Concept: I’m going to use some free time to practise my calligraphy, just like scholars have done since kanji first came to Japan (and longer than that in China ofc). How cool and aesthetic to be part of such a long scholarly tradition making writing into a form of beauty and - -
When you don’t know what the word means but Google Images has you covered
ぐてー (I guess it means ‘sprawled out’, mostly for animals)
Now that I look at this again, I’m guessing it probably has something to do with グダグダ/クタクタ meaning exhausted, but weblio.jp says it means something similar to 体格？ Unsure.
The Japanese onomatopoeia ぐでぐで means sprawling out in a lazy manner. Let’s not forget the sprawled-out lazy egg ぐでたま:
So ぐてー would be a nice lazy sprawl (see animal images above). The long vowel mark “ー” (ちょうおん) is used to emphasize the sprawling, and just saying it makes you feel like sprawling out somewhere comfy…
First you learn 見る and 聞く, but then somewhere along the line come 観る and 聴く with the same pronunciations - but what is the difference? I wasn’t sure myself until I looked it up! Here are the differences and examples of how to use them:
見る みる to see (passive)
This kanji is used when the viewer is watching or viewing something passively, like binge watching Netflix or using a phone while a movie is on.
昨日は、テレビを見ていて、そのまま寝入ってしまいました。
きのうは、テレビを見ていて、そのままねはいってしまいました。
Yesterday, I watched some TV, and I fell asleep like that.
観る みる to watch (active)
This kanji is used when the viewer is paying close attention to something, like watching a movie at the movie theatre or a sporting event on TV.
毎週の土曜日に好きな恋愛ドラマを絶対に観るよ。
まいしゅうのどようびにすきなれんあいドラマをぜったいに観るよ。
Every Saturday I always watch my favorite romantic drama.
聞く きく to hear (passive)
This kanji is used when the listener is hearing something passively, like playing music while doing something else or when they are listening to a noise from outside.
音楽を聞きながら勉強している。
おんがくを聞きながらべんきょうしている。
I am studying while I listen to music.
聴く きく to listen (active)
This kanji is used when the listener is attentively listening to something, like a concert or music or a friend’s story.
ラジオで好きなアーティストの新曲を聴く。
ラジオですきなアーティストのしんきょくを聴く。
I listen to my favorite artist’s new songs on the radio.
Remember:
If you are not sure which to use, using 見る or 聞く is the default, and it’s not wrong.
見る and 聞く are used when the thing you are watching/listening to is ambient or is not something you aren’t paying a lot of attention to.
観る and 聴く are used when you are paying closer attention to whatever you are watching/listening to.
It’s not specified in any of the explanations I read, but it seems that 観る and 聴く are used mostly to talk about your own viewing and listening. This makes sense, because it’s easier to determine what you personally are focused on (or not) rather than determining the focus of another person.
although, you probably won’t be running around japan talking about how you’re trans, maybe just knowing how to express your experiences in japanese will help you feel more content. it helped me a bit <3
トランスジェンダー (FTM・MTF・MTX・FTX) = transgender
Xジェンダー = nonbinary
性自認 / (を)自認する= gender self-identification / to identify as (note: 性自認 is more common)
胸つぶし = binding (n)
ナベシャツ / トラシャツ= chest binder (note: ナベシャツ is slightly more common)
胸オペ = top surgery
改名(する) = name change
パス度が高い / 低い = passing well / poor (note: lit. translation is “a high or low pass rate”
Noncommittal negation: ～くはない：well, it isn’t ~ (but
it’s not the opposite either)
I noticed this one in conversation within a few months but I don’t know if I’ve sen it in class. It’s used for explicitly negating one thing, while not implying
that it’s necessarily the opposite.
A friend once suggested I try a drink which sounded decidedly
unappetizing (some type of shochu with milk?? of all things). When I agreed to try, I hmm’d and said “まずくない,” to
which he agreed “まずくはない.”
Adding the extra は is a bit more noncommittal than leaving it
out. What I said sounds more like “Hey,
this isn’t bad!” (as in “it’s good!”) while my expression and body language
were much more neutral, so I should have said “well, it isn’t bad (but I won’t
make a more decisive judgement),” or “well, it isn’t bad (but it may be other
things)”
So Undertale’s Japanese version was just released and I’ve been playing through it and making notes of new words. Here’s a list of a few I think would be useful to anyone else thinking of doing the same:
Nouns
決意 - けつい - determination
人間 - にんげん - human
確定 - かくてい - decision (confirm button in menus)
消除 - しょうじょ - deletion (delete button in menus)
地底 - ちてい - underground
遺跡 - いせき - ruins
遭遇 - そうぐう - encounter
看板 - かんばん - sign(board)
行動 - こうどう - action, behaviour (act button in battle)
攻撃 - こうげき - attack
獲得 - かくとく - obtaining
満タン - まんたん - filling a tank (HP)
回復 - かいふく - restoring (HP)
仲良し - なかよし - close friend
冗談 - じょうだん - joke
ダジャレ - bad pun
カタツムリ - snail
おやつ - snack
Verbs
戦う - たたかう - to fight
見逃す - みのがす - to miss, overlook, ignore (mercy button in battle)
逃がす - にがす - to set free, let go (spare button in battle)
定める - さだめる - to decide, set
仕掛ける - しかける - to set (a trap)
塞ぐ - ふさぐ - to block
担う - になう - to bear, carry on shoulder
撫でる - なでる - to stroke, pet
みなぎる - to be filled with
どく - to step aside, move out of the way
どかす - to move out of the way (transitive of どく)
ふざける - to joke, mess around
Adjectives and Adverbs
愚か - おろか - foolish, stupid
恋しい - こいしい - longed for, missed
かしら - I wonder (mainly female sentence ending)
どうやら - it seems like
I hope this fills you with determination to keep studying and have fun practicing Japanese!
If there’s any mistakes or things you’d like me to add please let me know.
