Travel
Travel is exciting to do! Here are some useful sentences and phrases I’ve learnt which you might be able to use if you travel to Japan!
Recap
In my last session, titled Family - I learnt about how to talk about different family members in Japanese.
Homework
For my homework, I had to write 2 sentences about places I want to go to in Japan.
So, like my other pieces of homework, I wrote out what I wanted to say in English first.
I want to go to Tokyo because it’s a big city
I want to go to the countryside in Japan to take pictures
I began this by Googling words and phrases I didn’t know, so this was “Big city” and “countryside in Japan” - From finding similar phrases, I was able to put together both of these sentences in Japanese.
Tokyo ni ikitai nazenara soreha daitoshi desu.
Inaka no nihon ni ikitai nazenara soreha shashinwotoru desu.
Feedback
For the first sentence, I should’ve written:
I want to go to Tokyo. Because it’s a big city.
Tokyo ni ikitai desu.
Nazenara, soko wa daitoshi da kara desu.
東京 に 行きたい です。
なぜなら そこ わ だいとし だ から です。
In this correct sentence, it’s broken up into two smaller sentences, and there are some new words too.
The word “Soko” gets used which roughly translates to “there”, and similar to this there’s the word “Koko” which means “here” and “Asoko” which means “over there”
Some other words which are used here are “dakara” - this word is the same as “kara” with “da” added on the front, and we add the “da” if it’s a noun or an adjective in front of it, if it’s a verb in front of it, just “kara” is used.
If I wanted the previous sentence in one sentence, I could also write:
Tokyo is big that's why I want to go there.
Tokyo wa daitoshi nanode, (soko ni) ikitai desu.
東京 わ だいとし なので （そこ に）いきたい です
In this sentence, we don’t necessarily need “soko ni”, it can be taken out if wanted. “Nanode” means “so that/that's why”.
For my second sentence, I should’ve written something like this:
I want to go to the countryside in Japan to take pictures
Shashin wo toru node (or) tameni, nihon no inaka ni ikitai desu
写真 を 撮る ので 日本 の 田舎 に 行きたい です
Here, either “node” or “tameni” can be used. “Node” means “so”, and “tame/tameni” mean “due to/for”.
When saying “countryside in japan” or “japanese countryside” I should make sure I say it right, and “nihon no inaka” is correct - if I were to say “inaka no nihon” that doesn’t make sense! With this in mind, I can form other words/phrases:
Japanese Culture
Nihon no bunka
Japanese Food
Nihon no tabemono
And here are some more:
Countrysides’ food
Inaka no tabemono
Countrysides’ scenery
Inaka no keshiki
The “no” particles here are used to indicate possession and to link nouns together, so if we wanted to say “Amy’s dog” it would be “Amysan no inu”
If I wanted to break this into two sentences as I have done for the previous part, I could say:
I want to go to the countryside in Japan. To take pictures.
Nihon no inaka ni ikitai desu.
Nazenara shashin wo toru (or) kara desu.
日本 の 田舎 に 行きたい です。
なぜなら 写真 を から です。
Here, either “toru” or “kara” can be used.
Study Notes
Homework alternative phrases
Another alternative to the sentence above could be:
I want to take pictures of landscapes because it's pretty/beautiful
(Nihon no) keshiki wa kirei nanode, watashi wa shashin wo toritai desu.
日本 の 景色 は 綺麗 なので 私は 写真 を とりたい で
In this sentence, we don’t really need “nihon no” as that’s referring to landscapes in Japan, so it’s optional!
If we wanted to break this sentence up, we could say:
I want to take pictures of landscapes. Because it is pretty/beautiful.
Watashi wa keshiki no shashin wo toritai desu.
Nazenara, sore wa kirei dakara desu
わたし わ 景色 の 写真 を とrいたい です
なぜなら それは きれい だから です
In these sentences “keshiki” means “landscape”, “shashin” means “photo” and “kirei” means “beautiful”
I want to…
Any word ending with “...tai” means “want to”
I want to do
Shitai (suru + tai)
したい ＝ し ＋ たい
I want to go
Ikitai (iku + tai)
いきたい ＝ いき ＋ たい
I want to take
Toritai (toru + tai)
とりたい ＝ とり ＋ たい
I want to eat
Tabetai (taberu + tai)
たべたい ＝ たべ ＋ たい
I want to drink
Nomitai (nomu + tai)
飲むたい ＝ 飲む ＋ たい
Where do you want to go?
A question someone might ask you after you told them you want to take pictures in the countryside is:
Where do you want to go in the countryside?
Doku no inaka ni ikitai desuka?
どく の 田舎 に 行きたい ですか?
In my case, I would love to take pictures of Mt. Fuji, and Shizuoka is where Mt. Fuji is.
I want to go to Mt. Fuji
Watashi wa Mt. Fuji ni ikitai desu
わたし わ mt。fuji に 行きたい です
Or, another way to say this would be:
I want to go to see Mt. Fuji
Watashi wa Mt. Fuji wo mini-ikitai desu.
わたし わ mt。fuji を 見に行きたい です
The word “mini-ikitai” means “to go to see”, and this is formed of words “miru” which means “see/watch/look” and “ikitai” which was described above.
Another useful phrase is “mitai desu” which means “I want to watch”
Getting invited to places
Here are some more questions which you might get asked:
Do you want to go to an onsen (hot spring)?
Onsen ni ikitai desuka?
おんせん に いきたい ですか？
My reply to that would be yes! Or “hai” in Japanese. I would love to experience a hot spring in Japan!
Additional words/phrases
Food is something which was talked about in Lesson 3, you might get asked about types of food you want to eat in the place you’re traveling to!
What do you want to eat in Japan?
Nihon de nani wo tabetai desuka?
にほん で なに を たべたい ですか？
amy.elliott2002@yahoo.co.uk
Portsmouth, United Kingdom