新しいことば

Sunday, 15 January 2012

Giving and receiving present!

会話

A おみやげです
B どもありがとうございます!
C どういたしまして

  A (Here is a) small gift (for you)
  B Thank you very much!
  C You are welcome!


Some cultural notes on the usage of ’おみやげ’

Literally, it means souvenir but actually it is a present someone bought for somebody else because he either went to a vacation or the souvenir is from the country where he live.



これはおみやげです。(This is a gift for you)

シャフィク
ありがとうね!

Saturday, 14 January 2012

Greetings and introducing yourselves

Some expressions to greet someone

In the morning, they say

おはよございます - Good Morning! (formal)
おはよう       - Morning! (Informal)

General expression (Anytime usage especially during the day)

こんにちは     - Hello! (Formal)

In the night, they say

こんばんは     - Good Night! (formal)

Introducing yourselves

When you first meet someone, you introduce yourselves right. So, here is how to do that in Japanese

はじめまして。私はシャフィクです。KYUEMの学生です。どうぞよろしく。
It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Syafiq, a student of KYUEM. It is a pleasure to meet you.

A はじめまして。山田です。
B はじめまして。田中です。
A よろしくおねがいします。
B よろしくおねがいします。

A Nice to meet you! I am Yamada.
B Nice to meet you! I am Tanaka.
A Please look favourably upon me!
B Please look favourably upon me!

Some notes to remember!

1.はじめまして Means 'nice to meet you' and you can use it with anyone you are meeting for the first time.

2.To give your name, simply state your name and end it with です。

3. As a special touch, add this phrase. よろしくおねがいします。 There is no direct English translation for it but roughly it means 'Please look favourably upon me'. It indicates that you are keen to seeing the 'Please look favourably upon me'. It indicates that you are keen to seeing the person again at other time.

シャフィク
ありがとう!

Introduction

Hello there readers!

You might be wondering why I create this blog. Well, to be honest I want to make this blog as some kind of my Japanese notes so that I do not burden my computer because it is going to take up a lot of spaces and it is hard for me to organise it. In fact, I can easily go through my note online with my iPhone. It is as simple as that.

So, before I begin, I would like to explain what is going to happen in this blog. There will be a little bit of history of why am I doing this, some phrases and vocabulary that I learn that day and of course notes.

Let us begin. Actually, I am a medical student to be but sometime I find it is quite daunting and dull to be learning just that. It is not that I do not like it but I think for the moment, the idea of using my scientific as well as artistic ability of my brain seems too interesting. I do not plan on spending too much time in this blog. Just a couple of minutes everyday. My main objective is to be able to speak and understand Japanese language. It is better to study continuously rather than all at one go. Also, this could be something that I could do to unwind. Yes, studying language really makes me feel relaxed. I will tell more about it.

I should also make it clear that everything that I wrote here is not entirely mine. I might take from several websites and combine it to make it as a note of mine. I do not expect much publicity because it really is for me only but feel free to use it if you find it helpful. Again, this is for personal use.

I am so sorry for so many hiragana words that I use and occasionally kanji. Actually, if you want to master Japanese, learning hiragana and katakana is one of the fundamental of learning it. It is intended for me practising Japanese reading. If it is difficult for you, why not study Japanese writing first!
Right, enough of that. Shall we begin our journey now?
がんばってね!