How To Ask Questions In Japanese
“One who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; one who does not ask a question remains a fool forever.” – Chinese Proverb
If you’re here and you’re the type of person that loves learning, you’re probably also the type of person that has a lot of questions. Understandable. The Japanese language is full of questions (without quite as many answers), so it’s only natural that you learn how to ask those questions in the Japanese language. For example, you might want to ask “Why do snow monkeys hang out in hot springs?” Or perhaps “What’s the answer to life, the universe, and everything?” (the answer is 42), And even the ever elusive “Why am I learning Japanese?” (Good luck with that one, Space Cowboy).
Although the questions above may cause you to stare out of a window with a glass of your favorite beverage twirling in your hand, asking the actual question isn’t all that difficult, especially in Japanese.
Before we do that, though, I just wanted to welcome you to the first “premium” chapter of TextFugu. Suddenly you’re paying for a service to learn something new, which can be a bit exhilarating (I’m sure it’s like your very first Christmas… you probably don’t remember it), so make sure you don’t overdo things and burn yourself out. Remember everything from the previous not-as-expensive chapters and make sure you are able to focus on your goals and make a little bit of progress every day, rather than bigger bursts of progress that aren’t as frequent. Oh, and try to have some fun with it, too! I’ll do my best to help with that too.
Oh, and before you move on, you should say hello on the forums, too, if you haven’t already. Say hello to your fellow TextFugu friends, introduce yourself, ask questions, etc., etc. The forum is a great way to learn new things, get feedback from others, and get motivated to learn Japanese! Take a look!
Of course, at any time, if you have a question, you can e-mail me directly. I’m at koichi@textfugu.com, and I look forward to hearing from you?
Ah ha! Did you notice that subtly inserted yet grammatically incorrect question? That means it’s time to get back to it, and it’s time to learn all about asking questions in Japanese. It’s a lot easier than you’d think, and we’ll be using what you’ve just learned (です) to learn it. It’s all about building on things you already have learned, so make sure you learn everything well!