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Passiflora
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Post Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 12:24 pm |
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Joined: Tue May 21, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 12407
Location: The things, they hurt
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Plus it's no use to learn to say "where is the bathroom" if you won't understand the answer.
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weatherwax
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Post Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 8:56 pm |
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Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 12:00 am Posts: 2825
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Location: Wishing I was not in Kansas anymore
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I think knowing the words for various drugs would be useful. My lesson was learned by a trip to France. I needed something to sooth itching and was in an area where English wasn't known by everyone. That was an...interesting bit of miming at the drug store.
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CCC
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Post Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 1:25 pm |
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Joined: Wed May 15, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 11381
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AlternateTorg wrote: [*]Do you speak English? I don't think it's actually at all necessary to be able to say this in any foreign language. You can ask the question in English; if the other person doesn't understand, then the answer is 'no'.
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drachefly
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Post Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 6:08 pm |
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Member of the Fraternal Order of the Emergency Pants |
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Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 3167
AOL: drachefly
Location: Philadelphia, PA
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Then, "Can you get someone who speaks English?"
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AlternateTorg
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Post Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 6:50 pm |
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Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2003 12:00 am Posts: 2994
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"Do you speak English?" is short. "Get me someone who speaks English" is the obvious implied question if the answer is no.
Knowing how to say "please" is pretty useful. Aside from being courteous, it can be used as a crudely-worded request for help. Indicate an object in a store and say "please," and it's clear you wish to buy it. Tack it in front of the name of your hotel, and it's obvious that you're asking for directions.
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LobosSolos
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Post Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 9:51 pm |
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Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 6:07 am Posts: 1505
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Yahoo Messenger: [email protected]
Location: Out of my mind, back... never
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AlternateTorg wrote: "Do you speak English?" is short. "Get me someone who speaks English" is the obvious implied question if the answer is no.
Knowing how to say "please" is pretty useful. Aside from being courteous, it can be used as a crudely-worded request for help. Indicate an object in a store and say "please," and it's clear you wish to buy it. Tack it in front of the name of your hotel, and it's obvious that you're asking for directions. Tack on what Heinlein said about knowing how to say thank you.
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Jorodryn
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 2:09 am |
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
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I can say thank you in a few languages.
There is
Domo Hairy Gecko.
Murky Buckets.
Donkey Shorts.
She She.
and Much Grassy Ass.
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Kajin
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 2:12 am |
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Gatekeeper of Niftiness |
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Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 12:16 am Posts: 9081
Location: Praise be to the sticky elastic bands of the Healing Gauze
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CCC
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 3:34 am |
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Joined: Wed May 15, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 11381
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Quote: "Do you speak English?" is short. "Get me someone who speaks English" is the obvious implied question if the answer is no. Ah, right. That makes sense. Somehow, I'd missed that implication. Quote: Tack on what Heinlein said about knowing how to say thank you. "Thank you" in Afrikaans is "Dankie", which is pronounced exactly like "Donkey".
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caffeine
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 4:39 am |
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Joined: Sat May 25, 2002 12:00 am Posts: 2341
Location: Smack bang in the middle of Europe
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Jorodryn wrote: Domo Hairy Gecko I can figure out what the other languages you're going for are, but this one has left me baffled.
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AlternateTorg
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 10:07 am |
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Member of the Fraternal Order of the Emergency Pants |
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I think what he's going for there is "domo arigato."
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Jorodryn
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 12:52 pm |
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
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funny, I thought gato was cat.
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Ruan
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Post Posted: Wed May 29, 2013 2:36 pm |
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Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2004 12:00 am Posts: 6868
AOL: RuanalHallen
Location: What matter wounds? For each time he falls, he shall rise again and woe to the wicked!
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Gato is Spanish for cat. For instance, "Tengo un gato en mis pantalones." "I have a cat in my pants." (which was a hilarious day in Spanish class...)
Domo arigato is Japanese for 'Thanks a lot', with domo being 'much/very' and arigato being 'thanks'.
That said, when saying thank you in Japanese, more often you will be saying arigato gozaimasu (if in a more formal situation) or just arigato if among friends.
Domo - as in just saying 'domo' by itself is multi-use among native Japanese speakers, meaning (depending on context) 'thank you', 'excuse me', or 'sorry' to name a few. It's just one of those ways you use to acknowledge someone else. That said, it is very informal, and generally shouldn't be used unless among friends.
What really makes it difficult for non-native speakers to learn is learning to write in Japanese. Compare (assuming you have Japanese fonts on your computer, otherwise below may seem jibberish):
Romaji - Nihongo wo hanashimasuka? (Can you speak Japanese) Hirogana - にほんごをはなしますか? Ni-ho-n-go-o-ha-na-shi-ma-su-ka-? Katakana - カンヨウスペアクジャパネズ? (Might have gotten it wrong, but roughly 'Can you speak Japanese?' - katakana is used to spell out foreign words/names/phrases) Kanji - 日本語を話しますか? (This is what you would normally see)
Romaji is generally only used by Western audiences who don't know how to read the other three, and basically involves spelling it out. Hirogana is the simplest way to write Japanese, effectively having one hirogana per syllable. On a side note, if you were to see a person in a manga speaking entirely in hiragana, it generally implies they do not know Japanese very well (such as being a foreigner). Alternatively... Katakana is how the Japanese write most foreign words or names. If you see someone in manga speaking in katakana, they're likely speaking in a foreign language (often English). It is also used for sound effects in manga. Kanji, however, is the tricky part. They're the most complex characters, and, based on the situation in which they are combined together, may have completely different meanings. For instance, 夢 means dream, and 中 means inside, but if you put them together with 夢中 it can mean daze/trance/delirious - literally dreaming inside.
And then you start stacking formal vs. informal wording on top of that, the use of honorifics like -san/-sama/-sempai ect., always referring to someone by their last name (calling a Japanese person by their first name, without any honorifics at all, is very rude - that form of address is reserved for very close friends or loved ones)... and the sheer amounts of contextual layered meaning that tends to come across with it...
Gah. Yeah. It's definitely an interesting language to learn.
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Jorodryn
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Post Posted: Thu May 30, 2013 4:58 pm |
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Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:42 am Posts: 1959
ICQ: 8854007
Yahoo Messenger: jorodryn
Location: Well since the universe expands infinitely in all directions, The center of the universe.
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I lived on Okinawa for 4 years and learned a bit of the language. I made the gato comment to be funny, but I do appreciate the lesson.
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weatherwax
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:43 pm |
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Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2003 12:00 am Posts: 2825
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Location: Wishing I was not in Kansas anymore
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I have that feeling I always get right before a major move - excited, sad and filled with dread. Excited because I look forward to leaving Wichita for a bigger, more interesting city. Sad that I'm leaving all of the wonderful people I met behind. Filled with dread that I'll actually hate everything about my newest hometown.
And of course, it makes me remember everyone I've ever moved away from. I've been a nomad all my life, and now that I'm approaching 30, I'm slowly realizing that I want to find a permanent residence - or at least a place I'd consider as home with no foreseeable plans of moving.
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