Japanese Lessons
lJapanese Language Club Lesson 1 Summary 1. Writing system
There are three kinds of characters in Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. All three characters can be seen in a single sentence.
テレビを見ます
Katakana Kanji Hiragana Hiragana and katakana, like the alphabet, represent sounds. As you can see in the above example, hiragana has a roundish shape and is used for conjugation endings, function words, and native Japanese words not covered by kanji. Katakana, which has rather straight fines, is normally used for writing loanwords and foreign names. For example, the Japanese word for "television" is written in katakana as テレビ (terebi). Kanji, or Chinese characters, represent not just sounds but also meanings. Mostly, kanji are used for nouns and the stems of verbs and adjectives.
2. Vocabulary: Greetings (includes those not studied in class!)
おはよう Ohayoo Good morning おはよう ございます Ohayoo gozaimasu Good morning (polite) こんにちは Konnichiwa Good afternoon/Hello/Hi こんばんは Konbanwa Good evening さようなら Sayoonara Goodbye おやすみなさい Oyasumi nasai Good night ありがとう Arigatoo Thank you ありがとう ございます Arigatoo gozaimasu Thank you (polite) すみません Sumimasen Excuse me/I’m sorry いいえ Iie No/Not at all いってきます Ittekimasu I'll go and come back いってらっしゃい Itterasshai Please go and come back ただいま Tadaima I'm home おかえりなさい Okaerinasai Welcome home いただきます Itadakimasu Thank you for the meal (before eating) ごちそうさま Gochisoosama Thank you for the meal (after eating) はじめまして Hajimemashite Nice to meet you どうぞよろしく Doozo yoroshiku Nice to meet you
Exercises 1. You meet your roommate for the first time. Greet him. 2. It is one o'clock in the afternoon. You see your neighbour Mr. Yamada. 3. You come to class in the morning. Greet your teacher. Greet your friends. 4. On a crowded train, you stepped on someone's foot. 5. You dropped your book. Someone picked it up for you. 6. It is eight o'clock at night. You happen to meet your teacher at the convenience store. 7. You are watching TV with your family. It
There are three kinds of characters in Japanese: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. All three characters can be seen in a single sentence.
テレビを見ます
Katakana Kanji Hiragana Hiragana and katakana, like the alphabet, represent sounds. As you can see in the above example, hiragana has a roundish shape and is used for conjugation endings, function words, and native Japanese words not covered by kanji. Katakana, which has rather straight fines, is normally used for writing loanwords and foreign names. For example, the Japanese word for "television" is written in katakana as テレビ (terebi). Kanji, or Chinese characters, represent not just sounds but also meanings. Mostly, kanji are used for nouns and the stems of verbs and adjectives.
2. Vocabulary: Greetings (includes those not studied in class!)
おはよう Ohayoo Good morning おはよう ございます Ohayoo gozaimasu Good morning (polite) こんにちは Konnichiwa Good afternoon/Hello/Hi こんばんは Konbanwa Good evening さようなら Sayoonara Goodbye おやすみなさい Oyasumi nasai Good night ありがとう Arigatoo Thank you ありがとう ございます Arigatoo gozaimasu Thank you (polite) すみません Sumimasen Excuse me/I’m sorry いいえ Iie No/Not at all いってきます Ittekimasu I'll go and come back いってらっしゃい Itterasshai Please go and come back ただいま Tadaima I'm home おかえりなさい Okaerinasai Welcome home いただきます Itadakimasu Thank you for the meal (before eating) ごちそうさま Gochisoosama Thank you for the meal (after eating) はじめまして Hajimemashite Nice to meet you どうぞよろしく Doozo yoroshiku Nice to meet you
Exercises 1. You meet your roommate for the first time. Greet him. 2. It is one o'clock in the afternoon. You see your neighbour Mr. Yamada. 3. You come to class in the morning. Greet your teacher. Greet your friends. 4. On a crowded train, you stepped on someone's foot. 5. You dropped your book. Someone picked it up for you. 6. It is eight o'clock at night. You happen to meet your teacher at the convenience store. 7. You are watching TV with your family. It