Honestly I cannot stress the importance enough of watching media in Japanese and copying them. Just from watching television and media over the course of many years, I realized there are a bunch of repeated speaking patterns you never see in writing or textbooks, so I thought I’d share some of them. This is good to know for speaking and listening practice. REMEMBER these are for casual conversation (not for a boss, teacher, or anyone of higher status).
Disclaimer: I’m not fluent by any means, but these are really common things I’ve noticed
*Drop Particles
You wonder why spoken Japanese sounds so much faster than written. It is because cause Japanese natives drop half the particles when speaking.
For ex.
ご飯を食べますか? -> ご飯食べる？ (raise voice at end)
*Use Colloquial Language
It helps to know shorter ending to longer written phrases.
For ex.
行かなけれいけない -> 行かなきゃ
勉強しておく -> しとく-> しとけ (ultra-casual)
できるかもしれない -> できるかも (voice goes up at the end)
Also, use endings such as “じゃん” instead じゃない and ない/ねえ instead of いない. These are feelings of stronger emotions like surprise or anger.
For ex.
猫じゃない -> 猫じゃん!
猫を飼っていない。-> 猫飼ってねえ! (for guys)
*Use Fillers When Speaking
I’m sure you heard of あの, えと, but there are WAY more than that.
さ、さー
One of the most common fillers among younger generations is _さー. My Japanese high school host sister used this in every other sentence. It’s the same as saying “like”.
For ex.
あのさ
ちょっとさ
これはさ
But if you say さー (by itself): I have no idea
いや、いやいや
いや: no (say quickly – casual form of いえ)
If you repeat it like いやいやいや。。。 with the hand waving gesture, you’ll seem more fluent.
But it also be used as a hesitation filler.
いやー with the long (や): well, no
ま、まま、ままま
ま or まあ－: well (with the long あ)
まま: leave as is (そのままがいい)
ままままま (repeated quickly): it’s alright (not bad, but not great)
These are just a few of the many ways out there. This is why it’s super important to listen to native conversation constantly to gain a feel for spoken Japanese. You might be able to read, but colloquial language is a whole other ballgame and we aren’t even throwing in common dialects like Kansai-ben.
framed in beige 