Japanese Phrase A Day Practice Pad. Sam Brier

CULTURAL NOTE —————————

      Hiragana, katakana and kanji are regularly used together in the same sentence. Therefore, you can ask this question—“How do you write it?”—by specifying one of the three Japanese “alphabets.”

      Sore wa donna kanji desu ka?

      What character is it?

      “Tokyō” no “Kyō” desu.

      It’s the “kyo” in Tokyo.

      ————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————

      The kana you see written in small type above kanji is called furigana. It gives you the sounds of the kanji, so that you know how to pronounce it.

      Nihongo wa muzukashii desu ka?

      Is Japanese difficult?

      Totemo muzukashii / kantan desu.

      It’s very difficult / easy.

      ————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————

      The slang for the Tokyo dialect is “Tokyo-ben 東京弁.” More formally, it’s called “hyōjun-go 標準語.” The Osaka dialect is called “Osaka-ben 大阪弁.” In Osaka-ben, the word for “very” is “meccha めっちゃ.”

      Nihongo o dono kurai benkyō shite imasu ka?

      How long have you been studying Japanese?

      Yaku ik-ka-getsu/ ni-ka-getsu/ san-ka-getsu/ yon-ka-getsu/ go-ka-getsu desu.

      About one / two / three / four / five months.

      ————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————

      No matter how long you’ve been in Japan, it’s quite likely that someone will comment on your chopstick skills: “Oh—you can use chopsticks very well.” It’s meant to be a compliment. A simple smile or “Arigatō” is the typical answer.

      Sumimasen. Wakaranai node motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai.

      Excuse me, I don’t understand… Can you speak slower?

      ————————— CULTURAL NOTE —————————

      Learning a new language can be confusing when words are slurred or abbreviated by native speakers. For example, you may sometimes encounter “Sumimasen すみませ ん” pronounced as “Suimasen すいません.”

      Ima nan to iimashita ka?

      What did you say?

      Mō ichido onegai shimasu.

      Please say it again.

      ————————— LANGUAGE NOTE —————————

      “Mō ichi do is a common expression that means “one more time.” It can be used in a variety of circumstances, just like in English.

      Sensei, sumimsen. Shitsumon ga arun desu ga.

      Excuse me, teacher—I have a question.

      Hai, nan desu ka?