NOVA is the biggest English conversation school company in Japan.
(They have 500,000 students now!!)
http://www.nova.ne.jp/
I remember NOVA’s telephone number, because it’s very easy to remember.
0120-324929
Can you guess why the number is easy to remember?
The reason is that in Japanese we can use number as “sound”.
In this case,
3 is “mi” : we say “mittsu” for 3 when we count something
2 is “ni” : 2 is “ni” in Japanese
4 is “yo” : we say “yottsu” for 4 when we count something
9 is “ku” : September is “kugatsu”
2 is “tsu” : 2 is “two” in English, “two” sounds like “tsu”
0120 is a common number for toll-free dial.
You can read 324929 “mi ni yokutsuku”.
身によくつく(mi ni yokutsuku) means “you learn a lot”.
Most of companies are trying to find a telephone number which customers can remember easily, right?
Do you know any other telephone numbers which have meaning like NOVA?
There are some other companies’ numbers.
If you don’t understand the sound, let me know!
REVE21 (Company for wig)
0120-783640
783640 : 悩み無用 (nayami muyoo)
“You don’t have to worry.”
http://www.reve21.co.jp/campaign/
Staff service (service for finding employment)
0120-022022
022022 : オー人事 オー人事 (o- jinji o- jinji)
“Oh Human Resources! Oh Human Resources!”
http://www.022022.net/
OCN (internet service)
0120-506506
506506 : コールコール (ko-ru ko-ru)
“Call call!”
http://www.ocn.ne.jp/hikari/application.html?gnavi1
Akiko-san,
ReplyDeleteWow, it's really easy to remember the companies' tel nos. It's the same as in US. There're a lot of companies using such method so that customers can recall the nos. without difficulty should needs arise.
I have a friend who uses such method to represent her boyfriend's name. I thought it's the birthday when I first read it. :p
Talk to you again. :)
momomochi,
ReplyDeleteWhen I read your comments, I remembered something.
When I was a child, I told my friends my birthday with a method.
My birthday is 14th November, 1114, so I called "いい石"(ii ishi) for my birthday.
いい石 means "good stone".
Some of my friends still remember my birthday with the method. ;-)
Akiko-san,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting!
I have a question here. Do you know the origin of the word "ゴーフッレト"? Is it French or German?
I only know it's the famous snack of Kobe. Even the monument of the earthquake mermorial (in memory of the lives lost during the Kobe earthquake in 1995) in Kobe appears in the shape of "goufurreto".
How's the cherry blossom in Tokyo?
Talk to you again. :)
I searched about the name "ゴーフレット" and I found that the name is French.
ReplyDeleteThey say "gaufrette" in French.
But I couldn't find the meaning... (T T)
I'll check it again!
In this year, sakura will bloom much earlier.
Maybe we can go ohanami next or the following weekend. (^ ^)
Will you do something special in spring?
Akiko-san,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for your help! Now, I understand it better. :)
I don't think I'll do the hanami as I'm not used to it. I'm thinking of going to HK for a short holiday some time next month.
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ReplyDelete