Translate "How was your first Japanese class? What did you learn to say in Japanese?" into Japanese.

June 3, 2009 9:15 PM

I want to send a text to someone who is having her first Japanese class tomorrow that says "How was your first class? What did you learn to say in Japanese?" except in Japanese.

Okay, maybe not Japanese I guess, but the roman phonetic version of Japanese that I can type into my phone. I'd love the translation before tomorrow at 1:00 PM (Austin time), because that's when her class lets out. Thanks.

posted by 23skidoo to education (12 comments total)

初めとの授業はどうでしたか？どんな言葉を習いましたか？

Hajimete no jugyo wa do deshitaka? Donna kotoba wo naraimashitaka?
posted by KokuRyu at 9:20 PM on June 3

KokuRyu (which is a great sake they make up in Fukui) already provided you with a translation, but of course you could send anything at all, because your friend won't be able to understand it for years. The beauty of studying Japanese....
posted by zachawry at 9:25 PM on June 3 [2 favorites has favorites]

KokuRyu's is correct, though the polite way to say it. The more casual is Hajimete no jugyo wa do datta? Donna kotoba wo naratta? Then again, your friend will likely be learning polite Japanese first, and the casual Japanese much later.
posted by zardoz at 9:42 PM on June 3

I would go with either kokuryu or zardoz's, but maybe write it out in hiragana, rather than Kanji, because, yeah, Kanji isn't a first lesson thing. Years. Years.
posted by Ghidorah at 10:35 PM on June 3

Send it before she gets to class, then she'll at least have someone to translate it for her, otherwise 'won't be able to understand it for years' - it's a bit of an unhelpful message.
posted by Elysum at 11:04 PM on June 3

Yeah, my first thought was: it's her first day. She is not going to understand your message (even though your thoughtfulness is sweet.) Try something simpler like, "Hello. How are you?" or whatever the appropriate phrase is.
posted by hapax_legomenon at 11:53 PM on June 3

KokuRyu: Shouldn't that start with 初めて ?

23skidoo: For "Hello. How are you?", you could write "Konnichiwa. O-genki desu ka?"
posted by martinrebas at 12:20 AM on June 4

I would be surprised if the first week or two is not simply dedicated to learning the alphabets. At least that is how it was for me.. I doubt most second-year Japanese students even would know how to read the Chinese characters in the first reply up there. The perils of Japanese.. ahh
posted by mezamashii at 1:44 AM on June 4

She won't be able to understand the message at all. The first class is spent learning things like konnichiwa, ogenki desu ka, watashi no namae wa [name] desu. (hello, how are you, my name is [name]), the most basic of basics.

If you want to send a cutesy themed message she'll understand, send it in romaji not kanji, and make it something really really easy, like "watashi wa anata no tomodachi desu yo" which means "I am your friend!" this is the basic structure they will likely learn for the day and contains only one word they might not know, tomodachi/friend, which can be easily looked up.

Don't bother with zardoz' fancy forms, although they are true, your friend will not understand them at this time. And yes, martinrebas' correction is right, the third letter should be て which is "te" instead of KokuRyu's accidental input of と which is "to".
posted by Meagan at 3:17 AM on June 4

So many responses! I will be sending the message in romaji because I think that makes the message somewhat decipherable. I think it's perfectly okay (and way funnier) for her to have no idea what my message means initially, though she'll probably find a way to look up what it means. If not, she can just wait till Friday (class meets on the daily) and ask someone in class.
Thanks all.
posted by 23skidoo at 6:45 AM on June 4

KokuRyu: Shouldn't that start with 初めて ?

Oops, a typo... And I got the kanji wrong. It should be [始めて], not [初めて]. I am an idiot.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:59 PM on June 4

Kokuryu,

You are wrong about that kanji: It should be 初めて, which means "first", as opposed to "始めて", which means "to begin".
posted by zachawry at 5:01 AM on June 6