ThePete’s 12 Second Japanese Lesson #13: How Are You?

Yep! It's been a while, but I decided to start doing 12 second Japanese lessons again! すごい！すごい！

So, here is #13: How are you?


12second Japanese Lesson #13: how are you? on 12seconds.tv

The hiragana (romaji and English) for this lesson is:

げんき　ですか (genki desu ka? - fine are?)

You can add an "oh" or "お" to the front of that to make it polite.

Please remember that my Japanese kind of sucks, but the stuff I put in these lessons I know is generally accurate, though my pronunciation is not perfect. I also don't usually differentiate between formal and informal Japanese since these lessons are just 12 seconds long and I think most Japanese people will cut you some slack.

Did I get something wrong? Tell me! I’ve got a LOT to learn still, so please help me and others by commenting. ありがとうございます！ (arigatou gozaimasu - thank you very much!)

To learn more Japanese online, I recommend checking out Alex Brooke’s LearnJapanesePod.com (also visit his site AlexBrooke.com to check out what else he’s up to). You might also check out JapanesePod101.com or pick up the book Japanese from Zero: Volume 1 if you want to learn offline. I have also found My Japanese Coach for the Nintendo DS to be of HUGE help in learning the basics. Also, there are quite a few cool apps for the iPhone that I use for studying, as well.

UPDATE: http://12seconds.tv user Phlow pointed out in a comment on the original post of this lesson that:

Just minor clarification, truer meaning of 元気　（げんき、　ｇｅｎｋｉ） is not so much "fine" but more "healthy, energetic, vigorous". You will hear old folks refer to a lively puppy as "genki", as well.

Effectively, however, it's used in Japanese culture as we would use the word "well" or "fine". But I definitely appreciate the clarification!