Japan First Timer
 

Hi all,

Please kindly help me with this, it could be helpful to others too.

If you are a first timer in Japan, what phrases and words would you recommend to memorize, especially to survive in these scenarios:
1. in kombinis, they always ask you something when you buy something.
2. during taking a leave from japan, in the airport, they ask window or aisle in japanase, what did they say exactly and how do you answer them...also what did they say in the immigration and customs?
3. when checking in hotel, what would they say to you (and how to answer them :)
4. how did you learn to read kanji? do you have a secret?

That's it for now...you can add as many helpful phrases as you want. The problem we have especially who dont travel much is sometimes we arent quite sure what to learn, but we want to show some respect by learning the language and culture of the land we set foot on (and it's in our self-interest to survive)

arigatou gozaimasu.

1. It's probably whether you have a point card or something. I don't remember being asked something ever.
2. I've only been through twice, so I sure don't know.
3. No idea, again.
4. I learned to read kanji by flashcarding like a madman, and also by reading a lot. And writing them a lot.

But recently (since I'm not in Japan and having to hand-write Japanese documents) I stopped learning to write them. Instead, I decided just to cram as many as possible into my brain for me to read.

Using a combination of "Kanji in Context" (the best book on kanji learning, unfortunately out of print and now expensive online IIRC) and Anki to flashcard them. I've noticed a very dramatic increase in my literacy. I am getting to the point where I can pick up a Japanese document and almost completely read it.

I recently started translating Japanese wikipedia articles on Japanese actors/actresses into English when there's no English WP article (I wanted every link in the English "Sanshiro Sugata" page to link to a working article, including for the actors).

While doing this, I've realized I can read it fairly easily now, after only two to three months of intense work. I'd say I've increased my vocabulary by 2,000 words or so, and about 300 completely new-to-me kanji.

Learning kanji is basically
1. rote memorization; and
2. intense study.

There is no shortcut. You get what you put into it. I'm putting at least an hour into it every day, just studying kanji. It's paying huge dividends.

Kyle that is truly impressive!

I used to cram kanji but I never got anywhere. After I started understanding everyday conversation and the like, I was able to start memorizing kanji with way less effort. That's not to say you can't memorize kanji without knowing how to speak much Japanese, it's just that knowing how to speak and knowign the usage of the kanji you study helps for long term memorization.

It's also kind of a weird thing to think about from an English speaking perspective, but learning kanji helps with speaking/listening, too. I'm sure Kyle knows that considering how much time he's putting into kanji. The more kanji you know, the better your chances of understanding a word that you've never heard before (even with minimal context). So while Kanji mostly helps your reading/writing it also has hidden benefits in that it can improve your understanding and speaking (I've sometimes said words that I've never consciously heard before and found out they were words later on... it's all about constructing words with kanji).

As far as the convenience stores go, they're probably asking this:
ポイントカードお持ちでしょうか？ pointo ka-do omochi deshou ka .
Which is asking if you have a point card (in a polite way).

I apologize that I can't help with the hotel/airplane thing as it's not something I regularly do so I wouldn't know what they usually say.

I think the most common questions you will be getting at conbini are 暖めますか？
袋はご一緒でよろしいでしょうか？　Shall I heat this up for you/Is it ok to put all your items in the same bag?

The point card one is common at lots of drug/grocery stores though

That's a good point, ROS. I always think of you as Irish, because of the "Shay." I'm not sure precisely why, but sometimes I just want to call you Shamrock.

Haha, my screen name is actually just a play on words. I might have a hint of Irish in me though. I'd have to check on my mom's side of the family.

Well I'm just saying based 100% off experience. If you buy food that can be heated up, they will ask you if you want it to be heated up and when you go to pay for it they will ask you if you have a point card. At the lawson I go to, they ask about 9 out of 10 times if I have a point card, and that is exactly how they ask it. I've heard it about a thousand times. They'll ask if you want your stuff in the same bag, too, especially if you have hot/cold items. They also ask if you even want a bag some times, as I think my area is pretty eco-conscious (in that you have to pay for bags at the grocery store, encouraging people to bring "eco-bags").

I guess it really depends on which chain of convenience stores you go to now that I think about it! The Sankus I go to doesn't ask if I remember.

If you're lucky you'll get someone who really wants to practice their English working the register. I remember when I first moved here and an older woman tried her best to do the whole transaction in English, which was a blast.