Kirby no Nihongo

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 18 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:41:00 +0000

Hello again, everyone. I was finding the use of kanji, combined with the growing number of brackets, to be a bit of a distraction and have streamlined their use with today's post.

In most cases, I will only be displaying the hiragana reading of the kanji the first time it shows up. After that, it will simply be the kanji and you will have to refer back to the previous instance of the kanji to find the definition. This is just a trial run to see how this works out, so please let me know if you find this easier to read or more annoying now that you have to keep referring back to the previous kanji. Also, I'm going to leave out the different font sizes for the Japanese out this time around to see if that improves readability.

As always, comments are welcomed and appreciated and don't forget to point out any mistakes in the transcript. Finally, there was a closing conversation for this lession, kind of, but I left it out since it was basically the narrator telling you to say something and then them explaining what you said. It seemed straight forward and there were no new words, so I left it out. Let me know if you'd like to see these in the transcripts in the future or if you are fine with their exclusion.

Intro Conversation

ジョージ買い物(かいもの)がしたいんですが。

George, I would like to go shopping.

何(なに)を買います(かいます)か。

What are you buying / going to buy?

本(ほん)。日本(にほん)の本。

A book. A Japanese book.

日本の本。いくら。

[A] Japanese book? How much [is it]?

千円(せんえん)です。

[It's] 1000￥.

千円。十(じゅう)ドルですね。高く(たかく)ありませんね。

1000￥? [That's] $10, right? That's a lot, isn't it?

じゃあお金(おかね)をください。

Then please give me [some] money.

はい。千円です。

Here you are. 1000￥.

十分(じゅうぶん)ですか。

Is that enough?

はい。十分です。私(わたし)もお金をもっています。ありがとう。じゃあ行ってきます(いってきます)。

Yes, it's enough. I have more of my own money. Thanks. I'm off / leaving, then.

Previous Vocabulary

ドル

dollars

かえます

I can buy

買い物(かいもの)

shopping

ぜんぜん

not at all

おおすぎます。

it's too much

十分(じゅうぶん)

enough

New Vocabulary

日本(にほん)の本(ほん)

Japanese book

高い(たかい)

expensive

高いです。

It's　expensive.

高くありません(たかくありません)

it's not expensive

ここでは高いです。

Here,　it　is expensive.

もっと

more

欲しい(ほしい)

to want, to desire

もっと欲しいんですが。

I would like to have more. (see Notes)

もっと高いです。

It's more expensive.

ここではもっと高いです。

Here, it's more expensive

主人(しゅじん)

my husband (see Notes)

ご主人(ごしゅじん)

your husband (see Notes)

家内(かない)

my wife (see Notes)

奥さん(おくさん)

your wife (see Notes)

水(みず)

water

コーヒー

coffee

飲みたがって(のみたがって)いる

wants to drink

主人は水を飲みたがっているんですが。

My husband would like to drink water.

家内はコーヒーを飲みたがっているんですが。

My wife would like to drink coffee.

もっとゆっくりおねがいします。

More slowly, could you please.

Notes

もっと欲しいんですが。

欲しい(ほしい) is listed as meaning, "to want", yet this sentence translates as, "I would like". The reason it is not, "I want", is because of the んですが, which makes the sentence more polite and less demanding.

主人(しゅじん) vs ご主人(ごしゅじん)

主人 is only used when you are referring to your husband. When referring to a husband, in general, or another person's husband, you must use ご主人.

家内(かない) vs 奥さん(おくさん)

家内 is only used when you are referring to your husband. When referring to a husband, in general, or another person's husband, you must use 奥さん.

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 17 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:08:00 +0000

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 17 is another straightforward lesson. There were several "new" numbers introduced in this lesson, but I left them out of the transcript since it is simply repetition of the base 1 to 10 numbers in the simplified Japanese counting system.

For a breakdown of how to handle numbers in Japanese, see my vocabulary post on numbers.

A quick reminder for anyone new to the blog. I post abridged transcripts of the Pimsleur audio tapes. What this means is I do not post every single variation of new words or the older vocabulary or every little sentence as it's said. As such, there's only the first instance and maybe one or two variations, typically a negtative or question related version, of each new word or phrase.

As for format, I've been stepping up the inclusion of kanji in my posts and they are written in large fonts with the hiragana pronounciation following immediately after in a small font. Also, I don't use any romanji in my posts unless absolutely necessary to discuss the pronounciation of a word or kana so you must know how to read hiragana and katakana if you are to make any use of these transcripts.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the transcript. If there are any errors, don't hesitate to let me know in the comments. I'm not perfect, but try my best to avoid any obvious mistakes.

Intro Conversation

じゃあ今日(きょう)は何(なに)をしますか。

Then, what are you going to do today?

私(わたし)。今日(きょう)は買い物(かいもの)がしたいんですが。

Me? Today, I would like to [go] do the shopping.

でもお金(かね)をもっていますか。

But, how much money do you have?

ええ少し(すこし)もっています。

Yeah, I have some / a little [bit of money].

円(えん)をいくらもっていますか。

How many yen do you have?

千円(せんえん)か二千円(にせんえん)。

1000￥ or 2000￥.

ドルは。いくらもっていますか。

How about dollars? How many do you have?

三十(さんじゅう)ドルか四十(よんじゅう)ドルもっています。でもじゅうぶんじゃありません。少し(すこし)お金(かね)をください。

I have $30 or $40. But that's not enough. Can I have / Give me a little more, please.

はい二十(にじゅう)ドルです。

Okay, here's $20.

どもありがとう。

Thanks a lot.

Previous Vocabulary

ドル

dollars

たくさん

many / a lot

たべられます

I can eat

たべられません

I can't eat

かえます

I can buy

かえません

I can't buy

ぜんぜん

not at all

と

and

で

with

たくさんです。

that's a lot

おおすぎます。

it's too much

じゅうぶん

enough

んですが。

Polite form for requesting / asking something. Used at end of sentence.

どういたしまして。

you're welcome

New Vocabulary

どもありがとう

thanks a lot (See Notes)

買い物(かいもの)

shopping (See Notes)

買い物(かいもの)がしたいんですが。

I would like to [go] do the shopping

じゅうぶんお金(かね)をもっています。

I have enough money. (yen in this case, not dollars)

すぎます

excessive, past, over, too

高(たか)すじます。

too expensive (could also be too high, tall, long, etc in other sentences)

円(えん)では高(たか)すじます。

In yen, it's too expensive

早(はや)すぎます

too fast

早(はや)すぎますか。

Is it too fast?

ゆっくり

slower / slowly

ゆっくりおねがいします。

Slower / Slowly, could you please.

ゆっくり話します(はなします)

to speak slower / slowly (depending on context, this could be a request / command asking someone to speak slowly)

私(わたし)には

as for me

私(わたし)には早(はや)すぎます。

It's too fast for me.

Closing Conversation

いくらですか。

How much is it?

五十八円(ごじゅうはちえん)です。

It's 58￥.

五十八円(ごじゅうはちえん)じゃありません。

It's not 58￥.

六十八円(ろくじゅうはちえん)じゃありませんか。

Isn't it 65￥?

はい六十八円(ろくじゅうはちえん)です。すみません。

Yes, [that's right]. It's 65￥. Sorry / excuse me.

*you gave her 100￥ and she gave you change of 45￥. This is the change for the incorrect price and you correct her.

三十五円(さんじゅうごえん)じゃありませんか。

Isn't it 35￥?

はい。すみません。三十五円(さんじゅうごえん)です。

Yes, [that's right]. Sorry / excuse me. It is 35￥.

*you leave and go to a bar and order a bottle of beer. The bartender asks you the following:

アメリカではビールー一本(いっぽん)いくらですか。

In America, how much is it for one beer?

アメリカでは三(さん)ドルです。

In America, it's $3.

Notes

どもありがとう

We've seen ありがとう before, but not with ども preceeding it. This is just another way of saying thank you and is roughly, "thanks a lot", in English. Other variations of thank you include ありがとう, ども and どもありがとうございます, all of which have various levels of politeness.

買い物(かいもの)

The base form of 買い物 is simply 買う(かう), which means "to buy" or "to purchase". It is introduced here in a more frequently used conjugation, but I felt the need to point out the base word for those curious.

What is the JLPT?

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:05:00 +0000

I've mentioned the JLPT a few times over the past couple weeks, but today I want to talk about it in detail. Like I've said, I'm planning to take the JLPT later this year. I'm shooting for the level 3 test this year and feel I've already got a pretty good grasp of most of the requirements for that level already and should be more than ready for it come test time.

While the actual test isn't required and won't make me better at Japanese, I think it makes a great motivator and mark of pride to be able to have some tangible sign of how well you are doing with the language.

For anyone else interested in the JLPT, I've composed a brief FAQ for you and plan to have more posts in the future related to this topic, including vocabulary and kanji lists. Hit the jump for the FAQ.

What is the JLPT?

The JLPT, formally known as the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, is an annual, standardized test designed to evaluate and certify the ability of non-Japanese speakers. There are four levels of proficiency for the JLPT, ranging from 1 to 4, with 4 being the easiest.

When is the JLPT?

The JLPT is held every year, typically on the first Sunday of December. However, the actual dates, locations and times are subject to change.

Where can I take the JLPT?

As stated, the actual locations are subject to change, but, in general, the actual sites stay the same from year to year with few exceptions. As the 2008 locations haven't been finalized as of right now, you can check out the 2007 locations by clicking here. You can contact the area near you and see if they have any information on this year's test if you want to make arrangements early.

How Much is it to Take the Test?

Typically, it costs $60 to take the taste, but that is subject to change and this year's cost hasn't been officially announced as of yet.

What do the Levels Mean?

The JLPT comes in four distinct flavours, ranging from beginner at level 4 to fluent at level 1. No, that isn't a misprint. The higher the number, the easier the test. In 2010, the test is supposed to be revised and will include 5 levels, ranging from N5 to N1, and will be offered twice a year instead of the current once. N5 will correspond to the current JLPT4, N4 will be the same as JLPT3, N3 will be a new test combining parts of JLPT3 and 2, N2 will be similar to JLPT2 and N1 will be the same as JLPT1.

Which Test Should I Take?

As for what test you should take, that varies from person to person and should be decided based on the requirements of each test, which are listed below.

JLPT4

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 150 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 100 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 800 words
Grammar - you should be able to read, understand and write basic sentences

JLPT3

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 300 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 300 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 1500 words
Grammar - you should be able to take part in everyday conversation and read, understand and write intermediate sentences

JLPT2

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 600 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 1000 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 6000 words
Grammar - you should be able to converse freely on a variety of subjects and read, understand and write complex sentences

JLPT1

Recommended Amount of Study Time - estimated 900 Hours
Kanji - you should know about 2000 kanji
Vocabulary - you should know about 10000 words
Grammar - you should have an intimate knowledge of the language, be able to freely converse on any topic, read, write and speak fluently and be ready to integrate into everyday Japanese society

My recommendation would be to estimate your current level based on these guidelines and then make a decision on what test you will take based on how much time you will be able to devote to learning over the next several months.

Don't let the high vocabulary numbers discourage you. They seem to count different tenses and conjugations of words, similar to how run, runs, running and ran are all come from the same base word, run, in English. So, while you may be thinking you don't know 800 words, you'd be surprised how many you actually do know once you see the actual vocab list.

Also, you do not need to know every kanji for all of the vocabulary. Just the hiragana or katakana writing.

What is the Test Comprised of?

Regardless of what level test you take, each is broken up into three parts - Writing - Vocabulary, Listening and Grammar. The test is scored out of 400 with each section weighted differently. Writing - Vocabulary and Listening comprised 100 points each while Grammar is worth 200 points for 50% of the final mark. This means you must know how to read and form sentences in order to pass and cannot rely solely on rote memorization of kanji and vocabulary. Furthermore, the test lengths vary in time for each level with JLPT4 only being 100 minutes long while JLPT1 can go upwards to 180 minutes.

What is the Test Like?

The test is, as stated, broken down into three sections. Each section is made up of multiple choice questions and you are asked to pick the best answer from the four available choices. This can range from picking correct kanji for hiragana, hiragana for kanji, particles, conjugations and so on.

Writing - Vocabulary Section

Here's an example from the Writing - Vocabulary section for those curious. The instructions are not given in English, but are basically telling you to pick the best choice for each of the following multiple choice question, which, in this case, requires you to choose the correct hiragana writing for each kanji in the sentence.

もんだいI _____の　　ことばは　　どう　　よみますか。　　1 2 3 4
から　　いちばん　　いい　　ものを　　えらびなさい。

とい1 （１）友だちが　　（２）外国から　　来ました。

1　　友だちが 1.　ともだち 2. どもだち 3. どむだち 4.　とむだち
2　　外国 1.　がいごく 2. かいこく 3. がいこく 4.　かいごく

Here's another section from the Writing - Vocabulary part of the test. This time, the instructions tell you to, again, choose the best answer for each question. However, this time, they give you the hiragana word and ask you to pick the correct kanji for each. You should be careful during this section as many of the kanji answers look very similar to each other, as evidenced in this example question.

もんだいII　　____の　　ことばは　　どう　　かきますか。 1 - 2 - 3 - 4
から　いちばん　　いい　　ものを　　えらびなさい。

とい1　　わたしの　　（１６）こどもは　　はなが　　すきです。

16 こども 1.了ども 2.子ども 3.千ども 4.予ども

Listening Section

While I have never taken the test before, based on what I've read and have been told, the Listening section consists of listening to a taped recording of Japanese speakers discussing something and you having to answer questions based on what was said. It should be played twice so you won't have to worry about accidently missing something if it was said too quick or if you misheard the first time.

Grammar Section

The Grammar section requires you to fill in particles for given sentences and you will be required to be able to properly distinguish between particles such as は, か, も, の, が, で, を, に and several others. You will also be required to be able to choose the correct conjugation of words based on the sentence, whether the te-form, masu-form or what have you. It is, by far, the most difficult section and probably the one most people end up neglecting, especially if they are self taught, due to over-focusing on kanji and vocabulary memorization.

There is also a reading part to this section where you are asked to read sample paragraphs and answering multiple choice questions on each.

What is the Pass Mark for the Test?

For the JLPT2, 3 and 4, the pass mark is 60% while the JLPT1 requires a 70% to pass. Here's a breakdown of each test level's certification percentages (based on 2005 scores).

When test taken in Japan:

JLPT1 - 39.9%
JLPT2 - 42.5%
JLPT3 - 63.5%
JLPT4 - 73.4%

When test taken overseas:

JLPT1 - 29.6%
JLPT2 - 30.4%
JLPT3 - 47.6%
JLPT4 - 51.4%

Where Can I Find Out More Information?

You can check out the JEES Japanese Language Proficiency Test Home Page or the Japan Foundation's English JLPT pages for more details on test locations, requirements and more.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 16 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:09:00 +0000

We're just rounding the half way point for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I and Lesson 16 is a relatively simple chapter with only one small quirk to watch out for in the form of the polite form, んですが added to some sentences. It's nothing that should cause anyone any grief, but it can be a little odd pronouncing at first.

To be honest, I was pretty wrapped up in my JLPT studying last week and never got around to making any posts on that topic. I know it's still pretty early, seeing as the test isn't until December and applications haven't even been released yet (at least in Canada, as far as I know), but I've never taken one before and am looking to skip the first level, JLPT4, and go straight to JLPT3.

As such, I'm kind of nervous and probably a little too gung-ho out of the gate. I did manage to make a short post on the Japanese form of glottal stops, though, and will try to get around to some JLPT introduction and vocabulary posts this week.

Enjoy the Absolute Pimsleur's transcript and make sure to let me know if there are any questions or mistakes in the transcript. As always, these are abridged transcripts and I don't bother repeating older vocabulary or sentences or even duplicates of the current new vocabulary. Hit the jump for the full transcript!

Intro Conversation

もしもし。鈴木さん（すずきさん）。ジョンソンです。こんばんは。

Hello, Suzuki-san. This is Johnson. Good evening.

ジョンソンさんこんばんは。

Johnson-san! Good evening.

鈴木さん（すずきさん）私（わたし）とばんごはんをたべませんか。

Suzuki-san, would you like to / won't you eat supper / dinner with me?

こんばん。こんばんはちょっと。。。

Tonight / This evening? That's a little...

じゃあ明日（あした）のばんは。

Then, what about tomorrow evening / night?

明日（あした）のばん。ええいいです。何時（なんじ）に。

Tomorrow evening / night? Ya, that's fine / good. [At] What time?2.

七時（しちじ）は。

[How about] 7 o'clock?

ええ。いいですね。

Ya, that's fine.

Previous Vocabulary

ドル

dollars

たくさん

many / a lot

たべられます

I can eat

たべられません

I can't eat

かえます

I can buy

かえません

I can't buy

ぜんぜん

not at all

と

and

で

with

New Vocabulary

何（なん）ですか。

what is it?

すしです。

it's sushi

たくさんです。

that's a lot

たくさんですね。

that's a lot isn't it?

おおすぎます。

it's too much

二十四（にじゅうよん）

24

二十八（にじゅうはち）

28

三十（さんじゅう）

30

四十（よんじゅう）

40

おおすぎますか。

is it too much?

じゅうぶんです。

it's enough

じゅうぶんじゃありません。

it's not enough

んですが。

Polite form for requesting / asking something. (See Notes)

四十八（よんじゅうはち）ドルほしいんですが。

I would like to have 48 dollars but.. (only if it's convenient)

おかねがほしいんですが。

I would like to have some money but.. (only if it's convenient)

どういたしまして。

you're welcome

Notes

んですが。

It was hard for me to make out how they were pronouncing this when I first started out and it's basically just adding an ん sound to the end of the preceeding word followed by the usual ですか with が replacing the か. It takes some practice to get the prounciation down, as it's odd making the ん sound at first, but it's fairly straightforward for the most part.

Japanese Pronounciation - つ (tsu) aka the Glottal Stop

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:51:00 +0000

This isn't the most advanced topic I'll ever cover, but it's something that I have never seen explained on any of the major Japanese learning websites that I have been to since I started learning Japanese.

Basically, it's about the つ character. Actually, let me rephrase that. It's about the little っ character you see every once in a while when reading Japanese.

For example, ちょっとまってください is a popular expression used to ask someone to please wait or slow down or a variety of other liberal translations. You'll notice that both ちょっと and まって have a small っ character separating two characters. That the is the っ I wish to discuss today.

Hit the jump for the full discussion.

What is a Glottal Stop?

Simply put, the small っ represents a glottal stop. A glottal stop is just a fancy expression to describe something everyone already knows how to do - press their vocal cords together to restrict air flow and then release.

Still no idea what I'm talking about? Well, say the word, "uh-oh", or the word, "cat", and you'll have an idea of what I mean. That small pause between "uh" and "oh" or the double "t" sound as you say "kat" followed by the "tt" sound to pronounce the word, "cat" are just two examples of numerous words in English, and just about every other language in the world, that use a glottal stop.

In Japanese, they outright tell you when you must do this to say the word correctly and the small っ character is how they do so.

How Do I Use A Glottal Stop in Japanese?

So, back to our original example, ちょっとまってください, you would pronounce ちょっと by having a small pause after ちょ and a doubling of the consonant "t" in と, one to end the ちょ and another to start the と. In romanji, you could write this as, "chotto", or, in broken into syllables, as "chot-to". The same would be done for まって and every other instance of the glottal stop in Japanese.

What About Katakana?

Finally, before there's any confusion, you can do the same thing in katakana using the ツ character.

Conclusion

As I said at the start, this is pretty much a beginner level lesson, but it's something that perplexed me for the longest time, seeing as I didn't take lessons and was doing it all on my own. I couldn't find out the reason why some words had the small っor what it even meant until I started listening to audio files provided on some sites and noticed the glottal stop.

Hopefully, someone out there will find this post useful in their Japanese learning endeavours.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 15 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:20:00 +0000

Welcome back to another lesson of Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I! This marks the second week of Kirby no Nihongo after returning from several months of hiatus. Hopefully everyone is enjoying the new site and return of the transcripts.

If you are wondering, the current schedule I'm hoping to stick to is one transcript per week, every Monday, and a grammar / vocabulary / etc post sometime near the end of the week, roughly on Thursdays. I'm making preparations for the JLPT at the end of the year and will probably start making some vocabulary, practice tests and other materials related to that available on the site. You can look for a post on that later this week.

Like last week's and all future transcripts, you will see kanji littered about the transcript in large fonts with the kana reading in brackets and small font immediately following. If you are this far along, I'd recommend beginning to learn a few kanji in the near future.

Enjoy the transcript and, as always, keep a look out for any mistakes I may have made while typing this up.

Intro Conversation

いってきます。

I'm leaving!

どこへ。

Where to? [Where are you going?]

なにかかいます。

[I'm going] To buy something. (the "I'm going" is understood)

でも円（えん）をもっていませんね。

But, I don't have any yen.

でもドルをもっています。

But, I do have some dollars.

いくらもっていますか。

How many [dollars do you have]?

八（はち）ドルか九（きゅう）ドル。

[I have] Eight or nine dollars.

じゃあ十（じゅう）ドルあげます。はいどうぞ。今（いま）十九（じゅうきゅう）ドルもっていますね。円（えん）もあげます。はい三千円（さんぜんえん）。

Then, I'll give you $10. Here you go. Now, you have $19, right? Here's some yen, too. Here you go, ￥3000.

どうもありがとうございます。

Thank you, very much!

Previous Vocabulary

いくら

how much

¥ or　円 or　えｎ

yen

ドル

dollars

たくさん

many / a lot

ください

please give me ____ / give me ____, please

あげます

will give

New Vocabulary

いってきます

I'm leaving (See Notes)

どこへ

where to? (See Notes)

私（わたし）に。

For me?

たべられます

I can eat

たべられません

I can't eat

かえます

I can buy

かえません

I can't buy

ぜんぜん

not at all

ぜんぜんありません。

There isn't any at all.

ぜんぜんもっていません。

I don't have any at all.

たくさんもっています

I have many

おさけがかえます

I can buy sake

と

and

で

with

二（に）と二（に）でいくらですか。

What is two and two? (See Notes)

Notes

いってきます

This literally means someting like, "I'm going and coming back". It's used when leaving the house or going somewhere with the intent to return. It's similar to words such as ごちそうさま and いただきます, which are words said before and after meals, respectively.

Do not confuse いってきます with いただきます, as they sound very similar, but mean completely different things.

へ

へ is a particle modifying どこ. Try to recognize instances where a particle is being used, as it will make your life much easier later on. For reference, へ is used to indicate a direction or recipient of the word it is modifying and is pronounced like え, similar to how を is pronounced as お when used as a particle.

Math

The math at the end was an odd addition to Pimsleur's and it shows up random in future lessons, but only at the end, if memory serves. I found the math rather difficult to make out and they went really fast. They use と to represent the addition of two numbers and the actual sentence given comes out as "2 and 2 are how many?" or some variation of that (いくら is "how much / many").

Japanese Pronounciation -ん (-n)

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:36:00 +0000

Japanese, unlike English, is made up of a very limited number of phonetic symbols. In fact, there are only 46 Japanese phonetic symbols used to pronounce every other possible syllable in the Japanese language and those are represented by the kana, hiragana and katakana.

In English, vowels and consonants change their sounds seemingly at random. There are homonyms, synonyms, homographs and various other rules and exceptions to how things are pronounced. A common expression is, "You say potato, I say potato.", whereby each instance of potato is pronounced differently, yet has the same meaning. Just look at the "a". It can be pronounced "ah" or with a long "a" sound, giving each instance of its use a different meaning.

In Japanese, you never have to worry about these things 99% of the time because each phonetic symbol has only one pronounciation, except under very specific and easily understood instances.

Today, I'll talk about one such symbol, -ん, and how it is pronounced and how it modifies other syllables.

-ん

When I was first starting out, I had many problems with the -ん syllable. Sometimes it is pronounced with the expected 'n' sound, as seen in the word, ごはん, and other times with an 'm' sound, such as in the word, せんぱい. It always confused me as to why it did this. At least, until I eventually found out, months later.

Luckily, it's not as random as I originally thought and it boils down to a simple rule. ん always modifies the preceeding vowel sound into a nasal vowel and, if it is followed by a syllable beginning with a b- (ば, び, ぶ, べ and ぼ), m- (ま, み, む, め, and も) or p- (ぱ, ぴ, ぷ, ぺ, and ぽ), the ん is pronounced with the m sound.

"n" Sound

So, ごはん isn't pronounced like ごは with an ん sound tacked on the end. The ん actually changes the は sound into a nasal version, similar to how it is pronounced in the word, "son", in English (it's not identical to how son sounds, but that's the closest comparison to the Japanese version I could think of).

"m" Sound

In the case of せんぱい, the following ぱ modifies the ん to make it more of an "m". So, when you watch various anime or Japanese television shows and a student calls his upperclassman, "sempai", it still uses ん for it's spelling, but the ぱ that follows the ん changes its pronounciation to the "m" sound. The same would happen for any of the other b-, m- or p- symbols if they followed an ん.

Conclusion

I hope this cleared up some of the confusion around the pronounciation of -ん and it's modification of the vowels that precede it. It is the only kana that has multiple pronounciations that does not require the addition of a long vowel, such as the use of the syllable う when it is added to words such as どうも or ありがとう to modify the と and ど syllables.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 14 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:16:00 +0000

Welcome back to Kirby no Nihongo! This is the first new transcript in a long time and the first bit of new content on the relaunched blog. There are a few small changes to the format of these transcripts that I'll out line for you below.

First, kanji are being incorporated now. I'm not doing full kanji transcripts, but numbers, names, like Japan, and the odd word will now be listed with kanji in large font with the hiragana pronounciation following it in small font and in brackets.

This allows people to get used to seeing kanji, maybe learn a couple along the way and makes it easier for me, as I find it much easier to read the transcripts with the kanji I know breaking up the long string of hiragana.

Finally, I just want to welcome everyone back and say hello to any newcomers that happen upon the site. It took some effort migrating from the Wordpress site and I apologize for the long layoff. I had a death in the family followed up with a stint in the hospital myself that I'd rather not get into. It gave me time to polish up on my own Japanese learning, but left the blog in a state of flux.

I'm back now and I hope you enjoy the transcripts! Feel free to leave comments below. There is no registration and you can simply post as Anonymous if you'd like. I'm still far from perfect, so there may be some mistakes in the transcripts and I'm hoping some intrepid readers out there can catch any mistakes I happen to make along the way so I can keep the transcripts as correct as possible.

Hit the jump for the transcript for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 14 or check out the Japanese I Transcript Archives to refresh your memory or start over or pick up where you left off!

Intro Conversation

すみません。ビールはありますか。

Excuse me, do you have have / is there any beer?

ええ。あります。はいどうぞ。

Yes, there is. Here you are / go.

ありがとう。いくらですか。

Thank you. How much is it / does it cost?

三（さん）ドルです。

[It's / It costs] $3.

ビールいっぽん十三（じゅうさん）ドルですか。

One beer costs $13?

いいえ。十三（じゅうさん）じゃありません。三（さん）ドルです。

No, [it's] not $13. [It's] $3.

ああわかりました。じゃあ三（さん）ドル。ありがとうございます。

Ah / yes, I understand [now]. It's $3. Thank you very much.

Previous Vocabulary

こんばん

this evening / tonight

ばんごはん

evening meal / dinner / supper

いくら

how much

¥ or　円 or　えｎ

yen

そして

and, and then / also

あした

tomorrow

きょう

today

こんばんは

good evening

かね

money

もっています

I have/I have got

もっていません

don't have

いっぽん

one bottle

はいどうぞ

here you are / go

ドル

dollars

New Vocabulary

三千円（さんぜんえん）ほしいです。

I want ￥3000.

十七（じゅうしち）

17

十八（じゅうはち）

18

十九（じゅうきゅう）

19

ドルでいくらもっていますか。

In dollars, how many do you have? [How many dollars do you have / How much US currency do you have?]

円（えん）をたくさんもっています。

I have a lot of / many yen.

たくさん

many / a lot

でもドルはもっていません。

But, as for dollars, I don't have any.

円（えん）をすこしもっています。

I [only] have a few yen. (See Notes)

円（えん）もすこしもっています。

I also have a few yen / I have a few yen, too. (See Notes)

十七（じゅうしち）ドルもっています。

I have $17.

円（えん）をください。

Give me [some] yen, please.

ください

please give me ____ / give me ____, please

おかねをください

please give me money / give me money, please

ビールはありますか。

Is there / Do you have any beer? (lit. does beer exist?)

ええあります。

Yes, there is. (beer is understood) (casual)

はいあります。

Yes, there is. (beer is understood) (polite)

いいえありません。

No, there isn't any. (beer is understood)

すみません今日（きょう）はありません。

Sorry, as for today, there isn't any.

十（じゅう）ドルあげます。

I will give you $10.

あげます

will give

円（えん）をかいます。

I am going to buy some yen.

円（えん）をすこしあげます。

I will give you a few yen.

Notes

円（えん）をすこしもっています。 vs. 円（えん）もすこしもっています。

Not much to say about this other than that the only difference is the change in particle from を to も. を is basically making 円（えん） the object the verb is acting on while も is making it possessive and changes the sentence from referring only to円（えん） to making it an additional object the verb is acting on.

It's a small, but important, differences that you should pay attention to when reading, speaking or listening to Japanese.

Kirby no Nihongo Japanese Resource Store

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 00:40:00 +0000

In preparation for the relaunching of Kirby no Nihongo, I've set up an online store at Amazon.com featuring the various texts, flashcards, dictionaries and grammar books that I've found to be useful in learning Japanese. I'm still in the process of adding more books and resources, but that doesn't stop you from taking a look at what's offered there already.

Remember, these are simply the tools I've used to learn Japanese and it should provide you with a concise and easily located collection of resources at your fingertips whenever you feel the itch to buy a new Japanese text.

Stop searching in vain for a book that might fit your needs and just go to the appropriate sub-section of my store for a comprhensive list of tried and tested Japanese texts that fit your needs, not whatever the search engine spits out at you.

The Return of Kirby no Nihongo

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:38:00 +0000

Seeing as I just relaunched Kirby no Nihongo a couple of days ago, I was surprised at the amount of traffic and RSS feed subscribers I've been getting. I haven't quite got the site up to snuff, but I finished moving all the posts from the old Wordpress site over to this one and should be ready to start officially updating again next week sometime.

First, I have to finish the site design by fixing the rounded corners and create the archive pages for the Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I and Vocabulary posts. If you stumbled upon this site or were wondering when new updates were coming, know that I'll be trying to update once a week with the Pimsleur transcripts and once or twice more with vocabulary and other Japanese language resources.

However, finishing the backend site design comes first and I should wrap that up on the weekend. For now, feel free to browse through the older transcripts and vocabulary posts.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 13 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:06:00 +0000

Moving right along, here's the transcript for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 13. We're just shy of the half way point for this section. This lesson expands upon our knowledge of money and how to ask how much people have, which we started last lesson.

As always, my transcript consists of liberal translations with optional, additional text, which may flesh out a particular sentence to make it more natural in English, contained in "[ ]". Alternate translations can be seen seperated by "/" and either translations would be acceptible to use in any given sentence. Finally, I don't provide translations for every single thing the lesson's say. I don't think it is necessary to list six or seven alternate sentences that only change a number value for when asking how much money you have or so on. So, I only provide the new words, phrases and any pertinent words from previous lessons that may apply to this particular lesson.

Feel free to let me know if there's any mistakes, and I'm far from perfect, so I wouldn't doubt if I made any.

Intro Conversation

もしもし。いとうさんおねがいします。ああいとうさんですか。こんにちは。たなかです。

Hello, [can I speak to] Ito-san, please. Ah, is this Ito-san? Hello / Good day / afternoon. It's / This is Tanaka.

たなかさん。こんにちは。

Tanaka-san, Hello / Good day / afternoon.

いとうさん。こんばんわたしとばんごはんをたべませんか。

Ito-san, won't you have supper / dinner with me tonight?

すみません。こんばんはちょっと。。。

Sorry, tonight is a little...

じゃああしたのばんは。

Then / Alright, how about tomorrow night?

ええ。どこで。なんじに。

Yes / Sounds good / Sure, where at? At what time?

わたしのところで。しちじは。

At my place. How about seven o'clock?

ええ。いいですね。じゃああしたのばん。しちじに。

Sure, that's fine. Alright, tomorrow night at seven o'clock.

じゃあまたあした。

See you tomorrow.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

こんばん

this evening / tonight

ばんごはん

evening meal / dinner / supper

もしもし

hello (only used when answering the telephone)

いくら

how much

いくらですか。

How much is it?

¥ or　円 or　えｎ

yen

そして

and, and then / also

あした

tomorrow

きょう

today

New Vocabulary

こんばんは

good evening

かね

money (see Notes)

もっています

I have/I have got

もっていません

don't have

おかねをもっています

I have money

いくらもっていますか。

How much do you have?

おかねをいくらもっていますか。

How much money do you have? (see Notes)

いくらおかねをもっていますか。

How much money do you have? (see Notes)

えんをもっていません。

I don't have any yen.

すみませんえんをもっていません。

Sorry, I don't have any yen.

さんぜんえんもっています。

I have 3000¥.

よんせんえんもっています。

I have 4000¥.

きょうはごせんえんもっています。

[As for] Today, I have 5000¥.

いっぽん

one bottle (see Notes)

ビールいっぽんおねがいします。

One bottle of beer could you please.

はいどうぞ

here you are / go (see Notes)

ドル

dollars

ドルで

in dollars

ドルでいくらですか。

In dollars, how much is it?

ドルでけっこです。

In dollars is fine.

ビールいっぽんいくらですか。

How much is one bottle of beer?

ドルをいくらもっていますか。

How many dollars do you have? (see Notes)

じゅうごドルもっています。

I have $15.

じゅうろくドルもっています。

I have $16.

ドルでいいですか。

In dollars, is it fine? (see Notes)

Notes

かね

Money is かね. In the lessons, you'll hear おかね, which simply uses the honourific, お-, much like many other words, for politeness sake. You could say it either way, but stick with the おかね version from the tapes for now.

おかねをいくらもっていますか。 vs. いくらおかねをもっていますか。

They state this in the lesson, but I'll reiterate here. Japanese is a fluid language that allows for many different word orders for sentences. The above two sentences mean the same thing and use the same words, but are spoken in different orders. Think of it like, "As for today, what do you want to do?" vs. "What do you want to do today?". Both are identical in meaning, but written differently. Same for many things in Japanese.

はいどうぞ

This is literally, "Yes, please". However, the useage here is for handing someone something and, in later chapters, will be used to invite people into your home. The どうぞ is the main word and はい can be dropped in most cases. It is basically adding politeness to what you are doing. Here, it makes the offering of something a polite jesutre, equivilent to "here you are, sir" or what have you. This is the typical saying when a waiter gives you your order or someone passes you something you asked for and so on, despite it not meaning anything that you would associate as a response to that situation.

ドルをいくらもっていますか。

This is more of a translation problem than anything. What I Have listed is perfectly correct, but it doesn't sound right to me when I read it. I'd ask someone, "How much money do you have?" or "How much American / Canadian money do you have?" if I was looking for information on dollar amounts. However, this is for beginners learning, so I guess they are just getting simple sentences and words out of the way first.

ドルでいいですか。

Like the previous note, this is an English translation problem. I just can't see anyone saying something like this in English, as it sounds awkward. The translation is correct for what is written, but I'd probably word it as "Is it alright if0 I pay with American / Canadian money?" or something similar.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 12 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:05:00 +0000

Lesson 12 of Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I focuses on teaching you numbers for use with currency, in this case, in yen. It's actually a pretty easy set of new vocabulary and the hardest part this time around is with the previous lesson's vocabulary they use for the majority of this lesson.

I just want to remind everyone, I try to translate this the exact way Pimsleur's does, but sometimes I'm slightly off or more liberal with the English translation. Also, I try to provide alternate phrasings or additional words to help flesh out a proper English translation whenever possible. If a translation uses a "/" between words, those are two definitions that could be interchanged for that sentence. If it uses a word(s) between "[ ]", those are additional words that a literal translation would not include and are things I feel flesh out and provide a better translation for English audiences. Japanese is very context sensitive and they leave out lots of words and some sayings don't carry over in literal translations, in my opinion. You can choose to use or ignore these additions if you wish.

Intro Conversation

もしもし。いとうさんですか。

Hello, is Ito-san there? (lit. It's more like "Hello, is it / this Ito-san?", In English, it'd probably be what I wrote or "Can I speak to Ito-san?" or something similar, but that's no where near what is actually said.)

はいいとうです。

Yes, it is / I am Ito. (again, kind of odd in English. I'd use "Speaking" or "This is she" or something similar, but not even close to a literal translation)

すずきです。こんにちは。

[This is / I'm] It's Suzuki. Good afternoon / day.

ああ。。。すずきさん。こんにちは。

Ahhh...Suzuki-san. Good afternoon / day.

いとうさんこんばんわたしとばんごはんをたべませんか。

Ito-san, won't you have your dinner / supper with me this evening / tonight? (Ito-san could be subbed at the beginning or end here when translating to English, as could the "this evening / tonight" part)

すみません。こんばんはちょっと。。。

Sorry, this evening / tonight is a little...

じゃああしたのばんは。

Alright / then, [how about] tomorrow evening / night?

あしたのばん。なんじ。しちじ。

Tomorrow evening / night? [At] What time? Seven o'clock?

はちじは。

[How about] Eight o'clock?

ええいいです。

Ya, that's fine / good / alright.

じゃああしたのばんしちじわたしのところで。

Alright / Then, tomorrow night / evening, eight o'clock at my place. (I'd probably use "At my place tomorrow night at eight o'clock" for a more liberal translation. Almost the same thing, but a few words that weren't used in Japanese and some order changing for English speakers.)

はいわかりました。

Yes, understood. (see Notes)

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

じゃあ

in that case/ then / alright

きいてください

listen please / please listen

もいちどきいてください。

Please listen one more time / Please listen again. (note the one more / again in this version)

くりかえしてください。

Please repeat [after me] / Repeat [the following] please.

きいてくりかえしてください

Please listen and repeat. (please could go at the beginning or end)

こんばん

this evening / tonight

ばんごはん

evening meal / dinner / supper

あした

tomorrow

きょう

today

じゃあまたあした。

See you tomorrow.

New Vocabulary

もしもし

hello (only used when answering the telephone)

いくら

how much

いくらですか。

How much is it?

¥　or 円　or えｎ

yen (see Notes)

せん

1000

にせん

2000

さんぜん

3000

よんせん

4000

ろくせん

6000

ななせん

7000

"X"えん

"X"¥ (fill in any number for "X")

"X"えんです。

It's "X"¥. (fill in any number for "X")

"X"ですか。

Is it "X"¥? (fill in any number for "X")

いいえ。"X"えんです。

No, it's "X"¥. (fill in any number for "X")

"X"えんじゃありません。

It's not "X"¥. (fill in any number for "X")

"X"えんじゃありませんか。

Isn't it "X"¥? (fill in any number for "X")

そして

and, and then / also (see Notes)

Notes

はいわかりました。

Like I said in other posts, this is a Japanese thing and most English speakers would never say "Yes, understood." in any conversation, especially to end one the way this is. A more liberal translation would be "Got it." or "Sounds good." or some variation of that. We're all a little too inexperienced to go adapting the translations to sound better in English, so I'll leave it as it is.

¥ or　円　or えん

¥ is the currency symbol for yen, much like $ is for dollars. 円 is the kanji for yen and would be the equivilent of writing out 'dollars' in English (it's a little different than that, but for simplicity sake, go with the crude metaphor). えん is simply the hiragana based pronounciation of 円. 円 can also mean circle or round object (like a coin, hence it's also the name of their money or, at least, that's where I surmise the useage came from), but, as far as I know, Pimsleur's never goes into that useage of the kanji, so you can pretty much ignore everything except the yen part of it for now.

Also, I'll be using ¥ in the English translations and えん for the Japanese.

そして

The narrator says this is only "and" when used for counting, but it's always used in that way. The actual English translations for it would be "and, and then, after that, and also". An example sentence could be, "I went to Kanji-Step, Nihongo o Narau and then Kirby no Nihongo." where the bolded green text would represent そして.

I think the reason he distinguishes it for numbers only is that there are a couple version of "and" in Japanese and they eventually end up using the other version in later lessons. For reference, it's simply the particle と, as in さけとビール, which would be "sake and beer". There's a slight difference in their useage, so I'd stick with what Pimsleur's is telling you for the time being, as you'll only confuse yourself later if you try and force a strict definition on it or argue semantics this early in the game.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 11 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:04:00 +0000

Sorry for the layoff in the new lessons. I put out two in one day last week and let it slack after that. It's not so bad transcribing these. It actually takes more work typing them up and switching back and forth between English and Japanese. I have to do it in notepad first, as well, and that makes it harder to see the Japanese characters. Putting it in Word or some other processor messes up the formatting for the web. I'll try and put out a couple more transcripts this week to make up for the week without updates.

Intro Conversation

たなかさんわたしとひるごはんをたべませんか。

Tanaka-san, won't you have [your] lunch with me?

ええなんじに。

Ya / Sure, at what time?

いちじは。

How about one o'clock?

すみません。いちじはちょっと。。。

Sorry, one o'clock is a little bit...

じゃあにじは。

Alright / Then, how about two o'clock?

ええいいですね。どこでたべますか。

Alright / Ya, that's fine. Where do you want to eat at?

ホテルのレストランは。

How about the hotel['s] restaurant? (I'd just say 'hotel restaurant', but, literally, this is probably 'hotel's restaurant'.)

ええいいです。じゃあにじに。

Sure / Ya, that's fine. Then, at 2 o'clock.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

じ

time, o’clock

に

at

か

or (when used between two comparable words, ie. “Beer or sake?”)

それとも

or (when used at the start of a sentence, ie. “Or beer?”)

たべたい

want to eat

たべたくありません

don’t want to eat

のみたい

want to drink

のみたくありません

don’t want to drink

なんじですか。

What time is it?

ちょっと

a little bit

New Vocabulary

じゃあ

in that case/ then / alright

きいてください

listen please / please listen

もいちどきいてください。

Please listen one more time / Please listen again. (note the one more / again in this version)

くりかえしてください。

Please repeat [after me] / Repeat [the following] please.

きいてくりかえしてください

Please listen and repeat. (please could go at the beginning or end)

ろくじ

six o'clock

ろくじに

at six o'clock

それともしちじに。

Or at seven o'clock?

ろくじかしちじに

at six o'clock or seven o'clock

じゃあしちじに。

Then / in that case, at seven o'clock.

こんばん

this evening / tonight

ばんごはん

evening meal / dinner / supper

すずきさんこんばんばんごはんをたべませんか。

Won't you have dinner tonight, Suzuki-san?

じゅうじに

at ten o'clock

じゃあじゅうじに

then / in that case, at ten o'clock

じゅうじにたべたいです。

I want to eat at ten o'clock.

こんばんじゅうじにばんごはんをたべます。

[As for] This evening, I'm going to have dinner at ten o'clock.

あした

tomorrow

あしたは。

How about tomorrow?

あしたたなかさんとばんごはんをたべます。

[As for] Tomorrow, I'm going to have dinner with Tanaka-san.

あしたのばん

tomorrow evening

あしたのばんしちじに。

tomorrow evening, at seven o'clock / at seven o'clock tomorrow evening

きょう

today

じゃあまたあした。

See you tomorrow.

Notes

Nothing really to add to this one. It's mostly new numbers and the introduction of 'evening', 'today', 'tomorrow' and a couple other simple words. The last few lessons have focused on similar things and it's more of a review in my opinion. Only thing to be worried about is the introduction of the instructions they randomly threw at you last lesson. Now you actually learn what they mean and they are moderately difficult because they still don't slow down to let you hear it properly. I guess they figure you'll be hearing it enough over the next 20 or so lessons that you'll pick it up eventually.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 10 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:03:00 +0000

This lesson has a little hiccup in it. The people at Pimsleur must have been sleeping on the job because they randomly decide to start using Japanese for some of the announcers commands without ever explaining it or telling you they are doing it in this lesson. They eventually go over the commands, but it's really confusing when you start this lesson and you hear the English tell you to listen to a new word and then a Japanese voice comes on and says some long sentence really fast. I tried to repeat it thinking it was the word and then the actual word is said, leaving me wondering what's going on. I forget the actual lesson they explain what these seemingly random sentences mean, so I've translated them here for you.

Also, this lesson includes even more new time and number based words and phrases. So, like last lesson, make sure to check out the vocabulary posts I've made about time and numbers for more details concerning those. Also, I know all the numbers and times, so I'm never 100% sure if I got all the new numbers from a particular lesson. If I missed a number that was introduced in a particular lesson, let me know and I'll add it in. I think I got all the ones introduced in the last few lessons, though.

Japanese Narrator Commands

つぎ

next (in order), following

かいわ

conversation

きいて

listen

も

another, again, an additional (see Notes)

つぎのかいわをきいてください。

Please listen to the following conversation. (Please could go at the beginning or end of this sentence)

もいちどきいてください。

Please listen one more time / Please listen again. (Please could go at the beginning or end of this sentence)

Intro Conversation

さとうさんわたしとひるごはんをたべませんか。

Sato-san, would you like to / won't you eat lunch with me?

ええでもなんじに。いちじ。

Ya, but at what time? One o'clock?

いいえあとで。

No, later.

ああわかりました。にじ。

Ah, understood. Two o'clock?

ええにじに。

Ya, at two o'clock.

はいわかりました。

Okay / Yes, understood. (see Notes)

Previous Vocabulary

ひるごはん

lunch / dinner / noon time meal

じ

time, o’clock

に

at

いちじ

one o’clock

にじ

two o’clock

はちじ

eight o’clock

くじ

nine o’clock

か

or (between two comparable words, ie. "Beer or sake?")

それとも

or (start of a sentence, ie. "Or beer?")

わかりました

understood

New Vocabulary

ちょっと

a little bit

すみませんいちじはちょっと。

Sorry, one o'clock is a little bit...

くじはちょっと。

Nine o'clock is a little bit...

はちじは。

How about eight o'clock? (see Notes)

たべたい

want to eat

たべたくありません

don't want to eat

なにかたべたいです。

I want to eat something.

たべますか。

Would you like to eat?, Are you going to eat?

なにかたべますか。

Would you like / Are you going to eat something?

いいえいまたべたくありません。

No, I don't want to eat now.

わたしはたべたくありません。

I don't want to eat. (emphatically)

のみたい

want to drink

のみたくありません

don't want to drink

なにかのみたいです。

I want to drink something.

のみますか。

Would you like to drink?, Are you going to drink?

なにかのみますか。

Would you like / Are you going to drink something?

いいえいまのみたくありません。

No, I don't want to drink now.

わたしはのみたくありません。

I don't want to drink. (emphatically)

なんじですか。

What time is it?

いまなんじですか。

What time is it now?

ごじです。

[It's] five o'clock.

さんじです。

[It's] three o'clock.

よじです。

[It's] four o'clock.

Notes

も

も, like most particles, has many uses. A common use is as "too" or "also". It is used to indicate an additional small quantity of something. When used in this fashion, も must precede the additional quantity, one (いち) in this case. Note that the word isn't もいち. It is the particle も followed by the quantity いち.

はい

はい usually means 'yes'. The はい in はいわかりました。 is more of an acknowledgement here than something that could actually be translated to 'yes'. The entire statement is more like "Got it" or "Understood" or some other English form of acknowledgment. "Yes, understood", as it would be literally translated, sounds awkward and isn't something most English speaking people, or me at least, would respond with to being told what time to meet. I wouldn't recommend making up your own variations or liberal translations this early in the game, but I just felt like making it known that, while this is a simple statement in Japanese, it doesn't translate well into regular English conversation.

はちじは。

The "How about" in "How about eight o'clock?" is implied. Literally, this sentence is basically just 'eight o'clock'. The は would just indicate 'eight o'clock' is the subject or that the time was what we were already talking about. As you're probably figuring out, Japanese leaves out a lot of words and leaves it up to the context to figure out what the speaker means. This line came from a conversation about when to meet or eat (I forget), so you'd know we were talking about a time we should meet up and saying the above line would be suggesting eight o'clock as the new time, allowing you to leave out the "How about" since I know what we're talking about. Phew, so much to say about so little. Hopefully someone found that useful, ahaha.

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I - Lesson 9 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:03:00 +0000

The next few lessons for Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I deal heavily with numbers. I covered most of the numbers in my vocabulary post on numbers, so please refer to that post if you'd like to get a quick overview.

Coincidently, I've also covered how to tell time in my vocabulary posts and that is also what this lesson is about. Because of that, I don't list every single variation of what they say in this lesson, so please refer to the vocabulary post on how to tell time, as well.

As we go on, I might start using the kanji for the numbers, as they are pretty straight forward and easy to read, but for now I'll simply use the hiragana readings.

Intro Conversation

さとうさんこんにちは。

Hello / Good afternoon, Sato-san.

すずきさんこんにちは。

Hello / Good afternoon, Suzuki-san.

さとうさんいまなにをしますか。

What are you going to do now, Sato-san?

ひるごはんをたべます。すずきさんもたべませんか。

I'm going to eat lunch. Won't you eat too, Suzuki-san?

ええどこでたべますか。

Ya, where [do you want to eat] at?

そうですね。なんばんては。

Let's see / I don't know / *stalling for time or thinking*. [At] Nanbante / How about Nanbante?

ええいいですね。

Ya, that's fine / that sounds good.

Previous Vocabulary

-さん

Mr./Mrs./Ms.

ひるごはん

lunch / dinner / noon time meal

おねがいします

please / could you please [do me a favour]

か

or

します

to do

だれ

who

New Vocabulary

に

at

じ

time, o'clock

なんじに。

at what time?

いちじ

one o'clock

いちじに

at one o'clock

いちじにおねがいします。

At one o'clock, could you please?

にじ

two o'clock

にじに

at two o'clock

はちじ

eight o'clock

はちじに

at eight o'clock

くじにおねがいします。

At nine o'clock, could you please?

いいえくじに。

No, at nine o'clock.

いちじかにじに。

At one o'clock or two o'clock.

さとうじゃありません。たなかです。

[My name / It is ] Not Sato. It's Tanaka.

それとも

or (see Notes)

それともくじ。

Or at nine o'clock?

はちじかくじ。

At eight o'clock or nine o'clock?

わかりました

understood (see Notes)

ええわかりました。

Yes, understood.

ああわかりましたね。

Ah, you understood, right / didn't you?

Notes

それとも

We already learned that か means 'or' when used between two words. それとも is used typically at the start of a sentence and for questions, such as, "How about 8? Or maybe 9?". Both mean the same thing, but be careful not to confuse when to use each.

わかりました

This is just another variation of わかる, much like わかります and わかりません. You'll more than likely learn the different tenses and conjugations of verbs as we go along, but you should be starting to notice the verb stems of some of the words being used by now.

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 8 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:02:00 +0000

It's been a few days since my last post, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about you. These take a bit of time to transcribe, type up and format. As the title says, this is Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 8. Hopefully no one is running into any major problems with the lessons as of yet.

The format of my translations has been changing ever so gradually as I get further into this. I'm starting to use '[ ]' to enclose words that could be substituted into the sentence to flesh it out in a proper English translation, but are technically not part of the given translation for those words. I'm also using more and more '/' to list separate readings where word order could be swapped around in English or a slightly different meaning of a word could be used instead. If the translations are becoming too cluttered, let me know and I'll tone it down a bit.

Intro Conversation

たなかさんいまたべますか。

Tanaka-san, are you going to eat now?

いいえけっこです。でもなにかのみます。

No, thank you, I'm fine. But I'm going to drink something / But I'll have something to drink.

なにをのみますか。

What are you going to drink?

わかりません。おさけ。いいえビール。

I don't know. Sake? No, beer.

わたしもビールがほしいです。*signals waiter* すみません。

I'm want [to have / a] beer, too. *signals waiter* Excuse me!

はい。おさけ。

Sir? / Yes? / Polite response that the waiter is acknowledging you. [Would you like] Sake?

いいえビール。

No, beer.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

たべます

eat, going to eat

のみます

drink, going to drink

なにか

something

いま

now

で

at

レストラン

restaurant

さけ

sake

ビール

beer

ほしい

I want

なに

what

New Vocabulary

-さん

Mr./Mrs./Ms. (see Notes)

さとうさん

Sato-san

ひるごはん

lunch / dinner / noon time meal (see Notes)

ひるごはんをたべます。

I am going to eat lunch / dinner.

いつひるごはんをたべますか。

When are you going to have lunch / dinner?

二 (kanji) or に

two

ほん

counter for long slender object (see Notes)

にほん

two bottles (see Notes)

ビールにほん

two [bottles of] beer

おねがい

favour

おねがいします

please / could you please [do me a favour]

ビールにほんおねがいします。

Two [bottles of] beer [could you] please.

おさけおねがいします。

sake [could you] please

か

or (see Notes)

ビールかおさけ

beer or sake

たなかさんビールかおさけおのみますか。

Tanaka-san, are you going to drink beer or sake? (Tanaka-san could be placed at the beginning or end of this sentence. Tanaka is also a woman for reference.)

します

to do

なにをしますか。

What are you going to do?

ホテル。

hotel

かいます

to buy / going to buy

なにかかいます。

I am going to buy something.

ビールをかいます。

I am going to buy [some] beer.

ビールがほしいです。

I want [some] beer.

いまほしくありません。

I don't want any / it now.

だれ

who

と

with (see Notes)

だれと。

who with?/with whom?

あなたと。

with you

さとうさんと。

With Sato-san.

Closing Conversation

こんにちは。

Good day / afternoon.

こんにちは。

Good day / afternoon.

いまなにをしますか。

What are you going to do now?

いま。ひるごはんをたべます。あなたは。

Now? I'm going to eat lunch / dinner. And you [What / how about you?]?

なにかかいます。

I'm going to buy something.

ビールかおさけ。

Beer or sake.

あなたもひるごはんをたべませんか。

Won't you eat your lunch / dinner with me?

ええいいですね。

Yes, sounds good / that's fine.

いま。

Now?

ええいま。

Yes / ya, now.

どこで。ホテルで。

Where at? [At] The hotel?

いいえなんばんてで。

No, at Nanbante.

なんばんてはどこですか。

Where's Nanbante [at]?

わかりますか。

Do you know?

ええわかります。

Yes / Ya, I know.

Closing Conversation 2

*at the restaurant*

なにをのみますか。ビールかおさけ。

What are you going to drink? Beer or sake?

わたしはビールをのみます。

I am going to have / drink [a] beer.

ビールにほんおねがいします。

One [bottle of] beer, please.

なにかたべますか。

Are you going to eat something?

ええ。でもあとで。

Ya, but [not until] later.

*leaving restaurant*

なにかかいます。おさけかビール。

I'm going to buy something. Sake or beer.

じゃまた。

Good bye.

Notes

-さん

This, along with several other honourifics, are used at the end of names in Japanese to show various levels of politeness or the relationship you have with someone. In general, most use -さん for everyone they are not close, personal friends with, including colleagues, strangers and just about anyone they'd run into in their daily life.

While a basic definition could label this as "Mr, Mrs or Ms", I don't like to think of it as such because I don't call every person I meet Mr or Mrs So and So. While in an office setting or business meeting I might translate it into that, in everyday life I just think of it as being respectful to the person by using -さん.

This is just my personal opinion on the matter because Japan is a lot different from us. First names are kind of taboo for people to say unless they are using the last name with it or are extremely close to the person. You wouldn't call me Kirk or Kirby. You'd call me Warren-さん-さん or Mr Warren, even if we know each other by name. Doesn't really translate that well if you ask me. I wouldn't keep saying "pass the ketchup Mr Smith" and "pass the salt Mr Smith" for every single thing at a table in our society unless under very specific circumstances. So, I'll be translating as -san from now on in the English sections. If you want to read it as Mr or Mrs or what have you, by all means, do so. Just know I'll be leaving it open to interpretation from now on.

ひるごはん

Where I come from, we use lunch and dinner interchangably to represent the noon time (or thereabouts) meal. We also use dinner and supper in the same way for the evening meal. Ya, it's very confusing without context or if you're from a different area that doesn't do this, so I wanted to explain why I have both listed for this word.

ほん

This is a counter for long, slender objects, which can also be bottles. It'll probably take some getting used to to ascertain which object gets which counter in Japanese, but if you are ever in doubt, a simple number followed by the object should be enough to make the person understand you. There's also a generic counter word you can use for counting objects, but I'll won't bother with useless information. ほん also means book in Japanese and Pimsleur's will get into that in later lessons.

にほん

This is not the same as the word for Japan. You'd need context to differentiate the two kana readings of this, but in reality, this would be obvious because of the different kanji both words would use.

か

As they say in the lesson, this means 'or' and it is the same as the spoken '?' we learned in earlier lessons and have been using regularly ever since. This one comes between two nouns and the other version comes at the end of sentences, so it's easy to differentiate between them. There is another form of 'or' that we will learn about in upcoming lessons that is used at the beginning of sentences, but I'll let Pimsleur introduce the other version at the appropriate time.

と

This is used as 'with' in the above translations. Probably beating a dead horse, but it, like everything else, has multiple meanings and uses. A more common use is 'and' and is used between two nouns (you and me, dog and cat, etc). There are two or three other uses I could list off the top of my head, but I'm going to leave it at that for now. Just letting you know not to get comfortable with words having single uses.

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 7 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:01:00 +0000

Here's the transcript for Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I Lesson 7 with the usual random notes from me. I'm churning these out fairly regularly, but don't feel like you need to be moving at the same speed as my posts. If you're a beginner, you'll probably want to redo lessons two or three times or even go back a couple lessons to get a better grasp of what you've learned. When doing new lessons, I find the first time is mostly hearing the words and I don't get a real grasp of them and their useage until at least the second time I hear them. If I move on to new lessons, I end up learning the previous lesson more than I do the current one and end up having to go back and recap anyways.

Everyone learns differently, so you may not need to do this, but I do recommend relistening to older chapters at least once before moving along. The first couple lessons are routine and fairly easy, but, around lesson four or five, as it starts piling more and more new material on, you might find yourself overwhelmed by the time lesson ten comes along if you 'think' you know the material and end up not understanding half the new stuff being covered.

One more thing before going on to the transcript. I put some hefty notes at the end of the post on rather simple stuff. Don't focus too heavily on it. It's more or less there if you want some more background or the odd little tidbit on certain words. Some do, however, contain genuine warnings on useages of words, so don't ignore all the notes I post either. =p

Opening Conversation

いまなにかたべますか。

Are you going to eat something now?

いいえあとで。でもなにかのみます。

No, later. But I'll have something to drink / I'm going to drink something.

どこで。

Where at?

わかりません。

I don't know.

わたしのところで。

At my place?

ええいいですね。

Ya / Yes, that's / It's fine.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

なにか

something

たべます

eat, going to eat

のみます

drink, going to drink

いま

now

あとで

later

いいです。

It’s fine/alright.

New Vocabulary

で

at (see Notes)

レストラン

restaurant

レストランで。

at the restaurant

なに

what (see Notes)

なにをのみますか。

What are you going to drink?

なにをたべますか。

What are you going to eat?

さけ

sake, which is literally rice wine, general term for alcohol

おさけ

polite form of sake, general term for alcohol (see Notes)

おさけをのみます。

I am going to drink sake.

ビール

beer

ビールをのみます。

I am going to drink beer.

ほしい

I want (see Notes)

ほしくありません

I don't want

わたしはほしくありません。

I don't want it / any. (emphatically)

おさけがほしいです。

I want sake.

ビールがほしいです。

I want beer

ビールをのみますか。

Are you going to drink beer?

いいですか。

Is it alright / okay?

いまほしくありません。

I don't want any / it now.

レストランなんばんてで。

At the restuarant Nanbante.

レストランはどこですか。

Where is the restaurant?

Notes

で

This was introduced last lesson, but I forgot to touch on it in the notes. This means far more than just a simple 'at', but I left it as that because that's what the lessons will primarily use it as. で is a noun following particle, as in it doesn't follow 'drinking', 'to eat', 'want' or so on. It can be used to mean 'at', 'in' or 'on' and is used to indicate the site or place of an activity. "I was born in Japan.", "We met at the restaurant." or "Kirby's working on the blog, isn't he?" are all example useages for で. It would follow the nouns that are the locations in question, 'Japan', 'restaurant' and 'blog', and not the verbs 'born', 'met' or 'working' or the subjects, 'I', "We" and "Kirby" as they are not the locations being discussed.

レストラン & ビール

Both restaurant and beer are written using katakana because they are not native Japanese words. They are taken from English and, like many Japanese words, are written in katakana. You can't pronounce them like you do in English either. Even though they are "English words", you are still speaking Japanese and they don't use the same pronounciations as we do. Restaurant, to us, is not the same as レストラン to them, in terms of pronounciation. Notice there is no 't' sound at the end like in the English version. Don't get sloppy and just say 'restaurant'. Pronounce every katakana word the way you would any other Japanese word.

なに & なん

Like I said in the previous lesson, なに has two forms. なに is usually followed by a particle and the verb while なん is usually followed by ですか or time counters and comes near the end of a sentence. It's pretty easy to figure out when each is used as you can just try saying なんを or なんは or any other particle and you'll see it doesn't flow properly and is harder to pronounce than なにを and the like.

Basically, なん is in a sentence structure like, "That book, what is it?" [Subject - What is it?], while なに is in sentences like, "What are you going to drink?" [What is/are Subject Verb?]. One relates to nouns and what they are and the other relates to verbs and what you are or are not going to do to something. Again, exceptions to everything, just like in English, but I don't want to make this a grammer lesson, so this is just a simple introduction and basic explanation of both uses. You'll see なん in coming units when we get to time related subjects and other questions.

お-

お- was last seen in おてんき where it made 'weather' more polite. Guess what it does to sake? Yes, it makes it more polite. お- is used in many words for this purposes and I don't really know the rhyme or reason to its useage to tell you when to expect it other than that it does show up fairly often.

ほしい

ほしい is an adjective and what is wanted is treated as a grammatical subject and marked with が. The word is not used to describe the wants of someone else. For others, you'd use ほしいがる. Think something like, "My brother wants to eat.", instead of how ほしい is always used for singular expressions, such as, "I want to eat.".

Japanese Vocabulary - What's Your Phone Number?

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:00:00 +0000

This is a rather short and simple lesson that, again, deals with the numbers we have been learning in previous vocabulary posts. It might not sound like much, but phone numbers come up in everyday conversation quite often, whether you are ordering take out or adding someone to your cell phone or applying to a job, you almost always need to give, find or hear a phone number.

As always, the word(s) or phrases start with a kanji reading, then a kana pronounciation in brackets and finally an English translation. Also, I list a few useful phrases, but there are literally dozens of sayings or common phrases I could have listed. For now, just use this to learn the words "telephone number", the basic question for asking and answering what your telephone number is and practicing your number useage that we've been going over in the previous vocabulary posts. Practice saying the numbers out loud. It makes a big difference compared to simply doing it in your head, as your tongue doesn't work as well at pronouncing words as you do in your head.

Keywords

電話 (でんわ )

telephone

番号 (ばんごう)

number (identifier / counter for trains, magazine issue number, etc)

何 ( なん, なに)

what

Useful Sayings

電話番号は何ですか。 (でんわばんごうはなんですか。)

What is your phone number?

123-4567です。or 一二三の四五六七です。 (いちにさんのよんごろくななです。)

It's 123-4567.

電話が鳴っているよ。 (でんわがなっているよ。)

The telephone [phone] is ringing! / Phone call!

電話を借りてもいいですか。 (でんわをかりてもいいですか。)

May I use your telephone?

もしもし

Hello (used only when answering the phone)

Notes

の

の is a spoken hyphen (-) when saying a phone number in Japanese.

四 & 七

When using the telephone, 4 and 7 are pronounced よん and なな, respectively, not し and しち. While most would understand what you are saying if you used the On readings, it would be seen as odd by normal standards. You never use hundreds or double digit numbers to describe your phone number either. It's simply 1-9 with a の particle separating the numbers and that is all that's needed.

Japanese Vocabulary - What Time Is It?

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:59:00 +0000

To date, we've learned a lot of numbers related vocabulary. We've covered numbers in general, the months of the year and the days of the week, which are all numbers related topics. Building on these, this post will teach you how to tell time in Japanese.

Like previous vocabulary posts, I'll be introducing some new kanji. For the kanji, remember, the katakana is for the On reading (音) and the hiragana is for the Kun reading (訓). If you have no idea what I mean by On or Kun, make sure to read my post on How to Read Kanji. And, as always, I will be providing the kanji based readings for telling time followed by the kana and English translations for those who can't read kanji yet.

時 Time, Hour, Opportunity

音：ジ　訓：とき

Common Compounds

一時いちじ、いっとき one o'clock, for a time

時間じかん time, period

時々ときどき sometimes

分 Minute, Part, Divide, Understand

音：ブン、フン訓：わ（ける）

Common Compounds

十分じゅうぶん、じゅうぷん ten minutes, enough

自分じぶん oneself

半分はんぶん half

Hours of the Day

一時いちじ 1 O'Clock
二時にじ 2 O'Clock
三時さんじ 3 O'Clock
四時よじ 4 O'Clock
五時ごじ 5 O'Clock
六時ろくじ 6 O'Clock
七時しちじ 7 O'Clock
八時はちじ 8 O'Clock
九時くじ 9 O'Clock
十時じゅうじ 10 O'Clock
十一時じゅういちじ 11 O'Clock
十二時じゅうにじ 12 O'Clock

Minutes of the Hour

一分 (いっぷん) 0:01
二分 (にふん) 0:02
三分 (さんぷん) 0:03
四分 (よんぷん) 0:04
五分 (ごふん) 0:05
六分 (ろっぷん) 0:06
七分 (ななふん) 0:07
八分 (はっぷん) 0:08
九分 (きゅうふん) 0:09
十分 (じゅっぷん) 0:10

Notes

For minutes attach -分 to the standard set of numbers. Please note that 分 is pronounced differently depending on the number. Based on what I've picked up randomly, as I haven't looked into the reasoning thoroughly, this stems from the evolution of the language and the desire to make common words easier to pronounce. This leads to things like いっぷん instead of いちふん or ろっぷん instead of ろくふん and so on. They are all similar sounding, but typically drop a syllable or use a dakuon version of ふん to make them flow off the tongue easier. Try saying each with the 'normal' readings for numbers we learned previously followed by the correct version and you'll see this for yourself.

Also, to say any other minute number, simply use the minutes for one to ten and apply the basic counting system we learned in the numbers vocabulary post.

0:25 would be two tens, five minutes or 二十五分 (にじゅっごふん)
0:41 would be four tens, four minutes or 四十一分 (よんじゅっいっぷん)
0:59 would be five tens, nine minutes or 五十九分 (ごきゅうきゅうふん)

If you wanted to know the exact time of day, with hours and minutes, you simply combine the hour and minute numbers from above.

12:45 - 十二時四十五分 (じゅうにじよんじゅっごふん)
06:15 - 六時十五分 (ろくじじゅっごふん)
09:30 - 九時三十分 (くじさんじゅっぷん)

Finally, you can use A.M. and P.M. to signal if it's morning or afternoon by using ごぜん for A.M. and ごご for P.M. They are listed before the time and would be read in English as A.M. 7:30 instead of the normal 7:30 A.M.

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 6 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:59:00 +0000

Lesson 6 of Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I introduces a lot of new words, specifically particles, and isn't afraid to mix in the plethora of new vocabulary from the previous lesson, so you might want to consider going over this or the last lesson again before moving on to Lesson 7.

I try to go over some of the particles and pragmatic new words or expressions in the Notes, so be sure to check those out. I don't think it's anything that should sideline people, but upcoming chapters quickly ignore the fact you are new to this and assume you grasp these new particles and words, such as "now", "when?", "at", "my/your/X's" and so on, and doesn't spend much time reviewing. They just keep throwing new words and sentences using these modifier (ad)verbs and particles with impudence.

Also, don't let my little warning discourage you. I'm just trying to stress the importance of some of these fundamental words that many might gloss over. Measure twice, cut once or, in our case, listen twice, learn once, should be a good motto for everyone.

Intro Conversation

こんにちは。

Good afternoon / Good day.

こんにちは。いいおてんきですね。

Good afternoon / Good Day. It's good weather, isn't it?

そうですね。

Yes, it is, isn't it.

なにかたべませんか。

Won't you eat something?

いいえけっこです。

No, thanks / No, thank you. But I will drink something.

なにをのみますか。

What will you drink? (see Notes)

コーラをのみます。

I am going to drink Cola.

わたしも。わたしもコーラをのみます。

Me too. I am going to drink Cola, too. / I [too] am [also] going to drink Cola.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

ええ

yes (casual)

どこ

where

ここ

here

あそこ

over there

わかります。

I know / I understand.

なにか

something

たべます

eat, going to eat

のみます

drink, going to drink

いいえけっこです。

No, thank you, I’m fine.

そうですね

Let me see, stalling for time, thinking out loud

*See previous lesson for negatives and variations of these words.

New Vocabulary

コーラ

Cola

はなします

speak, to speak

はなしません

don't speak

で

at

どこで。

where at?

わたしの

my (see Notes)

ところ

place (see Notes)

どこでたべますか。

where are you going to eat?

わたしのところ

my place

わたしのところで

at my place

あなたのところで

at your place

新宿（　しんじゅく　）で。

At Shinjuku.

わたしも

me too (see Notes)

いつ

when?

いつたべますか。

when are you going to eat?

いま

now

あとで

later

いまたべません。

I'm not going to eat now.

いいです。

It's fine/alright.

いいですね。

It's fine/alright isn't it?

Closing Conversation

こんにちは。

Good afternoon / Good day.

こんにちは。

Good afternoon / Good day.

いいおてんきですね。

It's nice weather, isn't it?

そうですね。日本ごがじょずですね。

It is, isn't it. You are skilled in Japanese, aren’t you?

いいえまだじょずじゃありません。でもすこしはなします。

No, I'm not skilled yet. But, I speak a little (Japanese). (The Japanese is understood from the previous sentence's subject, so can be omitted.)

なにかのみませんか。

Are you going to drink something?

ええいいですね。

Yes, sounds good / that's fine / that's alright.

Notes

なにをのみますか。

They use this phrase in the opening paragraph, but we are not actually introduced to なにを until Lesson 7. なに means 'what'. There are actually two forms for 'what', one that is followed by a ですか and the one used here that is followed by a particle, を in this case. For now, you don't have to worry about it, but don't confuse なにを and なにか. One will form the sentence, 'What are you going to drink?', and the other would be, 'Are you going to drink something?', but both words can be substituted for each other and the sentence still works. They have completely different meanings, as you can see, so take care later on when the lessons start throwing them in together.

わたしの

We already know わたし means "I". わたしの is not a new word though. It is the same わたしcombined with the particle, の. の is used to show ownership or possesion between two nouns whereby the first possesses or modifies the second noun. The name of my blog uses this particle to read Kirby's Japanese where the "'s" is because of the の particle. Basically, I just want to teach you that the word isn't わたしの, but simply the possessive form of 'I' due to the particle の and that is why you can use with other words, like a person's name or あなた, to form similar possessive sentences.

ところ

This does not mean 'home' or 'house' or other variations of where you live. It is literally 'place' and can be used to indicate sentences like "Kirby is by the door" [lit. Kirby is at the place by the door.] or "This is [the place] where Kirby was born." as well as the way it is used in the lessons to say "my place" or "your place". Of note, can also be a reference to a state of time, typically "in the middle of", like in the sentence "I'm in the middle of writing this blog post.". As far as I know, they don't touch on this useage in Pimsleur's, so this is more of a "in case you want to know" type of note.

わたしも

Like わたしの, わたしも is not a new word, but a combination of the word "I" and the particle も. も has many meanings and uses as a particle, but the most common is "also" or "too", as in "Me, too." or "I, too/also, want to drink something[, too].", which is how it is used for most of these early lessons. Like the previous notes, I just want to stress this is not a new word, but a particle modifying the reading of a word we already know.

Friendly Reminder - Pimsleur's Japanese Shouldn't Be Your Only Resource

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I is an excellent resource for learning Japanese, but it is not the only one and should not be treated as the be all and end all of your learning experience. I know this site focuses heavily on it, but don't let that fool you.

Remember, you should be pursuing other avenues for learning Japanese besides Pimsleur's. It's a solid oral and audio comprehension (learning to understand the Japanese you hear), but it's more a suppliment than an all-in-one tool for learning the language. You should be focusing on the reading and writing aspects of the language and learning some basic grammar and vocabulary as you go along as well. Yes, the tapes introduce new vocabulary and build on it each lesson, but I don't think it's enough on its own.

If you have no other means of learning the language outside Pimsleur's, I recommend checking out the various Vocabulary posts I've been making for simple, progressive vocabulary lessons. Also, you would benefit from doing regular writing and reading. Re-reading the various Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I Transcripts I've been writing up would be a free and easy option, as it has no romanji to mess up your learning to read the kana. While repetitive reading and writing of the same kana, word, words or sentences may seem tedious, it actually works and you will begin recognizing regular words, particles and sentence structures this way that simply listening to tapes won't allow.

Depending on how things go, I may start adding grammar, particles, conjugations and other topics to my posts. For now, the focus remains on the Pimsleur transcripts and simple vocabulary. You can check out my Japanese Resources post if you are interested in some first hand opinion on the various Japanese books I've used and recommend.

Finally, I just want to reiterate that you cannot rely on a single resource when attempting to learn a language as complex as Japanese. Aids, like Pimsleur's, are just that, aids. They help flesh out more in-depth courses or other aspects of the language not covered by them. Don't get me wrong, Pimsleur's is damn good, but it can only take you so far and that's all I'm trying to stress to you in this post.

Remember, keep at it and don't get discouraged. Progress, especially early on, takes time, but with a little effort, you'll start to see the benefits of your hard work.

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 5 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:58:00 +0000

We're really moving through these Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I lessons now. I might slow down in pushing these out as we move along. There's a lot of information to digest and I'm sure many are still repeating earlier lessons to make sure they fully comprehend the new words and dialogue. For now though, I think it's safe to pump out the first half a dozen in the span of a couple weeks.

Intro Conversation

すみません。

Excuse me.

はいなにか。

Yes, what?, Yes, what is it?, Yes, you want / need something?

上野（うえの）こえんはどこですか。

Where is Ueno Park?

あそこです。

Over there.

上野（うえの）えきは。

And Ueno Station?

ここです。

It's here.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

ええ

yes (casual)

えき

station

こえん

park

新宿（しんじゅく）

Shinjuku

上野（うえの）

Ueno

どこ

where

ここ

here

あそこ

over there

New Vocabulary

なにか

something

わかります。

I know. (see Notes)

わかりません。

I don't know. (see Notes)

わかりますか。

Do you know? (see Notes)

たべます

eat, going to eat

たべません

don't eat, not going to eat

たべますか。

Are you going to eat?

なにかたべます。

I am going to eat something. (the 'I am' is understood)

たべませんか。

Won't you eat?

なにかたべませんか。

Won't you eat something?

のみます。

drink, going to drink

のみません。

don't drink, not going to drink

のみますか。

Are you going to drink?

なにかのみますか。

Are you going to drink something?

のみませんか。

Won't you drink?

いいえけっこです。

No, thank you, I'm fine.

そうですね

Let me see, stalling for time, thinking out loud (see Notes)

Notes

わかります, わかりません & わかりますか

Again, this probably doesn't warrant a huge explanation, but the meaning of two new words just changed on us despite using the exact same sentences as we did before. As well as meaning, "I understand.", "I don't understand." and "Do you understand?", these words can mean, "I know.", "I don't know." and "Do you know?" when used in replies to basic questions. Many English words have multiple meanings under different contexts and Japanese is no different. Where English uses "understand" and "know", Japanese treats them as the same word and it's up to the user to distinguish, based on its useage, which meaning is being used.

そうですね

Yet another sentence we know from previous lessons that has a new meaning. This time, you must drag out each syllable, as if you are thinking about the answer to the question just asked. Think of it as the Japanese, "uhhhh", "ahhhh" or "ummm", that many English speakers substitute in when they can't think of an answer. It could also pass as, "Let me see....", and other variations if you wanted an actual word to go in its place.

たべますか。vs. たべませんか。

Early on, I found myself always mixing these two up when the speaker would say, "ask him if he is going to eat" or "invite him to eat" and I think one or two other variations of this.

Simplest way to remember which one to use when is that たべますか is used when you are asking someone directly if they are physically going to eat. I think of it as someone asking, "Are you going to eat the rest of that?", even though that's not the official useage. But for remembering, that helps me out.

たべませんか is used when you are inviting or asking someone indirectly to eat with you or to eat something. Think of it as your friends inviting you to come out to eat after an exam or movie like, "Aren't you coming to eat with us?" or "Won't you come out for something to eat?". It's not telling or asking them to come out. It's much more polite and indirect than simply saying, "Do you want to come eat with us?". たべませんか allows the person to decline much easier, due to the politeness and indirect / passive questioning, than a direct question, which is something you'll see a lot of in Japanese.

This was a lot longer than I thought it would be, but the short answer is たべますか is for asking if they are going to eat and たべませんか is for inviting them to eat with you.

Japan - Nihon or Nippon?

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:57:00 +0000

A common question from most beginners is whether Japan (日本) is written and pronounced as にほん or にっぽん. In actuality, it is both. 日本 can be pronounced both にほん and にっぽん and it would be considered correct. However, the way it works is as so:

にほん

にほん is used in everyday conversation, to name the country, language and so on.

にっぽん

にっぽん is, typically, only used by the government and for legal documentation. Banks and other money related places sometimes use this notation as well.

Conclusion

So, if you were trying to figure out which one to use or were wondering why it was pronounced differently sometimes, there's your answer. I don't live in Japan, so I'm sure there's other circumstances that would warrant either's use, but from what I've gathered from other sites and texts, this is the basic useage of both words.

Absolute Pimsleur's Japanese I - Lesson 4 Transcript

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:56:00 +0000

Today's Absolute Pimsleur’s Japanese I lesson has a few surprises for everyone. I've thrown a few kanji into the translations, but don't worry, I put the kana in brackets afterwards so you'll know how to read it. These are all place names and, as such, I thought they deserved their name written the proper way. I've put a note explaining this in more detail at the bottom.

Intro Conversation

すみませんあなたは日本(にほん)じんですか。

Excuse me, are you Japanese?

はいわたしは日本(にほん)じんです。

Yes, I am Japanese.

あなたは。

And you?

わたしはアメリカじんです。

I am American.

でも日本(にほん)ごがよくわかりますね。

But you understand Japanese well don't you?

ええすこしでもまだじょずじゃありません。

Yes a little,but I'm not skilled yet.

いいえおじょずです。

No, you are skilled.

ありがとうございます。

Thank you.

Previous Lesson's Vocabulary

でも

but

まだ

yet

よく

well

日本(にほん)

Japan

すこし

a little

New Vocabulary

ええ

yes (casual)

はなします

speak

じょずに

skilled/well

すこしはなします。

I speak a little

じょずにはなします。

You speak well

じょずにはなしますね。

You speak well don't you?

えき

station

新宿（しんじゅく）えき

Shinjuku Station

上野（うえの）えき

Ueno Station

こえん

park

上野（うえの）こえん

Ueno Park

どこ

where

どこですか。

where is?

新宿（しんじゅく）えきはどこですか。

Where is Shinjuku Station?

すみません上野（うえの）こえんはどこですか。

Excuse me, where is Ueno Park?

ここ

here

ここです。

It's here.

ここですか。

Is it here?

はいここです。

Yes, it's here.

いいえここじゃありません。

No it's not here.

新宿（しんじゅく）えきはここじゃありません。

Shinjuku Station is not here.

あそこ

over there

あそこです。

It's over there.

あそこじゃありません。

It's not over there.

Closing Conversation 1

こんにちは。

Hello / Good day or afternoon

こんにちは。

Hello / Good day or afternoon

いいおてんきですね。

It's nice weather, isn't it?

そうですね。

I agree / so it is / general agreement

ああ日本ごがわかりますね。

Ah, you understand Japanese!

すこし。はいすこしでもまだじょずじゃありません。

A little. Yes, a little bit, but I'm not skilled yet.

いいえおじょずです。あなたはアメリカじんですか。

No, you are skilled. Are you an American?

はいわたしはアメリカじんです。あなたは。

Yes, I am an American. And you / what about you?

わたしは日本じんです。

I'm Japanese.

Closing Conversation 2

すみません上野（うえの）えきはどこですか。

Excuse me, where is Ueno Station?

ここです。

It's here.

上野（うえの）こえんは。

And Ueno Park?

あそこです。

It's over there.

上野（うえの）えきはあそこじゃありません。

Ueno Station is not over there.

上野（うえの）こえんはあそこです。

Ueno Park is over there.

でも上野（うえの）えきはここです。

But Ueno Station is here.

Notes

上野 & 新宿

上野 is the kanji for Ueno and 新宿 is the kanji for Shinjuku. I included the kana for each in brackets and I only used their kanji because a) I want to get you used to seeing and using kanji and b) they are proper nouns and should be written that way. You wouldn't want your name always spelled out with a dictionary-like enunciation, would you? I'll be providing the kanji with kana in brackets for other such instances as we encounter them.

日本

Like 上野 & 新宿, I'm going to be using 日本 for Japan / Japanese from now on. I won't provide the kana for Japan, as it should be the simplest and most common kanji compound you encounter. Any others I decide to switch over to kanji will be marked with kana, though.

How to Read Kanji - On- & Kun- Readings Explained

noreply@blogger.com (Kirk Warren) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:56:00 +0000

Learning kanji can be a difficult task for the most seasoned Japanese speaker. Kanji have two distinct readings - On- and Kun-. Many use different readings for completely different words. On top of that, many have multiple On and Kun readings to further complicate which one to use to pronounce a word.

In general, the On is used in compounds, words with more than one kanji in them, and the Kun is used when the kanji is by itself. You'll come to see that is not always the case though, as the language is riddled with exceptions and exceptions to those exceptions.

For the time being, I'll try to simplify it for everyone with some simple definitions of the two readings and explanations as to when to use them.

音読み On'yomi, Chinese Reading or, simply, the On- Reading

音(On-) is basically the word 'sound' in Japanese and represents the fact the 音 reading is the adaption of the Chinese reading of the kanji in question. These primarily occur in compound words (ie - more than one kanji in the word), many of which are the result of the adoption of Chinese words for concepts that either didn't exist in Japanese or could not be articulated as elegantly using native words. Of note, while the 音 reading is based on Chinese sounds and readings, they barely sound anything like the current day Chinese language due to the separate evolutions of both languages.

Some examples are the various names of the months we went over in my vocabulary building post, It's That Time of Month. Another is as follows:

一月 ( いちがつ) January

This is simply one (一) + month (月). Both use the 音 reading for the kanji involved as it is a compound and they form a new word, which is independant from the original meaning of the kanji being used (one and moon).

訓読み Kun'yomi, Japanese Reading or, simply, the Kun- Reading

In comparison, the 訓(Kun-) reading is simply the Japanese reading of the meaning of the Chinese kanji when it was first introduced. For instance, 月 was the Chinese kanji for Moon and when it became the Japanese version, the 訓 reading became つき, the then, and current, Japanese word for moon.

Sticking with the moon / month example from the 音 section, 月 by itself means moon. Take this sentence as an example.

きれいな月ですね which means, "Pretty moon, isn't it?" or "What a pretty moon!" or some variation of the statement that it is a pretty moon. We are referring solely to the moon and thus the kanji takes on the 訓 reading.

Conclusion

This is just a simple introduction to kanji readings, but I'm sure you're already scratching your head over how complicated something so simple should be. Just remember the simple rule of 音 for compounds and 訓 for single words and you should be fine in general.