Here I’ll just slap some notes down about some japanese stuff that I picked up from playing the game. I’ll sort this stuff out later. Some of this is stuff that I will probably never forget but I will post for the viewers of this page, and other stuff is things I will almost definitely forget. haha

This page aims to teach Japanese (日本語) in the context of playing Final Fantasy XI, and it also serves as my own personal notes for writing down some japanese vocabulary words I pick up along the way. If you find anything here that is incorrect (or perhaps I didn’t explain something clear enough in a way that people would get the wrong meaning from it) please post a comment and I’ll try to fix it asap.

Greetings and Goodbyes

よろしく (yoroshiku) - Nice to meet you!

You will see this very often in a japanese party. Typically as soon as a japanese member enters the party they will say よろしく　or　よろです (yoro desu). This means, “nice to meet you.” English parties typically will use the “<Hello!>” or “<Nice to meet you.>” auto-translate messages, the japanese typically type out yoroshiku.

おつかれさま　or　お疲れ様 (otsukaresama)

This is a typical farewell. English parties will use the “<See You Again!>” auto-translate, japanese groups will use otsukaresama. It means literally, “many thanks” or “that’s enough for today.”

おはようぎざます (ohayou gozaimasu) - Good morning!

Ohayou gozaimasu (also: 【お早う】、おはよう、御早う (ohayou), or 【お早うございます】the most common spellings were bracketed) means “good morning” it is a typical morning greeting.

おやすみなさい (oyasumi nasai) - Good Night!

This is what you might say to a friend when you’re logging out before you go to bed. Oyasumi nasai (also: おやすみ、お休み (oyasumi) or お休みなさい (oyasumi nasai) means good night.

Leveling Up

おめでとう (omedetou) - Congratulations!

When gaining a level in an experience party, japanese players will congratulate each other. In english parties members usually will say “congratulations,” “congrats,” or “grats” (or “gratz”), the japanese equivalent is おめでとう (omedetou) which means “congratulations.” Omedetou is also commonly abbreviated as “ome” (spelled おめー). When meriting, if someone gains a merit instead of saying omedetetou, japanese players might say “omeripo” (おめりぽ) which is a play on words. めりぽ or メリポ (meripo) is how the japanese players say “merit points” so おめりぽ (omeripo) has the same meaning as omedetou, except it is used by some players when they are congratulating a party member on a gained merit point. The common response to omedetou is some form of arigatou (thank you).

ありがとう (arigatou) - Thank you

Arigatou is the japanese way of saying thank you, there are a few ways in which they will say “thank you” but most of them are derived from “arigatou.” ありがとう (arigatou) is the “default” way of saying thank you, it is the full word that translates directly to “thank you.” You may add a few modifiers to change the meaning slightly. Prepending an optional ども(doumo) to the front (making どもありがとう [doumo arigatou]) means “thank you very much.” Very often “thank you very much” or “thank you” can be shortened to just ども(doumo). Additionally, sometimes “arigatou” our “default” form of the word thank you is also shorted to either ありー(arii), ありです(ari desu) or ありり(ariri). If you want to be more polite adding the optional ございます(gozaimasu) at the end will add a tone of formality. The “doumo” and “gozaimasu” are both optional; the “doumo” can be used on its own but the “gozaimasu” may not. This means we can say thank you in many ways:

• ありがとう(arigatou) - Thank you
• どうもありがとう(doumo arigatou) - Thank you very much
• どもうありがとうございます(doumo arigatou gozaimasu) - Thank you very much (formal)
• ども(doumo) - Thank you (shortened, like “thanks a lot” or “thanks”)
• ありー(arii) - Thanks
• ありり(ariri) - Thanks
• ありです(ari desu) - Thanks

The last three “thanks” can be translated roughly in any cute way you want (i.e., “thanks,” “thank ya,” “thankies…” or whatever else your creative mind can come up with), or you can take it just to mean thanks literally. All of the writings above may look very difficult for you to read. When typing I’ve noticed that most japanese players do not use spaces, making the words very difficult for a foreigner to read. I’ve provided them this way as a way for my viewers to practice the readings.

どう致しまして (dou itashimashite) - You’re welcome

Dou itashimashite is one way of saying “you’re welcome” to someone, which is a good polite response to arigatou. Although dou itashimashite means “you’re welcome,” japanese players will most often give the response of いえいえ(ie, ie) also written いいえいいえ(iie, iie) or just いえ(ie) or いいえ (iie). Iie translates to “no” so translated literally they are saying, “no” or “no, no” meaning “no problem.” or “not at all.”

Miscellaneous Vocabulary

• ドンマイ (donmai) - This phrase (a direct english cognate) means “don’t mind,” or “nevermind.”
• あぶない (abunai) - This phrase means “danger,” or “watch out!” (could also mean “this is dangerous, or be careful).
• たいへん (taihen) - “oh no!”
• ぺらぺら (perapera) - “fluency,” or “fluent”
• がんばって (ganbatte) - Also written, ｢頑張って」means “good luck,” “keep going!” “you can do it!” “hold on (in the context of keep going)”
• 下さい (kudasai) - This suffix is added on to the end of a word for the additional meaning of “please.”
• すれば (sureba) - (expression) “In that case…” or “if so, …”
• 辛い or つらい (tsurai) - “Heart-breaking,” or “painful”
• とても or è¿šã‚‚- very; awfully; exceedingly; (2) (before a negative form) (not) at all; by no means; simply (cannot); (from Jeffrey’s J/E Dictionary)