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How to Say Hors d’oeuvre in Japanese

What do you say in Japanese if you want to say “hors d’oeurve?”

Dude… I swear I remember this one! It’s.. it’s…. uuuhhh…

I was actually going through Kanji Gold yesterday and I came upon a vocabulary word and it was for “hors d’oeurve”, I thought I had used it enough the first day that I thought I had remembered the word. But as I awoke today I was asked if I’d like some hors d’oeurves, which happened to be some dip, crackers and cheese. Then I thought, “oh man, I just learned how to say that in Japanese yesterday”. So I tried with all my might, yet it didn’t come to the surface, so I had to go through Kanji Gold again and go through the lesson of vocabulary words I was working on. I eventually came to it.

Now, let me point out, this word is used for Japanese Hors D’ourves mostly, but it’s a good thing to remember as I’ll point out here shortly.

Tsuki-dashi is the word in Japanese for hors d’oeurvre.

突き出しor つきだしin pure hiragana.

Appetizer in Japanese is O-tooshi – お通し – おとおし

Now to go a bit further into this where you actually may see this while in Japan is when you visit a Izakaya (a bar essentially in Japan), they will many times serve you something like this. It’s called O-tooshi Tsuki-Dashi. It means first snack with first drink.

And it can be a dozen different things that they give you.. But be-warned, this o-tooshi tsuki-dashi is actually not free. You can read more about this custom in izakaya by checking this post out here.

In the end though when looking for this vocab word again I found that even by searching the internet I was unable to find this simple word for the Japanese equivalent to this yummy word (through simple how to’s searches), and of course Google translate is just absolutely horrid for most things when it comes to translating Japanese to English. If you’d like to check out my free Japanese resources you can check out this page here. Over the last 15+ years of learning Japanese I’ve run across several different sites and books that can really help when you start studying like your life depends on it. Even though I’ve been studying off and on for 15 years I don’t believe I really gave it much of a go until the last 2 years when I ran into the website Nihongo Master. I strongly suggest looking into Nihongo Master if you want to quickly learn how to read, write and speak REAL Japanese.

Now you know, when someone asks you if you want Hors D’ourves in Japanese, you can certainly say ..”no/iie” 😀

PS: Just a side note, many of the izakaya will not really give you much time to wave it away if you plan on not having tsuki-dashi.

All Blog Posts, Etiquette in Japan, Learn Japanese, News in Japan

Japanese Schools VS American Schools

What Differences to Expect When Going to School in Japan

Good Japanese Students are Seen Not Heard, American Students are Loud and Opinionated

There are a few things to understand about Japanese Schools and how they relate to American standard schools, and it comes down to the way you are taught, what the teacher expects from you and how you are graded.

In American schools, there is a lot of freedom to expression opinions and to ask questions. In fact, it’s said to be that those who take advantage of this idea are the ones who get the most of out classes in America and get the best grades. Whereas those who go to school in Japan will notice that it’s not as appropriate to ask questions in class, it’s more appropriate to ask questions after class or to ask your friends and classmates instead. It’s more of a virtue to be quiet during class, and by being ‘quiet’ you are seen as a good student in Japan, and with that, your grades can and many times will improve simply based off of that fact alone.

There is no eating or drinking in the class room or sitting on desks in Japan classrooms, whereas in America this custom is beginning to be the normality of going to school. When it comes to studying in Japan be it from 1st grade to University, the teacher will simply write down notes on the blackboard, and you will be responsible for taking down those notes and remembering them. Whereas in America the teachers do not use the blackboard as often and ask questions of the students while teaching. In Japan, it’s not very often you will see a teacher asking questions to their classroom.

When it comes to examinations, American classes rooms will expect you to be able to write down facts, names and history, but not only that but to form your opinion based around it as well. In Japan the notes you took while in class are simply the answers for many examinations, and you simply must just remember the facts. Although these two systems seem very opposite, the formulation of the illegal standards of Common Core in America is quickly leaving American school children behind. At this point although the Japanese system is a bit odd to us westerns, Japan is ranked #2 in schools in education in the world (from 2014) just under South Korea, whereas America was ranked #14.

So either way you want to look at it, Japanese students and the way they teach seem to be working much better then the American standards. No matter what the cultural shock may be, this remains to be a fact. But I often wonder with so much freedom overall given to American students if it creates a different kind of education, more of an opinionated one that could very well be the American spirit of freedom to do what one wishes. If one wishes to become more educated the platforms of doing so are there, as I’m sure it is in Japan if one wishes as well.

If you are interested in going to school in Japan contact us on Facebook and can will help you find a school in the area you’d like to study in. I’d also suggest checking out my free Japanese learning resources here that will help you become more proficient in speaking, reading, writing and understanding Japanese.

So now you know the differences between Japanese Schools and American Schools!

All Blog Posts, Learn Japanese

Top 10 Japanese Words to Learn

Easy Japanese Words and Expressions for Beginners

Learn Japanese Like a Boss,
Build Your Foundation with The Basics

Anybody who plans to go to Japan ought to possess a nodding acquaintance using the vocabulary to be able to communicate the locals a bit more bearably. It was discovered out that 75% vacationers who frequent Japan have no understanding of Japanese at all. And if you believe it or not, even the easy words that are utilized daily by the locals. These guests frequently discover it difficult to interact with the native Japanese people, particularly when they are lost or if they want some thing done for them.

These are in my opinion the top 10 Japanese words (categories more so) that can help you while you’re in Japan.

1. Yes and No

These are no brainers when you get down to, you should at least know these words right?

The word for ‘Yes’ is ‘hai‘ (sounds similar to the word ‘high’ but a more pronounced and strong ended)

The word for ‘No’ is ‘iie‘ (which pronounced is ‘E..A’ basically)

It’s better to always answer in a specifics then hand gestures or nodding in Japan.

2. Greetings in Japanese

Japan is a very polite place and it’s known for it’s greetings. Knowing these simple greetings through out the day is a great start to speaking simple Japanese.

• “Ohayou Gozaimasu” is used before about 10:30 am in the morning

• “Kon-nichiwa” — is used after 10:30 am for good afternoon

• “Konbanwa” — is used for Good Evening

• “Oyasuminasai” — this is used for when you or someone is leaving late at night, or going to sleep. For family you can simply say ‘Oyasumi‘

3. Is it Arigato or Arigato Gozaimasu?

“Arigatou” is brief for thank you. The total type is “Arigatou Gozaimasu“. A few of the locals make use of the slang “domo” once they are inside a hurry.

Arigatou (Ah-ri-ga-tou) (R’s are pronounced like an R and L put together) is thank you. But there is a way to make it more polite and by doing so you just have to add ‘Gozaimasu‘ (Go-Zai-Mas). You can also use ‘domo‘ but it’s mostly for in a hurry or for family.

4.Oh Excuse me, “Sumimasen”

If you happen to bump into someone slightly on a train or while walking about you would the word ‘Sumimasen‘ (Sue-Me-Mas-Sen). You can also use this word to get someones attention, which you could then use to ask a question. You would ‘gomenasai‘ if you ran into someone really hard or hurt someone, or did something a bit more abrasive then what you would ‘sumimasen‘ for.

5. Asking for certain things in Japan

Here is a list of commonly asked question statements you can use while traveling in Japan.

• ‘Korewa nan desuka?‘ — asking what a particular object is

• ‘Wa doko desuka?‘ — asking for path or direction

• ‘Nanji desuka?‘ — asking for the present time

• ‘Ikura desuka‘ — just how much will be the item/service? (monetary)

6. Time to say goodbye – “Sayonara”

This is the most ‘Goodbye’ word in Japanese, there are many other words that indicate a fair-well, but ‘Sayonara‘ (saw-yo-na-ra) (remember the r+l pronounciation) is for if you are leaving for a long while (mostly).

You can use ‘jane‘ (Jah-Nay) for friends and for short goodbyes if you will. If you are saying goodbye to a teacher or boss you would use ‘Dewa Mata‘ (Day-Wah Ma-Ta).

7. “Tasukete” — ‘Help’

This word is another way to ask for assistance or to make it simple it’s the word for ‘Help’, similar to ‘Sumimasen’, but it’s mostly used to request for assistance with something in particular you in the present time need assistance with. ‘Tasukete‘ (Tah-Su-Kay-Tay)

8. Pretty Please with Sugar on Top! … okay just please…

There are a few ways you can say please in Japan. One way is by saying ‘Dozo‘ (Doe-Zoh), which is mostly used to request an action from someone, like. Come inside, please drink, please eat.

You can also use ‘Zehi‘ (Zeh-He) to express hope and request. (this is a little advanced, just ‘know it’ for now)

But when in doubt use ‘Onegai shimasu‘ (Oh-nay-guy shi-mas) for please when asking for something.

9. “Wakarimasen”

When beginning to speak Japanese you will be slow to hear words and to speak them, you can say “Wakarimasen” when being talked to and you don’t understand what they are saying. It means basically ‘I don’t know/I don’t understand). (Wa-Ka-ri-Mas-Sen).

10. Bathroom

To avoid leaving a mess in your pants, the best way to ask for a bathroom in Japan is to say “Toire wa doko desuka?”

To-e-ray wa do-ko des-ka

‘Toire‘ is toilet
‘Wa‘ is a particle for is in this case
‘Doko‘ is where
and ‘desu‘ indicates that the ‘wa‘ is used as an ‘is’
and ‘ka‘ is a statement of a question.

‘Toilet where is?‘

If you are ready to learn more basic Japanese I highly suggest checking out my favorite free learning source ‘Nihongo Master’ or you can check out my article on all my favorite learning sites for Japanese online.

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