Smiletalk Updates That'll Put A Smile On Your Face

It has finally happened! Smiletalk now has an option to listen to Japanese talks!

Now you have a supply of Japanese listening comprehensions that will undoubtably be invaluable resources to you! You should check out our article on how to effectively use listening comprehensions. Don't forget to help support learners in Japan by contributing your own talks!

Don't forget to check out the facebook page for more information and of course the actual website. If you have any ideas please drop them in the forum where I personally read all of them.

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ICE Phrases

In Case of Emergency Phrases

Something that seems only rarely to be taught in schools or in any language class is what to say in case of an emergency. This seems strange to me considering that when you are in trouble that's when you need to know the language most. Here are some phrases to help you in the event of the emergency. I've tried to cover the basics.

I have indicated gender on some of these with (F) meaning female and (M) meaning male. However, using the correct gender will probably be the least of your worries in the event of an emergency.

General

Law & Order (Photo credit: uzaigaijin)

Help! 

Tasukete

Somebody help! 

Dareka tasukete

Run!

Hashire (M) / Hashitte(F)

Run (away)!

Nigero (M) / Nigete (F)

Hurry!

Isoge (M) / Isoide (F)

SVG'd version of File:Asahikage.png, per Graphic Lab request. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Stop! (Stop running.)

Tomare (M) / Tomatte (F)

Stop! (Stop doing.)

Yamero (M) / Yamete (F)

Wait!

Mate (M) / Matte (F)

Get down!

Husero (M) / Husete (F)

Hide!

Kakurero (M) / Kakurete (F)

Look out!

Kiotsukero (M) / Kiotsukete(F)

Be careful!

Kiotsukero (M) / Kiotsukete (F)

Call an ambulance!

Kyuhkyuhsha o yonde

Call the police!

Keisatsu o yonde

Natural Disaster

Earthquake

Jishin da

Fire (on a building)

Kaji da

Fire (on a mountain)

Yama Kaji da

Tsunami

Tsunami da

Flood

Kouzui da

Storm

Arashi da

Remember

You are going to sound foreign and therefore be harder to understand, you need to make an effort to speak slowly and clearly which will be hard if you are panicking.

The symbol of the Japanese law enforcement is featured above along with a photo of an officer seek them out.

If someone is following you get to a busy street with lots of witnesses.

Even if you don't know how to express something in Japanese use your body language and gesture to convey it.

'Unlike many emergency number services, the 119 system in Japan only services fire or ambulance services. Police are called using a separate emergency number, 110. Operators proficient in English and other foreign languages are available in Tokyo.'

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Chopsticks

English: Chopsticks for cooking Français : bois à manger (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You are probably well aware that in Japan rather than using knives or forks, chopsticks are the most common eating implement. How much do you really know about chopsticks?

The chopsticks お箸(Ohashi)

At the home in Japan, each family has their own chopsticks. Parents tend to use long chopsticks and children use short chopsticks. There are a variety of colors and designs in department and other stores in Japan.

Many Japanese people carry around their own set of chopsticks. By doing this they avoid having to use the cheap throw away chopsticks (waribashi) that are often supplied at bento shops. Most Japanese find chopsticks easier to use that a knife and fork.

When eating at a restaurant in Japan you will see a Chopstick rest (箸置き hashioki) on the table. If there is no chopstick rest and you need to put your chopsticks down then simple fold the wrapper your chopsticks came in, into an accordion shape and use that as the rest.

Never ever ever

1. Lift chopstick above mouth height.
2. Tear food apart by holding one chopstick in each hand
3. Shake off liquid on tip of chopstick.
4. Swing hand that is holding chopstick.
5. Shovel food into mouth with chopsticks, with the edge of you mouth on the rice bowl
6. Let chopsticks roam around plate while you are deciding what next to eat.
7. Hold chopsticks with hand that is already holding dish.
8. Put food in your mouth that is dripping.
9. Lick cop sticks.
10. Use chopsticks upside-down.
11. Eat with unmatched pair of chopsticks.
12. Tap plate with chopsticks.
13. Pass food from one person to another using chopsticks.
14. Use as toothpick.

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Smiletalk website update

I am excited to tell you avid Smiletalk users and eager learners, about Smiletalks latest features. As you know the site at the moment is still in it's infancy and with each passing month we boldly stride forward to improve it for the users. This month we have added a more social element to the website but stay tuned because even bigger and better updates are in the works. Thank you so much for your support!

Now lets take a closer look at these new features!

The Latest Features

Smiles

English: Hitch-hiker's gesture Русский: Жест автостопщика (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hey you, someone just gave you a smile! This means that they found your recording helpful and wanted to show their appreciation with a little smile. It's basically a thumbs up meaning you did a good job and just a little something to help motivate you!

This will help you decide on the content you can upload by seeing what people like. It will also help you to improve your posts by mimic the ones you made that got a lot of smiles.

Comments

We have finally created a comments feature! This means that people can now comment on your talk to tell you if it was helpful or not and to thank you for uploading. You can also comment on other users talk and maybe even ask for a specific talk! More features like this coming real soon

Plays

Now you can see how many time your talk has been played. If it is being played a lot then you know a lot of users are using it. You should feel proud that you are helping break down the language barrier!

Thank you all once again for your support and remember, by just sharing a few words you are helping billions of people by providing listening comprehensions

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Hiragana Basics

So we already learnt a little about Hiragana in lesson 1 but now we should learn a little more about some of the rules.

First of all you need to know about dakutens. these little dashes completely transform the sound

K->G S->Z T->D H->B

for instance this is ka and ga. as you can see the only difference is the dakuten. 

mora KA hiragana (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Japanese Hiragana kyokashotai GA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are also  handakutens which are used to turn a H->P for instance ha to pa  は -> ぱ

The next rule you should learn is about 'Digraphs' this is where a small Y sound (ya, yo, yu) transforms a hiragana into a new sound.

The transformation occurs for

き し ち に ひ み り

for instance き (ki) becomes きゃ (kya)

It should also be known if a small tsu sound つ it will double the first letter of the next hiragana.

That's all you need to know for now!

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