Please help me undertand the fable "The Untouchable" by William March There is this part. The untouchable man in a cave replies "I only know I was an untouchable of parents who were like myself," when asked "Do you know why you're an untouchable and I am not?" by a traveller. I don't know what the untouchable man means by that.. I guess.. maybe it's about social position or something? like.. caste system, he's very low in social class just like his parents was? Help me~~ Thanks a million~!!!

夏目友人帳 1 Hi, I wrote down what I heard from one of my favorite アニメ. 漢字がもっと適当ならこの部分教えて下さい。(I'm not even sure if this is correct. OTL) 妖怪 ：さむしい。。さむしい。。お腹が空いた。（tries to grab the まんじゅ but レイコ snatches it) あっ レイコ：(takes a bite) あん 妖怪 ：(embarrassed)うああっ！わしのまんじゅう！ レイコ：あまりおいしくないわよう。これ。 妖怪 ：人間のくせに何をする？意地汚ね。 レイコ：おいしおまんじゅうが食べたかったら、ななつじやのがお勧めよ。(＊食べる+??? +たら) 妖怪 ：ななつじ？ レイコ：そうねえ。私と勝負してあなたが勝てたらごちそうした上げましょうか？ 妖怪 ：おまえ、私が見えるんだね。 レイコ：ええ、見えるわよ。 妖怪 ：恐ろしくはないのか？ レイコ：全然。だって、私が強いもの。。 妖怪 ：え？　 レイコ：じゃ、行くわよ。 妖怪 ：え？！ レイコ：えいっ！ 妖怪 ：あ、痛い。。 レイコ：はい、私の勝ち！ 妖怪 ：おゆうちじゃないか。(＊Does this make sense? Korean caption says 'You made a surprise attack'.) レイコ：勝ちは勝ちよ。よし、これであなたは私の子分いよ。(＊居る??) 妖怪 ：子分？ レイコ：(chuckles) ふふっ。あ、何？ 妖怪 ：そのほほの傷はどうした？ レイコ：あ。。石をぶつけられてね。私は気味が悪いんですって。(＊Is this another form of きみがわるいですて?）ええ、あなた、きれいな名前なのね。子分になったんだからこの名前を読んだら飛んで来てよね。 妖怪　：おまえの名前は？ レイコ：レイコよ。じゃ、またね。 Thanks a million!!! :D

How do you describe the shadows on the moon in your country?

Yesterday was August 15th of the lunar calendar. I could see the full moon.
In korea, people say that there are a big tree and a rabbit holding a long thick stick by the big cup-shaped hard bowl like he's making rice cake or something.
I got curious. How about in your country?

Would you tell me how to write my name in Russian.. and its cases? Hi, my name is Kyungmi. The sound is like there is a 'K' right before 'young' and then 'me' in English. I thought it was okay to write as Кёнми but I noticed that people write -нг for -ng. Some friends call me Mia when we talk in English. Few of my friends call me Miya which is the combination of the last syllable of my name and the vocative ending -ya in Korean. So.. Which one is more likely to be used, Миа or Мия? And.. would you help me with its forms? * genitive Мы были в комнате Кёнгми(Миы/Мии)и говорили о её книг. We were in Kyungmi's(Mia's/Miya's) room and talked about her books. * accusative Oна видела Кёнгми/Миу/Мию. * dative Oн дал книгу Кёнгмии/Мие. * instrumental Mы работали с Кёнгмиью/Миой/Мией. I looked these up in my grammar book, still I'm confused.(?_?) Would you correct me? Cпасибо! 

だしの説明書　lol 漢字を読み方は難しくて、わかりにくいです。T_T 教えて下さい。 本品は良質の枕崎産鰹節・北海道産真昆布・粉末醤油をほんどよくブレンドしたおいしいだしです。 （ほんぴんはりょうしつのまくらさきさんかつおふし・ほっかいどうさんまこんぶ・ふんまつしょうゆ...） みそ汁・めん類・天つゆ・煮物・鍋物・茶わんむし・炊き込みごはん・おでん・湯豆腐など和風料理に、又、洋風・中華料理にも幅広くご利用下さい。 （みそしる・めんるい・てんゆ・にもの・なべもの・ちゃわんむし・たきこみごはん・おでん・ゆどうふなどわふうりょうりに、また、ようふう・ちゅうかりょうりにもはばひろくごりようください。） 名称　－　風味調味料（めいしょう）－　（ふうみちょうみりょう） 原材料名－葡萄糖・食塩・調味料(アミノ酸等）・粉末醤油（大豆、小麦を含む） （げんざいりょうめい）－（ぶどうとう・しょくえん・ちょうみりょう（あみのさんとう）・ふんまつしょうゆ（だいず、こむぎをふくむ） 内容量　－　１０ｇ（ないようりよう）－（じゅうグラム） ご使用方法　－　（ほんぴん１袋１０ｇで）・みそ汁のだし約５人分・お吸物５人分・かけうどんのだし１人分です。 （ごしようほうほう）－（ほんぴんいちふくろじゅうグラムで）（みそしるのだしやくごにんぶん、おきゅうものごにんぶん、かけうどんのだしいちにんぶんです。） ご使用上の注意　－　お好みによりだしの素の量を増減してお使い下さい。風味を生かすには熱をかけ過ぎないこと大切です。 （ごしようじょうのちゅうい）－（おこのみによりだしのそのりょうをぞうげんしておつかいください。）（ふうみをいかすにはねつをかけすぎないことがたいせつです。） I'm still a beginner, so it took me so long. I didn't want to throw this away just because I didn't know how to use it. Now I understand most of it, not perfectly..T_T Is there any idiom by any chance?? Any advice will be welcomed. Thank you for taking your time. :-)

When to use 漢字、カタカナ、ひらがな I know one basic rule - カタカナis for words from foreign countries and 擬声語/擬態語. ひらがな for 固有日本語. 漢字 is used for a more formal case. I understand some changes for the purpose of good design. But the more I get to know Japanese, the more confused I get. １） ポイ捨てor ぽいすて or ぽい捨て　禁止　 ２）泣き面に蜂　or なきつらに蜂　 ３）いちかばちか or　いちか八か or　一か八か ３－１）いちからじゅうまで　or いちから十まで or　一から十まで Is it okay to use かんじ whenever there's a 漢字 for that word like the last example above? Which one is commonly used? Would you tell me the reason why? Thanks!!

pronunciation help needed :) 'я' и 'г' I've pronounced 'я' in 'язык' like 'i' as in 'simple' not like just Я. How about 'я' in 'японский'? Does it sound the same? I pronounce г like 'х' as in 'хорошо', but then I wonder if it's right and if there are some rules about it.. Thank you!I forgot to mention легко.. I know how г or я is pronounced, but they sound different under some letter combinations. г in легко..that's where I paused to think about its pronunciation rules..

Привет! ^.^ Привет! Меня зовут Кёнми, я из Кореи. Я изучил русский язык в университете но очень немного понимаю. Т.Т Каждый день я пробую изучить русский язык и японский язык. Это интересно, но не легко.

Cultural differences you've experienced.. or noticed Hi, guys.. :)
I always thought that a cultural difference was not a big deal. We are human beings with lots of things in common in the first place, even though different person likes/hates different things. But  I realized some petty things caused by where you're from could have an influence on you.

One day, I said to a co-worker who had a new hair style, "hey, you look better today!" I meant that his new style was literally better than before and was propably the right style for him, but he was hurt and said, "then, you mean, I looked bad before?"  I was embarrased and got curious about what I should do when I want to give a piece of advice or praise. One of the foreigners said, "Give advice only when they ask you one first, or it can be nosy." Okay, I got that. But what about
a comment on things they want to get?

I sometimes got mute on purpose 'cause I didn't want them to think I was judging or rude. I didn't think I was judging, I was just thinking and saying out loud honestly. I tried to think of them, accept them just as they are. But whenever I said something, most of the time they seemed to tag me with "Nosy, Rude, Too Quiet, aaaannd rarely, Mother(-_-)." Shoot, what should I say? It took long for me to understand their culture and say relatively comfortably. :)
 

One day, my bicycle didn't work, its chain got out of place. I needed some help for fixing it because I'd never had it fixed before. I asked the foreigner who knew about bicycles very well. He refused to help me only because he didn't wanna get his hands dirty. Now I know it's no big deal, but I was kind of hurt at that time. If it were something that I could do, I'd try to help, even if I didn't like him/her, at least for me and many around me. Anyway I didn't know fixing the chain of a bicycle was that easy. xD


One day, I was watching a Japanese soap opera. 4 or 5 Students attended an alternative school graduation ceremony. The principal of the school was looking at them proudly, and then he put his hand on their head, pressing and shaking their head a couple of times. It looked like they got punished to me, but it turned out that he was showing something like "Good job, I believe in you." In my country, putting your hand on a person's shoulder with pressing or tapping a couple of times can be like a peptalk. But, on the head, it can be offensive. I still don't know if it's a common behavior.


Oh, it got too long. xp I think I should call it a night.
Why don't you share your stories and thoughts? Thank you for reading. :-)