Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do you say "I love you" in Japanese?
A: This would be "Anata o ai shite imasu" BUT be advised that the Japanese typically don't use the word for love ("ai") when talking about their feelings for someone else (not even a boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse, child, parent, etc.). They would typically say "Anata no koto ga suki desu" or "Anata ga daisuki desu". "Suki" means "like" and "daisuki" means "favorite". This may seem strange but this is just what they say for "I love you".

Q: How do you convert English words to Japanese or Japanese words to English?
A: You can't. Japanese is a completely different language with no similarities to English. The grammar, alphabet, vocabulary, etc. is all different. Many people think an online translator, like BabelFish, will do the trick. Truth is, machine translations such as that make absolutely no sense. The only way to "convert" English to Japanese, or visa versa, is to be fluent in both languages and translate between the two (not an easy task) or find someone to do it for you.

Q: Will you teach me all the slang and swear words?
A: No.

Q: What is my name in Japanese?
A: Obviously, there are a lot of different names so this would be nearly impossible to do for everyone. Here are some common American names in Japanese (Katakana):
Michael - マイケル, Mike - マイク
Aaron - アーロン
Matt - マット
Scott - スコット
Jason - ジェイソン

Q: Is Japanese grammar the same as English?
A: No. It is almost backwards from English. Please see lesson 4 for more information.

Q: Will you post sound files for pronounciation?
A: This is something we have thought about for some time and would really like to do at some point. Recording and creating the sound files would take quite a bit of time, however, and this is a free site.

Q: How long does it take to become fluent in Japanese?
A: Years. There is no secret to becoming instantly fluent and these lessons are just the basics. Just think how long it took you to master whatever language you speak as your native language. Japanese is a very simple language compared to English but learning a foreign language is always difficult.

Q: Is Japanese easier than English?
A: Japanese is a much more structured and simplistic language than English, in our opinion. For example, Japanese verbs all fall into 3 categories. Godan (lesson 6), Ichidan (lesson 7), and the 2 irregular verbs (also lesson 7). All Godan verbs follow the rules given in lesson 6 with only one exception. All Ichidan verbs follow the rules provided. Irregular verbs have there own rules but there are only 2 of them! English has exceptions for almost every verb and very few rules that can be followed. As mentioned above, however, learning a foreign language is always difficult.

Q: Can you post all Japanese Kanji?
A: A good Japanese Kanji dictionary will list about 9635 different Kanji. Not all of these are used regularly in Japan (some not at all) but there are still 1945 Jouyou Kanji (regularly used) and that is too many to list with all of their readings and meanings. Some characters have as many as 12 different readings depend on how it is used in a sentence. A list of Jouyou Kanji (without their readings and meanings) can be found here. Another site, can be found here - all of the readings and meanings can be listed but make for a lot of reading!

Q: Can you post all Japanese words?
A: The Great Japanese Dictionary has 2380 pages each containing around 75 words. That's around 180,000 words and is probably not all of them. Even listing the thousands of commonly used words would take a long time.

Q: Do you know of a good Japanese phone directory? I have a Japanese friend I would like to get a hold of.
A: There are approximately 125 million Japanese. That's around half of the population of the United States. There are a number of online phone directories for Japan but you need to be able to read Japanese to use them and also know the prefecture ("state") and city they live in. Also, there are many, many common names and one search could return thousands of people with the same name.

Q: What is the difference between the particles "wa" and "ga"?
A: The difference between "wa" and "ga" is a subtle one. "Wa", by definition, is the "topic marker" while "ga" is the "subject marker". Here is an example, "I heard that you bought a new book." - "Watashi wa anata ga atarashii hon wo katta to kiita." The "watashi wa" portion can be left off, however, as it is implied. When you are starting out with Japanese, don't worry too much about when to use "wa" instead of "ga", and visa versa, as most Japanese themselves really don't know the rules for when to use which. It is something that is learned by feel over many years of speaking.

Q: I am a Naruto fan. What does "dattebayo" mean?
A: "Dattebayo" is a part of Naruto's hougen (dialect). It is used to add emphasis and doesn't have any meaning by itself. For more information click here.