Japanese FAQ

01 Japanese is one of the world's top-10 languages.

in terms of number of speakers, 20 years ago ...

02 Is < sci.lang.japan> a good way to learn Japanese?

ANSWER: no....

03 Japanese phonology: mora, rhythm, tones, ...

--- mora, mora-...

04 Gairaigo origins (Japanese)

i've always been interested in the various ...

05 Is "gaijin" a derogatory word? (sci.lang.japan TT topics)

06 Japanese slang: charinko, kattarui, uzattai, ...

http://www.asahi-jc.com/slang....

07 Japanese wordplay: palindromes, ...

(see BB's AFAQ http://www.hayamasa.demon.co.uk/afaq/afaq.html)...

08 How do I say "I love you" in Japanese?

There have been two traditional answers for this....

09 "akai desu" is ungrammatical, and other fine/anal points (Japanese)

>

10 akai is a (canonical) keiyoushi / shizuka is a (canonical) keiyoudoushi (Japanese)

(canonical means archetypical in Hackerspeak.)...

11 this "akai desu" is (to a small extent) a matter of taste (Japanese)

question: what other topics do Japanese linguistic purists talk about?...

12 Notation of Japanese names

[mention SWET's style book here]...

13 How many years does it take to learn Japanese?

Americans often ask me such a question, expecting ...

14 Japanese learn English faster than Americans learn Japanese.

> Hi there. I have a thought for you regarding one ...

15 Racist "transcription" of Japanese loanwords: "sararii man", "besuboru", ...

narrow-minded white Americans (journalists and others)...

16 American misconception about `L's and `R's in Japanese.

white American authors (Reischauer, Taylor, etc) make ...

17 Am. misconception of "uniquely Japanese concepts": amae, honne/tatemae ... keiretu, ... (wabi, sabi, koku, mattari?)

the most racist of the white ...

18 Am. expressions about the Japanese (Asians) with racist overtones

note that smart-aleck Americans who like to use ...

19 Asiaphiles who love to talk about Jap-lish

Reischauer, Jared Taylor, Nicholas ...

20 Americans ridiculing Japanese's English: examples

example 1:...

21 white American teachers of English (conversation) in Japan

the most important work on the topic has been Charles ...

22 Trivia and other topics (loose ends) (sci.lang.japan (TT topics) FAQ)

--- trivia: the name Jedi in Star Wars is ...

23 The group and its FAQ (news:sci.lang.japan)

This chapter answers frequently and not so frequently asked ques-...

24 Say, how about some introduction? (news:sci.lang.japan)

Ok, here goes! This is the FAQ of . ...

25 How can I help? (news:sci.lang.japan)

Of course, answers to as-of-yet unanswered FAQs are very welcome....

26 Things to look out for (news:sci.lang.japan)

I haven't quite found the time to get around to these, but ...

27 Newsgroups and the fj. hierarchy (news:sci.lang.japan)

The fj.* hierarchy can be thought of as the Japanese version ...

28 Mailing lists (news:sci.lang.japan)

Besides there are a number of ...

29 Where can I find out more? (news:sci.lang.japan)

While this FAQ is going through its rebirth and growing pains,...

30 The language (news:sci.lang.japan)

Recognizing the fact that there is, currently, not a lot of con-...

31 How do I say ...? (news:sci.lang.japan)

Let's be clear on this. There is no one single best answer ...

32 How do I say `I love you'? (Japanese)

You don't! At least, according to common lore. Most people sug-...

33 How do I say `Congratulations'? (Japanese)

omedetou gozaimasu is the standard polite form for `Congratula-...

34 How do I say `Happy birthday'? (Japanese)

otanjoubi omedetou gozaimasu. Situation permitting, ...

35 How do I write ...? (Japanese)

This FAQ uses ASCII characters exclusively, so it's a bit ...

36 How many kanji are there? (Japanese)

Apart from the obvious too many, you mean? Approximately 50,000....

37 Why is everyone using different romanisation schemes? (Japanese)

Romanisation schemes are a reading aid, just like furigana. ...

38 What is the correct way to write something in romaji? (Japanese)

There is no one correct way to write anything in romaji (...

39 How do I send/read e-mail in Japanese?

Before anything else, remember that there is e-mail software ...

40 How can I see Japanese characters while surfing the Web?

Even if your computer does not have any Japanese capability ...

41 Is "gaijin" a derogatory word? (news:sci.lang.japan)

In and of itself gaijin can hardly be said to be a ...