Dr. Han's Japanese Language Lessons

The words for "I"

mhan2@iisenglish.com (Mieko Han, Ph.D.) — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 05:42:00 +0000

In English the word "I" can be used by anybody in any circumstance referring to himself or herself. In Japanese there are several words that mean "I." They have slightly different stylistic connotations: some of them are more formal and polite, while others are informal and casual; some words are preferred by men while some are used by women. You should choose the one which suits yourself best according to your age, sex, and profession.

It is always recommendable for a foreigner to be a little bit formal and polite in the beginning rather than risk being too informal. It is for this reason that the most formal word for "I" watakushi is introduced in this program. Some people may prefer watashi. In a less formal style, men can use boku and women can use [w]atashi. The formal word watakushi can be used by both men and women.

Japanese is a language totally unrelated to English. Japanese and English have different ways to form thought and express ideas. Often an English sentence may not be translatable into Japanese. In such a case we use the expression, "Find Japanese equivalent" rather than "Translate into Japanese." When the instructor says "Say the following expressions in Japanese." Please say the Japanese equivalent. Please do not try to find direct translation.

The aim of the following exercise is to make sure that the meanings of the previously introduced expressions are clear in the learner's mind. The best way to check meanings at the beginning is to use the learner's native language. Here we use the format of "Say the Japanese equivalent of the English expressions."

Please connect to the audio part by clicking the following word AUDIO. Please take notes. At the repetition, please speak aloud imitating the model speech.

I'll Be back soon.

Dr. Han

My name is Tanaka

mhan2@iisenglish.com (Mieko Han, Ph.D.) — Tue, 11 May 2010 07:03:00 +0000

When a Japanese person meets someone for the first time, or when he or she is introduced to a person, the speaker says,
hajimemashite. This expression means something like 'beginning' or 'This is the first time I have the pleasure of meeting you.' It is equivalent to 'How do you do?' in English.

Next, the speaker states his or her name, for example, 'My name is Tanaka.'

watakushi wa tanaka desu. is equivalent to 'My name is Tanaka.' or 'I am Tanaka.'

watakushi wa buraun desu. is equivalent to 'My name is Brown.' or 'I am Brown.'

Japanese people usually bow to each other while saying these expressions.

doozo yoroshiku. is the next. It is equivalent to 'Please to meet you.'
doozo means 'please' and yoroshiku means 'be favorable to me.'

Japanese people normally identify themselves by their family name. So, the sentence 'watakushi wa tanaka desu.' means 'My last name is Tanaka.'
When they say their full name they say their family name first and their given name last. Usually Japanese have no middle names.

Please listen to the audio part of this lesson by clicking the next word AUDIO.

In the repetition part there are pauses so you can repeat after each sentence for practice. Please speak aloud. Listening and repeating after native speaker models is the best way to learn Japanese.

I'll be back soon.

Dr. Han

My Telephone Number

mhan2@iisenglish.com (Mieko Han, Ph.D.) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:11:00 +0000

Hello, everyone! How are you today?
Let's study Japanese together.

Today's lesson is how to give your telephone number to your friend.

Miki and David are classmates. Miki is giving him her telephone number so that he can call her later. He asks if the number is her cell phone. She said it is. Her friend David tells her that he'll call her later.

Listen to the dialogue. Here is the link. Please click the word AUDIO.

Can you get Miki's number? Jot down the number. Guess the Japanese word for "cell phone." It will be very useful for you. Try imitate the dialogue.

If you are Japanese language teacher, then you can use this dialogue as a lesson, and create class activities to suit your students.

Review the previous posts for the number words, if needed.

I'll be back soon.

Dr. Han

Numbers 0, 1-10

mhan2@iisenglish.com (Mieko Han, Ph.D.) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 06:09:00 +0000

Hello, everyone! How are you today? konnichiwa! minasan, ogenki desu ka?
Let's study Japanese together. saa, isshoni nihongo o benkyoo shimashoo.

Today, we'll study numbers; the numbers 0, 1 ... 10. The number system in Japanese is rather complex, but here is the first set that is used in daily communications such as with telephone numbers, ID numbers, and room numbers and so forth.

For the word "zero" we say 'zero.'
"one" is 'ichi'
"two" is 'ni'
"three" is 'san'
"four" is 'yon'
"five" is 'go'
"six" is 'roku'
"seven" is 'nana'
"eight" is 'hachi'
"nine" is 'kyuu'
"ten' is 'juu.'

I will speak twice, first for listening, and second for repetition. Please repeat after me aloud and memorize the numbers. Please click here to connect to the audio.

I will be back soon.

Dr. Han

Greetings and Other Useful Expressions

mhan2@iisenglish.com (Mieko Han, Ph.D.) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 05:55:00 +0000

Today, let's review and practice greetings and other useful daily exchanges. I will speak each expression twice. Please make sure you repeat after me. It's important to practice aloud.

The following are the common greetings.

ohayoo gozaimasu. (Good morning.)
konnichiwa. (Hello! or Good afternoon.)
kombanwa. (Good evening.)
ja mata, or dewa mata. (Well, then, I'll see you.)
sayoonara, or sayonara. (Good-bye, or Bye!)
oyasuminasai. (Good night.)
gokigenyoo. (Farewell, Good-bye.)

The following are other useful daily exchanges.

ogenki desu ka? (Are you in good health? or How are you?)
ikaga desu ka? (How are you doing?)
okagesamade. (Thank you for asking [implying a good answer].)
genki desu. (I'm fine. or I'm in good health.)
maa maa desu. (I'm so so. or Not bad, thank you.)

Please click here to get the audio portion of this lesson.

I'll be back soon.

Dr. Han
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