Japanese lesson (9): 以上

So, perhaps some of you have noticed as you finish each of my posts you see this kanji bit: 以上

The initial idea is to set some sort of line breaker of some sort to separate each post from anything else underneath it. My aim was to make a post perfectly clear that you've reached the end of the post.
But I didn't just pick any kanji. I wanted the one that reads "ijyou."

"What does that mean" you ask? While watching various anime, we usually have a character that gives a lecture or a meeting. Usually in a professional setting like a business meeting or a military proposal. After the lecture is over, they say "ijyou" or "ijyoudesu"

I figure I'll do the same. Just thought I'd let you know. You can use this term when conducting a workshop, speech, lecture, and the like as well.
This term has also been used after ordering something. Sort of like a reply you can use when they ask around the lines of "Would that be all?" Then you can reply "Ijyoudesu" (That's all). If you're in Japan of course.

 以上

Japanese Lesson (8)

let us talk about my banner that says: just appreciation that is 日本

If you haven't figure it out yet, 日本 means Japan.
and actually if you separate those characters, it will mean something different.
日 = counter for days; day; Japan; sun
本 = generally means book (and other things that aren't important--just look in a dictionary for specifics)

Yes, if you split the kanji, you get something different. Like letters that make a word, putting kanji in a certain pattern, you get something different/new.

But just because you know a meaning of a kanji combination, doesn't mean it'll read out the same. For example and in this case, "日本" is pronounced as 'nihon' (NEE-hohn) and/or 'nippon' (Nee-POHN).
If you're talking to a Japanese local, your best bet is to refer Japan as 'nippon' as that is the more modern name for it.

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Japanese Lesson (7): Pronouns

Very different from English, the Japanese language has various, variations (haha) on how to describe "I" and "you"
It mostly just depends on how you see yourself as in terms of femininity and masculinity.
Here's the mostly used-terms for "I":

• 私 watashi (unisex, standard); sounds like WA-ta-SHEE
• 私 atashi (female use); sounds like AH-ta-SHEE 
• 私 watakushi (selfish); sounds like WA-ta-koo-SHEE
• 僕 boku (male); sounds like BOU-koo
• 俺 ore ("manly" male); sounds like Oh-leh

In Japanese culture, it's really not polite to use "I" every so often. But when prompted, these are the terms you would use. Japanese people are usually seen as indirect and unselfish being that's their culture and they value of being discreet. Which is why they probably view the U.S. as stereotypically obnoxious whenever we use our pronouns.

Here's the mostly-used terms for "you" (which are all not usually polite to use, unless there's no choice in the matter)

• あなた anata (general); sounds like Ah-nah-tah
  note: wives usually refer to their husbands as that term though I'm unsure if the kanji is different, but the sound is the same.
• あんた anta; sounds like Ahn-tah (more informal and sometimes rude)
• 君　kimi; sounds like KEE-me (used for friends and probably little kids)

 以上

Anime/Manga & Japanese Lessons (3&6): Kansai and ラブ★コン

何でよね！

Like any country, there are various dialects that is somewhat different from its standard language. One dialect in Japan I'll be talking about is Kansai dialect. It's a pretty funny dialect that is often used in Japanese comedic groups. It's most prevalent in the city of Osaka in the Kansai region.

In the anime world, characters from Osaka are often seen as side characters. You can say they're like the 'hick' part of Japan. Often teased about by the way they talk and their different customs. It's nothing to be offended about since we do it ourselves when you think about it.

A great anime to watch with prevalent Kansai dialect would be Lovely Complex (usually seen written as ラブ★コン　in Japanese media). When you watch plenty of anime and then watch Lovely Complex, you start to hear differences. Honestly, rarely you would find the main character with a Kansai accent/dialect in various anime. This is a great recommendation to notice standard Japanese and not-so standard haha.

Don't forget kids, that the U.S. has various dialects as well. We can understand each other (most of the time), we just sound different and sometimes funny.

以上

Japanese Lesson (5) Addressing Strangers

Of course, there are times when you meet someone without introducing each other. Usually, we would just call them "miss", "madame", "mister", and the like. Japanese has titles for strangers as well.
When addressing... (far left as formal to far right as informal tense)

• a woman much older than you = obasama, obasan, obachan
• a man much older than you = ojisama, ojisan, ojichan
  
  Careful when you use them; otherwise, you may offend someone. Unless that person has some gray/white hairs, it may be better to use titles addressed to an older sister/brother which again are...
  
• older sister/stranger = (O)neesan and/or (O)neechan
• older brother/stranger = (O)niisan and/or (O)niichan
  using the '-sama' prefix is rather rare. You wouldn't call a stranger in such a highly received way would you?  Older cousins are titled in this way as well.
  A person getting offended (especially females) might be because those titles ("oba" and "oji") sound closely to addressing a granparenst which are...
  
• female grandparent = (O)baasama, (O)baasan, (O)baachan
• male grandparent = (O)jiisama, (O)jiisan, (O)jiichan
  notice it's only one letter/syllable away from the stranger title to a grandparent title (someone who's of senior citizen age) 

and as always, younger people don't have a special title to them. They're just not really addressed; if anything, say something like "that girl", "that boy", etc.

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Japanese Lesson (4) Family

Now that you know about prefixes, it'll be easier to talk about family.

Far left as the more formal to far right as informal form... When you're addressing...

• Mother, Mom, Mommy = (O)kaasama, (O)kaasan, (O)kaachan; Hahaue (this term was used in samurai families prior to the Meiji period)
  Notice that we use prefixes when addressing 'mom.' It's the same idea throughtout. The '(O)' part is optional, but it is often used. Reason probably being is that putting an 'O' in everything is probably tiresome, though probably is the most proper way of speaking.
• Father, Dad, Daddy = (O)tousama, (O)tousan, (O)touchan; Chichiue (used in samurai families as well)
  
• Older/elder Sister = (O)neesama, (O)neesan, (O)neechan; Aneki is another but rarely used
  
  you can insert the person's name before mentioning the"nee"+prefix part which is the same for elder brother and sometimes but rarely to mother/father
• Older/elder Brother = (O)niisama, (O)niisan, (O)niichan; Aniki is another but is rarely used as well

Similar to the "sempai" idea (as seen here), younger brothers and sisters don't have a title. To the older brother and sister, they would just call their younger siblings by their names. And being they are in a close relationship, they would use the -chan prefix or without a prefix at all.

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Japanese Lesson (3) Prefixes

For those that are familiar, when you're watching an anime series, you almost always cannot miss prefixes such as "san," "chan," "kun," etc. at the end of someone's name
For this reason, these will be explained.
To start, calling a person's name plainly is considered very rude unless you are close to this person. Of course this is somewhat true when you are in the U.S., but this goes a bit more deeper. This can even go beyond courtesy, but part of the culture.
Next, prefixes in the Japanese culture is always used at the end of the noun. This includes people, animals, objects, and the like. That aside, let us now define the prefixes.

• -san is the unisex prefix. Using "-san" (sounds like 'SAHn') is pretty standard and is often used. It's pretty much equivalent to calling someone Mr. or Miss or Mrs. I'd like to call it the safe prefix that can be used on anyone.
• -chan is the more feminine prefix. "-chan" (sounds like 'CHAHn") is used on children mostly. It's also ok to use it on girls and people who you are close to. Not a good idea to use on males being that it sounds more condescending though I have heard it used between guy-guy friends.
• "-kun" is more used on males though I have heard it used on females just more rare.
• "-sama" is the royalty type of prefix. This prefix is something that is used on royalty or like a servant to a master/mistress. I have heard it by females using it on their crushes as well.
• plainly saying their name is reserved for usually lovers or someone you are just real close to.

Conclusions: using prefixes indicates what sort of relationship you're in with someone so use them well.

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Japanese lesson (2): Japanese and American School Comparisons

It may be obvious that, naturally, schools in Japan and schools in the U.S. are different; but here are some qualities that you may have not noticed; whereas some stuff that you ought to know that remains the norm in Japanese schools.

• Before students attend high school, they are to apply and take tests to which high school they desire. So, in a sense, it's similar to students applying for college in the U.S. If they are really determined (or if parents force them to), students would go to cram schools which occur after normal school hours in a separate sort of facility.

• Once they enter high school, they only stay there for 3 years. It's funny since junior high for them goes from 6th-9th grade. So, in comparison to the U.S... Their "freshman year" is still in junior high.

• In grade school, the kids are to keep a dairy as a homework report for the summer. That's not-so bad if you compare to the junior high school kids and up that just have summer homework. Yep, it doesn't matter if you're going to school or not, Japanese kids WILL get homework haha.

• In high school, students are often given questionnaires as to what sort of career they want to shoot for. For some people, that may enforce an individual to really consider the future...

• Every student rotates for cleaning duty after school in which they clean their classroom and the like. (i doubt this was done in college). This not only teaches kids how to clean, but it may (or may not) enforce discipline in which seems to be only forced in bootcamps (at least in the US).

• Not sure if it's in grade school, but I know both in Junior High and High School they have student representatives both male and female which are pretty much the person that is considered a role model to the class as well as the "student pet" to the teacher. The student rep also runs student meetings within the classroom to discuss regulations, concerns, and who does what in the sports festival and the like.

• Contrary to U.S. schools of junior and senior high, Japanese students pretty much stay in one classroom all throughout the day. The teachers are the ones that transition to different classroom locations after each class time. I figure that builds up strong friendships/teamwork/pride within the classroom. Though by next year students change classrooms and may not see the same people again, but still stay within that classroom until next year again.

• Students don't really have lockers but cubbies where they keep their shoes. They would (usaually) have 2 pairs of shoes: one pair they wear for everyday use and the other pair that is worn within the school building; thus, they rotate shoes before the school hours after hours.

• girls and boys are taught separately during P.E. and yes, girls wore those bikini-looking bottoms for PE. They even had swimsuit uniforms o.O They don't wear them anymore, but they are still seen in recent anime for laughs & giggles.

• "senpai" and "sensei" is often heard during school hours. Senpai (sounds like 'sehn-PIE') is a title-prefix given to someone who is upperclassman to you. Whether this person is 1 year ahead of you or 3, you would still address that person as "name-senpai" or just simply "senpai." That sort of formality is used the same way for "Sensei" (sounds like 'sehn-SAY") only it's used for teachers/instructors. Underclassmen (known as "kouhai") don't really have a title used among the upperclassman, they're just called by their names.

• school trips seem to often occur after the school year (guessing at the end of elementary, junior high, but definitely high school). It's like a field trip, but they get to stay over night or two. So jealous over that.

• there aren't any school buses, students generally just walk and/or bike to school (considering the overpopulation and it's eco friendly ;p). The rich ones are usually seen transported by car.

• yes, students wear uniforms (even as far as kindergarten) and no, the girl's skirts actually aren't that short as they make it to be in some anime. (When you watch enough anime, you notice the type of genre you're watching by the girl's skirts sometimes.) As far as I can tell, high school students WILL have school uniforms. Junior high is seen often, grade/elementary is debatable.

• Also good to keep in mind that--Japanese students treat applying to high school as a U.S. student trying to apply for college. U.S. high schools are usually decided by taxes and location (unless your parents are really anal [or other circumstances...] and prefer you to be enrolled in a catholic school or home-schooled). 

以上

Japanese lesson (1): "Arigatou" as the right way to express a "Thank you"

http://www.siuyee.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/arigatou2.jpg

For the total newbies, there is a Japanese word that is so often used to mean "thank you." You pronounce it something like "AH-ree-GAH-toe"  (you can hear its pronunciation often in anime of course :p)
It is often typed as "arigatou" amongst the many anime fanatics I've come across.

You will often see me type it as "ありがとう" as this is the, more or less, "spelling" way that any Japanese person would usually write/type down. It is also a great way to get away tricking people (that is the average-Joe-in-the-U.S.-with-next-to-no-Japanese-background) into thinking you know Japanese  :p

A rule of thumb: the longer you say "thank you" the more polite you are.
This can apply to any Japanese sentence. On the top of my head, there are 5 ways to say "thank you" (1 being informal to 5 being the most polite)

1. domo (not something you would use on a professor or a superior in the workplace; more-so to someone you're close to)
2. arigatou (more general)
3. doumo-arigatou (general)
4. arigatou-gozaimasu (more to a stranger)
5. doumo-arigatou-gozaimasu (to someone of high status than yourself or just want to be extra polite)

You can also use "sumimasen" as a sort of thank-you but it's more geared to an apology or "excuse me" sort of translation.

以上