Japanese High School Year Exchange- 2011

Today's lesson: Communication

2010-02-11T01:15:00.000-08:00

Mina-san, Konbanwa.

Jeremi desu.

Today's lesson: Communication.

How's the Japanese revision going, guys? Hopefully all is well!

The content of today's lesson will be based on communicating and expressing emotions.

We will learn a lot of useful verbs, and some nouns.

Yet again, this lesson is suitable for any individual willing to learn Japanese! ( Reading previous blog posts is reccomended).

Well, Gokooun o inorimasu! ( Good luck !)

Learning new vocabulary (Now integrated with sentences after each word)

To speak- Hanasu (Hanashimasu)

Hanasu- To speak

Hanashimasu- Nihongo ga hanashimasu ka?- Are you able to speak Japanese?

(Nihongo- Japanese, hanashimasu- to speak, ka- to question)

Hanasu- Eigo ga hanasu omoidashimashita- I remember speaking English.

(Eigo- English, hanasu- speak (Not at end of sentence), omoidashimashita- Present tense of the verb "to remember")

HANASU - TO SPEAK / TALK

はなす- Hanasu

To laugh- Warau (Waraimasu)

Warau (Waraimasu) - To laugh

Waraimasu- Itsumo waraimasu ka?- Do you always laugh?

(Itsumo- always, waraimasu-to laugh, ka- indicating quesiton)

Warau- Warau ga dekimasu ka?- Are you able to laugh?

(Warau-laugh, ga-connecting warau to dekimasu, dekimasu- to be able to)

WARAU / WARAIMASU- TO LAUGH

WARAU- わらう

An agreement- Kyootei, A contract- Keiyaku.

Kyootei- An agreement (typically verbal).

Keiyaku- A contract (legally binding document).

Keiyaku- Doko wa keiyaku desu ka? (Where is the contract?)

(Doko-where, wa- particle like is, keiyaku- contract, desu ka- polite indicating question)

KEIYAKU and KYOOTEI= CONTRACT and AGREEMENT.

KEIYAKU- けいやく

KYOOTEI- きょおてい

To hug- In Japanese, there is a gairaigo version of hug which is used just as much as it's Japanese counter part in a lot of situations. It's good to learn both.

Gairaigo

(Noun) Hug- Hagu

(Verb) To hug- Hagu suru

Non-gairaigo

Noun) Hug- Hoyou

(verb) Hug- Hoyousuru.

To wave- The Japanese word for waving (as in the social gesture), is Tewofuru . (The Japanese word for a physical wave is typically Nami (Think about the word Tsunami) )

I waved my hands before!- Tewofuru deshita!

Thanks for reading my bite sized lesson!

Please enjoy ;)

2010-02-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Konbanwa, Mina-san.

Jeremi Desu.

Today's lesson:

First, and foremost, I'd like to apologise for the relatively lack of activity. This is because I am only just beginning to get back into routine with high school starting back up, and all. Today's lesson will be focused on vocabulary you may find in a Japanese RPG ( Role playing game, for those of you not video game savvy) ! However, it's usefulness will be essential in any situation (specifically in a fictional / fantasy setting ; ) ). Let's move on!

Kana of the day time!:

Hiragana:

Ta-た Chi-ちTsu- つ Te-て To-と

Katakana:

Ta-タ Chi-チ Tsu-ツ Te-テ To-ト

Hack, slash and bang! (Part 1: Vocabulary)

Magic user: Mahotsukai (Maho means magic by itself. Where as Tsukau, means "to use")

Mahotsukai: Magic user

Warrior: Senshi

Senshi: Warrior

Healer: Chiryoosha (In Japanese the "y" is typically silent)

Chiryoosha: Healer

Sword: Tsurugi

Tsurugi: Sword (or perhaps in this case Aoi pikapika no Tsurugi- Blue sparkling sword. Aoi- Blue, Pikapika- To sparkle, Tsurugi- Sword)

To slash: Harau (Slash), or Kiri Haraimasu ( I am slashing). ( Haraimasu means to pay, if you don't add kiri, then it will not mean slashing).

Harau, or Kiri haraimasu= Slash, to slash.

To perform magic: Tejina o suru (Tejina means magic, Te meaning hands, and jina meaning things. (However, you should use koto when referring to things))

Tejina o suru: To perform magic.

Let's go! (Or even Let's do this!): Ikuze (Informal), or Ikimasho!

Ikuze, Ikimasho- Let's do this! (Let's go!)

Bow (As in archery): Yumi ( Archery is referred to as "Kyuudo" in Japanese).

Yumi: Bow

Arrows- Ya

Ya- Arrows

Shoot (as in from a weapon, be it gun or bow): Utsu, or Uchimasu.

Utsu! Uchimasu- Shoot! To shoot / I am shooting.

War, to be in combat: Tatakai (to fight), sensou (the noun for war), Sentoo shimasu (I am in combat).

Sentoo shimasu, sensou, tatakai: To be in battle, war, fight.

Gun: Teppo

Teppo: Gun (Utsu, and uchimasu can be used for "shoot" when referring to guns as well)

To kill: Korosu (koroshimasu).

Korosu, Koroshimasu: To kill.

Part 2: New vocabulary into phrases. (General recap)

Why are you shooting? Because they (people) are killing - Naze uchimasu ka? Karera wa koroshimasu kara.

(Naze- Why, uchimasu-to shoot, karera- they, wa-are, koroshimasu- killing, kara-because)

Arrow of moon light!- Ya no tsuki hikari!

I really like your bow. Why? Because its shooting arrows- Anata no yumi ga suki. Doshite? Ya ga utchimasu kara. (Anata no-your, yumi-bow, suki- like. Doshite- why. Ya-arrows, utchimasu- shooting, kara-because)

Let's do this!- Ikuze!

That gun is very dangerous! Don't shoot! Please!- Sono teppo wa abunai yo! Uchimasen wo kudasai! (sono-that, teppo-gun, abunai-dangerous, yo-! (exaggeration) . Uchimasen- don't shoot, wo kudasai- please.)

Sun fire slash!- Taiyou no kaji harau! (Taiyou no-sun's, kaji-fire, harau-slash).

Today's lesson: Ordering sushi (or at a Japanese establishment)

2010-01-27T18:38:00.000-08:00

Mina-san, Konbanwa.

Jeremi desu.

Today's Kana of the day:

Hiragana:
さ-Sa し- Shi す- Su せ- Se そ- So
Katakana:
サ- Sa シ- Shi ス- Su セ- Se ソ-So

Today's lesson: Ordering sushi!

Today's lesson will focus on the ability to efficiently and freely order at a Japanese outlet. Today's context will be based more around sushi, but is flexible in other areas, too. We will be learning a few general words (Such as food, drink, etc), verbs, nouns and adjectives which are relevant towards purchasing.
Let's begin!

First phase of lesson: Learning new vocabulary

Chopsticks- Ohashi
Ohashi- Chopsticks

Salmon- Sake (Pronounced exactly like the alcoholic rice beverage, but also means salmon)

Sake- Salmon

Tuna- Maguro
Maguro- Tuna

Sushi store- Sushiya ( A common name for many foreign sushi stores)

Sushiya- Sushi

Ginger- Shooga

Shooga- Ginger

Horse radish- Wasabi (Quite commonly referred to as Wasabi, even in Western nations)

Seaweed- Kaiso ( Kai meaning sea, so can refer to plant)

Kaiso- Seaweed

Napkin (Serviette)- Napukin (Yes, this word is a Gairaigo word)

Napukin- Napkin

Discounted- Waribiki

Waribiki- Discounted

To want something- Hoshii

Hoshii- To want

To sell - urimasu (uru)

Urimasu (Uru) - To sell

To buy- kaimasu (kau)

Kaimasu (kau)- To buy

Food- Tabemono (The word for Japanese food specifically is Washoku)

Tabemono- Food

Drink- Nomimono (Notice the verb to drink is "Nomimasu", adding mono makes it the verb. This is the same with Tabemono, adding mono to Taberu). Please take note that O-cha is the Japanese word for tea (which doesn't directly mean green tea, but usually is referred to green tea due to its availability in Japan).

Nomimono- Drink

Phase 2: Using learned vocabulary into formed sentences.

Are you offering discount?- Waribiki ga arimasu ka?
Waribiki- discounted, ga-particle connecting waribiki to arimasu, arimasu- to do.

This sushi store is my favourite!- Kono sushiya wa okiniiri desu.
(Kono- This, sushiya- sushi store, wa- is, okiniiri-favourite.)

I want that sushi- Sono sushi ga hoshii desu.
(Sono- that, ga-particle connecting sushi to hoshii, hoshii- want)

Ginger, please- Shooga wo kudasai.
(Shooga- ginger, wo- another particle, kudasai- please.

Ikura wa nan desu ka?

I want tuna sushi!- Maguro no sushi wa hoshii desu.
(Magura no- Tuna (posessive to sushi), hoshii-to want)

Where is the sushi store?- Doko wa sushiya desu ka?
(Doko wa- where is, sushiya- sushi store, desu ka- ??)

Thanks for reading my lesson!

Ganbatte mina-san!

Today's lesson: Common Verbs

2010-01-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-15T14:51:00.000-08:00

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.

2010-01-15T14:36:00.000-08:00

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

2010-01-11T21:53:00.000-08:00

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!

2010-01-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

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!)

Today's lesson: School based vocabulary

2010-01-08T18:31:00.000-08:00

Konnichiwa,

Jeremi desu.

I hope that you are enjoying the many posts that my blog currently has! Today's lesson will be based on school vocabulary: Japanese words related to subjects, and school related nouns.

Well, enjoy!

Today's lesson: School vocab.

We shall start off the lesson by learning, or at least looking at, the words will need to know for parts of today's lesson. After we have covered these, we will integrate them into sentences in order to refresh our memories and actually learn something. The lesson will be broken up into 2 parts. I don't want to introduce all of the vocabulary at once for fear of giving you all too much to bite off. We want to cover in today's lesson more of the essentials, the basics of school related vocabulary.

Initial vocabulary: Courses/subjects.

Lesson: Quite simple, and easy to remember: Ressun.

Mathematics: Suugaku. す-su う-u が-ga (" added to ka makes it ga, this applies to all K" e.g Ki" becomes gi) く -ku

Suugaku- Mathmatics

Chemistry - kagaku か-ka が-ga く-ku

Kagaku- Chemistry

English: Eigo え- E い- I ご- Go ( See? It's simple, adding the " changes the K to G)

Eigo- English

Japanese: Kokugo こ- Ko く- Ku ご- Go (Nihongo refers to the language itself, where as kokugo refers to Japanese literature taught in schools)

Kokugo- Japanese literature

History: Rekishi-れ-re き- ki し- shi

Rekishi- History

Physical Education: Taiiku た- Ta い- i い- i く-ku

Taiiku- Physical education

Religion: Shuukyou し-Shi ゅ- Yuう, shi and yuu combined make Shuu. き-ki ょ-yo, Ki and yo combined make kyo. う- u

Shuukyou- Religion

Geography- Chiri, ち- Chi り-Ri

Chiri- Geography

Economics- Keizai け- Ke い- i ざ-sa い-i, read as zai due to " changing the S sound to Z sound.

Keizai- Economics

Biology- Seibutsu せ- Se い- i ぶ- bu (" changes f to b) つ- tsu

Seibutsu- Biology

Physics- Butsuri ぶ- Bu つ- tsu り-ri

Butsuri- Physics

Home economics- Kadeika か- Ka て- de い- i - ka

Kadeika- Home economics

Phrases using above vocabulary

Watashi no okiniiri ressun ga Seibutsu- My favourite lesson is biology.

Naze shuukyou kiraina? Tsumaranai kara- Why do you dis like religious education? Because it's boring!. (Does this seem like a mouthful? It's not! Naze, means why, and you say at the start of the sentence. Kiraina simply means to dislike. Tsumaranai means boring. Adding kara at the end of a sentence adds "because").

Keizai ga dai suki desu ka?- Do you like Economics? (The sentence literally means "like economics?" In Japanese it's not necessary to add you into the sentence if it's implied. The ga particle simply connects Keizai, or economics, to the sentence).

Nihongo no rekishi ga furui- Japanese history is old. (Furui means old) (The no particle makes Japanese possessive to history therefore, Japanese history. It's required in Japanese.)

Kadeika ga omoshiroi desu ne- Isn't home economics quite interesting?

Suugaku ga totemo muzukashii- Mathematics is very difficult.

Butsuri ga kantan desu- Physics is easy.

School related nouns

Pen- This is a very simple translation, pen = pen in Japanese.

Pen- pen

Books- The Japanese word for book, is "hon".

Hon- book

Kokuban- Black board

Table- Another simple english - japanese translation is table, it's Japanese meaning is Teburu. There are lot of English to Japanese bastardizations made.

Teburu- Table

Isu- Chair

Heya- Room

Kurasu ruumu- Japanese word for Class Room. Another bastardization of an english term to Japanese. Quite easy to remember! (note: sometimes Ruumu is used to refer t

o a room, but to be safe, it's important to know Heya, as well.)

Door- Another foreign word imbedded in Japanese (these types of words are known as gairaigo, a foreign-origin word. (Btw the word for rainbow in Japanese is Niji) (The picture would be known as 'Niji no doa" (Rainbow door) ).

Above vocabulary used in phrases:

Ano doa no iro wa niji da yo!- That door's colour is rainbow ( iro means colour, ano is used as "that") (Rainbow is also reffered to as "Reinbo", that's its gairaigo version.).

Watashi no pen wa kara desu- My pen is empty (Kara can also mean "empty")

Watashi tachi no kurasu ruumu wa ippai desu- Our class room is full (Watashi tachi means we, add no and it becomes our).

Isu wo kudasai- Chair, please.

Teburu ga arimasu- I have a table.

(Note: Arimasu means to have something that's inanimate. Use imasu if you're referring to something that you posses, and it's animate e.g kodomo ga imasu, I have children).

Just a quick, extra addition of vocabulary! It will only take a second to revise, and as a result I didn't see a point in adding a whole section dedicated to it. Seito means pupil. Seito. Gakko. Gakko means school. Sensei can only be used as a title for a teacher. The actual word for teacher in Japanese is kyoshi. Kotogakko means highschool, therefore kotogakko no gakusei means high school student. Gakusei is a general word which means student, it is more often used than seito.

So, that's today's lesson's conclusion!

Thanks for reading!

Jeremi

Welcome to new blog followers! Article + lesson collaboration!

2010-01-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

Konbanwa, mina-san.

Jeremi desu.

nature!:

An lesson based on nature.

(Arigatou!)

I'd like to give a warm welcome to the influx of blog viewers that my blog has experienced over the past few days, your commitment is applauded! Such commitment and dedication to all things Japanese, it requires a reward, does it not? Well! Do I have a proverbial treat for you! ! I've made some major fundamental changes to my blog to make it more it much more user friedly.

What is the lesson based on today, you anxiously ask? Today's theme is nature (a beginner's lesson, everyone can join in!) As for the article? It is based on a major aspect of Japanese culture, the core aspect of Japanese beliefs, Shintoism. Ganbatte kudasai! (Please try your best!)

Anyway, on to this new user friendlyness! I've looked over my previous blog posts, and have decided to make dramatic improvements. To make my posts more interesting, I'll be incorporating more images and will be using a consistent format. I'll also now will be ranking my lessons in terms of difficulty, to gauge its intensity. (E.g beginner, intermediate, etc)

2011 Japan is dedicated to user-friendly and informative bloggin'!

Beginner's lesson: Nature.

Nature in Japan, its picturesque beauty is internationally known and sought after, truly an awe-inspiring sight. Nature is an aspect of Japan that is difficult to ignore, therefore it is important to adjust your vocabulary in such a way that nature related words is known.

The Japanese word for tree, is quite simple, but important= Ki (Pronounced key)

Ano ki wa ippai desu ne- Isn't that tree full (lush)? Ano- That, Ki-tree, ippai-full, desu ne- Isnt it.

SAKURA NO KI (Sakura- Cherry blossom, No- possesive particle)

Sakura tree.

(A quick basic gammar recap for those completely new to Japanese, or 2011 Japan: Look at the grammar of that sentence, it's Subject Object Verb ordered as opposed to English's SVO sentence structure. Note: That sentence doesn't demonstrate it too much, but the "isn't it" is at the end of the sentence. Don't worry, the grammar will come instinctively!)

The Japanese word for grass is= Kusa. (Koo-sah)

So, in a sentence:

Kusa wa midori desu ne- The grass is so green, isn't it? (Midori is Japanese for green!)

KUSA - GRASS

In many Japanese forests, moss and fungi are in abundance, it's seen as a thing of beauty in Japan. The two words are very easy to remember in collaboration, they're quite similar!

Kinrui is the Japanese word for fungi! Where as Senrui, is the Japanese word for moss!

SENRUI (MOSS!!)

KINRUI (FUNGI!)

In Japanese, the word for a path, is known as "komichi".

As you can most likely tell from the above image, paths are incorporated into Gardens quite efficiently in Japan. Hah! Silly me! We've gone quite into the lesson, and yet, we don't know an immensely important word! Garden! Which translates to Shakkei in Japanese. Write, visualise it, REMEMBER IT AND BURN IT INTO YOUR MIND. ;)

Shakkei- Garden

So we know the word for tree, what about its foilage? How could we possibly not know the word for leaf! I shall enlighten you with the Japanese word for leaf! It's.. quite complex, so brace yourselves... *breaths in* it's ha!No really, Ha means leaf, easy right?!

HA - LEAF

Mezuumi, the Japanese word for lake, interesting isn't it? I know! ( Mizu is the Japanese word for water, mezuumi seems to borrow the word for water).

Mezuumi- lake. Mizu- water.

Rocks, they're awesome aren't they? So much entertainment to be had with pet rocks!.. Err, anyway, the Japanese word for rock is Iwa.

Iwa! Rock!

Okay guys, I've been preparing you for this moment, I don't know, it's pretty intense.

The Japanese word for soil, is.... Do. (Pronounced Doh).

You couldn't possibly forget that word, could you?

Do- Soil

The Japanese word for plant, is Shokubutsu. Nothing much else to expand on here!

Shokubutsu- Plant.

Finally, our last vocabulary word we will learn today is Hana. Hana means flower in Japanese.

Sakura no hana- Sakura flower.

Thank you,

that's our lesson for today!

Article! Yaeba!

2010-01-06T19:13:00.000-08:00

Today, I have decided that I'm not just going to post a lesson, but I'm going to post an interesting article based on Japanese culture. I've decided that today's topic would be based on Yaeba: Crooked Teeth in Japan.

Japan, The land of the Red Rising Sun, and crooked teeth?!

In western nations, crooked teeth is frowned upon, and those who have them seek to adjust them as soon as possible, back to conformity. However, in Japan, this is not always the case.

Bracers are very uncommon in Japan, however dental hygiene visits are typically less frequent in Japan also. Yaeba, the state in which "wildly crooked teeth, especially when the front teeth overlap or when there's an extra tooth or two are growing out of the upper gums, are called Yaeba." (Thanks to http://www.julieinjapan.com for that definition). It's an aspect of Japanese culture which is seen as cute, and something to desire.

Gladly, bracers are beginning to become more and more popular in Japan, as dental hygiene becomes more emphasized. However, the yaeba trend in Japan is still as strong as ever. The issue is with dental awareness, as opposed to funding and resources, Japan is an immensely wealthy nation. What's your personal opinion of Yaeba? Personally, I think it's pretty kawaii, however, I believe that bracers are an essential innovation which should be used to sustain adequate dental hygiene.

2010-01-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

People's actions.

(Based on Live Mocha's lesson, lesson Unit 4, Lesson 4)

This lesson will help improve our grammar, increase our knowledge of nouns and verbs, describe the amount of people, etc! It's quite useful. I've expanded each sentence, otherwise it'd practically be just copy and paste :P.

Dareka ga janpu shiteimasu- Somebody is Jumping.

Dareka- Somebody, janpu- jump, shiteimasu-to do.

Mina ga janpu shiteimasu- Everyone is jumping.

Mina- all, janpu- jump, shiteimasu- to do.

Janpu shiteiru hito wa imasuka?- Is anybody (now) jumping?

Janpu- jump, shiteiru- to do (not at end of sentence), hito- one person (e.g From hitotsu, one),

imasuka- Now (to do).

Hai, akai shatsu wo kita otokono hito desu.- Yes, the man with the red shirt.

Hai- yes, akai-red, shatsu-shirt, wo-belonging to, kita- past tense of kiru (to wear), otokono hito-man.

Daremo janpu shiteimasen.- Nobody is jumping.

Daremo- Nobody, janpu- jump, shiteimasen- not doing.

Baggu no naka ni nanika haitteimasu- Something is in the bag.

Baggu- bag, no- possesive, naka ni- within, nanika- something, haitteimasu- to be inside.

Baggu no naka ni zenbu haitteimasu.- Everything is inside the bag.

Baggu no naka ni- within the bag, zanbu-everything, haitteimasu- is inside.

Baggu no naka ni nanimo haitteimasen.-Nothing is inside the bag.

Baggu no naka ni-within the bag, nanimo- NOTHING, haitteimasen- to not be inside.

Daremo suwatteimasen- Nobody is sitting.

Daremo- nobody, suwatteimasen- to not sit.

Daremo tatteimasen.- Nobody is standing.

Daremo-nobody, tatteimasen- to not stand.

Kiiroi tokoro to aoi tokoro ga arimasu.- Something is yellow and something is blue.

Kiiro-yellow, tokoro- something, to-and,arimasu- to be, aoi-blue.

Zenbu akai desu- Everything is red,

zenbu-everything, akai-red.

Akai mono wa arimasuka? Hai, hako desu.- Is anything red? Yes, the box.

Is anything red? Yes, the box.

Akai- red, mono- anything, arimasuka- to be. Hako- box.

Dareka ga mada oyoideimasen. Somebody is not swimming yet.

Dareka- somebody, mada- yet/may, oyoidemasen- not swimming.

Minna mou oyoideimasu- Everybody is already swimming.

Minna-all, mou-already, oyoideimasu-swimming.

Minna kuruma ni notteimasu. Everybody is in the car.

Dareka ga naiteimasu. Somebody is crying.

Dareka ga naiteite, dareka ga hohoendeimasu. Somebody is crying, somebody is smiling.

Intermediate, Weather.

2010-01-04T17:27:00.000-08:00

Konbanwa, mina-san.

Jeremi desu.

Today's lesson:

Intermediate weather! Brrr!

Before we start today's lesson, I'd like to refer you guys to an awesome, free site which helps significantly with learning Japanese, and other languages! I'm currently on it as Tenshi. www.livemocha.com . Feel free to add me!

For today's lesson, we will be learning more advanced phrases associated with the weather.

Although this topic is related to the weather, you can use these words in many contexts and you get an increased perception of Japanese grammar! Which is always a bonus!

First off, we will start off with some new nouns / adjectives / etc, and later on use these in

phrases.

Atatakai- Warm

Taiyou- Sun

Boushi- Hat

Kasa- Umbrella

Mafura- Scarf

Sunglasses- Sungarasu

Raincoat- Rein-koto

Here is an alternative way of saying "Tenki wa dou desu ka?", or "How is the weather?".

A bit of variety is useful when learning a language, it's a necessity when trying to understand others!

"Donna tenki desu ka?".

Ima wa hareteimasu- It's now fine!

Ima wa kumotteimasu- It's now cloudy

Ima wa.... - It's now (state of weather inserted here, or anything!)

Ima wa aoi desu- It's now blue!

Boushi wo kabuteimasu- Is wearing a hat

Mafura wo shiteimasu- Is wearing a scarf

Sangarasu wo kaketeimasu- Is wearing sunglasses

Rein-koto wo sashiteimasu- Is using a raincoat!

Naze rein-koto wo sashiteimasu- Why are you using a coat?

Ame ga futteimasu kara- Because it's raining!

Naze..... - Why....

....... Kara- Because.......

Kasa wo sashiteimasu- Is using an umbrella

Ame ga futteimasu kara, kasa wo sashiteimasu- Because it's raining, is using an

umbrella.

Now, I'd like to explain the grammar used in this lesson.

As you may have noticed, Japanese is very context specific.

Due to this fact, usually you can drop he,she, her, him, etc when in a situation / context which is obvious that you're referring to that person/place.

It sounds like a mouthful, but trust me, it makes Japanese insanely easier.

For example! Let's say.... Hmm... A basic example is that there are 2 people in a room, only one is wearing sunglasses. If you state "Naze sungarasu ga kaketeimasu ka?" "Why are wearing sunglasses?", it's obvious that you are referring to that individual and do not need to add "you" or "anata" into the sentence. Get it? Good :)

Study hard!

Mata ne!

2009-11-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

Weather

2009-08-10T02:19:00.000-07:00

Konbanwa, mina-san.

Jeremi desu.

Today's lesson:

Weather!and fruit?!

Unfortunately, a while back, I was writing a blog when all of a sudden my internet failed,

and so a lesson was lost, that was pretty annoying. But! I'm here to make up for that, and do a double lesson! Not only have you learnt more verbs tonight, BUT, as for a limited time ONLY (hehe ;P) you'll also learn weather and fruit terminology / language.

Let's begin with weather-based words!

Hail- Arade

Snow- Yuki

Ice- Koori

Rain- Ame

Sunny- Hareta

Cloud- Kumo

Moon- Tsuki

Sun- Taiyou

Weather- Tenki

Fog- Kiri

Thunderstorm- Raiu

Lighting- Inazuma

Thunder- Kaminari

EXAMPLE WEATHER PHRASES:

Tenki ga yoi= The weather is fine.

Ame ga futteimasu= It's raining.

Yuki ga futteimasu= It's snowing.

Shikke ga arimasu= It's humid.

Kumori desu= It's cloudy.

FRUITS

Now with the weather section of this lesson complete, we now move on to the fruits stage of this lesson! Today we will be learning how to identify fruits in Japanese, and a few taste descriptions which would go well with them!

Watermelon- Suika

Peach- Momo

Strawberry- Ichigo

Apple- Ringo

Banana- Panana

Orange- Orenji

Mango- Mango :)

Cherry- Sakuranbo

Pineapple- Painapuru

Melon- Meron

FRUIT PHRASES

This peach is very sweet- Kono momo wa totemo amai.

This lemon is very sour- Kono remon wa totemo suppai.

This is a delicious fruit!- Kono oishii kudamono

I don't like pineapple- Watashi ga Painapuru ga kiraina

I love apples!- Watashi ga ringo ga aishiteiru!

Bananas are so-so- Banana wa maamaa.

Aren't mangos beautiful?- Mango wa suteki desu ne

That watermelon doesn't look very nice- Sono suika wa amari oishii sou ja nai

Thank you for reading :)

Ja ne!

2009-08-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

Konbanwa, mina-san!

More important, and crucial every day verbs!

Hello everyone, how are you?

Mina-san konbanwa, o-genki desu ka?

Today's lesson again shall emphasise on even more useful and important verbs!

Okay!

So, let's begin!

To live (reside)- Sumu

To cry- Naku

To frown-Kao wo shikameru

To smile- Hohoemi

To perform- Okonau

To follow- Ni tsuite iku (person) Tadoru (path,route)

To lose- Nakusu (object) Ni makeru (game, arguement)

To win- Katsu

To die- Shinu

To admire- Kanshin

To pray- Inoru

To create- Tsukuru

To compose- Enso suru

To destroy- Hakaisuru

To open- aita / akeru

To join in- Sankasuru

To calculate- Keisansuru

To rest- Yasumi

To protect- Hogosuru

To observe- Kansatsu suru

To walk- Aruku (by foot) Sanposuru (pleasure, excercise)

To learn- Manabu

To jump- Tobiagaru

To sneak- Kossori hairu

To crouch- Uzukumaru

To compare- (ni) Hitteki suru

Masu is used after certain verbs, usually verbs of movement in a sentence. It cannot be used alone.

Suru is a verb meaning "to do". Combining it with certain words makes the whole thing a verb. This is usually the case with phrases that are Chinese in origin, like benkyou-suru. Benkyou itself means something like forceful application, but benkyou-suru has come to mean study.

Suru has a irregular polite form of shimasu. That's all you have to remember for that.

Suru, Narau, and Hanasu are the plain forms of the verbs. This is the form that you will find in the dictionary. You would probably use them with friends, but not with strangers or polite company.

Shimasu, Naraimasu, and Hanashimasu are the corresponding inflected polite forms.

THANK YOU FOR READING!

^^

Jeremi desu yo

2009-08-03T00:20:00.000-07:00

Konbanwa mina-san!

Jeremy desu yo!

^_^

Today's lesson....

Doushi, Doushi, Doushi! (Continuation)

Today's lesson shall be a continuation on the verbs lesson!

We learnt about ichidou and Goudan verbs,

now we are going to look more generally on verbs and learn a few

more verbs, which shall prove useful in future application!

Oyogu- To swim

Odotte- To dance

Utatte- To sing

Tatakai- To fight

Asobu- To play

Korosu- To Kill

Naosu- To heal/repair

Buratsuku- To loiter

Eru- To take (prize)

Nusumu- To steal

Noru- To ride

Shigoto- To work

Thank you for taking the time to read this listen tonight!

I hope that you guys can memorise this,

it'll prove useful! More verbs will be covered

in future!

Adjectives!

2009-07-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

Konbanwa mina-san!

Jeremy desu yo!

^_^

Today's lesson....

Adjectives!

For today's lesson, I thought that we would learn some more of the base of a language,

its adjectives! So, today we will be learning interesting adjectives in Japanese!

I personally don't know many myself and so this lesson will be awesome!

I will be using reliable, and trustworthy sources in order to gain this information on

adjectives, so don't worry!

Atleast I'll condense the information for you guys, if that's a consellation :).

Also, please don't worry about the format/structure of my blogs, I always spice it up! I'm too lazy/ an expressionist to confine myself to one format of lesson / post :P.

HOT-The adjective, atsui- means hot (as in temperature) !(E.g Atsui! It's hot, ot Boku wa atsui desu!, I'm hot!)

COLD-The adjective, samui- Means to be cold (Weather only) (E.g Samui! It's cold!)

CHEAP- The adjective, yasui- means cheap (as in cost) (E.g Kore wa yasui desu ka? Is this cheap?)

FREE- The adjective, himana- means free (as in value) (E.g, Himana desu ka?! Honto ni?! Is it free?! Really?!)

The adjective,

QUIET- The adjective, shizukana- means quiet (as in noise) (E.g Ahhh... Kore ga basho wa shizukana ne.. Ahh, isn't this a quiet place? :) )

OLD- The adjective, furui- means old (as in age) (E.g Is this an old shrine entrance? Kore wa torii wa furui desu ka?) (Use the adjective toshiyori if using towards people).

YOUNG- The adjective, wakai- means young (E.g Is this car very new? Kore ga kuruma wa totemo wakai desu ka?)

SMALL- The adjective, chiisana- means small (E.g You are very small! Anata ga totemo chiisana desu!)

BIG- The adjective, Oukii- means big (E.g Why is this area so large? Doushite kore ga basho wa oukii desu ka?)

SHORT- The adjective, hikui- means low or short ( not reffering to an individual's height) (E.g This is short! Kore wa hikui desu!)

TALL/EXPENSIVE- The adjective, TAKAI- means expensive, or high, tall. (Not reffering to heigh of individuals again) (E.g This house is so tall!, Kore ga ie wa takai desu yo! Your car is very expensive- Anata no kuruma wa totemo takai desu!)

TALL and SHORT (Height of individuals)- Just add sega infront of takai or hikui to make it refer to people.

COLD (Adjective for nouns)- The adjective, tsumetai- means cold (referring to objects/people) (E.g My sushi is cold! Watashi no sushi wa tsumetai desu!)

PRETTY- The adjective, kirei- means pretty (can refer to anything) (E.g You look very pretty! Anata ga totemo kirei desu!)

DANGEROUS- The adjective, ABUNAI- means dangerous (E.g Don't do that! It's dangerous- Sore shitemasu! Abunai desu!)

PAINFUL- The adjective, ITAI- means painful (E.g Ouch! Itai!)

SWEET- The adjective, AMAI- means sweet (E.g Mmmm... Kore ga mochi wa amai desu! Mmm.. This mochi is sweet!)

SOUR- The adjective, SUPPAI- means sour (E.g It's very sour! Totemo suppai desu!)

NOISY- The adjective, YAKAMASHII- means noisy (E.g This song is very loud! Kore ga uta wa totemo yakamashii desu!)

BUSY- The adjective, ISOGASHII- means to be busy (E.g I'm so sorry! I'm busy, Gomenosai! Watashi wa isogashii desu!)

FAMOUS- The adjective, YUUMEINa- means to be famous (E.g Is she a famous woman? Kanojo wa yuumeina onanohito desu ka?)

WOMAN/MAN- Onanohito, Otokonohito

MYSTERIOUS- The adjective, fushigina, means to be mysterious/strange (E.g Isn't it strange? Fushigina ne?)

SKILLFULL- The adjective, jyouzuna- means to be skillfull (You're english is very skillfull. Anata no eigo wa jyouzuna hanashimasu)

NOT SKILLFULL- the adjective, hetana, means to be not skillfull (I am not skillfull speaking in Japanese. Watashi no nihongo wa hetana hanashimasu)

CLOSE- The adjective, chikai- means close, or too close depending on how used emotionally (Where are the toirets? They're very close. Doko wa toireto desu ka? Karera wa totemo chikai desu!. You're too close!! Chikai!!)

LIVELY= This adjective, Nigiyakana, means lively (E.g You're very lively today!. Kyo wa anata no nigiyakana!)

RUDE= The adjective, shitsureina, means rude (How rude! Dare shitsureina!)

NO GOOD= The adjective, DAMENA, means no good ( This book is no good! Kore ga hon wa damena desu!

UNLIKEABLE- The adjective, kiraina, means unlikeable (They're quite unlikeable aren't they? Anata tachi wa kiraina desu ne?)

LIKEABLE- The adjective, sukina, means likeable

IMPORTANT- The adjective, daijina, means important (It's important that you study! Anata ga sore wa daijina benkyousuru!)

KIND= The adjectives, yasashii/shinsetsuna, both mean kind/generous

FAR / DISTANT= The adjective, tooi, means far/distant (It's too far! Tooi desu!)

BORING= The adjective, TSUMARANAI, means boring (This is so boring! Kore wa tsumaranai!)

That's it for this lesson! I hope you learned a lot of new adjectives, in order to spice up your Japanese :) Thank you for reading, and please tune in next time ;)

Joushi, Joushi, Joushi!!

2009-07-27T01:41:00.000-07:00

Konbanwa Mina-san!

Jeremi desu yo!

^_^

Joushi, Joushi, Joushi!

(Japanese particles,Japanese particles,Japanese particles!)

I hope you guys enjoyed last night's lesson as much as I did!

It was an EXTREMELY informative lesson, so if you missed it out,

I advise you to go check the previous blog right at this instance ;)

Okay...

So on today's lesson we will be focusing on Japanese particles,

their uses, meanings and applications.

First of all we will start off with the most basic of the particles, then advance in level as this post progresses, sounds good? That's great then, let's begin!

Ga が= Can be used as an identifier (identifies something which has not been specified previously, but also a conjuction (but)

Examples

Fujimi ga Oka (Fujimi Hill)

Neko ga suki. (I like cats)

Inu wa suki da ga, neko wa kirai da. ( I like dogs BUT, I have cats)

Ka か= Can be used to change a statement into a query, a statement expressing doubt, an alternative lister and can also mean wether or not (when do is added).

Examples

o-genki desu ka? (How are you?) Kore ka, sore ka? (This, or that?) Iku ka/ [do ka] wakarinai (I don't know / wether or not he'll go)

Kai (かい)= kai* is a gentler and masculine variant of the question marker ka.*

Mo (も)= Mo means "also" or "as well", it always replaces the other particles wa and ga, but can follow others.

Anata mo ninja shinjimasu ( You also believe in ninja)

Ni (に)= To in, by, at is its literally translation. It is used for indirect objects and for instructions.

Examples

Watashi ga ega ni ikimasu= I'm going to see a movie

Watashi ga sono ie ni = I am at the house.

Watashi ga kudasai koto ni agemasu= Please give me that thing. ( Reinforces thing, Indirect object)

Ni wa (には)= Can mean "for, or in to". The "wa" part of it demonstrates the topic particle.

Examples

Shichimi wa, watashi ni wa kara-sugiru- Shichimi is way to spicy for me

Nihon ni wa totemo sugoi hana ga aru= In Japan there are awesome flowers.

no (の)= possession indicator, noun link, topic marker (subordinate clauses), nominalization. When nominalizing whole phrases, the no may function either as emphasis or as a question, depending on tone of voice

sensei no kuruma= The teacher's car
Kuruma no Nissan= Nissan cars (linking)
Yasui no wa, kore.= This one, is cheaper.
Taberu no ga daisuki.= I love eating

Node (ので)= Translates to because.

Tesuto ga aru no de, ikenai.= Because I have a test, I cannot go.

Nomi (のみ)= Translates to "only" or "just"

Watashi ga ni neko nomi arimasen deshita= I didn't のみ (only) have 1 cat before

no ni (のに)= Means literally "Although, despite, would have, in order to"

Benkyō shiteiru no ni, eigo ga hanasenai.= Even though I'm studying, I can't speak English.

Hikkosu no ni torakku ga hitsuyō da.= In order to move, you need a truck.

O (を)= "Through, form, past (motion verbs only)". This particle functions as a direct object.

Neka ga esa o tabeta= The cat ate the food.

Shi (し)= Translates as "and what's more" (it's a conjunction).

Kawaii da shi, sugoi da shi, kono konpyuta!= It's cute, it's awesome, this computer!

dokoro ka= Translates to: "anything but, far from"

Kare wa keisatsukan dokoro ka, hanzaisha da.= He's far froming being a policeman, he's a criminal.

de= means " by means of"
Jitensha de ikimashō.= Let's go by bycicle.

Okay, that's it for tonight's lesson!
There are plenty more particles, and I shall go over them most likely tommorow :D

2009-07-26T01:57:00.001-07:00

Konbanwa Mina-san!

Jeremi desu yo!

^.~

Today's lesson= Doushi! Doushi! Doushi! (Verbs, verbs, verbs!)

BONUS: Sentence Structure!

Minasan, o-genki desu ka? (Everyone, how are you?)

Genki desu! (I'm good!)

Hisashiburi desu ne! (It's been a long time)

Gomenosai ! (I'm sorry :()

Yeah sorry guys for not posting a blog post in a while,

up until now my internet had changed to dial-up so this site was virtually innaccessible, it sucked!

But aha!

I would never let you guys down! I'm back, and better than ever! I thought that we would do something very useful, learning verbs! (doushi)

One of the characteristics of the Japanese language is that the verb generally comes at the end of the sentence. Since Japanese's sentences often omit the subject, the verb is probably the most important part in understanding the sentence. However, Verbs forms are considered to be difficult to learn. The good news is the system itself is rather simple, as far as memorizing certain rules. Unlike the more complex verb conjugation of other languages, Japanese verbs do not have a different form to indicate the person (first-, second, and third-person), the number (singular and plural), or gender.

In Japanese, there are two types of verbs, the Godan verbs and the Ichidan verbs.

These two group of verbs do have there differences.

Goudan verbs end with ~u.

Where as Ichidan verbs end with ~iru, or ~eru.

There are some exceptions to this rule, however, which I will go through.

There is also a third verb group known as the irregular verb group,

only containing the two verbs, kuru (to come) and suru (to do).

The verb "suru" is probably the most often used verb in Japanese. It is used as "to do," "to make," or "to cost". It is also combined with many nouns (of Chinese or Western origin) to make them into verbs. These examples will be shown later.

Okay, firstly, Goudan verbs!:

hanasu （話す） - to speak
kaku （書く） - to write
kiku （聞く） - to listen
matsu （待つ） - to wait
nomu （飲む） - to drink

And here are the exceptions for the goudan-verbs:

hairu （入る） - to enter
hashiru （走る） - to run
iru （いる） - to need
kaeru （帰る） - to return
kagiru （限る） - to limit
kiru （切る） - to cut
shaberu （しゃべる） - to chatter
shiru （知る） - to know

Group 2 verbs, Ichidan-

kiru （着る） - to wear
miru （見る） - to see
okiru （起きる） - to get up
oriru （降りる） - to get off
shinjiru （信じる） - to believe
akeru （開ける） - to open
ageru （あげる） - to give
deru （出る） - to go out
neru （寝る） - to sleep
taberu （食べる） - to eat
The verb "suru" is probably the most often used verb in Japanese. It is used as "to do," "to make," or "to cost". It is also combined with many nouns (of Chinese or Western origin) to make them into verbs. Here are some examples.
benkyousuru （勉強する） - to study
ryokousuru （旅行する） - to travel
yushutsusuru （輸出する） - to export
dansusuru （ダンスする） - to dance
shanpuusuru （シャンプーする） - to shampoo
<<>>

In Japanese sentences are structed SOV (Subject Object Verb)
Sometimes the subject is just implied in Japanese and is not actually used.
This occurs if:
The subjects been told already in a previous sentence,
Or it's just so obvious that you wouldn't need to know the subject.
Unlike in English, there are particles in Japanese.
In Japanese particles usually establish the subject, or objective and give it sense.
In Japanese all adjectives end with i.

MASU - for present tense
MASHITA - for past tense
MASEN - for present negative
MASEN DESHITA - for past negative

Thank you for reading this lesson!
This lesson is EXTREMELY important, so
if you've taken it in, wow! You're Japanese
will really really improve!

Omedetto gozaimasu! (Congratulations!)

Human anatomy

2009-07-01T23:46:00.000-07:00

Konbanwa mina-san!

Jeremi desu yo!

Human anatomy lesson!

Today's lesson will be about the words which are used for body parts, the human anatomy! Okaaay, so let's begin by learning some of the basic words for certain parts of the body! (Sorry for the overdue blog, have been so busy lately with school and working lately :) )

The best way to memorise the following words is to point to the part of your body which corresponds to that word, you memorise it really quickly that way!

Head- Atama.

Eye- me

Nose- Hana

Lips- Kuchibiru (Or, mouth, which is just kuchi)

Face- Kao

Eyelash- Matsuge

Eyebrow- Mayu

Eyelid- Mabuta

Ear- Mimi

Forehead- Hitai

Teeth- Ha

Tongue- Shita

Jaw- Ago

Neck- Kubi

Shoulder- Kata

Arm- Ude

Elbow- Hiji

Hand- Te

Finger- Yubi

Nail- Tsume

Chest- Mune

Back- Senaka

Stomach- Onaka

Foot, leg- Ashi

Knee- Hiza

Ankle- Ashikubi

Heel- Kakato

Toe- Tsumasaki

Make an activity out of memorising these words, make sure to use repetiton and gestures to quickly remember all of these useful words! I learned these words in about 10 minutes by doing this! It's an amazing method, even if it does make you feel like your at kindergarten again!

Ja mata!

Jeremi desu yo!

Sickness and Flus

2009-06-24T22:08:00.001-07:00

Kombanwa mina-san!

Jeremi desu yo!

Sickness! (Beginner)

Ahhh *cough*, do I really have to blog? *sniff* I shall do it for the loyal viewers!

Todays lesson will be a lesson in the Japanese language regarding

everything about sickness! It contains everything you simply

need to know about Japanese phrases and words regarding sickness, medical issues, about how well you feel and your wellbeing etc.

I thought that this time of the month *cue evil music*, the flu infestation time, *evil music stops* would be the ideal time to learn about phrases relevant towards sickness! Of course, now in Japan, it's not winter, quite the opposite,

but in the souther hemisphere (where this blogger originates from :D) it indeed is!

I'm, unfortunately, sick myself, and so have been plagued from sickness's wrath :(

But, I continue to blog on! No virus shall keep me at bay from blogging!

Let's start off simply with phrases which are more related to how one feels!

O-genki desu ka?- Are you well? (How are you?)

genki desu!- I'm well!

Kibun ga ikaga desu ka?- How do you feel?

Kibun ga warui desu :( - I feel bad :(

OR, kimochi ga warui desu- I feel ill

Genki is a word which literally means "good", so by adding the questioning particle "ka" and the structure particle "desu" after this word, you get a question regarding how well somebody is! Please note that the "o-", in this case, is necessary for the question version (e.g o-genki desu ka?), but not for the aswering version or reply (e.g genki desu!). Warui is a word which means "ill, bad". Kibun literally means "perceptual feelings", and so by adding the questioning structure to it, and "ikaga", you get a question which relates to how somebody feels physically. Also, "ikaga", is just simply a formal version of "how is it", instead of o-genki, or dou. Kimochi literally means "feeling", or "sensation", so by saying kimochi ga warui desu, you are stating that you feel ill.

Moving on to the more specific sickness feelings, symptoms, general hospital help!

Netsu ga arimasu!- I have a fever!

Isha wo yonde kudasai- Please call the doctor

Tasukete kudasai- Please help

Yoku nari mashita!- I feel much better!

Noda ga itamimasu- I have a sore throat.

Hakike ga suru!- I feel nauseated!

Kaze wo hikimashita!- I have a cold!

Seki ga tomarimasen- I can't stop coughing

Tsukaremashita!- I'm tired!

Zutsu ga suru- I have a head ache!

Wow! I'm sorry for letting out those slightly higher level phrases!

I shall justify them all at once :)

Netsu ga arimasu- Netsu means fever, ga is another version of wa (used in situations where you're talking about what you have), arimasu simply means I have.

Isha wo yonde kudasai- Isha, meaning doctor, wo meaning of, yonde, meaning call, kudasai meaning please.

Tasukete kudasai- Tasukete meaning help, kudasai meaning please.

Yoku nari mashita!- Yoku meaning well, narimashita meanings becoming

Noda ga itamimasu- Noda meaning throat, ga meaning is, and itamimasu being the pain version of I have (itai means pain, arimasu means to have).

Hakike ga suru!- Hakike meaning nauseation, ga meaning is, suru means to be.

Kaze wo hikimashita- Kaze meaning sickness, wo meaning of, hikimashita meaning to have.

Seki ga tomarimasen- Seki meaning cough, ga meaning is, tomarimasen means to not stop.

Tsukaremashita- Tsukare, to be tired, mashita to be.

Zutsu ga suru- I have a head ache!

Thank you for reading lesson number 3!

I promise to make a more detailed lesson next time, kibun ga warui desu yo :(. Kimochi ga warui desu yo!

This lesson was paticularly vocab intensive, and so will require a lot of revision :)

Arigato!

Ja mata!

Japanese lesson number 2, pronouns

2009-06-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

Kombanwa mina-san! Good evening everyone!

Jeremi Desu Yo! It's Jeremy!

O-genki desu ka? How are you?

Prrroooonouns!

Welcome to lesson number, 2!

In this Japanese lesson we'll be going over, an essential aspect

of any language, pronouns!

This lesson won't be as long, I can hear much sighs of relief as I say this,

hehe ^^

We touched slightly on pronouns in the previous lesson, but I'd really just like

to clarify and expand on pronouns.

In order to say "I.." You'd say "Watashi...".

In order to say "My..", You'd say "Watashi no...".

What does the "no" do, exactly?

"No" is a possesive particle, and so changes

pronouns accordingly.

To say "You" You'd say "Anata...."

In order to say "Your",

you just need to add the possesive particle "no",

so, like this, "Anata no".

To say "We.." You'd say "Watashi tachi..."

To say "us", you need to add the possesive particle so it would be "Watashi tachi no"

Tachi is a word which helps to make a sentence plural.

So, to say "You (plural)" you'd say "Anata tachi" (It's sort of like saying "You guys...")

Ok, and so , can you guess how we would say, our, then?

Yes, you'd say "Watashi tachi NO...",

because "our" requires the possesive particle "no"

Now, moving on to gender specific pronouns!

To say "He", we'd say "Kare",

of course to make this into "His" we need to add

a possesive particle so, "Kare no".

To say "She", we'd say "Kanojo",

likewise to make this into "Hers" we need to add

another possesive particle, so, "Kanojo no"

Arigatou gozaimashita! (Thank you very much!)

I hope you enjoyed that lesson, there's hundreds on the way!

Oyasuminasai! (Goodnight)

Jeremi desu yo

1st lesson on my blog!- Basic introductions

2009-06-20T17:58:00.000-07:00

Website Design, Website Development, Shopping Carts, Content Management Systems, Custom Programming, Custom Applications

Konnichiwa mina-san! Good day everyone!

Jeremi desu yo! It's jeremy!

Biiig lesson!

Basic introduction,numbers and pronounciation!

This is a histroic moment for 2011japan.blogspot.com, for today, the 1st ever Japanese lesson shall be posted! I'll make sure to create some audio for it on my youtube channel, JeremiDesuYo, !

"So, what exactly shall mark this great occasion, which words and useful phrases will we learn?"

Is the question I can mostly certainly hear in your focused minds. Well! We'll be learning useful, yet simple, introduction phrases and related words! Yea!

But before I place this big weight of responsibility on you guys,

we shall go over the prounciation laws of Japanese!

a = as in father	A-sa-ku-sa -- Tokyo place
i = as in eat	Ni-hon-ba-shi -- Tokyo place
u = as in food or zoo	U-e-no – Tokyo place
e = as in end	E-do – name of Tokyo before 1868
o = as in Ohio	O-cha-no-mi-zu – Tokyo place

The consonant sounds are:

k = as in cat

A-ka-sa-ka – Tokyo place

g = as in gourd

Gin-za – Tokyo place

s = as in Sue

E-bi-su – Tokyo place

sh = as in seashore

Shi-ta-ma-chi – Tokyo area

z = as in zoo

Zen

j = as in Jack

San-gen-ja-ya – Tokyo place

t = as in tick

To-ra-no-mon – Tokyo place

ts = this is one of the tricky ones; thinktsetse fly.

Tsu-ki-ji – Tokyo place

ch = as in chicken

Chi-yo-da – Tokyo place

n = as in new

Ni-hon – “Japan”

h = as in have

Ha-ra-ju-ku – Tokyo place

f = another slightly tricky one; think of “who” with an f sound

Fu-ji-san – Mt. Fuji

b = as in Boeing

O-da-i-ba – Tokyo place

p = as in party, pea, Poe

I-p’pon-ba-shi – Tokyo place

m = as in mama

Ma-ru-no-u-chi – Tokyo place

ya = as in yahoo, yeoman,

Ya-su-ku-ni – Tokyo shrine

r = the trickiest one – more like a “d” than an “r” (as in a British butler saying “very good, madam”) **

Ro-p’pon-gi – Tokyo place

w = as in wander

Su-mi-da-ga-wa – Sumida River

(Thank you http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~bestor/easy_pronunciation.htm for this useful grid!)

As you can probably tell, the rules of prounciation are similiar to those of Maori, or Samoan.

Except in Japanese, the G is not pronounced as a "gnah", err, yeah, you get what I mean.

Yes! That's correct! Japanese is indeed easy to pronounce! Especially in comparison to Chinese, boy, that's a mouthful.

So, anyway!

Back to the Japanese lesson of introduction!

Okay, let's start off simply here.

To say, my name is...

you'd say "Watashi no nomae (name)...."

Try it! Watashi no nomae Jeremi!

Let's break this down...

Watashi- The word for I,

No- the possesive particle (similiar to ')

Nomae- The word for name.

That's easy, wasn't it?

Please beware, that the grammar does get insanely different later on.

Okay, to say where you come from the phrase "...... kara kimashita" is essential!

(kara meaning from)

For example, "Nyujirando kara kimashita", would mean "I come from New Zealand!".

In order to state your age you would say, the number followed by "...sai desu"

E.g. Jyuu roku sai desu (I'm 16)

(sai meaning age, desu means it's)

Wait, wait, numbers?!

Don't worry, Japanese numbers are simple!

Here we go, count along!:

1- Ichi 20- Ni jyuu (2-10)

2- Ni 30- San Jyuu (3-10)

3- San 40- Shi Jyuu (4-10)

4- Shi 50-100 is the same logical structure, easy isn't it?

5- Go 23- Ni jyuu san (2-10-3)

6- Roku 34- San jyuu shi (3-10-4)

7- Hichi 45- shi jyuu go (4-10-5)

8- Hachi All other numbers with multiple digits follow this structure, too!

9- Kyuu 100- Hyaku (100)

10- Jyuu 200- Ni Hyaku (200)

300- San Hyaku (300)

324- San Hyaku ni jyuu shi

1,000- One thousand

Easy, isn't it?!

Exactly!

Okay, back to introductions,

to say "My hobbies are..."

You'd say "Watashi no shumi wa..."

(Watashi, I, No, possesive, Shumi, hobby, wa, is)

Followed by the hobbies!

Some examples of verbs/hobbies are-

Odotte- dancing, uta-singing, computaa- computering,

hashire- running, etc (We'll cover more verbs in another lesson)!

So, "watashi no shuma wa odotte to hashire"

Would be, "my hobbies are dancing and running"

(Oh, "to" means and, btw)

Now, lets move on to our language abillities in an introduction!

How do you say "I speak some Japanese and fluent english"?

Here we go !:

"Watashi no chotto nihongo wo hanshimasu"- I speak some Japanese

(Watashi, I, No, possesive, chotto, some, nihongo, Japanese, hanashimasu, speak, wo particle belonging to speak)

So, therefore "Watashi no eigo wo hanashimasu" is I speak english (Fluently)!

(Eigo meaning english, chotto was taken out because we know more than some english, and nihongo was taken out because we're not fluent in Japanese ;P)

Activity!

So, can you introduce your self now?

My introduction would be:

Konnichiwa, mina-san! Watashi no nomae Jeremi desu! Watashi wa jyuu roku sai desu!

Nyuujirando kara kimashita! Watashi no chotto nihongo wo hanashimasu, to, watashi no eigo wo hanashimasu! Watashi no shumi wa computaa to nihongo!

Thank you for viewing this lesson!

If you've read through this big block of text,

you're learning Japanese really well!

Awesome!

Please tune in for next time, (it'll be not as long next time, I promise! (,yakusoku!))

Ja Mata!

Welcome to my blog!- Introduction

2009-06-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Kombanwa mina-san! Good evening all!

Boku wa Jeremi desu! I'm Jeremy!

Welcome to my new blog dedicated towards my future exchange to Japan, for a whole year in 2011, the 28th March! This will be quite an exciting moment, one that that will be a life changing, culture immersive, and simply awesome experience! Because my exchange will be such an exciting event, I wouldn't want anyone to not experience it themselves. So, "How will I do this?" I thought... I got it! A blog. A blog will allow me to post diaries of my daily and weekly occurances of my life in Japan!

"So, why are you setting this up now, then?" I can hear reverberating throughout many of your intentive minds. Well, simply because the preparation for the exchange, will just be nearly as exciting! Fundraising, Japanese language learning, learning about Japan's culture etc etc will all be interesting aspects of this preparation process! This blog will be updated weekly, sometimes even more than that with useful tads of information about Japanese language, culture, and my fundraising processes~! Won't this be awesome? Yes! It will be ;) . I'll also make this blog as interactive as possible, posting polls, videos, competitions and other interesting and immersive activities!

I have recently set-up my youtube channel, JeremiDesuYo, in preparation for all of the video creations! There are a few videos on there right now regarding Japan, check them out!

During my exchange, I'll be posting many video diaries of my life in Japan, even taking videos of my Japanese school and friends, places of interests, exciting events and festivals in Japan etc!

I'll be taking advantage of this channel before I go too!, I'll try and get a video recorder asap to make it as interesting as humanly possible ;)

You want to know more about me, you say? Sure! I'm Jeremy, I'm 16 and I currently go to a college called Bishop Viard College, which is located in Porirua, New Zealand. Yep, I'm a kiwi, heh. My exchange will be taking place through the awesome high school year exchange programme, E.F. highschool year exchange ( visit www.ef.com for more information, and if you're interested in partaking in an exchange to almost any nation!).Raising the funds to go, may take some effort, but I've already raised atleast half of the required funds so far and have been accepted into the programme (with flying colours, I might add ;P), so it's inevitable that I'll be going! How will I be raising the excess money? Fundraising and part-time work (which you will frequently be updated of!).

So, if you want to learn the elegant, and awesome language of Japanese with me,

experience Japan itself, learn of Japan's interesting culture, and simply be involved in an exciting experience, then, this is the blog to frequently visit!

In order to get be frequently aware to remember this intriguing blog ;),

please bookmark this page ;)

Arigatou gozaimasu, mina-san! Thank you, everyone!

Please look out for my next interesting and intriguing post,

Ja mata!

(See you later!)

Japanese High School Year Exchange- 2011

Today's lesson: Communication

Today's lesson: Ordering sushi (or at a Japanese establishment)

Today's lesson: Common Verbs

A note to my students, Hiragana and katakana

Space, The final frontier.

Today's lesson: Clothing

At the market!

Today's lesson: School based vocabulary

Welcome to new blog followers! Article + lesson collaboration!

Article! Yaeba!

Intermediate, Weather.

Weather

Adjectives!

Joushi, Joushi, Joushi!!

Kai (かい)= kai is a gentler and masculine variant of the question marker ka.

Examples

no (の)= possession indicator, noun link, topic marker (subordinate clauses), nominalization. When nominalizing whole phrases, the no may function either as emphasis or as a question, depending on tone of voice

no ni (のに)= Means literally "Although, despite, would have, in order to"

dokoro ka= Translates to: "anything but, far from"

de= means " by means of"

Human anatomy

Sickness and Flus

Japanese lesson number 2, pronouns

1st lesson on my blog!- Basic introductions

Welcome to my blog!- Introduction

Kai (かい)= kai* is a gentler and masculine variant of the question marker ka.*