Japanese Idiom: Something's Wrong with My Ki...

Get it?

Look at the kanji.

What's wrong with it? Other than having been drawn by a 外国人.

長いですね。だから、気が長い。

き が ながい is an idiom for having a lot of patience. You can use it when your friend buys a Bonzai tree kit, or in the negative when you go to a Japanese post office.

Japanese Diary: Susumu

昨日、僕はチャリティマラソンをする申し込みしました。
「マラソン」がちょっと違いますけど。本当はウォークです。

11月17日、僕はHelp the Homeless Walkathonに参加して歩きます。

もしよければ寄付してくれませんか。
興味があったら、下記のリンクをクリックしてください：

http://www.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=238022&u=238022-195787805

よろしくおねがいします。

(Checked by a real Nihonjin.)

Japanese Diary: Samu

夏から毎日自転車で事務所へ通っています。最近寒くなりました。今朝２℃でしたが、自転車に乗りました。すごく寒かったけど、基本的に大丈夫でした。顔だけ凍えました。

(This Japanese has been verified by a certified Japanese person.)

Strange English: Crispy English

You can use "crisp" to describe many things. Food, weather, paper, people's personalities...

• I like to eat my cereal quickly, while it's still crisp. If it sits in milk too long, it gets soggy.
  
• It's finally fall! The air is crisp and cold.
• You can tell this book has been well-loved. Its pages are soft and curled, no longer crisp.
• Her attitude was crisp when I told her I was coming in late.
  

But you can only use "crispy" for foods--maybe only a few foods.

• Potato chips, lettuce, deep-fried foods, and maybe apples can be crispy.
  

Why? I have no idea. But if you call anything else other than food "crispy," it sounds totally weird.

A Blog for Japanese Learners?

I'm always looking around for good study materials. When I got my Google Reader account, I searched and searched for good, daily Japanese-oriented blogs. Blogs that were in elementary Japanese, or that dealt with little pieces of grammar that I hadn't read yet, or that would teach me a word or two each day in a way that would stick with me.

I know too much for a basic level, and I don't know enough to easily read real Japanese blogs. So I decided to make this site, since there was obviously a need for something like a bridge between beginner Japanese and advanced.

Are you beginning to see the problem? If I'm so lazy that I want a daily blog to teach me Japanese, I'm probably too lazy to keep up my own version.

Of course, I blame my work, but if I really felt strongly enough about it, I could set aside an hour or so each day to study. I'll try to do that from now on.

I'll try to record something every day in Japanese. I can't guarantee the grammar will be good. If I have time later, I'll edit my entries for grammatical exactness.

If anyone has any suggestions for how to keep up this blog and my studies, I'm listening.

Japanese I'm Learning from My DS

I recently bought a Nintendo DS Lite. It's awesome. I've got a kanji dictionary for it, and also a kanji game.

Things I'm learning:

right-handed = みぎきき
left-handed = ひだりきき
screen = 画面（がめん）
assignment = 課題（かだい）
stroke order? = 書き順（かきじゅん）
learning = 学習（がくしゅう）
drill = ドリル　(this katakana is really confusing for us English speakers!)
to check = 確認する（かくにんする）

And that was just in the opening explanation!

Daily Japanese Phrase: 注意

注意を払う

Look for the (once again familiar) translation and the hiragana in the comments.

Daily Japanese Phrase: 発明

必要は発明の母

For the surprisingly-familiar English translation, please see the comments below. Also below is the hiragana.

Correct My Japanese If You Please #1

I left this message on my roommate's voicemail. Can you figure out what's wrong with it? If so, please leave a comment with the correction.

あひた、車が必要じゃありません。Westminsterへいきないから。

妹が８時半でひっこしするになります。早すぎると思います。だから行きません。

今ジョージと遊びます。１時間ぐらいの後で会いましょう。

I will follow this post up with the correct Japanese later, so check back in 12 or so hours for the correction (and the English translation) in the comments.

Daily Japanese Phrase: について

学校で日本語試験についての説明を受けた。

Hiragana and translation are in the comments below.

Daily Japanese Phrase: 期限

いつも期限ぎりぎりまで宿題を引きのばしにする。

(Hiragana and translation are in the comments below.)

Japanese Grammar: Tokoro vs. Bakari

I am taking two* Japanese courses at the Japan-America Society of Washington, DC (JASWDC). In both classes, we use the Genki II textbook. Last week, we were doing an exercise with pictures and making sentences with みたい, a word that you append to the end of a plain-form verb to add the meaning of "seems like." I saw a picture of a woman with a big smile and rays shining off of her ring, kind of like this picture from mfshadow's Flickr stream on the left.

When I saw this kind of a picture, I thought, it looks like she just got engaged. But then I realized that, in the textbook, the ring looked more like a wedding ring than an engagement ring. So I said:

結婚したところみたいです。
She seems like she's just gotten married.

So, first, let's look at ところ. ところ doesn't mean place, here, but it sets the action of the verb in a limited location. In other words, adding tokoro means either "just about to do something" or "just did something."

食べるところ - just about to eat (in a few minutes)
食べたところ - just ate (finished eating a few seconds/minutes ago)

With the progressive form, ところ emphasizes the action being incomplete.

食べているところ - I'm still eating just now (I can't talk, go out, etc., because I'm in the middle of eating).

The teacher explained that 結婚したところみたい is incorrect. In the picture, she didn't have a wedding dress on, so she didn't just literally get married a few minutes ago. Therefore, I should use ばかり if I want a looser interpretation of "just."

正：　結婚したばかりみたいです。
　　　She seems like she just (recently) got married.

ばかり can have many meanings. It can mean "only," as in limiting to one kind of thing, but a lot of it:

お菓子をばかり食べたら、病気になる。
If you only eat sweets, you'll get sick.

But when you put ばかり on the end of a plain-past verb, the meaning is totally different.

さんかげつ前に二本に着いたばかり
I only just arrived in Japan three months ago

Though three months have passed, it still feels like a short time. ばかり connotes this feeling of recentness, along with an emotional perception of that short time. ところ would not make sense. My teacher contrasted this with this sentence:

今９空港に、着いたところなので、迎えに来てくれない。
I'm at the airport now... I just arrived, so could you pick me up?

ところ is objective and measurable; the speaker really just arrived within the past few minutes. Note that you could use ばかり with the airport example, too, I think.

My teacher showed me another case where both are technically and grammatically acceptable, but one is preferable due to politeness. Imagine that you've been offered some coffee, but you don't want any because you just had some. Which do you use?

さっき飲んだところなので、けっこうです。
さっき飲んだばかりなので、けっこうです。

The answer is ところ. As explained above, you can use ばかり with a 3-month time period because it feels short to you. Therefore, ばかり emphasizes your personal feeling. In coffee refusal, it's more polite to be objective and say ところ.

A common word associated with ところ is たった今 (just now).
ばかり gets used with まだ a lot:

さんかげつ前に二本に着いたばかりで、まだ日本のことはよくわかりません。

Both words are often used with さっき and さいきん.

For a JapanesePod101.com lesson on ところ and ばかり, go to this early Intermediate lesson.
______________________________________________
*I'm taking Intermediate 3 and Intermediate 4. Yes, this is crazy. It's also why I haven't been keeping up with my mainichi posts.

JLPT 2 Kanji: 失

失

onyomi: シツ
kunyomi: うしな(う)、う(せる)

LOSE (something), (something is) LOST,
error, fault, disadvantage, loss, disappear

Mnemonic: It kind of looks like the 先 in 先生, so I'll remember:

The absentminded sensei is always losing シツ.

Joshi:

• 〜が失せる
• 〜を失う

Regarding 失せる:

A Google search turns up many variations of (plain form verb) + 気 + 失せる

• 読む気が失せる
• 買う気が失せる
• やる気失せる

There seem to be two ways to say that you lost your appetite:

• 食欲が失せる
• 食べる気失せる (See this post for a discussion of losing one's appetite in the summer. The post also contains 失敗, a compound meaning "failure".)

Regarding 失う:

失う is for when a person or thing loses something else. It can be a quality, an item, etc. Example sentence comes from ALC:

仕事を失う（こと）ほどストレスの大きいことは、そうそうない。

See that page for many more examples.

Compounds:

失敗 しっぱい failure.

JLPTの試験に失敗しないでください！

プロジェクトは失敗するのが当たり前！？ － ＠IT情報マネジメント

Daily Bunshou: Fad Fire

日本では、何か流行りだすと、
火をつけたように皆同じことをしたがるようだ。

ファッション、食べ物、持ち物。
流行しはじめると、
あっという間にみんな同じものを求める。

流行り　はやり　fad, trend, popular thing

だす　　literally: to get out. In this instance: to appear suddenly

• When trying to exit a building in Japan, look for 出口. The same kanji, 出, goes along with だす. The feeling is that, all of a sudden, something happens. 思い出す, to remember all at once, is just one example of where だす is employed.

火をつける　to ignite a fire

皆　みな everyone/everybody. (Why's it sometimes みな and sometimes みんな?)

同じ　おなじ　the same (opposite of 違う)

したがる　　(he/she/they) want to do

• We all know したい, right? Well, したい is for your own desire to do something. When you talk about other people's desires (third person), use 〜たがる.
• したい　ー＞　したがる
• たべたい　ー＞　たべたがる
• さむい　ー＞　さむがる
• Ah, what's that last one? An adjective? That's because the 〜たい form of verbs is quite like an い-adj. Form the がる form by knocking off the い of い-adj and attaching がる.

食べ物　たべもの stuff you can eat (as opposed to 食品, which is more like ingredients)

持ち物　もちもの stuff you have, possessions

あっという間に A phrase, idiomatically meaning "quite quickly"

• あっ - the shortest pronunciation of あ (as if cut off in the middle of vocalizing the sound)
• と言う - say, plus the quoting particle と
• 間に　まに　during, in the time when
• あっという間に - in the time it takes to say あっ

求める　もとめる　to seek

Translation:

In Japan, whenever something popular comes out, it seems like everyone wants to do the same thing, as quickly as a fire starts to flame. Clothing, food, possessions. When a new fad starts, everyone goes after it before you can say "Tickle-Me Elmo."


日本人のために：
"Before you can say ___" can have anything inserted into the blank. Usually it should be appropriate to the situation. "Tickle-Me Elmo" was a very, very popular toy a few years ago, and I still remember how many people ran to the stores to get one for their children. Fads can be very dangerous things; 気をつけてね.

Daily Bunshou: Backwoods Bloodshed

昨日、畑にカラスが死んでいたから たぶん、ハトがカラスに勝ったのだと思う。
母の愛は、強し？！かな。
でも、すっごく、ローカルな話。

畑（はたけ）- field

死ぬ（しぬ）- to die

昨日（きのう）- yesterday

勝つ（かつ）- to win

思う（おもう）- to think

母の愛（ははのあい）maternal love

強し（つよし）strong

すっごく（＝すごく）very

• The っ shows a more intense degree. Like when we, in English, elongate "very" into "verrrrrry".

ローカル - Japanese English for rural, country, etc.

Translation:

Yesterday, there was a dead crow in a nearby field, and so I think the pigeon might have won. A mother's love is strong, I guess... Anyway, this is a terribly backwoods story!



日本人のために：In English, we have several words to describe places outside the cities which lack sophistication. It's sad that Japanese chose to import "local." Local usually means "from this place," so if you use it when talking about Tokyo, it means city-like, not country-like. Here are some other words for 田舎：

1. backwoods (a backwoods town)
2. the sticks (I live in the sticks)
3. the boonies (I live way out in the boonies)
4. the boondocks (see above)
5. the country (see above)　　...probably the most useful. Instead of saying "It's so local" or "It's so countryside," please say this: "It's really country." Americans will understand you perfectly.

Cool Scrabble Word: ASEA

I would have thought this was obvious. I've known ASEA for as far back as I can remember the concept. But, in a recent Scrabble game, ASEA was nearly challenged. So I'm going to set the record straight: ASEA is a word, and totally cool.

ASEA

(adj)

being at sea;

on the ocean;

on a boat on the ocean;

(adv)

in the direction of the ocean

Why it's useful: This is a "vowel dump." When you have too many vowels, look for vowel dumps, to get rid of as many useless vowels as you can.

Why it's cool: Not only is it good to use when speaking of nautical friends, ASEA can be a metaphor for intense feelings. How many times have you been asea on an ocean of doubt and dismay? If I had a nickel...

Check this sentence out, pulled from a search in Google Books:

Both in politics and economics he is "asea"; he shows the political acumen of a
Yahoo when it comes to grasping where conservatives stand on New Deal issues...

So there is a sense of helplessness with this word. Asea, you are tossed from one wave to the next. You are not altogether in control. This sense, I assume, comes from the time when sailors were gone for long periods of time, and their wives had no idea, really, where they were.

"Where is your husband?"
"He is asea, sir."

Use ASEA whenever you are adrift, and don't quite know which way to go or what to do. Your listener will hopefully throw you a line.

JLPT 2 Kanji: 似

似

onyomi: ジ
kunyomi: に(る), ひ(る), にた

RESEMBLE, becoming, imitate, look like

Mnemonic:
it looks near-ly the same as the other

Joshi (particle):
___に似る = is similar to ___

Google:
マイフィギュア「My Figure」 どれくらい似るの？

ALC:
飼い主に似る - resemble the owner
Funny how we think dog/pet owners begin to resemble their pets, yet in Japanese it seems opposite.

Common compounds:

• 疑似 [ぎじ]
  (n,pref) suspected; pseudo; sham; quasi; false; mock
  
• 酷似 [こくじ]
  (n,vs) resemblance; resemble
• 似顔 [にがお]
  (n) portrait; likeness
  
• 似顔絵 [にがおえ]
  (n) portrait; likeness
• 似合う [にあう]
  (v5u) to suit; to match; to become; to be like
  
• 似通う [にかよう]
  (v5u) to resemble closely
  
• 真似 [まね]
  (n) mimicry; imitation; behavior; pretense
  
• 真似る [まねる]
  (v1) to mimic; to imitate
  
• 相似 [そうじ]
  (n) resemblance; similarity; analogy
  
• 類似 [るいじ]
  (n) analogous

真似しないで is like "Stop copying me!" Say it when somebody repeats what you say. I've heard it many times (I'm a born copycat?), but Google says 真似ないで is more popular. Hmmm...

Daily Bunshou: Birdfight

うちの庭には大きな木が一本あって、そこにはハトの巣がある。近所のおじさんいわく、先日、カラスがハトの巣の中ある卵を食べようとして、ハトの親とけんかになったそうだ。

うち - home

庭（にわ）- garden

一本　(いっぽん）one (long, thin, cylindrical thing). Refers to the tree here.

ハト（鳩）- pigeon

• Note: this is in katakana instead of kanji. Why? A common excuse I hear is that the kanji for certain animals is hard to remember. Then, why not hiragana, since these are native Japanese words? It's just a mystery we shall have to accept. Same goes for ネコ and other animal names.

巣（す）- nest

• You can almost see this one in the kanji. Above the tree (木) is a box of sticks with a few sticking out.

近所（きんじょ）- neighborhood.

• Made of 近い (near, nearby) and 所 (ところ, place).

いわく - say, report

• This is different from 言う. It's a little older, a little more formal, and it indicates a statement from an authority. It's a little humorous in this situation to use this word. It's practically archaic, like "Confucius say, weather today is nice."

先日（せんじつ）- the other day (vague)

卵（たまご）- egg

食べようとして - tried to eat, seemed to be trying to eat

親（おや）- parent(s)

Translation:

In my garden there is a tree, and in that tree is a nest of pigeons. An old man who lives nearby imparted to me that, the other day, he saw a crow trying to eat the eggs inside the pigeons' nest, but then it seemed that the mommy and daddy pigeon fought with the crow.

Cool Scrabble Word: VUG

I'm combing the list of Three-Letter Words, but it's hard to say that many are cool. They are either commonplace or obscure. This word is obscure, but it suits a purpose I didn't even know existed, but now that I know the word, I plan on using it.

VUG

A small cavity in a rock or vein,

often with a mineral lining of different composition

from that of the surrounding rock.

Wikipedia says

"The word vug was introduced to the English language

by Cornish miners, from the days when Cornwall

was a major supplier of tin.

Why it's useful: V, U, and G are unhelpful letters that don't go with other letters very well. Best to get rid of them quickly.

Why it's cool: Whenever you see a rock that has an opening with crystals inside, you are looking into a vug. Here are many examples of what I'm talking about. But you can use the word to describe any opening in a rock. Verdict: cool.

Cool Scrabble Word: PAWKY

I've been thinking of doing some posts for cool Scrabble words. There are certain words that Scrabble players find immensely useful. ZAX, for instance (a tool for cutting roof tiles). ZAX has the Z, which is 10 points, and the X, which is 8. Plus, it's made of at least two two-letter words, ZA (pizza) and AX (alt. spelling of AXE). Highly useful in Scrabble, but not very useful in everyday life. Unless you're a roofer?

But Scrabble is a great game which can teach you many English words. To this end, I will post words that are useful in Scrabble and useful in life. And, hopefully, cool.

First word.

PAWKY

sly, shrewd; dryly humerous

(from Scottish pawk, a trick)

Why it's useful: P(3)+A(1)+W(4)+K(5)+Y(4)=way more than just WAY. Also, PAWKIER, PAWKIEST, and PAWKILY are all bingos.

Why it's cool: You can now call someone who tricks you a "pawky bastard." Or you can tell the jokester to stop being so "pawky." It's a great synonym for clever with the added connotation of deceitfulness or tricks.