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Japanese Lessons Here are some basic Japanese lessons written by Planet Zot's official Japanese teacher, Shiseiten Hikari. While they are unquestionably far from enough to learn to speak Japanese fluently, they will provide some basic understanding about the Japanese language, and enrich your manga and anime experience. If you should have any questions, comments or concerns regarding these lessons please don't hesitate to contact Shiseiten Hikari, and she'll get back to you as soon as possible. We hope that you will enjoy these lessons and that you'll find them useful! ^^ Vowel Sounds : Greetings : Common Words : Phrases Vowel Sounds The vowel sounds are: A - like the sfx 'ahh...' I - like the sound a double 'e' makes like in 'see' U - like the 'ou' in 'soup' E - as in 'elephant' O - as in 'cold'   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Greetings Here are some common phrases for greetings. Ohaiyoo gozaimasu Good morning (Leave the last 'u' of the sounding out) Konnichiwa Hello Konban wa Good evening Oyasuminasai Good night Ja ne! See you later! Here are a few phrases to practice when meeting new people: Konnichiwa! Onamae wa? Hello! what's your name? Watashi wa [your name] desu. My name is... I.e. "Watashi wa Ichigo desu" - My name is Ichigo. Notice that the 'desu' word is pronounced 'des', with a silent 'u'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Common Words Here are some frequently used words: Hai Yes Iie No Arigato gozaimasu Thank you Doo Itashimashite Your welcome Onegai Please (as a way of asking a favor) Gomen nasai Sorry Minna Everyone Tadaima I'm back Tatsukete Help< . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phrases Here are a few phrases explaining how to say things you like: Watashi wa manga ga suki des. I like manga. Watashi wa, means "I", the ga after 'manga' is a grammar particle, and suki is prounanced like 'su' (pronounced like 'sue', as in sue someone) and 'ki', pronounced like 'key'. To say that you love, or really like something, you say, 'dai suki' ('dai' is pronounced like 'die'). I.e. Watashi wa manga ga daisuki des! - I love manga! Here are some other words, like classes, sports, and food. Just use the vowel sounds in the first lesson to pronounce, and simply replace these names in to the manga part of the example. The little line after a vowel will mean that you hold out that vowel. Kagaku Science Sugaku Math Taiiku P.E. Pronounced like "tie-i", as in 'tie' followed by an 'i' Teni-su Tennis Basuketo-baru Basketball Piza Pizza Orenji jusu Orange juice Kashi Candy Co-ra Cola Hanba-ga- Hamburger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suffix Japanese are very formal and honorable people. They always say someone's name with a suffix like our Mrs, Mr, etc. Here's a list of some of the suffix, along with an explanation of when they are used: san - San is the general suffix, and is equivalent to Mr. or Mrs. sama - Originally it was used for lords and royalties, but now it's used when you have great admiration for a person that is older or has a higher status then you. senpai - Used towards someone who is at a level higher than you, like older students. dono - A more formal way for Mr. chan - Represents close friendliness, and is especially used among couples. Often part of the name is taken off, i.e. a girl named Michie could be called Mi-chan by her husband or boyfriend han - Kasai dialect for 'san', rarely used in manga and anime sensei - It means teacher. Plain and simple. sendai - It means king, or supreme ruler, from the words 'dai' (big) and 'sen' (person) kun - Used most for boys, but when used towards girls, it is often the same as calling them senpai I.e. the male ninja student Naruto would call his teacher for Kakashi-sensei, address his girlfriend as Sakura-chan, refer to his comrade as Sasuke-kun, and address the village leader as Hokage-sama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Basic Hiragana In order to be able to read Japanese you'll need to learn the character symbols that are used. The image below shows the basic Hiragana characters.  The little " lines are called chonchons. These are used to make more sounds. As in the example, it makes the 'ka' sounds 'ga', so they would be like this: ka= ga ki= gi ku= gu ke= ge ko= go The 'h' sounds have two different things; they have chonchons, and then they have the little degree marking thing that makes the sound 'p'. hi=pi h=pa and the chonchons on 'h' make the sound 'b'. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Basic Katakana Katakana is basically used for foreign words, such as i.e. konpyuta (computer) or Hanba-ga- (hamburger). It is regarded as more difficult to learn because the characters look so similar. So don't be discouraged if you can't manage to learn them right away, as practice do make perfect! :)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hiragana and Katakana Specials This chart explains sounds like ji, ryo, cha, and double consanents that are usually written by small individual katakana/hiragana.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kanji Konbanwa minna-san! Genki desu ka? Watashi wa genki desu. Kyo no resuon wa Kanji desuyo! Sugoi desu ne?! Minna wa yomu kudasai! Transl.: Hello everyone! How are you? I’m fine! Today’s lesson will be kanji. Isn’t that great? Everyone please read! Kanji was the main point of focus that everyone wanted to do. So here are some basic kanji to start. The days of the week and numbers. In Japan, the days of the week are classified by element. For example, Tuesday is Kayoubi in Japanese. That translates to Fire Day. Likewise, Friday= Kinyoubi or Wednesday= Suiyoubi. Here's the Kanji chart that i created for you guys to save or print:  Here's the stroke order chart i also created for you all:  Stroke order is EXTREMELY important to the way your kanji looks and how you remember them. Trust me, when you use stroke order, it makes you Kanji look 100% better. You may think it may be a pain now, but you will appreciate it when you get complicated looking kanji. Please note that the first reading on the Kanji for numbers is how you traditionally count (ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyu, ju). The second reading usually comes in when counting other items or things. So don’t worry about the second readings as much yet. Anyways, I do hope that this Kanji chart works out well for you. Benkyote kudasai! Ganbattane! (Don’t give up and study hard!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To Be The verb "to be" is the most fundamental in the Japanese language. It means that "to be" ("desu") is the way most Japanese sentences end. I.e.: Kore wa ringo desu This is an apple Sore wa teburu desu That is a table Watashi no namae wa chiemi desu My name is Chiemi Simple ne? Past form for "desu" is "deshita", so for example: Kore wa ringo deshita This was an apple Sore wa teburu deshita That was a table watashi no namae wa Chiemi deshita My name was Chiemi (implying that you changed it) The negative form of "desu" is sometimes harder for people to understand. You should have seen the Japanese class at my school try to learn this lesson. It wasn't easy for a lot of them. The negative form of "desu" is "de wa arimasen". I know it's long, but eventually it'll stick, as long as you practice hard! For example: Kore wa ringo de wa arimasen This is not an apple Sore wa teburu de wa arimasen That is not a table As for the past negative, just add "deshita" after "de wa arimasen". For example.... Kore wa ringo de wa arimasen deshita This was not an apple Sore wa teburu de wa arimasen deshita That was not a table To ask if something is a certain item, just add "ka" at the end. It is quite simple, really: Kore wa ringo desu ka? Is this an apple? Sore wa teburu desu ka? Is this a table? Kore wa nan desu ka? What is this? |
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