Japanese alphabet

Vocabulary:
shima: island
michi: road, street

Before we go any further, we need to define what Japanese words are made of. Just like English, Japanese words are built from a defined alphabet of characters. Because we have not yet delved into Japanese characters, I am going to show the Japanese alphabet in Romanji form. Romanji is a representation of the Japanese characters written out phonetically, and is how we have been writing our Japanese words so far. We will add the actual Japanese characters in a future lesson. Here is the table of the Japanese Alphabet in Romanji form:

Remember that Japanese is most often read from top to bottom and then from right to left. So, when studying the table, start with 'a' then move on to 'i','u','e','o', and then move up and to the left to 'ka','ki','ku' and so forth. Just remember to follow the arrows and you should have no problem.

To add some life to the alphabet let's break up today's vocabulary words to show the individual character blocks. Se if you can find these blocks in the alphabet table above.

shima = shi-ma
michi = mi-chi

now let's do a longer word:

Hiroshima = Hi-ro-shi-ma

A great way to remember the alphabet is to repeat it over and over again. Because it rhymes, it does not take long to learn. Just repeat "a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko" and so forth. Remember the pronunciation guide in a previous lesson to make sure you are pronouncing these characters correctly.

In a future lesson, we will add simple extensions to the Japanese alphabet to give us more power with vocabulary.

Greating people for the first time conversation

New Vocab:
Hajimemashite = "Pleased to meet you" or "How are you?"
Yoroshiku onegai shimasu = "Please accept my regards" or "Please accept me."

Before we talk about the above vocabulary lets look at their context in a conversation. This conversation is kind of watered down but it works and also uses some of the grammar that we have learned in earlier lessons.

Mr. Tanaka: Konnichiwa.

Mr Yamata: Konnichiwa. Watashi wa Yamata desu.

Mr Tanaka: Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Tanaka desu.

Mr Yamata: Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Mr Tanaka: Yoroshiku onegai shimasu.

Now the translation:

Mr. Tanaka: Hello. (Good afternoon.)
Mr Yamata: Hello. I'm Yamata.
Mr Tanaka: Pleased to meet you. I'm Tanaka.
Mr Yamata: Please accept my regards.
Mr Tanaka: Please accept my regards.

I think that most of the above conversation was easy to understand as long as you have completed the past lessons.

I want to delve deeper into a few of the phrases used in the conversation because they do not really translate directly into English, we just have English counterparts for them.

"Hajimemashite" literally mean "The beginning" or "the first time". It comes from the verb "hajimeru" which mean "to begin" (We will start verbs in a few lessons). When you are using this phrase you are acknowledging that it is the first time you are meeting. Thus it loosely translates as "Pleased to meet you."

Yoroshiku onegai shimasu means that you are requesting that the person you are talking to will accept you from here on out. Thus it translates to "Please accept my regards".

You will find that some words or phrases in the Japanese language do not directly translate to English. This is partly because Japanese is not a Latin based language as are most languages we are familiar with. Another reason is the Japanese history and culture are very different from what we are used to in the US and Europe.

So, review the above conversation many times. Invite someone to practice with you and remember to insert your own names.

Have fun!

"No", the Possessive Particle. It's mine all mine I tell you!!

New Vocab:
Kuruma = car
Otousan = father
Kare = he/him

Here is another easy lesson. Today we will introduce a new particle into our sentences. Remember, a particle tells us what a word is doing in a sentence. It tells us the importance of a word. Recall that the particle "wa" marked the topic of the sentence. The new particle today is "no" which marks ownership or possession. This should be easy to remember since your first word was probably "no!" as a toddler and you were probably very selfish or possessive of your toys. Okay, silly example but maybe it will help you remember its meaning. The Particle "no" is similar to the English "apostrophe s ('s). "

Like the particle "wa", "no" follows directly after the noun it is modifying.

Lets look at some examples.

Examples:

Watashi no kuruma desu. = My car.

Kare wa tomodachi no Otousan desu. = He is my friend's father.

In the above example "my" is implied in "my friend". I could have said "Kare wa Watashi no tomodachi no Otousan desu." but it seems strange since it is implied that I am talking about my friend. Having two "no" particles in this sentence seems wordy.

More examples:

Sore wa Watashi no ki dewa arimasen. = That is not my tree. (Remember the desu box from an earlier lesson!)

Tomodachi no inu wa doko desu ka? = Where is my friend's dog?

See, pretty easy! Remember to practice with other nouns.

“Ka”. Turning a sentence into a question.

New Vocab:
Doko = where
Dare = who
Nan = what

This lesson is relatively easier than the other lessons. In order to make a sentence a question, just add “ka” to the end (as long as it makes sense). Let’s look at some of the sentences we had before and see if this works.

"Tomodachi wa Nihonjin desu." = "My friend is Japanese." This can also mean “Your friend is Japanese” depending on the context.
Now adding “ka” at the end it becomes:
"Tomodachi wa Nihonjin desu ka?" = "Is my/your friend Japanese?"

Another:
"Kore wa hon desu." = "This is a book."
Now adding “Ka” at the end it becomes:
"Kore wa hon desu ka?" = "Is this a book?"

Pretty easy, huh?

Now lets use some of the new vocab we learned above:
“Doko desu ka?” = “Where is it?”
Lets expand:
“Inu wa doko desu ka?” = “Where is the dog?”

“Dare desu ka?” = “Who is it?”
Lets expand:
“Tomodachi wa dare desu ka?” = “Who is your friend?” or “As for your friend, who is he/she?”

Another:
“Kore wa Nan desu ka?” = “What is this?” or “As for this, what is it?”

That is all for today. If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments. I would be happy to answer them.

Don’t forget to practice with objects around the room. Have fun!

...wa...desu.

New Vocab:

• tomodachi = friend
  
• kore = this
  
• sore = that
  
• Nihonjin = Japanese person
  
  Today's lesson marks the first lesson of many to come on Japanese particles. Particles are important to the Japanese language since they define what words are doing in a sentence. The first particle I am introducing is "wa". "Wa" marks the topic by following it in the sentence. "Wa" is used in one of the most common, simple Japanese sentence structures. This sentence structure is "(topic) wa ... desu" (the '...' can be anything else in the sentence).
  
  Example:
  
  "Watashi wa Jones desu." = "I am Jones."
  
  Remember from a previous lesson that "desu" means is/am/are
  
  If you are struggling with what is meant by a topic marker, just think of "wa" translated as "as for (topic)". Therefore, the above sentence could be translated as "As for me, I am Jones."
  Let’s look at a few more examples.
  
  "Tomodachi wa Nihonjin desu." = "My friend is Japanese." or "As for my friend, he is Japanese."
  
  "Kore wa hon desu." = "This is a book." or "As for this, it is a book."
  
  "Sore wa inu desu." = "That is a dog." or "As for that , it is a dog."
  
  Remember the desu box from a previous lesson. We can insert the different tenses for desu.
  
  "Tomodachi wa Nihonjin dewa arimasen." = "My friend is not Japanese." or "As for my friend he is not Japanese."
  
  Practice looking around the room and use this sentence structure out loud. Remember if you do not know the Japanese word for an object then just use the English word in its place. Also, use the desu box too for review.
  
  Example:
  
  "Sore wa homework deshita" = "That was my homework."
  
  Have fun! See you at the next lesson.
  

The Desu Box

New Vocab :
Hon = book
Hai = yes
Iie = no

The Desu Box

In the last Japanese Language lesson we learned how to say something exists by using the word “desu”. In this lesson we are going to expand “desu” to be used in different tenses. For example, what if a book did exist or does not exist or did not exist? We can learn how to say those phrases by using the desu box shown below.




This box is easy to use. Just look at the far left column to determine if the object you are talking about is in the present or happened in the past. Then look at the top row to choose whether it does exist (positive) or does not exist (negative). Look down from the top row and to the right of the left column so the form of desu matches your tense and then add it to the end of a noun.

Noun desu. = Is noun.
Noun deshita. = Was noun.
Noun dewa arimasen. = Is not noun.
Noun dewa arimasen deshita. = Was not noun.

One pronunciation point to remember is that the ‘i’ is silent in the word deshita so it sounds like deshta.

Examples:
Hon desu = It is a book.
Hon deshita = It was a book.
Hon dewa arimasen = It is not a book.
Hon dewa arimasen deshita = It was not a book.

Using new vocabulary words learned above, if someone asks if it was you that did something, or is going to do something:

Hai, Watashi desu. = Yes, it is me.
Hai, Watashi deshita = Yes, it was me.
Iie, Watashi dewa arimasen = No, it is not me.
Iie, Watashi dewa arimasen deshita = No, it was not me.

Try the desu box out with other vocabulary words we introduced in the past lesson. Also, practice with objects around the room or when you are going someplace. If you do not know the Japanese word, just use the English word followed by the corresponding form of desu from the desu box. Do this out loud so you are actually speaking Japanese, not just thinking it. Have fun!

desu (is/am/are)

For now on, before I introduce new grammar I will first teach you new vocabulary. Grammar doesn't do you any good without vocabulary.

New Vocab:

inu = dog

ki = tree

watashi = Me/I

Remember the pronunciation guide in an earlier post!!

Pretend you are at a restaurant and the waiter brings the food and asks "Who ordered the sushi?" If you were the one who ordered the sushi you would want to answer with "It is me" or something to that effect. In Japanese you would reply by saying "Watashi desu."This small phrase introduces a very important word of the Japanese language. Desu translates as "is, am, are." It shows existence so could also mean "to be." One important thing to remember is that the "u" at the end of the sentence is normally silent so it sounds like "dess". Women will often pronounce the "u" however. Lets go through some examples with the new vocabulary introduced above.

"Inu desu." = "(It is) A dog."

"Ki desu." = "(It is) A tree."

"Watashi desu" = "(It is) Me."

Now look around the room for objects and say them with the word "desu" following it.

"Clock desu."

"Chair desu"

etc...

Don't worry about knowing all the objects names in Japanese. Just say what you know for now substituting the English words for the words you do not know in Japanese. This will give you a lot of practice! Try it on a walk too!

Hello!!

Now lets learn how to greet someone in Japanese. The only word or phrase we are going to work on is “hello.” The fun thing about Japanese is that there are three ways to say “hello” depending on what time of day you say it. We also do this in English:

Good morning
Good afternoon
Good evening

All three of these phrases ultimately mean “hello” but are used during different times of the day.
Here are the Japanese equivalents:

"Ohayou gozaimasu" Good morning
“Konnichiwa” Good afternoon
“Konbanwa” Good evening

Note: “Ohayou” is pronounce like the state Ohio.

Japanese Vowels

All languages have rules and Japanese is no exception. The first rule presented in this lesson explains how to pronounce the vowels in Japanese. Of course the Japanese language has the same vowels as English, namely: a, i, u, e, and o. The difficult thing to master when learning English is the different way to pronounce the vowels. For example, the vowel “a” can be used in the words “father”, ”ate”, and ”bat”. Each of these words pronounces the letter “a” differently. Go ahead and say them out loud a few times to hear the difference. The great thing about the Japanese language is that there is only one way to pronounce each vowel. Here is a list of the vowels with an English word that shows an example how to pronounce each vowel.

a pronounced “ah” as in “father”
i pronounced “ee” as in “feet”
u pronounced “oo” as in “boot”
e pronounced “eh” as in “met”
o pronounced “oh” as in “no”

Practice these vowels by saying out loud “a i u e o” over and over again so you can remember their pronunciations. People may look at you funny but you know you are cool so it doesn’t matter what they think, right? See you at the next lesson!