さあ

Um... Hi.

It's been what? A month and change, apparently. There's been a lot going on lately, and I apologize to those of you who have stopped reading this blog due to the period inactivity... which won't help since you aren't reading anymore! But that's okay, you'll be back.

In this period of no-posting, I have neglected my Japanese studies, and as such have not learned the language any better than when I last posted. I have, unfortunately, been only learning about Japanese, rather than actually learning Japanese. This is probably somewhat benificial, knowing the overall of the language before jumping into specifics, but one must acknowledge that this time could have been better spent studying both aspects. Alas. Though as a follow up review: that little Barron's Japanese Grammar book is awesome. Opening it is like gazing upon the skeleton of a language, neatly laid out and tagged with two tones of ink.

Thanks to my job, I recently had the opportunity to travel to California, specifically the San Jose/Cupertino area. It's an absolutely beautiful place. One of my co-workers was kind enough to inform me that there was a Japanese bookstore/supermarket in that area, and I was lucky enough to discover that it was only a block or two from my suite. The supermarket was alright (picked up some candy, of course), but the bookstore was great. きのくにや, or Kinokuniya if you haven't been studying your Kana. Stop looking at me like that. It was laid out like the Japanese bookstore I always see in articles about Japanese print culture: manga falling off the shelves and all the other books presented laid out, cover pointing upwards, as opposed to the language study section which was shelved spine outward. I picked up three things:


Momotarō: The Peach Boy (ももたろう): This is a classic children's tale, and seems to be fairly famous. The book has both the original Japanese presented in hiragana, and a loose English translation designed to capture the spirit and rhyme of the tale, rather than the actual text. Might be fun for translation, or at least a great book for the neighbor's kid.



First Thousand Words in Japanese: This one is awesome, and currently being absorbed by the Guido/Feefer duo. It's a collection of one thousand everyday words, from body parts to colors, and objects from school, work, and home. It's presented with colorful illustrations, all of which are tagged with corrosponding Japanese words in both romaji and kana. What I like most about it are the free internet links that accompany the book; you can go online and hear every single word spoken by a native Japanese person. It's absolutely priceless, and I wish I had picked up more than just one.


Kana Flashcards by White Rabbit Press: I like these. Individual flashcards for all the kana, plus a couple of cheat sheets that fit perfectly in one's wallet. The cards themselves are perfect, as each card includes: the kana symbol, definition, a mnemonic visual (almost all of which are pulled directly from kana pict-o-graphix! Hooray partnerships!), 5 vocabulary words, and the stroke order. How cool are these? Excellent quality, and these are definitely the publishers I'll be looking to when it's time to pick up Kanji cards.

Yes, so, that should do for now. I'm going to work on getting the rest of the Pimsleur notes put up, and hopefully that won't take a month and a half.

ぶんぽう

It's been a hectic week, filled with work, sleep, study, and a promotion. (woohoo!) On the study side, I've picked up two new texts which have quite a bit of promise:


First is the Oxford Beginner Japanese Dictionary. This little tome is extremely useful and easy to use. The dictionary is a collection of starter language for the first-year student of Japanese; packing a healthy amount of vocabulary into a thin volume. It is both English-Japanese and Japanese-English, and is accompanied with grammar notes in the middle and a "Learning and Lifestyle Kit" in the back. The kit includes such things as: exercises that help you use the dictionary itself more effectively, Japanese words that you must know, a phrase finder, a kana chart, important dates, and a culture guide. The best thing about this dictionary is its complete freedom from romaji, with nearly every single Japanese word spelled using the Kana. (even in the lifestyle kit and grammar notes!) This dictionary is great, and will probably be my primary dictionary for a little while.



Number 2 is very new. New as in: purchased yesterday. However, it already seems to be a fantastic text. Barron's Japanese Grammar is split into three major sections: The Basics, Parts of Speech, and Special Topics. The Basics covers just what it suggests, and it is truly the basics: a pronunciation guide, information about the writing systems, and an explanation of word order. Parts of Speech covers all the majors: nouns, pronouns, particles, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. (It's the Verbs that I can't wait to sink my teeth into.) Special Topics seems to be everything else: days of the week, telling time, useful words, loan words, and sections concerning language particulars and oddities. The whole thing is super-packed with information, yet remains pocket sized and only costs $7. I think this one is a keeper, but I'll be sure to post if I find any flaw that I have not yet come across.

And those are the new study materials. May they be accurate and up to date.

Unit 14

Conversation

すみません、ビールはありますか。
ええ、あります。はい、どうぞ。
ありがとう。いくらですか。
さんドルです。
ビールいっぽんじゅうさんドルですか。
いいえ、じゅうさんドルじゃありません。さんドルです。
ああ、わかりました。じゃあ、さんドル。ありがとうございます。

sumimasen, biiru wa arimasu ka? - Excuse me, is there beer?/do you have beer? [Lit: does beer exist?]
ee, arimasu. hai, douzo. - Yes, there is. Here you are. [Lit: Yes, please]
arigatou. ikura desu ka? - Thanks. How much is it?
san doru desu. - It's three dollars.
biiru ippon juu san doru desu ka? - One bottle of beer is thirteen dollars?
iie, juu san doru ja arimasen. san doru desu. - No, it's not thirteen dollars. It's three dollars.
aa, wakarimashita. jaa, san doru. arigatou gozaimasu. - Ah, understood. Then, three dollars. Thank you.


Vocab

たくさん
takusan - many, a lot

えんをたくさんもっています。
en o takusan motte imasu - I have a lot of Yen.

たくさんじゃありません。
takusan ja arimasen - I don't have a lot.

ください
kudasai - Please. (Please give me)

えんをください。
en o kudasai - Yen, please.

あります
arimasu - To have, exist (used for inanimate). [aru]

ビールがありますか。
biiru ga arimasu ka? - Is there beer? Do you have beer? [Lit: Does beer exist?]

いいえありません
iie arimasen - No there isn't.

ええありません
ee arimasu - Yes, there is.

きょうはありません。
kyou wa arimasen - As for today, there isn't any.

あげます
agemasu - To give. [ageru]

せんえんあげます。
sen en agemasu - I'm going to give you 1000 Yen.

おかねをあげません。
okane o agemasen - I'm not giving you money.

えんをすこしあげます。
en o sukoshi agemasu - I will give you a few Yen.

じゅうしち
juu shichi - 17

じゅはち
ju hachi - 18

じゅうきゅ
juu kyu - 19

あいうえお、かきくけこ、さしすーせそ、たちつーてと。。。

Gah, I had to take a little break from the Pimsleur notes, but I promise that you'll see more soon. Though, I don't think anyone has gone past Lesson 13. I recently finished Lesson 30, but I'm not going to advance until I've finished these notes. I'm trusting that writing them out and reviewing them will result in greater memorization and further comprehension.

I've been moving beyond Pimsleur as well, researching some more vocabulary and learning about verb conjugations, which is surprisingly more fun for me than it sounds. I'll do a further post on that later, with some of my new references.

Anyway, I found this: Kana Song. I'm not sure if this is the Japanese equivalent to the Alphabet Song or just some kiddy song, but perhaps it'll be of use to those who found merit in remembering their ABC's with the power of a catchy tune.

Ha! I've finally posted!

Ok, so looking around for a few more resources (like we need more) I actually came across a site that is quite helpful: Hiragana / Katakana This site is designed to help you learn to write by showing each character being written on the screen. Good Luck!

Unit 13

Special

It should be noted that here we learn how to create numbers larger than 10. To make numbers 11-19, you simply add the appropriate number after じゅう. For example: to make the number 15, you literally say "ten five"; or "juu go" じゅうご


Conversation

もしもし。いとさんおねがいします。ああ、いとさんですか。こんにちは、たなかです。
たなかさん。こんにちは。
いとさん、こんばんわたしとばんごはんをたべませんか。
すみません。こんばんわちょとお。。。
じゃあ、あしたのばんは？
ええ。どこで？　なんじに？
わたしのところで。しちじは？
ええ。いいですね。じゃああしたのばん。しちじに。どうもありがとうございます。
じゃあまたあした。

-moshi moshi. Ito-san onegai shimasu. aa, Ito-san desu ka? konnichiwa, Tanaka desu. - Hello. Ito-san, if you could. Ah, is this Ito-san? Good afternoon, this is Tanaka.
-Tanaka-san. konnichiwa. - Tanaka-san. Good afternoon.
-Ito-san, konban watashi to bangohan o tabemasen ka? - Ito-san, won't you eat dinner with me tonight?
-sumimasen. konban wa chotto... - Sorry, tonight is a little...
-jaa, ashita no ban wa? - Then, how about tomorrow night?
-ee. doko de? nanji ni? - Yes. Where at? At what time?
-watashi no tokoro de. shichiji wa? - At my place. How about 7 o'clock?
-ee. ii desu ne. jaa ashita no ban. shichiji ni. doumo arigatou gozaimasu. - Yes. That's alright, isn't it? Then tomorrow night. At 7 o'clock. Thank you very much.
-jaa mata ashita. - See you tomorrow.


Vocab

こんばんは
konban wa - Good evening.

おかね
okane - money

もっています
motte imasu - to have [motsu → motte]

もっていません
motte imasen - to not have

おかねをもっています。
okane o motte imasu. - I have money.

いくらおかねをもっていますか。
ikura okane o motte imasu ka? - How much money do you have?

いっぽん
ippon - one bottle (or other long, thin object)

ビールいっぽんおねがいします。
biiru ippon onegai shimasu. - One bottle of beer, could you please.

はい、どうぞ
hai, douzo - Here you are. [Lit: Yes, please.]

ドル
doru - dollar

ドルで
doru de- in dollars

じゅうご
juu go - 15

じゅうろく
juu roku - 16

Unit 12

Conversation

もしもし。いとさんですか。
はい、いとさんです。
すずきです。こんにちは。
ああ、すずきさん。こんにちは。
いとさん、こんばんわたしとばんごはんをたべませんか。
すみません、こんばんはちょっと。。。
じゃあ、あしたのばんは？
あしたのばん？　なんじ？　しちじ？
はちじは？
ええ、いいです。
じゃあ、あしたのばん、はちじにわたしのところで。
はい、わかりました。

-moshi moshi. Ito-san desu ka? - Hello. Is this Ito-san?
-hai, Ito-san desu. - Yes, this is Ito-san.
-Suzuki desu. konnichiwa. - This is Suzuki. Good afternoon.
-aa, Suzuki-san. konnichiwa. - Ah, Suzuki-san. Good afternoon.
-Ito-san, konban watashi to bangohan o tabemasen ka? - Ito-san, won't you eat lunch with me tonight?
-sumimasen, konban wa chotto... - Sorry, tonight is a little...
-jaa, ashita no ban wa? - Then, how about tomorrow night.
-ashita no ban? nanji? shichiji? - Tomorrow night? What time? 7 o'clock?
-hachiji wa? - How about 8 o'clock?
-ee, ii desu. - Yes, that's alright.
-jaa ashita no ban, hachiji ni watashi no tokoro de. - Then tomorrow night, at my place at 8 o'clock.
-hai, wakarimashita. - Yes, understood.


Vocab

もしもし
moshi moshi - Hello (on the telephone)

いくら
ikura - how much

いくらですか。
ikura desu ka? - how much is it?

せん
sen - 1000

せんえん
sen en - 1000 yen

にせんえん
ni sen en - 2000 yen

さんぜんえん
san zen en - 3000 yen

よんせんえん
yon sen en - 4000 yen

ろくせん
roku sen - 6000

なな
nana - 7 (a different way of saying 7. Used for counting, not time)

ななせん
nana sen - 7000

ななせんえんです。
nana sen en desu - It's 7000 yen.

ろくせねんじゃありません。
roku sen en ja arimasen - It's not 6000 yen.

そして
soshite - and (used when linking sentences and counting)

Unit 11

Special

Here's more prompts that you'll be hearing from now on.

くりかえしてください。
kurikaeshite kudasai. - Repeat please. [kurikaesu → kurikaeshite (te form)]

きいてください。
kiite kudasai - Listen please. [kiku → kiite (te form)]

きいてくりかえしてください。
kiite kurikaeshite kudasai - Listen and Repeat please.


Conversation

たなかさんわたしとひるごはんをたべませんか。
ええ、なんじに？
いちじは？
すみません。いちじはちょっと。。。
じゃあ、にじは？
ええ、いいですね。どこでたべますか。
ホテルのレストランは？
ええ、いいです。じゃあ、にじに。

-Tanaka-san watashi to hirugohan o tabemasen ka? - Mr. Tanaka, won't you eat lunch with me?
-ee, nanji ni? - Yes, at what time?
-ichiji wa? - How about one o'clock?
-sumimasen. ichiji wa chotto... - Sorry. One o'clock is a little...
-jaa, niji wa? - Then, how about two o'clock?
-ee, ii desu ne. doko de tabemasu ka? - Yes, that's alright, isn't it? Where at should we eat?
-hoteru no resutoran wa? - How about the hotel's restaurant?
-ee, ii desu. jaa, niji ni. - Yes, that's alright. Then, at two o'clock.


Vocab

じゃあ
jaa - in that case / then

ろく
roku - six

しち
shichi - seven

じゅう
juu - ten

こんばん
konban - this evening

ばん
ban - evening

ばんごはん
bangohan - dinner (ban = evening, gohan = meal)

あした
ashita - tomorrow

あしたのばん
ashita no ban - tomorrow evening

きょう
kyou - today

じゃあまたあした
jaa mata ashita - see you tomorrow [Lit: then again tomorrow]

オーケー

So, I put a few more notes up, and we have now covered the first ten lessons. These lesson notes should hopefully serve a few purposes. First, they should help me retain the vocabulary and grammar from these lessons, while allowing me to practice my kana. Conversely, they will also help you, so you may have a visual reminder of what you are listening to, and also be introduced to the kana.

These notes, however, are not infailable. I, too, am still learning; therefore I fear that some text may be innacurate or missing. Please, as you go through the lessons, if you see anything amiss, let me know. It will help everyone.

Oh, found this link as well:

The Fox's Ear

I like this site, it has a really nice personal touch to it. And Kana tutorials! These are really good ones, too. It uses mnumonics, similar to they system used with Kana Pict-o-graphix (thought I would still prefer said text to this site). Try it out, it's sort of funny too. Ah, and they have a Kanji section... man... I so dread (and at the same time can't wait) for the Kanji.

Unit 10

Special

In this chapter we are introduced to two prompts which are spoken in Japanese. Tune your ears to these phrases, because they'll be used more frequently in future lessons.

つぎのかいわをきいてください。
tsugi no kaiwa o kiite kudasai - Please listen to the following conversation.

もういちどをきいてください。
mou ichido o kiite kudasai - Please listen once again.


Conversation

さとさん、わたしとひるごはんをたべませんか。
ええ、でもなんじに？　いちじ？
いいえ、あとで。
ああ、わかりました。にじ？
ええ、にじに。
はい、わかりました。

-Sato-san, watashi to hirugohan o tabemasen ka? - Mr. Sato, won't you eat lunch with me?
-ee, demo nanji ni? ichiji? - Yes, but at what time? One o'clock?
-iie, ato de. - No, later.
-aa, wakarimashita. niji? - Ah, understood. Two o'clock?
-ee, niji ni. - Yes, At two o'clock.
-hai, wakarimashita. - Yes, understood.


Vocab

ちょっと
chotto - a little bit

くじはちょっと。。。
kuji wa chotto... - nine o'clock is a little bit...

たべたいです
tabetai desu - want to eat

たべたくありません
tabetaku arimasen - don't want to eat

のみたいです
nomitai desu - want to drink

のみたくありません
nomitaku arimasen - don't want to drink

なんじですか。
nanji desu ka? - What time is it?

さん
san - three

よん
yon - four

ご
go - five

ごじです
goji desu - It's five o'clock.

Unit 9

Conversation

さとさん。こんいちは。
ああ、すずきさん。こんいちは。
さとさん、いまなにをしますか。
ひるごはんをたべます。すずきさんもたべますか。
ええ、どこでたべますか。
そうですね。。。”ナンバンテ”は？
ええ、いいですね。

-Sato-san. konnichiwa. - Ms. Sato. Good afternoon.
-aa, Suzuki-san. konnichiwa. - Ah, Mr. Suzuki. Good afternoon.
-Sato-san, ima nani o shimasu ka? - Ms. Sato, what are you going to do now?
-hirugohan o tabemasu. Suzuki-san mo tabemasen ka? - I'm going to eat lunch. Mr. Suzuki, won't you also eat?
-ee, doko de tabemasu ka? - Yes, where at shall we eat?
-sou desu ne... "nanbante" wa? - Ah, let me see... Nanbante?
-ee, ii desu ne. - Yes, that's alright, isn't it?


Vocab

じ
-ji - o'clock

に
ni - at (particle) [used here to refer to time]

なんじに
nanji ni? - At what time?

いち
ichi - one

はち
hachi - eight

く／きゅう
ku/kyuu - nine [ku for time / kyuu when counting items]

いちじ
ichiji - one o'clock

にじに
niji ni - at two o'clock

さとじゃありません。たなかです。
Sato ja arimasen. Tanaka desu. - It's not Sato. It's Tanaka.

それとも
sore to mo - or. [used at the beginning of a sentence.]

わかりました
wakarimashita - Understood. [wakaru]

Unit 8

Conversation

たなかさん、いまたべますか。
いいえ、けっこです。でも、なにかのみます。
なにをのみますか。
わかりません。おさけ。。。？　いいえ、ビール。
わたしもビールがほしいです。すみません！
はい、おさけ？
いいえ、ビール。

-Tanaka-san, ima tabemasu ka? - Mr. Tanaka, are you going to eat now?
-iie, kekko desu. demo, nanika nomimasu. - No thank you. But, I will drink something.
-nani o nomimasu ka. - What are you going to drink?
-wakarimasen. osake... iie, biiru. - I don't know. Sake...? No, Beer.
-watashi mo biiru ga hoshii desu. sumimasen! - I also want beer. Excuse me! [to waiter]
-hai, osake? - Yes, Sake?
-iie, biiru. - No, Beer.


Vocab

ーさん
-san - Mr., Ms., Mrs. [Placed after the names of others, not your own.]

ひるごはん
hirugohan - lunch [hiru = noon, gohan = meal]

に
ni - two

ほん
-hon - [counter for long narrow objects such as: bottles, pencils, trees, pens, etc.]

ビールにほん
biiru ni-hon - two bottles of beer

します
shimasu - to do [suru]

なにをしますか。
nani o shimasu ka? - What are you going to do?

おねがいします
onegai shimasu - Please (making a request) - [Lit: "Do me a favor"]

か
ka - or. Used between two nouns. (particle)

ホテル
hoteru - hotel

かいます
kaimasu - to buy [kau]

だれ
dare - who

と
to - with (particle)

だれと
dare to - with whom?

あなたと
anata to - with you

Unit 7

Conversation:

いまなにかたべますか
いいえ、あとで。でもなにかのみます。
どこで？
わかりません。
わたしのところで？
ええ、いいですね。

-ima nanika tabemasu ka? - Would you like to eat something now?
-iie, ato de. demo nanika nomimasu. - No, later. But I will drink something.
-doko de? - Where at?
-wakarimasen. - I don't know.
-watashi no tokoro de? - At my place?
-ee, ii desu ne. - Yes, alright.


Vocab:

レストラン
resutoran - Restaurant.

なに
nani - what

なにをのみますか。
nani o nomimasu ka? - What are you going to drink?

おさけ
osake - rice wine (polite form)

ビール
biiru - beer

ほしい
hoshii - want

ほしいです
hoshii desu - I want

ほしくありません
hoshiku arimasen - I don't want

レストランはどこですか。
resutoran wa doko desu ka? - Where is the restaurant?

Unit 6

Conversation:

こんにちは。
こんにちは。いいおてんきですね。
そうですね。
なにかたべませんか。
いいえ、けっこです。でもなにかのみます。
なにをのみますか。
コーラを飲みます。
わたしも。わたしもコーラをのみあす。

-konnichiwa. - Good afternoon.
-konnichiwa. ii otenki desu ne? - Good afternoon. It's nice weather, isn't it?
-sou desu ne. - It is, isn't it?
-nanika tabemasen ka? - Won't you eat something?
-iie, kekko desu. demo nanika nomimasu. - No, thank you. But I will drink something.
-nani o nomimasu ka? - What will you drink?
-koora o nomimasu. - I am going to drink cola.
-watashi mo. watashi mo koora o nomimasu. - Me too. I too am going to drink cola.


Vocab:

で
de - at

どこで？
doko de? - Where at?

の
no - my, your, its (possessive particle)

わたしの
watashi no - my

ところ
tokoro - place

も
mo - too, also

わたしも
watashi mo - Me too

いつ？
itsu? - When?

いま
ima - now

あとで
ato de - later

いいです
ii desu - good, OK, alright.

コーラ
koora - cola

はい、どうぞ。

Okay, I've got the first 5 Lessons of Pimsleur Japanese up. It'll probably be of help to those of you using the course. I'll try to put up all of Pimsleur Japanese I, eventually. For now, you may use the handy quicklinks on the right hand side.

Unit 5

Conversation:

すみません、すみません。
はい、なにか？
うえのこえんはどこですか。
あそこです。
うえのえきは？
ここです。
どうもありがとうございます。

-sumimasen, sumimasen. - Excuse me, excuse me.
-hai, nanika? - Yes, something? (something you wanted to ask?)
-ueno koen wa doko desu ka? - Where is Ueno park?
-asoko desu. - It's over there.
-ueno eki wa? - And Ueno station?
-koko desu. - It's here.
-doumo arigatou gozaimasu. - Thank you very much.


Vocab:

なにか。
nani ka? - something you wanted to ask?

たべます
tabemasu - eat / going to eat [taberu]

たべません
tabemasen - don't eat / not going to eat

なにかたべます
nanika tabemasu. - I am going to eat something

のみます
nomimasu - drink / going to drink [nomu]

のみません
nomimasen - don't drink / not going to drink

のみませんか。
nomimasen ka? - Won't you drink?

いいえ、けっこです。
iie, kekko desu. - No thank you / No, I'm alright as is

そうですね。。。
sou desu ne... - Well, let me see... (used while thinking, said slowly to show hesitation)

Unit 4

Conversation:

すみません、あなたはにほんじんですか。
はい、わたしはにほんじんです。
あなたは？
ワタシはアメリかです。
でもにほんごがよくわかりますね。
いいえ、おじょうずです。
ありがとうございます。

-sumimasen, anata wa nihon-jin desu ka? - Excuse me, are you Japanese?
-hai, watashi wa nihon-jin desu. - Yes, I am Japanese.
-anata wa? - And you?
-watashi wa amerika-jin desu. - I am American.
-demo nihongo ga yoku wakarimasu ne? - But you understand Japanese well, don't you?
-ee, sukoshi demo mada jouzu ja arimasen. - Yes, a little but I'm not skilled yet.
-iie, ojouzu desu. - No, you are skilled.
-arigatou gozaimasu. - Thank you.


Vocab:

ええ
ee - yes (casual)

はなします
hanashimasu - To speak [hanasu]

じょうずにはなします。
jouzu ni hanashimasu. - You speak well.

えき
eki - station

こうえん
kouen - park

どこ
doko - where

どこですか
doko desu ka? - Where is it?

しんじゅくえきはどこですか。
Shinjuku eki wa doko desu ka? - Where is Shinjuku station?

ここ
koko - here

ここです。
koko desu - It's here.

ここじゃありません。
koko ja arimasen - It isn't here.

あそこ
asoko - over there

Unit 3

Conversation:

おはようございます。
おはようございます。
いいおてんきですね。
ああ、にほんごがわかりますね。
はい、すこしでもまだじょうずじゃありません。
あなたはアメリカじんですか。
はい。
でもにほんごがよくわかりますね。

-ohayou gozaimasu. - Good morning.
-ohayou gozaimasu. - Good morning.
-ii otenki desu ne? - It's good weather, isn't it?
-aa, nihongo ga wakarimasu ne? - Ah, you understand Japanese, don't you?
-hai, sukoshi demo mada jouzu ja arimasen. - Yes, a little but I'm not skilled yet.
-anata wa amerika-jin desu ka? - Are you American?
-hai - Yes.
-demo nihongo ga yoku wakarimasu ne? - But you understand Japanese well, don't you?


Vocab:

でも
demo - but

まだ
mada - yet

よく
yoku - well (in knowledge or skill, not health)

いやな
iyana - bad / unpleasant / distasteful (weather)

どうも
doumo - indeed / very much

どうもありがとうございます。
doumo arigatou gozaimasu - Thank you very much.

こんにちは
konnichi wa - Good afternoon / Hello

にほん
nihon - Japan

にほんじん
nihon-jin - Japanese (nationality)

Unit 2

Conversation:

すみません、にほんごがわかりますか。
いいえ、すこし。
あなたはアメリカじんですか。
はい、わたしはアメリカじんです。
えいごがわかりますか。
いいえ、わかりません。

-sumimasen, nihongo ga wakarimasu ka? - Excuse me, do you understand Japanese?
-hai, sukoshi. - Yes, a little.
-anata wa amerika-jin desu ka? - Are you American?
-hai, watashi wa amerika-jin desu. - Yes, I am American.
-eigo ga wakarimasu ka? - Do you understand English?
-iie, wakarimasen. - No, I don't understand.


Vocab:

おはよう
ohayou - Good Morning (casual greeting)

おはようございます
ohayou gozaimasu - Good Morning (polite greeting)

いい
ii - good / nice

おてんき
otenki - weather

ね
ne - Isn't it? Aren't you? Don't you think? (used at end of sentence to indicate expectation of agreement)

そう
sou - so

そうですね。
sou desu ne - It's so, isn't it? (in agreement)

じゃあまた
jaa mata - See you / Goodbye [Literally: then again]

ありがとう
arigatou - Thank you (casual)

ありがとうございます
arigatou gozaimasu - Thank you (polite)

じょうず
jouzu - Skilled

じょうずじゃありません。
jouzu ja arimasen - I am not skilled.

Unit 1

Conversation:

すみません、えいごがわかりますか。
いいえ、わかりません。
にほんごがわかりますか。
はい、すこしわかります。
あなたはアメリカじんですか。
はい、わたしはアメリカじんです。

-sumimasen, eigo ga wakarimasu ka? - Excuse me, do you understand English?
-iie, wakarimasen. - No, I don't understand.
-nihongo ga wakarimasu ka? - Do you understand Japanese?
-hai, sukoshi wakarimasu. - Yes, I understand a little.
-anata wa amerika-jin desu ka? - Are you American?
-hai, watashi wa amerika-jin desu. - Yes, I am American.


Vocab:

すみません
sumimasen - Excuse me

えいご
eigo - English language

わかります
wakarimasu - To understand [wakaru]

か
ka - used at the end of a sentence to form a question

いいえ
iie - No

わたし
watashi - I

わかりません
wakarimasen - I do not understand / I don't know

にほんご
nihongo - Japanese language

すこし
sukoshi - a little, a few

アメリカじん
amerika-jin - American (nationality)

あなた
anata - You

です
desu - Is, Are

はい
hai - Yes

ここにすんでいます。

For those of you working on the kana or for when you reach it in your learning, here's a pretty cool resource.

Kana Tutorials

It's helping me with my カタカナ。

かな

So I've been studying the kana for the past couple of days, most notably ひらがな (hiragana). Honestly, it's not nearly as difficult as one would imagine, and two things will really help.

The first thing you'll need is a proper text from which to learn. On account of many recommendations, I attempted to learn using James W. Heisig's Remembering the Kana, a smaller book from his most lauded series: Remembering the Kanji. And you know what? I was not impressed by this book. Not to say the book doesn't have its good points: most of the authors recommendations for studying and remembering the ひらがな are very useful, such as his suggestion that once you know the kana with some confidence, you should never touch the roman spelling again, unless communicating with those who do not understand the kana (here, of course, I shall attempt to employ both). Each page has a picture of the kana, words in which they are used, and even examples of how that character appears when using different font styles (which are actually extremely useful). The book teaches kana using the memorization technique of mnemonics, or memorizing with association to other words or images. This learning method helps you learn super fast. However, and here's where the suck comes in, this particular book uses the longest mnemonics possible.

For example, take this kana:



This one is pronounced "ya". Heisig's book recommends this insane mnemonic: "Imagine your own backyard and the garden within. You are kneeling, planting puppy tails in the soil, pushing them down with your walking stick until they are all the same height, one finger long." This is his recommendation for remembering や. Imagine a finger, then a little puppy tail on top, and then a walking stick.

Or, you could just remember this:



This comes from one of the best little books I've ever stumbled upon: Kana Pict-O-Graphix.


Here, instead of a small story, it uses a single visual image. There are some criticisms online concerning this alternative, but my own results do not lie. Seriously, just go and buy it. It was six dollars. SIX. And I learned almost all the hiragana in two days. I am more than amazed by my progress, and you will be too. After having read this (still haven't moved onto the katakana yet), I'm seriously considering the purchase of the author's other book: Kanji Pict-O-Graphix.

So.

The second thing you'll need is something to test yourself with. In other words, we need flash cards! I already gave you a link to some good, printable cards in the post below (here again). Professionally printed flash card should be available at any bookstore, and may be worth checking out, though I've found no reviews for or against any particular set. For this post, I offer you two links:

RealKana.com
Simple and easy. Choose which sets of hiragana or katakana you wish to learn, set the font, and go. You write out the romaji in response to the kana given. You can mouse over the displayed Kana to see the answer as well as your score. I used this as a study tool while reading Pict-O-Graphix, and it helped. They have a Kanji site as well, which looks pretty solid.

Kana Cards: Japanese Study Tool
These are useful after you learn the ひらがな, and will cement the knowledge a bit. Or, at least I'm hoping it will. The site is pretty good; it has a complete Kana listing with examples, flash cards, and a multiple choice quiz. The only downside is that you can't exclude any characters, such as the voiced kana. This site is part four of a larger site, J-Prep. They charge a subscription for the J-Prep Study Tool, but the Traveller and Reference are free to use. The Traveller section has many important every day words in both romaji and kana forms, so you can use it to practice reading kana while learning vocabulary. The Reference section is a searchable database of japanese words and definitions, so... yeah, that's handy.

That's it for now. If you guys have anything else, feel free to comment, ask questions, or make posts.

ひらがな

Free printable Hiragana flash cards here.

Hmm, I should find a more permanent set of these...

すみません

Hey guys, I found a couple of resources for those of us using the Pimsleur course.

First, I found a pdf of student-made notes for the first thirty lessons. These are actually really good notes, written using both romaji and kana, with definitions and additional explanations. They would be absolutely perfect, except that they are the notes for a previous edition of Japanese I (possibly 1st edition, while we are using 3rd). It appears they changed quite a bit when they revised this series. None the less, many of the words and sentence constructions match well enough to make this useful. Contact me if you need these notes.

My second find was a blog. Here, the author has chronicled his study using Pimsleur, and it is our edition! However, it is in romaji only, and it appears the author abandoned the blog after lesson 21. Still, handy reference material for those early lessons.

It would be beautiful to find a set of notes for all ninety lessons, with romaji and kana, in our edition. That, I think, will only happen if I create it. Might be a good project.

どくがく

おはようございます

There is nothing quite as nice as a lazy Wednesday morning. A chance to relax, read a little, practice, and update the blog. I figured for this one I'd talk about the resources that I'm using for my self-study.

Oh, this reminds me: Welcome, Javy. I hope this blog proves useful. Along with Javy, Tony, and Jenny, I have found two other people who wish to learn Japanese: Carla and Daphne. Hopefully, all of you who have shown interest in learning will continue to do so, for you will enrich the learning of every other person. You are all welcome authors to this blog.

Anyways, were was I? Oh, yes, source material.

Since I have been interested in learning Japanese since my mid-teens, I've gathered a helpful smathering of texts to help me on my way. Additionally, with my renewed (and hopefully pemanent) interest, I've aquired a number of other helpful texts and programs. These are listed below:


First, we have Pimsleur. This program is completely amazing. It is insanely great. I first tried these when I was seventeen or so, but I only had access to the introductory set which consisted of the first eight lessons. It is a testament to the Pimsleur learning method that after several years away from these lessons, I could still remember how to acurately pronounce the majority of what was taught therein. Several years later, I am fortunate to have access to these lessons, and they will serve as the initial backbone of my Japanese study. They are incredibly simple and fun to use, and require no more than 30 minutes a day(though I'd recommend going through each lesson twice in a day). My only complaint is the lack of written transcription to accompany the audio, although this was intentional on their part, and in fact the lessons do come with various helpful readings (both audio and text). Ultimately, the ninty lessons will come to an end, leaving me with the ability to correctly pronounce the most widely used and important Japanese, but without any further need to go back to the audio, except perhaps for the purpose of again listening to pronounciation. After this, I shall move on to text.

Not that I'm not knee-deep in text...



These are the books that I'm using to learn the hirgana and katakana, the kana syllabaries. Learning these symbols are essential for the continued learning of Japanese past the mere auditory level and should be learnt as soon as possible. They are also somewhat intimidating. It is very strange for me to be learning a whole new alphabet, but then again, it is the hiragana that began my interest in Japanese. These texts are all very useful; Remembering the Kana being the most highly regarded and informative of all, and therefore the center of my Kana study. The Japanese for Busy People Kana Workbook is mostly for practicing the actual writing of the kana, and will be used more frequently when I have moved on to the actual Japanese for Busy People textbook.

Oh, and then there's this:


I'm fairly sure this is the most obscure and at the same time greatest thing I have ever pulled from the depths of the internet. It's a collection of 52 episodes from a show called "Let's Learn Japanese!" and it's so amazingly 1985 that it may actually be a portal through time. Though aside from the cheesy hokeyness, it's actually a really good series. During the main skits, all the characters speak at a normal rate, which gives you a far better ear for the actual language. So far, the program has been very useful in conjunction with the Pimsleur method, as it focuses on far less (yet different) material during it's half hour lesson. They are cute, informative, and surprising funny. The television broadcast was supposed to be used in tandem with a textbook, but after some research, the book appears to have been lost in the neon burn of the 1980's.

These came with another television language course... which deserves a post of it's own, so I'll show those later.

Perhaps you can see my rather loose lesson plan: Listen to Pimsleur whilst studying Kana. At the same time, use Let's Learn Japanese as a supplimental and to get used to the speed of the language. When I've finished Pimsleur, I'll probably move on to using the Japanese For Busy People text and continue studying the kana. From there... well, there's no shortage of things to study, is there?

How about you? How will you plan your self-study?

開始

歓迎する, <--I'm not in any way sure that this is being used right, but welcome!

Hi. My name is Dan... er... excuse me: 今日は。ダンです。Yes, so I'm trying to learn this, which probably looks like some sort of odd block language if you don't have your Japanese fonts installed. Anyway, this blog will become a central part of that, as I learn a language which I have flirted with since I was fifteen years old. I have excellent resources at my disposal: Pimsleur Audio Lessons, Japanese for Busy People, Remembering the Kana/Kanji by James Heisig, Easy Japanese by Jack Seward, the Pict-O-Graphix for Kana, and even a series of Japanese television lessons made by NHK.

On top of these, I finally have a resource for learning which I have never had before: other people. At last, I'm not the only one learning! I can look at my neighbors (Tony and Jenny) and say どくですか, and they'll say そこです. I can ask Javier from work それわなんですか, and he'll actually respond to this. You cannot imagine how exciting it is to have people I can learn with.

As a result, I think it only fair to offer use of this blog to all those I know who are learning this incredible language. This is your blog as well, if you wish it to be, and it is open to place discussions and opinions. If not, then it will be a deposit box for my observations and text concerning the status of learning. Either of these outcomes seems agreeable. I might even get instuctional commentary! Oh the hopefulness of it all.

It's been a long time since I've had the pleasure of pouring my thoughts and hopes onto the screen. You can ask my livejournal account: it suffered a horrible death from starvation. Like an unloved pet, I feed that old blog months at a time, until I eventually lost interest in airing the personal intricacies of my average life to nobody. This, hopefully, should prove to be a different beast.