Ami's Useless Japanese

Impress your friends! Sound exotic! Confuse the natives! Well, come to think of it, you'd be better off if you didn't remember any of this. But enjoy it while you can.

You will find many languages on this page, but Japanese is my newest passion, so I've dredged up the least useful things in that tongue. But please, enjoy!

"Shall we order shrimp?"
Ebi wo chumokun shimasko ka?

"Be careful. Many streets do not have sidewalks."
Ki wo tsukete. Hodo no nai tori go oi desu.

"Roast beef here is very good."
Kono resutoran no rosuto biifu wa taihen oishii

"Would you like some pickled vegatables?"
O-shinko ikaga desu ka?

"We are now passing over the Grand Canyon."
Gurando Kanyon no ue wo ima tonde imasu.

"What kind of cheese do you have?"
Chizu no shurui wa nani gaarinasu ka?

"Please send the bell boy to my room."
Watakushi no heya ni beru boi wo yokoshite kudasi

"In regards to my mother, she is a fish."
Watashi no oka-san wa sushi desu

"Perverted rabbit!"
Hentai usagi!

"That was MEANT as a joke."
Joudan NO TSUMORI DATTA.

Just a few odd words I know...

aki: fall, autumn
ai: love
ame: rain
baka: stupid
beeru: beer
chichioya: father
cho, chocho: butterfly
hahaoya: mother
hana: flower, blossom
haru: spring
hi: day, sun, fire, ice
    aru hi: one day
    hi no tori: firebird
hikari: light
    tsuki no hikari: moonlight
ishi: stone, rock
inu: dog
jaakuna: evil
kage: shadow
    jibun no kage: one's own shadow
kami: spirit, god
kaze: wind
kumo: cloud
kusa: grass, weed
matsu: pine tree
miko: shinto priestess
mizu: water
naku: (animals) cry, sing, howl
nani?!: what?!
nashi: pear
natsu: summer
naze?: why?
neko: cat
nikkou: sunlight
okaasan: Mom
orokana: silly
oto: sound, noise
otousan: Dad
saku: bloom
sakura: cherry flower
semi: cicada
senshi: warrior
taiyou kousen: sunlight
tori: bird
toshi: year
tsuki: moon
uma: horse
ume: plum
usagi: rabbit
warui: bad
yama: mountain
yami: dark
    yami no naka: in the dark
yanagi: willow
yoru: night
    yoru osoku made: into the night
yuki: snow
yume: dream

How to say "Oh my god! There's an axe in my head" in various languages

Afrikaans: O God! Daar's 'n byl in my kop!
Alsatian: Lever Gott! Es esch a Axe en miner Kopf!
Assyrian: iliya pashum ina reshimi bashu
Babylonian: iliya pashu ina reshiya bashu
Bengali: Oh Allah! Amar mathar upor bash poreche.
Bosnian: boje moj! sjekira mi je u glavi.
Danish: Oh min gud! Der er en oekse i mit hoved.
Dutch: O, mijn God! Er zit een bijl in mijn hoofd.
English: Oh my god! There's an axe in my head.
Esperanto: Mia Dio! Hakilo estas en mia kapo!
Middle Egyptian: in Amun! iw minb m tp-i!
Finnish: Voi Luoja! Paassani on kirves!
French: Mon dieu! Il y a une hache dans ma tete.
German: Oh mein Gott! Ich habe eine Axt im Kopf!
Ancient Greek: O Theos mou! Echo ten labrida en te mou kephale!
Greek: hristo mou! eho ena maheri sto kefa li mou!
Hebrew: Eloi! Yesh'li ca-sheel ba-rosh sheh-li!
Hindi: Hay Bhagwaan! Mere sar mein kulhaadi hain.
Hungarian: Jaj Istenem, de fejsze van a fejemben!!
Icelandic: Gud minn godur! Thad er o:xi i ho:fdinu a mer.
Indonesian: Waduh! Ada kampak didalam kapala saya!
Irish: Mo Dhia! Ta' tua sa mo cheann.
Italian: Dio mio! C'e' un' ascia nella mia testa!
Japanese: ahh, kamisama! watashi no atama ni ono ga arimasu.
Klingon: ghay'cha'! nachwIjDaq betleH tu'lu'!
Latin: Deus Meus! Securis in capite meo est.
Latvian: Ak Dievs! Man ir cirvis galva!
Maori: Ave Te Ariki! He toki ki roto taku mahuna!
Marathi: Aray Devaa! Majhyaa dokyaat kurhaad aahay.
Norwegian: Herre Gud! Jeg har en oeks i hodet!
Polish: O Moj Boze! Mam siekiere w glowie!
Portuguese: Meu Deus! Tenho um machado na cabeca!
Russian: Bozhe moi! Eto topor v moyei golove!
Slovenian: Moj Bog! Sekiro imam v glavi.
Spanish: Dios mio! Hay una hacha en mi cabeza!
Swahili: Siyo! (Huko) Shoka yangu kichwanil!
Swedish: Ah, Herregud! Jag har en yxa i huvudet!
Tagalog: Ay Dios ko! May palakol sa ulo ko!
Thai: Ajo! dichan mii miid ni hua kah (spoken by a female)

Ajo! phom mii miid nihua krab (said by a male)

Visigothic: Meina guth, Ikgastaldan aqizi-wunds meina haubida
Welsh: A nuw! Mae bywell yn fy mhen i!

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M-E Ross / meross@ibm.net / Last update September 16, 1998

Japanese phrases borrowed from "Japanese in Plain English", "Wicked Japanese", Rini-san from the pusms@listbot.com mailinglist, and various other sources (mainly anime). 'Oh my god! There's an axe in my head!' was shamelessly stolen from the CTY Mailing List. Please don't sue me if anything here violates copyright or offends you. I just have too much free time. (Or rather, I don't have nearly enough time to get anything done, but too much to just waste watching TV. Unless it's cartoons, but that's another story...) Arigato!