The Words You Really Need to get Around in Japan
September 29th, 2008 at 10:34 pm (Japanese, Travel)
After months of squeezing in language study where I could, my trip with Kate to Japan in May taught me what words were really most useful. These were the ones that we used daily as we navigated Tokyo, Nikko, Kyoto, Koya-san, and all the spaces in between:
- wakarimasu (I understand) and wakarimasen (I don’t understand) — probably the most useful phrases ever.
- daijobu: It’s all good, everything’s okay.
- sugoi: wow! amazing!
- chizu: map (surprisingly common!)
- gomi bako: trash can (surprisingly rare!)
- A bunch of handy train words, including tsugi (next), hidari (left), migi right, eki (station), and noriba (platform). Useful for learning which door (left or right) will open at the next station.
- nimotsu (luggage) and omoi (heavy)
- ichimai (one), nimai (two), sanmai (three): counters for flat things, like…
- kippu: ticket (this is one of my favorite Japanese words to say. It’s just fun.)
- iriguchi (entrance) and deguchi (exit) — I even learned the kanji for these, since we encountered them so often
- oki (big) and chiisai (small) — I also learned kanji for these, primarily from toilets. You can select a big flush or a small flush based on the kanji labels.
- kore o, onegai shimasu: this one(s), please — this was my generic way to indicate that I wanted to purchase something.
- shita (under) and mae (in front of, before) and ue ni (up, above) and shita e (down, lit. “towards under”)
- shite imasu: know
- panfuretto: brochure (from “pamphlet”?)
- mizu: water
- tori: bird
- kaieru: frog
- chou: butterfly
- taki: waterfall
- zembu: all
- itsumo: always
- nani mo nai: nothing (lit. “what more not”)
There are far, far more that we used (consulting our phrasebooks frequently), but these are the ones that stuck with me. There’s nothing like living it to provide a great incentive to learn it!
Marcy said,
October 17, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Just in case you ever go back, the number one most useful phrase is “osusume onegai shimasu?” which simply but politely means “What do you recommend?” Then you can just order one of whatever they say. It’s awesome.