Archive for August de 2009
レッツ 単語： Let’s tango
Posted by Alei in August 31, 2009
よ よ word! レッツ たんご.
My current Japanese (study-related) obsession is with the online dictionary Tangorin.
http://tangorin.com/ (link)
It’s a play on/pun of tango (meaning ’word’) and tangerine (the fruit).
It is a kick-arse Japanese dictionary with heaps of examples. You can input either English, Japanese, or romaji.
It will output words, examples, kanji, names and proper nouns etc. There are several [...]
月月火水木金金 All work, no play
Posted by Alei in August 31, 2009
げつげつかすいもくきんきん。 Try saying that real fast. No, it’s not a 早口 but in fact an old military/naval song.
It was used after the War by the Japanese Imperial Naval Forces. Sailors were encouraged to give up their weekends to work.
Basically the translation is litrally ‘a week without Saturdays or Sundays, hence the two Mondays and Fridays- a [...]
選挙日
Posted by Alei in August 30, 2009
I’ve never been much of a political follower, but today is election day in Japan. So today’s word for the day is 選挙日 せんきょび。
It is a national election which could see a major shake-up to Japan’s government. The BBC are calling it a ‘landmark election’. I don’t know if I would go so far as [...]
How telling
Posted by Alei in August 26, 2009
目は口ほどにものを言う。
The eyes say more than the mouth.
A fairly loose translation perhaps of; “the eyes are the window to the soul”.
Pobody’s Nerfect
Posted by Alei in August 24, 2009
Here are two Japanese proverbs for the day to make us feel that little bit better about ourselves.
さるも木から落ちる。
Even monkeys fall from trees.
河童の川流れ
(かっぱのかわながれ）
Even the strongest of swimmers can drown.
＊A kappa is a mythical water-dwelling creature that are excellent swimmers.
We all make mistakes. We all fail from time to time.
Nobody’s Perfect だよね.
That’s so Japanese
Posted by Alei in August 20, 2009
In English there is the expression, “the walls have ears”.
In Japan there is not only a Japanese translation of it, but there’s even a further Japanese extended version of it. I learnt it today from a work colleague. I found it most amusing.
壁に耳あり （かべにみみあり）
障子に目あり （しょうじにめあり）
The translation being, not only do “the walls have ears but the shouji [...]
Comes and goes
Posted by Alei in August 15, 2009
Fridays, or another day for that matter, much like most things in life (pain.love.friendship.happiness.money) comes and goes.
This one’s for the lonely
The one’s that seek and find
Only to be let down
Time after time
This one’s for the torn down
The experts at the fall
Come on friends get up now
You’re not alone at all
And this part was for her
And [...]
Blog bog
Posted by Alei in August 5, 2009
The blog host that I use has changed it’s system. It’s gone Wordpress on me and I am not a fan of Wordpress.
Although what you see looks pretty much the same, my blog account has been migrated to a new platform.
In the process I wasn’t able to blog the last couple of weeks. Also some [...]
Jaga 祭り
Posted by Alei in August 1, 2009
The first weekend in August was the local Jaga Matsuri - a potato festival. The local mascot here is a potato affectionately known as Jaga-kun
And I must add, that I was very disappointed with the lack of potatoes at this festival. It’s just a small local summer festival held over the weekend.
There was the usual [...]
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