More Japanese lessons queries

[Cuddles da Bear]

I noticed quite alot of posts about members wanting to learn Japanese and I happen to be one of them.

I have a CD with Japanese lessons on it but it's really basic and mostly intended for tourists. I plan on getting the Rosetta Stone CD series but I heard that it isn't that good. So if anyone here knows advanced Japanese maybe you can help me.

Now I don't know how to write it and my pronunciation is terrible because my dialect is very ... muddled for lack of a better word. Oh I also cannot spell the Japanese words, I don't even know the alphabet yet, lol.

Anyway I just watched Sonic the Anime and if any of you have seen it you might be able to better understand the situations in which the characters say it because I understand that there would also be slang and words can mean different things in different situations.

*SONIC THE ANIME SPOILER WARNING*

Okay, let's go:

1. In the beginning when the old owl comes to the island to relay the message to Sonic and Tails I noticed that Tails calls him Ojii-san but Sonic only calls him Jii-san. I understand Tails would have respect for his elders but wouldn't Sonic have respect for the old man too even if he thinks he's annoying? or is Sonic simply being the cool dude that he is and reffering to him in slang like 'Hey gramps!'?

2. Yame - What exactly does this mean? Does it mean 'Don't do it!' because the President used this word when he begged Dr. Eggman not to hurt Sarah but later (I think it was Knuckles) said 'Yame' but the sub titles read 'No!' I thought Iie meant 'No'.

3. When Robotnik ... gomen! I mean Dr. Eggman (I am an Archie Sonic Universe fan girl)) told Sonic that he was the only one who could save the planet, Sonic told him 'No way' and said 'Yada ne'. Then later he uses the same 'yada ne' but subtitled as 'Forget about it'. I understand that yada ne could be used in these two circumstances but I'm just making sure.



From here on out my spelling gets worse so please bear with me as I spell them as I hear them:-

4. Sarah / Sera / Seirah, however her name is spelt, said 'Help me!' and it sounded like 'Youskate' Yoh-skah-teh.

5. When Eggman and Sera were playing the video game and she lost the 2nd time she demanded to go for a ride and Eggman told her 'Absolutely not!' which sounded like 'Dame' dah-meh. But later I think it was Knuckles again that used this word but the subtitles just read 'No!'

6. I know Ikuze means let's go, but does Iguyo or Ikuyo (eeh-guy-oh) mean Here WE go? I also noticed a similar structure with Ikusuh which was subtitled Let's get moving!. Ikusuh (Ee-ku-suh) as opposed to Ikuze (Ee-ku-zeh) which is simply Let's go!. Also, just before Sonic climbed the sky scraper, he told Tails 'Let's go!' but I heard it as Yuh-ush.

7. After Dark Eggman shot Sonic and Tails off the bridge and they snuck away, Dark Eggman surprised them and said 'Mada, Mada' which read 'Don't think you're safe.' This doesn't seem right to me because he said Mada Mada and it seems kinda short if he was saying something a bit longer like 'Don't think you're safe'.

8. Tah-kuh - Does this mean 'Why me?'?

9. Same bridge incident in #7. After Dark Eggman surprised Sonic and Tails, Tails screamed out and said 'Shimata' which read as 'Oops!' But later Sonic uses this same word but it read as 'Oh no!', but then when Knuckles was stuck to the ground with glue he says 'Shuta' which was sub-titled as 'Oh No!' (Also if anyone plays the Sims 2 do you notice your sims say Shimata?

10. When Sonic was stuck to the ground with one of those glue bombs he said 'Somo' I think, and the subtitle read 'Darn'.

11. Mateo! - Sonic asked the others to Wait up! and he used this again at the end of the movie when he said 'Mateo Knucklesuu!' subtitled as ' Come back, Knuckles!'. But Wait up and Come back kinda mean completely different things.

12. Nondo - Just confirming if this means 'What is that?'

13. The old man owl calls Sonic Sonic-sama all the time throughout the movie and I know this means Master Sonic which kinda leaves me wondering what kind of relationship he has with Sonic because he doesn't seem to show the president the kind of respect he shows Sonic, lol.

14. Yosh - I can't remember what the situation was but Tails said 'Yosh' and it was subtitled as 'All Right!'.

15. Tails also said 'Dai jobo!' (This was when he and Knuckles were flying in the Tornado heading North and Knuckles asked Tails if he was sure he could trust Eggman's watch and Tails replied 'Dai jobo!') and this was sub-titled as Don't worry about it.

Well that's all my limited knowledge of Japanese could pick up. I just mostly wanna confirm if those translations were correct.

[Radical Dreamer]

Though I don't know very much Japanese and I'm not learning it officially, I think I can help a little with some of these.

5. When Eggman and Sera were playing the video game and she lost the 2nd time she demanded to go for a ride and Eggman told her 'Absolutely not!' which sounded like 'Dame' dah-meh. But later I think it was Knuckles again that used this word but the subtitles just read 'No!'

I think "dame" translates as "No way," or at least a more defiant "no" than "iie" and "ie desu." I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure.

11. Mateo! - Sonic asked the others to Wait up! and he used this again at the end of the movie when he said 'Mateo Knucklesuu!' subtitled as ' Come back, Knuckles!'. But Wait up and Come back kinda mean completely different things.

"Matte" means wait, and the "yo" probably directs it towards a person (guessing here, XD), so "matte yo" would be what the character said. I think that, as far as the "wait up" and "come back" words are concerned, it might just be the subbers getting more verbally creative with the text.

15. Tails also said 'Dai jobo!' (This was when he and Knuckles were flying in the Tornado heading North and Knuckles asked Tails if he was sure he could trust Eggman's watch and Tails replied 'Dai jobo!') and this was sub-titled as Don't worry about it.

Daijoubu means "I'm alright" or "it's alright." In the case above, Tails is obviously telling Knuckle's that he'll be fine, so Knuckles shouldn't worry. Keep in mind that other languages do word things a lot differently, and sometimes things are understood based entirely upon the context of a situation.

Hope I helped a little!

[Tenshi no Ai]

1. In the beginning when the old owl comes to the island to relay the message to Sonic and Tails I noticed that Tails calls him Ojii-san but Sonic only calls him Jii-san. I understand Tails would have respect for his elders but wouldn't Sonic have respect for the old man too even if he thinks he's annoying? or is Sonic simply being the cool dude that he is and reffering to him in slang like 'Hey gramps!'?

Adding "o" to things like even "onomimono" (something to drink) just adds more... politeness to it.

2. Yame - What exactly does this mean? Does it mean 'Don't do it!' because the President used this word when he begged Dr. Eggman not to hurt Sarah but later (I think it was Knuckles) said 'Yame' but the sub titles read 'No!' I thought Iie meant 'No'.

A short way of saying yamete/yamero which does mean "stop!" but if you think of it, CAN be another way of just saying "no!" in a "stop" sort of sense :/

3. When Robotnik ... gomen! I mean Dr. Eggman (I am an Archie Sonic Universe fan girl)) told Sonic that he was the only one who could save the planet, Sonic told him 'No way' and said 'Yada ne'. Then later he uses the same 'yada ne' but subtitled as 'Forget about it'. I understand that yada ne could be used in these two circumstances but I'm just making sure.

It IS Robotnik in this anime, actually^^ In this case, "yada ne" can go both ways. Gotta change the word meaning so it's not the same thing over and over again^^

4. Sarah / Sera / Seirah, however her name is spelt, said 'Help me!' and it sounded like 'Youskate' Yoh-skah-teh.

Hmmm should be TASukete, might be another way of saying it though, so not too sure on this... haven't seen it in a while either to check^^

5. When Eggman and Sera were playing the video game and she lost the 2nd time she demanded to go for a ride and Eggman told her 'Absolutely not!' which sounded like 'Dame' dah-meh. But later I think it was Knuckles again that used this word but the subtitles just read 'No!'

Once again, few ways of saying it: "no way" "no good" "no" etc. all work for a negative word like this.

6. I know Ikuze means let's go, but does Iguyo or Ikuyo (eeh-guy-oh) mean Here WE go? I also noticed a similar structure with Ikusuh which was subtitled Let's get moving!. Ikusuh (Ee-ku-suh) as opposed to Ikuze (Ee-ku-zeh) which is simply Let's go!. Also, just before Sonic climbed the sky scraper, he told Tails 'Let's go!' but I heard it as Yuh-ush.

"Ikuze", "ikou", "iku yo" all pretty much mean "Let's go!"
"Ikusa" might mean "let's get moving", or just another variation of the above, meaning the same thing, but once again, different words.
The "yu-ush" one, is more of a sound effect in a sense^^ Think of it sort of like saying "let's go" as in... a more battle-cry way^^

7. After Dark Eggman shot Sonic and Tails off the bridge and they snuck away, Dark Eggman surprised them and said 'Mada, Mada' which read 'Don't think you're safe.' This doesn't seem right to me because he said Mada Mada and it seems kinda short if he was saying something a bit longer like 'Don't think you're safe'.

Hmmm... "mada" translates to "still" so with a "still, still" might be refering to something... might need a little back-up on this one, but sort of sounds like a bad translation to me^^

8. Tah-kuh - Does this mean 'Why me?'?

These are one of those words where I know what it means, but can't really explain, yet makes sense if I hear it in dialogue^^ "Takun" I believe it is, and I think it's yet another sound effect... a sigh I think?

9. Same bridge incident in #7. After Dark Eggman surprised Sonic and Tails, Tails screamed out and said 'Shimata' which read as 'Oops!' But later Sonic uses this same word but it read as 'Oh no!', but then when Knuckles was stuck to the ground with glue he says 'Shuta' which was sub-titled as 'Oh No!' (Also if anyone plays the Sims 2 do you notice your sims say Shimata?

Sims don't count^^ They ramble on in jibberish as far as I know :/ Maybe they did borrow the word as far as I know :/
Ok, "shimatta" is an "oops!" "oh no!' "shoot!" sort of word. "Shuta" = roomanji for "shoot". But it does NOT mean the more profane word of "shoot", that, would be an entirely different word^^

10. When Sonic was stuck to the ground with one of those glue bombs he said 'Somo' I think, and the subtitle read 'Darn'.

Somo? This one might be a "shimatta" variation/slang term... doesn't familiarize for me^^

11. Mateo! - Sonic asked the others to Wait up! and he used this again at the end of the movie when he said 'Mateo Knucklesuu!' subtitled as ' Come back, Knuckles!'. But Wait up and Come back kinda mean completely different things.

"Matte yo" yeah it does mean "wait", but for a "come back!" translation... probably more of a "wait for me!" thing with a bad translation, once again. Unles Knuckles WAS moving and Tails wanted him to stay back with him and therefore, would be an appropriate way of saying it.

12. Nondo - Just confirming if this means 'What is that?'

More like "nan da" which is a very informal way of saying "what", and has many different variations as well.

13. The old man owl calls Sonic Sonic-sama all the time throughout the movie and I know this means Master Sonic which kinda leaves me wondering what kind of relationship he has with Sonic because he doesn't seem to show the president the kind of respect he shows Sonic, lol.

Well, Sonic IS a hero, so why not formally call him as a higher-up person?

14. Yosh - I can't remember what the situation was but Tails said 'Yosh' and it was subtitled as 'All Right!'.

As said before with Sonic saying "Yosh!" more of a "battle-cry"

15. Tails also said 'Dai jobo!' (This was when he and Knuckles were flying in the Tornado heading North and Knuckles asked Tails if he was sure he could trust Eggman's watch and Tails replied 'Dai jobo!') and this was sub-titled as Don't worry about it.

It's a question AND an answer phrase. Questionable translates to an "are you ok??" and answer-wise more of an "I'm alright!"

*whew* Hope this helps some^^

[Cuddles da Bear]

Hey, thanks alot you guys for all your help thus far.

Sorry there were so many questions, I hope I didn't take up too much of your time. I was actually afraid no one would reply because there were too many questions, lol.

Anywho, I'll look over the posts again and learn these spiffy new words (and their CORRECT spelling, lol) but I'm running late for work so I'll probably ask more questions when I get back this evening.

Sayonara!

[Tenshi no Ai]

Sayonara!

As another tiny note on your journey to learning Japanese, "sayonara" is like a final farewell... something like "ja" "ja ne" or "ja mata ne" is just a "I'll see ya later!"

[Cuddles da Bear]

Hey I'm back! Okay I had a few questions with regards to the Sonic Anime but I can't remember them right now so I'm moving onto Naruto which is what I'm watching right now.

When Naruto and his friends address their teacher I notice they kinda drop part of the pronunciation of his name and call him Kakash-sensei instead of Kakashi-sensei. I've even herd him called Kakai-sensei. Is this one of those instances where the vowel at the end of the word is silent like in desu?

And can anyone roughly translate this for me?

Ohayo, watashi wa Tahirah King desu. Josei yo no oterai wa doko desu ka?

I basically know what this means but I have a question regarding Japanese sentence structure after your response.

[Aka-chan]

*points to sig* We do have a Japanese Language help thread for stuff like this, and I tend to frequent that, so you can post there if you like, especially if you'll be adding more questions that aren't so spoiler-iffic and such.

Your first questions have been pretty well adressed, but I'll add a few things:
6: It sounds like you heard "Yosh!" or "Yosha!", which in this usage would be something like "Okay! Let's do this!"

7: "mada mada" Indeed, "mada" means "still", but in this case, when shouted in battle (or a tennis game--it's a popular phrase for the protagonist of Tenisu no Ojisama) it means something along the lines of "we're not finished yet" or "I still have something up my sleeve." So the translation is stretching it a little, but the sentiment is still accurate.

8: "ta-kuh" I believe you're referring to "ttaku!", which is a shortened form of "mattaku". When used as an interjection, it expressions frustration or impatience and can be pretty well equated with the English expression "Sheesh!"

To address your most recent post:
No, in regular conversation, a lot of the vowels at the end get dropped, especially "i" and "u". To pronounce them all sounds kind of strange and a bit formal. Rukia does this sometimes in Bleach when she's being silly or dramatic. For instance, I talked about "Yosh" above--it's actually writted "Yoshi", but you drop the "i" sound.

The sentence you gave is:
Good morning, I am Tahirah King. Where is the ladies room?

[Cuddles da Bear]

*points to sig* We do have a Japanese Language help thread for stuff like this, and I tend to frequent that, so you can post there if you like, especially if you'll be adding more questions that aren't so spoiler-iffic and such.

Your first questions have been pretty well adressed, but I'll add a few things:
6: It sounds like you heard "Yosh!" or "Yosha!", which in this usage would be something like "Okay! Let's do this!"

7: "mada mada" Indeed, "mada" means "still", but in this case, when shouted in battle (or a tennis game--it's a popular phrase for the protagonist of Tenisu no Ojisama) it means something along the lines of "we're not finished yet" or "I still have something up my sleeve." So the translation is stretching it a little, but the sentiment is still accurate.

8: "ta-kuh" I believe you're referring to "ttaku!", which is a shortened form of "mattaku". When used as an interjection, it expressions frustration or impatience and can be pretty well equated with the English expression "Sheesh!"

To address your most recent post:
No, in regular conversation, a lot of the vowels at the end get dropped, especially "i" and "u". To pronounce them all sounds kind of strange and a bit formal. Rukia does this sometimes in Bleach when she's being silly or dramatic. For instance, I talked about "Yosh" above--it's actually writted "Yoshi", but you drop the "i" sound.

The sentence you gave is:
Good morning, I am Tahirah King. Where is the ladies room?

Ahh okay, I'll ask the rest of my questions in that thread then. Thank you Aka-chan ^_^

But one last thing before I go, with regards to the bathroom question which really has to do with the sentence structure. If I break down the above sentence it reads somehting like 'Ladie's room, where is it?' I also noticed that in Naruto when Sasuke was hospitalized and someone asked where he was the person responded 'byoin' (err however that's spelt) which translated to 'The hospital'. Does this mean they don't need to add a 'the'?

Okies that's the last of my questions here, I'll address any others I have in Aka-Chan's spiffy Japanese language thread from now on.

And I guess...it would be appropriate to say Sayonara now?

[Aka-chan]

But one last thing before I go, with regards to the bathroom question which really has to do with the sentence structure. If I break down the above sentence it reads somehting like 'Ladie's room, where is it?' I also noticed that in Naruto when Sasuke was hospitalized and someone asked where he was the person responded 'byoin' (err however that's spelt) which translated to 'The hospital'. Does this mean they don't need to add a 'the'?

Okies that's the last of my questions here, I'll address any others I have in Aka-Chan's spiffy Japanese language thread from now on.

And I guess...it would be appropriate to say Sayonara now?

Yeah, pretty much. The "wa" denotes the subject or can be used for emphasis. I've also seen it translated as "As for the ladies room, where is it?", though that comes across somewhat awkwardly in conversational English. Also, Japanese doesn't really use articles, so the "the" is understood in "byouin." They have "this", "that", etc., but not really "the" or "a."

See you in the other thread!

You could also say "Ja mata", which sounds less formal and means something more like "See you later!" ^__^