THE KAGAMINE SHOW
(corny theme music) It's the Kagamine woooorrrddd shoooowwwww~
「レン」
Welcome back! Today all we-
(Rin sticks out her foot and trips Len, who falls flat on his face)
「レン」
%^*#$^% RIN! Cut, Kaito, CUT!
「KAITO」
Yeah, yeah. Let's try that again, people-
THE KAGAMINE SHOW
(corny theme music) It's the Kagamine woooorrrddd shoooowwwww~
(Rin is whistling innocently in the corner)
「レン」
(bruise on his head) Welcome back! Today all we have is some general #$%, but after this episode, well you'd better get ready to start memorizing a lot of words.
(Rin nods behind Len)
「レン」
Our job is to be helpful in studying Japanese, with the two T's for TIPS and TRICKS.
(Rin snickers)
「リン」
Or two T's for-
「レン」
RIN! We have kids in the audience!
「リン」
I doubt it-
「レン」
SO, remember that while I can teach you, I'm not a teacher. I'm your show host. (wink)
「リン」
And he's your tool.
「レン」
Yes, and I'm your-DAMNIT RIN.
(innocent smile)
「レン」
Anyway, let's get right to our first tip. Since we don't have a special guest, let's pull someone from the audience! IS THERE AN AMERICAN IN THE AUDIENCE?
(Beast Boy jumps up and down)
「レン」
SOMEONE THAT ISN'T BEAST BOY?
(girl with golden hair and a tiny crown raises her hand)
「レン」
Come on up, miss!
(Price is Right music plays as Mio comes on stage)
「レン」
I know. We're so poor we had to borrow other people's theme music.
「リン」
You know that's illegal, right, Len?
「レン」
So, the spunky lady from DN Angel. Can you answer a question for me?
「ミオ」
Sure!
「レン」
You know how westerns ask "how are you" all the time?
「ミオ」
Yeah.
「レン」
Be honest – do you really care how they are?
「ミオ」
Haha! Um, no, not all the time, but it's not rude or anything. It's just a way to make conversation, you know?
「レン」
Thank you, that's all I needed. You can go ahead and take Rin's seat.
(Mio sits on the couch, ignoring the angry Rin)
「レン」
One of the first things you might have learned in Japanese is "genki desu ka?" げんきですか。or "o genki desu ka?" をげんきですか。Most textbooks will tell you this means "how are you," but I DON'T LIKE THAT. IT'S A LIE.
(audience gasps)
「レン」
YES. And here on the Kagamine Show we HATE TEXTBOOKS.
「リン」
Yeah!
「レン」
WE EAT THEM FOR BREAKFAST!
「リン」
YEAH! AND WE MAKE THEM WATCH CHICK FLICKS!
「レン」
AND SPIT ON THEM!
「リン」
AND KICK THEM OUT WINDOWS!
「レン」
AND BURN THEM!
「リン」
AND TIE THEM TO THEIR BEDS WITH FUZZY HANDCUFFS AS A MEANS OF FOREPLAY!
(everyone stares at Rin)
「リン」
What?
「レン」
(very awkward) ..anyway, "o genki desu ka" doesn't really mean "how are you." It means "how have you been." Doesn't seem too different, but it is. You have to actually care if you want to ask it to someone.
(Len walks around the stage)
「レン」
If you saw someone you just saw the other day, you wouldn't ask them how they were. Because you just saw them yesterday! It's much more common to just say "konnichiwa" (hello) or even "Ah, -name of person here-!"
Our other tip or trick today is sumimasen すみません, another easy. This is usually translated as "excuse me" but I would say it's closer to meaning "sorry." If you bump into someone, you can say sumimasen. If you step on someone's foot, you can say sumimasen. If you need to interrupt a talking group to say something, you can say sumimasen. If you hit your friend across the face with a book by accident – then you can say gomen/gomensai (sorry).
「リン」
Remember kids, only real friends let you hit them with books!
(Len nods)
「レン」
Well, that looks like all the time we have for today. We were going to discuss whether to do Hiragana or not, but it looks like we're out of time.
「リン」
Will we do Hiragana?
「レン」
Depends. It doesn't sound like it'd be very fun to teach, but it depends on what the audience wants. What do you recommend for Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji learners, Rin?
「リン」
Jisho (dotorg) is a reliable dictionary, and Genkijapan (dotnet) is good for beginners, but won't take you very far. Richard is also very nice to the members of that site.
「レン」
Sou, sou. Anyway, see you next time-
「リン」
Fanmail, Len!
「レン」
Oh, yeah. Today's mail is from The Dark Puppet Mistress - awesome name - and she said:
This has been helpful :)
Quick question that I think I know the answer to but just wanted to check.
Is hiragana used on websites like Nico Nico Douga or is it another one of the alphabets?
- The Dark Puppet Mistress
「レン」
Thanks for your question! Niconico, like almost all other websites, uses all three. Using Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana together is the norm. The good news is, once you know it, it's really much easier, because you get instant visuals and can more easily tell purpose or context by how it's written. I know it might sound like hard work, but if you're serious about learning Japanese, you gotta learn all three!
That's all for today. Want to sign us off, Rin?
「リン」
Someone get this $#%& off my couch!
(credits)
Words - 10
o genki desu ka? (how have you been?) literally (well being is it?) the Kanji literally means something like that, or even 'origin of character/spirit'
元気 = genki 元 = origin 気 = spirit/mood
o - を (makes things polite, can be dropped) If you started to learn Hiragana, you'll see they say to pronounce it as "wo." You can write it like that, but when speaking you still say it like "o" (saying wo is very old fashioned, as in like no one does it - don't do it!)
genki (healthy, cheerful, lively)
desu (it is, that is, this is – dictionary definitions will probably say "to be" and while that's right just remember it's more like "this, that, it is, I am, ect" genki desu is "it is healthy" (I am healthy/fine)
ka か(marks a question, think of it as a ?)
sumimasen (excuse me/sorry)
gomenasai (sorry, a deeper apology than sumimasen, don't say it if you don't mean it)
gomen (informal form of gomenasai)
sou, sou (sort of like "that's right, that's right" or "mhm, mhm." Sou desu ne means "is that so?" to compare)
Bonus – if you want to get someone's attention, you can also use あの。。(Ano..) instead of sumimasen. Ano sort of means "please pay attention to me." Saying "Ano, sumimasen" is also very good and polite, and I would use it if you need to ask a stranger something. Always be polite to strangers in this culture.
Also, I'm aware fanfiction doesn't like websites being posted, but since both are educational and not promotional I'm sure they'll let it slide.