How to tell J-boyfriend we’re pregnant?

My boyfriend and I are currently separated while he is away on a nature trip here in Europe without immediate email access, he only has a limited use cel phone! I am excited to give him the news, but as we have an agreement (it's a little couple's game we we play), on certain days I must only speak with japanese words from my phrasebook, with him no matter HOW difficult! I'm very happy, I cannot stop giggling, but I have to do this right!!! My boyfriend is a very funny,loving man, but on Japanese word day, he is like a tyrant schoolteacher! My competitive spirit wants me to be an ''A student'' when I say these words, but I want to also make sure they are said with great love. respect, and devotion, the same way in which he expresses himself to me in my mother tongue, English. I know he's going to be very happy, but if I mess up the ''delivery'' he's NEVER going to let me live it down, he's the absolute perfectionist! Can anyone help?! And additionally, if there is someone that can reccomend what would be a nice Japanese style meal for me to make on his return, it would be helpful. I am generally good with mastering foods from other nations,but I'm still struggling to learn Japanese cooking basics, I only know how to make soups (sigh)!

‚¨–Ú�o“x‚¤!!‚ ‚È‚½‚Í‚¨•ƒ‚³‚ñ‚É�¬‚é‚Å‚µ‚傤�BŽ„‚½‚¿‚Í�Ô‚¿‚á‚ñ‚ðŽó‚¯‚Ä‚¢‚é�B
3 yrs of studying and this is all I got. Someone should check this. :?

Not to be mean but 2rei's sentence is not even close unfortunately. Sounds like a literal translation from another language and it also doesn't help that he/she typed everything and simply clicked ok on the first kanji conversion that came up on the word processor, the use of kanji is horrid. Japanese is a tough language to learn!

Anyhow, as for your sentence in particular, why not just keep it simple? Something like:

1) ‰Æ‘°‚ª‚P�l‘�‚¦‚é‚æ
2) Wait for him to come home and just greet him with a: ƒpƒp‚¨‚©‚¦‚è�`�`�`

or the simple: �o—ˆ‚½‚æ~~!

Either way, congratulations!

Sure, I can help, but from the looks of what you wrote, your boyfriend probably wants you to give it a try yourself before asking for advise. Make a sentence and someone can correct it. At least I can't create great love, respect and devotion on behalf of you.

Can I ask why, when you are going to have a baby, it really matters in what language you tell him or how correct your Japanese is? I would think that you have more pressing things to be concerned about, like his reaction to the actual news. I doubt very much that he will even think for a second about the quality of your Japanese when passing on such a message.

I actually find it hard to believe that you are serious about this.

don't listen to the novice then. Apparently "to become" has more than one kanji(some i wasn't even aware of). Besides, in defense of my own skill/lack there of, I think I communicated the message fine. "Our family increases by a member" seems so vague. Its all about the basics imo. I also know for a fact if it was direct translation, that the sentence order would be all jacked up. :/
But i digress. Good luck miss.:]

2rei,
Unfortunately the sentences you had were too literal; I mean, we just don't say it that way. (And also it was a very detached phrasing as well...)
Saying "We're going to have a new family member!"or "Welcome back home, papa!" as suggested by Jackson and letting the guy think "huh?" until the fact dawns on him is, on the other hand, a way to get the message across that I know is actually used :)

But really, Bella24, even if I take it as a couple's silly game, does it really have to be?? :)

Hopefully, Bella is just looking for a cute and memorable way of passing on news that will not come as a shock to her boyfriend, but after several years of reading posts on this site, I can understand Sira's concern.

Bella, I agree with Uco, you should give it a try yourself to begin with.

Things like this require a certain 'finesse' about them. I'm not one to beat around the bush(just how I was raised). Me, being a blunt person overall, whether in English/Japanese effects how I write and the interpretations in any language. Thanks for pointing that out AK, I'll work on refining my crude grammar.

The problem for me is that he is teaching me Japanese by ear, and I'm using an audio course to learn words as well...Even for normal vocabulary words ( like in the newspaper or sales ads for example) I'm learning by ear, and by romaji. So while I could find maybe an online translator, I clearly cannot read the characters (and now do I ever feel silly for not taking Japanese when I had the chance years ago in school).

I know might be difficult for some to understand, but it really is important for me to say this to him in his mother tongue.

Additionally, I would like to add that the last thing I'm looking for here is an armchair analysis of my relationship. You would have to know us intimately and understand our sense of humor to attempt that. What I will share though, is that my man and I are mature, international adults with wide open but mutually agreed views on values, life, love, spirituality, ect. I got blessed with a really cool guy. But in all sincerity,for everything he does for me, assimilating himself into western culture, I cannot express how important is is for me to do even the smallest of things for him relating to his culture to demonstrate my devotion....whether it's preparing his favorite version of tonjiru or just learning new vocabulary words. I know it appears to be a small thing to want to do this,but for me it's quite monumental.

As for his reaction, he's very pro-''let's have a baby NOW''...we're just a tad too early... the ring has been on my finger for a llittle bit now, we were planning our wedding for our family and friends here in Europe. Something small, sweet, and very artistic. Because of the way we are, I just need to find a soft, loving way ( with a sweet touch of humour!)...and I know that to say this in Japanese is going to mean ALOT to him. This is a man who is not afraid to tell me ''aishiteru'' on a daily basis. In spite of all of our joking, it is very important for me to make this gesture, however light...

Sigh... so for whatever repsonses come, thank you all, wish me luck, and hope that whatever I learn here I will be able to pronounce it 100% correctly! (smile!!).

Okay, now that I've read through all the responses, it sounds nutty, but I'm getting a guilt complex because I feel like I'm cheating by asking for translation help. but at the same time....I KNOW my boyfriend would do the same thing if he were in my place because he's a sneaky little devil, haha.

Seriously though, as another poster pointed out, I just want the moment to be sweet and memorable. Ordinarily, when we have important life topics to discuss, we communicate in English,I get really,really sweet and say something stupid like "oh honey,by the way,you know there was something, you know, this tiny thing i wanted to discuss really quick..." (because let's face it, men really aren't all that interested in long, energy draining discussions on life issues no matter how much they love you...so..)

...he knows this means there is about to be a big announcement, but he just stays concentrated on his laptop or football game (with a TOTAL poker face) and says,

"okay, what did you do, Honey...or what is it that you want to tell ME to get up and do now...?"

then I'm stuck smiling and being sweet with " I didn't do anything, oh what makes you say thaaaat...?"

and then he gets this little smirk on his face,and starts saying someting to me in "Jap-English" , and tells me that I'm being too "kawaii" for him to think the conversation is not going to have a bomb dropped somwhere inside. I'm telling you,the man is not stupid! He KNOWS when I'm about to make a big confession and takes great pride in telling me before I tell him... which I find hilarious! I just want to make this revelation moment for us funny and cute and warming to his heart, sigh...

So are you gonna try it out in romaji or not? Also, if you're seriously trying to learn Japanense, don't use the term "Jap-." You can call it "Janglish" instead.

Please make no mistake, we don't say JAP-English, it's more like JaPENGlish if that makes any sense. ..and completely unrelated, could another combo to describe the language mix of Japanese-English be called "Jenglish""? We're always making up little phrases for ourselves, as if we speak our own language,just for fun.

We're pretty much surrounded by other inter-cultural couples from many countries and this is like a fun, ice-breaking activity we all use to introduce vocabulary into each others' lives without the benefit of structured schooling. We additionlly dabble in "De-englanse" (Japanese-German-English-hybrid) as well as "Japalian" (Italian-Japanese). Because in our daily lives we're immersed in so many languages in Europe, I have had to sort of draw the line in our house and make it an English-Japanese only zone otherwise our heads would explode...but it's true that we do often come up with weird combinations for expression just between our two languages alone. Typical conversations sound something like "I need to run to the suri-ya" and then a reply would be something like "oh, we're out of tomago can you bring some back" , and then the person repllies "hai", the other says "cool, thanks, mata ne" , and well, there's a very bizarre, but fluid hybrid of vocabulary words we share.

The only problem is,on "Japanese day" as per my solemn promise, we do not speak ONE word of English, no matter how difficult it is for me. I begin the day with an audio lesson and we build from there. I actually enjoy the challenge of it, and I have to pay very close attention to him and rely heavily on instinct to get me through those 16 hours. It can be diasterousy funny sometimes, for example him teaching me how to cook rice without using the rice cooker or how to prepare vegetables with special knives... all in Japanese, haha! But what I do know is for every small word that I master, and actively put to use in our lives, it brings a lovely moment of peace, pride, and satisfaction for him.

...okay, so maybe it is cheating just a little bit, but yes, I sure would take any advice on a romaji translation for my announcement. The fact of the matter is, even when you've been in a relationship for a long time, there really are still are those moments when you want to give an extra special touch for your partner, and do something extra to help give them one of the biggest smiles of their life... anyway, thanks again to all for the help...!

Yes, I can see you guys are having fun, but now there is a baby on the way and all the language mixing is not going to help the child become bilingual or trilingual or even monolingual if it continues this way. Take a structured Japanese course or get a textbook or even a use a program like Rosetta, but stop hybridizing languages.

As for your immediate problem, give it a try and I'm pretty sure either Uco or AK would be more than happy to help you out after that.

bella24, i dont think you understand what some of us are trying to say. we want you figure out how to best tell your boyfriend you're pregnant in Japanese (type it in romaji), using your own Japanese words, and then the Japanese-speakers on this board will tell you where your grammatical errors are. that way you can tell your boyfriend more personally using your own words, and not the words of a random stranger =] lol hope you understand now.

Tilt, what do you mean by "hybridising languages"? I know a lot of half Japanese people, now adults, who grew up in households where a mix of Japanese and English were spoken, often with both languages in the same sentence. They are now fully bilingual. What is it that you imagine might happen in a household where people "hybridised languages"?

As for what to call a hybrid of Japanese and English, I thought the usual term was "Japanglish"

Just give your best shot and tell him in your own words. Making a mistake is a natural process of learning something new. I am sure even if your Japanese wasn't perfect, it will add a lovely memory when you will look back. Congratulations!

If you really do not want people to talk about your relationship and stuff, please hold the urge to volunteer posting your personal life on WWW where anybody can see it.

Hi Sira, I think you misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with speaking both languages in your household and mixing languages freely is a mark of fluency, but it is better to do your best to maintain a certain degree of distinction between the languages as one language may become a crutch for another. There are people who are competent in listening and comprehenshion and yet are not verbally fluent, among other combinations. If you are speaking a melange in your household all the time, your children may well grow up fluent in that melange and not actually fluent in the individual languages. Of course the influence of the language spoken in school will develop a proficiency in that languge but the other languages may never develop properly. If you want to discuss this more, we ought to start a different thread. I am open to that, if you are interseted.

As far as bilingual children, in the future it would be best (when they are young and acquiring language) if you spoke only English to them. And let your your husband speak only Japanese to them.

That way, the realms of language are separated. No Using japenglish in the same sentence. If you did, then they won't know what's only English, What's only Japanese.

I've done a little research on child language acquisition, and most say that, that is the best way for making children fluent in both languages... (each parent speaking only their language to the children. That forces them to learn different tools of communication with mom, and communication with dad.

It's Japlish!! It's even in the dictionary!!

http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/Japlish.html
(And in other dictionaries too! :)