I do not know how to use Japanese characters on my computer. I am running an Ubuntu OS(linux) as a last resort since my computer crashed on me a couple of months ago, and I barely know anything about it. Here's my shot at the phrases in Romaji, and sorry if they're REALLY off :P

What is your favourite colour?
anata wa nani okiniiri iro wo desu ka?

What are your favourite Japanese movies?
anata wa nani okiniiri nihongo eiga desu ka?

Your birthday is coming up!
anata wa tanjo-bi wo chikaku ni desu

What are you doing for your birthday?
anata wa tanjo-bi no suru desu ka?

Do you have a Facebook account?
anata wa akaunto FACEBOOK te iru ka?

Do you play* any sports?
anata wa supotsu wo saisei ka?

What do you do during your spare time?
anata wa nani aki jikan wo suru ka?

Where abouts do you live?
anata wa doko wo raibu ka?

What school do you go to?
anata wa nani gakko wo ni iku ka?

When are you moving back to Japan?
anata wa nihongo wo ido ka?

Do you have a boyfriend?
anata wa boifurendo wo te iru ka?

When can I see you?
anata wa toki wo miru ka?

Are you studying Japanese?

This is from my grammar workbook and I came up with an answer not in the answer key, would it be correct? It's to practice using せいか. I'm wondering if I need to include 'what' is over the budget, or if this is fine.

スミス：小林さん、足が出たせいかこのごろ元気がありませんねえ。
ハリス：ええ、私もちょっと心配していたんですよ。

Let's say I do need to include what's over the budget, would it be correct to say,
「小林さん、旅行が足が出たせいかこのごろ元気がありませんねえ。」

The Smith line sounds plain strange. It actually sounds as if someone had a foot sticking out of something. However, if the budget problem had already been discussed between the two before Smith said that line, then it would be acceptable.

This one is much more reader-friendly. Need to change 旅行が to　旅行で, though.

I have a lot of trouble understanding 〜ておく (in preparation for the future) >_< Please help...

I can understand:
晩ご飯を作っておく。I will make dinner in advance. (I think...)

But... what about sentences like these?
アメリカにいるうちにニューヨークに行っておいたほう がいいよ。
Does it mean, 'It's better to visit NY and see before it's too late'?

忘れないうちに友達に電話しておこう。
Let's call our friend before it's too late and we forget.

:confused: I pretty much replaced 'in advance/in preparation for the future' with 'before it's too late'. Am I on the right track?

Thank you Masaegu :)
My sensei had to always correct my particles >.< ...why is it で and not に-- this has always confused me. Isn't で a particle for action?

I would not say that you were not on the right track, but there are more meanings to 〜ておく than just "in preparation for the future". Then again, it is all related to future.

「 晩ご飯を作っておく。」 has at least two meanings.
1. "I will make dinner now so I can eat as soon as I'm done with homework (or something)."

You don't want to cook when you are tired and hungry so you are making it in advance to eat it later by reheating it.

2. "I will make dinner now because I will not be home when you come home for dinner."

Mom might say this.
___________

「アメリカにいるうちにニューヨークに行っておいたほ う がいいよ。」
This sentence does not mean what you said. It is never too late to see NY, is it?

This sentence means that the addressee is now in the U.S. (possibly from Japan) so it's a good chance to see NY because once he returns home to Japan, it will not be easy to go to NY.

It's saying "Do it now while it's much easier to do it."
___________

「忘れないうちに友達に電話しておこう。」
Again you used "before it's too late" when it doesn't say that.

You've got a call to make. There is no specific time limit for it but you would rather call now than forget about it and fail to call.

うちに is the key phrase here.

One more thing. You translated the last sentence with the subject "we" but the phrase is something that you would say to yourself nearly 100% of the time.

Incurring a deficit is an action.

[quote=masaegu;863042]I would not say that you were not on the right track, but there are more meanings to 〜ておく than just "in preparation for the future". Then again, it is all related to future.

「 晩ご飯を作っておく。」 has at least two meanings.
1. "I will make dinner now so I can eat as soon as I'm done with homework (or something)."

You don't want to cook when you are tired and hungry so you are making it in advance to eat it later by reheating it.

2. "I will make dinner now because I will not be home when you come home for dinner."

Mom might say this.
___________

I think that makes sense to me now :)

Would the difference between
「忘れないうちに友達に電話しよう。」
and
「忘れないうちに友達に電話しておこう。」
be that the first one simply states, 'I should call my friend before I forget.' and the second one is, 'I should call my friend nowbefore I forget?

Oops :o ...does the volitional form (ておこう) in this case mean 'should' or 'probably should'? I tried to look for different volitional form usages... but failed >< so I translated as 'we/let's' because 行こう=let's go?

Brief question on dialogue;
「奥座んな」
What does 「奥」 mean here? The speaker takes a guy into a room with a table and two chairs (placed across from each other; they're going to discuss a business deal). I'm not sure what chair 奥 is referring to :confused:

奥 means the spot that is further away from the addressee.

(For reference:「小林さん、旅行が足が出たせいかこのごろ元� �がありませんねえ。」 )

The way you explain this makes sense :vsign:
but I remember answering a question in class, 「。。。どうして相撲は伝統的なのだと思いますか 。」
my response was, 「相撲は日本に一番古いからです。」
and my instructor corrected it to で 「相撲は日本で一番古いからです。」
I can't figure out the action here :quesballoon:

Philwebservices
 

Japanese language is very nice and I'd like to learn on that language..

The difference is really minimum to nonexistent. The two would be interchangeable.

If I had to look for a difference, then I could say that the second phrase showed just a tad bit more precaution on the part of the speaker, but that would mostly be nitpicking.

It is saying "I will make the call before I forget." Yes, it's fairly close to "should". You are telling yourself that you intend to do something.

There is no action there. It's just saying "oldest in Japan". Particles are not that simple.

One needs to remembner the following as a set phrase.
"Place + で + 一番 + Adjective"

Replace the で with に and the phrase's meaning will change completely.
= "The most (adjective) for Japan"
～～に　＝　～～にとって

Ok got it ^_^<

Thank-you so much Masaegu, I really appreciate it :D

Yes, self paced.

In just one post, you used the word あなた more times than the average Japanese person would in his lifetime. :D Have you not noticed that your buddy never uses it in her messages to you?

What is your favourite colour?
好きな色は？

What are your favourite Japanese movies?
好きな日本映画は？

Your birthday is coming up!
もうすぐ誕生日だね。

What are you doing for your birthday?
誕生日に何かするのかな？

Do you have a Facebook account?
フェイスブックに登録してたらユーザー名教えて。

Do you plan any sports?
何かスポーツやってる？

What do you do during your spare time?
暇な時はなにしてるの？

Where abouts do you live?
どの辺に住んでるの？

What school do you go to?
どこの学校行ってるの？

When are you moving back to Japan?
いつ日本に戻るの？

Do you have a boyfriend?
彼氏とかいるの？

When can I see you?
いつ会えるのかなあ。

All casual without being slangy.

Can you please tell me how to use the verb 会います? For example, what is the difference (if any) between:
８時に友達に会います。
and
８時に友達と会います。
?
Thanks

A little reading I've done on this subject leads me to believe this is the answer:
に indicates more of sense that the goal is to meet specifically with the friend. と is more like it happened that it was the friend you met with.

For example,
ＡはＢと会った。A met with B (but if B were replaced with C, the meeting still could have happened).
ＡはＢに会った。A met with B (and B could not have been replaced).

I think it's kind of like if you go to negotiate something with another business, you could probably meet with any number of people in the other business, so と could work.

On the other hand, if you're negotiating appointing a new corporate board, maybe you need to meet specifically with the single largest shareholder of the corporation (shareholders select the corporate board, so you want the input of the most powerful shareholder). In this case, you would use に.

Regardless, in 99% of cases, I think you can use either one just fine.

Perhaps await an answer from a native, however. I think the summary of my answer is に indicates more purposeful action toward a specific person.

Also, maybe if you accidentally meet with someone, と might be suitable. 突然、ブラッドピットと会ったよ！

Until you are near-fluent, no one will really care which one you use. When you get to that level, some people might care. Many, including native speakers, still will not.

Technically, it's all about the intentions and actual movement of each party. The arrows below indicate the direction of the physical movement.

Ａさんに会った
Speaker--------->---------->----------->-------------> A's place or Random place

*Includes accidental bumping on the street.
_____________________

Ａさんと会った Two parties wanted to meet each other.
Speaker--------->---------> Place X <--------<---------- A

*Place X can be either the Speaker or A's place. Point is they both agreed to meet.


This means Pitt wanted to meet you as well. The two contacted each other and met up someplace.

Thank you for the corrections!

Thank Masaegu and KyleGoetz for your help!

You're right, never really noticed that. I'll study how you translated them with the few japanese characters I do know. And thank you! :)

One thing I've wondered about あなた: I know wives can refer to their husband as あなた, akin to "dear" in English. Like, to get her husband's attention, a wife might softly say あなた. Do husbands ever do that toward their wives? I guess I could look at my wife and say おい, but that's not so nice, now, is it? :)

Also, I never had to talk about my own wife in Japanese before, but on the anniversary of my wedding, I figure I might as well confirm: I say 家内 to refer to my own wife, right?

For the dialogue,
A: テレビを消しましょうか。
B: いいえ、つけたままにしておいてください。

Why is にして used in B's reply? Is the function of it here the same as にする (I've decided...)? ...but then it follows with てください... would it be a set phrase for requesting to leave things on?: 「つけたままにしておいてください。」

btw, KyleGoetz, putting the anata thing aside, how did I do with my translations?

masaegu's are correct. The ones you tried at first, well, they look like you put them in a machine to translate; i.e., not very good. It's why I asked if you were studying Japanese. I thought you had done Google Translate.

Keep studying hard and you will improve!

YouTube - もしあなたが裁判員に選ばれたら　1/2

What is the guy saying at　2：32？

さっさと。。。。。？？？？？


And the girl at 3：05．。。What does she say?

ごめんごめん。。。。。一秒？？？？？？？？

Hubbies seldom, if ever, do that toward their wives in everyday situations. They use the wives' names, nicknames and believe it or not, even words like お母さん and ママ if they have kids.

Regarding wives addressing their husbands as あなた, it is rarely done out in public, either. They mostly do that at home where there is no one around. That would be because showing affection on the street is not a very Japanese-like practice.

Using おい is not too nice but then many husbands do and many wives do not seem to care..

You use 家内 when talking about your wife with others such as neighbors, colleagues, and not-too-close friends. With close friends, blood family and in-laws, you can (or rather , you must) use her first name.

Because you would not have a verb in the sentence if you did not use する there. Both おく and　くださいare supplementary verbs and not the "real" verb.

Verb in past tense + ままにしておく = to leave something in the state/condition described by that verb

This にする has nothing to do with にする (I've decided...).

The set phrase is　～～ままにする = to leave something in a ceratin condition. BUT this phrase only describes the very moment that you leave that thing. This is why you need to add おく as you want the state/condition to last for some time.

Finally, くださいis used just for politeness.

You got confused because you tried to translate every word used. Your TL, which I am sure was "No, please leave it on." seemed too short compared to the original. Or am I guessing wrong here?

「さっさと済ませてくれないかなあ。」

「あっ、ごめんごめん、一秒後にかけ直して～。じゃあ ね～。」

Thanks for the help Masaegu :D (and sorry for the late thanks)
Another brief question;
Is 録画録音 one word or two?
In the sentence 「最初に　言っておくが　ここは全て録画録音してある 」 "I'm gonna tell you before we begin that I'm recording and taping everything (that happens/is said?) here"?

Thanks a lot!

Technically, that is two words but you may treat it as one. You probably will not see the expresson 録画録音する used this way again. It's a mouthful.

Yeah, it is a mouthful. I was pretty sure the speaker was emphasizing he had means of both audio and visual recording but I couldn't find this word in a dictionary. Thanks for the quick answer. :ywave:

Right, I felt the emphasis as well. Normally, you would just say ビデオに撮（と）る.

There's one little thing I'd like to ask today.

What is the correct English translation for the word 博士(はかせ)? My dictionary says it means "doctor", but I occasionally see some people translated the word as "professor" in some translated versions of fictional works, particular anime. So which one is correct? :confused:

I'm pretty sure it means Dr. (as a title), like the person being referred to has their PhD.