Continued from Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Context

This last part deals with out and out grammar abuse, commonly committed by those who have had zero instruction in Japanese, and rely mainly on what they think they learned watching anime or j-drama.

Japanese Grammar Mistakes Committed by Weaboos

Saying “[your name]-san”.

Some local anime fans introduce themselves on forums and in real life by saying “I am____-san.” (私は　____さんです。), which is wrong. It is one of the first rules your Nihongo instructor will teach you.

One never refers to oneself as “-san” because it is like referring to yourself in the third person in English. Think of it this way: remember how American wrestler The Rock would always say “The Rock this” and “The Rock that” but never say “I am” or “I will”? Same banana.

Saying “Kurismasu omedetou.”

Just because “Happy birthday” is “Otanjoubi omedetou.” (お誕生日　おめでとう。)　it does not automatically mean that “Happy Christmas” is “Kurisumasu omedetou.” (クリスマス　おめでとう。). The Japanese say “Merry Christmas” (メリークリスマス。)　much like the rest of the world, with the only difference being in the way it is pronounced — it is closer to “Merii Kurisumasu” than actual “Merry Christmas.”.

Adding “s” to a singular Japanese word to make it a plural.

Some anime fans pluralize singular nouns in Japanese by adding an “s” at the end of the word just like they do in English. As a result, I’ve encountered such monstrosities as “I love collecting mangas!” and “I enjoy watching animes”. If you must, try revising your sentences by saying “I love collecting manga volumes.” or “I enjoy watching anime shows.” instead. Japanese and English are two completely different languages, so one should not apply the grammar rules of one language to the other as if they were interchangeable.

Using “-dewa nai / -ja nai” in negating verbs.

The use of “-dewa nai” (ではない) or “-ja nai” (じゃない) in negating verbs is incorrect, as the two are applicable to nouns only. The most horrifying misuse of the negative form I’ve encountered was from the “Learn Japanese” thread of a local message board, where one member actually said “Watashi wa Nihongo ja nai.” (私は日本語じゃない。) or, “I am not the Japanese language.” — which he obviously wasn’t.

Up to now I am still unsure whether he wanted to say “I am not Japanese” — “Watashi wa Nihonjin ja nai.” (私は日本人じゃない。) or “I do not speak Japanese.” — “Watashi wa Nihongo wo dekinai.” (私は日本語をできない。). Either way — he was still wrong.

Using “-chau” to negate words, because it is short for “chigau”.

This “rule” was made up by a forum member who obviously thought that watching anime made him an expert in the Japanese language. He claimed that appending “-chau” (っちゃう) to any verb negates it as well as turns it into an interrogatory verb — which is completely bull. “-chau” is simply the colloquial for “shite shimau” (してしまう) — which is appended at the end of verbs to illustrate negative stress after the action has been done.

That’s it for our Terrible Twenty — our list of Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans. If there’s any lesson at all that I want blog readers and anime fans to take away from this series of posts, it’s that no matter how much (subtitled) anime you watch and how much (scanlated) manga you read, if you want to really learn the language there is no substitute for a good Nihongo instructor.

This series of posts has been suggested by the very inspirational Nina of Just Wandering. Thanks for being a great travel buddy and supportive friend :D:D:D

Thank you also to Chelli of Hitorigoto for providing additional cases or incidents of Nihongo abuse. Thanks for the laughs and I hope we get to go back to Tokyo together soon!

Related Posts

• 15 July 2010 — Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Context
• 13 July 2010 — Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Pronunciation
• 28 June 2010 — 2010 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• 9 July 2009 — 2009 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• 27 February 2009 — Some Thoughts on the Mainstreaming of Anime in the Philippines

Continued from Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Pronunciation

This second part deals with words that are used in the wrong context, or with improper use from literal translations.

Words Commonly Used in a Wrong Context

Otaku

“Otaku” (御宅, おたく, or オタク) literally means “your household” in Japanese, and is used as an honorific pronoun to address another person; however, in colloquial Japanese “otaku” became a word to describe persons who are an obsessive fans of any subject you can think of — trains, bottle caps, video games, etc. (a more detailed discussion on the etymology can be found on Wikipedia).

Although the general awkwardness — even outright animosity, towards people who describe themselves as “otaku” has been in decline in Japan, society still sees the label as a pejorative. As much as possible, regular folks find other words to describe themselves when talking about their hobbies (“fan” is one of the most preferred words, and ironically is a Japanese loan word from English just as “otaku” has become an English loan word from Japanese).

When the English loan word “otaku” reached Philippines shores by way of the Internet, the perceived meaning was thought to be “(an) anime, manga, or game fan” — and as a result many Japanese pop culture fans began calling themselves “otaku”. However, to a native Japanese, or to a fellow Pinoy who is more familiar with Japanese culture, that may seem strange since you are labeling yourself as someone who is socially inept and prone to dark obsessions.

So, “fan” = good, “otaku” = not so hot. Pretty basic, don’t you think?

Cosplay

Yeah, okay — so we all know that cosplay (コスプレ) is a portmanteau loan word of the English words “costume” and “role-play”. You’d think that something as basic as that would be difficult to misinterpret.

However, leave it to Pinoy fans to find a way to eff up something that was pretty much fool-proof. Case in point: “Original cosplay”. “Cosplay” as a word has a pretty wide definition, encompassing costumed portrayals from anime, manga, games, movies, books, musicians, actors — even inanimate objects like software programs and Internet memes. But if there is one thing all of these have in common, it is that a whole subset of people know what it is or who it is when you show up in that particular costume.

“Original cosplay”, on the other hand, is just you showing up as a character from your not-yet-released manga that nobody recognizes. As far as I am concerned, that is not true cosplay because the character is literally unknown to fellow pop culture consumers. Call it “original character costume”, call it “original character roleplay”, just don’t call it “cosplay”.

Another case: “Costrip”. The reason “cosplay” is called “cosplay” is because of the huge importance your costume plays in the activity. If you’re going to show up at an event wearing a ratty mesh tank, a mini skirt you cut up from your old school uniform, and black eye liner while clutching a notebook — but didn’t bother putting on a blonde wig or trading your filthy pair of pink Chuck Taylors for platform boots, you have no right to call yourself a Misa “cosplayer”. You’re just tank-top-school-uniform-notebook girl (hey — “original cosplay”!).

Do or do not, there is no try!

Aka-chan

We’re now treading into sickening nicknames territory. We all know that lovers sometimes call each other baby or babe — that’s pretty par for course. What is not right is when weaboo lovers start calling each other “aka-chan”. Aka-chan (赤ちゃん) does mean baby in Japanese, but it means “that thing that pops out from between your legs after nine months” baby, and not “I want to pamper and spoil you silly, my love.” baby. No — just, no.

Koi

Koi (恋) means “love”, but just because it is perfectly alright to call your significant other “love” in English, it does not mean it is alright so call him or her “koi”. For one thing, Japanese lovers do not call each other “koi” — they call each other “darling” like normal people (oh the irony~). Also, “koi” can mean a myriad of other things: “koi” (鯉) can also mean “carp” or that pretty pond fish in Japanese gardens, as well as the imperative “Come here!” (来い!).

Quick question: how does a weaboo say “Come here, my love.”? “Koi, koi.” >.>

Aijin

Last but not least in the sickening pet names category is “aijin” (愛人). Although the two kanji characters when read separately do translate into “loved” “one” in English, the context is very, very different. An “aijin” is actually an illicit lover or mistress, different from the wife or steady girlfriend. For you to call your significant other your “aijin” is actually mark her as the third party in the relationship. Funny, sure — but wait till your “aijin” finds out what you have been calling her all these weeks.

Continued in Part 3, Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Grammar.

This series of posts has been suggested by the very inspirational Nina of Just Wandering. Thanks for being a great travel buddy and supportive friend :D:D:D

Thank you also to Chelli of Hitorigoto for providing additional cases or incidents of Nihongo abuse. Thanks for the laughs and I hope we get to go back to Tokyo together soon!

Related Posts

• 18 July 2010 — Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Grammar
• 13 July 2010 — Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Pronunciation
• 28 June 2010 — 2010 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• 9 July 2009 — 2009 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• 27 February 2009 — Some Thoughts on the Mainstreaming of Anime in the Philippines

One of my pet peeves with local fans — actually with all non-Japanese anime fans regardless of nationality, is weaboo Japanese (or Wapanese).

A vast majority of these people do not know how to speak proper Japanese, yet insist that they are native-level fluent in Nihongo when posting in websites, blogs, and message boards.

What’s worse, they think watching anime and j-drama is enough for them to claim that they can “speak Japanese”, and react violently when people who actually do speak Japanese try to correct them.

I’ve had more than my fair share of dealings with these weaboos, and I’ve assembled a “Best of” list of the worst misuse of the Japanese language in local blogs and message boards. This list will be divided according to sections, and this first part deals with commonly misspelled or mispronounced words based on their phonetic spelling.

Commonly Misspelled or Mispronounced Words Based on Phonetic Differences

The main problem with these kinds of errors is the unfamiliarity of the user (or in this case, abuser) with the Japanese kana system. Since they are not able to distinguish between single and double consonants in Japanese, they substitute a Tagalog approximation — which leads to mispronounced Japanese and therefore wrong Japanese.

Wrong: Nihonggo
Correct: Nihongo

In kanji, Nihongo is written as 日本語 (Japan [日本] + language [語], or ni-hon-go when the syllabary is spelled out). Due to the way the word is spelled in alphabet, plus the Filipino tendency to pronounce the “ng” sound together instead of separately, many people think that they should add an extra “g” in the word to get the hard “g” sound found in Tagalog. This is — of course, wrong.

Wrong: Konichiwa
Correct: Konnichiwa

In kana, Konnichiwa is written as こんにちは (or ko-n-ni-chi-wa when the syllabary is spelled out). This error is the opposite of the error in Nihongo — the “n” sound in Konnichiwa that should be doubled is cut in half. Also, instead of the accent being on the first “n” as in correct Japanese, weaboos put the accent on the “chi”. Yes, it sounds alike to the untrained ear, but to someone who speaks Japanese everyday it is very heavily foreign-accented.

Wrong: Harigatosaimas.
Correct: Arigatou gozaimasu.

In kana, Arigatou gozaimasu is written as ありがとう ございます　(or a-ri-ga-to-u go-za-i-ma-su when the syllabary is spelled out). It is two separate words, not one — and means “Thank you very much.”. The two words must be enunciated separately, otherwise it will sound very much like “Thankyouverymuchkthxbye” to the native speaker (if it can be distinguished at all).

Wrong: Gomenasai
Correct: Gomen nasai.

In kana, Gomen nasai is written as ごめん　なさい　(or go-me-n na-sa-i when the syllabary is spelled out). Like Arigatou gozaimasu, it is two different words that must be pronounced separately. Local weaboos tend to pronounce just the first “n” in the middle, making it sound like “Gomen asai” to natives — complete nonsense, of course.

Wrong: Chunami
Correct: Tsunami

In kanji, Tsunami is written as 津波　(Harbor [津] + wave [波], or tsu-na-mi when the syllabary is spelled out). Pinoys tend to not differentiate between the “chu” sound and the “tsu” sound — for example, “chinelas” and “tsinelas” are pronounced the same way. However, in Japanese “chu” and “tsu” are two completely different sounds and are pronounced as spelled.

Mina is different from Minna.

In kanji, both Mina and Minna are written as 皆, and they both mean “everyone” or “everybody”. However, there is a big reason why the two words are pronounced differently. “Mina” is always followed by “-san” (“Mina-san”) while “Minna” is used alone; “Mina-san” is more formal while “Minna” is more casual. The two should never be interchanged (“Minna-san” or just “Mina”) because it is not just wrong, it is also rude.

Mata is different from Matta.

In kana, Mata is written as また　(or ma-ta when the syllabary is spelled out) while Matta is written as 待った　(Wait [待] + -ed [った] or ma-tta when the syllabary is spelled out). “Mata” means “later”, while “Matta” means “(to have) waited” — two very different things, of course. As you can see, a very simple slip of the tongue can have very grave consequences.

Nigete is different from Migi te.

In kanji, Nigete is written as 逃げて　(Escape [逃げて], or ni-ge-te when the syllabary is spelled out) while Migi te is written as 右手　(Right [右] + hand [手] or mi-gi te when the syllabary is spelled out). Probably the most hilarious “soramimi” (misheard word) I’ve encountered in local forums. “Nigete” is the -te form of of the verb “nigeru” — it means “Escape!” or “Get away!”. “Migi te” means “right hand”.

Continued in Part 2, Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Context.

This series of posts has been suggested by the very inspirational Nina of Just Wandering. Thanks for being a great travel buddy and supportive friend :D:D:D

Thank you also to Chelli of Hitorigoto for providing additional cases or incidents of Nihongo abuse. Thanks for the laughs and I hope we get to go back to Tokyo together soon!

Related Posts

• 18 July 2010 — Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Grammar
• 15 July 2010 — Commonly Misused Japanese Words and Phrases by Philippine Anime Fans: Wrong Context
• 28 June 2010 — 2010 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• 9 July 2009 — 2009 Japanese Language Proficiency Test
• 27 February 2009 — Some Thoughts on the Mainstreaming of Anime in the Philippines

So shit has hit the fan, and prospective attendees to this weekend’s con are flaming the event organizers on their official website. Comment-posters are divided mainly into two camps: the people who are raging against the failings of the organizers, and the people who are defending them despite their shortcomings.

The fallout from the fans’ displeasure is now 500 comments long, but upon sifting through all these posts we find very little that can be read as valuable advice. I’ve had my fair share of organizing work — from indie events that took less than PhP 25K to put together, to gigantic events costing well over PhP 1M, so I’d like to take a couple of minutes to share five things that I’ve learned over the course of the past few years.

Create a feasible project plan and stick to it.

One of the biggest pitfalls organizers can find themselves in is overstretching their reach. Sure — all your ideas put together will make one helluva convention, but if its just way too much stuff to handle at one time (not to mention costing way too much money, time, and effort), cutting down to a core line-up of three or four major events should be enough for a small convention. Do not attempt to bite off more than you can chew — especially if it is your first event with a yet untested team. It’s more important that your first event — small as it is, goes off without a hitch. Besides, you can always save your more ambitious plans for next year.

Secure your funding for the event before you event start with logistics.

As an organizer, you should devote a lot of your time and effort to securing funding for your event. Always have a seed fund that will cover most of your projected costs. Raise funds from your group members by asking for contributions or even loans that you can pay back from the proceeds of the event. However, it is absolutely crucial that this seed fund does not include earnings from ticket selling as well as from sponsorship. If you take those two into the calculations, it’s like counting your chickens before they hatch, and will prove disastrous in case neither one of them perform as well as you expected.

Settle your most expensive rentals first.

The most expensive rentals for your event — such as the venue, sounds and lights, and booth tables and panels, should be settled well before the event date. The ideal is one month prior to the event, with either a full payment or a fifty percent outlay with the remaining fifty percent paid a few days before the event proper. Never leave them off at the last minute, as your rental provider can cancel on you if you do not pay them in a timely fashion. If you have trouble securing funding for the payments, it’s also better that you find out about this earlier, so that contingency plans can be made — either by moving the event to a more inexpensive venue or by postponing the event to a later date.

Delegate tasks according to individual strengths.

Your team may be small, but you can accomplish as much work as a much larger group if you delegate properly. Case in point is Lights Out: the team is composed of only six members, yet they held conventions for six years with a peak attendance of 500 people. This is because one person is left in charge of the one thing she does best, whether it is designing event consumables or putting together the butler cafe. Relying on just the group leaders to micromanage every single detail of the event is bad for business, not to mention it’s harmful to group dynamics if one person is doing all the work while the rest are kept in the dark.

Be as transparent as you can about the convention details.

I’m not saying that you should come out with a detailed list of all your convention earnings and expenses — that’s for organizers’ eyes only. What I meant was letting your staff, sponsors, and prospective attendees know about important details such as the convention venue, event times, and ticketing details. You will be relying on this people for the success of your event so keeping them in the loop is SRS BZNZ. If and when you run into trouble, it is also very important to inform them immediately, lest you be accused of deliberately withholding information from them in order to commit fraud. Remember, a ruined reputation will spell the end of the event and its organizers.

That’s about it for the list — if you have other thoughts, the comments box is open to everyone <3 I enjoy verbally sparring with passive-aggressive comment posters as much as the next know-it-all anime fan XDDDDDDDD

Related Posts

• 25 March 2010 — Philippine Cosplay and The WCS
• 23 March 2010 — The Fine Line Between Cosplayer and Clown
• 18 March 2010 — Of Perks and Pains at Local Cosplay Events
• 27 May 2009 — Guidelines for Reviewing and Critiquing Local Hobbyist Conventions Part 2
• 26 May 2009 — Guidelines for Reviewing and Critiquing Local Hobbyist Conventions Part 1

As a longtime collector I’ve always been able to tell the difference between a fake Pinky:St (lovingly nicknamed Fakey:St by local collectors) and the real mccoy. Imagine my surprise then when I found out that people were still being ripped off on eBay and other brick-and-mortar stores by bootleg Pinkys. If you are a new collector looking to purchase some dolls and are a little leery of those great online deals and discount store prices, here are five things to help protect you from paying for counterfeits.

Packaging

Authentic Pinky:St must bear the Vance Project logo and other stamps on the lower right corner of the cardboard backing’s front face (in pink). These same logos are also stamped on the back (in black and white) next to the series number of the purchased doll. If the doll was a collaboration item made with an anime series or a fashion house, their logos are also prominently displayed in both the front and the back of the cardboard backing.

Contents

Fakes are usually packaged with items that do not originally belong to the set. In the photo above, the fake Risa A Repaint comes with the body from the Pinky:Cos Asuka plus its accompanying accessories. The real Risa comes with a long coat, fitted jeans, and Chuck Taylor-like sneakers in a variety of colors, depending on the Repaint series. Obvious fake is obvious :/

Paint Job

Fakes generally have sloppy line work and bad paint jobs which are very noticeable when seen side by side with genuine Pinky:st. Real dolls have very clean lines and crisp coloration despite their size — you can almost see the tiny seam lines painted into the girls’ clothing. In contrast fakes are very blotchy and uneven, as if the painter didn’t wait for the first coat to dry before applying the next one.

Height and Fit

Fakes are moulded from a master cast made from authentic parts, and as a result of the casting process that are ever so slightly smaller than their original counterparts. Fakes also have very uneven pegs that make parts difficult to fit together and/or are too loose to snap together and make a whole. Lastly, because of their bad, uneven paint jobs, Fakey parts have a nasty tendency to stick to each other, which is no fun at all :(

Stability

Last but not least, fake Pinky:St are very unstable — prone to toppling over at the slightest provocation unlike their more stable original counterparts. Again, this is because of their band paint jobs and the fact that they were recast from a mould of the original, which makes them either top or bottom heavy (the originals have a near perfect center of gravity — even in “high heels”).

Fakes are valued at one/fifth the price of originals, but some unscrupulous sellers price them at equal to or only slightly less than the originals. To get you money’s worth, always check for tell-tale signs of fakery before finalizing your purchase. Good luck, and have fun collecting! :)

All photos are courtesy of Ryan from Kalye Pinky – The Philippine Pinky:St Community.

Related Posts

• 10 March 2010 — How to Spot Fake Nendroid Figures
• 30 December 2009 — How to Spot Fake Mix-Style Headphones
• 25 October 2009 — Felt Crafting, Japanese-style
• 5 July 2009 — How to Spot a Fake Le Sportsac Bag
• 15 February 2009 — Karate Kid Falls Victim to Smear Campaign