Daily Thread: simple questions, comments that don’t need their own posts, and first time posters go here (June 06, 2024)

11 comments

1. I’m studying genki, and I came across an example where the question asked what dinner they made and the response was either yes or no, then gave information about the food (eg they made pasta or made nothing). Seems strange to say yes or no to a question asking what.

2. Still reading the second dialogue from Quartet 1 chapter 1. Dont understand these sentences

   1. 教授によると、「人生の目標は、ipsの技術をベッドサイドに届けて、多くの患者を救うこと」だそうです。

   “According to the professor, the objective of human life is to deliver ips technology to a…bedside(???), and save/cure many patients”.?

   2. 教授がアメリカに留学中に学んで大切にしている「VW」という言葉があります。これは研究で結果を出すためにはV(Vision)とW(Workhard)、つまり、「目標を決めてがんばる」ことが必要だという意味です。

   This one is confusing me a lot.

   “When the professor was studying abroad in america he studied(学んで?) and he treasured the word VW.(大切にしている「VW」という言葉?). This is in order to hand in(出す?) results on research, V(Vision) and W(Work hard), in other words, it means its necessary to “decide on an objective and do your best” ?

   3. 「９回失敗しないと１回成功しない。失敗するのは、恥ずかしいものではない」という言葉どおり、山中教授はips細胞が出来るまで決して研究をやめませんでした。

   Does the しない used in１回成功しない mean “you must”? I know you can use しないと to say you must do something, but what about しない ?

   Also, not sure im understanding the という言葉どおり here, I understand this sentence as: 「You must fail 9 times to succeed once. Failing isnt an embarrasing thing」、 Exactly/same way as Professor Yamanaka’s words(言葉どおり?), he never quit research until he made the ips cell” ?

3. I want to ask someone a question, though I’m a little anxious about putting them on the spot. When I go to think how I’d phrase this, I keep landing on “質問をかける”, but also, I’ve never heard this phrasing before. Well, [checking massif](https://massif.la/ja/search?q=%E3%81%97%E3%81%A4%E3%82%82%E3%82%93%E3%82%92%E3%81%8B%E3%81%91%E3%82%8B) this phrasing has been used non-zero number of times (close to zero), but that’s not enough for me. Did I hallucinate this phrase? What would be the nuance of this phrasing?

   I think in English, I’d say “I hope you don’t mind me asking” but a direct translation of “気にしないでほしいんだけど” doesn’t seem right.

4. in work setting, I mixed JP with EN, until the client said that she’s okay with using EN. we conversed in very clear EN and and got smooth results after. But is it okay/rude to have started with mixed JP/EN to begin with? AITA?

5. What do you think is more effective in the longrun to become fluent in japanese if you have to choose one:

   Reading a Manga that you really like and searching words you dont know every now and then but well its a Manga with Lots of not very practical words/language

   Or

   Watching videos that you don’t like that much and searching for words you dont know every now and then but it’s highly practical everyday japanese spoken by natives

6. So I’m in a bit of a situation here, I really don’t know how to move forward:

   •No kanji

   •Basic grammar

   •3k vocab from core 2k/6k deck, which I neglected for a year.

   Any recommendations on how to move forward?

7. I’ve come across this situation multiple times, so I’d like some help figuring what to say for next time.

   I’m up at a counter at, say, the post office. The first person manning it has gone to ask a question or find paperwork for me, and now it looks like I’m waiting for help, so someone else comes to the counter.

   In English I would say “I’m being helped, thank you.” or some variation, but what would the natural phrase be in Japanese. I could translate that literally: something like もう手伝われています, but that sounds super weird to me.

   Any ideas?

8. I’m struggling a bit with how to use 何か. First of all I came upon with it in this phrase “すみません、何かコレ味が…”. I just don’t understand what’s the syntactical connection between 何か and これ (Also I’m not sure why it is in katakana). Also I don’t understand why 何か doesn’t seem to use particles at all. I could reach to two potential meanings but I’m still not sure if any is correct or what’s the connection.

   1. “The taste of something in this is…”
   2. “The taste of something of this is…”

9. > さっきのとこ 伊織 逆足から出たわよ

   Can anyone confirm that 逆足から出た is literal, or is not (commonly) idiomatic? Googling the phrase gives results about soccer, so I’m guessing it’s not an idiom like the English “get off on the wrong foot”, but it’s not clear from context.

10. How can I prevent my keyboard from suggesting the whole sentence when I’m trying to recall that sentence in Anki?

    Like this: [Mv6vN5E.png (511×277) (imgur.com)](https://i.imgur.com/Mv6vN5E.png)

11. I’m confused about this sentence in the Anki 2.3k deck.

    とても雰囲気のいいお店ですね。

    Is とても雰囲気のいい a complete phrase meaning “a very nice atmosphere”? I’ve never seen NounのAdjective before. Is this the infamous が substitution?

    Also I’m confused about the placement of とても, is the placement always this flexible? And is 雰囲気のとてもいい equivalent in meaning?