Families furnish breakfast and dinner, and students typically have private rooms. In special circumstances, alternative living arrangements are allowed. Arrangements must be proposed during orientation and approved by the Resident Director and Program Coordinator in Japan.

The traditional family unit in Japan consists of a mother, father, and their children. This type of family group is called Kazoku. Traditionally, three-generation households were the norm with adult children living with their parents and their own husband and kids.

Family is very important to the Japanese as they are not individualistic and so the family acts as an entity for whom the needs are more important than the needs of the individual members.

An extended family consisted at least of grandparents, parents and children in addition to ancestors. A main or stem family might have affiliated to it branch families. In addition to real familial relationships, families often adopted as “branch families” people who were not related by blood.

Traditionally, the Japanese families have lived in the joint family or extended family system. This means that members of the immediate family (mother, father and children) lived under one roof with members of the extended family, like grandparents and even distant relatives. The family is called kazoku in Japanese.

As a question, そう sou can be used by itself with a rising tone, or followed by か ka or ですか desu ka. It means “that is right,” or “that is so,” and is used as an affirmative answer to a question.

Paternal grandparents may live with their family as they grow older, but Japan’s small living spaces usually limit multigenerational household situations. Within the family, the structure is generally patriarchal. The husband/father is expected to be the breadwinner and receive the utmost respect from his family.

The eldest male is the head of the family who is responsible for the finances, the main decision making and other tasks as far as supporting the family is concerned. Only until this male gets beyond his/her retirement years does the headship of the family go to his sun.

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家族 kazoku

oniisan: meaning “older brother” oniichan: meaning “older brother” more closer.

Aniki (兄貴), a Japanese honorable term for an older brother or a superior.

Talking about siblings in Japanese and Chinese

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If you’re referring to the common “onii-san” it just means “elder brother”, to which you use it on your older male sibling, or a friendly casual way of addressing a young man.

shujin My husband (old fashioned.) oba My aunt. oji My uncle. shoukei My older male cousin.

お兄さん (Onii-San) – Big Brother While お兄さん (onii-san) has the same kanji as ani, its reading is different. Onii-san means big brother in Japanese. It’s more often used to speak to one’s big brother, although it’s acceptable to say onii-san when referring to someone else’s brother in casual or formal conversation.

お姉さん (Oneesan) – Big Sister, Older Sister, Young Lady. お姉さん (oneesan) can be used to refer to someone else’s sister or when talking to your own sister.

Big Sister – A common pet name used to refer to an elder sister. Dear/Dearest – An adorable pet name for a sister you cannot do without. Hermanita –’Hermana’ means ‘sister’ in Spanish. Honey/Hon’/Honey Bun/Honey Bunny – A cute name for a sweet and adorable sister.

2 syllables: “SIST” + “uh”…Here are 4 tips that should help you perfect your pronunciation of ‘sister’:

1. Break ‘sister’ down into sounds: [SIST] + [UH] – say it out loud and exaggerate the sounds until you can consistently produce them.
2. Record yourself saying ‘sister’ in full sentences, then watch yourself and listen.

Estar is used to describe someone’s mood, and implies that this state might be temporary. For example, in “Está feliz” (He/she is happy), the person is happy now but won’t always be happy.

To describe how you feel or where you are, you use the present indicative forms of estar – estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están.

Actually, you can use either ser or estar but they will be used in different contexts: El perro es viejo, you’re simply describing one of your dog’s intrinsic charactersitic. Being old is part of what the dog is (at the moment at least).