日本語会話: The Japanese Conversation Thread

[yukitora]

ウキウキ(uki-uki) is an onomatopoeia for joy or happiness.

"bikoneko" might be 美子猫 which means "pretty kitty."
美 (bi) = pretty, beauty
子猫 (koneko) = kitten

yep... that brings back memories. thanks for the grammer i forgot that 'bi' was seperate. as for 'uki uki' it rhymes with 'yuki' so, 'uki uki Yuki'. my icon pic doesn't show an 'uki uki yuki'(tora) just a blanked faced 'Yuki'(tora)!


Also, what is 'Kirameku'. I've lost my notes and arn't sure on what it means exactly. (got it out of a kanji book) is it 'shining, sparkling or glittering?'

many thanks

[GoktimusPrime]

Yes, きらめく (kirameku) means shining, sparkling, glittering, twinkling etc.

[GoktimusPrime]

From this thread:
Heh... the Romanisation on that "Granzort" box made me smile. While "Madō" (魔動) means "demon motion", due to a lack of accent mark on the "o" it says "mado" (窓) which means "window"

[Firestorm]

I've decided I want to start practicing my Japanese as much as possible, so this thread would be a great way for me to do so ... but I don’t know how to make my computer type in Japanese, could someone tell me how to type in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji?

Also when someone says to you "Hisashiburidesne" what do you answer with?

[GoktimusPrime]

but I don’t know how to make my computer type in Japanese,

You need get a computer from Japan.

Just kidding. It depends on what operating system you're running.
Here are some links:
For Microsoft Windows PC
Fedora 12 (Linux)
Mac OS X
Unix

could someone tell me how to type in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji?

May vary depending on Operating System, but on Windows once you've enabled the language bar you should see it on the bottom right of your monitor, near the clock. It should be a small blue square with "EN" (English) written in it. Right click and maximise it and the language toolbar should be on the top of your screen. You can then use your mouse and click on it which will produce a drop down menu with the available languages you've installed (e.g. English (Australia) / Japanese). Choose Japanese. Alternatively you can just hit ALT + SHIFT to toggle between languages (which is very useful when switching between languages in the middle of typing!).

Once you've selected Japanese it's default in Roomaji, which means you can still type like in English. The third option from the left should be "Input Method". Select this and choose either "Hiragana" or "Full-width Katakana."

Let's start with typing in Hiragana and Kanji first. Once you've selected "Hiragana" just type in Japanese Roomaji. But remember that ん is typed as "NN" (double-N). Also remember to type particles as they are in Roomaji, so for example the particle-wa is "HA" and particle-e is "HE".

So if you want to type "Konnichi wa" you neet to change the input method to Hiragana and type "K O N N I C H I H A" then hit enter to confirm.
So you will get this:
KO = こ
NN = ん
NI = に
CHI = ち
HA = は
Result----------> こんにちは

To type in Kanji you do the same thing but hit SPACE to see options for Kanji. So again, for "Konnichi wa" I would type KONNICHIHA and get こんにちは, but before hitting enter I hit SPACE. At first the computer will simply highlight こんにちは in blue, so hit space again and a drop down menu will appear. Select the first option and hit enter and こんにちは will instantly convert to 今日は.

In some cases there may be multiple Kanji options. For example if I type "SEI"　(せい) and hit SPACE, I will see pages and pages of options! You simply scroll down and select which one you want. Usually the most commonly used Kanji are listed first. The list gets shorter if you can type in more syllables, e.g. if I type GAKUSEI (がくせい) and hit enter, there's only 3 options. Sometimes none of the options are what you want in which case you'll have to do each part separately and scroll through the pages until you find the Kanji you want. You can also just hit the number next to the kanji you want instead of using your mouse (I usually find hot keys faster than mousing).

Some useful short cuts:
CHI can be inputted as "TI"
TSU can be inputted as "TU"
SHI can be inputted as "SI"

Also:
For this JI (ぢ) you must type "DI"
For particle O (を) you must type "WO"
For this ZU (づ) you must type "DU"
To make anything half size type "X" in front of it. e.g. A = あ, but XA =　ぁ

Typing in Katakana works the same way as typing in Kanji, but it won't usually convert words to Kanji since Katakana is principally used for writing foreign words. So if I want to write "Optimus Prime" I would type "O-PU-TE-XI-MA-SU PU-RA-I-MU" which gives me this: オプティマス プライム

Also when someone says to you "Hisashiburidesne" what do you answer with?

That's like "Long time no see," so you'd just reply with something appropriate... like maybe, 「ええ、そうですね。おひさしぶりですね」

[Firestorm]

(Text about how to type in japanes)

cool, now i just need to find the disc so i can start typing in japanese

That's like "Long time no see," so you'd just reply with something appropriate... like maybe, 「ええ、そうですね。おひさしぶりですね」

Thanks, i knew it meant something like "long time no see" I just wasnt sure how to reply, every class when i arrive i go through the same conversation with my teacher,
Sensei: oo [name]san, konnichiwa
Me: Konnichiwa
Sensei: Genki desuka?
Me: Hai, Genki desu
Sensei: Hisashiburidesune
Me: ..... (i havnt been sure what to answer with)

[GoktimusPrime]

Perhaps you could answer with 「へええ、そんなにおひさしぶりじゃないとおもいますよ。」... cos don't you see your teacher on a regular basis? "ひさしぶり" is something you usually say if you haven't seen someone in ages.

Also, if you're ever stuck on how to reply to someone in Japanese, this will help:
How to speak fluent Japanese without saying a word
Part 2

[GoktimusPrime]

From here...

Here's a question for you Goki, How is Subaru pronounced officially.

I been hearing Subaru as it is in Asian countries and In US/Aus Suburu is used? Which is right?

Simplistically put, it's "Soo-baa-roo."
If you want a more a more proper pronunciation, then consider this approximation guide for pronouncing Japanese vowels.
"a" as in father
"i" as in igloo
"u" as in full
"e" as in egg
"o" as in rock

P.S.: Listen to the way 'Subaru' is pronounced right at the very beginning of this Japanese Subaru Forester commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y73qbUcWdeo

[GoktimusPrime]

From here

ああ、いいね 岡山に住んでいました。

いいなぁ、岡山弁がしゃべられますか？自身は※埼玉弁しか分かりません。二千五年に日本に住んでいたので、 ギャラクシーフォースやバイナルテックアステリスクやロボットマスターズなどのトランスフォーマーシリーズ を集めましたか？

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※標準語と必ず同じです。