Part III: Picking Up Japanese with Anime?

Posted by Neko Kyou in Random Fun on July 17th, 2007

Here’s the final part for this series of Japanese words that you would most likely to pick up while watching anime. Chances are, you’re able to recognize most of the words from the first 2 parts, but this list would contain some slightly difficult words:

Osananajimi
Hana
Sakura
Hoshi
Tsuki
Taiyou
Mizu
Honoo
Kaze
Kage
Ichigo
Kyaku
Warai
Uso
Inu
Neko
Tanuki
Sakana
Mahou
Shoujo
Shounen
Mamoru
Yare
Mendou
Dokidoki
Jikan
Ecchi
Hentai
Osoi
Hayaku
Dame
Ii
Iie
Tasukete
Kimochi
Chotto
Tsuzuku
Owari

While there are still many other words, you should be proud of yourself if you were able to guess at least 70 or so of these 101 words. What it means is that you probably know more Japanese than you think you do, maybe you can try watching the next episode of your favourite anime in raw format (without subtitles) first and see just how much you are able to understand and then comparing that by watching them with subtitles.

It wouldn’t be as effective if you’ve been through the subtitled version as your memory would retain the translation and you’re bound to rely on that instead of what you really know.

Just give it a try

**Update: Click the spoiler tag “show” below to see the answers

[spoiler]

The answers here are drawn from my own knowledge of the language and might not be 100% accurate, but the general idea is correct.

Osananajimi = Childhood friend
Hana = Flower
Sakura = Cherry blossom
Hoshi = Star
Tsuki = Moon
Taiyou = Sun
Mizu = Water
Honoo = Fire
Kaze = Wind
Kage = Shadow
Ichigo = Strawberry
Kyaku = Customer
Warai = Laugh
Uso = Lie
Inu = Dog
Neko = Cat
Tanuki = Raccoon dog
Sakana = Fish
Mahou = Magic
Shoujo = Young girl
Shounen = Young boy/Young men
Mamoru = Protect
Yare = To do
Mendou = Troublesome
Dokidoki = Heart beating fast/Expressing excitement
Jikan = Time
Ecchi = Pervert/Dirty minded
Hentai = Pervert/Weird, used on a person
Osoi = Late
Hayaku = Faster
Dame = To refuse
Ii = Yes
Iie = No
Tasukete = Help
Kimochi = Feelings
Chotto = Wait/Hold on
Tsuzuku = To be continued
Owari = The end

[/spoiler]

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5 Comments to “Part III: Picking Up Japanese with Anime?”

retsgip | July 17th, 2007 at 9:38 pm

I actually credit anime and j-drama(these especially) for my decently sized japanese vocab even though I’ve never actually studied the language. Now that I’m in Japan, I think it’s time to start.
Neko Kyou | July 17th, 2007 at 9:49 pm

Hi Retsgip,

Didn’t expect to see you here 😀 Yeah, I think what you said applies to the majority of anime and j-drama viewers. Was pretty surprised at how much I could understand raws nowadays.
retsgip | July 19th, 2007 at 1:04 am

Surprising? I occasionally roam the world for interesting posts on anime and the like. Even though I’m not very active in my blogging, I still try to read as much as I can I’m not sure we’ve met before but the fact that it sounds like you know me is flattering.

I think the first time I ever really tested my raw abilities was with a drama which wasn’t being subbed fast enough and I realized like “wow…I could understand what was happenin–WAAIT…When did I learn japanese, holy crap!”
Neko Kyou | July 19th, 2007 at 1:35 am

lol ic ic. Nah, you probably don’t know me. I’m a new reader of your blog since a couple of weeks back and went through some of the older posts in your archives. I noticed that Darkshaunz had been posting more often than you.

Yeah its pretty cool to find out something you didn’t know you had in you. I had pretty much the same reaction as you did, but it was with raw episodes of Gundam Seed Destiny.
Mimiron | September 9th, 2009 at 11:40 pm

forgot about Zetsubou ? I heard this one a lot lately