Pitch pattern is important, also. @ 11:55, "ohayo" is low -> high -> low, which is very easy for native English speakers since we tend to follow that pattern with those phonemes. Some pitch patterns may not come as naturally, but getting it right really helps Japanese listeners to comprehend our limited Japanese speaking skills.
This is a beginner video and pitch accent is not a beginner concept, I also disagree that it is important for most learners.
First and foremost, most learners don't ever get fluent, they learn a bit and give up.
Second, pitch accent is not something to focus on, you learn it through shadowing/mimicking.
Thirdly, every region in Japan has a different pitch accent and yet they can still comprehend each other, it is not important for comprehension, only for sounding more native which is rarely a level any foreigner gets to.
Pitch accent is useful if you intend to die in Japan, but if you're only here for a year just ignore it. You'll pick it up naturally anyway.
A lot of "Japanese learners", especially those that treat it too academically will vastly overestimate the importance of pitch accent. Case in point I didn't even know about it until a year ago but I'm told my pronunciation is really good, yes including my pitch accent. Why? Mimickng.
Oh and lastly, even in cases with ambiguity, 神、髪、紙 it's almost always obvious from context which one you mean.
@@TheClintonio I don't get it. Couldn't the listener just read your kanji to know which kami you're using? /s
@@TheClintonioWhy is it that every time someone mentions accent in Japanese, an accent negationist show up? It doesn't happen with any other language
@@27danjel The fuck are you talking about? "Accent negationist"? I'm stating that for the majority of learners of Japanese the accent is something you should definitely practoce but PITCH accent is not, Japanese pitch accent is a part of Japanese that weebs amd amateur linguists have gotten obsessed with in the last 5 years but before that nobody cared. In reality if you do mimicking properly you will pick up most pitch accent. I have been told my accent is near native by natives and guess how many times I practiced it explicitly? Zero. I did and still do mimicking and that's all you need, that's how natives learn their accent too, nobody learns the explicit pitch beats of the words, that is NOT how humans learn language, it's how weird obsessed people and linguists get their little dicks hard.
I lived in Japan for quite a few years, and this fun, easy to follow video is probably one of the most accurate, realistic and useful tutorials for first time visitors I've ever seen. Damn, that was a long sentence. Anyway, 上手です。👍🏻
@Carl_LaFong
You could have written that in plain English you buffoon! Not everyone has been living in a foreign country and can read things of different symbols. At least write that in Romaji.
Oh god, Rob just got jouzu'd by a foreigner. 🤣
Do you know a man by the name of LaFong? Carl LaFong? Capital L, small a, capital F, small o, small n, small g? LaFong? Carl LaForg?
No I don't know Carl LaFong! Capital L, small a, capital F, small o, small n, small g? And if I did know Carl LaForg I WOULDN'T ADMIT IT!
@@notmyworld44 Hahaha! Exactly - excellent!!
I've studied Japanese for years, the actual grammar and vocabulary is literally so easy to pick up, way easier than other langauges in my opinion. The two basic writing systems are also super easy to learn. Basically the most annoying part is learning kanji (wanikani is good for that though) and formal speech. I really recommend anyone to pick this language up, it's extremely rewarding and useful.
It's not just learning formal speech (keigo/sonkeigo) that is hard, it's knowing WHEN and with WHOM you should use it.
@@thadtuiol1717, please learn only honorific expressions by heart in the beginning | Миру мир!
@@xohyuu I highly agree with you in learning honorific speech from the start. I first lived in Japan back in the 70's and began by only learning honorific Japanese which is more difficult but you can always save face by being too polite as opposed to even unintentionally coming off as rude or disrespectful.
Further if you are staying there for anything more than 2 weeks spending the time to learn at least hiragana before learning ever approaching romaji will prove to be a great benefit in that your pronunciation will be set far closer to native Japanese. While it seems to be a lot of work you will find locking in the proper native sounds is not as hard as you would think. Initially learning Japanese through the memorization of romaji will permanently reveal your foreign roots.
Cheers for@@wintron's good comment^^; | my mother language is ⁰¹a grammatical relative of 日本 language ﹠ ⁰²belongs to Sinosphere. ⁰³日本 vocabularies, broken English expressions also were introduced too much. In my thought, only 日本, my mother language have the detailed honorific expressions among the whole languages of this planet, for 本州･九州 people are relatives of mine. i want people to learn 日本, Монголian, Türkiye, 南韓[ROK] languages, for they share similar grammar. | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
I really can't say I found Japanese grammar or vocab easy to learn, (but to be fair, I can only compare it to my study of Spanish, so of course it will seem hard).
Congratulations on your marriage! The fact that your new bride was filming you for this video on your honeymoon says that you married someone amazing.
Thank you for a great video which I found relevant since I just started studying Japanese less than two weeks ago on Duolingo.
[ your new bride ] > Who is his old bride🤔???? | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
What a fun change of pace for RobWords to take the topic into Asian language for awhile. If it works with your schedule I certainly wouldn't mind some more vids exploring some languages from outside of NW Europe!
thanks,
Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili
I second that! I’d be interested in a video on Afrikaans @RobWords. It has some similarities with English and Dutch, even some Malay. It’s a language you never knew you needed to know about 😂 Congrats on the honeymoon by the way 🎊 🎉
Agreed!
@@markrossow6303 you're welcome, Marky Malenkov Rossowovic-- been awhile since anyone called me that-- most are smart enough to just call me Joe Steel these days 💪
@@li_ry2932 Afrikaans counts as NW Europe idc what anybody says 😂
About the (non-)pronunciation of the "u" at the end of "-masu" (or "desu") : Dogen has made a video in his Japanese Pronunciation series about this phenomenon. It's called "devoicing" and it's a general rule of Japanese : The vowels "i" and "u" are devoiced/dropped when in-between two voiceless consonants (which are, in Japanese, p, t, k, s, h, and ch, as well as sh and f, which are variations of s and h), or when at the end of a word and preceded by a voiceless consonant. In both "-masu" and "desu", the "u" is at the end of a word and preceded by "s", which is a voiceless consonant, so the "u" is devoiced/dropped. For people actively learning Japanese, I really recommend Dogen's video on the topic, called "Japanese Pronunciation 101: Devoicing!", as it goes quite in-depth with examples.
Sometimes I voice them for fun. Also, sometimes Japanese will actually voice those vowels. It kind of emphasizes the words. On the other hand, most people won't even notice whether you voice them or not.
@@alukuhito Yeah, I know there are some Japanese accents that actually voice the "u" at the end of "desu" and "-masu" even without emphasis. I think it's mostly people from the North of the country, if I'm not mistaken.
@@Mercure250 North and West, the Kansai accent notably accentuates the final u
@@notkamui9749 spot on. Our exchange student from Kyushu could barely understand some of the northern accents lol😂
My wife is from the Tokyo area and uses the u sound on a lot of word endings and almost always when it is a word derived from english.
That actually reminded me of a pro wrestling moment. When a pro wrestler from Ohio was competing in Japan, he once referenced that an opponent was receiving a message from Ohio. The Japanese crowd shouted "ohayo" in near unison after he said that. He probably had no idea why they did that.
😂😂😂
My Japanese language teacher told of an American trying to find a bus to the city of Nara. Knowing that the prefix "o" makes words more polite (o-house means "your house" and so on), he asked if the bus went to "O-Nara", the bus driver laughed, passengers snickered (politely), and the driver motioned him onboard because yes, it did. You don't add "o" to city names. "Onara" means fart or something similar. (Been a while since the class)
I used to sometimes visit elementary schools in Japan and do little presentations, introducing myself. At that time, English wasn't part of the curriculum at elementary school. I would show them slides and things, and at some point I'd inevitably say something like, "Next I'd like to show you..." Whenever I said "show you", all the kids would repeat "shoyu", which means "soy sauce" in Japanese.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005 Yes, "onara" means fart, and you don't add "o" in front of city names.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005are right. Onara means farting, fart | O[お], Go[ご] are beautifying, honorific particles | Миру мир!
A note on "hai". Just because someone says "hai" to you, it does not always mean they're agreeing. It's also used as an acknowledgement of hearing/understanding you and indicating you to keep talking. So if you ask someone something and they say "hai" and then just look at you like they're expecting something from you, that's why. Especially if they do it while you're still speaking. That's a thing in Japanese, it's called aizuchi, and it's when you say a little phrase (there's a few you can use) to show that you're listening and understand what they're saying and it's considered polite.
So so happy for you both--how wonderful to be blessed with companionship in work AND play😊😊😊
5:25 "The crow agrees." Japanese transcribes the crow's call as "a-ho" (ah-haw), which means stupid. That's why in many anime you get a crow flying past in the background as a deadpan commentator.
Arigatou gosaimasu! I lived in Munich a year with a Japanese girlfriend back in the 80s. I just told her from the beginning, teach me five words a day, that way I would know over 1000 words in a year. it was a very simple method, but even today, I can remember everything that I learned. A great and interesting language!
Another important word I used a lot there was, "Dozo". It's like "Go ahead/after you", which is super necessary when trying to figure out what to eat or unsure if you're taking the right train. Queues are super important there
I've just watched this one now . . . and I couldn't help think that not only did you finish on a positive note, you also finished on a high/hai note.
I know it is a small point to add to another brilliant slice of linguistic joy and appreciation ( one might say I feel a confelicity from your enthusiasm ) but there it is all the same !
Anyway, Happy New Year and all the best for 2024 !!!
I’ve been studying the language for three years now (it started as a lockdown hobby) and I have completely fallen in love with it. The way the language sounds, the way it’s written, the grammar, and everything about it are just pretty and satisfying. I’d encourage anyone to learn it
Congratulations Rob and Camera Wife! 🎉
Loved this. You definitely covered most of the main words and phrases needed to get by on a visit to Japan. The only thing I would add is '...... wa doko des ka?' Literally 'Where is ......?' Crucial for navigating and finding things - like the lavatories. For example 'Sumimasen, toire wa doko des ka?'
Thank you! Very important!
I know a native Japanese speaker who grew up in the US. She had only been to Japan a few times, and she said the hardest thing was understanding when a Japanese person was trying to say No. Apparently it can be pretty indirect, and like you said euphemistic.
Yes, I definitely misread the signs once or twice.
Another good word to know, or at least recognize, is “Irasshaimase!” which you’ll be greeted with upon entering any shop or restaurant. It translates to “welcome” or “come in,” and you aren’t expected to reply (except perhaps with a smile and a nod)
5:28 "The crow agrees."
Funny you should say that because a common Japanese onomatopoeia for a crow's cry is アホ (aho), which also means "idiot" (the crow's words, not mine).
That was funny indeed 😂
Rob, when the Normans invaded England in 1066. I remember reading that they had difficulty pronouncing words with S in them, and many English town names were changed because of this. Could you do a video on pre Norman and post Norman English ?
uperb idea!
11:32 first trip to Japan from California. I got on the plane and I must have heard sumimasen 300 times before we took off. It is like thanks, sorry, excuse me, pardon my reach, don't mind me, oh of course, you are fine, all wrapped into one word. When my mom's 75 year old Japanese friend fell in my mom's house my mom asked me what "sue me ma sen" meant because her Japanese friend repeated it over and over.
I know I am a little late to this party (just recently started watching your channel), but one of the best things that I found about the Japanese language from what I learned throughout my schooling is their treatment of vowels.
There are only ever 5 vowel sounds, and when you read the romaji, you can be confident in your pronunciation if you use the following guide:
Anything with an "A" is pronounced "aa" ;like "apple".
Anything with an "I" is pronounced "ee" ;like "police".
Anything with an "U" is pronounced "oo" ;like "tube".
Anything with an "E" is pronounced "eh" ;like "enjoy".
Anything with an "O" is pronounced "oh" ;like "pope".
Hi Rob, I always enjoy your wonderful videos, and I find it particularly interesting to see how an established language specialist like you cover the Japanese language (my native tongue). You certainly did a great job. Congratulations ! Just a minor point, if I may mention. I think you said that the "u" in the combination "su" at the end of a sentence is never pronounced. This suppression of "u" is indeed quite universal in Tokyo and the surrounding areas. But in the Western part of Japan, the final "u" is pronounced clearly, and often even with a slight stress. The sound of this additional "u" is quite exotic to Tokyoites (like me), but people from Kansai (Kyoto, Osaka, etc.) may want to give it a due status. I'm not a language specialist but I felt you might be interested in my non-professional remark.
This is the same nuance for most languages, nearly every rule only applies to some places, not all ..
Huh, I didn't know it had a regional bias. Cool!
This is excellent to know, thank you. If I were to make this video again, I'd better reflect regional variations.
I remember being told that some dialects (ben) were mutual incomprehensible. Think thick Geordie and then some…
I agree. I'm also from Kanto, so I really feel the "Kansai"-ness of the people who speak with the very clear "u" at the end of sentences. Also, to you as an English speaker, the "su" may sound the same as "s", but we, native speakers, hear the "u" being there in a form of co-articulation. Under certain circumstaces, the "u" actually is pronounced rather clearly even among Tokyo people.
Hi, Rob! I was literally procrastinating my Japanese study by watching TH-cam and found this delight. First things first: gokekkon omedetougozaimasu, congratulations on your marriage! What a delightful way to celebrate, by visiting Japan! S'anyway, I've been studying Japanese formally since October, and I thought this was a great introduction to Japanese. Yes, it can be a difficult (yet highly rewarding and beautiful) language to study, but I'll make a few general comments first: People get really daunted by the writing, but I point out that the two kana systems are like lower and upper case; you know nqr and NQR are the same three letters with different shapes, and for hiragana and katakana, they're the same sounds with different shapes. Ideograms like kanji may be daunting, but if I put this ⛔here, you know what that symbol means...so we already deal with three writing systems in English! Also, perhaps you could do a video on English words borrowed from Japanese. I keep finding more in my study, for instance, mousukoshi means "a little bit more" and I was like hmmm... so I looked it up, and yes, our word skosh "little bit" is in fact from Japanese.
I did not know that about “skosh”! Thanks!
A Japanese friend used to answer the phone with something that sounded like “mosh-moshii” - is that at all related?
@@DawnDavidson もしもし (moshi moshi) is just how you say hello while picking up the phone in Japanese. It comes from the days when telephone had telephone operators. People would say the phrase to make sure their voice was reaching the telephone operators, it’s kinda like how people will say “check, check” when speaking into a microphone to make sure it is on. While we don’t use telephone operators anymore, people still use it as a greeting . :)
Good point about upper and lower case. I hadn't thought of it like that at all. Thanks.
@@ayyaiden also, our use of hello isn't all that different from Japanese's use of "moshi moshi", as hello was a REALLY uncommon word until the telephone. (People would usually say things like 'good day', 'how are you' etc). People started using "hello" to check if someone could hear them on the other end!
Thanks for this. There was another video about Japanese I watched a while ago and I came away from that despairing of ever learning to read Japanese. I think my comment on that video was that I was amazed that anyone ever learned to read in Japan. This makes the idea of reading Japanese much less daunting!
Sugoi video! Years ago I took Aikido; every session would start with the class lining up on the mat and bowing to the teacher, saying "onegaishimasu" (with the correct pronunciation thankfully). I was told we were asking for instruction; now I know we were saying a very polite "please"!
the 'o' prefix is for politeness, the 'shimasu' at the end is the future/present form of the verb 'to do' - the 'negai' is the subject of the phrase. a 'negai' is a wish or desire or request. So to transliterate the phrase, it's kind of "I humbly request this of you".
It is considered impolite to listen quietly in a conversation in Japan. You are expected to make sounds that show you are on the edge of your seat in rapt attention to the speaker while they tell you something. It's called "aizuchi" and the easiest way to perform it is just to say "hai" (or the less formal "un") every time the speaker pauses to breathe.
This and your video about understanding french are incredible. Such great showcases of how you find easy entrypoints to those languages, instead of leading to complicated and boring stuff right away.
Rob couldn't find the videos he needed on Japanese, so he made one. And now he's an Honorary Inkling; Tolkien and Lewis said there were not enough of the kinds of books they liked, so they decided to write them themselves, Lewis writing about Space and Tolkien about Time.
Lived in Okinawa for 3 years during the pandemic. Spent every day studying it for half an hour to an hour via audiobooks in my car and probably hit 300 or so words. Watching the Okinawans faces light up when I would stumble through a sentence to try to converse with them was the most exhilarating feeling.
“AHHHH, JOZU DES JOZU DES!!!”
Starting learning Japanese in Okinawa is like starting in hard mode I'd presume, so props to you!
Love that for you, I can hear the 'jouzu's lol
@@HasekuraIsuna the structure of the language and some phrases were certainly different, but because of the huge American presence on the island and how it had integrated into the local culture over the past 70 years, it actually gave me a lot of latitude and grace while trying to learn. I could definitely tell a difference between conversing near my home on the seawall and spending time out at restaurants in Osaka
Reminds me of my 2nd semester German teacher in college who would do that exact thing with "GENAU!!"
I posted elsewhere about teaching myself Japanese while in the Navy there, and the first time I tried something in public was at one of the railroad station magazine and snack kiosks. Most sailors just held out a wad of cash and got change back. I asked in Japanese how much it was, she cocked her head and shook her hand, I said I knew Japanese (what a lie!) and she told me, slowly, I understood and gave her exact change, and it sure surprised her. A real milestone in my progress.
Oh! Re: the note that Japanese doesn't seem to pronounce the 'u' at the end of -masu--it's voiceless. In Standard Japanese high vowels ('i' and 'u') are realized as voiceless after voiceless consonants. Underlyingly they're still present, and Japanese speakers hear themselves saying them, but it's really hard to hear for most non-speakers because they're basically whispered.
Yeah, we have some endings in German that tend to be "swallowed". However, due to the slight difference in length and emphasis at the end of a word, a mother-tongue speaker will know whether you're saying for example "ein" or "einen", "klein" or "kleinen" etc. These endings can be sounded out fully, but often aren't.
@@creamwobbly Yes! It's so funny. I hear my name as Jennifaa, whereas a Louisa becomes Louiser.
@@jenniferpearce1052
in boston that is known as the law of conservation of R's. Lore and Awder! Lose an R and gain an R!
I have a friend from Madagascar and he told me they do that too. The way he described it was: "you mimic the sound but don't really pronounce it". Talk about making things confusing haha!
I came here to say this. When I visited Japan for work, I spent about an hour trying to say/not-say that end “u”. Much to the amusement of my colleagues.
I really loved the explanation of the two ways to say pleased. Looking back, I definitely used the wrong one with my taxi cab driver in Osaka! Oops! He was still SUPER polite, though. Very kind. Now I know better, so thank you! Also, congrats on your anniversary!
I don't speak Japanese; I just got back from my first trip to Japan, so take the rest of this with a grain of salt ***in case of inaccuracies*** but here are the top 3 phrases I found most useful (in order):
1. Sumimasen. Truly, used for everything.
2. Eigo ga hanasemasu ka. "Do you speak English?" Use this and the first one together: "Sumimasen, eigo de hanasemasu ka." ("Excuse me/I'm sorry, do you speak English?")
3. Arigatou gozaimasu! You'll find shopkeepers saying this one profusely. I got the sense (but can't confirm) that when they say it like, "arigato gozaimaaaaaaaaaaasu!" and draw out the last "A," sound, they are trying to be more polite.
Bonus: 4. Nihongo ga wakarimasen. "I don't understand Japanese." Use this with #1 and #2. "Sumimasen nihongo ga wakarimasen. Eigo ga hanasemasu ka." ("I'm sorry, I don't understand Japanese. Do you speak English?")
You could argue you don't really need #2 and #4 because if you start speaking in English or another language, people will get that you don't speak Japanese, but I wanted to at least make the attempt to show politeness. But yes, sumimasen and arigatou gozaimasu are used all the time. "Please" (kudasai/onegaishimasu) is helpful, too.
More complicated but still useful:
5. Fukuro. This one means bag, since most places charge for bags. You'll often hear it in variations of, "fukuro otsuke shimasu ka" ("Do you need a bag?") or "fukuro otsuke shimasu ka" ("Would you like a bag?") or similar. I never memorized those phrases but I could listen for "fukuro." Since you know it'll be coming at the end of the purchase transaction, you can be on guard for it. The polite way to decline is, "Daijoubu," which means "I'm fine." (Other more complicated variations are the more grammatically correct "Daijoubu desu," or "Sono mama ii desu" ("It's fine like that") but you'll be ok with daijoubu, or honestly, a shake of the head!)
ii desu can be used other ways, too: "kado ii desu ka" ("Is card fine?" i.e. is it ok to pay with card?).
desu means "is." ka is an interrogative particle, turning a statement into a question, e.g. kado ii desu ("Card is fine.") becomes kado ii desu ka ("Is card fine?"). masen makes certain words a negative, e.g. wakarimasu (understand) becomes wakarimasen (don't understand).
I agree, sumeemasen and oragato gozimus are great words to start and finish with. I used them first to find things (trains, shops, roads) and at the end of an interaction be thankful. A little bow always goes well. Japanese people are always wanting to help you.
*sumimasen or suimasen *arigatou gozaimasu
I'm not trying to be that guy, but getting the spelling wrong early on will mean a lot of effort is required to correct your pronunciation later
The "city pop" one is funny... I once had a Japanese student I was teaching English to. She had "studied" English at her Japanese University and her understanding was great, her writing ok. But no English speaker could understand a single word she was saying (her pronunciation was that bad). I also had a Chinese student at the same time that I was teaching German to (yes, I have two mother-tongue languages). Her English pronunciation was excellent. I couldn't figure out why there would be such a vast difference, so I asked the Chinese student. She explained that there are many "English" words in Japanese (i think "necktie" is one of them) but they're pronounced very strangely. As a result many (?) Japanese apply these weird phonetics to the rest of English. Once I understood that, I taught the Japanese student how to read/pronounce her English vocabulary with the help of the phonetic Alphabet. It was hell trying to "untrain" all the mispronounced words.
What I most noticed about Japanese people speaking English was they stumbled greatly around concepts that aren't used much or don't exist in Japanese. Japanese has no plural nouns (or I suppose doesn't distinguish between singular and plural), so you say "one chair, two chair, three chair". etc. So Japanese speakers really fumble with "chairs", "houses", "mice". Also, "he", "she", and "it" aren't often used. Rather than say "he lives in Metropolis", you would ordinarily say "Kent-san lives in Metropolis", and I knew many Japanese speakers at work trying hard to use "he" and "she" properly.
@@donkensler Interesting. That makes sense.
It's similar to how there's that stereotype of Italians adding -a to words. Some languages only have some sounds in a combination, and it's just natural for them. In some languages, R never comes at the end of a word, it's always followed by something else. I'm not a native Spanish speaker, and for me, it's much harder to trill an R at the start of a word, or adjacent to some consonants, than it is in the middle of a word.
Regarding Japanese, they're not actually alphabets but syllaberies.
In an alphabet like Latin (used by English, German etc) or Cyrillic (used by Russian, Mongol etc), each sound GENERALLY has it's own symbol. B sounds like a B. Ж sounds like zh.
With abjads, like Arabic and Hebrew, the consonants are written, the vowels aren't.... usually. Which is why they're not alphabets.
With a syllabery, one character is one syllable. There is no letter K in Japanese. Instead they have 5 syllables, Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke and Ko.
With the exception of "N", all characters of hiragana and katakana, are either 1 vowel, or 1 consonant followed by 1 vowel.
This is why you'll find "extra" vowels.
Let's take the parts of the UK. England is Ingurando. There is no G, just Ga, Gi, Gu, Ge, and Go. So you find which vowel sounds the closest when saying it quickly.
Your handle, Moonhunter, MIGHT end up written as Munhānta (if you're non rhotic). You'd choose ha, as despite how it's spelt in English, you're wanting the sound to be closer, not the spelling.
So as there's a bit of a restriction, it can mean it's not as straightforward to write things in Japanese from other languages.
As there's no "si", just "shi", something like city centre will come out as shitī sentā.
They lack V, so B is used, like, Bietunamu and Bikutoria, for Vietnam and Victoria.
When I was studying maths at university there was a Japanese lecturer whose English was almost completely incomprehensible. Fortunately I wasn't in his stream, but a friend suggested I go to one of his lectures just for the experience. After a while I managed to figure out a few translations -- a couple I remember were "ekoh-toh" --> "equal to" and "loh-pee-tah-ruh" --> "L'Hopital's Rule". I felt great sympathy for those who had to actually understand his lectures.
@Greg Ewing not that different from a lot of accents in the UK. Some have dropped the R fully, equate a number and equator number are perfect homophones in this area. And some replace median T and D with glottal stop, and L with W. Football comes out as foo-baww. North American English accents are far less varied, and tend to be spoken slower. You just start to understand it after a short while. Like standard Indian English.
To add on to the topic of refusing politely, one way to refuse when offered something is to say "daijoubu" （大丈夫）, which anime fans will likely recognize as meaning "fine" or "okay" as in "I'm fine, thanks".
Pronouncing Japanese is also not too hard to learn (without getting into pitch accent) because they only have 5 vowel sounds and everything is pronounced mostly as written. As a general rule, you can pronounce Japanese words written in romaji as if they were Spanish, since the Spanish phonemic inventory is very similar to Japanese. (Fun fact: Japanese people also sometimes roll their r's when speaking roughly or crudely)
The way we write Japanese in the alphabet is a system called Hepburn and it uses English consonants and Italian vowels, so it's no surprise pronouncing them Spanishly would work quite well.
you say five... but to my recollection vowel Length is actually meaningful, so it's more like 10.
Mind you, to confuse the world, English often uses this vowel length distinction as well. When it shows up it's usually something that's written as 'voiced stop + vowel' but actually said as 'unvoiced consonent + long vowel' (meanwhile 'unvoiced stop + vowel' is usually (there are exceptions, mostly when it's 's + unvoiced consonent + vowel', which is said as it is written) said as 'asperated consonent + short vowel')... How much this is a thing varies from dialect to dialect, of course.
@@laurencefraser Don't make it harder than it needs to be. It is five separate, distinct vowel sounds. There are words where they are combined and spoken consecutively, kind of like a diphthong, but the individual sounds don't change, they are just spoken consecutively.
@@laurencefraser It is true that vowel length is important, but counting that double?
If you can say "i" you can say "ii", so there are only 5 vowel sounds you need to be able to pronounce.
@@laurencefraser Höhle? Hölle!
🎉Congratulations on your marriage!🎊
Been learning Japanese for about a year and a half so far myself and a fun thing to note about the 3 alphabets thing is that there being 3 actually makes it easier to read. seems intimidating at first, learning all the Kana's then jumping into kanji, but since Japanese doesn't have any spaces or breaks apart from a full stop 。and comma(Tooten) 、it gets really difficult on complex sentences on which group of kana are a specific word or idea. So the Kanji are really useful for breaking up the sentence and allow for quicker reading.
ex:
これはにほんごでかいて、でもかんじのはむずかしかったですね。
これは日本語で書いて、でも漢字のは難しかったですね。
both say the same thing "This is written in Japanese, but kanji is difficult, yeah?" but I can read the bottom one way quicker than the top, especially on the second half of the sentence where 2 particles are used together. And I've noticed after I began to learn kanji that it just gets harder and harder to read straight kana by itself, anything complex and I have to stop and sound out each individual character to make sure I'm not missing anything xD
How about the Romanisation of 日本 language? | Cầu nguyện cho Үкраїна và hòa bình.
What..is the hiragana..which is close to :)...or .)
Emoji
What does it mean
@@kathleenking47 シ and ツ. both are Katakana (similar to hiragana, but used for foreign words and emphasis). the first one is Shi (し is the hiragana version), the second one is Tsu(つ is the hiragana version). they are just part of the alphabet, used to make up words.
Can I ask why you used the past tense 漢字のは難しかったです instead of the present 漢字のは難しいです? Also why you used "のは” instead of just ”は” in this situation?
Learning Japanese was always a passion project of mine. I’m glad to see everything I learned was confirmed by you ☺️ great video!! ありがとうございます！
Oh my goodness congratulations! Long time watcher and have never commented before but SO HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH! (also, I too adore Japanese. I found it to be the easiest language to speak I have ever attempted to learn!)
I agree on both its simplicity and easy to learn, as far as speaking. Reading/writing is as hard as the grammar is simple.
@@grizwoldphantasia5005
Not sure if the grammer is that simple.
While there are markers to indicate the topic-subject, subject and object, there are an awful lot of different tenses [even if most aren't regularly used], with the verb almost at the end of the sentence, sets the tone, followed by the end of sentence marker, which may turn the whole thing into a question.
Just to make it trickier, no written word spaces and virtually none in spoken Japanese.
@@stephenarbon2227 Yes, the basics of it are that simple. I mentioned both sentence order with verb at the end, and trailing ka to make it a question. It won't make a foreigner sound like a native, but I don't know of any other language which can teach anything near as much in a single week.
Reading English words is very difficult, compared to DE, ES languages. Alphabet 'a' has many sounds ; a ʌ æ ə@@grizwoldphantasia5005 | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
Congratulations on the marriage, Rob. May the both of you have many happy years.
Pendantic mode: I wish you would have used writing system instead of alphabet to refer to the writing systems of kanji, hiragana and katakana, since Japanese is *not* an alphabet, but a syllabary.
Domo arigatou does get used, but you most likely only encounter it as domo when walking around as a tourist.
For the bill, in most (casual) restaurants and places (like izakaya) you can also just cross your index fingers in front of your face to the waiter/waitress to indicate you wanting the bill.
It was a pleasure to watch this video, because it reminded me of the hundreds of flights to Japan I had. 🙂
To me it seems , that the pronunciation of Japanese is even easier for German speakers because the language is less "soft" than English.
"Itadakimasu" (~Bon appétit) and "Gochisosama Deshita" (~Thank you for the meal) are also quite useful.
And there are also German words turned into Japanese like "Arubaito" from "Arbeit" -> Job...some medical terms are borrowed from the German language as well.
Also German umlauts (ä,ö,ü) are quite popular, when companies choose a brand-name, p.ex.: "Märchen" (= fairy tale) is the company which produces DIY-items like beads etc. - in Thailand you'll also find brands like "Mädel" (= girl).
Even German names like "Roland" (musical instruments) are chosen for a company-name because of easy international comprehension...
I was looking for this comment, those are two essential phrases!
I was told that "arubaito" actually means part-time work! Make of that what you will...
Myself, I feel that Japanese has a lot in common with Italian, which seems to place vowels everywhere to break up consonant pairs. Arubaito could easily come from an Italian Gastarbeiter. Indeed, I remember hearing similar from a pair of Italian co-workers on a site in southern Germany.
@@andrewmole745 I'd been told it's borrowed from German
@@kaitazer Yes, borrowed from German where it means work in general, not part-time work.
@@andrewmole745 Only 2-3 decades ago, it had been common in German to use the English phrase "job" as a slightly derogatory term to describe full-time or part-time work below your qualifications (or in absence of qualifications, e.g. when still in college) to pay the rent. And which you would quit as soon as you scored a "real employment" or Arbeit.
Congrats Rob! As someone who's been teaching themselves Japanese for a couple years, I think it's so interesting to see the perspective of someone new to the language such as yourself and how you mentioned the special case of the R/L sound and the use of sayonara.
I agree with sumimasen as the absolutely most important word. Especially as it is normally used in situations where using a translation app would be impractical.
Really nice surprise episode! No corrections, just annotations.
4:19 Glass has two different pronounciations in Japanese, if you are referring to the material ("glass" is made of sand) then the pronounciation is ガラス /garasu/. But if you are referring to the recipient ("glass" to drink water) it's グラス /gurasu/. Yes, Japanese borrowed lots of English words especially after the occupation by the US army, however they had already started incorporating Dutch and German words way before when they were closed down and the only ones allowed up to the pier were the Dutch and their weapons. Others who were later allowed were the Portuguese monks who introduced the letter P to them. And regarding English words there are two large groups, 外来語 /gairaigo/ or words that kept their original meaning when being adopted (like テニス, /tenisu/ or tennis) and 和製英語 /wasei eigo/ which are words created by Japanese using English loan words but changing their original meaning. For example, カンニング /kanningu/ which came from "cunning" but they use it for "cheating", so even if you understand the word they are referring to it might still be that they are using it with a different meaning.
4:40 The R problem is for both Japanese speaking in English (who would pronounce it very softly) and English people speaking Japanese (who would, on the contrary, pronounce it extremely harshly).
5:18 Here is where Romance languages in general and Spanish in particular have a huge advantage at pronounciation because we have every Japanese syllable pronounciation (over 90% compared to the 80% you mentioned for English). The only real sounds we don't exactly mimic is the G sound (きがある, /ki ga aru/, there's a tree) which should sound as /ki NGA aru/ but our G doesn't bring that nasal part with it, nor the Japanese j which sounds more like Portuguese j (a /dy/ sound) rather than a pure Spanish j, nor the H sound but we can easily mimic with a half F.
9:55 "Domo arigato" is incomplete because when talking informally you just say thanks, maybe in English "very thanks" is fine but in Japanese you would go onwards, "Domo arigatou gozaimasu", "thank you very much".
10:44 これです /kore desu/ "This one!" brings an interesting point: Kore is "this thing that is near me". You have other nouns you can use like それ /sore/ which literally means "that thing that is near you" and あれ /are/ which would be "that thing that is far from both you and me". So, if you are pointing at the menu item you would say "Kore desu" but if the the waiter came with a bottle of wine in each hand you would point at one and say "Sore desu" because the object is nearer to him than to you. And if you were ordering and wanted to point to the sample takoyaki serving that is displayed at the entrance, you would point there and say "are desu" (actually you would say "are kudasai" but that's beside the point).
11:17 Politely would be すみませんでした /sumimasen deshita/ where deshita is the past tense of desu because you already bumped into someone. "Desu" by the way is a couple, it only gives the sentence a level of politeness.
12:00 That ohayou sounded pretty rare lol A monotonous pronounciation is better without accentuating the "ha".
13:25 True, さようなら /sayounara/ is used as a final goodbye, like when leaving a group, when traveling overseas, etc. またね /matane/ is actually a noun, また /mata/ which means "Again" and the suffix ね /ne/ which is usually used to seek confirmation by your interlocutor. So, it would literally mean "(see you) again, ok?". So you can also say just また /mata/ or add a noun, like またあした /mata ashita/ (see you) again tomorrow or また次回 /mata jikai/ (see you) again next time/ o また来週 /mata raishuu/ (see you) again next week. And バイバイ is indeed for teens, mostly girls.
14:13 おまかせ /omakase/ literally means "I trust your judgement" and can be used in several situations indeed. For example, if someone brings you several drawings for you to choose one for a sign you can return the whole stack and say it to get that people choose one. And the contrary is also true, people can ask for someone to do something and you can raise your hand and say おまかせ letting everyone know you will do it.
14:55 The dyptong ei in Japanese sounds like ee, so お会計 would be /okaikee/ but then again it's hard to explain the ee sound to an English speaker, it's a prolonged E sound, not a prolonged I sound (like bee in English would be /bii/ but we want an E sound that sounds like /e/ like the e in "men" but lasting twice as long). Another point is that the "o" at the beginning is a prefix to make the word polite, so the noun itself is only 会計 /kaikei/ but the お /o/ is added as a sign of respect (it would be like "(please bring) your respected/honourable bill (please)".
15:45 美味しい /oishii/ is an adjective which means "is delicious". Note the verb: in Japanese the adjectives are part verb and can be conjugated with similar (if not exactly the same) rules as a verb. Before eating the food おいしい /oishii, without the kanji/ could mean "seems delicious" (because you cannot affirm something is rich unless you have already eaten it) although the correct term would be おいしそう /oishisou/ which uses the volition suffix そう /sou/ (by the way, in Japanese the dyptong ou is pronounced as a long o). After you tasted the food you can say おいしい /oishii/, "is delicious". And after you have eaten everything, おいしかった /oishikatta/ "was delicious". That's just an example of how the adjective was conjugated.
17:00 As many mentioned, はい /hai/ means "I agree" whereas いいえ /iie/ means "I disagree". Beginners have a really hard time because sometimes you have to work against your senses, especially with negative sentences: agreeing that you can't go "Can't you go tomorrow?" in English would "No, I can't go" but in Spanish would be "Yes (I agree), I can't go". Disagreeing in English would be "Yes, I can" but in Japanese would be "No, I can".
Very useful stuff, thanks! I actually used both romaji spellings of glass in my script by accident!
Thank you so much for your detailed notes, I found them extremely helpful! ❤
Among 日本 words, there are Dutch[NL], Portuguese[PT] languages, for PT sold weapons to 日本﹠日本 sold 日本 people to PT. When 日本 was under seclusionism, 日本 shogunates accepted only the Netherlands@@RobWords | Cầu nguyện cho Үкраїна và hòa bình.
I always strongly recommend that people headed to Japan study the katakana syllable symbols. There are only 46 symbols and they are easy to learn. The katakana is used almost exclusively for foreign loan words. 99% of which are from English. The katakana all have an easily identifiable style so they are easy to spot amid the jumble of the mixed together 3 writing systems. This means that the Japanese have helpfully "Hi-lited" all the written words that you already know!! Many restaurants have at least 50% of the writing all in katakana. I was in a coffee shop where the sandwich menu was 100% katakana and therefore 100% English. All of us at the table were English speakers but I was the only one who could read it because I had learned the kana. Study the katakana before you go. While there, carry around a cheat sheet. With just a bit of practice you wont need the cheat sheet anymore. It was a lot of fun.
You did a great job! I took Japanese classes for 5 years and can attest that everything you said is correct (as far as I know). Really appreciated the description of sayonara and iie. Good work!
Love the video. Two words I’ve found useful living in Japan are, “I’m sorry”, Gomen'nasai, and by far the most useful word that I use all the time but I’ve never seen in any videos, “Daijōbu”, which can be used in many ways but basically means, “its ok”.
Thanks Rob, I don't expect to visit Japan but I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your videos; they are professional and made with humour. Probably the best videos I watch on You Tube
Thank you, Phil!
Hey Rob....Congrats on your honeymoon!!!
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Back when I traveled to Japan there were no signs with Roman letters (I truly felt illiterate) yet I felt totally at home with their hospitality overcoming the language barrier. The Japanese have a truly impressive culture.
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Apparently (not 100% confirmed).... Japanese "Arigato" comes from Portuguese"Obrigado".
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I was impressed to see how Portuguese and Japanese have so many complimenting cultural similarities. Well the Portuguese were the first Europeans to Japan and among other things brought the Japanese culture of tea drinking back to Europe and the UK. Portuguese/Japanese word for tea is 'cha' - although same as Chinese it was the Japanese influence that stuck.
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Oh the Portuguese learnt that bathing every day (and drinking tea) was route to good health. And apparently they brought this back to Europe.... BUT knowing the Japanese were into bathing every day, when the Portuguese came across soap (invented by the French) they traded it back to Japan who loved it and adopted it into their culture BUT the Japanese end up adopting the English word 'Sopu'.
_Arigatou_ is not from "obrigado" it is just coincidence. The stem word is _arigatai_ (or rather _aru)_
Just like Japanese for "name" is _namae_ is very close to the English word, it is too only coincidence.
A very common word that is from Portuguese though, is _pan_ meaning "bread".
Technically, the Japanese used the imported word "shabon" for soap, though you don't hear it much these days with the possible exception of "shabon-dama" (soap bubbles).
As for "soopu," you'd probably hear it more often in combination, such as "bodi-soopu" or "hando-soopu."
By itself, "soopu" is more colloquially associated with a certain type of sex-trade establishment, short for "soopu-rando," at least among younger men.
Besides the others mentioned, Japanese words borrowed from Portuguese include "tempura" and "kasutera".
@@HasekuraIsuna Thanks for the "Obrigado" clarity. I had my doubts about the Portuguese origin. Hey any comment on @Dan Vol 's "shabon-dama" having a Portuguese origin? "soap" in Portuguese is Sabao (and dama means give me in Portuguese).???
@@markplain2555 "Shabon" シャボン comes from the contemporary Spanish (xabón) for soap, not the Portuguese. The "dama" mentioned above is actually "tama" (玉), but the "t" adopts the voice from the preceding "n" and is pronounced in combination as "d". 玉 in this case just means a round object like a ball ... or a single soap bubble. シャボン玉
And as previously mentioned "arigatou" is the combination form of 有る "to be" and 難い, which means "difficult to (preceding verb)". So describing something as "arigatai" (or "difficult to be") shows the receiver's appreciation for the act as no small thing to be taken for granted - therefore expressing the meaning of being grateful or thankful for that thing. The "tou" ending is a evolution from "tai" (adjective) or "taku" (adverb) to an easier to say "tou" form which flows better. This is very common in many Japanese words including "good morning" - "ohayou" that Rob mentions. "Hayai" is the adjective meaning "early" (with a polite "o" prefix), which is then evolved to the smoother "(o)hayou". The Kyoto dialect in particular stands out to me as a modern Japanese speech where the "ou" endings are still used a lot in everyday polite speech.
I was taught that in business situations, where it is incredibly impolite to say "no", people say "choto musu kashi", which means "that is a difficult thing". Checking with other people who spoke Japanese and/or have lived there, they concur.
Or just "Chotto..." / "Sore wa chotto..." (that's a little...) Trail off and look uncomfortable. Best way to be polite.
@@iain_nakada I'd heard that "Choto" by itself was also possible. Glad to get it confirmed.
@@xohyuu Dude, was it not clear that I don't speak/read/write Japanese? I was given this tip by people who do speak Japanese, and/or have lived there. And when I check with Japanese people, they confirm that it's a standard thing there.
Rob, first things first: Congratulations and all the best wishes for getting married! I have learned chinese for some time and found it less initmidating than it actually is made to appear. Years later I was visiting Japan and was happy that while the Kanjis are pronounced differently, their meaining stays. Exit, for instance (looks like a gate). I picked up some Japanese as well and want to start learning it really this years with a course. Thanks for this introduction. :) Have a nice trip!
New subscriber here. Thanks for the video on Japan! I lived there for a year and a half and loved it so much. Everything about the language, culture, and people were wonderful to get acquainted with. I hope to go back someday.
Great concise video with lots of good tips! Two more simple words/phrases that are good to know:
Dōzo (どうぞ) = help yourself, go ahead
Ii desu ka? (いいですか) = may I? is it ok?
Hey Rob! I’m actually going to Japan very soon! Unfortunately I was very preoccupied with my finals and couldn’t dedicate myself to learning basic casual Japanese. This video will be very helpful, thank you!
Look for my other comment as it will help you a lot. Enjoy Japan!
日本 is dangerous@@NomaddUK | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
Japanese actually has TWO words that mean “glass”:
_garasu_ for the material or sheet, and
_gurasu_ for the stuff you drink from!
e.g. “Windowpane” is _mado garasu,_ while “wine glass” is _wain gurasu_
Also, make sure to say “Hai” with a lowering intonation. If you say “Hai?” it can be taken as “Say what?” or “Come again?” instead.
Japanese is related to Chinese the way Basque is related to Spanish, i.e. only through the writing system.
As well as some loan words. Two languages can't be spoken in such proximity without words being borrowed here and there. People who think knowing Spanish or French is going to help with Basque are in for quite a surprise though.
No, a large part of its vocabulary comes from Chinese as well. He says so in the video.
@@jasonjasonjasonjason
That doesn’t make the languages related though, any more than Maltese (a Semitic language with a lot of Italian loanwords) is related to Italian (a Romance language).
@@ragnkjaTrue. but no one is saying that they're related，though，at least not yet. That person was just trying to perfect your statement，which is a brilliant one，by comparing Basque-Spanish to Japanese-Chinese
@@jasonjasonjasonjason Japanese loanwords from Chinese are notably *very* far removed from Mandarin Chinese, they mostly come from Middle Chinese varieties that Mandarin diverged quite heavily from compared to some other Chinese languages.
words like 学生 for example are not at ALL intelligible between Mandarin Chinese and Japanese: ’xuésheng‘ in Mandarin, and ‘gakusei’ in Japanese.
the writing system keeps the connection obvious, but in purely spoken language most of these loan words have diverged so far in pronunciation as to be unrecognizable between the two.
That's what I did when I bought my tickets to Japan, learn to say thank you sorry and please. With a few additions it really helped me throughout the trip, japanese people are considerate and helpful when you show respect and willingness to their culture
My nephew Chris went to Japan as an English teacher - learned the kanji and the language and became a youtuber - quite an amazing life he leads now because of it.
"A Broad in Japan" will find his videos
Glad you guys are loving Japan. I have been there before myself and I studied the language in university, which helped immensely to get around. I miss it and can’t wait to visit again. Great video as always!
I tend to not nitpick things, but as a linguist that lives in Japan, I was compelled to comment:
When describing the Japanese "r", you say several times that it is a sound that we don't have in English, while at the same time correctly pointing out that we DO have it in English: it is the alveolar tap present in North American English, several Irish English dialects, and some West Country dialects. Japanese has extremely simple phonology and there is really no single phoneme that isn't present in English at all (though there are some blends/clusters we don't have).
The biggest problem with English words in Japanese is that they are often nonsensical to English speakers. They have been adapted to Japanese phonology and are no longer "English". I've lived here for a long time and I still get confused by English loanwords because they don't sound like English anymore, and attempts to pronounce them the English way will lead to Japanese being totally unable to recognize the word. I can't tell you how many times a conversation has gotten completely stalled by both parties inability to comprehend the others pronunciation of a fairly simple English loanword. So, in order to communicate, I had to relearn the words.
Also, the meanings of many English loanwords have changed completely. So, you can't count on words to mean what you think they do. Someone who is "high tension" is excited and energetic. "flying get" means to jump at an opportunity or to snatch something up quickly. "hambagu" is hamburger steak while "hambaga" is a hamburger.
Maybe it's more accurate (without getting into academic linguistic lingo) to say English doesn't have a dedicated letter for them? Having lived around different parts of the USA, I definitely know that there is the alleged "standard" pronunciation, and there is the local accent. These things can be quite different. 😆
Maybe the too-easy assumption that the only "real", "proper" English is Southern Standard British English.
Yes! English loan-words are Japonified to the point where English speakers don't understand them & Japanese speakers don't understand the original English, even though it's "the same word"!
Eg, the many times in hs Japanese where the whole class was stumped by words like バレーボール (barebooru) or テレビ (terebi)... or the one time I was trying to talk to my host family about kitkats & they didn't understand until I properly said キットカット (kittokatto) XD
A common Japanese feature that further obscures the original English is abbreviation (eg. コピペ (kopipe) from copy and paste, or スマホ (sumaho) from smart phone)
I've been studying Japanese for years and am currently majoring in Linguistics so I find this stuff v interesting!!
@@mahna_mahna And one person's "standard" pronunciation is another person's blasphemous abomination.
We don't have a dedicated letter for a lot of our sounds: we only have 5 letters for vowels yet we have 13~20 vowel sounds depending on who you ask and what dialect you're talking about. The same is true with consonants.
Isn't it a little bit different though? The Japanese alveolar tap is also lateral (which is why it sounds a little bit l-like as well), where the tap present in American English as an allophone of /t/ and /d/ isn't.
Congratulations on your marriage! Thank you for indulging my layman’s love of words ❤
layman [ˈleɪmən[聖職者に対して]平[ひら]信者·俗人[ぞくじん]·しろうと[素人]·門外漢[もんがいかん]] | indulge [ɪnˈdʌldʒ甘やかす·気ままにさせる·ほしいままにする·欲望を満足させる·ふける·おぼれる] | Cầu nguyện cho Үкраїна và hòa bình.
The most useful word for eating out is betsubetsu. It means split the bill so you only pay for your meal and drinks (yes they will have recorded everything and you can just tick off each item).
I like how Japanese grammar is much simpler in how conjugations are formed and sentence structure is consistent. Grammar hasn't thrown me as much as vocabulary has.
Actually 🤓 "garasu" is a Dutch loanword. There are plenty of Dutch loanwords in Japanese that sound like English because of both Eng and Dutch being Germanic languages, like "biiru" (beer) from Dutch "bier", "retteru" (letter/label) from Dutch "letter", "koohii" (coffee) from Dutch "koffie" and many many others.
Yeah, lots of Dutch and German loanwords in Japanese. And some Portuguese.
I got really confused when people expected me to understand "Damboru" (cardboard box/packing case) thinking it was an English loanword.
To clarify something for other readers: 'letter' in Dutch only means a symbol in the alphabet, not a note you might send by post, etc.; for that meaning, the word is 'brief' (and, in turn, you can see how English made that into a term for a legal document, or a spec list).
In the middle ages, 日本 had trades with only the Netherlands[オランダ≒Holland]. Before that, it had purchased weapons from Portuguese merchants | Пeрeмога Үкраїнi!
@@xohyuu The Netherlands (or actually called "The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands" back then) traded with Japan, starting around the year 1610, which was largely exclusive. From what I have learned in school the reasons were no Japanese trust at all to the outside world, with a little trust & stake put into relations with the most powerful navy & economy at the time.
The distrust was due to wars with other nations, and a certain wish to keep the country & culture pure & pristine. The trust in "The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands", or rather its inseparability from the "VOC" (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie; or translated as United East Indies Company; the first international financial holding & company, which was also Dutch itself), made it possible to monopolize trade with Japan, to defend it through its navy, and to control it for many years. The trust also came from a certain agreement by the Dutch sticking to certain ports, some Dutch settlements on Japanese shores, and agreeing to not travel inland too far, thus respecting boundaries, earning a level of trust with the Japanese political system.
Apparently this trade was so long lasting and so exclusive, but fruitful, that many words from Japanese and Dutch were interchanged. Even though we seem to have forgotten which words in Dutch are Japanese. But apparently many Japanese words come from Dutch, especially marine lingo. From what I understand, in some languages (like English & French), even as remote and exclusive as Finnish, Russian, and Japanese, all marine words and concepts are directly taken from Dutch, as most, if not all trade by sea route for some nations was with or via the VOC.
The Middle Ages were from the year 500 - 1500. 1610 is well into the Early Modern Era. The Portuguese tried to Christianize Japan before that, bulding many churches and monasteries in Japan at the time, which would have been roughly between 1500 and 1610, also after the Middle Ages. During the actual Middle Ages there was extremely little travel from Europe to anywhere else by sea. Columbus famously started out to try and find the Indies by going West, finding the Americas instead, in 1492.
If the Netherlands did their trade with Japan in the Middle Ages, and the Portuguese did that before that, it would mean they did so in ancient times, when the Romans still held most of Europe. Which is not the case. Trade between Japan and the Netherlands started in 1610.
My favorite Dutch loan word is モルモット morumotto. Because that's the word they use for Guinea pigs, which I like. The Dutch called the Guinea pig a marmot, a completely different animal, and the word stuck.
A great way to make Katakana and Hiragana way less intimidating that I came across in my study of Japanese is to consider them in the same manner as upper and lower case.
‘A’ and ‘a’ look quite different but have the exact same pronunciation in English. Likewise in Japanese, ‘a’ (said ‘ah’) is ‘あ’ in Hiragana and ア in Katakana. Exactly the same sound but just different in appearance! 😊
also, understanding the katakana is typically used for "loan words" and also for emphasis (like writing in all caps).
Still, Hiragana is mighty complicated compared to the latin alphabet, where each letter is just 2 or 3 strokes/arcs
@@carstenlechte at least with kana, the sounds stay relatively the same, as opposed to the Latin alphabet, where some letters can make up to 3 different sounds depending on context 😅
@@kaitazer Especially in English! Finnish and German are spelled more phonetically. Then there's French.
@@kaitazer plough, rough, cough, though, thought, through, thorough is what I'm reminded of
Japanese really has four alphabets these days, because Romanji/Latin alphabet is so widespread and often mixed in freely with the others.
I didn’t know you got married recently, congrats! Also, the “goodbye. We shall never see each other again.” Had me writhing with laughter. 🤣
I came across 'sayonara' in a novel my Japanese-Canadian neighbour had written, and I challenged him on the word as meaning a final goodbye. He assures me that sayonara is a perfectly good word to use when parting... maybe it's just not as casual as 'mata ne'. To push the point, I asked him why his characters had just said "See you later" (in English), followed by "sayonara" ... it was used more as a slightly more formal term, he said, but not as strong, say, as 'farewell' or 'adieu'. We laughed when I said, simperingly, 'bei bei'!
BTW, I really enjoy your videos. Thankyou, Rob.
Thanks for the insight! Always handy to have a Japanese-Canadian author next door.
Thanks for video Rob! Your videos of secrets of English are priceless! Congrats on your honeymooning and reaching Japan. I see your pronouncing (and I believe hearing of Japanese) still need a little bit practice. For example I hear in your pronounce more like arigAto (as you said in a Spanish way) instead of arIgatOo. But it’s just practice. Me and all my family using a lot of Japanese phrases on a daily basis here in Moscow for decades. It came from anime and tons of Japanese dioramas. So the more you hear the closer you get. And one more common English word in Japanese is Hoteru = Hotel. Thanks again for this quick tour. Sure most of your subscribers it opens mystical Japanese a little bit more. Good luck, dear!
I LOVE your channel. Do you think you would be willing to venture down the avenue of discussing proper grammar. It is sad to see how poorly people use our language and the more that creators discuss it, perhaps the more people will embrace proper grammar, or at least more proper... You could go over so many different avenues of grammar as well, maybe you could make a new channel, or even ad them in to this one here and there.
I love your suggestion! The one that bothers me is the extraneous "at". "Where are you?" is fine.
There is no reason for "Where are you at?" :-/
Always a great pleasure Rob -- I have zero interest/experience in Japanese but thoroughly enjoyed and was edified by your video -- great work as always ❤
Another word that could be useful is hitotsu, which is "one of" like when you want a single item at a restaurant or bar. The counting system can be a little confusing because there's many sets of counting words.
The only other word i can think of that wasn't covered in the video was "dozo" which means "here you go" or "go ahead". When i was there i heard it quite a bit.
I got asked "nan senchi" for "how many centimetres" a few times. I would hold up my fingers ✌️ because i was 200cm tall 😂 (my sister was a Japanese teacher in Australia, and went to teach English in Japan and i visited her, so she warned me about this) it made the girls giggle. i was big in Japan!
Congratulations on your wedding and wonderful honeymoon holiday in Japan. All the best to you both!
The one thing that really stood out to me when learning Japanese was realizing how rigid English (and Swedish as my native togue) is when it comes to nouns. For some wonderful reason it's often perfectly fine to omit who is doing what with whom as it's often clear from the context. As someone who forgets names much to often this has been a life saver on more than one occasion!
It's the entire subject that can be dropped, not just pronouns, given you have already specified it.
I believe this is true for East Asian languages in general. Bad translations will often totally mix up who is actually doing things because it isn't specified in the original. 😅
I worked for a Japanese company about 30 years ago and had forgotten most of these words, I do recall you could usually tell if the sentence was a question by the "ka" at the end. Also the sentence syntax was a bit hard to get used to e.g. (English subject-verb object) , Nihongo (subject -object-verb) and reading right to left.. Most Japanese people studied English in school and could usually figure out what I was trying to communicate. The younger people were actually eager to try out their English skills and we learned from each other. The biggest problem was that I come from the Southern US and between my accent and our sometimes unique idioms we had some "interesting" , but enjoyable times. I could rarely get a direct "no" as any answer to a question, it was usually "perhaps" , "that may work" or "that is interesting". This was a nostalgic and enjoyable video.
Maybe is fun to know that Japanese pronunciation is really similar to italian, one for the main differences is that they don't have our "ci" and that their "ki" is our "chi" but almost everything else is similar with sounds a little different but not so much, they have a few mute vowels like des(u) while italian pronounce every letter but still, so for an italian student is easier cause you can almost completely skip the pronunciation step.
Brilliant! Spot-on advice for non-Japanese speakers. Phrases and question words are unnecessary. Tourists get a pass on just about everything. As long as you are polite, (this includes bowing, following the rules, no tipping or being loud), you will get along splendidly. You honestly don’t need to know more than the words presented in this video. Cheers!
I wish I'd seen this before my wife and I went to Japan in last autumn to visit our son and his family. Will definitely revisit this vid before our next visit!
Years ago, back last century, I pick up some basic Japanese from watching the TV mini-series Shogun 😀 Written by James Clavell from his book of the same name. I believe he learnt Japanese while a POW.
Thanks Rob. I hope you enjoyed your honeymoon in the Orient.
I did the same! all forgotten now
Shogun is so good. A major reason I went to live there (for a while). Actually teaches you some useful stuff.
2:55
4 - romaji has its own rules too. It’s not just the same as English.
Edit: for example, the famous Japanese food called “susi”, the season of “natu”, or the girls name “Tihiro”.
There are at least 3 styles of Romaji. The best for English speakers is Hepburn because it’s phonetic (sushi, Natsu, Chihiro). The other styles are only usually phonetic.
From what I've seen on my Japanese language lessons with an actual Japanese, "shi" and "si" are used interchangeably so "sushi" is still a correct romaji transliteration. Either way, it's kinda irrelevant since you're supposed to learn and use し or シ in the end - romaji is just a stopgap solution.
Some probably useless trivia: In polish phonetics, you'd write し as the "si" or even "ś"; though I think most Poles learning Japanese already know English so we use "shi" either way.
@@MrKata55
Romaji is useful for learning Japanese but the same is true for hiragana. Hiragana is also a stepping stone, and you'll see it alongside kanji in most kids books, etc. But romaji (and the individual letters) is often used in Japanese, especially in advertising and popular culture. Sometimes it's Japanese romaji, sometimes it's English, sometimes individual letters, and sometimes it's just a confusing mess.
About romaji styles, although you could write, for example, "shishitou" or "sisitou", you shouldn't mix the styles and write "shisitou" or "sishitou".
It's fascinating stuff. Good luck with your language studies!
Awesome video! I came back from my first visit to Japan a couple weeks ago and this was basically my vocabulary the whole time. I also used a LOT of gomen nasai (sorry!) and daijoubu (that’s okay!). It was pretty easy to get around Japan with a limited vocabulary like this, but for my next trip I’m committed to studying more so I can have some more in-depth conversations with people. Thanks so much for making this video, I thought it was great!
Sometimes I wish that you would say a little more, for example:-
The -u at the end of "gozaimasu" is what some would describe as a "whispered vowel". It counts as a syllable in poetry.
In Japan night workers greet each other with "ohayō gozaimasu", when they first see each other. Hotel workers, hospital staff, entertainers and "ladies of the night" follow this usage.
I just figured out that this channel is so soothing.. I wish there were more of these, exploring different languages but in his own way..
Having been learning this language for a little over 4 years, I think this kind of video is valuable for those who don't have the time to burn learning the intricacies of the language. Things rarely translate 1 to 1 and the slight nuances of words means all the difference. Thank you for highlighting how sayōnara actually comes off to the average speaker. I generally tell my friends to never use it because of how dramatic it makes you sound. Another example of the boundless nuance of the language is its honorifics which I think most people overcomplicate. Assume (their name)-san unless told otherwise. Also, its really rude to refer to someone by their given name so use their family name unless told otherwise. If you plan on staying in the country or talking on a more advanced level, good luck.
Besides the risk of getting eel guts for Omakase, could end up being very expensive. Where I live, anyway. Omakase is the best of the house, and priced accordingly. Don't be surprised by the number of digits on the bill, and the value of the first one!
I'm a bit late to the party, but if you're looking for a couple of - admittedly silly - mnemonics, I offer these: For "sumimasen" a friend came up with "excuse-me-masen". For "onegaishimasu" I came up with "on-you-go-shimasu". Silly, as I said. My understanding of "onegaishimas" was that it meant something like "please give so I may receive", but I'm sure there's way more to it than that. Much like "itadaikimasu" said before a meal means something like "to humbly receive", but in a monastic Buddhist context there's a feeling of receiving something which is much too good for you. Always fascinating.
I loved studying Japanese at uni and it served me well (ten years later) when I went to Japan a couple of times for martial arts.
Thank you for great video!
Whenever I first started learning, what surprised me the most of how much you can switch up the sentence structure and it still make sense.
Although the kana are the same, the first N in what was transliterated as konban is actually pronounced like an English M (because it precedes a B or P sound). Also Japanese is very dialectical. The Okinawans emphasize the U in su at the end of a word. Photo gozaimasue
[ The Okinawans emphasize the U in su at the end of a word ] > It is because they were not from 日本 | Пусть наш Бог хранит Үкраїну.
Ah, the memories. Japanese do say "domo domo!", btw. The "r" is actually like spanish "r" (not "rr") such as "caricia" and very close to English in "care", just not the strong american way. I also miss "dozo" as common, useful word.
Can I ask you what do they mean?
@ Dozo can mean "here you are" (when giving someone something), or "(please) go ahead". It's just like the Scandinavian "værsgo/varsågod".
@@tokeeriksen2425 Yes. I used it in a restaurant once when the waitress came over to clear the plates and the waitress said "You must have a Japanese wife."