to anyone who speaks japanese?

Question

okay, i heard ''hoshi'' means ''star'' in japanese. first off, is this true?

second. if japanese uses a different alphabet, how can you write a japanese word with the english alphabet, or is that just how it's pronounced?.

and third. if you can write in japanese with the english alphabet, i'd like you to write some japanes words with the english alphabet. these being
flower
cat
sea
ship
pirate
river
swan
hope
joy
luck
horse
dragon fly

and if you could, please write some other words in japanese (include the english translation, and in the english alphaber). any words, really, i'm not to picky.

thanks in advance,
mutt

Answer 1

Yes, hoshi means star.

Japanese can be written in several ways. The approximation of their pronunciation that uses the Roman alphabet is called "romaji." Generally, the Japanese would write words like "star" in a pictographic writing system called kanji.

flower: hana
cat: neko
sea: umi
pirate: kaizoku
river: kawa
ship: hansen (ship with sails)
swan: shirotori
horse: uma
dragonfly: tonbo

I'll let someone else tackle hope, joy, and luck. Other wordss:

butterfly: chocho
dog: inu
pig: buta
paper: kami
green: midori
meat: niku
beautiful: kirei
poisonous-looking due to odd coloring: dokudokushii

Answer 2

Answer to the 1st question: Yes.

Answer to the 2nd question: It's based on the pronounciation.

Answer to the 3rd question:
flower = hana
cat = neko
sea = umi
ship = fune
pirate = kaizoku
river = kawa
swan = hakuchou
hope = kibou
joy = yorokobi
luck = kouun
horse = uma
dragon fly = tonbo

Other Japanese words:
http://sp.cis.iwate-u.ac.jp/sp/lesson/j/doc/words.html

Answer 3

there is another word "hoshi" with a different kanji that means wish.

you can learn a some cool japanese words and phrases here:

http://thejapanesepage.com

Answer 4

Yes.
Yeah, didn't you just write hoshi, even though that's not how you write it in Japanese.

hana
neko
umi
fune
kaizoku
kawa
hakuchyou
nozomi
yorokobi
shiawase
uma
tombo