Captain Shunsui Kyōraku (
sake_shinigami) wrote in
fandomhigh2021-02-15 03:52 am
Entry tags:
The Art of Japanese Culture through Untranslatable Words; Monday, Fourth Period [02/15].
"Konnichiwaaaaa, ducklings ♥!" Shunsui greeted the class with a particular brightness that Monday, as they got settled into their usual spots, to help themselves to the usual warm beverages, where they'd find a small print-out waiting for them, because technology really could be wonderful, especially there were people around that could help Shunsui actually use it.
"Now I'm sure you're already quite aware," he said, "but the school trip is next week and a little bird has chirped in my ear that this class, in particular, might have a bit of an advantage for it, neh ♥? Though I doubt mu and haragei and tashinamu are likely to come up in regular conversation, this is an exploration of Japanese language, so it seemed an excellent opportunity to go over a plethora of phrases that might be useful to you during your visit."
"We'll start, of course, with greetings. There's is, of course konnichiwa, which you should be familiar with, with is your most basic and frequently used version of hello. There is also ohayo gozaimasu, which is good morning and konbonwa, which is good evening. Everyone seems to know sayonara as good-bye, but, culturally, sayonara is used as a final good-bye, when one knows they will not be seeing the other person again, so a more common and accurate form of good-bye would actually be ja matane, which is more 'see you later'.
"Kudasai is please and arigato is thank you. Arigato gozaimas if you'd like to be particularly polite, which in Japan is never a bad thing, and domo arigato would be considered even more polite still! These will be very handy, as politeness will be very appreciated, especially from foreigners, who are often considered very rude ♥."
His grin went along with the fact that it was definitely not always just foreigners considered rude, in his experience.
"O genki des ka is something that you may be asked often if you've visiting a lot of shops or restaurants and pubs, and it's generally a how are you, and a common, polite response would be hai, genki des, which is sort of your I'm fine, thanks.
"Gomen nasai is your typical I'm sorry, but if you'd like to say excuse me to garner someone's attention or let's say you 'accidentenally'," why were there quotes around that, Shunsui?, "bump into someone, suminasen is better.
"Should you like to introduce yourself, watashi wa....des is what you would use. For example, watashi wa Astrid des or watashi wa Janet des or watashi was Shunsui des ♥.
"Yes is hai and no is iie, and this is where the tonality of Japanese comes into paly and you'd wish to drag the ii out, as ie is house. Ie, iie, you can hear it is a delicate balance ♥! But in general, the Japanese do not like use the word no unless they have to, so it would be wise to find other ways to say no than merely outwardly saying it.
"O kudosai.... can be used to preface what you'd like to order at a restaurant, where I'm sure something like Kore wa nan des ka, What is this?, will be helpful in filling in that blank ♥ and Ikura des ka?, how much is this?, is surely in there somewhere as well.
"...wa ko do des ka is useful for asking where something is, putting the word for what you're looking for at the beginning of the question. For example, toire wa ko do des ka for where is the toilet, or eki wa ko do des ka, where is the train station? Kireina onna wa ko do des ka? ♥ Sake wa ko do des ka? ♥?"
Those last two might just be his most used wa ko do des ka inquiries, anyway.
"Eigo is English, so the most helpful of all these phrases might be Eigo wa hanasemes ka? Do you speak English? English is very widely taught in modern Japan, but the Japanese people...." He paused a bit with a chuckle, as if making an amendment, "most Japanese people," present company obviously excluded, "are incredibly modest, so even if they do know Japanese, they might tell you no if they are not particularly fluent, but most will know enough to be able to work through some communication barriers. In this realm, Yakushite kudasai? is a way of asking for help in translating something you may not understand, especially since written Japanese uses an entirely different style of writing, but I assue you both, as I will be of course chaperoning on this trip, I will be more than happy to step in to translate should you need me ♥. Seems a terrible waste to have a Japanese teacher on hand in Japan and not get good use out of him, neh ♥?
"Finally, we'll end with two phrases you shouldn't be the least bit afraid to use if you find that this class has, unsurprisingly, left you unprepared for every situation you encounter: wakarimasen, I don't understand, and taskete!, help, particularly useful in an emergency or if you need assistance.
"These are, of course, just a drop in the water in a sea of an ocean of basic Japanese communication, but, they are a very good start and will hopefully be useful to you on your trip, ducklings ♥. We'll spend the rest of the class practicing using the phrases, and you have the sheets to take with you, and of course, if there's anything else you'd like to know that you would find helpful, I'm all ears ♥. I'm looking forward to seeing you two positively thrive in this environment, and very interesting to see what you may pick up on to tell me about when we return to class again in two weeks ♥."
"Now I'm sure you're already quite aware," he said, "but the school trip is next week and a little bird has chirped in my ear that this class, in particular, might have a bit of an advantage for it, neh ♥? Though I doubt mu and haragei and tashinamu are likely to come up in regular conversation, this is an exploration of Japanese language, so it seemed an excellent opportunity to go over a plethora of phrases that might be useful to you during your visit."
"We'll start, of course, with greetings. There's is, of course konnichiwa, which you should be familiar with, with is your most basic and frequently used version of hello. There is also ohayo gozaimasu, which is good morning and konbonwa, which is good evening. Everyone seems to know sayonara as good-bye, but, culturally, sayonara is used as a final good-bye, when one knows they will not be seeing the other person again, so a more common and accurate form of good-bye would actually be ja matane, which is more 'see you later'.
"Kudasai is please and arigato is thank you. Arigato gozaimas if you'd like to be particularly polite, which in Japan is never a bad thing, and domo arigato would be considered even more polite still! These will be very handy, as politeness will be very appreciated, especially from foreigners, who are often considered very rude ♥."
His grin went along with the fact that it was definitely not always just foreigners considered rude, in his experience.
"O genki des ka is something that you may be asked often if you've visiting a lot of shops or restaurants and pubs, and it's generally a how are you, and a common, polite response would be hai, genki des, which is sort of your I'm fine, thanks.
"Gomen nasai is your typical I'm sorry, but if you'd like to say excuse me to garner someone's attention or let's say you 'accidentenally'," why were there quotes around that, Shunsui?, "bump into someone, suminasen is better.
"Should you like to introduce yourself, watashi wa....des is what you would use. For example, watashi wa Astrid des or watashi wa Janet des or watashi was Shunsui des ♥.
"Yes is hai and no is iie, and this is where the tonality of Japanese comes into paly and you'd wish to drag the ii out, as ie is house. Ie, iie, you can hear it is a delicate balance ♥! But in general, the Japanese do not like use the word no unless they have to, so it would be wise to find other ways to say no than merely outwardly saying it.
"O kudosai.... can be used to preface what you'd like to order at a restaurant, where I'm sure something like Kore wa nan des ka, What is this?, will be helpful in filling in that blank ♥ and Ikura des ka?, how much is this?, is surely in there somewhere as well.
"...wa ko do des ka is useful for asking where something is, putting the word for what you're looking for at the beginning of the question. For example, toire wa ko do des ka for where is the toilet, or eki wa ko do des ka, where is the train station? Kireina onna wa ko do des ka? ♥ Sake wa ko do des ka? ♥?"
Those last two might just be his most used wa ko do des ka inquiries, anyway.
"Eigo is English, so the most helpful of all these phrases might be Eigo wa hanasemes ka? Do you speak English? English is very widely taught in modern Japan, but the Japanese people...." He paused a bit with a chuckle, as if making an amendment, "most Japanese people," present company obviously excluded, "are incredibly modest, so even if they do know Japanese, they might tell you no if they are not particularly fluent, but most will know enough to be able to work through some communication barriers. In this realm, Yakushite kudasai? is a way of asking for help in translating something you may not understand, especially since written Japanese uses an entirely different style of writing, but I assue you both, as I will be of course chaperoning on this trip, I will be more than happy to step in to translate should you need me ♥. Seems a terrible waste to have a Japanese teacher on hand in Japan and not get good use out of him, neh ♥?
"Finally, we'll end with two phrases you shouldn't be the least bit afraid to use if you find that this class has, unsurprisingly, left you unprepared for every situation you encounter: wakarimasen, I don't understand, and taskete!, help, particularly useful in an emergency or if you need assistance.
"These are, of course, just a drop in the water in a sea of an ocean of basic Japanese communication, but, they are a very good start and will hopefully be useful to you on your trip, ducklings ♥. We'll spend the rest of the class practicing using the phrases, and you have the sheets to take with you, and of course, if there's anything else you'd like to know that you would find helpful, I'm all ears ♥. I'm looking forward to seeing you two positively thrive in this environment, and very interesting to see what you may pick up on to tell me about when we return to class again in two weeks ♥."
