Learn Japanese - Week 2
Vocab/Kana
Hiragana consists of 46 kana or 'letters/syllables' in English.
a i u e o
- あ い う え お
K か き く け こ
S さ し す せ そ
T た ち つ て と
N な に ぬ ね の
H は ひ ふ へ ほ
M ま み む め も
Y や ゆ よ
R ら り る れ ろ
W わ ゐ ゑ を
N ん
The ones highlighted in red are no longer used except on some occasions which are very rare. I believe you should know of these just in case they do pop up. In formal Japanese learning (outside Japan), they do not teach you this sometimes.
For this lesson, we shall learn; さ (sa) し (shi) す (su) せ (se) そ (so) た (ta) ち (chi) つ (tsu) て (te) と (to)
Information
This week, we're learning how to say how old we are. For those who've watched enough Japanese TV such as variety shows and anime and heck even news, you would have come across this character: 歳 or 才 (both read as sai). Take a wild guess at what it means. If you said years or age or something like that you're right. Both of these would be the equivalent to English's "~years old". Now you may be asking why the hell does Japanese have two characters for it. That's because...actually, I'm not sure myself - probably it's just a simplified version, much like how Chinese has traditional Chinese (what my lil' bro calls "the squiggly lines mashed together things") and the simplified Chinese (what my lil bro calls "not so mashed up things"). The simplified version is probably for those who are just starting to learn Japanese so go and use the simpler looking one. Once you get to the stage where you feel comfortable with Kanji, you can start using the complex looking one.
Sentence Structure & Notes
Copy into notebook
To say how old you are is very simple. The sentence structure is the same as when you are introducing yourself.
Q. What's your name?
あなた は 何 才 ですか？
(Anata wa nan sai desuka?)
You simply answer:
A. I am (age) years old.
(Dudette) わたし は 〇〇才です。
(Watashi wa (age) sai desu)
(Dude) ぼく は 〇〇才です。
(Boku wa (age) sai desu)
When saying how old someone else is, you replace わたし/ぼく with 彼(かれ/ kare)(when saying how old your female friend is) or 彼女(かのじょ/ kanojo) (when saying how old your female friend is)
Note, when saying your age, there's some things people who are 20 or have a 4 or 7 in their number have to be aware of. All 4s be it four, fourteen, forty and even 400, all fours must be said as yon because shi also sounds like shi 死 which means death, same goes for 7 which can be read as shichi but the preferred way of saying it as your age would be nana as shichi means something like jaws of death or something like that, can't remember it. As for twenty year olds, those who know Japanese culture know that being twenty is a special time in your life as it means you finally became an adult therefore there's a special way to say that you're twenty; hatachi. Those who are hatachi don't need to say sai desu, you go straight to saying desu and that's it.
Here's a post that teaches you how to say numbers: http://atashidare.livejournal.com/16080.html
Homework
Flashcards for: さ (sa) し (shi) す (su) せ (se) そ (so) た (ta) ち (chi) つ (tsu) て (te) と (to)
Write each kana at least 10 times - three times a week.
Try to learn the sentence structure.
OPTIONAL:
Learn Kanji; 何 (Nan - what) 才 (Sai - years old) 歳 (Sai - years old) 私 (Watashi - Me (girl)) 僕(Boku - Me (boy)) 彼(Kare - he) 女 (Jo - girl) 名(Na - name) 前(Mae - front)
Learn three new words from a Japanese show and write it at the back of your notebook and write a definition for all three.
TIP: Use the flashcards as much as you can; in the toilet; on the bus; in bed, EVERYWHERE!
Another tip is that you should study at least 1.25 hrs to 3 hours per week.
EDIT: I'm right now doing exams and assignments so lessons won't be up until the weekends if not; I have it up on my one week holiday.
Hiragana consists of 46 kana or 'letters/syllables' in English.
a i u e o
- あ い う え お
K か き く け こ
S さ し す せ そ
T た ち つ て と
N な に ぬ ね の
H は ひ ふ へ ほ
M ま み む め も
Y や ゆ よ
R ら り る れ ろ
W わ ゐ ゑ を
N ん
The ones highlighted in red are no longer used except on some occasions which are very rare. I believe you should know of these just in case they do pop up. In formal Japanese learning (outside Japan), they do not teach you this sometimes.
For this lesson, we shall learn; さ (sa) し (shi) す (su) せ (se) そ (so) た (ta) ち (chi) つ (tsu) て (te) と (to)
Information
This week, we're learning how to say how old we are. For those who've watched enough Japanese TV such as variety shows and anime and heck even news, you would have come across this character: 歳 or 才 (both read as sai). Take a wild guess at what it means. If you said years or age or something like that you're right. Both of these would be the equivalent to English's "~years old". Now you may be asking why the hell does Japanese have two characters for it. That's because...actually, I'm not sure myself - probably it's just a simplified version, much like how Chinese has traditional Chinese (what my lil' bro calls "the squiggly lines mashed together things") and the simplified Chinese (what my lil bro calls "not so mashed up things"). The simplified version is probably for those who are just starting to learn Japanese so go and use the simpler looking one. Once you get to the stage where you feel comfortable with Kanji, you can start using the complex looking one.
Sentence Structure & Notes
Copy into notebook
To say how old you are is very simple. The sentence structure is the same as when you are introducing yourself.
Q. What's your name?
あなた は 何 才 ですか？
(Anata wa nan sai desuka?)
You simply answer:
A. I am (age) years old.
(Dudette) わたし は 〇〇才です。
(Watashi wa (age) sai desu)
(Dude) ぼく は 〇〇才です。
(Boku wa (age) sai desu)
When saying how old someone else is, you replace わたし/ぼく with 彼(かれ/ kare)(when saying how old your female friend is) or 彼女(かのじょ/ kanojo) (when saying how old your female friend is)
Note, when saying your age, there's some things people who are 20 or have a 4 or 7 in their number have to be aware of. All 4s be it four, fourteen, forty and even 400, all fours must be said as yon because shi also sounds like shi 死 which means death, same goes for 7 which can be read as shichi but the preferred way of saying it as your age would be nana as shichi means something like jaws of death or something like that, can't remember it. As for twenty year olds, those who know Japanese culture know that being twenty is a special time in your life as it means you finally became an adult therefore there's a special way to say that you're twenty; hatachi. Those who are hatachi don't need to say sai desu, you go straight to saying desu and that's it.
Here's a post that teaches you how to say numbers: http://atashidare.livejournal.com/16080.html
Homework
Flashcards for: さ (sa) し (shi) す (su) せ (se) そ (so) た (ta) ち (chi) つ (tsu) て (te) と (to)
Write each kana at least 10 times - three times a week.
Try to learn the sentence structure.
OPTIONAL:
Learn Kanji; 何 (Nan - what) 才 (Sai - years old) 歳 (Sai - years old) 私 (Watashi - Me (girl)) 僕(Boku - Me (boy)) 彼(Kare - he) 女 (Jo - girl) 名(Na - name) 前(Mae - front)
Learn three new words from a Japanese show and write it at the back of your notebook and write a definition for all three.
TIP: Use the flashcards as much as you can; in the toilet; on the bus; in bed, EVERYWHERE!
Another tip is that you should study at least 1.25 hrs to 3 hours per week.
EDIT: I'm right now doing exams and assignments so lessons won't be up until the weekends if not; I have it up on my one week holiday.