English /Japanese

(sometimes other languages as well) 🇺🇸と🇯🇵のハーフです。 (I'm half Japanese/half American) 宜しくお願いします!

[translations101]

About Account

*disclaimer - anything language other than english / japanese are languauges I’m currently learning so they may not be 100% correct

母国語 - 英語 / native language - english

Also the owner of @24rlemed (main) / @ongakuluva / @neocity140

I don't have a lot of time to post, but I'll try to when I can

Also I'm not sure what to post most of the time so feel free to send me asks!!!

Tip jar

[translations101]

Today is 猫の日 (ねこのひ)/ cat day in Japan!

[translations101]

Why Japan is Called Japan

The reason why we call Japan 'Japan' is believed to be because of Marco Polo. He never actually came to Japan but he went to China. He had heard stories of Japan and wrote it in is diary but since he never went there he could only write the Chinese pronunciation of Japan at the time which was 'Cipan' (pronounced chi-pan)

The C sound apparently slowly became the 'J' sound that we know today

[translations101]

Vegetables in Japanese

Vegetable 野菜　やさい

Carrot

人参　にんじん

人参 is also ginseng. I looked it up and it apparently comes from the word 高麗人参

(こうらいにんじん) meaning Goryeo Ginseng

Random Fact -Goryeo is the Korean reading for 高麗 and was a state in Korea that unified the three kingdoms. It's also where the word 'Korea' comes from.

Pic of a carrot and ginseng next to each other

Radish /Daikon

大 　(だい)　big

根 　(こん) root

Spring onion/green onion

ネギ

Cucumber

Broccoli

ブロッコリー

Tomato

Spinich

草　(そう) grass

ほうれん草　ほうれんそう

トマト

Chinese Cabbage

白菜　

白　はく white

菜　さい leaf

胡瓜　きゅうり

Lotus Root

蓮根　れんこん

蓮　れん lotus

根　こん root

[translations101]

I don't know whose photo this is, but I absolutely love it

It's says

"Have you been cat harassed?:

(Going from left to right)

1. Has your work been disrupted?

2. Have your movements been limited?

3. Has your bed been taken over?

4. Have you been pressured?

Cat - give me more food, do you think this is enough??

5. Has the number of boxes you can't throw away increased ?

6. Have you been ignored?

7. Have your clothes become covered in fur?

8. Been watched while taking a bath?

9. Haven't been able to do anything because your cat is too cute?

For those who are happily troubled, please proudly consult us

[translations101]

Today is my 20th birthday which means I'm officially an adult in Japan

[translations101]

Japanese titles of Disney movies

白雪姫　しらゆきひめ

白　しら white

雪　ゆき snow

姫　ひめ princess

= Snow White

眠れる森の美女　ねむれるもりのびじょ

眠れる　ねむれる　sleeping

森　もり forest

の (place holder) means "of" in this case

美女　びじょ beautiful girl

Sleeping beauty of the forest

= sleeping beauty

ラマになった王様　らまになったおうさま

ラマ　llama

に　(place holder) / to

なった became

王様　おうさま king

The king that became a llama

= the emperors new groove

シュガーラッシュ　Sugar Rush

= wreck it ralph

アナと雪の女王　アナとゆきのじょおう

アナ　Anna

と and

雪 ゆき snow

の (place holder)

女王 じょおう queen

Anna and the snow queen

=Frozen

ノートルダムの鐘

ノートルダム　Norte Dame

の place holder/ of

鐘 かね　bell

The bell of Norte Dame

= the hunchback of Notre Dame

[translations101]

The names of your fingers in Japanese

Finger 　指　ゆび

Thumb

親指　おやゆび　

親　おや　 parent

Index/pointer finger

人指し指　ひとさしゆび　

人　ひと　person

指し　さし　to point

*can be written as 人差し指 (same reading)

Middle finger

中指　なかゆび

中　なか　middle/inside

Ring finger 薬指　くすりゆび

薬　くすり　medicine

Apparently, people used this finger to mix medicine

Pinky

小指　こゆび

小　こ　small

[greencabarette]

Japanese activities by grammar points

So... I made these for myself last month by assembling exercises from different textbooks. They're about really basic stuff cause I'm just getting started, but I thought they may be of help to someone else and wanted to share! <3

Causative

Causative-passive

Conditional forms (ば-conditional,　-たら,　なら)

Passive

Potential

ので、のに

のです / んだ

Some of them also include an explanation from the book "A Handbook of Japanese Grammar Patterns for Teachers and Learners" (it's wonderful, i really recommend it!).

[nihongoseito]

vocab from 魔女の宅急便, finale!!

やっと読み終えたわ！！！ thank you for sticking with this extremely long vocab series everyone!!!

nouns:

ほっぺた = cheek (colloquialism)

跡継ぎ（あとつぎ） = heir, successor

横目（よこめ） = sidelong glance

レンガ = brick

いっとき = a moment, a while

荷造り（にづくり） = packing

あわてんぼう = flustered person, hasty person

verbs:

おどける = to jest, joke

ほどく = to untie, unfasten; to unpack

横切る（よこぎる） = to cross (e.g., a road)

adjectives:

甘ったれ（あまったれ）の = being overly reliant on others; spoiled

ぶっきらぼうな = curt, blunt

誇らしい（ほこらしい） = proud

のっぽの = tall and lanky

adverbs/onomatopoeiae:

せかせか = restlessly, fidgeting

いよいよ = more and more; finally, beyond doubt

コツコツ = steadily, untiringly

expressions:

あっけに取られる（とられる） = to be taken aback, astonished

[translations101]

Comparing Chinese character readings in Japanese & Korean pt 2

JP/KR

Easy - 簡単 (kantan)/간단 (gantan)

Very Easy - 超簡単(chōkantan)/ 초간단 (chogantan)

Cook/cuisine 料理 (ryori)/ 요리 (yori)

Bag 鞄(kaban)/ 가방 (gabang)

Memory 記憶(kioku)/기억 (gieog)

Mountain 山 (yama or san)/ 산 (san)

[nihongonotabi]

In Japanese language, describing a third person’s emotion is different from describing a first person’s emotion: in English, the sentences "I am happy" and "He is happy" are grammatically structured in the same way. However, in Japanese, this direct equivalence is not possible: you can say "私は嬉しいです" (Watashi wa ureshii desu), but you can't simply say "彼は嬉しいです" (Kare wa ureshii desu).

This is due to cultural and linguistic nuances that emphasize the acknowledgment of another's internal state as somewhat inaccessible. In fact, Japanese typically employs expressions that convey a level of inference or indirectness, such as:

Using observational phrases: one might say 「彼は嬉しそうです」 (Kare wa ureshisō desu), which translates to "He seems happy" or "He/she looks happy." This phrasing respects the notion that one can only observe outward signs of emotion, not definitively know another's internal state.

Adding "ようだ" or "みたい": these suffixes add a sense of speculation. For example, 「彼は嬉しいようだ」 (Kare wa ureshii yō da) or 「彼は嬉しいみたいです」 (Kare wa ureshii mitai desu), both meaning "He appears to be happy."

Using conditional clauses: Another approach is to use conditional forms, like 「彼が嬉しければ」 (Kare ga ureshikereba), meaning "If he is happy," which implicitly acknowledges the uncertainty of truly knowing his feelings.

One characteristic of Japanese syntax is its extreme sensitivity to epistemological considerations based on the ego/nonego distinction or the distinction of I/the other. Our knowledge about the mental state of another person must necessarily come from our interpretation of external evidence, and this is well reflected in the Japanese language.

Source material: http://human.kanagawa-u.ac.jp/gakkai/publ/pdf/no157/15712.pdf

[translations101]

Baby Words in Japanese

にゃんにゃん nyan-nyan - cat

わんわん wan-wan - dog

モーモー　mōmō - cow

ブーブー būbū - a car

ポッポ poppo - pigeon

まんま - manma - food/to eat

ねんね-nenne - to sleep (from 寝る/neru - to sleep)

ねんね- nenne - blankey

おめめ- omeme - eyes (from 目/me - eyes)

キレイキレイ - kirei-kirei - to clean up/wash (kirei can mean tidy, cleaned, spotless. If you are using kirei to describe someone, it means they are pretty)

Since children tend to mess up certain sounds, you will often hear 'chi' instead of 'shi' and so on (s and t sounds often get mixed)

A great example of this is when instead of 'san' at the end of someone's name you sometimes hear 'chan' or 'tan'

Also, for some reason, in the pronunciation for phone 'denwa', the w isn't really heard leading to some children saying 'dema'

[linghxr]

Two Chinese words you do not want to confuse (trust me):

出轨 | 出軌 chūguǐ - to be derailed; to go off the rails / to overstep the bounds / to have an extramarital affair

出柜 | 出櫃 chūguì - to come out of the closet; to reveal one's sexual orientation

I often confuse these two, so if I read about a celebrity cheating scandal, there's a 50% chance I'm accidentally going to say said celeb came out of the closet instead.

[translations101]

Banned hiragana from Japanese license plates and why

Most Japanese license plates have a hiragana on them, but some are banned

お (o) - looks similar to あ (a)

を(wo) - pronounced the same way as お(o)

し(shi) - the character for death (死) is also pronounced shi

へ(he) - there is another character pronounced the same way (屁) and it means fart

ん (n) - cause it is hard to pronounce on its own

[translations101]

Colours in japanese

(Are also sometimes said in english)

Colour 色　いろ

white 白　しろ /ホワイト

yellow　黄色　きいろ　/イエロー

gold　金　きん　/ゴールド

orange　橙色　だいだいいろ/オレンジ

red　赤　あか　/レッド

pink　桃色　ももいろ(literally means peach colour) / ピンク

purple 紫　むらさき/ パープル

blue　青　あお　/ブルー

green　緑　みどり /グリーン

brown　茶色　ちゃいろ (tea colour)　/ブラウン

grey 灰色　はいいろ (ash color) / グレー

silver　銀　ぎん /シルバー

black　黒　くろ　/ ブラック

[translations101]

Banned hiragana from Japanese license plates and why

Most Japanese license plates have a hiragana on them, but some are banned

お (o) - looks similar to あ (a)

を(wo) - pronounced the same way as お(o)

し(shi) - the character for death (死) is also pronounced shi

へ(he) - there is another character pronounced the same way (屁) and it means fart

ん (n) - cause it is hard to pronounce on its own