needed amount.

[guitarplayer7694]

What would you say is the needed amount of Japanese to enjoy a trip to Japan,what would be some important phrases, and how much kanji would probably be needed(the 2,000 needed to read a newspaper?)

[Sairana]

For a -trip-? I'd suppose you don't need any Japanese to enjoy yourself. Cover the essentials, though... bathroom, money, and language:

toire wa doko desu ka? -- Where's the bathroom?
ikura desu ka? -- how much does it cost?
Sumimasen, nihongo ga wakarimasen. -- I'm sorry, I don't understand Japanese


Aside from those, your "bare minimum" really depends on the circumstances, your interests, the people you happen to meet and how much English they know. You'd be amazed how much information you can manage with hand gestures, pointing, and shrugging your shoulders helplessly (speaking from experience...).

[OitaFish]

I also think you don't need to know any Japanese to enjoy yourself in Japan. However, the more you know, the more you can enjoy. Also, being with someone that speaks the language (and yours) and knows the area -- a native, ideally -- can greatly enhance your experience, IMHO.

[guitarplayer7694]

For a -trip-? I'd suppose you don't need any Japanese to enjoy yourself. Cover the essentials, though... bathroom, money, and language:

toire wa doko desu ka? -- Where's the bathroom?
ikura desu ka? -- how much does it cost?
Sumimasen, nihongo ga wakarimasen. -- I'm sorry, I don't understand Japanese


Aside from those, your "bare minimum" really depends on the circumstances, your interests, the people you happen to meet and how much English they know. You'd be amazed how much information you can manage with hand gestures, pointing, and shrugging your shoulders helplessly (speaking from experience...).

sumimasen is more like "excuse me" right? gomennasai would be "I'm so very sorry"? no I'm not correcting just clarifying.

[Sairana]

sumimasen is more like "excuse me" right? gomennasai would be "I'm so very sorry"? no I'm not correcting just clarifying.

Sumimasen is a generic apologetic which gets translated in various ways depending on how it's used. "Excuse me" is also an apologetic, as in "please excuse my interruption" == "I'm sorry for the interruption".

Gomennasai is less formal, and somewhat juvenile-sounding when used with strangers (I could be wrong on that, but it's my understanding). There's also the much more polite/formal 'shitsurei shimasu' but that seems like overkill for this phrase, IMHO.

[two_heads_talking]

hmm, I coulda sworn I posted something here. wha' happened?

[Daisuke]

hmm, I coulda sworn I posted something here. wha' happened?

Well... It isn't here, and I can see in the moderator log that nothing has been deleted from here... So, you probably did not post it in the end.

[fielle]

Maybe you pressed preview instead of Submit?

[chikara]

What would you say is the needed amount of Japanese to enjoy a trip to Japan .....

My first trip to Japan I new "sumimasen", "doumo", "doumo arigatou", "doumo arigatou gozaimasu", "hajimemashite", could read zero kana and the only kanji I new were 日本 and 出口. I had a great time.

I did however take a Japanese phrase book with me and by the end of my stay, and with the help of a Japanese business associate, I had learned quite a bit more. It is what inspired me to actually learn Japanese and the reason I found this great site.

It depends where in Japan you are going and what you want to do when you get there.

[Harisenbon]

First time my family came to Japan they knew:
えき -- Train Station
どうもありがとう -- Thankyou
せきがはら -- Where I lived
かんぱい -- Cheers!

That's still pretty much all they know, and they've had great times every time they come here.

I also taught my brother
日本語わらへんがやぁ～ Just for kicks.

[Oracle]

My mother came to Japan when I was living there once and I took her on a 2 week tour all around Honshu to my favourite places.
She didn't learn a single word of Japanese

[two_heads_talking]

hmm, I coulda sworn I posted something here. wha' happened?

Well... It isn't here, and I can see in the moderator log that nothing has been deleted from here... So, you probably did not post it in the end.

that's possible. my post didn't really add anything, so, it's not important. Glad to see that I am not losing my mind.