Learn Japanese rapidly! By now, you've seen just how exciting Japanese onomatopoeia can be. It's time for you to go one step further. If you'd like to talk about people who talk too much or too loudly, you'll find it here. And, if you want to discuss a person who is fluent in a second language, this is the article for you. In this Japanese article, we focus on the onomatopoeia perapera ("to speak glibly") and pechakucha ("to speak a language fluently"). Sure, they are almost polar opposites, one with a negative connotation and one that is positive. But, these two Japanese onomatopoeia are sure to come in handy. Find step-by-step instructions and plenty of example sentences right here.

Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

tomodachi - "friend"

himitsu - "secret"

hoka no hito - "another person"

jugyoo - "class, lesson"

chuu- "while"

hanasu - "to speak, to talk" (class 1 verb)

pechakucha hanasu - "to rattle on"

perapera hanasu - "to speak glibly"

iu - "to speak, to say" (class 1 verb)

gaigokugo - "foreign language"

Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following words and phrases:

Today's target onomatopoeic words are perapera and pechakucha.

Sample Sentences

Kayoko wa, tomodachi no himitsu o hoka no hito ni perapera hanashite shimau. Kayoko always talks glibly about her friend's secrets.
Sore ni, jugyoo-chuu wa, zutto, pechakucha hanashite iru. Mattaku komatta ko da. In addition, she's always rattling on during class. She's really annoying.

Target Phrase

perapera (to) hanasu - "to speak glibly"

pechakucha (to) hanasu - "to rattle on"

Perapera indicates the way that people talk glibly. It often implies being critical or placing blame on a person when you say "[someone] wa perapera hanasu." Also, we can use perapera to describe the way that someone speaks a foreign language fluently. In that case, we can use it in a sentence structure such as "[someone] wa [a foreign language] ga perapera da," as in "Peter-san wa Nihongo ga perapera da." Please note that in this case, perapera has a positive meaning.

Pechakucha indicates the way that people keep talking loudly on and on about trivial topics. When you say "[someone] wa pechakucha hanasu," you are expressing that you are disagreeably surprised or annoyed that he/she keeps talking so long and loudly.

Usage

We generally use both of these words as adverbs or adverbial phrases followed by the particle to in order to modify a verb such as hanasu. In the case of perapera, it can modify a verb phrase such as uso o tsuku, which means "to lie."

[perapera/ pechakucha] + [to] hanasu

When perapera means, "to speak a foreign language fluently," we use it as an adjective followed by the copula (linking verb) da, or as an adverbial phrase followed by ni naru, meaning "to become."

perapera + da
perapera + ni naru

Examples:

Kare wa, tomodachi no waruguchi o perapera to hanasu. Shinyoo dekinai hito da. "He always speaks ill of his friends glibly. I can't trust him."
Watashi wa, nihongo o perapera hanaseru yoo ni naritai. Watashi wa, nihongo ga perapera ni naritai. "I want to be able to speak Japanese fluently."
Watashi no haha wa, pechakucha to 3-jikan mo denwa de hanashiteita. "My mother has been talking on the phone for three hours."

Practice

Put perapera or pechakucha in the blanks.

Gaikokugo o __________ hanasu. "To speak a foreign language fluently."
Tomodachi to __________ hanasu. "To rattle on with friends."
Nihongo ga __________ da. "To speak Japanese fluently."

Answers:

perapera
pechakucha
perapera

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