Phantom of the Opera (Japanese)

You know how you listen to things in another language, and they’re nice and all, but they just don’t quite match up to the original version?

This does. Listen to it, you won’t be disappointed ^^

Part 1: French Numbers (Les Chiffres)

Here is a chart of the numbers in French from 0 ~ 59 (zéro ~ cinquante-neuf). 

The pattern is very simple once you learn the numbers 1 ~ 10 (plus the odd ones: 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16).

For 17, the number is made of the word for 10 + 7 = dix-sept, with a hyphen (-) separating the two numbers.

18 and 19 are the same. 10 + 8 = dix-huit and 10 + 9  = dix-neuf.

Nice and simple.

After that, a good point to start with is learning the multiples of ten (20, 30, 40, 50 etc.), because once you know those, you can follow the pattern above (20 + number =…; 30 + number =…).

For example:

22 = 20 + 2 = vingt-deux.

33 = 30 + 3 = trente-trois.

44 = 40 + 4 = quarante-quatre.

Anyway, you get the gist.

Now, you might have noticed that 21, 31, 41 and 51 are a bit different. It still follows the same pattern, but instead of hyphenating the two numbers together like the rest, there is an «et» between them, meaning “and”. Why? No idea. That’s just how it works.

So, 21 = 20 + 1 = vingt et un.

Not too shabby, non? =D

Pre-warning: Part 2 will blow your mind (if you don’t believe me…you’ll see, trust me).

Katakana Chart

Here’s the katakana chart in the same layout as the hiragana one I posted earlier.

It’s got the dakuten (ten-ten), and the syllable combos. The hiragana and katakana are the same…the characters are just written differently.

Enjoy~! ^^

Introducing Yourself in Japanese

One of the first things you’ll want to do is be able to introduce yourself to someone.

Here’s what a basic intro looks like:

はじめまして。リンガルイズムです。よろしくおねがいします。

Can’t read it or don’t know what’s going on? Here’s the breakdown:

 

Basic Structure:

[Your name] + [です・desu]

E.g. Lingualism です。

NOTE: In Japanese, foreign names and words use the ‘katakana’ writing system, which is similar to hiragana.

Using katakana, my blog name becomes: リンガルイズム・ringaru-izumu. Unlike hiragana, katakana often uses 【ー】 to indicate a lengthened sound.

 

Adding more: 

When meeting someone for the very first time only, people say 「はじめまして・hajimemashite」.

NOTE: Don’t say it to someone you’ve already met…they’ll think you’ve forgotten them already =P

Then, they introduce themselves:

eg. はじめまして。 リンガルイズムです。

 

Closing the introduction: 

To end your intro politely, you can add 「よろしくおねがいします・yoroshiku onegaishimasu」。It  means “please treat me well”.

よろしく・yoroshiku = well; appropriately etc.

おねがいします・onegaishimasu = please.

Our intro now looks like this:

eg. はじめまして。 リンガルイズムです。よろしくおねがいします。

 

簡単ね！・かんたん　ね！・Kantan ne! = It’s simple! Feel free to introduce yourself in the comments  (^_^)/

French Verb Jargon

Verb = an action/doing word (including existence)

E.g. eat, jump, run, play, etc. 

Infinitive = simplest verb form, in the form of ‘to [verb]’. 

E.g To eat, to jump, etc. 

Infinitive verbs can end in three ways: 

1. ~ER (i.e. aller -> to go) 
2. ~IR (i.e. sortir -> to go out)
3. ~RE (i.e. lire -> to read)

Conjugate = to change verb into a different tense

e.g. Present tense of ‘to play’ (jouer):

1. I play = je joue 
2. You play = je joues
3. He/She plays = il/elle joue
4. We play = nous jouons
5. You (formal/plural) play = vous jouez
6. They play = ils/elles jouent 

Regular Verb = conjugates according to a pattern. 

(‘Jouer’ is a regular verb)

Irregular Verb = doesn’t conjugate to a pattern (have to learn them off-by-heart)

e.g. Aller = to go, is an IRREGULAR ‘ER’ verb. Conjugating to present tense: 

1. I go = je vais 
2. You go = tu vas
3. He/She goes = il/elle va
4. We go = nous allons
5. You (formal/plural) go = vous allez
6. They go = ils/elles vont 

 

Just a quick crash course in the French verb terminologies.

À bientôt! ^.- )/ (See you later!) 

Saying Sorry in Japanese (Part 4)

おじゃまします translates into ‘sorry for disturbing you’ and essentially means the same sort of thing as しつれいします. It’s more preferred in informal situations, like entering or leaving your friend’s house, because it sounds softer.

NOTE: when entering somewhere it’s おじゃまします (present tense), and when leaving it’s おじゃましました (past tense).

Saying Sorry in Japanese (Part 3)

失礼します・しつれいします (shitsurei shimasu)  is a more formal expression that literally means ‘I’m being rude’, but translates into ‘excuse me’. It’s common to use it when interrupting something/someone, like walking into a meeting (and leaving again), interrupting someone’s phone call/needing to take a phone call, or leaving a meeting etc. early – even we=

Saying Sorry in Japanese (Part 2)

ごめんなさい is used in non-formal situations (so probably don’t use this to your teacher or someone older than you in everyday language).

This is a more personal sorry…the kind where you actually want to apologise to someone for something you’ve done (like forgetting to give your friend’s DVD back, or accidentally hurting someone).

あっ、ごめんなさい。大丈夫　ですか？・ah, gomen nasai. Daijyoubu desu ka?

Ah, I’m sorry. Are you okay?

(大丈夫・だいじょうぶ・daijyoubu = all right/okay)

If you want to emphasise that you’re really sorry, you add 本当に (ほんとうに・hontouni):

本当に　ごめんなさい。

Between good friends (and if you haven’t really done anything wrong), you often just say ごめんね・gomen ne.

Saying Sorry in Japanese (Part 1)

すみません means:

a) ‘excuse me’

b) ‘thank you’

c) ‘sorry’

…All in one word. You can use it when asking people to move to get on/off a train, the lead in to asking someone something, for catching someone’s attention, or when you didn’t catch something someone said and want to ask them to repeat it (like this):

すみませんが、もう　いちど？・sumimasen ga, mou ichido?

OR:

すみませんが、もう　いちど　ゆっくり

The が at the end of すみません acts as ‘but’. The もう= again, and the いちど=once …therefore you get ‘Sorry, but once more?’ or ‘Sorry, but can you repeat that?’

The  ゆっくり = slow (pace). You can tag that at the end to ask someone to repeat something…but slower. You’re going to want to know that phrase (trust me =P )

To be more polite, just add ‘please’:

すみませんが、もう　いちど　ゆっくり　おねがいします・mou ichido onegaishimasu

Saying Sorry in Japanese

Saying ‘sorry’ is a big deal in Japan, so I’ve heard (and watched in dramas and anime =P )

I’m going to be covering four common phrases:

1. すみません (sumimasen)

2. ごめんなさい (gomen nasai)

3. 失礼します（しつれいします）(shitsurei shimasu)

4. おじゃまします (ojyama shimasu)

They’re  in separate posts so it doesn’t end up as a massive eyesore of information in one hit (^-^)/