Japanese Word of the Day

[kurinezumi]

here's an appropriate one

研学
けんがく
kengaku
study

or even more appropriate for this forum

自習
じしゅう
jishuu
self-study

Not sure where you got 研学, but that is not a very common Japanese word, and exists only in my ginormous Jpn-Jpn dictionary. It doesn't even convert automatically when I type.

It does of course mean study, but in a much more formal (like PhD thesis) way. For everyday studying you probably want

勉強　　　　　　勉強する
べんきょう　　　べんきょうする
benkyou benkyou suru
study to study

and the much more common usage of the pronunciation "kengaku" would be...

見学
けんがく
kengaku
observe, inspect, study by observation

工場見学（こうじょうけんがく　koujou kengaku) = factory tour

見学する(kengaku suru) can both mean "to tour" like you would at a museum or whatnot, or "to observe" as opposed to participating (Like "I sprained my ankle, so I'm just going to observe gym class")

Damn those Japanese homophones and synonyms!!

[kurinezumi]

First, I just wanted to apologize if my response seemed a little brusque. I know how difficult it is to study a language on your own, so I just wanted to give some feedback, not be discouraging.

Looking back at the first post I figured out where the word 研学 came from. Looking at www.jisho.org it is an amazingly complete dictionary, so I was happy to find it, BUT you have to be very careful when you use it, as it is almost too complete for a beginning learner. It is possible to get lost... The problem is that it doesn't put its results in any kind of order, so the first ones that pop up are not necessarily the most frequently used. With all of the thousands of words in Japanese, I firmly believe that you should start with ones that will be useful for everyday life (and drama watching).

My two tips for using that site better if you are a beginning learner would be to a) always check the "Common words only" box, as this significantly narrows the choices to sift through and b) look at the example sentences of the words, or even to start your search in the "Sentences" section, so you can see if it really is used in the way you want to use it. If there are no example sentences it is probably either infrequently used, or slang (from my brief survey of results).

And finally, to offer a "word of the day"

落ち着く (verb)
おちつく
ochitsuku

1: to calm down; to compose oneself; to regain presence of mind;
2: to calm down; to settle down; to die down; to become stable; to abate;
3: to settle down (in a location, job, etc.); to settle in;
4: to be settled; to be fixed; to have been reached;
5: to harmonize with; to harmonise with; to match; to suit; to fit;
6: to be unobtrusive; to be quiet; to be subdued


Uses:
落ち着く場所（おちつくばしょ ochitsuku basho) = A place you feel comfortable or calm

落ち着いてください（おちついてください ochitsuite kudasai) = Please calm down. (The kudasai can be omitted among friends)

落ち着けって（おちつけって　ochitsuke tte) = Calm down already! (You may hear this in dramas in informal situations when someone is freaking out and another person, usually a guy, is trying to calm them down... very informal speech, and pretty masculine)

落ち着いている人（おちついているひと ochitsuiteiru hito) = a person who is calm or level-headed, not flightly, well grounded

Kind of a random word, but it can be used in so many different situations.

[Kawaikochan]

Looking at www.jisho.org it is an amazingly complete dictionary, so I was happy to find it, BUT you have to be very careful when you use it...

My two tips for using that site better if you are a beginning learner would be to a) always check the "Common words only" box, as this significantly narrows the choices to sift through and b) look at the example sentences of the words, or even to start your search in the "Sentences" section, so you can see if it really is used in the way you want to use it. If there are no example sentences it is probably either infrequently used, or slang (from my brief survey of results).

Totally agree with your suggestions for jisho.org. I also want to suggest another way to look up example sentences: google search. I suggest doing this even if there are example sentences in jisho.org (or any dictionary) for some situations. When you do a google search, you can better assess how often, the natural manner and the context in which the word/reading is used. Also, you can look up longer phrases.

Thanks for your suggestion and new word Kurine.

Edited to add: the major problem with (or benefit of) a google search is that you get a grab bag of information, like you would if you searched for something in your native language. So it's best to look at a couple results in order to get a better understanding.

[ladyfaile]

no apologies necessary, if i screw up definately feel free to correct me lol. i didn't realize there was a box for common words, i'll look for that next time. i've noticed that with jisho... that it gives too many forms without listing them in a way that implies which is most common or most useful etc. i tried to go by the example sentences.

sorry i haven't posted in the last few days, we had a super crazy busy weekend here with the winter carnival and friends from out of town and stuff, and my sister in law's dance recital last night. so i haven't been online much. i'll post one later, i forgot my glasses in the bedroom and i'm too lazy to go get them lol

[kurinezumi]

i didn't realize there was a box for common words, i'll look for that next time. i've noticed that with jisho... that it gives too many forms without listing them in a way that implies which is most common or most useful etc. i tried to go by the example sentences.

The box isn't on the home page, but if you go to the "Words" tab then you get to select it. It really narrows things down a lot.

Some words...

Japanese takes a lot of words from foreign languages. Nouns are by far the most common, but did you know that they have made verbs out of foreign words as well? These are often written in a combination of katakana and hiragana for the verb endings, or sometimes just in hiragana.

1.
サボる
さぼる
saboru

to be truant; to play hooky; to skip school; to skip out; to be idle; to sabotage by slowness

You can find it in the last definition, but this word comes from "sabotage" and now usually means skipping some commitment (work, school, your workout... not meals)

学校をサボる　がっこうをさぼる gakkou o saboru = skip school

2.
パニクる
ぱにくる
panikuru
to panic

This one should be obvious...

3.
トラブる
とらぶる
toraburu
to make trouble, to get into trouble

This one should also be obvious...


There are also some verbs that are often written in katakana and/or hiragana that have come from other places.

4.
びびる
bibiru
1: to feel nervous; to feel self-conscious; to feel surprise;
2: (Colloquialism) to get cold feet; to get the jitters; to feel frightened

This one comes from びんびん(binbin) which was an onomatopoeia for the sound of soldiers armour clashing together. If you heard this sound in the distance you would feel nervous or frightened.

何ビビってるの？ なにびびってるの？ nani bibitteru no? = why are you so nervous?

5.
テンパる
てんぱる
tenparu

This one is an interesting one, because it originally had the exact opposite meaning. It comes from a mahjong term, that is kind of the equivalent of check mate, and came to mean fully prepared and ready to act. Apparently somewhere in the last 10 years or so the sense of "the end" became stronger, and now it is commonly used in a kind of "end of one's rope" sense.

Jisho.com says "about to blow one's fuse"

I would say "overwhelmed and on the verge of panic". Impatient, anxious, flustered

テンパって、頭が真っ白になった。
てんぱって、あたまがまっしろになった。
tenpatte, atama ga masshiro ni natta.
I was so anxious, my mind [head] went blank [became pure white]. (the [] are the literal meanings)
(ie the feeling you get when you are confronted with real Japanese people for the first time and all of that Japanese you practiced so hard just disappears and you can't say anything)

6.
バレる
ばれる
bareru
to leak out (a secret); to be exposed (a lie, improper behaviour, etc.) (behavior)

This one is always written either in katakana and hiragana, or just hiragana, but no one seems to know where it comes from. Still it is quite appropriate here.

ネタバレ　ねたばれ　netabare = spoiler
(neta is news, material, trick, evidence etc... this can be everything from ruining the punchline, to exposing the trick in magic, to giving the ending of a drama away)
↑ is a noun that comes from the phrase ネタがばれる (expose the trick/news/material etc)

A common drama exchange (in "Pride" it was kind of a running gag)
A: ばれた？ bareta?
B: バレバレ。barebare

A: You knew?
B: It was so obvious.

[Skye-N-Rain]

Thanks LF and everyone else contributing this thread.

[ladyfaile]

sorry i haven't been posting much the last week or 2, things were busy for a few days and the last few days i've been in a funk and not motivated at all. i'll get back on track soon i hope

let's take a step back and go with some basic stuff

雨
あめ
ame
rain/rainfall
雨が降りそう（あめがふりそう） / It looks like rain.,
It seems likely to rain.

[boutux]

箸
はし
hashi

chopsticks

もくせいのはし/ wooden chopsticks
ひとくみのはし/ pair of chopsticks.

[ladyfaile]

depending on how you write and/or read it hashi could also mean bridge or edge.. this was linked on imabi very interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ja...onstration.ogg

[kurinezumi]

Homophones in Japanese are abundant, and annoying

To go back a day, depending on how you write/read "ame" it could either be rain or a hard candy/lozenge (written 飴)

And Japanese people from different regions will often accent words differently...

You also have to be very careful of long (as in lengthened) vs short vowels and words with a small "tsu" (っ) , as these will sometimes sound the same to you, but totally different to a Japaese person.

For example:
過去 (かこ kako) = past, previous
格好 (かっこう kakkou) = shape, form, posture, appearance, manner
加工 (かこう kakou) = manufacturing, processing, treatment, machining
確固 (かっこ kakko) = firm, unshakeable, resolute


格好 is the word used in the expression kakko(u) ii (cool, attractive, stylish) it is also sometimes written カッコいい, so technically the final vowel can be pronounced long or short when used in this expression.