Survival Japanese - Basic Phrases for Communication

[JeyKama]

Wow, the OP's list makes my Japanese feel super-casual. Then again, when I do MPs the Japanese I talk to are also super-casual @_@

Some minor ones I use often that aren't too complicated-

お邪魔します。よろしくです。
Hi, butting in. (joining ongoing party)

整理いってきます。
I'm going to go vendor/bank (i.e. back to the campship)

すみません。離席します。
Sorry, I must AFK

ＷＣいってきます
Going to the bathroom!

そろそろ休憩します。ＰＴありがとうございました。
Going to take a break (as in leave party). Thanks for the party.

乙
casual punny shorthand for "otsukare"

[Buthor]

Oh, then it explains why I didn't pay attention to your giant post with alot of quotes.

I know you've contributed a lot to this thread LuneFox but, perhaps you should read this part of my "giant post with alot of quotes."

...This thread is an excellent collaboration of knowledge and a shining example of how the PSO-W community can really come together to teach one another something but, that isn't my point here. It is that for those of you "who haven't the foggiest idea about japanese!" you really should just take the time to really study the language in-depth and thoroughly (professional instruction that is not Rosetta-Stone is a huge help - and I say this from my own educational experience and having attempted to use Rosetta-Stone to just keep it fresh in my mind and being disgusted at their immersion-only approach)...

Are you asking for a "tl;dr"?

tl;dr: learn the language and sage this thread, it's not a guide.

[Raxrenol]

This is my main point. This is just becoming a "learn Japanese thread" which I don't see serving any purpose as it is being written by non-professional sources here on this forum. If you're really interested in being able to use Japanese effectively then you just plain need to take several years of coursework and live there or Rosetta-Stone if you're really brave.

I've read through all your supporting quotes and I'm very impressed at the length at which you go to justify your points. However I do feel you segregate the types of people who'd view this thread into categories that are too extreme on either end. Yes, players who have absolutely no knowledge of Japanese wouldn't be able to fully understand a Japanese player's reply, maybe a disclaimer should be put up in the opening post to caution against going overboard. Similarly, a player fluent in Japanese would have no need for this thread, but that much is obvious.

The recommended phrases here do help to quickly get a message across though, and there have been numerous accounts of people having conversations with Japanese players over Google translate, so I wouldn't say someone without Japanese knowledge is completely helpless.

But more to the point, the real merits of this thread come to those who know the basics of Japanese, or are moderately skilled at it. Say someone who took a couple courses over a school break or did a few modules for interest. This person would have a base grasp of hiragana, katakana, some kanji, but he'd probably not have the vocabulary to express a wide variety of useful phrases for in-game situations. That's where this thread comes in.

Additionally, someone who's learning Japanese but simply does not have the time or motivation for a full time pursuit in the language can benefit in the interim by having a one-stop go-to guide for all the phrases he may find useful, and then proceed to focus on honing his Japanese later through professional lessons. Games are a great way to learn a language, playing online games while growing up greatly strengthened my grasp of English (I'm not a native speaker) through reading and application. There can be many ways to learn a language other than the conventional means.

My point is, there are many degrees of people in between the two extremes you've listed that could benefit from this thread (like me), thus I'd say saging it would be a tad overzealous.

Reasons that silence is better:
Mukanshin(無関心) - tl;dr: Japanese people don't say anything to each other so don't worry about them not saying anything to you.

Spoiler!

This is a social construct in Japan that has really developed right along-side the population level itself. You see, because there are so many people in cities like Tokyo, most Japanese (because "most" live in enormous cities) have developed a sense of "non-interest" in others' and their affairs or even their existence (and I use "non-" because "dis-" would indicate a "lack of interest" and that is not the case here; rather, the notion of there ever being the ability for the person to develop a lack of interest is 無=null/moot/void, that is: it never existed). So, for those of you who feel there may be some need to fill some kind of "awkward" silence in your PSO2 sessions with Japanese players that you can't understand in the first place, you have nothing to worry about: they don't even register your existence outside of your virtual character's appearance in their party - AND THAT'S OK. Mukanshin is not something unusual or scary or negative in any way. It is as normal for Japanese as breathing. If you're not Japanese and you don't believe me, I'm sorry, but you're just going to have to go and live somewhere like Tokyo (yes, I'm sure you've figured it out that I used to live there but am now back in the States hence any notion to connect with English speaking players at all). If you're Japanese and you think I'm wrong: 申し訳ありませんが上智大学に行ったし、日本文化論を勉強しました。

True, this is very prevalent behavior in Japan, but to say that all of them don't care about other people around them is over generalizing. There are a decent number of friendly Japanese players who do try to speak to foreigners, as many scenarios on this forum can attest, so again I'd refrain from lumping every Japanese player into one big socially apathetic stereotype.

[Buthor]

I've read through all your supporting quotes and I'm very impressed at the length at which you go to justify your points. However I do feel you segregate the types of people who'd view this thread into categories that are too extreme on either end. Yes, players who have absolutely no knowledge of Japanese wouldn't be able to fully understand a Japanese player's reply, maybe a disclaimer should be put up in the opening post to caution against going overboard. Similarly, a player fluent in Japanese would have no need for this thread, but that much is obvious.

The recommended phrases here do help to quickly get a message across though, and there have been numerous accounts of people having conversations with Japanese players over Google translate, so I wouldn't say someone without Japanese knowledge is completely helpless.

But more to the point, the real merits of this thread come to those who know the basics of Japanese, or are moderately skilled at it. Say someone who took a couple courses over a school break or did a few modules for interest. This person would have a base grasp of hiragana, katakana, some kanji, but he'd probably not have the vocabulary to express a wide variety of useful phrases for in-game situations. That's where this thread comes in.

Additionally, someone who's learning Japanese but simply does not have the time or motivation for a full time pursuit in the language can benefit in the interim by having a one-stop go-to guide for all the phrases he may find useful, and then proceed to focus on honing his Japanese later through professional lessons. Games are a great way to learn a language, playing online games while growing up greatly strengthened my grasp of English (I'm not a native speaker) through reading and application. There can be many ways to learn a language other than the conventional means.

My point is, there are many degrees of people in between the two extremes you've listed that could benefit from this thread (like me), thus I'd say saging it would be a tad overzealous.



True, this is very prevalent behavior in Japan, but to say that all of them don't care about other people around them is over generalizing. There are a decent number of friendly Japanese players who do try to speak to foreigners, as many scenarios on this forum can attest, so again I'd refrain from lumping every Japanese player into one big socially apathetic stereotype.

Yeah maybe I went a little overboard. I'm just passionate about the language is all. I would rather have people learning so they can really have a good time than just using this C&P method. I've been really enjoying using this game to brush up on my Japanese again because, since I lived there, I haven't used it for a while now. Just saying, if you really wanna have a good time then you really should put some serious effort into learning the language, it'll really pay off regardless whether or not you travel to Japan.

[chihiro]

The only thing I see in this thread relating to thanks is "thanks for the hard work". How do you say thanks after getting rezzed or thanks after getting congratulated for levelling? Just casually. Not a five word statement of thanks that uses formal kneecrawling apologies. Would be appreciated ORZ.

[Valymer]

rez is 復活, so I guess you go with the safe 復活ありがとう, or if you are feeling brave 復活してくれてありがとう, which literally means "thanks for doing the rez to/for me"

For leveling up congrats I usually don't say anything, but ありがとう is always a safe thing to respond with I guess

[chihiro]

Thanks!

[Coatl]

Hey. Sorry to necro this thread. I didn't think it'd be appropriate to make an entirely new thread.

Can someone post a good translation, or at least something in the lines of, "Follow me! I'm in <pos>!" in japanese

[Piddle]

They usually say "現在<pos>(に進行中/を移動中)" and others who like to play leader get a little more creative with it.

[kyojin]

imo this thread should be stickied, this is a great guide to at least communicate with the JP players
ahh my bad its already linked at the stickypage