I am currently living in Japan, and because of that, Japanese words tend to make their way into my posts. Here is a vocab (in Japanese, “tango”) list of words I’m known to use.
Names/Acronyms
JET Programme: The Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme. This is the program I came to Japan on. I took the scenic route with this program (I was rejected the first year I applied, and wait listed the 2nd) so if you want any JET words of wisdom, please feel free to comment on one of my posts and ask.
Prefecture: I have no idea how the Japanese word “ken” got translated into “prefecture”, but a prefecture is basically a state/province.
ALT: Assistant Language Teacher, which is what I am.
JTE: Japanese Teacher of English. Just remember, they may teach English, but they won’t necessarily speak English.
BOE: Board of Education, they sign my pay-stubs.
Japanese Words
Nihon: The Japanese word for “Japan”.
Nihongo: The Japanese word for “Japanese”. You can add “go” to most country names and it will mean that country’s language. Example: Furansu = France, Furansu-go = French.
Eigo: The English language
Sensei: Teacher, or master of something. So “Eigo no sensei” means “English Teacher”.
Gaikokujin, Gaijin: Foreigner. “Jin” means person, and “Gai” means outside. “Gaikokujin” (outside country person) is considered more polite.
Machi: Town. Cities in Japan basically break down into “-shi” (city), “-machi” (town), and “-mura” (village). My town of about 25,000 people is classified as a “machi”. Don’t be fooled, though, there are plenty of so called “cities” that have many more rice fields and mountains that people.
Daijoubu: This means “okay” or “all right”, very handy
Japanese Names
Tokyo: The capital and largest city in Japan. Well, kinda. See, Tokyo is one of the “prefectures”, but within Tokyo prefecture are 27 “wards” which constitute the city of Tokyo, however all those wards are run like their own individual cities. All you need to know is the general area is Tokyo, and there’s a lot of people.
Kanto: This literally means “East District”, and is the region of Japan that I live in. There’s a lot of reference to “Kanto style” as oppose to “Kansai style” (The “West” District where Osaka and Kyoto are located).
Shinjuku, Shibuya: Two “wards” in Tokyo, this is like the downtown, Times Square area of Tokyo. Many blinking lights, kinda intimidating.
Fuji-san: Mount Fuji. “San” means “mountain”, and conveniently enough, is a suffix that means “Mr/Mrs/Ms”. I can occasionally see Fuji-san from my town, it’s impressive even from 75 miles away.
