for all the people that has visited japan, or live there now. What do you say would be best to do before going. I plan on going around semptember, if money savings are enough at the time. I want to stay awhile atleast 2 months. I know very little japanese words (stuff like baka, inu, etc) I know I should learn more before I jump in head over heels and get stuck. So what would be best to learn? best place to visit? etc lwizardl
OK, here we go. You should buy a 2 month JR Train pass. You'll save an awful lot of money. As for the language you should really know the basics as this will help you an awful lot. Here is a quick guide. OK, well you have Baka and Inu so if you combine them you can get Baka Inu = Stupid Dog Hahaha. OK, seriously learn the following. Kore & Sore = This & That Desuka? = Is it? (I'm not too sure who you'd say this in English but DESU means "is" where DESUKA makes the sentence in to a question. look - ringo desu = It's an apple. Ringo desuka? = Is it an apple? Wa (Spelt Ha) = as for. This has no real meaning but sort of sets the subject of the sentence for example - Kore wa ikura desuka? = (Straight translation) This as for how much is it? In other words, How much is this? "This" being the main subject of the sentence. Here's more; Nanji = What time Kara = from Tsugi = next Densha = Train Itsu = when No = this is used in a similar way to " 's " in English. Basically to say that something belongs to something else. Tsugi no densha wa nanji kara desuka? = (Straight translation) Next's train as for what time from ? = From what time it the next train. You could probably change "NANJI" for Itsu which just means "When". Well, I'm bored now but I hope this little confusing bit of Japanese helps someone out there. Yakumo
Most important phrase: Sumimasen <---means 'Excuse me', or 'I'm sorry'. I used it to start conversations everywhere, got good reactions. When in doubt, apologize and excuse your a$$ off. "wa doku desu ka" (Am I romanizing this right?) This is how to ask where something is. Like the bullet train (Shinkansen) would be: Shinkansen wa doku desu ka? Oh, and "gamu-centaa" is Game-Center, or "Arcade". That was my number one question...."Where is the Arcade?". lol.
