Teach me some fun words.
nanika omoshiroi kotoba o oshiete kudasai
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_133_r1.gif)
I’m enjoying hanging out with you.
issho ni asondete tanoshī desu
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_134_r1.gif)
Pictures
shashin
Let’s take a picture.
issho ni shashin torō
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_136_r1.gif)
You know Japanese folks love their pictures. But when you take a photo, don’t ask your models to say “cheese”—ask them what one plus one is, because the Japanese word for “two” (ni) pulls the old cheeks up like a good face-lift:
What’s one plus one?
ichi tasu ichi wa
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_137_r1.gif)
Two!
nī
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_138_r1.gif)
CHAPTER 2
FRIENDLY JAPANESE
NAKA YOSHIN IHONGO
Friends
nakama
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_140_r1.gif)
Japan is often seen as a rigid society, where social pressures deny people their full range of expression. This is not true. What is acceptable to say depends on who’s around. When you’re with friends, you can say some of the stupidest shit possible and be loved and forgiven. But even with friends there are different levels of intimacy, as in the following:
Total stranger
aka no tanin
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_141_r1.gif)
Hey—Japanese folks don’t just go up and talk to total strangers like that.
anone nihonjin wa sōyatte aka no tanin ni koe o kaketari shinai no
Acquaintance
shiriai
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_143_r1.gif)
I first got interested in Japan because I had lots of Japanese acquaintances.
nihon ni kyōmi o motta no wa nihonjin no shiriai ga ōkatta kara da
Classmate
dōkyūsei
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_145_r1.gif)
Do you hang out with your classmates much?
dōkyūsei to wa yoku asondeiru no
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_146_r1.gif)
Coworker
dōryō
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_147_r1.gif)
Do you get along with your coworkers?
dōryō to wa naka yoku shiteru
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_148_r1.gif)
Have you ever dated a coworker?
dōryō to tsukiatta koto aru
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_149_r1.gif)
Buddy-buddy
naka yoshi
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_150_r1.gif)
You know, we really get along well.
uchira tte kekkō nakayoshi da ne
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_151_r1.gif)
Solid guy
ī yatsu
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_152_r1.gif)
He’s really a solid guy.
aitsu wa hontō ni ī yatsu da
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_153_r1.gif)
Sweet girl
ī ko
![](/files/03/94/07/f039407/public/matt_9781569750674_oeb_154_r1.gif)