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Nihongo Journey This blog is for chronicling the progression of my skill in the Japanese language. I started serious Japanese study on February 18th 2009 and have studied everyday since. My ultimate goal is near-native level fluency.

12 February 2010 ~ 0 Comments

yojijukugo #1


Yojijukugo are four character compounds in Japanese. A lot of the time they are idioms, but other times they are just phrases or compound words. When I come across a new 四字熟語 (yojijukugo) I usually add it to my SRS as its own card. After I have some familiarity with it, I’ll add it in with a normal sentence card. I only know a handful of them though because I’m focusing more on basic verbs and other vocabulary. These are just fun little extras the spice up study when bored.

謹賀新年
きんがしんねん = ”Happy New Year.” Literally

弱肉強食
じゃくにくきょうしょく = “Survival of the fittest.” Literally , “The weak meat is the strong’s meal.”

天上天下
てんじょうてんげ = “The entire world.” Literally, “Above heaven and below heaven.” This is a pretty easy one for beginners with yojijukugo.

温故知新
おんこちしん = ”Developing new thoughts and ideas based on the wisdom of the past.” Literally, The kanji could read “warm wisdom, new.”

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06 February 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Japanese SRS sentences #9


ひさびさね? Time for more japanese srs sentences and one with an interesting grammar point. (to me anyway)

全然眠れやしない
ぜんぜん ねむれ やしない = “I can’t sleep at all.”
**Grammar Point** Adding やしない to the masu form of a verb makes that verb emphatically negative. The dictionary says this is a colloquial usage.

眼鏡を外す
めがね を はずす = ”to take off one’s glasses.”

ウサギが葉っぱを食べている
ウサギ が はっぱ を たべて いる ”the rabbit is eating a leaf.” This one was an interesting find for me because I’ve only see leaf written as ”葉”before this.

鍵がなかったので。。。
かぎ が なかった ので。。。 = ”Because I didn’t have my key…”

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31 January 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Japanese SRS sentences #8


Time for more Japanese spaced repetition sentences. Huzzah! …..hurray?…..guys?

野菜をたくさん食べることが大切です
やさい を たくさん たべる こと が たいせつ です。 = ”Eating a lot of vegetables is important.”

絵空事ばかりだ
えそらごと ばかり だ = ”It’s just a pipe-dream.” I like this one because it’s a good demonstration of how cool the kanji can be. The kanji 絵 means “picture.” 空 means “sky.” 事 means “thing.” So put it together and it would literally be “The picture-in-the-sky-thing.” Kind of like how we say “pie in the sky.”

体重が10キロ減った
たいじゅう が じゅう キロ へった = ”(My) body weight decreased by 10 kilos.” or simply “I lost 10 kilos.”

何故そこまで姉に拘るのか?
なぜ そこまで あね に こだわる の か = ”Why are you obsessed over my older sister to that extent?”

私はへこたれない
わたし は へこたれない = ”I won’t lose heart.”

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28 January 2010 ~ 0 Comments

Japanese SRS sentences #7


Here are today’s SRS example sentences. These are some I found while looking through websites for information about Japanese food. People love discussing what they’ve been eating and cooking in their blogs.

オキアミ油はコレステロール値を下げますか?
オキアミ ゆ は コレステロール ち を さげます か?= ”Does Krill oil lower cholesterol levels?”

昔の日本食が健康に良い
むかし の にほんしょく が けんこう に よい = ”In the old days, Japanese food was good for your health.”

飲みながら話し合った
のみ ながら はなしあった = ”While drinking, we talked together.”

エビでタイを釣る
エビ で タイ を つる = This is an idiom meaning “To risk a little to gain a lot.” Literally, it means “to catch a sea bream with a shrimp/prawn.”

生きてるままのエビを食べた
いきてる まま の エビ を たべた = ”(someone) Ate a shrimp/prawn while it was alive.”

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