Sugoi Japanese Lesson 3 - Particles "wo" and "ni"

[Goso321]

Skip for 3:46 for beginning of lesson.

[ilike3or4]

Nice, but hey I have an interesting grammar book, has many details about these two particles, that people don't usually mention. But I guess that's just advanced stuff, since it took me quite some time to get use to these particles even at basic level. Kind of fun to know that there many subtleties to them. Thanks!

[bluetube147]

Hey nice video but im a little confused so id appreciate if you answer this as soon as u can. at 5:30 u were explaining those sentence i eat hamburger i drink coca cola and so on but i was confused because watashi watakushi ore and boku all mean i,my,me but u didint add those to the sentence so isint what u really said was eat hamburger or drink cocacola

and one more thing the particle o is used for the direct object right so if i wanted to say im going to the movies id put o infront of movies?

[steevmac]

@bluetube147 The subject of a Japanese sentence is often omitted if it is obvious, or already mentionned. It is considered laboured and even egocentric to use the word "I" in every sentence where it would be used in English.

WATASHI is the most neutral, formal form but perceived as feminine in informal situations. BOKU is casual, and deferential. ORE carries an air of masculinity and superiority with strangers, but familiarity when used with friends and family. WATAKUSHI is extremely formal.

[steevmac]

@bluetube147 As for your second question, if you want to say "I see a movie", you would put "o" AFTER movies to indicate it is the direct object of the sentence "eigo o mimasu".

However, if you want to say "I go TO the movies" you would say "eiga NI ikimasu", because the film is not the direct object, but the object of the prepotition "to".

[steevmac]

@bluetube147 Just a little extra information for those who are interested. There are several more 1st person singular pronouns such as: WARE (formal), WAGA (very formal, used in speeches), WAGAHAI (formal, like the royal "we", famous from Natsume Soseki's book "I am a Cat") WAA (Tohoku dialect), WASHI(old men), ATASHI (feminine), UCHI (outside of the Kansai and Kyushu dialects considered girly), OIRA (country bumpkin, sort of like the English West Country "oi" or the Texan "ah").

[victoriaisntsosecret]

Does anyonw know what the song in the introduction is? I love it!

[steevmac]

@victoriaisntsosecret It's called 宝島 "takara jima" which means "treasure island".... the band is called "SEAMO".

[Jewel348351]

so is this correct?

"watashi wa banana o tabemasu"

do i add "desu" to the end of it??

[steevmac]

@Jewel348351 Yes, it's correct... you don't need "desu" because you already have the verb "tabemasu". "~masu" is the polite ending for verbs...

"desu" has a similar meaning to "be, am, is, are". So for example, if you said "watashi wa banana desu" it would mean "I am a banana"!!!

[Bpro64]

I thought you use the particle e (spelt he) when you say you go to places.

eg. kuukou e ikimasu.

[steevmac]

@Bpro64 I'm sorry, I didn't explain very well. You are quite right that "e" is used for direction, but "e" can be replaced by "ni" in almost all cases. The opposite is not true though. I think it would have been better for me to teach "e" instead of "ni".

[steevmac]

That flute-like instrument is called a "shakuhachi".

[Johannady]

i love the flute song at the end.. it's very relaxing to listen too..

[Vespene]

I came here to clear up some confusion I had between particles and what do I get? Stereotyping of the whole "Japanese people are polite" for 3+ minutes.

[steevmac]

@Vespene

The express purpose of these videos is to give a few minutes of my own experiences in Japan, followed by a lesson (which does take up most of the video). If you don't want to listen to the introductory spiel, then you can quite easily fast-forward to where the picture of Mt. Fuji changes.

[poltango]

"For example I never heard anybody say sorry when they bumped into you on the street"...Man what a crap are you babbling?

[wabawoba]

@poltango:

Please don't be so rude. Surely you must realise that "I never heard anybody say" has a different meaning to "Nobody ever says".

[yuriythebest]

nice video thanks!

[hiroto6011]

arrrrgggg those particlers are soooooo hard!! and the grammar, i can´t understand the english very well.

[linny177]

personaly, i find the japanese more polite even when theyre not trying to be polite

saying nothing is better then getting a "watch where your going fag"

[steevmac]

It's very rare in England to receive that kind of comment unless someone is drunk or in a bad mood. Although MOST people in Japan will politely ignore you after a bump, I've had several angry, racist or xenophobic comments on the streets of Japan, more than I've ever experienced back home.

The English are more polite than the Japanese IN THE SENSE that for the English the purpose of politeness is to show respect for others whereas in Japan its main purpose is to avoid personal embarassment.

[linny177]

plz respond to the comment from

CAREAHMEL to me

a friend didnt log off

[CAREAHMEL]

your lucky being born in england

i was born in canada and dispite the front north america puts up, the people in canada are not all culture / race friendly

i can be insulted upwords to 10 times in a day being out at night is like asking to smell drugs, and pick a fight

north america is a empty shell compared to what it once was. now its just infested with people who care about nothing more than there freedom to do what they want

i love japan, and so far i havent been discriminated againt

[steevmac]

I'm glad you've had such a great experience. Actually, from my comments I sound like I've had a terrible time in Japan but it's quite the opposite I think it's more the English penchant for complaining that's coming out here.

I've lived in London for most of my life and I regularly visit Yorkshire (northern England) to see family. Before living in Japan I lived in Paris, France for just over a year. Of all the places I've ever lived people from Yorkshire have been the most poltie and friendly.

[StormxHeart]

YEAH Us Yorkshire people and you're true i now live in tokyo and people stare at you in the street i mean alot of them are nice and say hi but some just plain stare as if im an alien lol

[steevmac]

I have received at least 2 xenophobic comments a month since I've lived in Nagoya what alone all the tacit rudeness of moving seats and disallowing entry to institutions and events, but perhaps Tokyo is more open. I certainly felt that there is a huge difference between the 2 main cities Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka in the way they view foreigners. In the Aichi region even Japanese people from other towns can be discriminated against. So perhaps my experience doesn't reflect Japan as a whole.

[Armando51roosters]

someone told me that Japan right now is like 1950s America where there was total discrimination. Is that true?

[steevmac]

In America there was out&out racism, but in modern Japan, "racism" is not quite the word because the Japanese don't talk down to or violently repress foreigners.

As discrimination is more indirect, "xenophobia" is a better description. Many falsely believe that the Japanese think completely differently from the rest of the world & that their culture and langauge are inaccessible.

This attitude causes many to exclude foreigners from certain situations because "foreigners don't know the rules".

[sgtodeath]

@steevmac I see what you mean, I'm a Japanese but I grew up in Vancouver(now living in Japan again) I have a lot of foreigner friends here but it's quite stupid that I have to escort them to bars just so they can gain entrance. It is just a downside part of Japanese culture and we have always been very "tribal" and usually don't like things that are different or alien. Then again I wouldn't have it any other way because it is what has kept our culture the way it is today.

[steevmac]

@sgtodeath I do understand your point; in England we are losing our well-known politeness, courtesy and punctuality and we are also losing many other aspects of our culture to globalisation, (which incidentally we probably helped start). It seems that foreign values tend to dilute the values that you hold dear... but there are a lot of other ways of maintaining your culture without excluding foreign people completely.

[steevmac]

Another point though is that I spend most of my time in Nagoya, which is not known as the most tolerant area, even of Japanese people from other regions. I have completely different experiences in Osaka or Tokyo.

I do believe the majority of foreigners in Japan try to respect & understand Japanese culture. In any other country I would not be so understanding toward some of the things that I excuse when in Japan. I always say it's just "a difference in culture" or "innocent lack of knowledge".

[steevmac]

@Zeethr I think Tokyo is far more tolerant to foreigners than many other cities but even in Tokyo you will probably never fit in and feel like an outsider. You're life will be much better if you speak Japanese of course, and if you know a bit of Japanese culture because most of the problems arise from mere misunderstandings rather than outright bigotry.

[steevmac]

In any case, don't let all this put you off though, Japan has a wonderful culture, beautiful, polite, peaceful people. It's just that many people wax lyrical about a perfect Japan which doesn't really exist.

Some people never even come accross such negative experiences, especially if they don't ever work directly under a traditional Japanese boss. The Belgian film (and novel) "Fear and Trembling" is an interesting comedy-drama showing one European woman's experience in a Japanese company.

[sgtodeath]

@Zeethr Don't worry about it, yeah more metropolitan areas would be more acceptable to foreigners. Their attitude is quite silly really, even racist to the Koreans and Chinese that have been living in Japan for generations.

[steevmac]

In Central London people seem to be extremely polite and courteous in general but not so friendly. The suburbs of London seem to be less polite.

London is the world's most linguistically diverse city (but loses the title of most ethnically diverse city to Toronto) and traditional English courtesy often seems to bypass NEWER immigrants. I've only ever been spoken to rudely twice in London & once was a racist comment from a white man, the other was a fellow black man trying to pick a fight.

[ikeyokie123]

i speak japaneas

[spanishdescended]

It's japanese not japaneas

[MushyCats]

YAAAY! i'm trying to learn japanese and this helps a bunch. THANKS!!

[lilaznmonkegrl]

its geting harder lol

hope to see more of ur videos

[Godlesscod]

Enjoyed your take on Japanese politeness and the staring - darn! You must feel like the star of some freak show. Maybe you should charge? hehe

Anyway, cheers for the lesson - don't forget to do more :)