How to reply to a post on Instagram in Japanese.

Dear my fellow adventurers.

It's an honor to see that number of people trying to access the pages in this blog has exceeded one thousand. I was not expecting such a large number. I really appreciate your attention.

Today's main topic is how to reply to a post on Instagram.

"Kawaii"

Generally speaking, "kirei", which means "beautiful", is the most common expression of compliment for someone's photo. But when you reply on Instagram, it's not the case. The search result on Instagram clearly shows that "Kawaii" is the most frequently used expression to mention.

So, the simplest expression to reply on Instagram is this.

ex:「かわいい。」
    "kawaii.'
    "Cute." or "Pretty."

But this might sound a little blunt. If you add an exclamation mark, it would be a perfect expression as a novice of Japanese language.

ex:「かわいい！」

"Kawaiidesune!"

The next step will be polite form.
You don't have to be so formal on Instagram, but when you search in the Instagram and reply to somebody who has never contacted you before, then I recommend to add "desune" at the end. "desu' makes your reply more formal, and by adding "ne" at the end of the sentence, you can ask for listener's confirmation or agreement.

「かわいいですね!」
"Kawaii desune!"
"It's cute, isn't it?"

You can see what kind of pictures are appropriate for this expression by tapping the following link.
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8F%E3%81%84%E3%81%84/

You will find that "kawaii' is used for diverse object such as girls, babies, small animals, or clothes.

"Kakkoii!"

But how about something bigger or manly object? If you would like to reply to "cool' photos, "Kakkoii" would be the most useful expression.

「かっこいい！」or「かっこいいですね！」
"Kakkoii!" or "Kakkoiidesune!"
”Cool!" or "It's cool, isn't it?"

Here is the link to the search result of 「かっこいい」on Instagram. I guess you will find something or somebody more active, or more aggressive comparing to "Kawaii".
https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/%E3%81%8B%E3%81%A3%E3%81%93%E3%81%84%E3%81%84/

"Oishiso!"

One of the Japanese people's favorite object on Instagram is food. Lots of us post what we eat. Now, the number of search results for #おいしい which means "Delicious" is almost 3 million. That means you have almost 3 million opportunities to reply "おいしそう！".

"おいしそう！" or "おいしそうですね！"
"oishisou!" or "Oishisoudesune!"
"Looks delicious! "

In English speaking world, people sometimes reply "It's delicious!" or "It's yummy!" on Instagram. I guess it would be a natural expression for them, but it sounds very strange if you say exactly same thing in Japanese. We never say "おいしい" when we see pictures of food without tasting it. So, you really have to say "おいしそう！" instead of "おいしい！".

"Sugoi!"

This is another typical expression of compliment. But it is not about how it looks. Rather, it's about an achievement or skills. For example, when your friend post a selfie on the summit of high mountain, or with northern light in their background, you can say "Sugoi!".

"すごい！" or ”すごいですね！”
"Sugoi!" or "Sugoidesune!"
"Great!"

When you would like to exaggerate casually, the following expression is frequently used.

"すっごーい！"
"Suggooi!"
"Amazing!"

In this case, "desune" is not used together, since this expression sounds very casual.


Today, I introduced some basic ways to reply on Instagram.
But they do not become your real skills unless you use them in a real communication.
Please do not afraid of making mistake, and tap the "reply" button on the Instagram.

I hope this article will help you to communicate on Instagram.

How to add short captions to your photos in Japanese.

My dear adventurers.

Finally, I arrived at Canada, and started another chapter of my adventure.
Sorry for not posting for more than two months.

In my previous post, I shared some ideas on how to warmly welcome a new member in your Japanese community. Have you tried it?

Today's main topic is posting on Instagram.
Do you like posting pictures on Instagram or other SNS?
If you do, I strongly recommend you to follow today's instruction. It's about adding a short caption in Japanese to your photo.

Posting your selfie

If you love posting your selfie, the most important expression is "わたしです。" .
It means "It's me.". So, you can use this phrase wherever you are.

「わたしです。」
"Watashidesu."
"It's me."

When you would like to share who you were with, just put "と。" after the person's name.

「たなかさんと。」
"Tanakasanto."
"With Mr. Tanaka."

You can replace "Mr. Tanaka" with any other word such as Dad, Mom, your boy friend or your girl friend.

「父と。」
"Chichito"
"With my dad."

「母と。」
"Hahato."
"With my mom."

「彼氏と。」
"Kareshito."
"With my boy friend."

「彼女と。」
"Kanojoto."
"With my girl friend."

Posting Selfie from a particular place

On Instagram or any other SNS, people post their selfie from various places, every day and night. If you are one of them, adding the particle "de" is the easiest way to express your location.

「日本で。」
"Nihonde."
"In Japan"

「空港で。」
"KuuKoude."
"At the airport "

「秋葉原で。」
"Akihabarade."
"In Akihabara"

「パーティーで。」
"Paathii de."
"At the party "

Posting a picture of a special occasion

Next examples are for the selfies to post on special occasions such as a birthday, Mothers' day, or a Wedding anniversary.

「誕生日に。」
"Tanjoubini."
"On my birthday."

「母の日に。」
"Hahanohini."
"On Mothers' day."

「結婚記念日に。」
"kekkon kinenbini."
"On the wedding anniversary."

「父の一周忌に。」
"Chichino isshuukini."
"On the first anniversary of Father's death."

Posting a picture without you

Remember, "と" means "with" in the sentences I show above.
If you post a picture of your girl friend WITHOUT you, you can not use "と".
Instead, you have to use "です" like following examples.

「彼女です。」
"Kanojodesu."
"(This is) my girl friend."

「私の学校です。」
"Watashino gakkoudesu."
"(This is) my school."

「わたしの部屋です。」
"Watashino heyadesu."
"(This is) my room."

「私の家族です。」
"watashino kazokudesu."
"(This is) my family."

「私の職場です。」
"Watashino shokubadesu."
"(This is) my office."

「私の友達です。」
"Watashino tomodachidesu."
"(This is) my friend."

「私の親友です。」
"Watashino shin-yuudesu."
"(This is) my best friend."

「朝ごはんです。」
"Asagohandesu."
"(This is) my breakfast."

「私の町です。」
"Watashino machidesu."
"(This is) my town."

「さくらです。」
"Sakuradesu."
"(This is) cherry blossom."

Expressing your feeling.

When you post a picture of Cherry blossom, it may be too obvious to say "This is Cherry blossom".
In that case, you can add your feeling to your post, like this.

「きれいです。」
"Kireidesu."
"It's beautiful."

As far as I see on Instagram, the following example "大好きです" is often used when people post pictures of  their favorite musicians or actors. I have to remind you to respect their right of publicity, but I encourage you to use this expression when you post a picture of your pet or your favorite food.

「大好きです。」
"Daisukidesu."
"I love this."

When you are excited with a result of a sports game or something, you can shout, "Yatta!".
It literally means "I did it!" or "We did it!".
So, you can use this expression when you pass an examination or when you completed a tough stage on video games.

「やった！」
"yatta!"
"I did it!"

When you see someone else doing something excellent, you can praise them by saying "Sugoi!". It has various meanings such as "Cool", "Awesome" or "Amazing.". 

「すごい！」
"Sugoi!"
"Amazing!"

Thus, posting on Instagram with a short Japanese caption is not so difficult. Maximize the power of your picture. Then you don't have to describe what you see in front of your eyes, in Japanese. This simple trick will drastically increase your range of expression.

Buy the way, as I always recommend, please do not stop your journey here. You can't acquire language without actually using it. Post any picture with a Japanese caption, and share the result with me.

In my next post, I will discuss about how to reply to a post on Instagram.

Thank you!

Welcoming new members in Japanese.

Hi, there!
Sorry for not updating for such a long time.
I can't believe one month has passed since the last post.

By the way, have you already started communicating in a Japanese speaking group on Facebook or any other SNS as I wrote in my previous posts?
Then, it's YOUR turn to welcome a new member to your community.
That's the main topic for today's lesson.

For beginners

If you are a beginner learner of Japanese language, remember just one new word.
It's ようこそ (Youkoso) which means "Welcome".
But this is too short as a warm welcome, so, it will be much better if you add your self-introduction. If you don't remember how to introduce yourself in social media, please refer my past article on this topic. "ようこそ" and your self-introduction will be a perfect welcoming message for a beginner.

Now, the problem for beginners is that it is not easy to find self-introduction among thousands of posts.
In this case, you can visit "The Nihongo Learning Community" again, and find the list of self-introductions by native Japanese speakers.
日本語話者の自己紹介まとめ List of self-introductions by native Japanese speakers

In this group, of course you can see lots of non Japanese speakers introducing themselves in Japanese, too. If you would like to welcome them in Japanese, you can refer this list.
学習者・非母語話者自己紹介まとめ List of self-introductions by learners and non Japanese native speakers

For A2 level learners

If you feel above-mentioned welcoming message is not challenging, then, you can add some questions. For example, when the new member is a student, you can ask his or her major, something like this.

ご専攻は何ですか？

Go-senkou wa nandesuka?

What do you major in?

If he or she is already working, then you can ask like this.

お仕事は何ですか？

O-shigoto wa nandesuka?

What do you do for a living?

As a closing, you can add this pattern.

ここで一緒に〜ましょう！
Kokode isshoni ~ mashou!
Let's do ~ here together!

What you do together must be something related to the group you belong to.
For example, If you are in the "The Japanese Learning Community", You can tell him or her to learn Japanese together as following.

ここで一緒に日本語を勉強しましょう！
Kokode isshoni nihongo-wo benkyou shimashou!
Let's learn Japanese here together!

For B1 level or higher

One of the more powerful ways to welcome new members is finding something you have in common with them. Just look at the profile and find something you like, or somewhere you have been.

If you find something you like in their profile whether it's about books sports, or anything, then you can add these expressions.

「新海誠の映画がお好きなんですか？　私もです。」
"Shinkai makotono eigaga o-sukinandesuka? Watashimo desu."
"Do you like the films by Shinkai Makoto? Me, too."

If you find a common place that you've also been to, then you can add these expression.

「私もブダペストに行ったことがあるんですよ」
"Watashimo Budapesutoni itta kotoga arundesuyo."
"I have been to Budapest, too."

Even if you can't find anything in common, it's OK. If you have heard about their birth place or where they live, you can tell them this way.
「～ご出身なんですね。行ってみたいです。」
"~ go-shussin-nandesune. Itte mitaidesu."
"You are from ~. I would like to visit there."

This "〜てみたい" is very convenient expression when you have nothing in common with them.
Literally, it means "I would like to try ~ing."
So, if somebody is sharing a picture of any food, you can say "食べてみたいです" (I want to try eating it.) . Or "聞いてみたいです"(I want to try listening to it.) for any post on a certain piece of music.

Example

Suppose you were a Canadian and welcoming a Japanese whose name is Makie from Hokkaido, where you have never been to, to a Shinkai Makoto's  fans group. Then your welcoming message would be like this.

ようこそ、まきえさん！
日本語を勉強中のカナダ人です。
「君の名は。」の奥寺先輩にハマってます。
北海道ご出身なんですね。行ってみたいです。
ここで一緒に新海さんのアニメについて話しましょう！
Welcome, Makie!
I'm a Canadian learning Japanese.
I like the character Ms.Okudera in the film "Your name."
You are from Hokkaido, right? I want to visit there someday.
Let's talk about Anime by Mr.Shinkai in this group!


This is the end of the lesson today.
I hope you found it helpful.

But as I always remind you, please don't stop here. Before you turn your TV on, open the links I shared in this article, and start to communicate in Japanese. Just one post will change your day.

In the next post, I will write how to add short captions to your photos. If you have an account on Instagram, you can't miss it!

Expressing Approval in Social Media

Hi, there!
I guess you would have already introduced yourself in a Japanese speaking community in Facebook or other social media by now.

Now, the most easiest way to communicate with Japanese people is showing your sympathy, expressing approval or agreeing with somebody else. It's much easier than arguing something you can't agree, or explaining something they don't know. So, if you are not so confident in your Japanese level, start with these activity.

いいですね Iidesune

The most common expression for this purpose is "いいですね"(iidesune) which means simply "It is good.". You can reply with this expression to all the posts instead of tapping on "like" button in Facebook.

"It's not raining today."
"Iidesune!"

"I ate a hamburger."
"Iidesune!"

"I like Shinkai Makoto."
"Iidesune!"

"desu" as in "Iidesune!" makes a sentence polite, so if you reply to your close friend or kids, just "いいね！"（Iine!）will be enough.

同感 Doukan

When somebody posted his or her opinion, "Iidesune!" is not wrong, but "Doukan desu." is more appropriate.

「手塚は宮崎や新海よりも偉大な作家だ」
(Tedukawa Miyazakiya Shinkaiyorimo idaina sakkada.)
"Tezuka was a greater creator than Miyazaki or Shinkai."
「同感です」
(Doukan desu.)
"I agree."

As I wrote above, "desu" as in "Doukan desu" is a polite way. So when you speak with your close friends, you can omit "desu".

「『君の名は。』見たいなあ。」"
(Kiminonawa mitainaa)
"I want to watch the movie "Your name"."
"同感。"
(Doukan.)
"I agree."

However, when there is no opinion in a post, you can not use this expression.

「『君の名は。』見たよ。」
"I watched the movie "Your name."."
"Doukan desu." (Wrong)
"Iidesune." (Correct)

たいへんですね。 Taihen desune.

"Iidesune" means "It is good.", as I wrote above, so apparently, you can not use this expression when you show your sympathy to a person who experienced something bad, such as losing their money, or catching a cold.
In that case, you can say 「たいへんですね」(Taihen desune) or "That is hard." literally.

For example,

「頭が痛い」(Atamaga itai) "I have a headache."
「たいへんですね」

「お金がない」(Okanega nai) "I have no money."
「たいへんですね」

「休みがほしい」(Yasumiga hoshii) "I want a day off." (I don't have day off.)
「たいへんですね」

Cultural Note

In Japan, evaluating directly somebody who is superior is not considered polite.
For example, "You are a good teacher." is not recommendable even though it is a positive evaluation.
In this case, you can say "勉強になりました"(Benkyouni narimasita) or "I could learn a lot (from your post)." in stead of "Iidesune!".


This is all for today's post.
If you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask in a comment.
 In the next post, I will write on how to ask question.
Have a good day!

How To Introduce Yourself in Social Media.

In the previous two posts, I wrote how to find a Japanese group in Facebook, and how to read posts in those Japanese groups. Now, it's time to start posting. You don't know what to post? Then introduce yourself!

The Two Powerful Keywords

It is not difficult to introduce yourself in Japanese. Even if you are a total beginner, only two powerful keywords make it easier.

The first keyword is "よろしく" or "Yoroshiku".
Literally, it means "nicely". But it can carry various meanings, depending on the context, such as "Nice to meet you." or "Thank you in advance.". If it is your first post in a group, of course it means the former.

This is a perfect expression for young people like high school students to introduce themselves. But if you are an adult, you can make it a little more formal by adding "おねがいします" or  "onegaishimasu", which means "Please".

"します" (shimasu) in this expression is a polite form, but if you are trying to participate in a professional group, you can make it more humble expression, by using "いたします" (itashimasu) instead. Then, you can make yourself sound like a business person or more professional person.

The second keyword is "はじめまして"(Hajimemashite).
When you are in a Japanese speaking group, you may find other Japanese people using it. It means "The first time" literally, and it is often used in a self-introduction.  I don't recommend this expression in a casual situation, since it sounds a little formal, but you can combine this with "よろしくおねがいします" (Yoroshiku onegai shimasu) or "よろしく おねがい いたします" (Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu) in a more professional situation.

So, if you are teenager, try this version.
"よろしく！"
"Yoroshiku!"

If you are an adult and going to participate a group which relates to your personal interest, I recommend this version.
"よろしく おねがい します。"
"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

If you would like to introduce yourself as a professional person, this is the best.
"はじめまして。よろしく お願い いたします。"
"Hajimemashite. Yoroshiku onegai itashimasu."

It is necessary to mention your name if you introduce yourself in person, but here, you are in a Facebook group, and your name is displayed to everybody. If your name is written in Japanese or English alphabet, maybe you can omit it.

Your nationality

If you can invest a little more time to build stronger relation among other members in a group, I recommend to include your nationality.

As I wrote in "Write your profile in Japanese.",  "人"(jin) is useful to mention your nationality. But it is not your profile here, so you have to make a sentence. Don't worry, it's very easy. Just put "です"(desu) after "人".

e.g.
"日本語勉強中のカナダ人。"
"A Canadian who is  learning Japanese."

"日本語勉強中のカナダ人です。"

"I am a Canadian who is  learning Japanese."

Sometimes, I see Japanese learners introducing themselves using "から来ました。". But it means "I came from (somewhere).", so it is wrong if you are still in the place mentioned in your introduction. If you don't have nationality of the country you live, then, you can say "〜に います。"('somewhere' ni imasu.) which means "I am in 'somewhere'.". 

e.g.

"ハンガリーに います。"

"I am in Hungary."

"ベトナムに います。"

"I am in Vietnam."

"コソボに います。"

"I am in Kosovo."

"エジプトに います。"

"I am in Egypt."

Appreciating for the acceptance

This is not necessary for groups where you don't need to send a request to join, but if you do, I recommend you to include your gratitude for the acceptance.

The casual way is like this.

"承認 ありがとう。" (Shounin arigatou.)

"Thanks for the acceptance."

If you would like to use polite form, it will be like this.

"ご承認 ありがとう ございます。"

And for the more professional situation, I recommend this version.

"ご承認いただき ありがとうございます。"

"承認" means  (You guess it.) "acceptance".  When you put "ご" before the noun, you can make it more formal.

Finally, suppose you are Hungarian who are accepted to any professional group where their common language is Japanese. Then your self introduction will be following.

はじめまして。
ご承認ありがとうございます。
日本語（を）勉強中のハンガリー人です。
よろしくお願いいたします。

OK, this is all for today. 

Thank you for reading to the end of the article.

But please note, that only reading my post will not improve your Japanese. Do not forget to post your self-introduction to any Japanese groups. I wrote how to find them in my previous post, but if you can't find a group yet, try "The Japanese learning community."

And please share your experience in the comment. I hope you can start your new life in a Japanese speaking group. Good luck!

How to Read Japanese on Social Media with Reading Support Tools

For the Japanese people in my generation, reading "real English" used to be something from another world for a long time. "Real English" means the one which the native speakers use. We knew all English sentences in our textbooks are not "real", because it was written only for students. And we did not have any access to the "real" English, except Hollywood movies. So, when I visited Canada thirty years ago, I was not sure if I can communicate with the "real" English speakers.

But thing are different now.

When a Japanese teenager takes his or her smartphone out of the pocket, the "real" English is just some taps away. Twitter is full of inspiring stories, jokes, or hoaxes. They are truly "real".

So, for the foreign language learners, I recommend to access those "real" language from the very beginning stage, instead of irrelevant sentences you find in the textbooks.

The easiest way is to search in Instagram. I advised you before to search with the Japanese keywords related to you, such as your nationality or profession to connect with Japanese people. But if you are not ready to connect with them and you are interested only in reading the "Real" Japanese, then, you can use any keywords. Rather, I recommend you to use something you love, even though you are not familiar with, such as names of Japanese towns you find in your favorite Anime.

The reason I recommend Instagram is, as I wrote it before, you can use the photos as visual aids. Even if you don't understand the Japanese sentences written as captions, you can estimate the meaning with the photos.

But, what if you haven't started learning Japanese yet?

No problem. You can use tons of reading assistance.
I will share with you just three examples of them below.

1. Google translation

If you are totally a beginner of Japanese language, I recommend to install the Google Translate extension into your Chrome.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-translate/aapbdbdomjkkjkaonfhkkikfgjllcleb
Just highlight and right click the part of the web page you are reading, and you can get the result in another window. You don't have to even copy and paste the text.
The upside of this extension is you can translate a whole sentence, or even a paragraph if it is needed.

2. Google  Dictionary

The downside of Google translate is that it opens in a new tab. Sometimes it takes half a second, which is too long in this digital era.
So, if you are looking for much faster extensions, I recommend Google Dictionary.
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-dictionary-by-goog/mgijmajocgfcbeboacabfgobmjgjcoja
It opens in a small pop-up. You don't have to wait until a whole new tab opens.

3. Rikaikun

The third option is Rikaikun. If you are a FireFox user, the extension is called Rikaichan. But they are basically same.
Once you install this extension, you don't have to even click the word you want to look up. Just place your mouse pointer over the word you want to look up, then you will see the blue pop-up window in which the meaning and pronunciation are displayed.
The upside is its speed. It's amazingly fast, comparing with google translation or Google Dictionary.
The downside of Rikaikun is that you cannot use this tool for any other language. It works only for Japanese language learning.

We, language educators, call these tools PLEs which stands for "Personal Learning Environments".
If you are equipped with these PLEs, you are ready to join in any Japanese groups in Social Media.
In my next post, I will share the simple and proper way to introduce yourself in the Japanese groups.

Find Japanese groups in Facebook.

Hi.
I'm going to write how to find Japanese groups in Facebook today.

The basic strategy is same as I wrote in my previous post.
Search with Japanese keyword which is related to yourself, such as your nationality, your profession, and so on.

For example, if you are Canadian, "カナダ" which means "Canada" in Japanese is one of the best keywords to find Japanese group where you can meet Japanese people who would be interested in you.

However, there are things to be considered to find a good Japanese group.

What you have to look for in a Japanese group is, the size and the rules of the group.

If it is a small group, then, you don't have to worry about it. Usually, the group is like a family and people get to know each other pretty soon.

The problem is, when the group has a large number of members and the rules of the group are not written in the group description. In these groups, the administrators are tend not to be engaged in the group so much, and people are enjoying their freedom. The freedom itself is OK, but it allows some people to act like a final boss. I don't want you to be in a dangerous group like that before you equip a weapon that is Japanese language in this case.

So, when you found an interesting group, I recommend you to check the description of the group. You don't have to understand everything. But if it is too simple or too short, you have to be more careful. The big green Wart might be waiting for you there.

On the other hand, when lots of rules are written in the description, you can say that the group is well-managed in general. The administrators are deeply engaged into the group, and when they find any problem, they respond as soon as possible.

Now, I would like to show you two examples of those groups.

The first one is "The Nihongo Learning Community".
About 20,000 people are learning Japanese here with more than 300 professional teachers. You can ask questions, or answer the quiz provided by their teachers. There are some Japanese people who are not professional teachers, but they are not allowed to act as teachers such as answering questions about Japanese language.

The Administrators of the group are Mr. Yoshikai and Ms. Nojima. When they find any post violating the rules, which are written to protect the learners, they boot the violator out of the group. So, I can recommend this group even to high school girls.

The second group is "海外旅行好きサークルwith国際交流".
The name of the group means "Group of people who love traveling abroad and who want to build international friendship".

In this group, people are mainly sharing the pictures they took on their trip. Some of non Japanese members share the pictures they took in their own countries. Basically they communicate only in Japanese, but you can find some pictures taken in your country even if you live in small country far from Japan. For example, there is no Japanese language class in Kosovo, but you can find some posts by whom visited there.

As I wrote in my previous post, it is essential to find somebody who would be interested in you, to learn Japanese through social media. In this sense, this group will be important to you, even though teaching language is not their primary reason to be there.

So, this is the way to find Japanese groups in Facebook. If you have any question, please ask me in the comment.

In my next post, I will write about how to read Japanese on social media. Don't miss it!