Forums

Topic: Japanese (language) discussion thread

Posts 21 to 40 of 188

Tsuchinoko

@theblackdragon Haha, good to know. I hate Google Translate btw. Its pretty horrible for Japanese as well, it tends to warp word order a lot, and it has no sense of dialects or slang.

@LordOtakWiiU What are you referring to?

3DS FC - 1547-6126-3842 Largate de mi casa!!
Mother 3 fan. It's an amazing game. 糸井さん、こんな素敵なゲームを作ってくれてありがとう!

NImH

@Tsuchinoko
My fav samurai film series, The Blind Swordsman, was recently accurately translated with multiple subtitles on-screen at once... Our English translations of VG's and films are generally, really bare-bones and we miss out on the nuances and the Japanese figures of speech. I don't know that I'll ever really learn Japanese, but I'm really intrigued by the poetic phrasing.
BTW, I have a 3DS friend request pending for you!

NintendoNerd since 1986. Dream Address: 4900-2590-0032 Town: DeNile My Sadloggery

Switch Friend Code: SW-2275-8578-8399 | 3DS Friend Code: 3239-3091-0052 | Nintendo Network ID: NImH37 | Twitter:

Hokori

@tsuchinoko I was talking about a time in the Pokemon anime when Satoshi was eating a rice ball, but he always called it a doughnut, and it wasn't until 2004ish when they actually called it a rice ball in America.

Digitaloggery
3DS FC: Otaku1
WiiU: 013017970991
Nintendo of Japan
niconico community is full of kawaii!
Must finish my backlagg or at least get close this year
W...

Tsuchinoko

@NlmH37 Are you talking about Zatoichi? I've only seen the Takeshi Kitano one. I've seen plenty of Japanese films translated in English (and French), and I am aware that most companies leave out a huge amount of information in the subtitles. There's a lot of cultural information behind words and phrasing. I am quite happy with the fact that disney has put most of the Ghibli films in North America, but I after a few years of not seeing it, recently re-watched Sen and Chihiro Spirited Away (千と千尋の神隠し) when it was on tv, and I guess I had never realized how much was left out of the Disney version.

I'm really bad with the friend requests BTW, since I have to be online when I input the friend code in, and I don't have wireless in my room. I have to go to a cafe to use it, and I don't go that often.

@LordOtakWiiU I see. I've never seen that show, so I didn't know. Onigiri and doughnuts don't look similar at all...

Edited on by Tsuchinoko

3DS FC - 1547-6126-3842 Largate de mi casa!!
Mother 3 fan. It's an amazing game. 糸井さん、こんな素敵なゲームを作ってくれてありがとう!

RR529

I've tried learning Japanese off and on over the past few years (it seems like I never have as much time to put into it as I want).

Still, I'm proficient enough with Katakana to make my way around Japanese websites, and translate the occasional word or title.

I've also learned a few phrases, like "ramen wo kudosai?", which would be along the lines of "may I have ramen?" or "do you have ramen?", I believe. I'm on my 3DS, so I'm currently unable to type in Japanese characters.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

theblackdragon

@RR529: pretty much anything followed by 'o kudasai' is 'please give me _____'. note that this is for actually asking for something to be given to you; asking for a person over the phone wouldn't be an '___ o kudasai' moment :3

BEST THREAD EVER
future of NL >:3
[16:43] James: I should learn these site rules more clearly
[16:44] LztheBlehBird: James doesn't know the rules? For shame!!!

3DS Friend Code: 3136-6802-7042 | Nintendo Network ID: gentlemen_cat | Twitter:

Hokori

Actually I have a question. what's the difference between San, Chan, and Kun? I've had trouble with this, does one mean younger, older, or Male Vs Female? My assumption based on what I watch and read is chan is like younger and San is older

Digitaloggery
3DS FC: Otaku1
WiiU: 013017970991
Nintendo of Japan
niconico community is full of kawaii!
Must finish my backlagg or at least get close this year
W...

Hokori

Well you can't always trust Wikipedia, and people call me chan sometimes so I was wondering

Digitaloggery
3DS FC: Otaku1
WiiU: 013017970991
Nintendo of Japan
niconico community is full of kawaii!
Must finish my backlagg or at least get close this year
W...

RR529

@LordOtakWiiU, "San" is just used out of respect, "Chan" is used towards females (whom you know personally), "Kun" is used towards males (whom you know personally), "Sama" is used towards someone of great respect.

You may want Tsuchinoko or TBD to confirm this for sure, but I'm almost positive on the matter.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

Freeon-Leon

日本語の学生です... And it's awesome

And what RR529 said it's true, but I'm not sure if chan is just for girls, I think it's just a way to say a name like in a childish way... I'd say it turns the name in a diminutive way but I'm not sure if in english it's called like that.

Edited on by Freeon-Leon

Check out my super awesome Super Mario Maker levels.

3DS Friend Code: 4596-9585-5314 | Nintendo Network ID: JahirBGoode

Magikarp3

I like this topic. I'm very interested in linguistics (I know english and mandarin chinese, and have dabbled in a bit of latin at school). I quite admire how the japanese language is so central to their culture, and how they address each other. In Mandarin there's no real way to say "please", so I always get this nagging feeling that I'm being impolite whenever I'm speaking in Mandarin. Plus it's just a very angry sounding language overall.

Have you noticed that there are actually a lot of parallels between some of the asian languages? I was thinking about that at one point. For example, "cute" in mandarin is 可爱, which is pronounced quite similarly to kawaii. Fire and water are also really similar pronunciations. But I look a little too deeply into things every now and then :/

http://backloggery.com/oiiopo

always thought I'd change to Gyarados after I turned 20 but hey, this is more fitting I guess. (also somebody registered under the original Magikarp name and I can't get back to it anymore orz)

3DS Friend Code: 3952-7233-0245

Bankai

oiiopo wrote:

I like this topic. I'm very interested in linguistics (I know english and mandarin chinese, and have dabbled in a bit of latin at school). I quite admire how the japanese language is so central to their culture, and how they address each other. In Mandarin there's no real way to say "please", so I always get this nagging feeling that I'm being impolite whenever I'm speaking in Mandarin. Plus it's just a very angry sounding language overall.

Have you noticed that there are actually a lot of parallels between some of the asian languages? I was thinking about that at one point. For example, "cute" in mandarin is 可爱, which is pronounced quite similarly to kawaii. Fire and water are also really similar pronunciations. But I look a little too deeply into things every now and then :/

That's because most Asian languages (Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and the SE Asia languages) are derived from the same root language - or more specifically the Chinese languages become highly influential throughout mainlaind Asia. Japanese has imported quite a lot from Chinese over the years, too, though it is actually derived from a different root language as Mandarin.

But they're similar enough that my Japanese wife is able to read signs and whatever in China without knowing how to talk in Mandarin.

This kind of thing happens throughout the world - the Middle Eastern languages all share similarities, and Western European languages are are derived from Latin, for instance.

Freeon-Leon

That's because of the influence of China in Japan (you know, Japan didn't have a written language at some point) and because japaneses always had that (awesome) characteristic that makes them accept other cultures instead of refusing them. I guess that's why there's a lot of similarities in those languages. Some kanji are even read in its chinese form in some words.

btw I'm very interested in learning other languages as well, it's just so awesome D:

@Chocobo: Some kanji are the same in both languages, the only difference is the way they're read (and the order I guess). So it's understandable that your wife can read chinese without knowing it

P.S. Je parle un peu de français aussi

Edited on by Freeon-Leon

Check out my super awesome Super Mario Maker levels.

3DS Friend Code: 4596-9585-5314 | Nintendo Network ID: JahirBGoode

Bankai

and because japaneses always had that (awesome) characteristic that makes them accept other cultures instead of refusing them.

Please don't take this as an attack, or me being rude. I do mean this in the most neutral, factual way possible:

That is by far the most ignorant thing I've read this year. It is completely, 100 per cent, incorrect.

Japanese culture is amongst the most xenophobic of the developed world. These days the Japanese politely smile at the weird behaviours of gaijin, while simultaneously going back to doing their own thing. Back when Japan was a military nation run by some spectacularly brutal warlords, they were... considerably less polite to foreign cultures and ideas.

The reason Japan picked up bits and pieces from nearby cultures is simply because the more opportunistic warlords saw the value in some of the things foreigners brought before them.

Edited on by Bankai

Freeon-Leon

@Chocobo: Hmmm... don't worry. But I guess I should've been more precise. In its language there's a lot of words that they didn't know before WWII and instead of just creating new words or even kanji to represent them they accept them as they were (they didn't even try to change the original pronunciation). In the religious side, they accepted the chinese to preach the buddhism in their country (from what I heard 2 classes ago).

I don't know, maybe I didn't hear well but I remember my japaneses teacher telling us that even when they're shyer people, they had that characteristic that I said before. He also has traveled there and met a lot of japanese people so I guess he also knows 1 o 2 things about them and their culture. Let me ask him again just to be sure and then I can accept my fault.

Edited on by Freeon-Leon

Check out my super awesome Super Mario Maker levels.

3DS Friend Code: 4596-9585-5314 | Nintendo Network ID: JahirBGoode

Bankai

Jahir wrote:

@Chocobo: Hmmm... don't worry. But I guess I should've been more precise. In its language there's a lot of words that they didn't know before WWII and instead of just creating new words or even kanji to represent them they accept them as they were (they didn't even try to change the original pronunciation). In the religious side, they accepted the chinese to preach the buddhism in their country (from what I heard 2 classes ago).

English borrows words from other languages as well to fill in gaps in the English language - that doesn't make the English an especially welcoming language to wholesale culture.

In regards to religion - Japan has not been especially receptive to any religion. The Portugese brought Christianity, and the reaction ranged from acceptance to persecution. Modern Japan also has a sizable Hindu population. Point is, religion adoption is very much an individual thing, and not a sign of cultural acceptance of foreign ideas.

I don't know, maybe I didn't hear well but I remember my japaneses teacher telling us that even when they're shyer people, they had that characteristic that I said before. He also has traveled there and met a lot of japanese people so I guess he also knows 1 o 2 things about them and their culture. Let me ask him again just to be sure and then I can accept my fault.

A lot of people who adopt "Japan" as a career put Japan up on a pedestal where the country or the people within it can't do wrong. The Japanese culture is filled with plenty of wonderful things, but being accepting of other cultures is not one of those.

Freeon-Leon

Disculpa tener que escribir esto en español, pero es la mejor manera de seguir con esta conversación:

Aunque no necesariemente signifique que el japonés es un idioma que acepta a otras lenguas, si dista de otros al no recurrir a cambiar siquiera la pronunciación de las palabras cuando se convierten a este idioma. Prácticamente puedes decir cualquier palabra en inglés (con sus respectivas fallas debido a la forma silábica del idioma) y no hay problema. Intenta hacerlo en inglés o en español...

A diferencia de otros países (como los del continente americano) el budismo no llegó a Japón como el cristianismo/catolicismo llegó aquí; arrasando con cualquier seña de otra religión para sólo dejar UNA no necesariamente para bien. Y aunque la aceptación del budismo se hizo quizá con otros fines, es (créeme) mucho más tolerante que en otros países.

Por la parte del idioma escrito, el japonés ya lleva mucha ventaja al adoptar una forma de escritura que es de otro país; resaltando que no fue impuesta. Quizá hayan sido las necesidades comerciales de esos tiempos pero también eso habla mucho de la aceptación... por esa parte.

Por último... posiblemente muchas personas hablen maravillas de Japón pero éste no es el caso. Sé que es la imagen que dan la mayoría de las personas y quizá tu esposa te haya hecho ver lo equivocados que están muchos por considerarlos casi como seres superiores, pero repito, éste no es el caso. Quizá no sean como la gente de Corea del Sur en cuanto a "aceptación", pero ¡hey! Creo que eso ya es demasiado... ya que va más por la parte de perder una identidad nacional a sólo adoptar rasgos de otras culturas.

Sorry, it's the best way to explain. Hope you can read it

Check out my super awesome Super Mario Maker levels.

3DS Friend Code: 4596-9585-5314 | Nintendo Network ID: JahirBGoode

RR529

Just went to Famitsu's website to see if I could navigate the site with any accuracy.

I found the reviews section easily enough, and located the review for Rune Factory 4. My success ended there, however, because I couldn't figure out if I was seeing the right score or not (it had a 90, but if I remember correctly, Famitsu's supposed to have 4 scores, where 40 is the highest number a game can get).

Though, through a little bit of digging, I found a ton of screenshots for Picdun 2, which is coming to the Japanese eShop soon (apparently Dot Runner isn't the sequel to Picdun).

I could (and will) get better, because I couldn't read any of the articles, but I could make my way around the website, and find the games I was looking for, so I think I'm getting better at reading Japanese.

Currently Playing:
Switch - Blade Strangers
PS4 - Kingdom Hearts III, Tetris Effect (VR)

Bankai

Yeah, let's break into a language I barely understand. Very fair

But, here goes.

A diferencia de otros países (como los del continente americano) el budismo no llegó a Japón como el cristianismo/catolicismo llegó aquí; arrasando con cualquier seña de otra religión para sólo dejar UNA no necesariamente para bien. Y aunque la aceptación del budismo se hizo quizá con otros fines, es (créeme) mucho más tolerante que en otros países.

Once again, it really depended on the daimyo. If warlord A accepted Buddhism, but warlord B didn't, you'd be safe as a buddhist in province A, but dead in province B. That's not a cultural acceptance. That's one individual liking you, and another not.

Japan, over the course of its history, has never been strongly aligned to any particular religion. Some leaders used it for political reasons, but the culture as a whole has been resistant to religious dominance. Which is why modern Japan is very neutral when it comes to religion.

Por último... posiblemente muchas personas hablen maravillas de Japón pero éste no es el caso. Sé que es la imagen que dan la mayoría de las personas y quizá tu esposa te haya hecho ver lo equivocados que están muchos por considerarlos casi como seres superiores, pero repito, éste no es el caso. Quizá no sean como la gente de Corea del Sur en cuanto a "aceptación", pero ¡hey! Creo que eso ya es demasiado... ya que va más por la parte de perder una identidad nacional a sólo adoptar rasgos de otras culturas.

If you ever visit Japan and are fortunate enough to spend time away from the tourist areas, you'll see what I mean. A nation that spent centuries deliberately following an isolationist policy, a nation with a legal system that actively discriminates against non-citizens, and makes it nearly impossible for non-citizens to become citizens, and a nation that is, aside from the tourist areas, very difficult to live in for people without a strong grasp of the Japanese language.

The Japanese are a warm, friendly people. The culture demands that. At the same time, that culture is stubborn.

This topic has been archived, no further posts can be added.