Today's lesson: Common Verbs

Mina-san, Konbanwa.

Jeremi desu.

Today's Kana of the day:

Hiragana

Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko

か き く け こ

Katakana

Ka Ki Ku Ke Ko

カ キ ク ケ コ

Once again, please memorise these by writing them down numerous times,

and then revise them for a few days after!

Today's lesson: Common verbs

Hello, everyone! I would like to apologise for my lack of activity, and not posting a Japanese lesson for like a week now- It's due to the fact that my homeline had a fault and wasn't able to access the internet, nor my phone.

I hope that everyone took advantage of this absence of new lessons, by revising previous ones.

Today's lesson we will be covering a few basic verbs, and then putting them into context.

We will be learning essential verbs such as : To swim, To jump, to run, etc.

Although, I have previously covered verbs, I didn't do it so user-friendly,

and so will stick to this key factor this time.

Vocabulary: Verbs

To run- Hashiru (Hashirimasu) (Notice that in its present tense form, Hashirimasu, the U is removed, and is replaced with an i. )

Hashiru (Hashirimasu)- To run

To eat- Taberu (Tabemasu)

Taberu- Tabemasu

To walk- Aruku (Arukimasu) (Notice again that the U is replaced with an i. This is a rule you must remember when using it in the "masu", or "mashita" (pre-tense) form)

Aruku (Arukimasu)- To walk

To jump- Tobiagaru (tobiagarimasu )

Tobiagaru (Tobiagarimasu)- To jump

To pray- Inoru (Inorimasu)

Inoru ( Inorimasu)- To pray

To think- Omou (Omoimasu)

Omou (Omoimasu)- To think.

To play- Asobu (Asobimasu) (Can only be used in a activity context, not playing an instrument, etc)

Asobu ( Asobimasu) - To play.

To play (a string instrument) - Hiku (Hikimasu)

Hiku ( Hikimasu) - To play a stringed instrument.

To play ( A blow instrument)- Fuku (Fukimasu)

Fuku (Fukimasu)- To play a wind instrument

To play ( A drum instrument)- Tataku (Tatakimasu)

Tataku (Tatakimasu)- To play a drum instrument.

To cry- Naku (Nakimasu)

Naku (nakimasu)- To cry

To smile- Hohoemu (Hohoemimasu)

Hohoemu (Hohoemimasu)- To smile.

The verbs in sentence:

Why are you crying? - Naze nakimasu ka?

(Naze- why, nakimasu- to cry, ka- ? )

Are you playing the shamisen?- Shamisen ga hikimasu ka?

(Shamisen- Japanese guitar, ga-connects to verb, hikimasu- to play a string instrument).

Where are we eating?- Watashi tachi ga doko ga tabemasu ka?

(Watashi tachi- we, ga- connected to where , doko- where, ga- connects where to eating)

When are you walking?- Itsu ga arukimasu ka?

(Itsu- when, ga- connects when to the verb to walking, arukimasu- to walk)

(Note: This doesn't refer to a stroll, but the ability to walk.)

I want to smile- Hohoemitai.

Hohoemi( smile), tai (to want)

Are you running?- Hashirimasu ka?

What are you doing now? I am playing a flute. Why are you playing a flute? Because it's fun.-

Ima nani o shiteimasu ka?. Furuuto ga fukimasu. Naze furuuto ga fuki masu ka? Tanoshii kara.

(Ima- now, nani-what, o- particle connecting, shiteimasu- doing, ka-?. Furuuto- flute, ga-connecting particle, fukimasu- to play. Naze- Why. Tanoshii-fun, kara-because).

I hope you enjoyed this lesson!

Thanks :)

A note to my students, Hiragana and katakana

Konnichiwa, Mina-san.

Jeremi desu.

An important note to my students

I trust that everyone is refreshed and has gotten accustomed to the previous lessons!

I'd just like to stress the importance of reviewing previous lessons, it's an essential to retain anything that you learn in life, really, especially a language. The same is true for Japanese!

Here at 2011 Japan, we stress that preparation is necessary in order to move up the language ladder. We are doing exactly that, making sure that everyone is accustomed to the beginner's vocabulary. We are also aware of the professional industry standard for Japanese learning: So, we mould our lessons in order to accommodate to this standard! I would also like to recommend that you learn a few hiragana symbols and katakana symbols a day,

start off with the basic vowels "a i u e o" and then go on to "ka ki ku ke ko", etc! In order to fully qualify as having passed beginner's level (officially), you must memorize your hiragana and katakana. Do not try and bite too much off when learning these phonetics, slow it down and enjoy it. 2011 Japan will make this process easier by integrating Romaji (English characters) and Kana (Hiragana and katakana) side by side, making it more of an instinctual memorisation :) .

HIRAGANA

KATAKANA

I will soon be posting another lesson, the topic : Space!

Ganbatte kudasai,

Jeremi.

Space, The final frontier.

Konnichiwa, Mina-san.

(In order to help my students memorise their kana, we'll have kana of the day! This will be the kana which I list usually of here, and the challenge is to memorise and review these kana characters. )

Today's kana of the day: Hiragana

あ- A い- I う- U え- E お-O

Today's kana of the day: Katakana

ア- A イ- I ウ- U エ- E オ- O

(Please try and embed them into your memory, by writing them multiple times and then pronouncing their phonetic / sound. I'll test you at the end of the lesson to see if you remembered them!)

Today's lesson: Space, the final frontier.

Today's lesson is of a beginner's level, and is adequate for all. It will involve verbs (e.g to fly, to rotate, to remain still, to be silent, etc) , nouns associated with space (Spaceship, meteor, stars, etc) , adjectives (Beautiful, amazing, wonderful, etc) and planets (Earth, Mars, Pluto, etc).

The beauty of space is truly awe-inspiring. The immense contrasts between the dark, blank vacuum of space and its bright and vibrant counterparts. The illuminance and pigmentation of stars, the hypnotising colours of nebulae and astronomical anomalies. Space's aesthetics is pleasing to all humans.

. . . . . . . And, on that note, let's start off with some adjectives!

Part 1: Adjectives.

Describing the beauty of space is challenging as it is, and we may as well learn some general adjectives which can be applied anywhere,too! (We'll then later on use these in sentences, in part 2. Why? Sometimes a little added pressure to remember can be useful ;) ).

Wonderful- "Fushigi na", an expression used to show your happiness towards something, just like English's Wonderful. Fushigina, Foo- shee- gee- nah. Recite it, memorise it, and enjoy it.

FUSHIGI NA!- Wonderful!

Mysterious- Shinpitekina, a word used to describe something as non understandable, or non predictable.

Shinpiteki na!- Soooo mysterious.

Pretty- Kirei is the general word which means beautiful, appealing to the eye (weaker than beautiful).

Kirei- Pretty.

Utskushii- Beautiful, a stronger version of kirei.

Utskushii- Beautiful.

Inspiring - Although it's not a direct translation (it's more like emotion enducing, but a bit stronger? Comparatives are always difficult to teach). Kangekitekina.

Kangekitekina!- So inspiring!

Part 2: Planets & a few nouns.

Let' start off with the planets.. and specifically with the most relevant ;) This is only a beginner's lesson after all, the stress is on describing and understanding, not knowing niche language :).

Planet- The general word for a celestial body that is or was orbiting a star or stellar remnant and is massive, or a planet :P is waku-sei.

Earth- Chikyuu is the Japanese word for Earth. (Note: Chikyuu on refers to the planet Earth, "do" refers to soil, and "shizen" refers to nature).

Chikyuu- Earth.

Moon- The Japanese word for moon is "Tsuki" (Most anime lovers would know this!).

Tsuki- Hime.

Sun- The Japanese word for sun, is Taiyou.

Taiyou- Sun

Space- And of course we shall learn the general word for space, which is Chuu.

Chuu- Space

Star- Hoshi, refers to any form of star (dramatised (children's drawing type) , space stars, etc Sometimes can refer to celebrities, too!)

Hoshi- Star

Spacecraft- Uchuusen (See the "chuu", from space?) is the Japanese word for a space craft. (Refer to most large water ships as "Fune", and "hikooki" to airplanes).

Uchuusen- Spacecraft

Alien- The Japanese word for Alien is Uchuujin (literally, "space person")

Uchuujin- One who lives in space / Alien.

Astronaunt- Uchuuhikoushi, literally space professional is the Japanese word for Astronaunt.

Uchuuhikoushi- Astronaunt

Satelite- Simply "ei-sei".

Ei Sei- Satelite

Part 3: Phrases!

We will now apply the vocabulary that we just learned into phrases!

Uchuu wa totemo kangekiteki na!- Space is very awe-inspiring.

うちゅう は かんげきてきな

(Uchuu- space, totemo-very, kangekiteki na- inspiring)

Kono Uchuusen wa shinpitekina- This space ship is mysterious.

この うちゅうせん は しんぴてきな

(Kono- this (possesive), Uchuusen- spaceship, shinpitekina-mysterious)

Kono ei-sei ga jinkouchinou ga arimasu ka?- Does this satelite have artificial intelligence?

この えい-せい が じんこうちのう が あります か?

(Kono- this, ei-sei- satellite, jinkouchinou-artificial intelligence, arimasu- to be/have)

(Thanks to Mai Sasaki (on face book) for confirming the above sentence was correct, I was a bit un sure :)

Ano waku-sei wa fushigina!- That (far away) planet is strange (beautifully unique).

あの わく-せい は ふしぎな!

Uchuujin wa midori desu ka?- Are aliens green?

うちゅうじん は みどり です か?

Today's lesson: Clothing

Konnichiwa, Minasan.

Jeremi desu.

Today's lesson: Clothing (Beginner's lesson)

Mina-san, o-genki desu ka? How are you, everyone? Nihongo no benkyo wa dou desu ka? How is Japanese studying? (Nihongo no benkyo- Japanese study, dou- how is).For today's Japanese lesson, we will be learning clothing related vocabulary. That means we will be learning the names associated with common clothings , and how to use those clothings in a sentence. In Japanese, there are specific wearing verbs, for example the verb "to wear" when referring to a dress is completely different compared to wearing a shirt, or glasses etc. It can get annoying, but just commit it to memory and you'll be fine. Okay, let's begin!

Initial phase of the lesson, the vocabulary:

Dress- Wanpisu

Wanpisu- Dress

Shirt- Shatsu

Shatsu- Shirt

Pants- Zubon

Zubon- Pants

Shoes- Kutsu

Kutsu- Shoes

Socks- Kutsushita (Think of "Kutsu" for shoes, and add "shita", in order to get socks! Easy, right?)

Kutsushita- Socks

Shorts- Hanzubon (Literally, "Half pants". Han is a prefix which means half. Easy to remember :) )

Hanzubon- Shorts

Skirt- Gairago word, sukaato.

Sukaato- Skirt.

Scarf- Mafura

Mafura- Scarf

Underwear- Pantsu ( Think of pants!)

Pantsu- Underwear

Jeans- Jiinzu (Yet another gairaigo word :) )

Jiinzu- Jeans

Hat- Boushi (Refers to hats in general)

Boushi- Hat

Sunglasses- Sungarasu

Sungarasu- Sunglasses

Kiteimasu = to wear (shirts, jackets, dresses)
Haiteimasu = to wear (pants, socks)
Shiteimasu = to wear (watch, bracelet)
Kaketeimasu = to wear (glasses)

Kaburimasu= To wear (hat)

Second phase: Using clothing in sentences, in contexts of wearing and describing.

Now on to the second half of the lesson, the application of the learned words into phrases.

We will use phrases which describe clothing, and also the actual wearing of clothing.

So, without further a due!

Zenbu wo Haiteimasu- I'm wearing pants.

(Zenbu- pants, haiteimasu- to wear)

Naze Sangarasu wo kaketeimasu? attatakai kara- Why are you wearing sunglasses? Because it's fine.

(Naze- why, sangarasu- sunglasses, kaketeimasu- to wear, attatakai- fine, kara-because.)

Wanpisu wo kiteimasu- I'm wearing a dress.

(Wanpisu- Dress, kiteimasu- to wear)

Sukaato wo haiteimasu- I'm wearing a skirt.

(Sukaato- skirt, haiteimasu- to wear)

Midori kutsu wo haiteimasu- I'm wearing green shoes.

(Midori- green, kutsu- shoes, haiteimasu- to wear)

Naze fuyu de sukaato wo haiteimasu ka? . ..Kawaii kara. - Why are you wearing a skirt in winter... Because it's cute.

(Naze- why, sukaato- skirt, haiteimasu- to wear, fuyu- winter, de- in, kawaii-cute, kara-because.)

Nani wo haiteimasu ka?- What are you wearing (below waist)?

(nani wo- What, haiteimasu-to wear)

Nani wo kiteimasu ka? - What are you wearing (above waist)?

Anata no sukaato wa chou kawaii!- Your skirts cute!

(Anata no- Your, Sukaato- skirt, chou - very, kawaii-cute)

That concludes this lesson!

Hope you enjoyed it :)

Jeremi

At the market!

Konbanwa Mina-san,

Jeremi desu!

You walk into the local konbini and are greeted with a flood of "irrashaimase!" as you are entering. You feel a bit anxious, not fully comprehending their welcome. You gaze at the international phone card laying inanimately on the desk. It's blatantly apparent that its genka is not written anywhere. You need this card. You need to ask for assistance. The essential phrase "Ikura wa nan desu ka?", or its more colloquial form "ikura?", has vanished from your mind, leaving you blank. One of the polite sales assistants, seeing your obvious distress, "Nani o-o sagashi desu ka?" she enquires. You begin to feel lightheaded, and regret your lack of commitment to Japanese study.

I'm sorry guys, I couldn't resist. That scenario was quite extreme (in reality they would of possibly known more English) , but the anecdote did high light the importance of understanding shopping vocabulary. So, what are we learning today then, I wonder?? ;)

Today's lesson: At the market! (A useful beginner's lesson)

Today's lesson will be based on vocabulary which is related to... You guessed it right, shopping!

This will be immensely useful lesson as it will allow you to communicate effectively while purchasing items, and to enable confidence in your purchases! We will be learning useful phrases, and nouns / adjectives (such as different stores, items, sizes, ages, prices etc). So, let's commence today's lesson!

Types of stores

We'll start off by learning the associated Japanese names for specific types of stores. A lot of the names are gairaigo ( a word covered in yesterday's lesson, meaning a word of foreign origin) and as a result won't require to much difficulty to commit most of these words to memory. The general word for store is, MISE.

Drug store- The Japanese word for drug store, "Duraggusutoa". It's gairaigo-ness, is quite predictable, is it not?

Doraggusutoa- Drug store

Department store- Another gairaigo word, "depato".

Depato- Department store

Convenience store- "konbini", another similar sounding word to its English counter.

Konbini- Convenience store

Supermarket- Yet another usage of gairago in the Japanese language, "supamaketto".

Supamaketto- Supermarket

Discount store- "Disukauntosutoa". That's simply it!

Disukauntosutoa- Discount store

Book store- The Japanese word for bookstore, one of the few not gairago store type words, "shobou".

Shobou- Book store

Grocery store- Finally, our last store type word. The Japanese word for a grocery store is Kanbutsuya. This only applies to the small produce selling stores / dairies etc.

Kanbutsuya- Grocery store.

Above words used in a phrase...

It's time to phrase-ify the above words!

Sumimasen. Doko wa diskauntosutoa desu ka?- Excuse me, where is the discount store?

(Sumimasen- excuse me, doko- where, disukauntosutoa- discount store, desu ka- is it ??)

Itsu wa mise hiraiteimasu ka?- When is the store open?

(Itsu- when, mise-store, hiraiteimasu- to be open)

Ano konbutsuya wa takai desu ka?- Is that grocery store expensive?

(Ano- that, over there. Konbutsuya- grocery store, takai- expensive)

Naze ano doraggusutoa ikimasu ka? Yasui kara- Why do I go to that drug store? Because it's cheap!

(naze=why, ano=that over there, doraggusutoa=drug store, ikimasu=to go, yasui=cheap, kara=because)

Kore wa shobou desu ka?- Is this a book store?

Useful shoppin' phrases!

Now that we are aware of the different types of store names, we can now move onto useful phrases to use within them / in a shopping situation.

Ie, ii desu- No thank you. (literally "no, it's good")

(Ie- no, ii-good, desu-it's)

Ikura ?- How much is it? (Ikura wa nan desu ka, can also be used when wanting to be more polite)

(Ikura- How much)

Irasshaimase!- Welcome! ( Used only in store welcoming situations)

Nani o o sagashi desu ka?- What is it are you looking for?

(Nani- what, sagashi-looking for, desu ka- is it?)

Are ga ii desu- That over there is good!

(Are- that over there, ii-good)

Dore ga ichiban yasui desu ka?- Which is cheapest?

(Dore-which, ichiban- best, yasui-cheap)

Useful adjectives and nouns

On to the final part of the lesson, we will cover some basic nouns and adjectives that will be useful to know.

Money- O-kane

Okane- Money (Please note that yen in Japanese is "En")

Cash- "Genkin", this is a payment type meaning cash in Japanese. Must only be used to refer to coins and notes (money in physical form)

Genkin- Cash

Credit card- "kurejito kado" A simple, gairaigo word meaning credit card, as you probably may have guessed!

kurejitto kado- Credit card

Small- "Chiisai" is the Japanese adjective which means "Small". That's pretty much it!

Big- The Japanese adjective meaning large, as in every manner width/height/etc, is "Okii"

Okii- Big ( Usagi wa okii desu ne!)

Expensive- The Japanese adjective meaning expensive is known as "takai". Please note that it also commonly used to mean "tall" (tall in reference to a non-animate being, otherwise it's sega takai e.g Otokonohito wa sega takai desu ne- Isn't the man tall?!)

Takaii- Expensive

Kaban- The word which means bag.

Price- Genka, this in reference to the price of something, its commercial value.

Genka- Price

New- Atarashii is a word that means new.

Atarashii- New (Yukio Hatoyama is Japan's new Prime minister)

Old- The opposite of atarashii, "furui" is a Japanese word which means old.

Furui- Old

Phrases using above words:

The final section of our Beginner's Japanese shopping lesson.

Kore wa totemo furui da yo- This is very old!

(Kore- this, totemo-very, furui-old)

Ano kurejitto kado wa ii desu- That credit card is good.

Genkin wo kudasai- Cash please!

(kudasai- please)

Sore wa atarashii desu ka? Is that new?

(Sore- that, atarashii-new)

Kaban ga yasui to furui- The bag is cheap and old.

(Kaban- bag, yasui-cheap, furui-old, to-and)

Well, that's it for today!

I hope that you guys are revising your lessons at least 3 times before deciding to completely ignore them!

Once again, I'd really like to thank those who are committed to reading my blog.

You're awesome!

Ja mata! (See you next time!)