hi hi i'm a new langblr sideblog ! my name is aster, i'm 25, and i use fae/fleur/it pronouns.

currently studying japanese and newly chinese but i learned french for some years too and i dabble in other languages! i am the number one duolingo hater boooo. and i might post about learning to code and the books i'm reading too.

maybe reblog so i can find ppl to follow? :D

[grammar] うちに入らない

Upon reading Murakami’s 1Q84, I came across the following sentence:

I couldn’t make sense of the second part of the sentence, so I asked my Japanese friend for help.

Apparently, Nのうちに入らない means something like “can’t be regarded as N” or “not really a N”. So, you might translate the sentence as, “It was locked, but it wasn’t much of a lock.” 

This phrase seems to be more often used with verbs, as in Vたうちに入らない, rather than with nouns.

My friend also mentioned that Japanese teachers often use this phrase when students haven’t done something properly, e.g., cleaning the classroom:

When I thanked my friend for the help, he replied with:

After some further research, I discovered that this is actually considered an N1-level grammar point.

Has anyone else encountered this phrase before? If so, let me know the context in which you’ve seen it!

和製英語（わせいえいご）

Japanese word constructed of elements from one or more English terms; pseudo-English word or phrase coined in Japan

和 = Japan, Japanese style (also: harmony, peace, soften)

製 = made in...; manufacture

英 = England, English (also: hero, outstanding, calyx)

語 = language, word, speech

Examples

A non-exhaustive list. Please feel free to reblog and add more!

Hope you don't mind me sharing a list I made awhile back of wasei-eigo words that threw me off at first:

1. マンツーマン, man-tsuu-man, man-to-man

In Japanese, this means one-on-one. No gender connotations.

First heard in the context of: paying for a private man-to-man Japanese lesson. (Was startled when my teacher, a little old lady, told me she wanted to meet man-to-man.)

Last heard: A student asked me whether I'd assess her project in front of the class or "man-to-man."

2. プラスアルファ, purasu-arufa, plus alpha

In Japanese, these means "in addition."

First heard: My Japanese friend speaking in English and very casually starting a sentence with "Plus alpha..." Japanese speakers sometimes inadvertently use incorrect English because they mean it in the wasei-eigo context.

Last saw: In a job offer describing possible salary bonuses.

3. リベンジ, ribenji, revenge

In Japanese, this means making a second attempt after you fail at something.

First heard: My friend and I missed a train and she said we could get our revenge by making the next one.

Last heard: An interview with an English-Japanese translator, where he described failing at English in high school and getting his "revenge" by succeeding as an English major in university.

4. グラマラス, グラマーな女性, glamorous/glamour woman

"Glamorous" is sometimes a body type you can check off on dating apps if you're a woman. It has the implication that you're busty/voluptuous. A man once messaged me and told me he thought I was glamorous, and I thought he meant I seemed, like, charming or worldly, but my Japanese friend was pretty scandalized and let me know that I shouldn't message him back 😅 I suspect this word comes from English-language glamour magazines/pin-up women

ワンピースの単語

One Piece Vocab Words

Episodes 1-101

海賊 • かいぞく• pirate/sea robber

海賊王 •かいぞくおう • pirate king

伝説 • でんせつ • legend; folklore

海鳥 •うみどり • sea bird

島 • しま • island

穴 • あな • hole

料理 •りょうり • cooking

海軍 •かいぐん • navy; naval force

恐竜 • きょうりゅう • dinosaur

獲物 •えもの • prey; spoils; loot

鹿肉 • しかにく • deer meat; venison

異常者 • いじょうしゃ • weirdo; pervert

賞金 • しょうきん • bounty

賞金稼ぎ • しょうきんかせぎ • bounty hunter

消火器 • しょうかき • fire extinguisher

Today's comprehensible input. I love learning about little cultural differences like this! This isn't something I've noticed particularly because I've not done much in the way of exchanging gifts, but it makes sense to me. And actually, I prefer the Japanese way! I hate when I get a gift and people tell me to open it because they want to see my reaction (maybe it's a neurodivirgent thing because I've had to train myself to make appropriate facial expressions and I'm scared of reacting incorrectly and upsetting people).

Something I REALLY struggle with is particles, I’ve tried so many resources and practice but nothing seems to work so langblr do you have any recs for how to remember Japanese particles? 😭

For grammar I like the explanations on Bunpro. They explain the grammar point in detail and give a lot of example sentences as well.

I will link you some of their explanations on particles:

Note: Do not worry about the differences between は and が in the beginning. The more contexts you will see these two particles in, the clearer their nuances will get.

1. JLPT Sensei

2. Japanese Verb Conjugator

3. Tanoshii Japanese

4. Jisho

5. Map Quiz

6. Japanesetests4you

7. Shiritori Online

Putting all my Japanese Resources in one place.

Well, I wanted to make my life easier by cataloguing my resources, and I guess it might be helpful to someone so… This is gonna be  long. (sorry for spelling mistakes)

Main Tools: what I use frequently

Dictionaries

Memorization

YouTube

Immersion (aka. The best part)

Anime (How you can study with anime)

Manga (and reading in general I guess)

People enjoyed the charts for English learners in Japan. Here, as promised, is one for Japanese language learners.

右 みぎ : right, right-hand side

左 ひだり : left, left hand side

横 よこ : horizontal (as opposed to vertical), lying down

側 そば : near, close, beside, vicinity, proximity, besides, while

隣 となり : next (to), adjoining, adjacent

後ろ うしろ : back, behind, rear

下 した : below, down, under, younger (e.g. daughter)

近く ちかく : nearly (e.g. "it took nearly one year"), close to

上 うえ : above, over, up

中 なか : inside, interior

among, within