G'day from Japan:)
 

that depends on where you are in the U.S. in alabama we usually answer with a "pretty good" or "fine"
it also depends on the teacher

aligato!
 

no problem. glad I could help^^

Fooflowers,Aligato-ne!
 

I understand;-)

I woud love to help you guys with your Japanese if you want!
 

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree wit this part. I fail to see how saying you are doing "well" makes you appear more intelligent than saying you are doing "good". That comes off as a bit pompous.

The only context I can think of where 'well' fits better than 'good' would be in making the statement 'You (seem to be)/(look like you are) doing well." But you could put 'pretty good' in place of 'well'.

Depending on how you word your sentence, 'good' can be just as proper as 'fine' or 'well'.

Thank you so much! I've been looking for something similer or just like this for forever! Arigatou Gozaimasu! ><

[quote=Nathan;497433]I'm sorry, but I have to disagree wit this part. I fail to see how saying you are doing "well" makes you appear more intelligent than saying you are doing "good". That comes off as a bit pompous.
QUOTE]

lol I agree! If I asked "How are you?" and someone said "I'm well, thank you" I'd probably want to tell them to pull the stick out of their butt.

Who really talks like that these days? lol I work at a huge bank. The multi-million dollar customers don't even talk to us like that, and we don't talk like that to them.

We say "good" or "alright" ... sometimes "fine"

I think "fine" has a little undertone of anger to it. "How are you?" "I'm fine." It's kind of like ... they're just annoyed that you're asking. Maybe it's all in how they say it. But, no one around here says "fine" (I'm from NY)

I don't think saying fine sounds rude, it depends with who you're talking to and how they say it and if it as the "thank you" on the end it's alright. But I usually say "Good" with people I just meet and "Doing O.K." with friends, but if you want to be polite I would suggest "I'm doing fine, thank you".

You can say i'm fine. It depends all on what ur tone is. Saying im alright depends on the situation and the person your talking to. You can say Im fine thank you, but not with everyone it sounds way too formal.

It's really a nice thread
but it is hard to read the hirakana,
i'd rather read kanji~

i say, g'day mate hows it goin- not too bad mate, ya self?
lol joking but serious some aussies here do say that.

but when ppl always think of australia they think we all have that gay acent. but trust me every1! we dont all talk like that

if someone says how are you, to me. i normaly say, pretty good. you?

Thank you minna!
 

It's very interesting to know how you "greet" !

Ali ga toh !

I'll definitely join the thread.. meet you there..
:d

I have a question!
 

Can you tell me how would you say....
if you are (b) person.

a) How are you?

b) I am good. how ARE you?

a) I am pretty good.

b) xxxxxx


Would you say other than,
"That's good" ?

i really dunno ,but i usually go with "That's good" or "great"

I'd say they're equally correct, I usually go with good but I've never stopped to think why lol


lol you don't wanna overuse a word in spoken conversation. There're infinite replies you could give there that don't involve the term "good" like... lol I was gonna say "that's good to hear" as an example xDDDD! but really, you could say just about anything.

"That's great" could be one response.

Or you could go straight into the conversation from that point.

Thank you, Suki
 

I see what you mean,thank you.

"you could say just about anything"

Yes, I think so too, because in Japanese language
I could choose any words any explanations,
because I am a native Japanese speaker so I know
what are appropriate, but
you know,
English is a foreign language for me,
so
I don't have many choice,
I don't know what are appropriate.

so in this thread, I really appreciate many of kind English native speakers like you told me what they would say, is really really interesting and helpful.

Thank you!
 

Thank you!

The reason why I asked this question was
most of the English text books in Japan (written/edited by Japanese)
show like

a) How are you?
b) I'm fine, thank you. and you?
a) I'm fine Thank you.

That's it!

then conversation just stopped!
for the beginners, they really need some
nice responce to make the conversation keep going.

so I want them to put

a) That's good. by the way...

or something like that.


thank you and have a good day!

aligato! Nathan
 

naruhodo.

can you give me some easy way to go into the conversation?

I mean,

after that how are you thing,

so... how is your XXX? (school, work,new part-time job)?
how was your weekend,holidays,party...?

if I don't know much about the person yet,
I sometimes have NO idea what to say to start the conversation.
Usually the person I was talking to, he/she would start saying or asking me something, but some people don't have a good questions to ask me, because
we don't know much about each other, then we have some awkward moment.

I was told that talking about the weather is the best way to
start the conversation, but I don't want to sound boring.

mmm communication in a foreing language is not easy!
(but interesting)

mmm, this type of question has no simple answer. It depends on not only what country you are from, but also what state, town, socio-economic background - all that stuff. Say how you are, what comes naturally won't be wrong no matter what anyone says.

Well, it all depends on how close you are to each other.

If you do know each other well, you can carry on in the "so, how was X" style.
Some variations include: "Hey, how was X", "So hey, how was X"

Maybe you have some news of your own to share:
"(Hey,) Did you hear about (Hamasaki's baby boy / the typhoon in Kobe / )"
"Guess what happened (this weekend / to John / in Australia)"

"Did you (catch the news / watch the (game/movie))?"

If you don't know much about them, you can try general "probe" questions to see what interests them. Try general topics, like celebrities, sports, etc.
Somewhat similar to the above:

- "Did you watch the Tigers game last night?"
- "I like your (hat). Where did you get it?"
- Even more generic: "Anything exciting happen on the weekend?"

As stringperson said, there are a number of ways. It varies.

mmmmmm what is exactly the difference between Australian English and British English or even American English? is it just the tone/ pronunciation or is it how the body of words are mixed together? i guess i use American English....

....& what is the proper english to use G'day or Good day???

Its also the culture and different vocabulary/phrases.

For example, the well known "apartment" vs. "flat", "flashlight" vs "torch", "buck" vs "quid"

You could get away with saying "I'm easy" in Australia and everyone knows you mean you're easy going. The sexual connotation doesn't exist like it does in American/Canadian English.

When giving instructions, checking for feedback with "okay" vs "yeah?"

There are many small differences that add up quickly.

Yeah, right from the moment you mention anyting weather-related, they'll know you're trying too hard to make casual conversation.

The topic you choose to bring up will depend on who you're talking to. If you're with someone you just met and wanna get to know that person, you may start out by asking about basic, not-too-private stuff, but that too will depend on the context the conversation takes place in.

lol I didn't know that!

Like in British English they say "Blow me" as an exclamation of surprise, no sexual connotation is implied there either. I used to have a British Enligh teacher we all made fun of cause he was said to have been a porn actor and he certainly looked like he could've been one, I was in class, all concentrated on my paper and I hear him shout to someone: "what a cock-up you've made!", we were all like o_O Made a woooooooot? lol

thank you;)
 

kon ni chi wa stringpoerson,
Yes I agree. It really depends.

so Can you give me your advise
how I can tell new Japanese English learners
about "how are you" thing?

most of the English text books in Japan,
it doesn't tell this thing,
I mean
for example
some books written by Japanese who lived in USA
many of them say
"don't use HOW ARE YOU? nor I AM FINE"
those are way too polite.
but other books written by someone lived in England.Australia or NewZealand,
They say different things.

Many of Japanese people learning English, they want to use English IN JAPAN,
that means we will have chance to meet people from various countries.
We don't want to be rude or anything.

You may think I am worried too much, but....


One of my friends from England,
She didn't like it when one of my co-workers(japanese boy)
said to her "What's up,man?" .
The Japanese boy was studying English for a year with an American teacher
at "N" English School in Japan.
His English level was not very high.
He only could say very simple things, but
he wanted to use lots of slangs which he believed that's the natural and cool way to talk.

but I thought and think while we are beginner of the foreign language,
better use "polite(r) way" rather than slangs.

oops I'd better go to bed now it's 3am!

naruhodoh!
 

wow, thanks for the great advise!
I have been learning alot from you, Nathan;)
I hope you can come to http://www.japanforum.com/forum/%E8%...%EF%BC%81.html

so that
I could help you with your Japanese.

「N」はノーバ英会話でしたか？　とても悪い英会話学� �と思いました。私は一年半ノーバで働きました。　(￢� ��)
Yeah, studying slang when you are a beginner makes you sound strange. It's like a beginner in Japanese not using "こんにちは、和弘さん！お元気ですか？” and instead saying "よ！和弘！マイド！元気や？”

hahaha
 

:vsign:
hahaha:D so you lived in Kansai area when you were in Japan?

The N(you are right) school did many things wrong to the teachers and the students, many of the teachers HAD to leave Japan, many of the students had no where to go to study English even they paid a lot of money already,
and not only that, many of Japanese people started doubting about all English Education related businesses so some of English schools also had to be closed.

There are still many English schools(they call themselves "School"but they don't deserve to be call that) keep cheating I am afraid.

You might have noticed that there are many many Japanese "English teachers" can't speak English!

I want to be an English teacher, teaching at elementary school or junior high, so I am going to back to uni to get qualified.

I am qualified as a home-ec teacher, but not English. My major wasn't English.

oops I talked about something not related to the topic, please forgive me;)

yurusitene~

If you have any more questions about English language, feel free to PM me or just randomly ask. Yeah...ok, that was random. But seriously, my English might not sound very great but its only cause I was raised in the country. ^-^ ...wish I was still in the city though. I'm homesick for it...
ack, I got off-topic as well

aligatoh!
 

Thank you KikiBunny23!

Can I ask you one?

I would like to know how to use this word "bother".

I sometimes hear people say

Can't be botherd,

but I don't know exactly how to use it.

Can you give me some examples?


have a nice weekend!

Ah, bother. 難しいですね。

I know the question is not directed at me, but I'll still through in my two cents!

Bother has many meanings. All based on context.

******************************************************

1) Bother as "annoy" or "not annoy"
** A mosquito is flying around you, really close to your ears **
- "That mosquito is bothering me!"
** Kentaro is hitting/poking/interrupting his sister when she's working/watching tv**
- Kentaro's mother: "Kentaro, stop bothering your sister and do your homework."
- Kentaro's sister: "Yeah! Go away and stop bothering me!"
(Stop annoying her. Yeah, stop annoying me!)

** Kentaro's family is visiting his grandparents' hosue, and Kentaro is making lots of noise (like kids do!)**
- Okaasan -> "Kentaro! Be quiet! I'm sorry mother! He's not usually this loud."
- Obaasan -> "That's okay, it doesn't bother me. Let him play."
(I'm not annoyed)
**

2) Bother showing "effort", or "no effort"
**John wants to call his boss to say he will be late because his car won't start, but his phone isn't working because he didn't pay the phone bill. His wife Mary is angry at him**
- John: "How am I supposed to tell him now!?"
- Mary: "Well if you had bothered to pay the bill we could call him!"
(If you had done it, the situation would be different)

**Mary wants John to get in shape, but John is really lazy and loves junk food**
- John: "I know I should exercise, but usually I can't be bothered and I just go watch TV"
(I don't want to!)

**John has a lot of things to do at his house, but he is too tired because he worked 10 hours today**
- John: "Mary, I'll cut the grass tomorrow, I'm exhausted and can't be bothered to do it now."
(I'm too tired, I don't want to do it)

****Bother can be a noun too, not just a verb*****
- John: "Man, cutting the grass is such a bother! I'll just pay someone to do it."


**There is a loud party happening near Mary and John's house, and Mary wants them to be quiet. John doesn't think talking to them will work."
- Mary: "Those kids! I'm going to tell them to turn off that music so I can sleep!"
- John: "Why bother? They won't listen, just call the police." (It's not worth the effort, it won't work)

3) Bother as "a polite interruption when someone is doing something", usually used at the work place or talking to a superior.
** John wants to talk to his boss about taking vacation time, and his boss looks busy**
- John - (Knocks on the door)
- Boss - "Come in. John, what is it?"
- John - "Sorry to bother you, but could you spare a moment? I was wondering ..."
(I'm sorry to interrupt you)

4) Bother as "a worry"
**John and Mary see their friend Susan at the park. Susan is obviously worrying about something (frowning, scratching her head, confused look, etc)**
- Mary: "Hey John, isn't that Susan? Huh.. I wonder what's bothering her."
- John: "Well, lets go find out."

5) Bother as "a pain"
*John hurt his shoulder playing tennis earlier this morning*
- Doctor: "So John, what's seems to be the problem?"
- John: "Well, my shoulder has been bothering me all afternoon. I think I hurt it during my tennis game."


******************************************************

As you can see, there are many ways to use bother!

wow...
 

wow, "bother" isn't an easy one!!

and

another WOW for how you taught me...

Nathan, you are a wonderful teacher!

I am going to print out what you just taught me,

and read again again again until I understand them!

until I become an expart using "bother"!;)


oops now it's 4:30 am, I couldn't sleep...

but I am going to meet my friends (from Brazil) for lunch,

so I have to go to bed soon.

oyasumi~