I just emailed some random japanese guy

[GoldCoinLover]

「淡路自立サポートクラブ」Webページ作成支援
apparently this guy is a teacher.

I was interested in learning more about fried chicken ovaries on a stick, since I couldnt find any images. I heard they were called chouchin, ちょうちん
but this returns no results on google, in japanese or english (at least not the right things.) So I was surprised of how many blogs etc were in japanese. I really wanted to read them to learn more about japanese. But Icouldnt

So I found this one where the guy is japanese teacher. I emaield in my my best japanese writing (which really sucks) and I bet he's gonna be surprised, scared to see a gaikokujin emailing him! LOL

Here's what I said:
こんにちは。私はケビンです。（ケビンといます。） あなたのBlogがすきです。

ごめんなさい。私はアメリカ人です。私のGoogle Search = ちょうちん （卵巣の鶏肉？ 鶏肉の卵巣？？）



I just said hello, and mentioned my name was kevin. I used anata because I didn't know his name. I said (I tried to say) I liked his blog. However, I think the particle ga is wrong (Damn I hate particles) and the 'desu' which means is/are doesn't seem right.

I said I'm sorry because I'm a american. I tried to tell him I was looking up chicken ovaries on google. LOL

 

[doinkies]

Your email is all right but it has a couple mistakes... Here's how doinkies would write it (though this might have some mistakes too because doinkies isn't a native speaker...perhaps Hiroyuki Nagashima-san or NANGI-san can help you further).

はじめまして、ケビンです。sujitsuさんのブログを読（よ）んで、面白（おもしろ）かったです。
アメリカ人ですが、私の悪（わる）い日本語にすみません。今（いま）、グーグルに「ちょうちん」を検索（けんさく）しています。 よろしくおねがいします。

Also, I have never heard chicken ovaries referred to as "chouchin". "Chouchin" usually refers to colorful paper lanterns that are hung outside at restaurants (usually ramen stands and things like that). Where did you get this other meaning from? And for that matter, where did you hear that Japanese people eat fried chicken ovaries on a stick?

 

[bentenmusume]

Your email is all right but it has a couple mistakes... Here's how doinkies would write it (though this might have some mistakes too because doinkies isn't a native speaker...perhaps Hiroyuki Nagashima-san or NANGI-san can help you further)

jt_ isn't Nagashima-san or NANGI-san (and, much like doinkies-san, he isn't even a native speaker!), but he's going to try to help anyway. (jt_ also usually doesn't refer to himself in the third person, but it seemed like a fun thing to try once)

sujitsuさんのブログを読（よ）んで、面白（おもしろ）かったです。

This is okay, but jt_ would be a little more polite and say:
「ｓｕｊｉｔｓｕさんのブログをいつも楽しく拝見させていただいています。」

私の悪（わる）い日本語にすみません。

How about 「下手な日本語（or つたない日本語）ですみません。」...?

今（いま）、グーグルに「ちょうちん」を検索（けんさく）しています。 よろしくおねがいします。

これだけでは説明が足りないような気がします。 (I think this doesn't quite explain things well enough.)
If it were me (actually, if it were me, I wouldn't be asking this question, but that's neither here nor there):
「ちょうちん」という言葉についてお教えいただきたく、メールをさせていただきました。「鶏の卵巣」という意味だと聞いたのですが、本当なのでしょうか？また、日本では、この「ちょうちん」というものを串で焼いて食べると聞きました。信じられなくてネットで調べてみたのですが、なかなか情報が見つからなくて・・・
ということで・・・変な質問かもしれませんが教えていただけないでしょうか？
よろしくお願いします。
ケビン

Also, I have never heard chicken ovaries referred to as "chouchin". "Chouchin" usually refers to colorful paper lanterns that are hung outside at restaurants (usually ramen stands and things like that). Where did you get this other meaning from? And for that matter, where did you hear that Japanese people eat fried chicken ovaries on a stick?

Yes -- just out of curiosity, Kevin, where did you get this information? It sounds a bit fishy to me, to say the least. Then again, what do I know? People eat a lot of strange things. Still, I can't find it in any dictionaries, and chicken ovaries are certainly not _commonly_ eaten here (or if they are, I've been incredibly fortunate to have somehow avoided them to this point.)
Also, the Japanese I wrote above was as much (more, actually) for my own practice than for the OP, so if there's anything awkward about it, I'd appreciate corrections from native speakers or others "in the know." Thanks.

 

[epigene]

Just a comment on jt_san's question!
The Japanese have a lot of names for chicken, pig and cattle innards used only when served as food, and "chouchin" is one of them and certainly is "chicken ovary" (coming from its "lantern" shape). I have tasted it at a yakitoriya.

Personally, I prefer chicken wings and skin (sprinkled with salt)!!
PS: I apologize for giving out the answer first, GCL...
But I think it will do you good to ask the question to this Japanese blogger anyway. You'll be able to learn from the answer you receive. (Since you already have the main idea of his response, you'll be able to figure out the Japanese he writes better!)

 

[doinkies]

Ooooh, I see. Anyway, I probably wouldn't be brave enough to eat a chicken ovary. XD

 

[bentenmusume]

Just a comment on jt_san's question!
The Japanese have a lot of names for chicken, pig and cattle innards used only when served as food, and "chouchin" is one of them and certainly is "chicken ovary" (coming from its "lantern" shape). I have tasted it at a yakitoriya.

Wow... While this certainly isn't the first time I've been completely and utterly wrong about something, I'm feeling rather silly now. I guess that'll teach me to open my big mouth about things I know less than 100% about.

Just to clarify, though, it was really GCL's question, not mine. I was just trying to think of how I'd ask the question in Japanese -- more for my own practice than for GCL's reference. (I'd rather people don't try to model or learn from my non-native and often awkward Japanese, which is why I usually write in English.)

 

[epigene]

jt_さん、ごめんなさい！
questionと間違えて打ってしまいました・・・
ホントは、commentかstatementのつもりでした。

 

[bentenmusume]

Nothing to apologize for... it was my misunderstanding.

In the end, I may not have been the original asker of the question, but I've been enlightened about a particular variety of Japanese cuisine that I was previously unaware of, so it's all good. (Which is not to say that I'll be racing to my local yakitori shop to try this particular delicacy anytime soon. )

Anyway, thanks epigene! (and GCL and doinkies too)

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Nothing to apologize for... it was my misunderstanding.

In the end, I may not have been the original asker of the question, but I've been enlightened about a particular variety of Japanese cuisine that I was previously unaware of, so it's all good. (Which is not to say that I'll be racing to my local yakitori shop to try this particular delicacy anytime soon. )

Anyway, thanks epigene! (and GCL and doinkies too)

Yes, it's hard to find the word on google search. If you type in chicken ovaries, in english, you can find a picture. I've also seen it on some blog sites. But 'chouchin' brings up latern, as you said.


Jt, your japanese is great! Your non naitve japanese, but can anyones japanese ever really get native level? I feel that if you don't know how to say it, no one does (except for japanese naitive speakers)

 

[GoldCoinLover]

jt_ isn't Nagashima-san or NANGI-san (and, much like doinkies-san, he isn't even a native speaker!), but he's going to try to help anyway. (jt_ also usually doesn't refer to himself in the third person, but it seemed like a fun thing to try once)
This is okay, but jt_ would be a little more polite and say:
「ｓｕｊｉｔｓｕさんのブログをいつも楽しく拝見させていただいています。」
How about 「下手な日本語（or つたない日本語）ですみません。」...?
これだけでは説明が足りないような気がします。 (I think this doesn't quite explain things well enough.)
If it were me (actually, if it were me, I wouldn't be asking this question, but that's neither here nor there):
「ちょうちん」という言葉についてお教えいただきたく、メールをさせていただきました。「鶏の卵巣」という意味だと聞いたのですが、本当なのでしょうか？また、日本では、この「ちょうちん」というものを串で焼いて食べると聞きました。信じられなくてネットで調べてみたのですが、なかなか情報が見つからなくて・・・
ということで・・・変な質問かもしれませんが教えていただけないでしょうか？
よろしくお願いします。
ケビン
Yes -- just out of curiosity, Kevin, where did you get this information? It sounds a bit fishy to me, to say the least. Then again, what do I know? People eat a lot of strange things. Still, I can't find it in any dictionaries, and chicken ovaries are certainly not _commonly_ eaten here (or if they are, I've been incredibly fortunate to have somehow avoided them to this point.)
Also, the Japanese I wrote above was as much (more, actually) for my own practice than for the OP, so if there's anything awkward about it, I'd appreciate corrections from native speakers or others "in the know." Thanks.

Would you mind telling me what you said right there up there? I need to learn grammer and verg conjugates, especially the verbs 'cause you make a whole sentence with one verb.


Thanks jt. I learned a new term here the other day. okurigana, which is hiragana after a kanji. This makes it confusing because its hard to tell if the hirasgana is attached to the kanji or not. Also, I was looking at a japanese video game the other day, pokemon, and it even had furigana on top of the kanji! Yay! This makes me so happy, I wish all pokemon games would do this in japanese. I really want to learn japanese for many reasons, but mainly video games.

J_t, epiegne, and everyone else here, I found a hilarious editorial about kanchou he is a english teacher in the JET program. It is hilarious. I cannot stop laughing. If you're having a bad day, or just want to have a good time.

 

[doinkies]

Actually I think most people here have already read that article, and most of the other articles on that site. They are funny, though. And that little owl that one of the students made for him is so sweet...^^

That other picture of the raw chicken ovaries looks like oranges, almost. XD

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Actually I think most people here have already read that article, and most of the other articles on that site. They are funny, though. And that little owl that one of the students made for him is so sweet...^^
That other picture of the raw chicken ovaries looks like oranges, almost. XD

Is he making any of it up? Do kids really do kanpou like that? LOl

 

[doinkies]

Yeah, many little kids, especially boys, will try to kancho somebody. Although Azrael may exaggerate some stuff sometimes, doinkies thinks that he probably has been kancho'd quite a lot. Most people grow out of it once they get older, though. Actually, doinkies learned about kancho from that site; I didn't know it existed before I happened upon the site and read Azrael's articles. Perhaps it's because many Japanese people are reluctant to talk about kancho, they probably think it would be really embarrassing to talk about.

 

[GoldCoinLover]

Well he says all of what happened is true. Sometimes yeah it seems he exaggerates it. I hope it's true, it seems neverending. Seriously! It seems to frickin' never end. I've been reading it for a good 15 hours + now and no end in sight!

 

[bentenmusume]

Well he says all of what happened is true. Sometimes yeah it seems he exaggerates it. I hope it's true, it seems neverending. Seriously! It seems to frickin' never end. I've been reading it for a good 15 hours + now and no end in sight!

You mean that you've been reading this guy's site for 15 hours, or you've been reading this one particular essay over and over because it's so funny?

Either way -- and I mean this in the most polite and least offensive way you could possibly take it -- if you had spent that 15 hours reading (and carefully thinking about) a good Japanese textbook, you'd have a better understanding of the language than you do now.

Life is all about choices like these. (Which makes me question sometimes what I'm doing posting here.)

 

[GoldCoinLover]

You mean that you've been reading this guy's site for 15 hours, or you've been reading this one particular essay over and over because it's so funny?
Either way -- and I mean this in the most polite and least offensive way you could possibly take it -- if you had spent that 15 hours reading (and carefully thinking about) a good Japanese textbook, you'd have a better understanding of the language than you do now.
Life is all about choices like these. (Which makes me question sometimes what I'm doing posting here.)

Yes, I've been reading it over 15 hours. It seems to go on forever..it is very entertaining. Better than TV, even. I can understand it, but a japanese textbook with complicated terms is another story...
Don't worry, I take no offensive to it at all. The problem is, as I said earlier, I have very hard times with reading comprehension. That, coupled with always being in special ed english in high school, doesn't help. The only way for me to learn it is to go 'hands on' or a tutor. Or a CD program, which someone sent me and I'll look at that.
Japanese books can help, but only if they are WAY oversimplified. I barely know what an adjective is. And yes, the only way I can learn english is from a teacher. Even then, its confusing.