Mashup Japanese

Today's Favoritezzz -10/12/07-

2007-10-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

今日の一番の好きです
きょうのいちばんのすきです

音楽
おんがく
-music-
The Fiery Furnaces
フィアリファナセス
"Teach me sweetheart" の歌　を　きって　ください

美術
びじゅつ
-art-
James Jean
ジェムスジン

ビデオ
-video-
Kanye West "Goodlife"
カニエウェスト "グドライフ”

服
ふく
-clothes-
UNIQLO ユニクロ

靴
くつ
-shoes-
Black Diesel Sneaks
黒いヂゾル運動靴
くろいヂゾルうんどぐつ

beautiful

2007-07-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

美しい

うつくしい

”あなた　と　わたし　と　私たち知るの皆さん”

spelling. help.

sometimes

2007-07-17T14:05:00.000-07:00

ときどき...

...I need to space out.

過ぎたくさんボーイ. はたらきます。目は眠いです。

うそ = 嘘

2007-07-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

I asked a new 友達 how to say No Way in Japanese.

Q: "No Way 日本語では何ですか？”　

A: うそ！

Sweet. Ooo, "Sweet 日本語では何ですか？”

I think I misspelled that really bad.

Nathan'sの2007ホットドッグコンテスト

2007-07-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

Me and my cousin went to Coney Island on Independence Day to check out 小林尊, aka Takeru Kobayashi, ホットドッグチャンピオン.

We barely saw a thing, because tons of monstrously tall people were in front of us. My cousin thinks food competition must draw in big people. It was a mean crowd, booing the bands, getting impatient with the MC (who was hilarious), and being snappy to each other cuz it was hard to see anything.

They were booing Kobayashi's jaw injury like he was faking it, and chanting "USA!" for Joey Chestnut. All the Asians near us were rooting for 小林. A Swiss reporter interviewed me for a short while about why I came to the competition and what I thought of it. I said something about it being a pretty serious sport, just one of the funnier ones, and that I became a fan when I was in Taipei, having only watched 日本のテレビ. 小林がんばれ!

コンテストの後で, my cousin got 小林の autograph, and told him "You're my hero, you're the best". If I was there, I could've translated! "小林さん！あなたは一番です！" I don't know how to say hero...but to improvise, I could have said I love you. "愛してる〜”

I had to leave right after to pick up my 母 at the 空港, and got lost in Newark, New Jersey. >_<

久しぶりです！

2007-07-02T09:17:00.000-07:00

ご免なさい, it's been a long time. I'm apologizing to myself really.

Since the last post, I've moved to ニュヨーク, and enrolled in 日本語学校. 天理日本語学校, in Greenwich. 上手ですね？　

今, 私はenrolled in level 二, and am realizing some things. Like the impossibility of becoming fluent in 日本語　if all you do is go to class once a week and study vocabulary for bits of time in between.

I just received the gift of an アイポット shuffle a couple weeks ago, which means...podcasts!!! 日本語の podcasts! I'm listening to a few by Beb and Alex now. I like them because they're fun and laid back. It's almost casual 英語／二本語　conversation, which is perfect. The sound quality is pretty difficult though. Hopefully, this will at least boost my listening skills.

Learning Methods: Pimsleur

2007-01-20T02:34:00.000-08:00

I started this post on The Pimsleur Method back in November '06, but now I've actually tried it and have an informed opinion.

It's great!

Now that I'm in America, I don't have my Japanese sources anymore. But I do have the Houston library system to give me Pimsleur's Japanese 3rd edition on CD.

It's the most effortless way of learning a language that I've ever encountered. I listen to it while I drive. It doesn't require special time and attention. I don't get made fun of when I screw up or get bad marks or feel pressured. It's an intuitive and natural-feeling method. And the best part is that it was FREE! The only drawback is finding the next set to move on. The library has an electronic branch that lets you download all their audiobooks, where there's PLENTY of Pimsleur's. Unfortunately, they don't work on macs.

If you've used Pimsleur...did you think the lessons were designed for English-speaking men to pick up women?

How else would you explain...
Lesson 1: Examples include you (male voice) starting conversation with a (female-voiced) stranger on the street.
Lesson 2-5: Idle chatter, and how to deflect compliments on your Japanese skills.
Lesson 6: How to say and order alcohol.
Lesson 7-8: How to say "at" "your" "or" "my" "place" (?).

If it's true, then Pimsleur's hip to the street. The opposite sex is 95%* of all strong motivation to learn a new language. Encouraging Western dudes to pick up Japanese ladies just gives me the creeps though.

*Based on a study group of 5 conducted by me.

Mother

2006-12-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

Okaasan

お母さん
おかあさん

Oh my gosh I'm back in Texas ^^. It's been a superb holiday, getting to know my family and my okaasan in particular again. But I also miss the Okaasan in Taipei, Ota-san. It's lucky to have an okaasan at all though, and thank goodness there's an okaasan day but maybe it could be a week.

Tai calls Miss Ota Mamano. Happy new year to my mamanos and okaasans. Aishteru!

Why?!

2006-12-17T01:34:00.000-08:00

Nande

何で
なんで

A universal question.

I think you can add an O to the end of it, for effect I guess.

English: "OH JESUS WHYYYYYYYYYYY!"
Japanese: "イエス, NANDEOOOOOOOO!"

More Designer Shops needed

2006-12-17T01:27:00.000-08:00

chokuegambo

ちょくえがんぼ

"The Japanese word "chokuegambo" describes the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street."

-BBC's "100 things we didn't know this time last year"

It is I who should say so

2006-12-06T17:33:00.001-08:00

"Kochirakoso"

こちらこそ

So polite. So romantic.

Example:
Tai: I have to leave now. Kiss.
me: byebye
Tai: chu!
me: arigatou gozaimashita
Tai: kochirakoso

*arigatou gozaimashita = thank you very much for that

It's Good!

2006-12-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

"Ikeru"

行ける
いける

More literally, "to be good at", or even more literally, as Tai says, "It can go!". There was a tv host who said it on a show featuring foods prepared from rural farms. She said it after doing this thing that American tv and Taiwanese tv do, but Japanese tv shown in Taiwan do more than the two countries combined. And that is...the money shot of all culinary programming: taking the first bite.

On the one hand, necessary proof to viewers. On the other, totally weak. Sometimes hosts try to be different and dramatize their reactions. Maybe it's an extra long pause while chewing, eyes rolling back in their heads, nodding in rhythm to the chewing, and then...the moment of actual taste! Their furrowed eyebrows pop like exclamation marks, their heads snap forward, and with barely any time to cover their mouths-begin to wail praise about the bite, in between chews. Or something else equally convincing.

I noticed that on Japanese food tv most of the reactions to the first bite are subtitled: "好吃!" Which is Tasty, and in Japanese, Ooishi. However, the people are only actually saying "Oishii" around one fourth of the time! Other times they're saying something else, to change up the highly overdone first-bite moment (naturally).

This host in particular responded with an excited and gutteral "IKERRRUUUUUU". Almost everything she did was excited and gutteral. Maybe she was part German. And spiked on Adderal (hehe...). Anyhoo, she helped me learn a new word, and for that - Arigatou Gozaimashita!

Tips: It's slang. You can use it in relaxed situations, hanging out with yr peeps. I like thinking of it like "it can go", meaning "it is able", close to "it's not bad". How is that? It can go.

Examples:
-"How is my pie/shirt/hairdo/suped-up ride?" "IKERU!"

Go for it

2006-12-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

"Ganbare"

がんばれ
頑張れ

aka Keep on Trucking, according to Urbandictionary.com (a fine slang dictionary).

In Chinese, the equivalent is 加油, meaning "add gas". Cause when you're weak and need a boost, you get some more gas and go. In Japanese it comes from a word close to Tenacity or Endurance, though there is this one word: 頑張り屋, which is "someone who battles on in difficult circumstances". Now that's a Word.

Tips: Ganbare is good to use anytime someone needs encouraging. For example, last Friday I had a 19-hour work day. In the 15th hour I called Tai to tell him I would be late coming home. When we're on the phone he uses a lot of English, probably so people around him won't know what he's saying. Often I don't know what he's saying either. But on this day he just said, "Ganbare". At the time, it was a nice thing to hear.

Examples:
during marathons -"GANBAREEEEE!"
long and tense chess matches -(whispered) "ganbare."
competitive eating -(sporadic) "Ganbare!...Ganbare!...Ganbare!..."

Tits

2006-12-03T00:25:00.000-08:00

"Oppai"

おっぱい

I learned this from a children's book I'm reading:
"わたしの中に　みんながいる"
(Inside of Me, Everyone is There).

The first chapter is a story about a puppy. It has a short, black tail, is sleepy, and cries "kyumyu". I figured this out with help from Google translator. The puppy also tries to find its mother's breasts, and that's how I learned oppai. I love that I learned this from a children's book. Squeezing friends for naughty words probably gets old (for them).

Egg

2006-12-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

"Tamago"

玉子
たまご

Simple

Oval

Eatery

Tamago-tchi

Tips: Some peeps just eat tamago whites to avoid cholestorol, but the entire tamago is a very balanced food. That's what Tai says. And while I usually take facts from Taiwanese with a grain of salt, this one sounded good.

Example:
-"I always knew he was a bad tamago."

Headache

2006-11-30T00:35:00.000-08:00

"Zutsuu"

頭痛
ずつう

I could hardly believe this is the word for headache. At first looking at the hiragana, it increased the headache that inspired looking up this word in the first place. Zutsuu?? But typing it out in my comfortable familiar alphabet, it makes sense. Zutsuu! It's sounds like a Zulu nation war cry coming after you in the head.

Examples:
-"Jalapenos make my eyes tear and give me a zutsuu. It's pretty far out."

Cute

2006-11-29T01:32:00.000-08:00

"Kawaii"

可愛い
かわいい

Who doesn't know this word? Well, if you didn't, it's going to pop up all over your vocabulary now. It sounds like Hawaii (and the island Kuaui), is the name of a store in Taiwan, and is a cultural phenomenon that Natalie Angier wrote about (here in the Taipei Times).

Tips: Using this word won't impress anybody, but I have a feeling you may still be using it a lot. Careful not to confuse it with this.

Examples:
-"Ear mufflers are very kawaii. Mittens are very kawaii. Not if they're made out of snakeskin."
-"Snakes can be kawaii, if they are kept inside their bags."

TV

2006-11-29T01:05:00.000-08:00

"Terebi"

テレビ

Terebi comes from "Television", but it sounds to me like "terrible". Which is how I feel about most TV, so that is correct. I had a bad terebi addiction when I was a kid, and every now and then it flares up. Fortunately, Taiwanese terebi programming is pretty awful, and is not easy to get addicted to at all. There are a few Japanese stations broadcast here though, and they are mighty good. Lucky again though, I don't understand any of it and have to read the Chinese subtitles, and eventually tire of that per sitting.

Is it kowai to not watch terebi when many of my loved ones, and I myself used to work in terebi? I don't think so. But it is pretty unprofessional. Maybe there's nothing inherently bad about tv, just the overwhelming supply and my weakness for it. It's like text messaging. How much is enough? Just what is Twitter trying to do? Huh, Madeline?

Examples:
-"Did terebi kill the radio star?"

Horrible

2006-11-28T17:16:00.000-08:00

"Kowai"

怖い
こわい

I learned this by mispronouncing THIS, which has a practically opposite meaning. Bahaha! They sound very similar. Miss Ota sits in front of the terebi and says "kowai, kowai" when watching disastrous news reports. But she could also say, "kawaii, kawaii" if the news decided to report on pandas or food shaped like fairies. Or she could say, "kowai, kawaii, kowai" if she were channel surfing.

Here is the most kowai nightmare I had as a child. It's the WB's Tasmanian devil, chopping wood on a block. Then there's a gigantic Tweety bird swinging on a children's chain swing. Repeat. Kowai!!!

I also once dreamt that the devil was chasing me down my street, and captured me cuz I was running so slowly. But then I gained control by seducing him, and then it was a pretty fun dream.

Examples:
-back in '04..."Bush WON Ohio?!? KOWAI!"

Pretty

2006-11-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

"Kirei"

奇麗
きれい

There's lots of design schools in Taipei, and lots of eggsellent design magazines. The aesthetics are all there, on the quality of the paper, the colors, the layout...and the best part is how cheap some of them are! With all this kirei design floating around, I wonder why I don't find as many places or people in the city that are nice to look at. Am looking forward to going to New York, where I remember there was magical kirei stuff happening every day.

Tips: I learned this word off tv when a woman shrieked this in a very gutteral way. She was talking about food or something, as the shows often do. So it sounds best to me when it stands on its own.

Examples:
-"Oooohh, KIREI!"
-"Beijing Opera is very kirei, and can beat your ass!!"

I'm Home!

2006-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

"Tadaima"

ただ今
ただいま

Old Spanny taught me this one. He has spent years dedicating himself to his studies, traveling all over Asia, trying to become fully lingual in...Chinese. He even lived in South Korea one semester, working very hard not to learn any Korean, so he could reserve brain matter for more Chinese. However, this past year while living in China, fate brought him together with a woman from Japan. Soon he was teaching me Tadaima and reading a fat book on the history of Japan. It's kind of an Oedipal lesson on hubris. In fact, though Spanny desires to return to China in a few years, it seems the gods may be preparing to send him to Africa.

Example: "Luuucy! Tadaima!"

Let's go!

2006-11-24T22:23:00.000-08:00

"Ikou!"

行こう
いこう

This is a casual, slang-ish way to say it. And if I remember correctly, it's better said by girls cuz the people who say it that way are being cute. I'm actually going dancing tonight, which is rare. If I was going with someone, I'd say it right now. Unfortunately, Tai is working late everyday this week. Mmph! I'll be meeting up with girls at Luxy, which is a kichigai name, for a big kichigai place.

Example:
-"Ikooouuu, I'm ready to danse!"

Cock

2006-11-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

"Chin Chin"

ちんちん

Penis!

Tip: Tai says in Italian "chin chin" means cheers.

Singer

2006-11-23T16:43:00.000-08:00

"Kashyu"

歌手
かしゅ

It sounds like Cashew! There are other ways I remember this...

Kashyu~Kashmir

Kashmir is a song, sung by a singer!

Kashmir is an area controlled by Pakistan. The Late Night Show with Begum Nawazish Ali is in Pakistan. This episode features a transvestite and a SINGER. They are neat-o.

Tip: Complement your friends at KTV (or Karoake) by calling them "real kashyus".

Example:
-"Ali Zafar is a fiiiine kashyu."

It's Okay

2006-11-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

"Daijoubu"

大丈夫
だいじょうぶ

Don't worry, It's allright, It's fine, No problem, etc. There are lots of scenarios where Daijobu can work. Like in the much-parodied Matrix:

The Oracle: And don't worry about that vase.
Neo: What vase?
(knocks vase over)
Neo: I...
The Oracle: Daijoubu.

To be clear, the Asian part of Keanu is one quarter Chinese. Though he is part Hawaiian, leaving a possibility of Japanese lineage, I haven't heard of it. China: point!

Tip: Daijobu gives me the same comfort as the sneeze-related "God bless you". They're sort of rhythmically similar. It's effect is even greater when you say it twice in succession.

Example:
-After meals at Miss Ota's, we usually get up to put away the dishes.
Miss Ota: "Daijobu, daijoubu. I'll do the dishes later."
-"You look so tired. Daijoubu?"
-"Oh my god, my eye! Ha ha, daijoubu."

Or as H would say, "that is so not Daijoubu."

Bye

2006-11-21T23:58:00.000-08:00

"Ja-ne"

じゃ〜ねぇ〜

This is a casual g'bye. It sounds like Ja Rule, but it's Ja Nay. Now, I am so clueless about the customs of this language that I wouldn't say this to anyone if I couldn't call them a kichigai either. Just being on the safe side. It's like, I learned Spanish for 12 years, and I still have never used the Usted with anyone. But that's an opposite risk of being too nerdy. It's also a testament to how little I use Spanish. Classes of respect are complicated.

Tips: If you really are not confident to show off ANY of your simple vocabulary with native speakers, you can still use this. Just as your new friend(s) are about to leave, put it out there. If you screw it up, you can wave and pretend you didn't say anything. If you didn't screw it up, their eyebrows should be shooting up at your previously nonexistent linguisticality. Just don't do like I did and let someone beat you to the punch. After making monkey faces and hand signals all night, that bartender got so much admiration for one word!

Non-example:
-"Ja-ne!"

Feelings

2006-11-19T22:37:00.000-08:00

"Kimochi"

気持
きもち

There's good feelings, bad feelings, romantic feelings...and it's all Kimochi! My esteemed associate used it at a meeting here in Taiwan. Miss Ota uses it about her old boyfriends. It's so versatile.

Examples:
-"Well, keeping us in the dark is creating bad kimochi."
-"He was very handsome and liked me a lot, but I had a boyfriend for every day of the week! It's allright, there was no kimochi."
-"Do you have kimochi for the new 007? Yes! Hellooo Daniel Craig-san."
-"What about Eva Green? OH yes, my kimochi for Miss Green is through the roof."

This word reminds me of Mochi. Mmmm...

Menstruation

2006-11-17T06:50:00.000-08:00

"Seiri"

生理
せいり

Oh my gosh I haven't been this tired and uncomfortable since highschool just because it's my period's first day. Food tastes bad and people are mysteriously more irritating and less funny. What a terrible world today is! And I used to be so proud for never having PM to the S...Is this TMI? My manners aren't working right now...

Tip: This could be helpful code, anywhere outside Japan. You can openly talk to your buddies about your Seiri without embarassment.

For example:
-"I can't go swimming or wear white shorts cause my Seiri is here."
-"Yeah, this month's Seiri is giving me major cramps. Do they make Tylenol for extra-strength Seiri?"

The only good that could come of this is if sharing it helps a single person learn. Oh...i'm literally dragging my fingers on the keyboard. My brain is suffocating from lack of blood...Bye ya'll...Zzzz...

Psycho

2006-11-16T10:18:00.000-08:00

"Kichigai"

気狂い
きちがい

This one is very rude! My bf's mom muttered this under her breath when a bunch of looney teens drove past us on the road, screaming. She was right.

Tip: Imagine it actually means "F*ing Psycho" and use only for your closest friends and worst enemies.

Example:
-"Kichigai!"
-"Put a cork in it, you kichigai."

The best way to get to know a language is through its curse words. It endears you to the native speakers and keeps you interested! Apparently there's not a lot of bad words in Japanese; insult can be delivered through artful prose and a skillfull attitude. So this is like a gem!

PS-You can't even use this word in Japanese media, as confirmed by NHK.

Kiss Kiss Roll Roll

2006-11-16T08:22:00.000-08:00

"Chyuu Chyuu Goro Goro"

ちゅうちゅう転転
ちゅうちゅうごろごろ

Literally, it means "Kiss Kiss Roll Roll". A really charming way of describing lovahs rolling around doing what lovahs do...kissing! There are so many euphemisms in English for making out, hanky panky, doing the nasty, heavy petting, ETC. but I don't know of a really accurate one for just rolling around kissing. That's what makes it so lovely.

Tip: Use it to bed the person you like. How can they think you're being slutty with that kind of talk? At the same time, it's honest! We ain't goin ta bed for more chatting, baby...

Example:
-"Let's chyuu chyuu goro goro."
-"Tonight I want to drink beer and chyuu chyuu goro goro."

That's my first post, probably coz I use it the most =D.