Question/FAQs Thread

[iLLvybe]

What's the difference in saying " betsu ni" or "nan de mo nai" ? it one more slangish than the other? they both me "nothing" i believe  

[Mister Noh Bahdi]

Would my translation be accurate? If not, give me a clear breakdown.
I'm looking for your correction written detailed enough for me to understand it. Ariagto!

雨上がりの急な坂道。
Ameagari no kyuu na sakamichi.
Suddely a slope after the rain.
 

[Freakezette]

iLLvybe

What's the difference in saying " betsu ni" or "nan de mo nai" ? it one more slangish than the other? they both me "nothing" i believe

I'm guessing nan demo nai is more like the absence of an object.
tsukue no ue ni, nan ka aru? (is there anything on the table)
nan demo nai (no, nothing)

but betsu ni is more like "nothing in particular" or the absence of action.
ashita, nan o suru? (what are you doing tomorrow?)
betsu ni (nothing in particular)

I'm not sure though  

[Mister Noh Bahdi]

*fiddles thumbs impatiently* Any help here...please.
(See above for my problem.)
 

[Freakezette]

Gozen_Kumi

*fiddles thumbs impatiently* Any help here...please.
(See above for my problem.)

I was hoping someone more knowlegdable would come by, but I guess I'll give it a go.

I think you translated the main parts correctly, but the structure of this sentance is confusing. i'm not sure how the "no" works.
after the rain NO sudden slope

I'm guess it's something along the lines of "the sudden slope that happened after the rain"  

[Mister Noh Bahdi]

Freakezette

I was hoping someone more knowlegdable would come by, but I guess I'll give it a go.

I think you translated the main parts correctly, but the structure of this sentance is confusing. i'm not sure how the "no" works.
after the rain NO sudden slope

I'm guess it's something along the lines of "the sudden slope that happened after the rain"

No offense, but that still sounds a bit choppy. xd Sometimes translations from Japanese to English just don't work, ne? Your translation was very appreciated. Arigato!
 

[Kahlan_BrightBlade]

alright so how do I figure out how to translate the amount of yen into american money

ex: 10yen =?? american dollars  

[Freakezette]

Kahlan_BrightBlade

alright so how do I figure out how to translate the amount of yen into american money

ex: 10yen =?? american dollars

Think of One Yen being close in value to one US penny. Right now 1US dollar is about 115 yen, and 100 yen is about 86 cents. In the last 5 years, the value has been anywhere from 105-130 yen to one dollar, so 115 is about average.

If you place a decimal before the last 2 digits in a Japanese price, you can get a quick ballpark estimate of the US cost, and if you add two digits to a US price, you can estimate the cost in yen. I have a manga trade that is 390yen, I can put my decimal before the last 2 digits, and estimate the US cost is roughly $3.90. At the current rate it's actually $3.38, but like I said, it gives you a ballpark figure.

My shortcut works better in Canadian dollars since 100 yen = 1.01 CAD.

Google offers some quick currency conversion. Type this formula in the "search" box (The 'X's are the value you want to convert.)

From US dollars to yen: $XX.XX to yen
From Yen to US Dollars: XXXyen to $  

[Kahlan_BrightBlade]

Freakezette

Kahlan_BrightBlade

alright so how do I figure out how to translate the amount of yen into american money

ex: 10yen =?? american dollars

Think of One Yen being close in value to one US penny. Right now 1US dollar is about 115 yen, and 100 yen is about 86 cents. In the last 5 years, the value has been anywhere from 105-130 yen to one dollar, so 115 is about average.

If you place a decimal before the last 2 digits in a Japanese price, you can get a quick ballpark estimate of the US cost, and if you add two digits to a US price, you can estimate the cost in yen. I have a manga trade that is 390yen, I can put my decimal before the last 2 digits, and estimate the US cost is roughly $3.90. At the current rate it's actually $3.38, but like I said, it gives you a ballpark figure.

My shortcut works better in Canadian dollars since 100 yen = 1.01 CAD.

Google offers some quick currency conversion. Type this formula in the "search" box (The 'X's are the value you want to convert.)

From US dollars to yen: $XX.XX to yen
From Yen to US Dollars: XXXyen to $

Thanks! That helps a lot!  

[MystMaker]

I a pretty new at japanese so I just have a simple question:

how would you use kala (because) in a sentence.... just one or two example or just an explanation would be super helpful...

arigato!  

[Corelda]

MystMaker

I a pretty new at japanese so I just have a simple question:

how would you use kala (because) in a sentence.... just one or two example or just an explanation would be super helpful...

arigato!

Samui kara ikimasen. = Because it's cold, I won't go.

Abunai kara koko ni oyoganai de kudasai. = Because it is dangerous, please don't swim here.

exclaim "Kara" can also mean "from":

Sensei wa Nihon kara kimashita. = Teacher came from Japan.

Watashi wa asa kara zutto benkyoo shimashita. = I have studied all the time from/since morning.  

[Corelda]

iLLvybe

What's the difference in saying " betsu ni" or "nan de mo nai" ? Is one more slangish than the other? They both mean "nothing" I believe.

I think Freakezette is right.

Nan de mo nai = Nothing at all

Betsu ni = Nothing special

But, ( If I have understood right ) "betsu ni" has also become a common expression among teenagers, and it can have a little sense of "I'm not interested to tell you", or "Let's change the subject", or even "Not your business".

Parent: Kinoo tomodachi to issho ni nani o shimashita?
[ What were you doing with your friends yesterday? ]
Teenager: Betsu ni.
[ "Nothing special to tell you." ]

Or, it just means "No".

Parent: Daidokoro no sooji shitai desu ka?
[ Do you want to clean up the kitchen? ]
Teenager: Betsu ni.
[ "No, I don't specially want to." ]  

[MistuhFieryCat]

I'm trying to get that feature to see Japanese characters

I tried following the one that was insructed in Declan. I have Windows 2000 and it said I already had it. So, I tried installing it. But, when I tried following the procedure, it didn't have Japanese as one of its options.

What do I do?  

[TurtleGirl137]

Kahlan_BrightBlade

alright so how do I figure out how to translate the amount of yen into american money

ex: 10yen =?? american dollars

the way I figured it when I was there, was if something was priced 300 yen it was slightly less then 3 dollers.  

[Hermonie Urameshi]

MistuhFieryCat

I'm trying to get that feature to see Japanese characters

I tried following the one that was insructed in Declan. I have Windows 2000 and it said I already had it. So, I tried installing it. But, when I tried following the procedure, it didn't have Japanese as one of its options.

What do I do?

Sometimes you can just download certain fonts and you'll be able to see it. That's what we did on my dad's laptop. Look for the fonts MS Mincho, MS PMincho, MS Gothic, MS PGothic, MS UIGothic, and MV Bolvi. Any one of them should work.

For writing in Japanese, some pcs have a character map. On windows XP (I don't know if any other has it) go to start>all programs>accessories>system tools>character map. Change the font to MS Micho, MS Gothic, or MV Bolvi and click the checkbox underneath the characters for advanced options and change the character set to Windows: Japanese. You can change it to look for kanji by radicals or by hiragana.

Hope that helped. mrgreen