Nanika Atta? -- Basic Japanese for the Easily Confused

What I said up there is the Japanese way to ask, 'What's Up?'. Some Japanese is easily pronounced, like above, but some isn't; so I plan on adding how to pronounce the word as well their corresponding translations.

When I said basic, I meant basic. The first thing I'm going to tell you about is how to simply say, 'yes' and 'no'. 'Yes', in Japanese, is 'Hai'. I'm sure you've heard it before in some cheesy ninja movie? Either way, I'm sure the pronunciation is a tad bit self-explanatory. The Japanese word for 'no' is 'Iie'. It's pronounced like, 'ee-eh', the two 'I's meaning for the 'e' sound to be stretched.

Before I get into words and simple phrases, though, I'm going to explain how to pronounce certain sounds in the language. 'R's in Japanese are a lot like in Spanish, but not quite rolled. When you first start to learn Japanese (this is what I did), you say all of the 'r's as a 'd' or even an 'l' sound, and while you learn and get better, they start sounding a bit more like an 'r' as well, if that makes any sense. Also in the Japanese language, when a word ends in an '-su', like '-masu' or '-desu', the 'u' is silent. Like I said above, when a word also has two 'I's in it, you either stretch the 'ee' sound the 'I' already makes, or you say it like, 'e-ee' (with the first 'I' said quicker). This one isn't too important, but when a word ends in '-ou', it's said simply like, 'o'; with the 'u' being silent again. And finally, most 'w's are said slightly like 'v's. I know I'm no 'For Dummies' book when it comes to explaining things, but bare with me.

Possibly one of my favorite words in any language, is the word 'Oi'. 'Ne', pronounced 'neh', and 'Oi' are both Japanese for the word, 'Hey'. For example, if you yell out 'Hey!' to get somebody's attention, it's the same thing as, 'Oi!'. 'Ne' is usually used when you're casually trying to get somebody's attention, like, 'Hey, did you get the homework question?' it's, 'Ne, did you get the homework question?'.

In Japanese you can greet somebody the same way you would somebody in English; language-wise anyway. You can say, 'Good Morning', 'Good Afternoon', 'Good Evening', and 'Good Night'. 'Good Morning' is 'Ohayou Gozaimasu'; remember that the 'u's in Japan are rarely said. 'Oh-ha-yo go-zai-mas' is the pronunciation. 'Good Afternoon' is the well-known 'Konnichiwa', which you hopefully already know how to say. It's a common mistake in Western countries (or in America, anyway) for people to think that the words simply means, 'hello' so you can say it any time, but that's not the case. 'Good Evening' is 'Konbanwa'; the 'o' makes an 'oh' sound, and the 'a' makes an 'ah' sound. Finally, 'Good Night' is 'Oyasumi Nasai'; again, so problem there. Over the telephone only, you can also say hello to somebody by saying, 'Moshi Moshi'.

To say 'Thank You' in Japanese you say, 'Arigatou'; and I personally find this word to be great for practicing your 'r's. The reply to that, 'You're Welcome', is 'Doitashimashite'. The pronunciation, 'cause I know you probably need it, is 'do-tashi-ma-shi-teh'; the first 'I' (and sometimes the second 'I' too) is usually silent. 'Please' is 'Onegai Shimasu', or sometimes just 'Onegai'; '-shimasu' of course applies to the rule about silent 'u's again.

For some random words you may use often, I'll tell you how to say 'But', 'What', 'Okay (I understand)', 'Wait', and 'I'm Sorry'. The word 'But', is 'Demo'. Not like 'Demo' in 'Demonstration', but 'deh-moh' (emphasis on the 'e' sound a bit). 'What' is 'Nani', not 'Nanny', 'nah-ni'. 'Okay', said like 'I understand', is the word 'Wakata'; 'wah-kah-tah'. Almost last, you say 'Wait' like 'Matte'. The pronunciation being, 'mah-teh'. Finally, a klutz's favorite phrase, 'I'm Sorry'. It actually has two ways to say it; the first is, 'Summimasen', said like 'su-me-mah-se(n)' *in Japan, when you say a word that may end with an 'n', it can sometimes be silent; not all the way, but pretty much*. The second way is, 'Gomenasai', sometimes shortened to 'Gomene'. They're pronounced like, 'go-men-ah-sah-ee' and 'go-men-eh'.

I think the last thing I'll tell you about are Japanese honorifics, considering I really don't want to get into Japanese sentence structure. Let's just say it's different than western sentence structure...

In Japan, everybody addresses or refers to each other by a name or a suffix added to their own name, called an honorific. If you refer to someone without an honorific, you must be very close, or else it's rude not to. Also, in Japan, the surname comes before the given name; and you'd be referred to by your last name for the most part.

-chan
Mostly added to the end of a girl's name (or a girl's boyfriend), it's informal and usually used just to be cute. For example, I could call my best friend 'Kai-chan'.
-kun
This is also informal, and mostly used to address guys. It's usually used by a girl when addressing a guy who she likes, or has known for a long time. It can also be used by people of a senior status when referring to someone of a junior status, etc. An example would be me calling my friend, 'Josh-kun'.
-san
Formal, and the all-purpose honorific. It's basically the equivalent of 'Mr.', 'Mrs.', 'Miss', or 'Ms.'. It can also be used in a variety of other ways, like to address pet names or inanimate objects. For example, my dog would be addressed as, 'Sparky-san' (he could also be addressed with -kun too, or if he was a girl, -chan)
-sama
This one is very formal, and kind of like the extreme form of -san. It's used mainly to address people of a higher status if one's self, or even somebody one greatly admires. Example; I'd call Albert Einstein, 'Einstein-sama', because I admire him. Like a nerd.
-sensei
This is used to refer to a teacher or a doctor of some sort, somebody who has a chieved a high level and also respect. So I would call my techer, 'Brown-sensei'.
-sempai/senpai
These are used by someone of a lower class to an upperclassman; for example, I would call my friend a year ahead of me in school, 'Alex-sempai'.
-ka
This is to refer to a master of a profession; like a Manga artist would be a 'Manga-ka'.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your lesson.
~Jess'ka