Japanese Hack: Canada vlog Kazuko From Japan

Let's learn Japanese with a Vlog by Kazuko

If you're familiar with youtubers who live in Japan and make videos about the differences in culture, language and so on...... you might know about the Channel TomokoTomoko. The channel is used to teach Japanese using live scenarios and this lady Kazuko appears on that channel. I never knew she had her own channel. She seems to be in Vancouver at the moment on a working holiday programme. This is one of her vlogs. 

 1) 0:18 - 0:20 

今日はスタンリーパークを散策してます。

散策する（さんさくする） means to roam around. It's usually used when you are walking in a place you're unfamiliar to. Forests, nature, city, parks..... and so on. 

Notice how she did not end with a quick ます　but with a more casual tone that sounds like まーす。

This is usually the case with conversations. Especailly when you are talking to friends or people you don't have to be professional with. 

If you have to be professional, the ます has to be quick without any elongation of the sound. 

2) 1:01 - 1:03

すっごーい最初落ち込みました、寒すぎて

落ち込む　means to feel down, to be depressed　　落ちる meas to fall and 込む has the meaning of going inside. So, it's like you fall into a hole and that can only happen when you are feeling down. 

Also notice how freestyle the sentence structure is. That's what happens in conversational Japanese. Especially when you don't necessarily take time to structure your sentence. But that's what makes it unique. 

3) 1:03 - 1:08

日本の冬と同じぐらいって聞いてたんですけど全然こっちの方が寒いです。

ーと同じぐらい　the same as ----- 

The other subject is absent but she's referring to the winter of Canada. 

全然熱い、　全然寒い　this is used quite frequently, and it's used to emphasize whatever the comes after 全然（ぜんぜん）　So here she's emphasizing the extremely cold winter in Vancouver. 

4)  1:17 - 1:21 

晴れの日は本当にめちゃめちゃ景色がきれいで。

Other variations to めちゃめちゃ is めっちゃ、めちゃくちゃ、すごい、 which emphasizes the adjective that comes after it. 

Yes, it is a slang, and it's used often. Ladies tend to use めちゃめちゃ more often than the guys. Guys use めっちゃ more frequently. 

5)  1:39 - 1:40 

なんかトトロみたい

みたい　like ..... , similar to ...... 

トトロ is the mythical creature that appears in the Ghibli movie " My neighbor Totoro ". Watching this movie when young has really become part of the Japanese culture and any Japanese young adult can really relate to this, especially when they walk through forests of thick vegetation and greenery.