We live in Osaka or around the Kansai area. All around us, people speak Kansai-ben (\u95a2\u897f\u5f01), the local version of Japanese. And yet, when we take Japanese classes, they insist on teaching us Hyoujungo (\u6a19\u6e96\u8a9e) the official version of Japanese based on how the bureaucrats of Tokyo speak. <\/p>\n
Earthy, spicy Kansai-ben is the language of real people living real lives here in Kansai. It\u2019s used in Japanese comedy, and is a feature of most yakuza movies, too.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Hyoujungo is sanitized and boring. That would be okay, we need to learn Hyoujungo to pass our Japanese exams or work at a big company, but if we want to understand the people around us and have a casual conversation with friends, if we want to talk like a human instead of a textbook, we need to speak Kansai-ben.<\/p>\n
How different is Kansai-ben from Hyoujungo? It\u2019s kind of like the difference between British and American English \u2014basically the same, but completely different. There are small differences in grammar, a lot of differences in word meaning, and completely different slang. Pronunciation is so different that Japanese TV shows add subtitles to understand Kansai-ben speakers.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, there\u2019s no DuoLingo for Kansai-ben, no Kansai-ben Language Proficiency Test. So to shock your teachers, amuse your classmates, and amaze Japanese speakers, here are 7 most important Kansai-ben words you need to know and use.<\/p>\n
Want to say hello? Say Maido!
\nMaido is an all-purpose greeting, similar to konnichiwa, but even better because you can use it any time of day.
\nMaido is short for \u201cMaido arigatou gozaimasu\u201d \u2014 thank you for your patronage, and includes a sense of gratitiude.<\/p>\n
In Kyoto, in particular, and in small, older shops, don\u2019t bother saying arigatou. \u201cThank you\u201d is Ookini. <\/p>\n
Want to know the price? Say: \u201cNanbo?\u201d You won\u2019t hear \u201cIkura?\u201d outside of sushi shops.<\/p>\n
Ya is the Kansai version of da or desu. \u201cKore wa pen ya.\u201d
\nDarou becomes yarou. Sou darou is Se yarou in Kansai.<\/p>\n
Honma means \u201creally\u201d. There\u2019s no hontou in Kansai.
\nIf someone asks, \u201cHonma kai na?\u201d answer with \u201cHonma ya de~!\u201d<\/p>\n
Aho is a playful way to call someone foolish or stupid, similar to baka in Tokyo.<\/p>\n
In Kansai, baka is a strong insult, so be careful who you call baka when you\u2019re walking the streets of Nanba (which the natives call Minami \u2014 South Osaka). Say aho instead if you don\u2019t want to be thrown into the Dotonbori River.<\/p>\n
Akan means bad, no, no good, hopeless, or anything you don\u2019t like. It\u2019s the Kansai equivalent of dame, and it\u2019s used just as often. Hyoujungo? Akan ya!<\/p>\n
These few words will get you started sounding like a native. Whenever you hear the inevitable, \u201cNihongo o-jouzu desu, ne,\u201d be metcha omoroi and answer with, \u201cHonma kai na~\u201d<\/p>\n
If you want to learn more Kansai-ben, pick up a copy of the metcha omoroi and honma ni yakunitatsu guidebook: Colloquial Kansai Japanese.
\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We live in Osaka or around the Kansai area. All around us, people speak Kansai-ben (\u95a2\u897f\u5f01), the local version of Japanese. And yet, when we take Japanese classes, they insist on teaching us Hyoujungo (\u6a19\u6e96\u8a9e) the official version of Japanese based on how the bureaucrats of Tokyo speak. Earthy, spicy Kansai-ben is the language of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":20144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[239],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"author_id":"","author_name":"","author_image":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20143"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20145,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20143\/revisions\/20145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maido-bob.osaka\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}