Japanese words for beginners

[Mike]

I just started kendo this week, but I'm having trouble remembering all the Japanese words that my instructor is using, and since I'm the oldest in my group (we're all beginners) I'm the "captain" and have to say some of those words myself. So I was wondering if anyone can either write down a list of those words so I can learn them, or if there are any websites with a list of all commonly used words and commands? And also how to count to ten in Japanese as we do that during the physical exercices and warmup... thanks for any help! :smiley:

[haizul]

I just started kendo this week, but I'm having trouble remembering all the Japanese words that my instructor is using, and since I'm the oldest in my group (we're all beginners) I'm the "captain" and have to say some of those words myself. So I was wondering if anyone can either write down a list of those words so I can learn them, or if there are any websites with a list of all commonly used words and commands? And also how to count to ten in Japanese as we do that during the physical exercices and warmup... thanks for any help! :smiley:
You can check this website for the term you are looking for. May needs a little searching though.

[Kaoru]

Hi haizul-san,

Here is a list of sites with terms and commands. I have already found the pages with the terms, so just click on each site to see the terms and commands.

I hope this helps!

Kaoru

------------

http://www.anthropology.wisc.edu/kendo/club/vocabulary.html

http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/kendo/info.html

http://www.umass.edu/rso/umkendo/jpn.html

http://www.eanet.com/sckf/refinfo.htm

http://www.obukan.com/commands.html

---------------

http://members.rogers.com/mississauga-kendo/beginning.html

Has sound files to hear them.

------------

http://www.boston-kendo.com/glossary.htm

http://www.doshinkenyukai-kendo.org.uk/html/glossary.html

[Arnold Strong]

The Mississauga Kendo club...that's where I train. I actually just used their site and picked up all the basics I needed.

Good senseis there. Even the son of Kimura is pretty good.

[Yowai]

"baka" - It's an article in Japanese, much like "the" and "a". You will hear it plenty often but do not worry about it.

"boke" - It means the dojo has too many attrative females.

"yodare" - Too much of "boke".

"jodannimonaran" - I complement indicating you might be ready for jodan.

"hai" - Say this after every sentence spoken by your teacher, even if he is in mid-speech. Remember that chaining multiple "hai"s together is more polite. To be the most polite, say "haihaihaihaihaihaihaihaihaihaihai" in a decrescendo. Ask Hai_Hai; he is the expert in etiquette on this forum.

"gaijin" - You.

[mystic_kendoka]

the top is a bunch of BS, or rather its BS you shouldnt say...

anyway, if you're the sempai.. (meaning 'captain') at the beginning of class you would say...

'seirits' to your place
'chakuza' sit down
'kiyotsuke' pay attention
'mokuso' meditate
'mokuso yame' stop meditating
'ottogani' face the side/highest wall of dojo
're' bow
'shomeni' face the front/where the sensei is
're'

the last four might be different, its slightly different between dojos as theres more ways of saying, side or front etc.

for counting, 1~10 in the respective order is..
ich ni san shi go rok shich hach gyoo jyoo

i think thats it... enjoy..

[Ralutin]

the top is a bunch of BS, or rather its BS you shouldnt say...

for counting, 1~10 in the respective order is..
ich ni san shi go rok shich hach gyoo jyoo


Hi,

Just a few corrections on spelling and pronounciation:

1 = Ichi - 'eech'
2 = Ni - 'nee'
3 = San - 'san'
4 = Shi - 'she'
5 = Go - 'go' (short 'o')
6 = Roku - 'rok' (again, short 'o')
7 = Shichi - 'sheech'
8 = Hachi - 'hach'
9 = Kyu or Ku - 'queue' or 'koo'
10 = Ju - 'jew'

[mystic_kendoka]

there is no proper english spelling to it, as the proper spelling would be in kanji, 一二三四etc.

[Ralutin]

there is no proper english spelling to it, as the proper spelling would be in kanji, ????etc.

Very true, but I used the most commonly accepted form of romanji spelling. Some people will say I'm correct, others will say I'm wrong... :confused2

[Raiza]

Very true, but I used the most commonly accepted form of romanji spelling. Some people will say I'm correct, others will say I'm wrong... :confused2

Sounds right to me, Ralutin. Romaaji is easy to pronounce once you know the rules, and it sounds like you do. People trying to put their own interpretations of what the sounds should be are good for confusing those trying to learn. Japanese is a phonetically based language with kanji superimposed. In some cases the last vowel is cut off, resulting in the sounds Ralutin mentioned.

Romaaji vowel rules, for anyone who wants to know...
a as in father
i as in sleep
u as in rude
e as in met
o as in go
Very similar to Spanish except for e.

For one coming from a Roman alphabet learning to read and write Japanese, one should first learn romaaji, then hiragana/katakana, then kanji.

[Ralutin]

Sounds right to me, Ralutin. Romaaji is easy to pronounce once you know the rules, and it sounds like you do. People trying to put their own interpretations of what the sounds should be are good for confusing those trying to learn. Japanese is a phonetically based language with kanji superimposed. In some cases the last vowel is cut off, resulting in the sounds Ralutin mentioned.

Romaaji vowel rules, for anyone who wants to know...
a as in father
i as in sleep
u as in rude
e as in met
o as in go
Very similar to Spanish except for e.

For one coming from a Roman alphabet learning to read and write Japanese, one should first learn romaaji, then hiragana/katakana, then kanji.

Thanks for backing me up. I should've pointed out that I'm not a native Japanese speaker, nor have I gone beyond beginning level Japanese in college. For the 'o as in go' part, shouldn't the 'o' sound be cut short (i.e., your lips shouldn't be closed slightly or the 'o' sound be pronounced as in 'hoe'). Sorry for being a bit nit-picky. :D

[Raiza]

That's right, but for beginners I didn't want to get too indepth. :P

So long as I don't ever have to hear "mawkuso y-aim", I'll weather a few fine points of criticism. :)

[Musha]

anyway, if you're the sempai.. (meaning 'captain') at the beginning of class you would say...

先輩　(Sempai) means senior not captain that is some thing like gunsho.. I am not good with military terms :D.

[Ralutin]

That's right, but for beginners I didn't want to get too indepth. :P

So long as I don't ever have to hear "mawkuso y-aim", I'll weather a few fine points of criticism. :)

Doemoe arigatoegoezaymasheeta. ;)

Again, I wasn't criticizing, just being really nit-picky. My one problem with teaching beginners is providing too much detail all at once. My iaido sensei helped point that out to me a couple of times.

Anyway, back to the thread...

[Eldritch Knight]

先輩　(Sempai) means senior not captain that is some thing like gunsho.. I am not good with military terms :D.

If you're talking about a club (like a kendo club), captain is either 部長(buchou), or 主将(shushou).

[mystic_kendoka]

Doemoe arigatoegoezaymasheeta

this should be written domo arigato gojaimashita
much more simpler...

[Onara]

If you want to intimidate your opponent, shout "unkoshitai!" before you begin.


If you want to show respect to your teacher, very softly say "kintama kaiui" at the end of each training session.

You can't go wrong...

[Mike]

Thanks alot to everyone who provided words or links, those will be useful for me and I'll have to write them down and memorize them. Thanks! :smiley:

[Ralutin]

Doemoe arigatoegoezaymasheeta

this should be written domo arigato gojaimashita
much more simpler...

Obviously, my attempt at gross and intentional mispronounciation of a simple Japanese phrase was misunderstood... :disapp:

[Inouye02]

Doemoe arigatoegoezaymasheeta

this should be written domo arigato gojaimashita
much more simpler...



domo arigato gozaimashita

[Kaoru]

For one coming from a Roman alphabet learning to read and write Japanese, one should first learn romaaji, then hiragana/katakana, then kanji.

HI Raiza-san!

Personally, I disagree. :) I hate romaji very much. Just put before me regular Japanese in front of me any day, and I am very happy!

It is far better to just get used to reading the characters from the start, because you will never read romaji in Japan. Just practice writing over and over the characters, and it will soon sink in. Check out my language links over in Mystic's Japanese Language thread. Those should help some. :)

Ohhh how I do not like romaji... Not sure why, either. I just do. haha!

Kaoru

[Kaoru]

"baka" - It's an article in Japanese, much like "the" and "a". You will hear it plenty often but do not worry about it.

"boke" - It means the dojo has too many attrative females.

"yodare" - Too much of "boke".

"jodannimonaran" - I complement indicating you might be ready for jodan.

"hai" - Say this after every sentence spoken by your teacher, even if he is in mid-speech. Remember that chaining multiple "hai"s together is more polite. To be the most polite, say "haihaihaihaihaihaihaihaihaihaihai" in a decrescendo. Ask Hai_Hai; he is the expert in etiquette on this forum.

"gaijin" - You.

Hey Yowai-san...

That was just sooo funny!! :D :D

Am I the only one who thinks this was hilarious?? Well, it was! I'm still laughing!! :D :D

Thanks for a good laugh Yowai-san! :D

Kaoru

[mystic_kendoka]

yea i thought it was funny too.. wat does boke and yodare really mean though?

[Ralutin]

HI Raiza-san!

Personally, I disagree. :) I hate romaji very much. Just put before me regular Japanese in front of me any day, and I am very happy!

It is far better to just get used to reading the characters from the start, because you will never read romaji in Japan. Just practice writing over and over the characters, and it will soon sink in. Check out my language links over in Mystic's Japanese Language thread. Those should help some. :)

Ohhh how I do not like romaji... Not sure why, either. I just do. haha!

Kaoru

Hi Kaoru,

I totally agree with you in that you should start off learning to read and write kana. That is the most ideal thing to do. However, I have nothing against romaji, especially when it comes to typing out Japanese words and phrases when your keyboard isn't configured for Japanese characters.

[Eldritch Knight]

yea i thought it was funny too.. wat does boke and yodare really mean though?

boke is idiot, just like baka

yodare is drool

[misterkurukuru]

boke- when you are not all there...say like when you just get up or something.

[mystic_kendoka]

my friend said boke means to be dreamy..

[Hai_hai]

I just started kendo this week, but I'm having trouble remembering all the Japanese words that my instructor is using, and since I'm the oldest in my group (we're all beginners) I'm the "captain" and have to say some of those words myself. So I was wondering if anyone can either write down a list of those words so I can learn them, or if there are any websites with a list of all commonly used words and commands? And also how to count to ten in Japanese as we do that during the physical exercices and warmup... thanks for any help! :smiley:

After one week, you aren't expected to have everything memorized. The leading sensei will assist you until you get to know all the commands. By the way, you are not the captain, just the highest ranking (or in your case, the eldest) student in the class. Taisho is captain and is a term used in shiai (tournament), not in keiko (practice).

[mystic_kendoka]

the word for being the highest rank or eldest person is sempai...
PS i am now 5th kyu!!! just took my exam..

[Hai_hai]

the word for being the highest rank or eldest person is sempai...
PS i am now 5th kyu!!! just took my exam..

That's true. Furthermore, anyone of a higher rank (not the highest rank) than you is also your sempai. So, you can address anyone higher than you as sempai if they are not a sensei.

[Hai_hai]

If you want to intimidate your opponent, shout "unkoshitai!" before you begin.


If you want to show respect to your teacher, very softly say "kintama kaiui" at the end of each training session.

You can't go wrong...

Finish it off with "Boku wa sukebe desu... anata ga naisu bodi imasu... robu hoteru ikimashoka?".

[watanabe2k]

Finish it off with "Boku wa sukebe desu... anata ga naisu bodi imasu... robu hoteru ikimashoka?".
LOL!

Advice from my dad for those who have problem with Japanese.

"Kora, motto benkyoshiro!"

[Anaru Mousaka]

does anyone know how you say hello in japanese?

[forbidden]

back to glossaries...
I see out from the web pages that
migi = right
hidari = left

but i cant see what "back" and "forward" are in japanese.

Can anybody answer this question? I saw something earlier, but different pages said different things...

And no answers from people who is just trying to let people ridicule themselves please...
its not funny, and it just says more about you then me


/øystein

[Musha]

Lol thats easy


Forwards
Mae 前
|
Left Hidari 左 + Right Migi　右
|
Back
Ura　裏

Also.. Ue/jyou 上
Up

Shita/Ge 下
Down

Naname Diagnal　斜め
Yoko Horizontal 横

Heikou 平行
Parrallel

[Ralutin]

Hi,

Most people also use say "ato" for moving backward.

[itachi]

my club uses this one
http://www.jccckendo.com/kendo/aboutkendo/abterms.html

[samurai999]

Lol thats easy


Forwards
Mae 前
|
Left Hidari 左 + Right Migi　右
|
Back
Ura　裏



Don't know if I'm wrong or not, but I thought it was "ushiro" instead of ura?

Tim

[mingshi]

You are damn right Tim!

If In:Yo, or Yin:Yang, 陰:陽
If Forward:Backward, 前:後
Also, if before:after, 先:後

Try typing "ato/ushiro" on IME and you'll get "後"... I am not sure under what occation do you pronounce it as "ato" or "ushiro", but one of my Japanese sensei definitely said "ato" for footwork.

Note to Musha: DO NOT ARGUE.

[Hai_hai]

does anyone know how you say hello in japanese?

There is no English equivalent of hello. Use the salutations below depending on the time of day.

Ohayo (good morning)
Konnichiwa (good afternoon)
Konbanwa (good evening)
Hehro (hello in FOB English)

[Musha]

Note to Musha: DO NOT ARGUE.

Argue about what? And I was trying to work out what 陰:陽 was for a while.
It is difficult for me to switch between Japanese and English all the time. Kanji you can read how you like if you know the meaning and no one will know if you are wrong if you just type the Kanji lol　:D.

Correction :wink:


Forwards
Mae 前
|
Left Hidari 左 + Right Migi　右
|
Back
Ushiro　後ろ

Ura is reverse as in the reverse side of the box..Ushiro is more of a verb I guess.

P.s [後 GO KOU nochi urishiro ato okureru] Is usualy used for after/later

朝ごはんの後に出かけよう 'Asagohan no ato ni dekakeyou'. Lets go after breakefast.

In my Kanji dictionary it says Ushiro 後ろ、後] Back, rear
後ろから　Ushiro kara from behind
後ろ足 Ushiroashi Hind leg

and ato can be used

後足 Ato ashi Hind leg
後戻りする ato modori suru go backward, move back, turn back;retrogarade.

Remember that in Kendo sensei usually use commanding words like in the military. Never things like Kudasai ------Gozaimasu -------masu. Ushiro is probably too polite for some people so Ato is used.

I can try and tell any one about the difference between polite and commanding/agressive words if any one likes :D.

[Eldritch Knight]

Ushiro isn't a verb - its an noun, just like the others. Ura and ushiro are totally different in that ushiro refers to the direction behind you, while ura can only be used to refer to the opposite side of something (be it a box, a house, a wall, etc). Ato, on the other hand, usually refers to time, and not direction (e.g. "Kore no ato, are shite" - after this, do that). It can be used with respect to direction, but this is a more older usage (maybe that's why your sensei used it).

As such, "rear foot" would be 後の足 - ushiro no ashi (note - the "ro" can be freely omitted, and commonly is).

[Musha]

(e.g. "Kore no ato, are shite" - after this, do that). It can be used with respect to direction, but this is a more older usage (maybe that's why your sensei used it).

Kono ato are site sounds better :wink:.

[red_xavier]

Finish it off with "Boku wa sukebe desu... anata ga naisu bodi imasu... robu hoteru ikimashoka?".

What does this mean?



On a side note, please make sure that you pronounce the Rs as if they were light Ls. I'm seeing an alarming rate of people telling others that it's rok etc. For years I fell into this trap, particularly with names like SF's Ryu being so consistently mispronounced, but if you actually talk with Japanese people they won't have a clue what you're saying.

[Hai_hai]

What does this mean?...

Just say it anyone who speaks Japanese. It doesn't have to be just your sensei.

[red_xavier]

Just say it anyone who speaks Japanese. It doesn't have to be just your sensei.

...

How about answering the question? :rolleyes: I know it isn't polite and that the first bit's about wood... the last bit about coming to a hotel...

[Andoru]

How do you say "sorry" and "please excuse me" in Japanese?

[red_xavier]

How do you say "sorry" and "please excuse me" in Japanese?

Sorry = Gomen nasai
excuse me = sumi masen

But romanji alone isn't going to help you pronounce the words properly. Try and find a friend who's Japanese or listen for it in a movie.

[Andoru]

Thanks. What's the difference between "gomen nasai" and "gomene"?

[red_xavier]

Sorry, no idea!

[Andoru]

No worries. Thanks anyway :)

[Hai_hai]

You can learn Japanese and find out the translation.

[red_xavier]

I have... no thanks to you.

[Misaki]

gomenasai and gomen ne~ is pretty much the same. They both mean sorry, but gomenasai is more formal. Also gomen ne~ is used more often by females.
And for that person that was wondering about military terms, here are some:
Nitto(Itto, Joto) Hei- Private Ranks
Gunsou-Sergeant
Sochou-Sergeant Major
Taii-Captain
Coronel-Taisa
Gensui-General (Highest ranking in nation)
These are according to Marine rank not navy/army. benri desu na

[Mr. Donigan]

"daione" Pronounced Die-oh-nay. It's all you need to know.

kidding, it roughly translates into "MMHMM that's right".