A lesson on Japanese internet

[watermen]

I saw such a lesson in KoreanClass101 today. It talks about Korean Internet...can we have such a lesson in Jpod101 too. I would like to know more about the Japanese internet culture.

[josiah]

えーーと　あれワーターくん、オタクじゃね？　

[watermen]

えーーと　あれワーターくん、オタクじゃね？　

ワーターくん...what does this word mean? I can't find it in the dictionary.

[Jason]

えーーと　あれワーターくん、オタクじゃね？　

ワーターくん...what does this word mean? I can't find it in the dictionary.

I think he's referring to you, "water-kun."

[Javizy]

I know it's not necessary to talk as politely as Japanese do to each other, but isn't that like 'eerrr, like Wartie, you're a geek, ain'tcha, boy?'.

What was the Internet lesson about? If it was help browsing web pages, that could be good, although I don't know how they could go through things like filling out an order form in an audio lesson.

[josiah]

ROLFMAO
やぁ、ジャビー！オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
すいません、ジャビーさん。:wink:

I know it's not necessary to talk as politely as Japanese do to each other, but isn't that like 'eerrr, like Wartie, you're a geek, ain'tcha, boy?'.

What was the Internet lesson about? If it was help browsing web pages, that could be good, although I don't know how they could go through things like filling out an order form in an audio lesson.

[watermen]

I know it's not necessary to talk as politely as Japanese do to each other, but isn't that like 'eerrr, like Wartie, you're a geek, ain'tcha, boy?'.

What was the Internet lesson about? If it was help browsing web pages, that could be good, although I don't know how they could go through things like filling out an order form in an audio lesson.

Thanks for translating. I understand now.

Here is that Kclass101 lesson that I loved the most.
http://www.koreanclass101.com/2008/01/3 ... ber-korea/

I really hope Jpod101 can have something like that..this is way way better than sight and sound. The response of that lesson was very good too. I really hope Jpod101 can consider doing similar things.

It seems to me that Kclass101 is having a lot of innovative idea...can we have some in Jpod101 too?

[watermen]

ROLFMAO
やぁ、ジャビー！オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
すいません、ジャビーさん。:wink:

What is だってさ? I know だって means "however", but what about that さ? What does it mean?

[Javizy]

ROLFMAO
やぁ、ジャビー！オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
すいません、ジャビーさん。:wink:

What is だってさ? I know だって means "however", but what about that さ? What does it mean?

You can add most so-called sentence ending particles at other breaks in the sentence to convey a softened nuance, or to buy some time. They don't really change the meaning when you translate.

私はね、 As for me, (girly)
でもね、 But, (girly)
だけどさ、 But,
僕はな、 As for me, (masculine)

You'd translate them more in tone with the rest of the sentence, but hopefully that makes it clear enough.

[watermen]

ROLFMAO
やぁ、ジャビー！オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
すいません、ジャビーさん。:wink:

What is だってさ? I know だって means "however", but what about that さ? What does it mean?

You can add most so-called sentence ending particles at other breaks in the sentence to convey a softened nuance, or to buy some time. They don't really change the meaning when you translate.

私はね、 As for me, (girly)
でもね、 But, (girly)
だけどさ、 But,
僕はな、 As for me, (masculine)

You'd translate them more in tone with the rest of the sentence, but hopefully that makes it clear enough.

So how do I know when to use さ and な? Thanks again.

[Jason]

ROLFMAO
やぁ、ジャビー！オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
すいません、ジャビーさん。:wink:

What is だってさ? I know だって means "however", but what about that さ? What does it mean?

You can add most so-called sentence ending particles at other breaks in the sentence to convey a softened nuance, or to buy some time. They don't really change the meaning when you translate.

私はね、 As for me, (girly)
でもね、 But, (girly)
だけどさ、 But,
僕はな、 As for me, (masculine)

You'd translate them more in tone with the rest of the sentence, but hopefully that makes it clear enough.

So how do I know when to use さ and な? Thanks again.

This is very informal speech. There really aren't any rules when it comes to filler words. It would be like trying to tell someone when they should use "umm" versus "uhh" in English. You just use the one that comes to mind first. な does have a somewhat 'harder" feel than さ though. At this point in your learning, though, it's not really something you should be too concerned about.

[Jason]

オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。

You have some pretty serious errors here. Let me translate what you've said here:

"I always can't use honorific language. So I can use it a bit."

I'm not really sure what you were trying to say here. I can tell you, however, that you can't use いつも with a negative verb, not even in informal speech. The "negative' version of いつも is 全然.

[Javizy]

オレ、いつも敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。

You have some pretty serious errors here. Let me translate what you've said here:

"I always can't use honorific language. So I can use it a bit."

I'm not really sure what you were trying to say here. I can tell you, however, that you can't use いつも with a negative verb, not even in informal speech. The "negative' version of いつも is 全然.

I think he was trying to say he can't bare using teinei-go all the time, but he'll try a little (for me). Focusing on casual speech first can't be too good for your grammar, there are enough blanks to fill in with polite sentences, so it must be easy to lose your bearings.

I'm guessing that Watermen is older than him, so wouldn't that make the use of 'kun' pretty condescending? That's why I added the 'boy' to the translation.

[josiah]

Ah sorry guys, I just thought I'd have a little bit of a joke.
As for my Japanese, my own grammar is appalling, but I personally go by the method of use it or lose it, even if it isn't very good i can always accept corrections from others.
Thank you both.
Most of my friends around me use informal Japanese, so my formal Japanese isn't very good either, but if I can understand what is said I always get by.
オレ、全然敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
Is that what you meant?
私は全然使えません。
Would that be correct?
Again, if anyone was offended,
ごめんなさい

[Javizy]

Ah sorry guys, I just thought I'd have a little bit of a joke.
As for my Japanese, my own grammar is appalling, but I personally go by the method of use it or lose it, even if it isn't very good i can always accept corrections from others.
Thank you both.
Most of my friends around me use informal Japanese, so my formal Japanese isn't very good either, but if I can understand what is said I always get by.
オレ、全然敬語使えないんだよなー。だってさ、ちょっと使えるだ。
Is that what you meant?
私は全然使えません。
Would that be correct?
Again, if anyone was offended,
ごめんなさい

I doubt anyone was offended, but you might want to watch out when you post on Japanese forums. From what I've seen, regular semiformal 丁寧語 is the norm when it comes to Internet-based situations like this (check the comments/forum at EnglishPod), you only need to use 敬語 in extremely formal (usually business) situations. I think a lot of people here are probably 敬語音痴

「私は全然使えません」that looks right to me.