Minna no Nihongo - Lesson 3!

Hello!

Sorry for the late update, unfortunately I have a lot going on in my work life that keeps getting in the way of studying - not a good excuse I know, I will try and keep my focus!

So lesson 3 is more about here, there, that over there - but with a place not a thing.

Starting off with the vocab! Remember, it is always useful to write words out and sound them out as you write.

Here we have a standard plan of a Japanese Department store

Time for the grammar!

1: ここ／そこ／あそこ／こちら／そちら／あちら
    The demonstratives これ, それ, あれ that are discussed in Lesson 2 refer to a thing, while ここ, そこ, あそこ refer to a place. ここ is the place the speaker is, そこ is the place where the listener is, and あそこ is the place far from both the speaker and the listener.
       こちら, そちら and あちら are demonstrative words referring to direction. こちら, そちら and あちら are also used to refer to location, in which case they are even poilter than ここ, そこ and あそこ.

   [Note] When the speaker regards the listener as sharing his/her territory, the place where they both are is designated by the word ここ. Under this siutation, そこ designates as the place a little distant from the speaker and listener, and あそこ designates an even more distant location.

2: N1 は N2(place) です
    Using the sentence pattern, you can explain where a place, a thing or a person is.
    
     お手洗(てあら)い は あそこです。                      The rest room is there.
     電話(でんわ) は 2階(かい) です。                          The telephone is on the second floor.
     山田(やまだ)さん は 事務所(じむしょ) です。           Mr Yamada is in the office.

3: どこ／どちら
    どこ means "where", and どちら means "which direction". どちら can also mean "where", in which case it's politer than どこ.
   
     お手洗い(てあら) は どこですか。               Where's the rest room?
      ・・・ あそこです。                             ・・・It's there.

     エレべーター は どちらですか。      Where's the elevator?
     ・・・あちらです。                                ・・・It's in that direction. (It's there.)

どこ or どちら is also used to ask the name of a country, company, school or any place or organisation a person belongs to. You cannot use なん(what). どちら  is poter than どこ.

   学校(がっこう)は どこですか。                  What's the name of your school?
   会社(かいしゃ)は どしらですか。              What company do you work for?

4: N1 の N2

     When N1 is the name of a country and N2 is a product, it means that N2 is made in that country. When N1 is the name of a company and N2 is a product, it means that N2 is made by that company. In this structure, どこ is used to ask where or by whom N2 is made.

      これは どこ の コンピューター ですか。    
      ・・・日本(にほん) の コンピューターです。
      ・・・IMC の コンピューター です。

       Where is this computer made? / Who is the maker of this computer?
       ・・・It's made in Japan.
       ・・・ IMC is.

5: お国(くに)

    The prefix お is added to a word concerning the listener or a third person in order to express the speaker's respect to the person.
   
    [お] 国(くに) は どちらですか。              Where are you from?



There you have it! Lesson 3 done!

Japanese from Zero! Book 1 - Activities 1 Answers.

Hello!

Time for those answers to Activity 1!

Japanese Translation
Translate this conversation between Tanaka-san and Kobayashi-san into English, also state if it is polite, informal or mixed.

Tanaka-san:           なんですか。 もうふ ですか。          What is it? Is it a blanket?          
Kobayashi-san:      もう いちど いって ください。            Please say it one more time.
Tanaka-san:            もうふ ですか。.                               Is it a blanket?
Kobayashi-san:       いいえ、タオル です。 .                   No, it is a towel.

English Translation
Translate this conversation into Japanese, also state if it is polite, informal or mixed. It is best practice to write it in hiragana and katakana.

Jeff:         Are you Mary?                                         あんたたは メアリーさんですか。
Maria:     No, I am Maria. Are you Joe?                 いいえ、 マリアー です。あなたは ジョオですか。
Jeff:         No, I am Jeff.                                           いいえ、ジェッフ です。

What would you say?
What would you say in the following situations? Write the answer in Japanese. It is best practice to write in hiragana and katakana.

1: When you want someone to repeat what they said       もういちど いって ください

2: When you see someone for the first time                      はじめまして。 よろしく おねがい します。

3: When you want someone to guess your age.                なんさい に みえますか。

4: When you ask someone if he is Mr. Nakamura            なかむらさん ですか。

5: When you ask someone to speak slowly.                       ゆっくり いって ください。


Hope you all did well! I will be posting again soon.

Keep practicing!

Minna no Nihongo - Lesson 2 Grammar Explanation

Let's learn grammar!

I have had to split the post up due to them becoming rather long. The explanations have a lot of information - which is important as it is all sentence structure and as to why things are used in certain ways.

1: これ ／ それ ／ あれ
They work as nouns. これ refers to a thing near the speaker. それ refers to a thing near the listener. あれ refers to a thing far from the speaker and the listener.

         e.g  それ は 辞(じ)書(しょ) ですか。         Is that a dictionary?
                これ を ください。                 I'll take this. (lit, please give this to me.)

2: この N ／ その N ／  あの N
These modify nouns. 'この N' refers to a thing or a person near the speaker. 'その N' refers to a thing or a person near the listener.  'あの N' refers to a thing or a person far from both the speaker and the listener.

          e.g  この 本 は わたし の です。        This book is mine.
                 あの 方は どなた ですか。         Who is that [person]?

3: そうです ／  そうじゃ ありません
In the case of a noun sentence, the word そう is often used to answer a question requiring an affirmative or negative answer. はい、 そうです。is the affirmative answer and いいえ、 そうじゃ ありません。 is the negative answer.

         e.g   それは テレホンカード ですか。         Is that a telephone card?
                 ・・・はい、そうです。                            ・・・Yes, it is. (lit. Yes, it's so.)

                 それは テレホンカード ですか。         Is that a telephone card?
                 ・・・ いいえ、 そうじゃ ありません。    ・・・No, it isn't. (lit. No, it's not so.)

The verb ちがいます (lit, to differ) can be used to mean そうじゃ ありません.
     
         e.g    それは テレホンカード ですか。       Is that a telephone card?
                  ・・・いいえ、 違(ちが)います。                    ・・・No, it isn't.

4: (S1) か、 ／  (S2) か
This is a question asking the listener to choose between alternatives, (S1) and (S2) for the answer. As an answer to this type of question, the chosen sentence is stated. Neither はい nor いいえ is used.

          e.g    これは  「9」 ですか、 「7」 ですか。        Is this a 9 or a 7?
                   ・・・ 「9」 です。                                        ・・・it's a 9.

5: (N1) の (N2)
In lesson 1 we learned that の is used to connect two nouns when N1 modifies N2. In lesson 2 you learn two other uses.

    1) N1 explains what N2 is about
        これは  コンピューターの 本（ほん）です。        This is a book on computers.

    2) N1 explains who owns N2
         これは  わたし の 本(ほん）です。                    This is my book.

N2 is sometimes omitted when it is obvious. When N2 means a person, however, you cannot omit.

    1) あれは  だれの かぼんですか。                        Whose bag is that?
         ・・・佐(さ)籐(とう)さん のです。                          ・・・ It's Ms. Sato's.

    2) この かぼんは あなたの ですか。                      Is this bag yours?
        ・・・いいえ、 わたしの じゃ ありません。             ・・・ No, it's not mine.

    3) ミラーさん は IMC の 社(しゃ)員(いん) ですか。                  Is Mr Miller an Employee of IMC?
        ・・・はい、 IMC の 社(しゃ)員(いん) です。                           ・・・Yes, he is.

6: そうですか
This expression is used when the speaker receives new information and shows that he or she understands it.

       e.g  この 傘(かさ)は  あなたの ですか。        Is this umbrella yours?
              ・・・いいえ、 違(ちが)います。 シュミッドさん の です。   ・・・No, it's Mr Schmidt's.
              そうですか。                                             I see.

That is it for this lesson's grammar explanation! Hope it all makes sense!

Next post will be the answers for last weeks activity!

Minna no Nihongo - Lesson 2!

This is lesson 2 of the book Minna no Nihongo! You can find the book I used on the tools page on the little gadget to the right. ^__^

So here are the vocabulary charts I drew up from the lesson. It was a lot so I have 3 charts drawn up.

Ideally I would love to have the Grammar explanation for this lesson on the same post but it is quite a lot of information so I have decided to break it up. This post can be good to just grab some vocab! I do apologise for some of the kanji, some were difficult to write.

Again - I do recommend that you try and draw these out, try a bit of writing the words to get used to the characters for recognition. I have written the Romaji to help learn how to pronounce the words too, if you are self-teaching.

I will be posting the grammar explanation up tomorrow!

Happy studying!

Japanese from Zero! Book 1 - Activities 1

So I will be posting translation activities from the books I have which are located on the tools page.

This one is recommended if you have no experience with Japanese at all. It has helped me a lot.

This is a refresher for me as well as helping others do the activities. I will be posting the answers in a weeks time. I think that is enough time for you to do each one! ^__^

Each chapter has a vocabulary set, I am leaving out the ones that have been posted in other blog posts. Test your memory!  ~_^

I apologise for the clumped up kanji, the pen I used was too thick, and I seem to struggle writing mirror >_<

I do recommend you write out kanji to get it to stick, I have found that writing it out over and over it does stick.

On to the activities!

Japanese Translation
Translate this conversation between Tanaka-san and Kobayashi-san into English, also state if it is polite, informal or mixed.

Tanaka-san:           なんですか。 もうふ ですか。
Kobayashi-san:      もう いちど いって ください。
Tanaka-san:            もうふ ですか。
Kobayashi-san:       いいえ、タオル です。

English Translation
Translate this conversation into Japanese, also state if it is polite, informal or mixed. It is best practice to write it in hiragana and katakana.

Jeff:         Are you Mary?
Maria:     No, I am Maria. Are you Joe?
Jeff:         No, I am Jeff.

What would you say?
What would you say in the following situations? Write the answer in Japanese. It is best practice to write in hiragana and katakana.

1: When you want someone to repeat what they said

2: When you see someone for the first time

3: When you want someone to guess your age.

4: When you ask someone if he is Mr. Nakamura

5: When you ask someone to speak slowly.


That is all for the activities. Short and sweet! If you have any questions, ask. I will be posting the answers in a week!

Good luck and have fun! ^__^

Minna no Nihongo - Lesson 1

こんばんわ！

Good Evening!

I will be starting with Minna no Nihongo I book that I posted in the tools page.

This is more useful to me at the moment as it is more of a revision and reference book. I hope you all find it as useful

To start of with, I have drawn tables for the vocabulary in this lesson. There isn't really much I can do in this book as it is all just reference and grammatical notes. So to train myself I have drawn it all out so I am used to the characters and where they will appear.

I have decided to write out the romaji as well as the kana, kanji and English translations.

Lesson 1 is basic vocabulary.

Unfortunately I do not have a scanner, I hope these images will be sufficient. This table should help you learn what kanji will appear in certain words. I didn't know kun had a kanji but heyho!  I do apologise for my Kanji, it is not perfect as I am just learning myself- you can always ask me to type it out or you can google!

This is the main topic of lesson 1, 国くに country, 人ひと nationality and 語ご language. This is very helpful, the more I wrote 語 the easier I found it to write. I do recommend you write out some of these kanji, just to get the hang of them and to make it stick so its recognised when you see it.

You will use these when you are writing things like where you are from and the language you speak, so written exams, job applications and so on. Honestly, I don't think stroke order is essential but you want to learn it just ask and I will happily do a post on it. But practice makes perfect!

Grammar Explanation.

This is just some grammar and particle explanation to help with sentence construction.

1. は  This partical は indicates that the word before it is the topic of the sentence. You select a noun you want to talk about, add は to show that it is the topic and you give a statement about the topic.
   
    e.g.  わたしは マイクミラーです。             I am Mike Miller.

2. です  Nouns used with です work as predictates.
です indicates judgemenbt or assertion
です also conveys that the speak is being polite towards the listener
です inflects when the sentence is negative or in the past tense (discussed in lesson 12)

    e.g   わたしはエンジニアです。               I am an engineer.

3.  じゃ  ありません  this is the negative form of です. It is the form used in daily conversation. For a formal speech or writing, では ありません is used instead.

     e.g Casual  サントスさんは学生じゃありません。         Mr Santos is not a student.
           Formal サントスさんは学生ではありません。        Mr Santos is not a student.

4. (1) か This partical is used to express the speaker's doubt, question, uncertainty, ect. A question is formed by simply adding か to the end of the sentence. A question ends with a rising intonation.

(2) Questions asking whether a statement is correct or not. As mentioned above, a sentence becomes a question when か is added to the end. The word order does not change. The question thus made asks whether the statement is true or not. Depending on whether you agree with the statement or not, your answer to such a question beings with はい or いいえ.

5. も This is added after a topic instead of は when the statement about the topic is the same as the previous topic.
 
     e.g ミラーさんは会社員です。          Mr Miller is a company employee.
           グプタさんも会社員です。          Mr Gupta is also a company employee.

6.  の is used to connect two nouns and to donote ownership or posession.

      e.g  ミラーさん は IMC の 社員です。           Mr Miller is an IMC employee.

7. さん is added to the name of the listener or a third person to show the speaker's respect to the person. It should never be used with the speaker's own name.
      e.g  あの 方は ミラーさんです。             That's Mr Miller.

When referring directly to the listener, the word あなた(you) is not commonly used if you know the listener's name. The listener's famil name followed by さん is usually used.

       e.g  鈴木： ミラーさんは学生ですか。        Suzuki: Are you a student?
              ミラー:  いいえ、会社員です。             Miller: No, I am a company employee.


This concludes leson 1!

Apologies if this is rather long, but it has a lot of useful information and the rest of the blogs will be this long, if not longer! I will try my best to keep it short and sweet!

Happy studying!

Happy New Year!

We have finally arrived into 2015!

I wonder what will await us?

My goal for the year is to do the JLPT N5 in either Summer or Winter. I don't mind which as long as I pass it!

Info: There are only 2 times in the year you can take the JLPT and that is July and December. Each one costing £75.

Failing is not an option!

While we are here.

Happy New Year!
明けましておめでとう！
(あけましておめでとう！)

A-ke-ma-shi-te-o-me-de-to-u!

This is the more formal way of wishing someone a happy new year.

To be more casual:

あけおめ！

A-ke-o-me!

This is a lot more casual if you are saying it to your friends.

I shall be posting a lot more blog posts up as I am working through my study books. If there is anything you don't quite understand, just leave a comment and I will do my best to help.

I do recommend that you look at the books I posted in the tools page.

Happy studying!