Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-X something extra: えーと、 Sentence + ね みなさん、こんばんは。 We leanrt how to read phone number in Japanese. Do you remember your phone number by the way? Can you answer it immediately? If no, do you say something in your language? You might say "wait a sec" or "hold on, let me check" or something. What about things like "hmm.." or "err..." ? Its a word you say to fill the gap while you can' answer/reply soon. In Japanese, we say "えーと" It is of course used in spoken Japanese. For example, Aさん：<your name > さん、携帯の番号は何番ですか？ - keitai no bangou wa nanban desu ka? -- what's your mobile number? you: えーと、０９０−１２３４−５６７８です。 Then what would you say if you were Aさん？Don't you want to repeat the number in order to make it sure? Just repeat the number, and + ね at the end. Aさん；０９０−１２３４−５６７８です ね。ありがとう。 In this case, if you read like ですね↑, it sounds more you're asking if it is correct or not. So the both ですね↑ and ですね↓ is fine. I'm sure you'll hear Japanese saying ね at the end so much. It is frequently used in spoken English as well when you want somebody to agree. There's another usage, but you don't need to know it so far. So, another example of ”ね” is Aさん : 毎朝何時に起きますか？ - maiasa nanji ni okimasu ka? -- what time do you get up in the morning? Bさん：5時です。 - 5ji desu. Aさん：はやいですね。（はやい: early) - it is early, isn't it. Aさん : そのTシャツ、いいですね。 - That's T-shirt looks good/nice. Bさん：そうですか？ありがとう。 - oh, is it so? Thanks. Aさん：いくらですか？ - how much is it? Bさん：セールで８００円でした。 - 800yen on sale. Aさん：やすいですね！(やすい: its an adjective referring low price) Compared with the example of Phone number + ね, As you probably see, ”ですね↓" is better in all the sentences above, since you want somebody to agree but are not expecting the answer so much. ではまた！ 次はレッスン５です。

Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-X まとめ と ふくしゅう (1) Finally, the summary and the review! We learnt quite much in Lesson 4. --------- 1. how to say a time --------- そちら は 何時 ですか？ - そちら は なんじ ですか？ - 10時20分です。 - じゅうじ にじゅっぷん です。 --------- 2. vocabularies to precise the time --------- 朝[asa]、昼[hiru]、夜[yoru]/晩[ban] (morning, day-time, night) 午前[gozen]、午後[gogo] (AM, PM) 今[ima] (now) X 時 半[X ji han] ( a half past X ) --------- 3. VERBS. 1)how to say what you do continuously, what you will do in the future. 2)how to say what you did in the past. --------- 1) non-past <affirmative> わたしは はたらき ます。 - This sentence tells that either I work or I will work. <interrogative> <your friend's name>さんは べんきょうし ますか。 - do you study? or will you study? <negative> わたしは やすみ ません。 - This sentence tells that either I don't take day off or I won't take day off. やすみます means either to take day off or to be absent in Japanese. However, these sentences sounds something missing. The listner can't tell which tense you are talking without the context. So we leanrt some vocabularies to put with in a sentence. I'll show you later. 2) past <affirmative> わたし は はたらき ました。 - I worked. <interrogative> <your friend's name>さんは べんきょうし ましたか。 - Did you study Japanese? <negative> わたしは やすみ ませんでした。 - I didn't take a day off/ I wasn't absent. non-past : ます ー ません past: ました ー ませんでした --------- 4. vocabularies related to the time, date or something --------- 毎 + something : Every<something> 毎日[mai nichi] everyday 毎朝[mai asa] every morning 毎晩[mai ban] every night おととい : the day before yesterday きのう：yesterday きょう: today あした : tomorrow あさって : the day after tomorrow けさ: this morning 今晩[konban]/今夜[konya]: this evening / tonight 月曜日[getsu youbi] Monday 火曜日[ka youbi] 水曜日[sui youbi] 木曜日[moku youbi] 金曜日[kin youbi] 土曜日[do youbi] 日曜日[nichi youbi] Sunday から、まで、に e.g) やすみは きょう から あさって まで です。 がっこう は ５時半 に 終わります。 --------- 6. How to read phone number --------- Imagine that you found a nice restaurant in a guide book. Now you can call them and ask when its open. Even if you got a wrong number, you can ask the correct one. ではまた！

Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-8 how to read phone numbers in japanese みなさん、こんばんは。 きょう は、電話番号[denwa bangou](phone number)です。 We have crammed quite a few things into one's head at once, Lets have a break. You remember how to count numbers in Japanese, right? Just in case... 0 [zero] 1 [ichi] 2 [ni] 3 [san] 4 [shi/yon] 5 [go] 6 [roku] 7 [shichi/nana] 8 [hachi] 9 [kyuu] 10 [juu] So I'll read a phone number below. Please listen carefully, especially 2 and 5. and hyphen as well. 電話番号[denwa bangou]は、09 -1234 - 5678 です。 What did you think? hyphen was easy, wasn't it? I said "の” instead of "-". What about numbers? Did you realise that I read 2 and 5 slowly so that they have long sound and you can hear like 2 [nii] and 5[goo] ? That's the point of reading phone numbers. As for 4 and 7, which have 2 ways to read, Personally, I hardly say "shicih" for 7 in reading phone numbers, since it gets misheard easily between 1[ichi] and 7[shichi]. I hardly say "shi" for 4 neither, but I don't know why, maybe same reason of 7, I'm avoiding the mishearing I think. So, 09 - 1234 - 5678 would be [ zero roku no ichi nii san yon no goo roku nana hachi ] What would you say when you want to ask the phone number then? <person's name>さんの うちの 電話番号 は 何番 ですか。 - <person's name>さんの でんわばんごう は なんばん ですか。 the answer would be 09- 1234 - 5678です。 if you want to know the mobile number, 携帯 の 番号 は 何番 ですか。 - けいたい の ばんごう は なんばん ですか。 --- 電話[ でんわ ] : phone 番号[ ばんごう ] : number うち : home in this case. 携帯 [ けいたい ] : a short form of 携帯電話 (mobile phone) 何番[ なんばん ] : which number ? --- では、また！

Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-7 きのうは ８時 に寝ました。Somehow I was so sleepy. みなさん、こんばんは。 あさこです。 今、夜の10時１０分です。 - いま、よるの じゅうじ じゅっぷんです。 As I said last time, we'll learn how to talk what you did in the PAST. First, I'll give you some vocabularies. --- きのう: yesterday おととい : the day before yesterday Just in case, きょう: today, あした: tomorrow, あさって: the day after tomorrow --- --- 私は 月曜日[げつようび] から 金曜日[きんようび] まで 働きます [はたらきます]。( I work from Monday to Friday. ) 私 は あした 働きます。(talking about tomorrow ) 私 は あさって 働きます。(talking about the day after tomorrow ) 私は きょう 働きました。（talking about today after I worked. ) 私は きのう 働きました。(talking about yesterday) ---- Forgive the boring examples. However, the important thing is how the verb changes when I talk about what I did. Easy, isn't it? ---------------------------------------------------- Affirmative: ます(non-past) －　 ました(past) ---------------------------------------------------- I haven't mentioned "the day before yesterday(おととい）”, have I? It is Sunday, which is my day off. So... 私は おととい 働きませんでした。 日曜日[にちようび] は 働きません。( I don't work Sunday ) 土曜日[どようび] も 働きません。 ( I don't work Saturday as well ) ---------------------------------------------------- Negative: ません(non-past) －　 ませんでした(past) ---------------------------------------------------- See? Now, you can talk about habit, what to do in the future and in the past , If you know the verbs. The present continuous? Lets put it aside so far. It is a bit tough since the verbs change a bit irregularly. They will show up in Lesson 14. --- to sing non-past : うたいますーうたいません　　　（affirmative-negative) past : うたいましたーうたいませんでした (affirmative-negative) to laugh non-past : わらいますーわらいません (affirmative-negative) past : わらいましたーわらいませんでした (affirmative-negative) non-past : ますーません (affirmative-negative) past : ましたーませんでした (affirmative-negative) .... We will learn more verbs on lessons coming shortly. Before that, lets learn a bit about how to say phone numbers in Japanese next time. ではまた！

Gold, Silver, Bronze medals It might be well-known but I'm writing this journal to share a good way to memorize 5 kanjis with learners, which are 1) 金[kin](gold) 2) 銀[gin](silver) 3) 銅[dou](copper, bronze) 4) 良い[ii](good) 5) 同じ[onaji](same). I'm talking about medals in the Olympics. There are 3 medals, gold medal, silver medal, bronze medal, and they are called 金メダル[kin medaru]、銀メダル[gin medaru]、銅メダル[dou medaru] in Japanese. Now, look at first 3 carefully and you'll realise the kanjis which mean either silver or copper has "金" at the left. Slender one. Now, Look at 5 more carefully and you'll realise the kanji which means silver has "良い"(actually missing this part ' , though) and the kanji which means bronze has "同じ” at the right. 銀 is written "better than gold” and 銅 is written "same as gold" This is what mothers of players said to their sons/daughters who did not make to get a gold medal. I don't know if it is correct origin of the kanjis, 銀 and 銅. However, I still think it is very good story to memorise these kanjis. I hope it helps you with remembering them.

Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-6 私は まいばん 11じ に ねます(2) ここから、きょうのレッスンです。 Today's topic is how to say a point of time, maybe "at" in English. So, 私は １１時 "に" 寝ます。 - わたしは　じゅういちじ　に　ねます。 -- I sleep at 11. I'll add "every night" in this sentence. 私は "毎晩" 11時 に 寝ます。 - わたしは　まいばん　じゅういちじ　に　ねます。 -- I sleep at 11 every night. What about "to get up"? ---- 私は ５時半 "に" 起きます。 - わたしは　ごじはん　に　おきます。 --- I get up at half past 5. I'll add "every night" in this sentence. 私は "毎朝" ５時半 に 起きます。 - わたしは　まいあさ　ごじはん　に　おきます。 --- I get up at half past 5 every morning. --- Voc 寝ます[ねます] : to sleep 起きます[おきます]: to get up 毎[まい] means "every" in this case 晩[ばん] : evening 朝[あさ] : morning 昼[ひる]：noon? So, 毎晩[まいばん] every night, 毎朝[まいあさ] every morning However, we somehow don't say "毎昼”. --- I'll ask you a couple of questions. みなさん の 会社 / 大学 は 何時 からですか。 - みなさん の かいしゃ / だいがく は なんじ から ですか。 みなさん の 会社 / 大学 は 何時 に 終わりますか。 = 何時 まで ですか。 - みなさん の かいしゃ / だいがく は なんじ に おわりますか。 ＝ なんじ まで ですか。 --- 終わります[おわります]: to finish As you realised, I'm not telling a verb which means "to start" here since this verb is a bit annoying. --- では、また！ つぎは、過去形（かこけい、past tense!)です。

Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-6 私は まいばん 11じ に ねます(1) みなさん、こんばんは。 今、夜の 8時 20分 です。 - いま、よるの はちじ にじゅっぷん です。 I'm going to do some reviews since we're learning slightly a lot at once. Last time, we learnt a couple of verbs for the first time. はたらきます( to work )、やすみます( to be absent/ to take day off/ to have a break..) 。 We made some sentences using the verbs and what we have already leanrt, a term or period, such as "A から B まで” which is "from A to B" in English. 私は 月曜日 から 金曜日 まで はたらきます。( I work from Monday to Friday ) We mainly use this form of verb(I'm not calling it "present simple") to ... 1) talk about habits or things that happen on a regular basis. 2) describe things that are always true. 3) situations that exist now and, as far as we know, will go on indefinitely And... 4) talk about what to do in the future No.4 might sound a bit strange but we have only past form and non-past form in Japanese verbs. So, "I will work tomorrow" is " 私は あした はたらきます。” Alright, review は ここ まで です。 I ended up sparing a whole page for the review...! つづきます。

Japanese Lesson for beginners 4-5 私は 9時 から 6時 まで はたらきます。 みなさん、おはようございます。 あさこです。 今、朝の１０時４０分です。 - いま、あさ の じゅうじ よんじゅっぷん です。 Finally, we'll learn some verbs in Japanese today. 　 Do you remember what I do weekdays? Yes, I work from 9 to 6 and have a break from 12 to 1. 私は９時から６時まで働きます。 - わたし は くじ から ろくじ まで はたらきます。 私は １２時から１時まで 休みます。 - わたしは じゅうにじ から いちじ まで やすみます。 --- みなさんは、何時 から 何時 まで 働きます か。 - みなさんは、なんじ から なんじ まで はたらきます か。 みなさんは、何時 から 何時 まで 勉強 します か。 - みなさんは、なんじ から なんじ まで べんきょう します か。 --- Voc 働きます（はたらきます) : to work 休みます (やすみます）: to have a break / to be absent 勉強します: to study ------ This might be a kind of tough question if you don't do it constantly. However, It is just a practice so please feel free to tell a lie :-) --- Here is some extras. You can create negative form of these verbs, by changing ます to ません. ---- affirmative -- negative はたらきます　-- はたらきません やすみます　-- やすみません べんきょうします -- べんきょうしません ---- As you know, I'm on holiday now. 私 は、きょう 働きません。あした も 働きません。あさって から 働きます。 - わたし は、きょう はたらきません。あした も はたらきません。げつようび から はたらきます。:-) では、また！

Japanese Vocabulary Building: Words with one character. "あ" から "と" まで みなさん、こんにちは。 あさこです。 Have you already memorised all hiragana/katakana? If yes, let's expand your vocabularies with them. I'll tell you one-character-word today. Use them when you play shiritori to annoy others! :-))) ** shiritori : a word game in Japan in which one player has to say a word（noun only) starting with the last syllable of the word given by the previous player. if you say a word ending with "ん", you loose. e.g. あめ(rain) --> めろ"ん"(melon) <-- you loose!! I'll write its kanji as well, but you don't need remember them so far. I'll just do it because I just want you to know that we have homonyms and we distinguish them by its kanji. Here we go :-) あ / ア [ a ] - I can't recall any nouns. Sorry. い / イ [ i ] - 胃 Stomach, the internal organ in which the major part of the digestion of food. う / ウ [ u ] - 鵜 Cormorant, a bird which has a long neck and this is a kind of pelicans. え / エ [ e ] - 絵 Picture / drawing / painting お / オ [ o ] - 尾 Tail ( we call it "しっぽ” as well. ) か / カ [ ka ] - 蚊 Mosquito, a bug, blood-eater. き / キ [ ki ] - 木 Tree. く / ク [ ku ] - Can't recall any. Sorry. け / ケ [ ke ] - 毛 Hair / Fur こ / コ [ ko ] - 子 Child. さ / サ [ sa ] - Can't recall any, sorry. し / シ [ shi ] - 死 Death / 市 City / 詩 Poem す / ス [ su ] - 巣 Nest, a place made or chosen by a bird or bug or animal for laying eggs or babies and sheltering its young: / 酢 Vinegar, a sour-tasting liquid. せ / セ [ se ] - Can't recall any, sorry. そ / ソ [ so ] - Can't recall any, sorry. た / タ [ ta ] - 田 Rice-field. ( we call it "たんぼ” as well) ち / チ [ chi ] - 血 Blood つ / ツ [ tsu ] - Can't recall any, sorry. て / テ [ te ] - 手 Hand と / ト [ to ] - 戸 Door There might be more nouns for these one character, but I wrote just one or two which probably most Japanese native speaker would recall immediately.　 I omitted any nouns which can be misunderstood because my poor English, sorry! では、また！