Zompist Bboard Again

Hello all! I didn't see another thread like this so I hope no one minds me making this new one.

so here's the deal; I fly to Tokyo in two weeks with a group of tourists from my school, and I'd like to try and learn a mildly convertible amount of Japanese for when I am there. unfortunately, Duolingo isn't exactly the greatest place to do said learning nor practicing¹, nor is any other free language-learning site I can seem to find. Is there anyone else who is also trying to learn Japanese and/or anyone who already knows Japanese who would be willing to help me in the process of doing such?

I'll start it off by stating what minimal Japanese I already know by trying to simulate a (probably very poorly put together) conversation²:

konnichiwa, kona desu.
kona-san, konnichiwa! korin desu.
korin-san, konnichiwa. hoteru wa doko desu ka?
(I don't know how to reply with "no, I don't know where the hotel is")

¹ - for me, anyways
² - mind the fact that I don't have easy access to Hiragana or Katakana

/nɒtɛndəduːd/ wrote: ↑Wed Mar 12, 2025 4:04 pm konnichiwa, kona desu.
kona-san, konnichiwa! korin desu.
korin-san, konnichiwa. hoteru wa doko desu ka?
(I don't know how to reply with "no, I don't know where the hotel is")

Hey welcome! You did very well for a beginner here. I do have some notes:

When it's a first meeting and after introducing yourself, you would say "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." It literally means something like "Please treat me well." but it's really a set phrase meaning "It's nice to meet you." Also, the third konnichiwa is definitely too many and the second probably doesn't need to be there. It would sound a bit awkward. Finally, Japanese people prefer to avoid direct questions, but they'll probably relax that since you're a foreigner. But it would still be good to introduce the question with sumimasen "Excuse me..." So I would rewrite this something like:

Konnichiwa, Kona desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Kona-san. Korin desu.
Sumimasen, hoteru wa doko desu ka?

Also, if you're just stopping a stranger, the "Sumimasen, hoteru wa doko desu ka?" is probably fine without the whole introduction.

And for answers, these are likely:
"Asoko desu." Over there/that way.
"Chotto..." Lit: It's a little... (Japanese people are unlikely to actually say they don't know, or can't help. They're more likely to use an expression like chotto and trail off to mean that they can't help. The implied endings include "It's a bit difficult to help since I don't know, it's far or getting there is difficult to explain.")

I hope this wasn't beating you over the head in an attempt to help. Japanese language and culture are fascinating (I think), but there's a lot of little nuances.

linguistcat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 11:35 am When it's a first meeting and after introducing yourself, you would say "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu." It literally means something like "Please treat me well." but it's really a set phrase meaning "It's nice to meet you."

Duolingo (for the small part that I tried using it,) told me that "Douzo yoroshiku" is what means "Nice to meet you", but now that I ask google, apparently it has the same meaning as "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu", and "Douzo yoroshiku" is slightly easier for my american english brain to say. could they be used interchangeably, or do they serve different meanings depending on context?

... Also, the third konnichiwa is definitely too many and the second probably doesn't need to be there. It would sound a bit awkward. Finally, Japanese people prefer to avoid direct questions, but they'll probably relax that since you're a foreigner. But it would still be good to introduce the question with sumimasen "Excuse me..."

...

Also, if you're just stopping a stranger, the "Sumimasen, hoteru wa doko desu ka?" is probably fine without the whole introduction.

And for answers, these are likely:
"Asoko desu." Over there/that way.
"Chotto..." Lit: It's a little... (Japanese people are unlikely to actually say they don't know, or can't help. They're more likely to use an expression like chotto and trail off to mean that they can't help. The implied endings include "It's a bit difficult to help since I don't know, it's far or getting there is difficult to explain.")

I hope this wasn't beating you over the head in an attempt to help. Japanese language and culture are fascinating (I think), but there's a lot of little nuances.

Thanks for all the little tips! I've certainly noticed that Japanese certainly has a lot of smaller things to it, though I'd imagine you could probably say the same for most any other language. Don't worry about beating me over the head a little bit, it'll probably take a bit of it if i'm to learn a satisfactory amount of Japanese in two weeks.

edit (I forgot to add this lol): do you have any other tips? I'd like to potentially learn how things like how possession and other fairly necessary things work.

edit edit: fixed a spelling error

/nɒtɛndəduːd/ wrote: ↑Thu Mar 13, 2025 3:25 pm Duolingo (for the small part that I tried using it,) told me that "Douzo yoroshiku" is what means "Nice to meet you", but now that I ask google, apparently it has the same meaning as "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu", and "Douzo yoroshiku" is slightly easier for my american english brain to say. could they be used interchangeably, or do they serve different meanings depending on context?

Oh yeah, "Douzo yoroshiku" works fine especially in slightly casual atmospheres. Even "yoroshiku" can work in more casual situations, like a bunch of fellow students introducing. But if you aren't sure between two options, being a little more polite is usually the safe way to go.

I'll have to think about what I wish I had learned earlier and get back to you. I haven't used Duolinguo myself. I originally got a couple textbooks, Japanese for Students first and the Genki series when I started college.

I guess the best thing to do is study hiragana¹ and get comfortable with it as quickly as possible. I wouldn't worry about kanji unless you need to know how to find a place using signs and very basic ones like numbers. Or if you plan to be serious about studying after your trip. I do know a few games that help you learn both the reading (and writing) side of things as well as the listening/speaking side. Those help me because I get bored doing drills but my weak point is always vocabulary. They might not work for you, but I can at least help you check them out.

¹ at least, katakana too but it's less important

Nevermind about learning about how possession works, I just did a bit of studying and figured it out. here we go:

Sumimasen, sore wa watashi no nimotsu desu ka?
Hai, kore wa anata no nimotsu desu. Douzo.
Arigatou!

I don’t know if it’s necessary to say the whole kore wa anata no nimotsu desu when sore wa watashi no nimotsu desu has already been said (probably not), but again, I’m not knowledgeable on what the simpler option would be.

linguistcat wrote: ↑Fri Mar 14, 2025 9:52 am I guess the best thing to do is study hiragana¹ and get comfortable with it as quickly as possible. I wouldn't worry about kanji unless you need to know how to find a place using signs and very basic ones like numbers. Or if you plan to be serious about studying after your trip. I do know a few games that help you learn both the reading (and writing) side of things as well as the listening/speaking side. Those help me because I get bored doing drills but my weak point is always vocabulary. They might not work for you, but I can at least help you check them out.

¹ at least, katakana too but it's less important

I’ll take your advice and start familiarizing myself with hiragana and katakana. in the meantime, let me know of those learning games you mentioned, and if you can think of anything you wish you might’ve learned earlier on!