Here are some “Noun” adjectives:
Kirei きれい (Pretty remember this is a exception it ends in “i” but is a “noun” adjective)
genki げんき (good health)
jyoubu じょうぶ (strong)

Here is how to use the “noun” type adjective.
These are strong socks.
kore wa jyoubu na kutsushita desu.
これはじょうぶなくつしたです。

kore これ (this but in this case these), wa は (topic marker), jyoubu じょうぶ (strong), na な (I’ll explain this in the next paragraph), kutsushita くつした (socks), desu です (are).

When you use a “noun” adjective, you after to put “na” な after the adjective.
Example:
Pretty girl.
kirei na onna no hito desu.
きれいなおんなのひとです。

Now to join to “noun adjectives together you put “de” で in between.
She is a pretty and a kind woman.
kanojo wa kerei de yasashii onna no hito desu.
かのじょはきれいでやさしいおんなのひとです。

kanojo かのじょ (she), wa は (topic marker),  kirei きれい (pretty) de で (and, used to connect nouns and noun adjectives. It is ”te”　て form of ”desu” です but more about that in another lesson) yasashii やさしい (kind “i” い Adj.)  onna no hito おんなのひと (woman) desu です (is).

You can also say:
The girl is pretty and kind.
kanojo wa kirei de yasashii desu.
かのじょはきれいでやさしいです。

Now for the negative version of noun adjectives you add “de wa arimasen” ではありません just like you do with a noun. As well here the hiragana “ha” は is used for “wa”.
Example:
That girl in not pretty.
Sono onna no hito wa kirei de wa arimasen.
そのおんなのひとはきれいではありません。

Now for the negative past tense you add:
dewa arimasen deshita.
ではありませんでした。
Example:
That person was not healthy.
ano hito wa genki dewa arimasen deshita.
あのひとはげんきではありませんでした。

This is just the basic idea of this and is very difficult to learn so practice changing the tenses of these adjectives and you will do fine.

Ganbatte kudasai!

In this lesson I will introduce adjective conjugation. This does not exist in English in they way it does in Japanese. It is very important that your learn this, as is it is used all the time.
In Japanese there are two main kinds if adjectives. To make it easy to learn I will briefly explain what they are called. One is called “i” い adjectives as they end in “i” い and the others are called noun adjectives, as they conjugate like regular nouns in Japanese. More on noun adjectives in a future lesson. There are some exceptions to this and I will explain one of them in this lesson.

This lesson will focus on the “i”い type of adjectives.
Here are some “i” い adjectives:
ookii (big)　おおきい
chiisaii (small)　ちいさい
akai (red) あかい
samui (cold)　さむい
atsui (hot)　あつい
tsumetai (cold used for things like water) つめたい

IMPORTANT NOTE: The word “kirei” きれい is the word “pretty” and it ends in “i”い , however this is not a “i” いtype adjective, it is an exception so learn this right away, it is a “noun type” and I will explain more about this in the next lesson.

Here is how to use “i” い type.
This is a big apple.
kore wa ookii ringo desu.
これはおおきいりんごです。
kore これ (this), wa は (subject marker), ookii おおきい (big), ringo りんご (apple), desu です (is).

Now to say  ”this is a big red apple.” you put “ookii” おおきい and “akai” あかい together but you can not just put them together. There is a rule. You have to take the last “i” い off “ookii” おおきい or the “i” い on all other “i” い type adjectives and put in “kute” くて like this:
“ookikute”　おおきくて
So then the sentence will become:
kore wa ookikute akai ringo desu.
これはおおきくてあかいりんごです。

You can also say:
This apple is big and red.
kono ringo wa ookikute akai desu.
このりんごはおおきくてあかいです。

To negate the adjective you take the “i” い away and add “kunai” くない.
Example:
Vocab: “hon” ほん is “book”.
First a simple example sentence
This book is expensive.
kono hon wa takai desu.
このほんはたかいです。

so to  say:
This book is not expensive.
you say:
kono hon wa takakunai desu.
このほんはたかくないです。

Or you can say:
This is a non expensive book.
kore wa takakunai hon desu.
これはたかくないほんです。 

For the past tense version of the adjective you take the “i” い away and add “katta”　かった.
Example:
Vocab “kinou” きのう “yesterday”.
Yesterday was cold.
kinou wa samukatta desu.
きのうはさむかったです。 

Then to say the past ”was not” you take away “i” い from the negative form and add “nakatta”なかった.

Example
Yesterday was not cold.
kinou wa samukunakatta desu.
きのうはさむなかったです。

This is just a basic explanation of this concept and it is a very difficult part of Japanese to learn. So practice these by changing the tenses of these adjectives and you will do fine. In the next lesson I will teach the noun types which are easier and they work in a way you probably already know.

Ganbatte kudasai.

Karaoke

Karaoke is one of the most popular pass times in Japan. It is also very popular outside of Japan. The word Karaoke is made up of two words. The word “Kara” meaning empty And  “oke” short for orchestra. So the term literally means “Empty Orchestra”. Karaoke is where people sing their favourite songs with recorded music accompaniment. Usually the lyrics are displayed on a monitor. In Japan people sing Karaoke at Karaoke boxes which is a room you can rent to sing songs, drink and eat. Karaoke can also be found at bars and many other places.  Karaoke started to boom in the min 1970′s when karaoke machines first came on sale. If you get the chance try Karaoke out!

That is the basic sentence pattern.
Now if you want to say where you bought the apple we use the particle ‘de’ で to mark the place where you did something. There is another use of this particle “de” で which will be explained in a future lesson.
Example:
Watashi wa yaoya de ringo o kaimashita.
わたしはやおやでりんごをかいました。
I bought a apple at the vegetable shop.

Ritsuko san wa kutsuya de kutsu o kaimshita.
りつこさんはくつやでくつをかいました。
Ritsuko bought shoes at the shoe store.
kutsuya くつや (shoe store), de で (at), kutsu くつ (shoes) o を (particle), kaimashita かいました (bought).

You can even add the counter we learned before to say how many things you bought.
Watashi wa yuubinnkyoku de kitte o yonmai kaimashita.
わたしはゆうびんきょくできってをよんまいかいました。
I bought 4 stamps at the post office.
Watashi  わたし (I), wa は (topic marker) yuubinkyoku ゆうびんきょく (post office), de で (at), kitte きって (stamp), o を  (particle), yonmai よんまい (four, counter for flat things) kaimshita かいました (bought).

Negative form.
For now I will not teach the negative form of the verbs, because I will dedicate a lesson to the forms of verbs that will include this in a future lesson.

That is the basic pattern so practice these forms and change the vocabulary to practice these!

Ganbatte kudasai!

These two verbs are direction verbs and the particle that is used to show where the action is going which is similar to the English word “to” is “e” へ. When used in writing you use the hiragana for “he”へ. Also just a reminder is that subject marker particle “wa” は is written with hiragana “ha” は.

Here are some example sentences to get started off.
Ritsuko goes to the store.
Ritsuko san wa mise e ikimasu.
りつこさんはみせへいきます。
Ritsuko san りつこさん (a girl’s name), wa は (subject marker), mise みせ (store), e へ (to), ikimasu いきます (go).

That is the basic pattern. Here is a formula for it. All you do is substitute peoples names and the location names. Try to memorize and practice this pattern:
(name of person or object moving) wa は (place going to)e ikimasu いきます.
That is the basic sentence structure. Unlike english you don’t have to worry about 1st or 2nd person verb conjugation like “I go” or “she goes”.

To say “went”  you change “ikimasu” いきます to“ikimashita” いきました.”mashita” ました is the polite past tense. (In future lessons the rules behind verb conjugation will be explained)

Example:
Ritsuko went to the store.
Ritsuko san wa mise e ikimashita.
りつこさんはみせへいきました。

“kimasu”  is exactly the same.
Hiroshi will come to the flower store.
Hiroshi san wa hanaya e kimasu.
ひろしさんははなやへきます。
Hiroshi san ひろしさん (Boys Name), wa は (subject marker), hanaya はんや (flower shop), e へ(to) kimasu きます (come).

So to say:
I came to the flower store.
watashi wa hanaya e kimashita.
わたしははなやへきました。

So it works exactly the same as in “ikimasu” いきます.

More information on verbs.
The verbs taught so far are in polite “masu” ます form. The masu ます form is the present and future tense like “I will go” as in ikimasu いきます.
The past tense for verbs in the masu ます form is mashita ました.
Like ”I went” which is ikimashita いきました as explained above. But what about the negative? That is easy too. Masu ます becomes masen ません . For example “I will not go” which is ikimasen いきません. The past negative form is “masen deshita” ませんでした. For example “I did not go”ikimasen deshita いきませんでした . These rules are true for all verbs in the masu ます form.

These are some easy basic motion verbs. I will expand on these in future lessons and then introduce another form a verb that uses the object particle “o” を .
Ganbatte!

Sakura

April is the time for Hanami! Hanami is when the Japanese People go out to enjoy Sakura!
Sakura are Japanese Cherry blossoms. When they bloom they don’t last very long, so people go out to enjoy them for the short time that they are in bloom. People will go and eat and drink sake (Japanese rice whine) and enjoy the sakura this is called Hanami which means looking at flowers. Sakura is very important in Japan and close to the Japanese heart that comes from the short life of a sakura no hana. There is Buddhist imagery in sakura which is there is no permanence to life, like the short life of the blossoms and the fact that they will come back again next year. So when in Japan in April please enjoy the sakura!

“isu no shita ni hon ga arimasu.”
いすのしたにほんがあります。
Under the chair there is a book.
Isu いす (chair) no shita ni のしたに (underneath) hon ほん (book).

There rest are used in the same way with  (place) no の (position) ni  に.
Also remember to make sure you use “imasu” います and “arimasu” あります correctly.

Now here is a little question and answer dialog using these forms below.
Vocab: neko ねこ - cat, doko どこ - where, tsukue つくえ - desk, hon ほん -book.
neko wa doko ni imasu ka.
ねこはどこにいますか。
Where is the cat?
neko wa tsukue no shita ni imasu.
ねこはつくえのしたにいます。
The cat is under the desk.

.anata no hon wa doko ni arimasu ka.
あなたのほんはどこにありますか。
Where is your book?

watashi no hon wa isu no ue ni arimasu.
わたしのほんはいすのうえにあります。
My book is on the chair.

Negative Examples
The cat is not under the table.
neko wa tsukue no shita ni wa imasen.
ねこはつくえのしたにはいません。

Notice how wa は is added after ni に.
More about this detail in a future lesson.

My book is not on the chair.
Watashi no hon wa isu no ue ni wa arimasen.
わたしのほんはいすのうえにはありません。

 This lesson’s Counter

This Counter is for counting birds. It used the counter wa.

1 bird ichiwa
2 birds niwa
3 birds sanba
4 birds yonwa
5 birds gowa
6 birds rokuwa
7 birds shichiwa
8 birds hachiwa
9 birds kyuwa
10 birds jippa
How many birds. nanba

Good Luck!

Here is an example of using imasu .
There are people over there.
“Asoko ni hito ga imasu”.
あそこにひとがいます。
hito ひと is people or person.

Here are some examples using distance words and numbers.
There are 2 cats in the garden.
“niwa ni neko ga nihiki imasu”
にわにねこがにひきいます。
Niwa にわ is garden and neko ねこ is cat.
More about “nihiki” にひき in the this lesson’s section on counting.

Now here is one making a question using “ka” か at the end.
Where is John?
“Jyo-nsan wa doko ni imasu ka”
ジョーンさんはどこにいますか。

Negative of form.
Similar to the negative form of arimasu あります, the negative form of imasu います  is imasen　いません.
Example.
There are no people over there.
asoko ni hito wa imasen.
あそこにひとはいません。
Again note how ga が changes to wa は.

New Counter
Once again practice your hiragana by converting the romaji to hiragana for these counters.
This week counters for small animals using suffix “hiki” ひき.

1- ippiki
2- nihiki
3- sanbiki
4-yonhiki
5- gohiki
6- roppiki
7- nanahiki
8- happiki
9- kyuhiki
10- jippiki
How many- nanbiki

Ganbatte!

When you first take a train in Japan it can be a bit scary the first time if you can’t speak or read Japanese. I will try to give you a basic explaination of how to use the train in Japan. Once you do it once or twice you will be fine! First you must find out what train you want to take and how much it will cost. Trains stations “eki” 駅 will have a big schedule near the ticket machines that show the trains route and how much it will cost. Also close by there will be a time chart showing you the time of the trains. The picture on the left is an example of the route schedule that shows you the prices.

Once you know the price you now have to buy the ticket. You will buy the ticket form the ticket machine. You can put in Japanese bills or coins. Once you put the money in, the buttons will light up and all you have to do is press the button for your destination or price to your final destination. Your ticket and change will come out and you are set. If you need to buy a bullet train ticket or have trouble with the machine you can go to the “Green Window”. You can ask them for help and buy tickets from them as well. On the left is a picture of a green window Sign.

Once you have your ticket you will go through the gate. In bigger cities such as Tokyo and Osaka they have machine that you will put your ticket it. Once you do that the gate will open and you can walk through. Your ticket will pop out on the other side. Don’t for get to take it! In smaller cities they have a person at the gate what will stamp you ticket and let you though. Once you are in you will have to look for which track your train will be on. In Japanese this is called the noriba. There are electronic signs that show you which noriba to go on. Then you just have to wait for your train. Once you arrive at your destination you get off. In a big city when you leave the station the same machine will be at the gate to put your ticket in and it will let you out. But this time you ticket does not come back out. At smaller stations a person will take your ticket.

Many of the trains station particularly the JR (Japan Rail) Stations are very good and are very useful for people with special needs such as a wheel chair or seeing impaired . On the roads and in the stations of Japan you will see these yellow bumps on the road. There are the paths for the seeing impaired to use to get around easily.The trains station also have brail train schedules and brain on some of the ticket machines. If you use a wheelchair they have elevators and these ramps to help you get on the train.

If you visit Japan the chances are very high you will take the train right form the fist day. So relax and make use of the great transportation service in Japan!