Help?

[Wolf]

This seems really silly I'm sure, but when I was visiting the local dojo I was delighted to find that almost every call out was done in Japanese [never said I was surprised] I know a small tid-bit of japanese, but I fail miserably when it comes to counting, is there any chance someone could list 1-20 for me? ^.^;

[JSchmidt]

Try here. (http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=counting+in+Japanese&btnG=Google+Search&meta=)

Jakob

[yoda-waza]

That's fine for numeric counting in exercise drills but don't forget that the Japanese language has modified wording in counts depending on the nature of what is being counted. Look at the numbering for kata, for example. Kata no. 4 is not pronounced "shi", nor is no. 7 "shichi". The words for counting people, paper, pencils, etc. varies from each other. It is mind-boggling at times.

When I was a young kid I was taught by my late grandmother to count on my fingers thusly:
"hee, fu, mee, yoh, itsu, mu, nana, ya, ku, ju"
It was easier to remember and a lot faster to count (you can make a single multi-syllable word out of it). Never have used it in the dojo, though.

[flavio]

Well, that's one way to speed up haya suburi :D