Really confused on asking where you come from n responding!

[chris1989]

Since summer 2006 i have been trying to learn japanese i started off with a podcast simply called " learn japanese " from a guy in osaka and this is what i learned before i found japanese pod 101:

"Doko kara kita no ?"
Where do you come from ?

i went back to refresh my memory with beginer lessons due to college (im 17) japanese has had less prority in my life but anyways on jpod i get told its:

"Doko kara kimashita ka?"

and what is "o-shusshin wa doko desu ka?"

IM SO CONFUSED im not doing well for someone who wants to move to tokyo after college.


can someone enlighten me on this

[Tom]

You're experiencing the joy of multiple politeness levels! doko kara kita no is an informal way of asking the same thing as doko kara kimashita ka. "Learn Japanese" tends to teach the informal way of speaking, and JapanesePod101 tends to go the more formal route. A lot of fun occurs while learning when to use which forms.

For your reference kita is the less polite (plain) form of kimashita. Both are past-tense of kuru, meaning "to come". no, while not the same as ka, acts in much the same way in this context.

Interestingly, I just started listening to "Learn Japanese" after listening to a lot of JapanesePod101, and it's very refreshing to get this second view of the language.

[chris1989]

oh thanks!!! its all so clear

lol well the guy on learn japanese is pretty excentric i think but thanks for the help.
i actually emailed him once and he recomended this site then i got addicted to j pod.

as for the phrases i will have to learn when to say "doko kara kita no" cause its informal

i have to get back to learning japanese my college Music technology course which i do is very demanding cause it covers all aspects of the music industry so when i finish it i can do any job from music producer to label A &R

now for my next post in the Working & Studying in Japan section lol

THANK YOU AGAIN