A BLIZZARD of SNOW WORDS

I am from Florida (as you shall see later...), which gets about as much snow as Okinawa which gets no snow... so living (and driving) in a area (Fukui, Japan) that has a good bit of snow is an interesting experience to say the least!  But leaving that let's plough through some snow words!

CONTENTS
1. 雪男 yuki otoko - Abominable Snowman
2. 雪女 yuki onna - The Snow Woman from a Japanese story
3. 雪だるま yuki daruma - Snowman
4. 雪合戦 yuki gassen - Snowball Fight

AND SOME MORE...
大雪 oo yuki - heavy snowfall
人工雪 jin kou yuki - artificial snow
初雪 hatsu yuki - the first snow of the season
吹雪 fubuki - snow storm
雪祭り yuki matsuri - snow festival

.....................

MOOD SETTING:

The secret rendezvous of the YUKI OTOKO with the YUKI ONNA was spoiled by a YUKI DARUMA starting a YUKI GASSEN.

1. 雪男 yuki otoko
MEANING : Abominable Snowman
EXAMPLE: 雪男はビューティーコンテストになんなく入賞しました。
yuki otoko wa byu-ti-kontesuto ni nan naku nyuushou shimashita.
The Abominable Snowman won the beauty contest hands down.

EXPLANATION
雪男 yuki otoko - abominable snowman [lit snow man]
ビューティーコンテスト byu-ti-kontesuto - beauty contest
なんなく nan naku - easily; lit. troubles without
入賞 nyuu shou - win a contest

2. 雪女 yuki onna
MEANING : The Snow Woman from a Japanese story; for the story in (bad) English (translated by Clay) click here
EXAMPLE: フロリダに住んでいる人々にとって、雪女はあまり怖くないんです。
furorida ni sunde iru hitobito ni totte, yuki onna wa amari kowakunain desu.
As for people living in Florida, the Yuki Onna isn't very scary.

EXPLANATION
フロリダ furorida - Florida
に住んでいる ni sunde iru - living in
人々 hito bito - people [note that the 'bito' or 々 is really just a repetition of 'hito' with a pronunciation change - so really it is 'person person']
にとって ni totte - as for...
あまり怖くないんです amari kowakunai n desu - not very scary; the amari means 'very' and is used with negative sentences. The n just before desu is often used when explaining something

3. 雪だるま yuki daruma
MEANING : Snowman; A Japanese snowman only has two parts, a head and a waist (no legs)
EXAMPLE: 雪だるまのフロースティは、夢だったフロリダ旅行に行きましたが、それは悪夢に終わった。
yukidaruma no furo-suti wa, yume datta furorida ryokou ni ikimashita ga, sore wa akumu ni owatta.
Frosty the snowman's Florida dream vacation ended in a nightmare.

EXPLANATION
夢 yume - dream - just like the English it can also mean what you dream about for the future
フロリダ旅行 furorida ryokou - Florida trip
行きました ikimashita - went; past tense of IKU (to go)
が ga - but... [be careful, this is not the particle GA]
それは sore wa - as for all that...
悪夢 aku mu - night mare [lit. bad dream - The same kanji for YUME (dream) is also pronounced MU]
に終わった ni owatta - ended in

4. 雪合戦 yuki gassen
MEANING : Snowball Fight
EXAMPLE: 雪男は雪合戦が世界一強い。
yuki otoko wa yukigassen ga sekai ichi tsuyoi.
When it comes to snow ball fighting, the Abominable Snowman is the world's best.

EXPLANATION
世界一 se kai ichi - the world's best [lit. world - one]
強い tsuyoi - strong; often used in sports to mean one is better than the other team

OTHER SNOW WORDS :

• 大雪 oo yuki - heavy snowfall
  NOTE: The OO means 'big' or 'great' and it refers to the quantity of snow
• 人工雪 jin kou yuki - artificial snow
  NOTE: attaching JINKOU behind something makes it man-made
• 初雪 hatsu yuki - the first snow of the season
  NOTE: The Japanese have a fondness for new things and things that happen first.  Other HATSU words include: HATSU YUME - the first dream of the year; HATSU KOI - first (puppy) love; HATSU BASHO - the first day of a sumo tournament; HATSU MIMI - something heard for the first time
• 吹雪 fubuki - snow storm
  NOTE: In spring, when the cherry blossoms come this word is recycled as HANA FUBUKI (falling cherry blossoms) - Be careful it is fuBUki not fuYUki
• 雪祭り yuki matsuri - snow festival often with snow sculpture
  NOTE: During the winter, a number of YUKI MATSURI are held, especially in Hokkaidou where it snows the most.

Animal Names Vocabulary List

Animal Names Vocabulary List

動物 doubutsu JAPANESE ANIMAL NAMES

1 minute Japanese: Basic animal names in Japanese

A alligator - ワニwani || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael ant - アリ ari armadillo - アルマジロarumajiro || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael N Nautilus - オウムガイ oumugai || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! Newt - イモリ imori || THANKS TO Alan Mogi! Nightingale - サヨナキドリ or ナイチンゲール sayonakidori or naichinge-ru || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! B bat - こうもり koumori || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael bear - 熊 kuma birds - 鳥 tori birdschicken - ニワトリ niwa tori birdscrane - 鶴 tsuru birdseagle - 鷲 washi birdshawk - 鷹 taka birdsowl - フクロウ fukurou birdssparrow - スズメ suzume birdsstork - コウノトリ kou no tori birdsswan - 白鳥 haku chou O Octopus - 蛸 tako || THANKS TO Alan Mogi! Orangutan - オランウータン oranu-tan || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! Otter   -川獺 kawauso || THANKS TO Alan Mogi! Oriole - コウライウグイス kouraiugaisu || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! Ostrich - ダチョウ dachou || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! Otter - 川獺 kawauso || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! Owl - フクロウ fukurou || THANKS TO Uichee (Vijay)! C cat - 猫 neko more... camel - ラクダ rakuda cow - 牛 ushi crab - カニ kani crow - からす karasu || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael P panda - パンダ panda || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael penguin - ペンギン pengin || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael pig - 豚 buta polar (white) bear - 白熊 shiro kuma D dinosaurs - 恐竜 kyou ryuu dog - 犬 inu dolphin - イルカ iruka donkey - ロバ roba dragon - 竜 ryuu duck - アヒル ahiru || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael Q quail - 鶉 uzura E elephant - 象 zou R rabbit - ウサギ usagi rat / mouse - ネズミ nezumi rhino - サイ sai F fox - 狐 kitsune || THANKS TO Fox D. Nights frog - カエル kaeru firefly - 蛍 hotaru || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael fish - 魚 sakana fishcarp - こい koi fishgoldfish - 金魚 kin gyo fishshark - サメ same fishwhale - 鯨 kujira S scorpion - さそり sasori || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael sheep - 羊 hitsuji skunk - スカンク sukanku snake - 蛇 hebi snail - 蝸牛 katatsumuri || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael squid - イカ ika || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael G giraffe - キリン kirin goat - ヤギ yagi Godzilla - ゴジラ gojira gorilla - ゴリラ gorira T tiger - トラ tora turtle - 亀 kame H hamster - ハムスター hamusuta- hippo - カバ kaba horse - 馬 uma U unicorn - 一角獣 ikkakujuu I insects - 虫 mushi fishbee - 蜂 hachi fishbeetle - カブトムシ kabutomushi fishbutterfly - 蝶々 chou chou fishcricket - コオロギ koorogi fishmosquito - か ka fishwasp - スズメバチ suzumebachi fishworm - ミミズ mimizu V Vulture - はげたけ hagetake || THANKS to Ulrike J jaguar - ジャガー jaga- W wild boar - 猪 inoshishi wolf - 狼 ookami K kangaroo - カンガルー kangaru- koala - コアラ koara X 　 L lamb - 子羊 kohitsuji lion - ライオン raion leopard - ヒョウ hyou Y yak - ヤク yaku M mouse / rat - ネズミ nezumi monkey - 猿 saru moth - 蛾 ga || THANKS TO Tenshi Rafael mule / donkey - ロバ roba Z zebra - シマウマ shima uma

Animal Sounds Vocabulary List

Animal Sounds Vocabulary List

ANIMAL SOUNDS 動物の泣き声

T oday we will look at how to correctly speak to your cat -- in Japanese.  Or maybe how to sound like a Japanese cat.  I am not sure. I teach at 8 elementary schools and invariably this topic comes up.  It is interesting how different cultures perceive animal sounds differently.  NOTE: Notice that usually animal sounds are long requiring the bar '-' to extend the sound.  Also they are usually repeated. WAN WAN! CONTENTS OF ANIMALS: 1. NEKO - cat 2. INU - dog 3. KAERU - frog 4. KARASU - crow 5. USHI - cow 6. HITSUJI - sheep 7. NIWATORI - chicken 8. BUTA - pig 9. AHIRU - duck 10. SARU - monkey 11. GOJIRA - Godzilla MOOD SETTING: Imagine a zoo located atop Mt. Fuji 猫 neko CAT ニャーニャー nya- nya- (meow) NOTE: One interesting thing about animal sounds is they often appear in MANGA.  nyaa! 犬 inu DOG ワンワン wan wan (woof, bark) NOTE : to the Japanese wan and ONE (1) are the same pronunciation.  So there is a chain of steak houses in Japan called 'SUTEKI WAN' (Steak One) whose mascot is a dog.

---

かえる kaeru FROG

ゲロゲロ gero gero (ribbit)

NOTE : A word of caution is in order.  Another meaning of gero is puke, throw-up, vomit. NOTE #2 : The traditional Japanese song KAERU NO UTA GA (The Frog's Song)

---

カラス karasu CROW

カーカー ka- ka-

NOTE : Japanese crows are huge! "Scarecrow" in Japanese is kakashi.

---

牛 ushi COW

モーモー mo- mo- (Moo)

NOTE : One way to remember ushi is to think of it sounding like oishi (delicious).  But be careful with your pronunciation. I had a friend a few years back who at the restaurant Mister Donuts pointed to her donut and said to an astonished Japanese waitress, "KORE WA USHI DESU! USHI DESU!" [This is a cow! this is a cow!]

---

羊 hitsuji SHEEP

メーメー me- me- (baa baa)

---

ニワトリ niwatori CHICKEN

コケコッコー kokekokko- (Cock-a-doodle-doo)

---

豚 buta PIG

ブーブー bu- bu- (oink)

---

あひる ahiru DUCK

ガーガー  ga- ga- (quack)

NOTE : Japanese distinguishes between the white ducks (ahiru) and the other colored ducks (kamo).  Despite their different names they still speak the same GA- GA- language.

---

猿 saru MONKEY

ウキー uki-

---

ゴジラ gojira GODZILLA

ガオー gao-

NOTE :  gojira is a combination of gorira (gorilla) + kujira (whale); Also any large monster says, "GAO-"

Basic Beginning Japanese Phrases

BASIC JAPANESE PHRASES
Please allow time to load

Meeting for the First Time

はじめまして hajimemashite - meeting for the first time. Let's start on the right foot together.


どうぞ よろしく お願いします。 douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu - More polite than the above.
こちらこそ、 よろしく お願いします kochirakoso, yoroshiku onegaishimasu - Same here, nice to meet you too.

Introductions

私は＿＿＿です。 watashi wa _____ desu. I am ______.
私は＿＿＿と申します。 watashi wa ___ to moushimasu. I am _____. (more polite)
お名前は？ onamae wa? What is your name?
こちらは田中さんです。 kochira wa tanaka san desu. This is Mr. (or Ms/Mrs) Tanaka.
私はアメリカからきました。 watashi wa amerika kara kimashita. I am from America.

Greetings

おはようございます ohayou gozaimasu Good morning.
こんにちは konnichi wa Hello (during the day)
こんばんは konban wa Good evening

Conversation

元気ですか？ genki desu ka? How are you?
元気です。 genki desu. I'm fine.
英語が話せますか？ eigo ga hanasemasu ka? Can you speak English?
日本語が少し話せます。nihongo ga sukoshi hanasemasu. I can speak a little Japanese.
もっとゆっくり話してください。 motto yukkuri hanashite kudasai. Please speak slower.
もう一回話してください。 mou ikkai hanashite kudasai. Please repeat that again.
分かりますか？ wakarimasu ka? Do you understand?
分かりません。 wakarimasen. I don't understand.
分かります。 wakarimasu. I understand.

Holidays, Special Occasions:

あけまして おめでとう！ akemashite omedetou - Happy New Year!
今年も どうぞ よろしく kotoshi mo douzo yoroshiku - This year too, show me kindness.
( 本日は )  おめでとう ございます (honjitsu wa) omedetou gozaimasu - (On this day) Congratulations!!!

Thank You

どうも ありがとう ございます。 doumo arigatou gozaimasu - The long one.
ありがとうございます。arigatou gozaimasu - Shorter.
ありがとう arigatou - Shorter still.
どうも doumo - Shortest
どういたしまして douitashimashite You're welcome.

Other Non-Standard Thank yous

毎度 ありがとう ございます。 maido arigatou gozaimasu - Used mainly in shops. meaning: Thank you, every time.
毎度 あり maido ari - a shortened 'cute' form of the above.
おおきに ookini - Osaka dialect. Thanks

I'm Sorry

御免なさい gomen nasai -I am sorry. Used when you did a bad thing.
すみません sumimasen - I am sorry; Pardon, but... Used when you did a bad thing and when trying to get someones attention. Excuse me...
申し訳ありません moushi wake arimasen - I have no excuse for my bad bahavior, sorry.

Good-bye

バイバイ bai bai Bye bye
またね mata ne See you again
さようなら sayounara Good-bye

Color Vocabulary List

COLORS 色々な色

---

The Japanese word for "color" is 色 iro
Click on the for a sound file of the word or download all the files for this page here

---

Colors are used grammatically in two ways, as nouns and as adjectives. The actual color names as nouns are listed in the second column. The examples in the third column show how to use the colors as nouns and how to make them into adjectives.

COLORS	COLOR NAMES AS NOUNS	WHEN USED AS AN ADJECTIVE MOST COLOR NAMES ADD A "い"
YELLOW	黄色 ki iro	1) 黄色 はきれい。 kiiro wa kirei desu. Yellow is pretty. (this is a noun) 2) 黄色い とりはきれいです。 kiiroi tori wa kirei desu. The yellow bird is pretty. (this is an adjective)
BLUE	青 ao	1) そらは青いです。 sora wa aoi desu. The sky is blue. 2) あの青いいけはきれいです。 ano aoi ike wa kirei desu. That blue pond is pretty.
RED	赤 aka	1) このはなは赤いです。 kono hana wa akai desu. This flower is red. 2) これは赤いはなです。 kore wa akai hana desu. This is a red flower.
WHITE	白 shiro	1) ゆきはしろい。 yuki wa shiroi. Snow is white. 2) 外国人は白いごはんをあまりたべない。 gaikokujin wa shiroi gohan o amari tabenai. Foreigners don't usually eat plain, white rice (with no butter or salt...).
BLACK	黒 kuro	1) 黒いふくが好きじゃない。 kuroi fuku ga suki ja nai. I don't like black clothes.
GREY	灰色 hai iro the color of ashes	<to make this into an adjective that connects to another word add の no> 1) 灰色のくつしたがほしい。 haiiro no kutsushita ga hoshii. I want grey socks.
PURPLE	紫 murasaki	1) 紫のはなが一番好き。 murasaki no hana ga ichiban suki. I like purple flowers the best.
GREEN	緑 midori	1) 木は緑です。 ki wa midori desu. A tree is green. 2) 牛は緑のくさを食べたい。 ushi wa midori no kusa o tabetai. The cow wants to eat green grass.

---

OTHER NOTES:

• In Japanese, the word for "Black & White" is "White & Black" - 白黒 shiro kuro
• In Japan, traffic light signals are said to be RED 赤 aka, BLUE 青 ao (not green), and YELLOW 黄 ki
  Once I was driving my Japanese friend around in America. We were stopped at a light and were having a nice conversation when suddenly she yells, "It's BLUE!" I said, "What?" And she repeated, "It's BLUE!" Then I looked up to the signal and said, "Oh! It's GREEN!"
• Sometimes Blues and Greens are interchanged in Japanese
• Many colors are used in people's names
• Most Japanese children draw the sun not yellow but RED 赤 aka
• Polar Bears are White bears in Japanese 白熊 shiro kuma

Days of the Week

DAYS OF THE WEEK IN JAPANESE:

• 日曜日 - Sunday (See 日)
• 月曜日 - Monday (See 月)
• 火曜日 - Tuesday (See 火)
• 水曜日 - Wednesday (See 水)
• 木曜日 - Thursday (See 木)
• 金曜日 - Friday (See 金)
• 土曜日 - Saturday (See 土)

NOTE: All of the days have a 曜日.

When listing a series of days ( Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... ) Japanese usually drops the 曜日 ( 月, 火, 水 getsu, ka, sui... )

THE KANJI - each kanji has several pronunciations and sometimes several meanings. Let's look at the meanings of the Days of the Week kanji:

• 日 nichi, hi, jitsu [day, sun]
  EXAMPLES: 朝日 asa hi - morning sun; 本日 hon jitsu -today (used in formal occasions)
• 月 getsu, gatsu, tsuki [month, moon]
  EXAMPLES: 来月 rai getsu - next month; 一月 ichi gatsu - January (lit. first month)
• 火 ka, hi, bi [fire]
  EXAMPLES: 火事 kaji - a fire; 花火 hanabi - fireworks
• 水 sui, mizu [water]
  EXAMPLES: 水 mizu - water
• 木 moku, boku, ki [tree, wood]
  EXAMPLES: 木 ki - a tree
• 金 kin, kane [gold, money]
  EXAMPLES: お金 okane - money
• 土 do, to, tsuchi [earth, soil]
  EXAMPLES: 土地 tochi - the ground, land

Greetings

This Flash file is part of a much larger $5 download product at The Japan Shop. If you like this file, please consider purchasing the full version for ONLY $5! We have packed well over 500 sounds files into this cross platform Flash program. Hundreds of extremely useful vocabulary are grouped into categories for ease of learning. (again only $5 to get a cool download AND support TheJapanesePage.com!)

How to Count

数え方
KAZOE KATA
HOW TO COUNT (to 1,000,000!)

---

Simply put, the counting system in Japanese is not simple. However if you learn this page well, then you can count anything! Perhaps it won't be the most natural, but it will be understandable and that is our goal right?!

---

This page concentrates on the 2 main ways of counting to 10; the 'Chinese' and the 'Japanese' pronunciations. From 11 onward they both use the 'Chinese' way of counting. <don't panic yet, save it for later>

First, let's look at how to count to 10 both ways. Learn these by heart especially the 'Chinese' way. They are the 'main' numbers. Notice the same kanji has different pronunciations:

COUNTING TO 1,000,000 IS EASY IF YOU KNOW THESE 10 ABOVE:

11 is 10+1 JUU ICHI
12 is 10+2 JUU NI
13 is 10+3 JUU SAN
14 is 10+4 JUU YON (JUU shi is possible by JUU YON is used more)
15 is 10+5 JUU GO
16 is 10+6 JUU ROKU
17 is 10+7 JUU SHICHI (or JUU NANA)
18 is 10+8 JUU HACHI
19 is 10+9 JUU KU (or JUU KYUU)

GOT IT? Now for 20, 30, 40...

20 is 2+10 NI JUU [note that it is the opposite of 12 (JUU NI)]
21 is 2+10+1 NI JUU ICHI
22 is 2+10+2 NI JUU NI

30 is 3+10 SAN JUU
40 is 4+10 YON JUU (rarely SHI JUU)
50 is 5+10 GO JUU
60 is 6+10 ROKU JUU
70 is 7+10 NANA JUU (rarely SHICHI JUU)
80 is 8+10 HACHI JUU
90 is 9+10 KYUU JUU (not KU JUU)

100 is HYAKU - the first special word

105 is 100+5 HYAKU GO
158 is 100+50+8 HYAKU GO JUU HACHI
200 is 2+100 NI HYAKU
799 is 7+100+90+9 NANA HYAKU KYUU JUU KYUU

DO YOU FOLLOW? Once you get it in your head, it really isn't that hard.
NOTE: there are some sound changes that occur with some numbers. I am just telling you that now. Don't worry about that too much now. Learn first the regular way to count.

1000 is SEN - the second special word

1001 is 1000 + 1 SEN ICHI
9999 is 9+1000+9+100+9+10+9 KYUU SEN KYUU HYAKU KYUU JUU KYUU

10,000 is (ICHI) MAN - the third special word

10,003 is 10,000+3 ICHI MAN SAN
90,090 is 9+10,000+9+10 KYUU MAN KYUU JUU

SO NOW CAN YOU GUESS WHAT 1,000,000 is? HINT it isn't a special word. HINT HINT it is 100+10,000. The answer is written below in WHITE so drag your mouse over it to highlight the answer:

HYAKU MAN