Thread: Japanese Learning + Requests

1. I don't know those words, but i do knows of words that are really similar to them from the Kansai region. it would make sense that someone teaching someone else japanese would only teach standard japanese (the one used most in Tokyo). My sister's the huge Kansai freak, but she's not home right now, so... *shrug* they elude me.

2. Pronounced similarly as skee, the 'u' is nearly silent, you can voice it if you want to be extra emphasis on it, but it should be silent. the 'i' part should be read as knee is sounded in English, so basically you get something like skee.

3. Those are all essentially the same word if you put them in English like that, but really they're like 'excuse me' 'i'm sorry' 'pardon me' and so on and so forth. They each have their own usage placements, such as Gomen Nasai is used for a literal, I'm sorry. Then the next will be something like I'm sorry/Excuse, you can go next in line. Situations like that make these words, though similar, quite different.

4. Gah... >_> Reminds me of Beckii Cruel. I don't know why they're clapping or she's laughing. sorry couldn't be much more help on that.

I suggest that you probably seek out a japanese or asian culture center and learn from an actual person. Always the best way. The way I learned is pretty good but that is a different story.

1] Zyta got it. Those words are commonly used in Kansai region (like in Kyoto and Osaka). The root verb for wakaran is wakaru (to understand/know), and it's meaning is "I don't understand or I don't know". It's like saying wakarimasen. In Osaka, you might run into people who respond to your questions with "You Wakaran" (Don't know). As for Suman (I think that's what you meant, not sumun), it's roughly equivalent to sumimasen, but it's different in that it's very informal way of saying sumimasen. Note of advice:: You don't want to go around using these words because they can sound rude. They are okay to use among really close friends.

2] Zyta nailed it, again. Note: In Kansai region "SU" is completely stressed in Suki. Example: Kono hon SUki ya naa (You like this book, yah?)

3] I will just say that it's best that you would resort to saying moushiwake arimasen when you ticked off your boss or superior for having done something crazy. Otherwise, sumimasen or gomennasai will do. Sumimasen is common and is overused. You might hear it being said other ways: sunmasen, sumahen, and suimasen.

4] Hahaha, that brought back memories. My older sister is (was?) part of their staff (Gyao). To answer your question - In the first video they are clapping because they were able to get in contact with magibon. They are happy that magibon responded favorably and is friendly towards them.

In the second clip, Yuu-sama is blushing. Who wouldn't if they were caught off guard and get called (Usen no) ichiban kawaii bijo. lol, kore yabai.

Owari. Hope that helped some. =)

Originally Posted by beast

I suggest that you probably seek out a japanese or asian culture center and learn from an actual person. Always the best way. The way I learned is pretty good but that is a different story.

Thats what im kinda doing. my mom knows how to speak a lot of different langaujes. she's teaching me Japanese and so far im okay. i could mainly read and write it though.

well everyone seems to be correct into what they are saying and to me its really fair to say that you need to get some cds and dvds that can help you improve more on your Japanese i had to read this old book for me to know the ancestors of the japanese that way i can speak iot and write it as well, but so far i got cut off and gotten busy with college classes and forgot to work on my japanese so i have to hit the books once again in order to be a good person with a decent heart that knows how to speak and write so yeah thats all i had to speak of.

Kedar knows what's going on

Yay!! "Wakaran/wakarahen" (wakaranai) and "shiran" (shiranai) are part of my everyday vocab <3 (because I'm dumb and don't understand what people are saying alot).

Concerning "gomen nasai" and "sumimasen,"
Sumimasen is a bit more formal than gomen nasai, hence if you are apologizing to someone you barely know, you would use sumimasen because gomen nasai would be inappropriate. They both are used for apology, but to say "gomen nasai" to someone you don't know or someone of higher status than you is really strange. You could say "gomen nasai" or just "gomen" to friends and family; similarily if I say "sumimasen" to friends they may laugh because they think I am joking by being formal. Sumimasen though can also be a light apology (again to someone you don't know) or a way to say "excuse me"; like in these situations: "oh sorry I bumped into you" or "excuse me, can I get through?" or if your bag in on a chair and someone wants to sit down on it, "Oh, sorry my bag was in the way." In all three situations you could just say "Sumimasen!" and nothing else.
I'm in Kansai and I know it's more Tokyo-ben, but I say sssuimasen.

And moushiwake arimasen can also be used when you are asking a huge favor or formal request from your teacher, like for him/her to reschedule a test for you or to write an acceptance letter, in the context that you are terribly sorry for wasting your teacher's valuable time when you know he/she is busy.

I'm currently trying to teach myself. Haven't gotten much headway so far. I've got hiragana down but haven't learned katakana yet. I haven't even touched my genki books