m(._.)m

by Matthew

Poligo

Sorry folks. Ishi No Ue has been shunted to the back burner for a good three months now as I have been solidly working on Poligo. My other other excuse is that I am spending any time I have for language learning Portuguese for my upcoming trip to Brazil.

So, I will be doing the JLPT in December with absolutely zero preparation.

Hopefully things will settle down in the New Year and I will get back into some regular Japanese work.

Peace.

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Category IconCategory IconJLPT2 Grammar Explained Part 2

by Matthew

おかげで、おかげだ

よい結果、理由、原因、「ありがたい」という気持ち ・ a good result or cause i.e. “thanks to …”

救援隊が早く来てくれたおかげで、助かった。

Thanks to the quick arrival of the rescue party, I was saved.

試験に合格できたのは、この本のおかげだ。

I passed the exam thanks to this book.

両親のおかげで、日本に来られた。

I was able to come to Japan thanks to my parents.

せいだ、せいで、せいか

悪い結果、原因、理由、「~が悪い、私は悪くない」という気持ち ・ No thanks to …, Because of …, ~’s fault…

あいつのせいで、先生に叱られた。

Thanks to that wanker, I was told off by the teacher.

お酒をたくさん飲まされたせいか、今日は気分が悪い。

I feel awful today, because they made me drink heaps.

彼女に振られたのは、仕事で何回かデートをすっぽかしたでいだ。

I stood my girlfriend up so many times because of work, so she dumped me.

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Category IconJLPT2 Grammar Explained Part 1

by Matthew
からといって

100%ではない、ただしい理由にならない ・ ( Even though … / Just because …), it doesn’t mean …

金持ちだからといって、幸せとはかぎらない

Just because you are rich, it doesn’t mean you are happy.

遊びたいからといって、学校を休むことはできない

Even though you feel like hanging out, it doesn’t mean you can skip school.

日本人だからといって、だれもが敬語を正しく使えるというわけではない

Because I is Japanese, don’t mean to say I is able to use the keigo properly.

からには、からは

「あたりまえ」という気持ち ・ Because / Of course (natural result follows)

約束したからには、守っていただきます。守らなければ死んでもらいます

You promised, so you will keep your promise. If you don’t, then you will pay with your life (brew ha ha).

もし、この仕事がうまくいかなかったら、会社に多大な損失を与えてしまう。こうなったからは、男として、何が何でも(会社を)成功させてみせる。

If this deal doesn’t go well, the company will take a big loss. Because it has come to this, as a man I will show the company can be made to succeed by any means necessary.

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Category IconPesky Adverbs 擬音語

by Matthew

Onomatopoeia. Enough said. These are those ふわふわ words that can make you いらいら. I found this list somewheres floating around the web. Print out the PDF list of giongo and add it to your vocab studies.

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Category IconVocab City!

by Matthew

Found some vocab lists here. Reformatted them and made a PDFs of JLPT1 vocab, JLPT2, 3 and 4 vocab and JLPT2, 3 and 4 kanji.

Go crazy.

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Category Icon敬語

by Matthew

Keigo is hard yards. One fundamental aspect of Keigo is the difference between honorific and humbling language.

The key is knowing about 内 (うち) and 外 (そと): your “in” group and “out” group respectively. You need to figure out what the relative status of a person is to you. Are they 目上 (superior) or equal to you or 目下 (inferior) by this reckoning of うち and そと.

Honorifics

If you are talking about your better, you should use 尊敬語. This is reverential language which shows your respect. So you may not necessarily be talking to the question in person.
Stormtroopers discuss management
So, when the stormtroopers discuss management practice on the Death Star you can bet your arse they are using the 尊敬語 to avoid getting themselves force choked by H.R.

“Mr Vader is a hell of a boss. He sure did kill on that Alderaan deal.”

“Yes, the chairman of the board is very pleased. Rumour is that they will put him in charge of the new subsidiary out Endor.”

Humilty

Lando explains the mix-upIf you are speaking with your better about yourself then you should be using some 謙譲語.

So when Lando realises he has trouble with an angry wookie guest he speaks of himself in 謙譲語 and of Mr Bacca in 尊敬語.

“Mr Bacca, we traitorous swine here at Cloud City are truly honoured by your choosing to stay with us”

That’s all there is to it. For all the ins and outs of Keigo, then try this page or this one.

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承り

by Mojodon

Since this is my first post, I have no idea what I am gonna talk about but I guess I can start with a Kanji that has recently blown my mind away, in terms of making life a lot easier when living in Japan and also in terms of learning another side to Kanji.

Your average-billy-bob kanji would usually consist of 1~2 syllables sometimes the odd 3 as well… but until I came across the mind blowing 5!!

承り (うけたまわり) means to receive an ‘order’ or comply with something… (according to goo) often I see it a lot when I receive printed advertising in the mail box.

It made more sense when a waiter/waitress said ご注文を承りました!I am assuming (with my limited and outdated Japanese knowledge) that this is probably the sonkeigo form, or was it keigo?

It still amazes me though, one kanji, 5 times the effort. Makes me wonder if there are many more like that out there in the Kanji world.

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Category Iconそこを何とか

by Matthew

Otani speaks again. This time is to answer my question: what does “そこをなんとか” mean:

◎無理、大変、ダメ、とわかっているが、OKしてください!私の希望や願いを受け入れて~

◎「人がたりない時に、三日も休みたいなんて無理だ」『わかってますが、どうかお願いします』

さらにいい解説:

相手からの返事が、無理/ダメなどの時、そう言わずもう一度考えて、とお願いする時のフレーズ

◎10万じゃできないよ。20万はかかる…そこを何とか10万で(お願いします)!

どう??

Pretty good, I reckon. Would make it something like “pretty pleeease”.

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Category IconThe Difference Between Wa & Ga / Ni & De (は・が & に・で)

by Matthew

Particles are a prick. They are a very different way to organise a grammar for an English speaker. The classic is “what is the difference between は and が?”, and to a lesser extent “when should I use に or で?”

As far as は and が go there are various explanations on their differences. The classic is は marks the ‘topic’ and が the ’subject’. This was always dissatisfying for me (a subject sure as hell sounds like a topic to me). Sometimes people translate は as “As for…” Not very good either. However, the best explanation I have heard is this:

は emphasises what comes after it.

が emphasises what comes before it.

For example: わたしせいとです / わたしせいとです would be the difference between “I am a student” / “I am the student”. In the second example it is maybe helpful to think of it as the answer to a question like “which of you many people here is the student?”

When it comes to に・で the difference is where something is ( に) versus where something happens ( で). So:

に shows that something exists in that location.

で shows what goes on in that location.

For example: しんじゅくいます / しんじゅくはたらきます In the first case, “I am in Shinjuku” and the second “I work in Shinjuku”. It is a bit of a red-herring to associate に・で with “in” or “at”, since the choice also depends on the sort of action in question.

This rule collapses a little when it comes to verbs like すむ which takes に and not で. I think you have to recognise that the Japanese idea of a “happening” is a little different. But this is one way to make sense of the choice between に and で.

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Category Iconおのれ

by Matthew

As if there weren’t enough words for “I” in Japanese already, I stumbled across 己 [おのれ] today.

賢者は己の失策から学ぶ / A wise man profits from his mistakes

己を知れ / Know thyself

Take it.

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