There’s nothing more interesting than studying a foreign language, of learning the way its unique grammatical rules work so you can form sentences and ideas and communicate with others. Language is always rule-based, and even dialects like Ebonics and Cockney which may sound “wrong” to speakers of standard American or British English are actually formed around their own suites of unique grammatical rules. The Japanese make heavy use of foreign loan words, usually borrowed from English, but since the grammar of the two languages is different, something is needed to “bridge” the two, and conveniently there are two such grammatical aides built right into the language. The first is the adjective particle na which allows an adjective to be plugged into a Japanese sentence without breaking any rules, and you can hear phrases like surimu na onna (a slim, slender woman), gohjasu na hoteru (a gorgeous hotel) or torendii na dorama (the latest trendy drama on television) spoken every day in Japan. I’ve even heard the word “epoch-making” used in this fashion — as in, epokkumeekingu na ibento, meaning an event that is truly Earth-shattering in nature. The other tool to help foreign words be used in Japanese is the catch-all verb suru which means “to do.” Words you might hear in Japanese include getto suru (GET-toh suru, to get or find something), doraibu suru (doh-RAH-ee-bu suru, to go for a drive), kamingu auto suru (kah-min-GU AH-oo-toh suru, lit. to do “coming out” or to come out of the closet about something), and of course, sekkusu suru (to have, well, you know). The staff at J-List uses lots of English in their Japanese, too, and you can hear terms like sukyan suru (to scan something), pikku suru (to pick products in preparation for shipping) being used everyday.
Are you coming to Anime Expo? If so be sure and stop by booths 624-626-628 to say hello, and check out the many anime figures, plush toys, T-shirts, Hoodies, manga and dating-sim games we’ve got for you. We’ll also be holding a panel on bishoujo games on Saturday July 5th from 8 to 9 pm in room LP4 (LACC 411), with free stuff for everyone who shows up, including a raffle and more. See you there!
