{"id":3383,"date":"2020-05-12T12:12:42","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T03:12:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vhbloglive.wpengine.com\/?p=3383"},"modified":"2020-05-12T12:12:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T03:12:43","slug":"survival-japanese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/japanese-apartment-life\/survival-japanese\/","title":{"rendered":"Survival Japanese"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Living in a\nforeign country is equal parts exciting and scary. Learning and experiencing a\nnew culture can be rewarding but it helps to know the language. Japanese is one\nof the hardest languages to learn in the world and it is only truly applicable\nin the country of Japan. If you move to Japan, there is plenty of English in\nthe major cities that allow people to live there with very little Japanese\nlanguage skills, but English becomes less common when you visit more rural\nareas. Even though English is taught in the schools, the average English level\nof Japan is among the lowest in Asia. It helps to learn some basic parts of the\nlanguage and we will look at some basic words and phrases that will help you in\nsituations you will encounter in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hiragana\/Katakana<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first thing\nthat anyone who is moving to Japan should do is learn the basic Japanese\nalphabets of Hiragana and Katakana. Hiragana is Japan’s own alphabet that they\ncreated for themselves, unlike Kanji, which was taken from the Chinese\nalphabet. Unlike the English alphabet, Hiragana is made of syllables and not individual\nletters. Each character represents one syllable and there are two modifiers\nthat can change the sound of the character: ten-ten and maru. Katakana is\nanother alphabet that uses the same sounds as Hiragana but changes the\ncharacters to more angular ones. Katakana is used mainly for borrowed words\nfrom other languages. Any time they want to use another language’s word they\nwill spell it using Katakana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will see\nHiragana and Katakana used everywhere in Japan in conjunction with Kanji. You\nwon’t be able to read everything, or even understand it, but it will help you\nunderstand some basic things which will help when navigating certain areas. You\nwill have an easier time trying to find your way if you learn the basic\ncharacters before going to Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Greetings<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Learning proper\ngreeting etiquette is essential for interacting with the people of Japan. First\nimpressions are extremely important, and it will dictate how people will treat\nyou during your stay. There are steps to take during greetings and it all\ndepends on what kind of meeting you find yourself in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In casual\ngreetings, it is often acceptable to introduce yourself, with a light bow and a\nhandshake if the other person is inclined to do so. A basic greeting will be,\n“Watashi wa (your name) desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.’ It simply means my\nname is, and it is nice to meet you. This is a standard greeting that works in\nany casual first meeting. You can add some other information such as where you\nare from and what kind of food or hobbies you enjoy. You say the phrase,\n“Suki na tabemono wa (food) des.” Or ” Suki na shumi wa\n(activity) des.” Simple facts like that are common icebreakers and most\npeople like to learn little things like that about new people they meet. Try to\nkeep from being too familiar with new people as they tend to take time before\nwarming up to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Formal greetings\nare reserved for meeting your new bosses and most of the time they will forgive\nyou for not knowing the formal way of greeting them. Show them as much respect\nas you can and try to keep your hands to yourself. You will most likely receive\na business card or meishi. You should treat this card as an extension of that\nperson and not instantly put it in your pocket. Wait until they aren’t looking\nto put it away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are a few\nthings to keep in mind when greeting for the first time, but you will be\nforgiven for not following the rules completely. Try to be calm and take each\nmeeting in stride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Asking for Things<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Asking for\nsomething is very simple and will help you when trying to order food or trying\nto go to places. If you are trying to ask for an item you can say the item and\nthen onegaishimasu, which means “please”, or kudasai, which is\n“please give me.” For example, if you go to a hamburger place you can\nsay, “Hamburger kudasai.” It is something that everyone in Japan will\nunderstand and will be able to assist you with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to\nask where something is, you start with ” Doko ni (place\/thing) arimasu\nka?” You and can add \u201ctoilet\u201d, \u201cstation\u201d, or any other thing you want to\nfind. It can be used in any situation in which you find yourself in need of\ndirections. If you can’t think of the Japanese word, you can try using English\nand gestures to get your point across.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Helpful Words and Phrases<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here are some helpful words for common things:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toire- toilet                                                \nShinbun- newspaper<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pan- bread                                                  \nSaifu- wallet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eki- station                                                  \nOkane- money<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Densha- train                                              \nTabemono- food<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denwa- phone                                             Nomimono- drinks<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ketai denwa- cell\nphone                            Osake-\nalcohol<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here are some phrases that can help you get around japan<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sumimasen- Excuse\nme.                              \nGomenasai- I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozo- Please\ndo\/go ahead.                         \nwatashi wa (name) des- My name is___.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onaka suita- I\u2019m\nhungry.                             \nTasukete kudasai- Please help me><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(place) ni\nikitai- I want to go to__ .          \nDoko ni (place)- Where is ______?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ima nanji des ka?-\nWhat time is it?        Yoroshiku\nonegaishimas- Nice to meet you.                    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are\nphrasebooks you can purchase at bookstores and use for simple directions and\nother small things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is only a\nsmall portion of information, but these words and phrases can help with some\nsimple interactions in Japan. Try to learn as much as you can before going to\nJapan and your transition will be smoother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Living in a foreign country is equal parts exciting and scary. Learning and experiencing a new culture can be rewarding but it helps to know the language. Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world and it is only truly applicable in the country of Japan. If you move to Japan, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3384,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3383","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese-apartment-life"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3383","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.villagehouse.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}