A brief announcement: we are taking a holiday break and will return in January 2009. In the meantime, keep practicing Japanese.
Monthly Archive for December, 2008
Good manners and proper etiquette is a cultural value very important to Japanese society. Key components of this are greetings said throughout the day and in various situations, such as “good morning” or “good evening”. Knowing these greetings and when to say them will be quite useful when speaking with Japanese or visiting Japan. Not only will Japanese appreciate your knowledge of these greetings and will think that you have good manners, they might even be impressed or shocked that you know them. Either way, one thing is for certain, knowing some of these phrases and using them at the appropriate moment will impress the average Japanese person. The word for greetings in Japanese is “aisatsu”.
Episode Topics:
Phrases for: meeting people, greeting people at different times of day, greeting people whom you have not seen in a long time, parting or ending a conversation, leaving from and returning to your home, someone else’s home or room, leaving work, welcome, thanks, apology, offering guests refreshments, meal times.
Kaa-chan Corner:
Topic: Japanese government (a brief overview of the system).
Vocabulary List:
(Taro) Aso – current prime minister of Japan. (since September 2008)
麻生太郎 [あそうたろう]
baton tacchi – “baton touch”, pass the baton. バトンタッチ
bikkuri shita – was surprised. びっくり
daitouryou – president. 大統領 [だいとうりょう]
igai – besides (such and such), in addition to (such and such). 以外 [いがい]
iikagen na shigoto shinai – won’t be irresponsible at the job. いい加減な仕事しない [いいかげんなしごとしない]
jimintou – Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). 自民党 [じみんとう]
kazu – numbers. 数 [かず]
kokujin – black person. 黒人 [こくじん]
meiji jidai: Meiji period (1868-1912). 明治時代 [めいじじだい]
mezurashii – rare. 珍しい [めずらしい]
minshutou – Democratic Party of Japan. 民主党 [みんしゅとう]
motenai – can’t have/hold. 持てない [もてない]
mukashi – a long time ago. 昔 [むかし]
nigiru – grasp. 握る [にぎる]
ninzuu – number of people. 人数 [にんずう]
ooi – more of (something). 多い [おおい]
saikin – recently. 最近 [さいきん]
seifu – government. 政府 [せいふ]
seiken – political power, right to run government. 政権 [せいけん]
seitou – political party. 政党 [せいとう]
senkyo – election. 選挙 [せんきょ]
shushou – prime minister. 首相 [しゅしょう]
yameru – quit, resign. 辞める [やめる]
Further Reading:
Greetings at about.com
Greetings at learn-japanese.info
Greetings at ABC Brisbane
Gomenkudasai example
Japanese Bowing
Bowing etiquette in Japan
How to politely bow in Japan
Wikipedia entry on the Liberal Democratic Party
Wikipedia entry on the Democratic Party of Japan
Transcript:
Episode transcript PDF (Japanese portion includes furigana) (interview not transcribed)
Download Podcast:
Episode 13 – Greetings
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In the episodes prior, I have mentioned the words for family members such as aunt and uncle and comparing them to the words for grandmother and grandfather, which only differ in vowel length. I’ve also mentioned the names for other relatives in example sentences to build up your vocabulary but now it’s time to complete the picture by presenting the words for various family members and related words that you are likely to need and use.
Episode Topics:
Vocabulary list of family members and related words.
Kaa-chan Corner:
Topic: Japanese families (what does a typical family consist of).
Vocabulary List:
daitai – approximately. 大体 [だいたい]
futsuu – normally, usually. 普通 [ふつう]
fuufu tani – married couple. 夫婦単位 [ふうふたんい]
heisei no hajimari – the beginning of the Heisei era. 平成の始まり [へいせいのはじまり] (1989)
kaku kazoku – nuclear family. 核家族 [かくかぞく]
kono you ni – in this way. この様に [このように]
kuzureru – to crumble, collapse. 崩れる [くずれる]
mukashi – in the past. 昔 [むかし]
saikin – recently. 最近 [さいきん]
showa no owari – the end of the Showa era. 昭和の終わり [しょうわのおわり] (1989)
sukunai – not many, few. 少ない [すくない]
tabun – perhaps, maybe, probably, possibly. 多分 [たぶん]
yousu ni – the situation, the state of affairs. 様子に [ようすに]
Further Reading:
Wikipedia Japan entry on 続柄 (family relationship chart)
Transcript:
Episode transcript PDF (Japanese portion includes furigana) (interview not transcribed)
Download Podcast:
Episode 12 – Family Members
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