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Post by florel on Mar 13, 2005 14:26:13 GMT -5
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Post by TheBo on Mar 17, 2005 11:11:39 GMT -5
That's an interesting idea, florel (flying to Tokyo for the festival). Let's all meet there. We can mortgage our homes to stay one night in a hotel and eat dinner...  Tell me, when did Lee Soo-hyun die? Is he widely celebrated in Japan? Oh, yeah, that's reminded me of a question. I know that Koreans and Chinese (and Vietnamese, I believe) put their family names first and their personal names after that. Do the Japanese do the same? It's easy to tell with Koreans and Chinese, because everyone is named Lee or Park or Kim or Chang (well, it seems that way), but since Japanese family and personal names are so long, it's hard for me to tell. Do you know? Bo |
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Post by florel on Mar 17, 2005 18:09:11 GMT -5
That's an interesting idea, florel (flying to Tokyo for the festival). Let's all meet there. We can mortgage our homes to stay one night in a hotel and eat dinner... Hahahaha... We should sell our cars if we want to stay one more night in Tokyo. ;D Tell me, when did Lee Soo-hyun die? Is he widely celebrated in Japan? It was for years ago. I heard his death spurred a huge emotion in Korea and in Japan. I think my Korean fellows might be better informed than me about his commemoration in Japan. I found english articels about his death. www.jref.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-103.htmlOh, yeah, that's reminded me of a question. I know that Koreans and Chinese (and Vietnamese, I believe) put their family names first and their personal names after that. Do the Japanese do the same? It's easy to tell with Koreans and Chinese, because everyone is named Lee or Park or Kim or Chang (well, it seems that way), but since Japanese family and personal names are so long, it's hard for me to tell. Do you know? I'm never an expert of Japanese names. I guess Japaneses put their family names first as Koreans and Chineses do. Because, about the name of Kato Kiyomasa, I know "Kato" is his family name. But I encountered some Japaneses who write their names in the "Western" style. So I often have difficulty to discern their family names from their first names.  |
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Post by TheBo on Mar 18, 2005 10:59:06 GMT -5
Thanks, Florel! I can't sell our car for a whole overnight stay; it's a Scion XB, so I can take it back to Japan and trade it for a small dessert but that's about it. See, I have the same problem with the Japanese names. Sometimes it seems they are putting surnames first, sometimes, last. After I read the article about Lee Soo-hyun, I remembered that I heard about it at the time, I remember it really was a big deal, at least in the places I was getting my news. Bo |
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Post by mikey on Mar 18, 2005 12:05:57 GMT -5
See, I have the same problem with the Japanese names. Sometimes it seems they are putting surnames first, sometimes, last. I spent a few years working at Panasonic’s offices in Los Angeles, and I remember that the business cards of the visiting Japanese executives and engineers were always two-sided: one side printed in English, the other side printed in Japanese. While the English side would show their personal names first (probably as a convenience for us Americans) the Japanese side ALWAYS showed the individual’s family name first. Probably, that’s the cause of all the confusion! |
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Post by TheBo on Mar 18, 2005 13:24:39 GMT -5
....Probably, that’s the cause of all the confusion! Oh, you might think so, but that would be because you don't know me! Seriously, Mikey, thanks for the info. Tell me, can you read Japanese characters or were the names romanized on both sides? (Romanized--is that the word I want? Made into characters English-speakers can read?) Bo |
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Post by moreshige on Mar 18, 2005 22:29:26 GMT -5
Oh, you might think so, but that would be because you don't know me! Seriously, Mikey, thanks for the info. Tell me, can you read Japanese characters or were the names romanized on both sides? (Romanized--is that the word I want? Made into characters English-speakers can read?) Bo I'm a Korean living in America and my first name is first and family name's second. So when in Rome.....But in Japan I can't tell you. |
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Post by mikey on Mar 20, 2005 23:24:32 GMT -5
Seriously, Mikey, thanks for the info. Tell me, can you read Japanese characters or were the names romanized on both sides? Back in my younger days, I was fascinated by Japanese manga (i.e.: comic books). So, I took some pains to learn Kana (essentially, a kind of Japanese alphabet – it’s the first thing introduced to Japanese school children) and at least some basic Kanji (Chinese characters adopted into the Japanese written language). I figure I can recognize maybe 100 or so simple Kanji – nothing to brag about, since one is expected to know upwards of 2000 Kanji to be considered even barely literate in Japan.  But, most Japanese surnames use only basic Kanji, so I can often amaze my Japanese friends by blurting out somebody’s name even when it’s written only in Kanji.  So yes, the “Japanese” side of the Panasonic business cards was written entirely in Kana and Kanji. Yes, “Romanization” is the correct word for the conversion of Japanese (or Korean) into something us English speakers can more easily read. In Japanese, our Roman/English letters are called “Romaji” (or, sometimes “Romanji”) while Koreans call it “Romaja.” And this just about exhausts my knowledge of the topic! |
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Post by TheBo on Mar 21, 2005 12:38:57 GMT -5
Heeeeeeeeee. Mikey. You are the man! Oh, I know you're bored with hearing that. Bo |
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Post by mikey on Mar 21, 2005 22:11:59 GMT -5
Awww, shucks, Bo! |
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Tell me, when did Lee Soo-hyun die? Is he widely celebrated in Japan?
But, most Japanese surnames use only basic Kanji, so I can often amaze my Japanese friends by blurting out somebody’s name even when it’s written only in Kanji.