RJ_Grammar1_v1.01

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A Rocket Languages Limited & Libros Media Med ia Limited production: http://www.rocketlanguages.com http://www.librosmedia.com All rights reserved. Copyright © 2008 by Rocket Languages Limited & Libros Media Limited. http://www.rocketlanguages.com/japanese™ Rocket Japanese Grammer Book and associated materials may not be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of Libros Media Ltd; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Rocket Languages Ltd & Libros Media Ltd retains all rights to these products. Published by Libros Media Ltd Level 2 – 107 Cashel Street, Christchurch, 8001, New Zealand Printed in New Zealand

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A Rocket Languages Limited & Libros Media Med ia Limited production: http://www.rocketlanguages.com http://www.librosmedia.com All rights reserved. Copyright © 2008 by Rocket Languages Limited & Libros Media Limited. http://www.rocketlanguages.com/japanese™ Rocket Japanese Grammer Book and associated materials may not be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm, xerography, or any other means, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of Libros Media Ltd; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. Rocket Languages Ltd & Libros Media Ltd retains all rights to these products. Published by Libros Media Ltd Level 2 – 107 Cashel Street, Christchurch, 8001, New Zealand Printed in New Zealand

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. – From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and associations.


Minasan, Konnichiwa Hello and Welcome to the Rocket Japanese Grammar Lessons.

Grammar Lesson 1 Yōkoso! Welcome Welcome to your first installment of the Rocket Japanese Grammar Lessons. These lessons act as the perfect complement to the conversational Japanese you have learned in the Interactive Audio course!! In each of these grammar lessons, you can expect detailed grammar examples, examples , and invaluable cultural notes notes (that not only help you with what to say and when to say it but also how to act ). ). You’ll get an insight into written Japanese as well. The mission today is to help you make sense of some of the grammar and vocabulary in the most basic Japanese conversations you have learned. Are you ready to get started? Here we go then…

I. Greetings and Politeness in Japanese Culture So you learned how to say a few greetings in Japanese yesterday. yesterday. Please remember, in Japanese culture, it is considered very important to be able to say these simple greetings when you see people everyday - just as important as saying “thank you” and “please” in Western Western culture.

Ohayō gozaimasu

greeting in the morning

Konnichiwa

greeting during the day

Konbanwa

greeting after dark

There’s another thing you need to remember about Japanese culture: it is being polite and humble. In spoken Japanese, there are different levels of formality and politeness. You need to always be aware of the relationship between you and the person you are speaking to. Are they a friend? A member of your family? A customer? Your Your boss? A colleague?

Of the three greetings gree tings you learned yesterday, yesterday, Ohayō gozaimasu is a good simple example. Every morning I go to work, I say “Ohayō gozaimasu” to to my colleagues. Every morning I go to the kitchen to have my breakfast, br eakfast, I say Ohayō to my family. To a few of my colleagues I am very friendly with, I say Ohayō. To my boss or my teacher, I definitely say “Ohayō gozaimasu.” To a stranger I walked past on the street in the morning, I say “Ohayō gozaimasu.”


For Konnichiwa and Konbanwa, there’s Konbanwa, there’s only one version for everyone. Let’s look at the picture below. Can you tell what they’re saying?

The paperboy would definitely be saying Ohayō gozaimasu: 1) because because the person person he’s he’s speaking speaking to is possibly possibly a customer customer.. because the person he’s speaking to is much older than him and he needs to pay respect 2) to older generations. 3) or simpl simply y becaus because e he is is a str strang anger er.. On the other hand, the older man may be saying “Ohayō gozaimasu” but but he can get away with saying Ohayō if he knows the young man even slightly because he is much older. older.


II. Names and using “ san “ san” ” You probably have heard a Japanese name mentioned followed by san. san. San San is an address showing a sign of respect. You might say it’s like Mr. Mrs. and Ms. San, San, however, however, can be used both after family names or given names. There’s a very important thing to remember r emember,, though. Never put san after san after your own name. As I mentioned above, it is important to be “humble” and as san is san is a sign of respect, you should not use it after your own name.

III. Japanese Writing Systems Many people tell me that Japanese is not such a difficult language to learn to speak well enough to get by. When it comes to reading and writing, however, however, it is a totally different story! And they are right! The reason some people find Japanese reading and writing difficult is because we use THREE sets of characters. Characters, unlike the letters in the English alphabet, are like pictures. So, letters represent sounds, but characters each represent a word - or if not a word then at least a meaningful unit of language, such as a syllable (a “sound cluster”). For example, a Chinese character that means “mountain” would have originated from a drawing of a mountain. Let’s have a brief look at what kind of characters we use in Japanese. 1) Kanji (Chinese (Chinese characters) 漢字 When the Japanese first wrote down their language many centuries ago, they borrowed characters from the Chinese language and we still use them in our modern Japanese language. Every Chinese character has a meaning. 2) Hiragana ひらがな and 3) Katakana カタカナ As the Chinese characters alone did not fit the Japanese language very well, they next invented hiragana and hiragana and katakana. katakana. These two sets represent sounds. Each character represents a syllable. Unlike kanji, these characters do not have any meaning on their own - beyond the “sound clusters” they represent. There are 46 hiragana and hiragana and katakana characters katakana characters each and both are used to represent the same sounds. Hiragana Hiragana came to be used mainly in the Japanese language in conjunction with kanji and and katakana came katakana came to be reserved for foreign original words. Since these two sets are phonetic, anything you can say you can write down using these characters (within the sound system of Japanese).


Let’s take a person’s name as an example. One of the most common Japanese family names, Tanaka, and a very common girl’s name, Yoshiko. 1) 田中佳子 2) たなかよしこ 3) タナカヨシコ 4)

Tanaka Yoshiko

1) 田中佳子

Written in kanji

As I mentioned before, every kanji has a meaning. First kanji

田 means a “rice field.” It is read as ta.

Second kanji

中 means “inside” or “middle.” It is read as naka.

Third kanji

佳 means “good.” It is read as yoshi.

The last kanji

子 means a “child.” It is read as ko.

So this person’s name can mean “A good child in the middle of a rice field”! But it is read as “Tanaka Yoshiko.” Another Yoshiko, however, may use different kanji, 美子. This kanji means “beautiful child.” But it still is read as “Yoshiko.” So someone may ask me “What does Yoshiko mean?” I can only answer, “It depends on what kanji characters they use”! 2) たなかよしこ

Written in hiragana

Here, each character represents a sound cluster:

た

ta

なかよし

=

na

=

ka

=

yo

=

shi

こ

ko

=

=

Easy, right


3) タナカヨシコ

Written in katakana

The same name written this time in katakana. A Japanese name is usually not written in katakana. A foreign name, for example, will be usually written using katakana. But since katakana characters are phonetic, anything can be written down using them. One more Way to Write in Japanese (the “Easy” Way!) Did you wonder how you’re going to be able to read Japanese? Well, don’t worry. We have this system called rōmaji (literally Romanized characters) which allows us to write down what we say using the letters you use in the English alphabet. In your next newsletter, you will learn the rules of pronouncing the Japanese words written in rōmaji . For now, let’s just see how the same name looks when written in rōmaji. 4) Tanaka Yoshiko Written in rōmaji ….this is how Japanese names will be expressed when they are used in English. Ok. Let’s get back to characters, kanji, hiragana, and katakana. You might still be a bit baffled as to how the three systems are used together. Here’s an example.


You see, we use ALL of these THREE sets of characters. Can you spot which ones are kanji? hiragana? katakana? Did you also notice something else? Traditionally we write vertically, from right to left.

Newspapers, magazines, novels, and formal personal letters are usually written vertically and textbooks, casual personal letters, and business correspondence are usually written horizontally from left to right, top to bottom.


Grammar Lesson Part 2 Welcome to your second Rocket Japanese grammar lesson. Today we will be learning all about the writing system we call Rōmaji and the sounds in the Japanese language. We’ll also find out how to ask someone’s name and where they are from, and we’ll tell you e verything you need to know about “you”… no, not about YOU, but about using the Japanese word for you in conversation. Now let’s dig our hands into some basics of the Japanese language…

I. Rōmaji and the Sounds in the Japanese Language Japanese pronunciation is not difficult. The most important pronunciations are those of the five vowels. As long as you can distinguish the five vowels clearly, you’ll be alright! All other syllables consist of consonants and these vowels. a sounds like

“a” as in “art”

i sounds like

“ea” as in “eat”

u sounds like

“oo” as in “food”

e sounds like

“e” as in “bed”

o sounds like

“o” as in “orange”

But keep them all SHORT and CLIPPED. And WHENEVER you see those vowels written in rōmaji , ALWAYS pronounce them in the same way. Add the consonant “k” before each of these vowels. aiueo

ka ki ku ke ko

The shape of your mouth should be the same because the vowels are the same. Below is the chart of basic Japanese syllables あ

a

い

i

う

u

え

e

お

o

か

ka

き

ki

く

ku

け

ke

こ

ko

さ

sa

し

shi

す

su

せ

se

そ

so

た

ta

ち

chi

つ

tsu

て

te

と

to

な

na

に

ni

ぬ

nu

ね

ne

の

no

は

ha

ひ

hi

ふ

fu

へ

he

ほ

ho

ま

ma

み

mi

む

mu

め

me

も

mo

や

ya

ゆ

yu

よ

yo

ら

ra

る

ru

ろ

ro

わ

wa

ん

n

り

ri

れ

re

を wo


Some important things to note: The sound “n” without a vowel can be used at the end of a word or in the middle of a word. Usually say it as it looks to you and you will be fine.

When you see the symbol: “ ˉ “ above a vowel, make it a long sound. For example: sayōnara. When you see double consonants like “tt” and “kk,” insert a little gap before a “t” or “k” sound. For “chotto,” insert a gap between “cho” and “to.” For “ gakkō,” insert a gap between

“ga” and “kō.” There are some other combinations such as “kya” and “kyo.” Pronounce them as one syllable, not two. For example: kyōto, tōkyō Sometimes vowels “i” and “u” sound like they are missing, like desu. But enough is there to know it is “su” and not “sa” or any other vowel. The name “Yoshiko” I used in the previous newsletter also has a missing “i.” It is pronounced with an accent on the first syllable. But enough is there to know it is not “sha” but “shi.” Lastly, try to say the following Japanese words written in rōmaji . Remember to pronounce the vowels! Don’t confuse them with English words!!!! are kite sake me to

II. “What’s Your Name and Where are You From?” Before we get into the more grammatical side of today’s lesson, let’s look at the following country

names and see if you can recognize them. Some of them you can sound out and guess what they are nihon

Japan

amerika

America

kanada

Canada

igirisu

England

furansu

France

doitsu

Germany

indo

India

kankoku

Korea

chūgoku

China

Just add jin after each of these country names, and then you have a “person from that country.”

- 10 www.rocketlanguages.com

nihon jin

= Japanese person

[]desu is the most basic sentence in Japanese language. Nihon jin desu can mean:

I am Japanese. You are Japanese. He/she is Japanese. We are Japanese. They are Japanese.

That is because we tend to drop the subject part of the sentence. Actually, it’s not just the subject part that is often omitted. Many things that have been previously mentioned or understood are omitted. If I am standing in front of a group of people and have just introduced myself and said Nihon jin desu, then it is obvious that I mean “I am Japanese.” If I am pointing at my friend standing next to me and say Nihon jin desu, then I mean “she is Japanese.” The basic sentence structure is this. [ A ] wa [ B ] desu.

[A]=[B]

A (I) =

B (Japanese)

Watashi wa nihon jin desu.

A (Kenny) =

B (English)

Kenī san wa igirisu jin desu.

A (I) =

B (Sayaka)

Watashi wa Sayaka desu.

A (I) =

B (well)

Watashi wa genki desu.

As I mentioned before, the subject part is often dropped. So we end up with: Nihon jin desu. Sayaka desu. Genki desu. We know how to make these into questions, don’ t we? Nihon jin desu ka. Sayaka san desu ka.

(Remembering to add san to someone else’s name)

O genki desu ka.

(Remembering to add o to genki )

If you replace it with a question word that means “what,” you get: Nan desu ka. What is it?

What is it?

O namae wa nan desu ka?

What is your name?


Next let’s go back to the names of the countries and learn to say where you are from. Nihon

kara

kimashita.

from

came

Literally, it is saying “I came from Japan.” But watashi wa has been omitted because it is obvious. Watashi wa nihon kara kimashita.

Kenī san wa igirisu kara kimashita. Pōru san wa doitsu kara kimashita. Kenī san wa amerika kara kimashita ka? Let’s replace amerika with another question word that means “where.” A: Kenī san wa doko kara kimashita ka?

Keni san, where are you from?

B: Igirisu kara kimashita.

Im from England.

III. All About the Word “You” The Japanese translation for the English word “you” is anata. However, many people will choose to avoid using this word whenever we can. How? We usually use the person’s name instead of anata. Sayaka:

Anata wa amerika jin desu ka.

Are you American?

Kenny:

Īe, kanada jin desu.

No, I’m Canadian.

Sayaka:

Kenī san wa amerika jin desu ka.

Are you American?

Kenny:


No, I’m Canadian.

If I am talking to Paul, Kenny’s friend, about Kenny, what would I say Sayaka:

Kenī san wa amerika jin desu ka.

Is Kenny American?

Paul:


No, he’s Canadian.

That’s right. On the surface, these two sentences can be exactly the same. It all depends on the context.


Grammar Lesson Part 3 I hope you’re enjoying the lessons so far. Grammar is not everyone’s favorite topic, but if you

take it in bite-sized bits, it can be easy to digest. And it will be rewarding when you start to see patterns emerging in the way the language is structured and really begin to understand the mechanics behind it. Our objective in this lesson is to examine some of the pieces of the common Japanese conversations - and you’ll notice that many of these words and phrases are the same ones that appear in the early lessons of the Interactive Audio Course. Today we’re learning how to order food or drink, and how to say thank you in different ways. We’ll also have a brief look at how some Chinese characters were made up. Let’s dig into it...

I. How to ask for Something Of course it’s important in any culture to be able to ask for things you want or need. In Japanese, as you know, you need to be polite and use the right expression in the right situation. Here’s three ways to ask for what you want when you want it - AND be sure you get. The first one will allow you to ask others what they “have,” the second will allow you to say “please could I have,” and the third will allow you to ask for something in a very pleasant way! Let’s learn about the ga arimasu structure first: ga arimasu.

There are

or I have

You can use this structure to ask to see if they have the drink you want.

Kōhī ga arimasuka. In conversation, the particle ga (another subject particle) is often omitted.

Kōhī, arimasuka.

Do you have coffee?

Kōcha, arimasuka.

English tea?

O-cha, arimasuka.

green tea?

Jūsu, arimasuka.

juice?

Wain, arimasuka.

wine?

Note that arimasu is used only with inanimate objects, meaning things that can not get up and walk away by themselves. Trees, though they are living objects, can not get up and walk away, so they are inanimate objects. But people and animals are not inanimate objects.


With these things, imasu is used instead. Nihon jin, imasu ka.

Is there a Japanese person?

Kenī san, imasu ka.

Is Kenny there?

Neko, imasu ka.

Are there cats?

Now let’s learn about the kudasai phrase: o kudasai.

Please give me

You can use this structure to order or ask for the drink you want. Aka wain o kudasai.

Please give me some red wine.

In conversation, the particle o (object particle) is often omitted. Shiro wain, kudasai.

Please give me some white wine.

Mizu, kudasai.

water

Kōra, kudasai.

cola

Bīru, kudasai.

beer

Nihon no bīru, kudasai.

Japanese beer

The particle no in the above example is a useful joining word. It joins two nouns. beer can

bīru no kan

wine bottle

wain no bin

tea from India

indo no kōcha

And finally, let’s add the onegai shimasu phrase to our conversational toolbox: o onegai shimasu

please

Onegai shimasu is an expression similar to “please” that you use when you are asking for something. The particle o, again, can be omitted in conversation in this structure as well.

Kōhī, onegai shimasu.

Coffee, please.


II. More than one Way to Say: Thank you! Let’s talk about the word: Sumimasen Sumimasen is possibly one of th first phrases picked up in Japan because it is used a lot. It can mean “excuse me” “I’m sorry” and “thank you.” No wonder! A] dropped a handkerchief on the street [B], a stranger, notices it and picks it up. B: Sumimasen! (getting A’s attention) (B hands over the handkerchief.) A: Aaaa, sumimasen…(showing gratitude) [A]bumps into [B] on the street. A: A, sumimasen…(apologizing) This phrase is a good example of how the Japanese language heavily relies on the situation and context. How polite is your “thank you”? There are many ways to say “thank you” in Japanese, depending on how formal you want to thank them and the relationship between you and the person you’re thanking. Here’s some of the ways listed in the order of politeness and formality:

Arigatō

Do not use with superiors or strangers. Can be used with strangers and sometimes to superiors. Somewhat apologetic “thank you” but very common. Can be used with strangers and superiors b ut not too formal. Same as above but slightly more thankful.

Dōmo Sumimasen

Dōmo sumimasen Arigatō gozaimasu (gozaimashita) Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu (gozaimashita)

Polite and formal Very polite and formal.


III. Picture Kanji Some of the basic kanji are originally derived from pictures. These are some examples.

It’s a mountain! The Japanese word for a mountain is yama. Most kanji in the Japanese language have more than one reading: the original Japanese reading and the original Chinese reading. When the kanji for mountain is used on its own, it is a word. The word that means “a mountain” in Japanese is yama. So when this kanji 山 is used as a word, it is read as yama. There are other words that are composed of more than one kanji , for example, 富士山. It is a word composed of three kanji characters. 山 is used only as a “part” of the word. By the way, the word refers to the tallest mountain in Japan and it is read fujisan. The same kanji 山 in this case is read as san. This reading, san, is the Chinese original reading. So when you look at the kanji 山, the basic meaning of the kanji is obvious. But how you go about reading it is not as obvious, and usually it depends on how it ’s used in a sentence. Is it used as a word on its own? Or is it used as a part of a compound word, consisting of two or more kanji? 車:

a word that means “a car” and pronounced kuruma

日本車：

a word that means “a Japanese car” and pronounced nihonsha

The same kanji 車 is read kuruma in the first word but sha in the second word because it’s a compound word.Kuruma is a word that means something whereassha is merely a sound and a part of another word.

It’s a river! The Japanese word for a river is kawa.

It’s a tree! The Japanese word for a tree is ki. - 16 www.rocketlanguages.com

Those are some easy ones. But it’s about starting simple, especially because the Japanese language will be so… well, foreign to many people. Writing with characters is challenging, but there’s nothing wrong with a challenge - and Rocket Japanese makes it fun!


Grammar Lesson Part 4 This is my fourth grammar lesson and I’m sure you’re starting to get a grasp of what the Japanese language is all about. And I hope that you’re having a great time learning a new language! Today’s topic is what we all like doing, well, what I like doing - eating! For us Japanese, eating is not just feeding ourselves with essential nutrients. It’s an experience! In the audio conversation about going to eat sushi, you covered quite a bit. Today, I’d like to explain in more details about what you learned in that conversation. You’ll be able to talk about what you like and don’t like, use some adjectives like “delicious” and “difficult,” and invite someone to go do something. So let’s move right on!

I. Grammar a) Talking about what you like or don’t like – I like ～ Sushi wa suki desu ka?

Do you like sushi?

Hai, suki desu.

Yes, I do.

Īe, suki ja arimasen.

No, I don’t

My answer is definitely Hai, suki desu! We have learned before that desu is like I am, it is, he is, you are, and so on. You might think that there’s no “am” in “I like”! I want you to note, here, when two languages are so different like Japanese and English, sometimes things like this happen. So let’s not get too hung up on little things and learn how to say “I like” in Japanese. Now that you know how to say you like sushi , let’s try talking about your favorite drinks, sports, and so on. All you need to do is substitute sushi with what you want to talk about. In my previous newsletters, we studied vocabulary for drinks. Let’s first substitute sushi with drinks. Coffee

Kōhī wa suki desuka?

Tea

Kōcha wa suki desu ka?

Green tea

Nihoncha wa suki desu ka?

Hai, suki desu.

Wine

Wain wa suki desu ka?


Hai, suki desu.


Please try substituting with other drinks. Ganbatte ne. Next, let’s talk about what sports you like. Many sports are katakana words. That means, chances are that Japanese people will understand the English names for the sports you like.


Tennis

tenisu

Soccer

sakkā

Baseball

yakyū

Basketball

basukettobōru

American football

amerikan futtobōru or amefuto (for short)

Rugby

ragubī

Sakkā wa suki desu ka?

Do you like soccer?

Īe, amari suki ja arimasen.

No, I don’t like soccer very much.

Demo yakyū wa totemo suki desu.

But I like baseball very much.

or

Demo yakyū wa daisuki desu!

But I love baseball!

Amari when used in a negative sentence means “not very much.” Totemo, on the other hand, is used in an affirmative sentence. It means “very much.” By making suki desu into daisuki desu, you changed it to “love it!” Great! Now you’re able to talk about what you like and don’t like and even how much about a lot of things! b) Adjectives – difficult / delicious Adjectives are words that describe nouns, such as difficult, delicious, spicy, and sweet. Japanese adjectives are not too different from English in the way they are used.

Muzukashii desu.

It is difficult.

Oishii desu.

It is delicious.

Karai desu.

It is spicy.

Amai desu.

It is sweet.

When you want to say “It’s NOT difcult” or “It’s NOT delicious,” it’s a different story! Do you remember how to make desu negative? Yes, it’s ja arimasen. But it’s different with these adjectives listed above.

Muzukashi i desu. Take the last i in the adjective and change it to kunai.


Muzukashii desu.

muzukashi kunai desu

oishii desu

oishikunai desu

karai desu

karakunai desu

amai desu

amakunai desu

I’ll give you a list of some more adjectives so that you can practice making them negative. Ganbatte ne. Expensive

Takai desu.

Cheap

Yasui desu.

Cute

Kawaii desu.

Great

Sugoi desu.

Big

Ōkii desu.

Small

Chīsai desu.

Enjoyable

Tanoshii desu.

Do you remember totemo and amari we learned above? We can use these words with these adjectives as well!

Kono karē wa karai desu ka?

Is this curry spicy?

Īe, amari karakunai desu yo.

No, it’s not very spicy.

Kono ringo wa amai desu ka?

Are these apples sweet?

Hai, totemo amai desu.

Yes, they’re very sweet.

Great! Sugoi desu ne! c) Inviting someone to go do something – Shall we ～

O sushi o tabe ni ikimashō ka? Hai, zehi! Now that is a long and complex sentence. Let’s break it down so that you can use this sentence structure to invite someone to go do something else like go see movies, go grab a cup of coffee, etc. O sushi

o

tabe ni

iki

mashō ka

o: object marker This is not the o you put before sushi to make it honorific. This is the o that comes after the word o sushi . It means whatever the word that comes before this o is the object of the sentence. Mean- 20 www.rocketlanguages.com

ing, in this case, it marks whatever you are eating, that is, sushi . O sushi o tabemasu.

I’ll eat sushi.

O sakana o tabemasu.

I’ll eat fish.

O niku o tabemasu.

I’ll eat meat.

Kōhī o nomimasu.

I’ll drink coffee.

Kōcha o nomimasu.

I’ll drink tea.

Wain o nomimasu.

I’ll drink wine.

Ēga o mimasu.

I’ll watch a movie.

I feel really funny about telling you what I’m about to tell you after all this… This is another particle (little grammatical word) that can be omitted in conversation! Well, it’s good to know about it but I’m all for making it simple! O sushi o tabemasu.

or

O sushi, tabemasu.

Kōhī o nomimasu.

or

Kōhī, nomimasu.

mashō ka: Shall we

～?

iki + mashō ka stem of the verb “go” ikimasu Then can you say “Shall we eat?” and “Shall we drink?” O sushi o tabemasu.

or

O sushi, tabemasu.

Kōhī o nomimasu.

or

Kōhī, nomimasu.

ni: purpose of going somewhere

tabe + ni + ikimashō ka stem of the verb “eat” tabemasu Then can you say “Shall we go drink coffee?” and “Shall we go see a movie?”

Kōhī o nomi ni ikimashō ka? Ēga o mi ni ikimashō ka? O sushi

o object marker

tabe stem of “eat”

ni purpose of going

iki stem of “go”


mashō shall we?

ka

Great! Now you can invite someone to go eat something, go drink something, and go see a movie!

O sushi o tabe ni ikimashō ka? Kōhī o nomi ni ikimashō ka? Ēga o nomi ni ikimashō ka? You can also reply to the invitation like this.

Ii desu ne! Ikimashō!

Sounds good! Let’s go!

II. Culture a) At a Japanese dining table A traditional Japanese meal consists of: a bowl of rice (gohan) a bowl of miso soup (miso shiru) and other small dishes that change every meal (okazu)

Okazu may be fish (sakana) or meat (niku) or vegetable (yasai ) dishes. Japanese meals are very low in fat but slightly high in salt as we use soy sauce ( shōyu) a lot Often the meal is accompanied with pickled or fermented vegetables (tsukemono). A bowl of rice is usually placed on the left to the front and a bowl of miso soup on the right to the front. And, of course, we eat using chopsticks (o hashi ). And we pick up the bowls off the table when we eat.


At a typical western home, you may have a favorite coffee mug that only you use and not any other members of your family. But you would usually use any plate, any fork, and any knife. At a typical Japanese home, however, we often have our own rice bowls, our own chopsticks, and our

own cups for drinking Japanese green tea. All those would come in different sizes and would have slightly different designs so that we know which ones belong to whom.

b) Phrases used before and after eating at the Japanese table Do you say grace before you start eating?

There’s a phrase that a Japanese person would say before they start eating. Itadakimasu! Literally, it means “I humbly receive.” We’re simply thanking those who prepared the food, those who grew or farmed the food, and everyone else involved in bringing the food to us! Also, when someone shouts you some food, you would direct this phrase to whoever is paying. There’s also a phrase you say when you finished eating.

Gochisōsama! Literally, it means “It was a feast!” Again, you can say this to the chef or direct it to everyone involved in bringing the food to you. You can also direct this to whoever is paying that check! You can teach other members of your family these phrases so that you can practice it every time you eat! If you practice three times a day, you should learn them in no time!


III. Writing a) Hiragana of the day These are the first five hiragana characters in our chart. They represent the five vowels in Japanese. あ

い

う

え

お

a

i

u

e

o

There are some words that only consist of these characters. Can you read them? あい

love

いえ

house

うえ

top / up

あお

blue

b) Kanji of the day 食べます

I’ll eat.

tabemasu 日本食

Japanese food

nihonshoku Here’s a good example of how we use kanji – Chinese characters. The basic meaning of the kanji in bold above is eating or food. When it is used as a verb like tabemasu, I’ll eat, like in the first example, it is usually written in combination of kanji and hiragana. When it is used as a noun like nihonshoku, Japanese food, like in the second example, it CAN be all kanji . And as explained in previous newsletter, the same kanji 食 is read differently, ta in the first word and shoku in the second word.


Grammer Lesson Part 5 O genki desu ka? I hope you have been practicing itadakimasu and gochisōsama every time you ate? Maybe you went to a Japanese restaurant and tried out some oishii Japanese food! Maybe you asked someone out to a cup of coffee or to the movies! Omedetō, congratulations! Today I’d like to give you some complementary lesson on Lesson 1.4 of your Interactive Audio Course. We’ll learn to talk about what you can and cannot do. We’ll also learn to give compliments on how well people are doing and talk about things you are good at while being humble at the same time. By the end of the lesson, you will be able to talk about how long you have been doing some things in number of months. At the same time, you will also be able to count 1 to 12. It’s exciting! Let’s move right on!

I. Grammar a) Talking about what you are able to do Nihongo ga hanasemasu ka?

Can you speak Japanese?

Hai, sukoshi hanasemasu.

Yes, I can a bit.

Iie, hanasemasen.

No, I can’t

Of course, your answer at this stage should be Hai, sukoshi hanasemasu! Before going into the grammar explanation of the form for “being able to” let’s first see how to say “I will speak Japanese” along with other basic verbs like drink, read, and write. Nihongo o hanashimasu.

I will speak Japanese.

O sake o nomimasu.

I will drink sake (Japanese rice wine).

Kanji o yomimasu.

I will read kanji (Chinese characters).

Hiragana o kakimasu.

I will write hiragana.

O hashi o tsukaimasu.

I will use chopsticks.

Then let’s compare them with the “able to” equivalents. Nihongo ga hana semasu.

I can speak Japanese.

O sake ga nomemasu.

I can drink sake.

Kanji ga yomemasu.

I can read kanji .

Hiragana ga kakemasu.

I can write hiragana.

O hashi ga tsukaemasu.

I can use chopsticks.

First of all, you probably noticed that the particle o has been replaced with tention to the syllable immediately before masu.


ga. Secondly, pay at-

hana shi masu

→

hana semasu

nomi masu

→

nomemasu

yomi masu

→

yomemasu

kaki masu

→

kakemasu

tsukai masu

→

tsukaemasu

If you remember the conversation at the sushi bar, you now know that you had already learned one example of this form in that dialogue. Between the particle change and the syllable replacement, the syllable replacement is much more crucial. Remember that I said in the previous newsletter that the particle o is often omitted in the conversation anyway. So if you want to keep things simple, you can forget about these little particles at the moment, but that crucial syllable, you cannot forget! At the very beginning of the course, I mentioned that the five vowels are very important in the Japanese language. This is one of the reasons why. Just by changing the vowel of this syllable, you change the meaning. So I hope you can clearly distinguish the vowels i and e. But what about the verbs that already have vowel what do we do to make it “able to”? Sushi o tabemasu

→

e before masu like tabemasu (eat)? Then

Sushi ga taberaremasu.

Japanese is a language where you need to conjugate verbs. That means changing the forms of the verbs. Some European languages require much more conjugation when you compare them to English. But let’s not get bogged down in conjugation at the moment. For now, please just keep in mind that Japanese verbs are classified into two types. Those we listed at the top belong to a different type from tabemasu where the vowel e is already used before masu. Two types of verbs

1-dan (pronounced ichidan) verbs 5-dan (pronounced godan) verbs

b) How long have you been ～

Dore gurai nihongo o benkyō shite imasu ka How long have you been studying Japanese? In the audio lesson, we mentioned te form. That’s another form of conjugation. It’s a big task to learn the te form of all the verbs. So let’s concentrate on the verbs that are similar to benkyō shite imasu and are possibly useful.

Benkyō shimasu

I will study

Renshū shimasu

I will practice

Taizai shimasu

I will stay

Ryokō shimasu

I will travel

These are all verbs that use been doing these things?

shimasu (to do) in them. Can you ask someone how long they’ve


How long have you been practicing piano? How long have you been staying in Japan? How long have you been traveling?

Dore gurai piano o renshū shite imasu ka? Dore gurai nihon ni taizai shite imasu ka? Dore gurai ryokō shite imasu ka? c) Numbers 1 to 12 and Months 1 ichi

1 month

ikka getsu*2

2 ni

2 months

ni ka getsu

3 san

3 months

san ka getsu

4 yon or shi *1

4 months

yon ka getsu

5 go

5 months

go ka getsu

6 roku

6 months

rokka getsu*2

7 nana or shichi *1

7 months

nana ka getsu

8 hachi

8 months

hachi ka getsu

9 kyū or ku*

9 months

kyū ka getsu

10 jū

10 months jukka getsu*2

11 jū ichi

11 months jū ikka getsu*2

12 jū ni

12 months jū ni kagetsu

*1 There are two readings listed for numbers 4, 7, and 9. While one of these two readings is always used with the word ka getsu (months), the other may be used for counting other things. *2 Note the slight pronunciation variation in the number part.

II. Culture Being humble and talking about what you’re good at In the Japanese culture, it is very important to be humble. People avoid sounding too confident. Complimenting other people on how well they’r e doing is done very often as portrayed in the dialogue but talking about things you are good at gets a bit tricky.

Nihongo ga o jōzu desu ne.

Your Japanese is good!

Anata hodo ja nai desu.

Not as good as you.

The word jōzu means being good at something. You can definitely use this word to others when you’re complimenting.


When someone praises you with this word, you can deny the compliment like Kenī san in the dialogue. Anata hodo ja nai desu – Not as good as you! Another possible way is to reply that you’re not really good but you like it very much.

Jōzu ja nai desu kedo suki desu.

I’m not good but I like it.

While it is always good idea not to go on and on about what you are good at, there are times that you do want to convey to someone that you have certain skills. For such occasions, you could use tokui desu.

Jōzu and tokui both mean “being good at” but jōzu should be used when you’re complimenting others and tokui can be used with your own skills. Watashi wa nihongo ga tokui desu. What skills do you have? Are you good at horse riding? Musical instruments? Sports?

Jōba ga tokui desu.

I’m good at horse riding.

Piano ga tokui desu.

I’m good at piano.

Tenisu ga tokui desu.

I’m good at tennis.

Here’s an ultimate humility. When we give a gift to someone, we tell them it’s such a worthless thing.

Tsumaranai mono desu ga,dōzo. It’s such a worthless thing but please take it. You may wonder…why are you then giving it to me? Don’t take it literally! You may be surprised!

III. Writing a) Hiragana of the day The second set of hiragana we’re going to look at is the ka set, ka ki ku ke ko. か

き

く

け

こ

ka

ki

ku

ke

ko

Here are some words that use some of these five along with the five we studied last lesson. Can you read them? Yomemasu ka? きく

chrysanthemum

かい

shell fish

あか

red

あき

autumn

えき

station - 28 www.rocketlanguages.com

b) Kanji of the day

話します

I’ll speak / I’ll talk

hanashimasu 電話

telephone

denwa In the first example, the kanji 話 is read hana and in the second example the same kanji 話 is read wa. The basic meaning of this kanji is talking and speaking. The first

kanji of the second example 電 means electricity.

When you join the

kanji for electricity and kanji for talking, you get a telephone!


Grammar Lesson Part 6 Have you been practicing telling someone how long you have been practicing Japanese??? How about the numbers 1 to 12 and months? Have you tried telling someone in Japanese what you’re good at? You’re not particularly good at anything? Don’t be silly! I’m sure there are plenty of things you’re great at. Besides, you should be able to add speaking Japanese to your list of many skills any day now! For those of you who are studying Japanese, I’m sure it is one of the goals or dreams to actually get to Japan one day. Or it could already be in your plan for near future. This grammar lesson, we’ll be studying expressions and phrases that will be very useful in such occasions. You will learn how to ask for directions. You might want to know how long it takes to a certain sight seeing spot. So we’ll go over how to say the hours and minutes. You’ll also learn a bit about the Japanese public transportation system. Let’s start! Hajimemashō!

I. Grammar a) How do I get there?

Kyōto eki wa dō yatte ikimasu ka?

How do I get to Kyōto station?

Basu de ikimasu.

By bus.

When you arrive in Japan, you will most likely use the public transportation system there. So these expressions will certainly come in handy. There are buses, taxis, and trains. And in larger cities, there will be a subway. In the above excerpt from the Audio Lesson dialogue, de in the basu de part indicates “by means of.” Taxi

Takushī de ikimasu.

Car

Kuruma de ikimasu.

Train

Densha de ikimasu.

Bullet train

Shinkansen de ikimasu.

Subway

Chikatetsu de ikimasu.

Airplane

Hikōki de ikimasu.

On foot

Aruite ikimasu.

b) Minutes and hours

Koko kara tōi desu ka?

Is it far from here?

Basu de jū go fun gurai desu.

It’s about 15 minutes by bus.

The counter (suffix) for the number of minutes is fun. However, this is one of those times where variation in pronunciation occurs depending on the number that comes before it. I’ll show you how to say 1 to 3 minutes as an example. - 30 www.rocketlanguages.com

1 minute

ippun

2 minutes

ni fun

3 minutes

san pun

You see. Sometimes it’s fun. Sometimes it’s pun. And sometimes even the number part changes. But how often do you need to say “17 minutes”? You probably only need to know how to say, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, etc. The below is a list of some more useful examples. 5 minutes

go fun

10 minutes

juppun

15 minutes

jū go fun

20 minutes

ni juppun

25 minutes

ni jū go fun

30 minutes

san juppun

35 minutes

san jū go fun

40 minutes

yon juppun

45 minutes

yon jū go fun

50 minutes

go juppun

55 minutes

go jū go fun

How long does it take from your home to work? By what? It takes me about 20 minutes by car. Kuruma de ni juppun gurai desu. It takes me about 10 minutes on foot from my home to the nearest railway station. Aruite juppun gurai desu. Now that’s minutes done!

But if you’re going from Tōkyō to Ōsaka using trains. It will definitely take longer than 60 minutes. So let’s learn how to say the number of hours. The counter (suffix) for the number of hours is jikan. This one is much more straight forward. You just need to put the number you learned in the Newsletter Part 5 before jikan. Do you remember from that lesson that numbers 4, 7, and 9 had two possible readings? I will list how to say these numbers when used with jikan below. 1 hour

ichi jikan

4 hours

yo jikan (Note that it’s yo jikan and NOT yon jikan.)

7 hours

shichi jikan

9 hours

ku jikan - 31 www.rocketlanguages.com

The biggest city in Japan is Tōkyō, as you probably know. The second biggest city in Japan is Ōsaka. And it takes about three hours by Bullet train. Tōkyō kara Ōsaka made Shinkansen de san jikan gurai desu. Do you know how many hours it takes to fly from your country to Japan?

It takes about 9 hours from Hawaii to Tōkyō Hawai kara T ōkyō made hikōki de 9 jikan gurai desu. Amari tōku nai desu ne!

Not very far, is it?

c) Where is it?

Basutē wa doko desu ka?

Where’s the bus stop?

Kono michi no hantai gawa desu.

It’s on the other side of this road.

Once you get off the bus or any other form of public transportation, you will need to find the place you want to get to on foot. You might need to find the station or bus stop to get to the transportation in the first place. You might want to pick up a few living essentials from a store. You might want to find the nearest bank to get extra cash so that you can buy the beautiful souvenirs you found in the store. Doko desu ka, this phrase will be very useful for you, indeed. You might find it easy to find a friendly face on the street and say these few words, doko desu ka, but what about all those directions that come back to you? Don’t worry. As long as you get the basic direction right, all you need to do is walk a bit further and ask another person!!!! Nevertheless, these are a few examples of direction phrases that may be useful to know.

Q: Basutē wa doko desu ka? A: Kono michi no hantai gawa desu.

The other side of this road.

A: Depāto no tonari desu.

Next to the department store.

A: Ginkō no mae desu.

In front of the supermarket


II. Culture Public transportation in Japan The

public

and

subway

transportation

in

larger

system

cities

in

such

Japan

as

is

Tōkyō,

very

good.

Ōsaka,

There

Nagoya

are

and

buses,

trains,

a

more.

few

And it is known for being very reliable. The JR, Japan Railway, runs throughout Japan except for Okinawa. There are other privately run

railway lines operating in major cities. If you’re traveling long distance, like from Tōkyō to Kyōto, then you would take the JR. The Shinkansen, the bullet train, will not stop at most stations in between and will be very fast.

Most major stations in large cities are sign posted in English and helpful station masters are usually very visible. Just remember to get on the right train that is going in the right direction! Another thing to remember is, if you are not too familiar with traveling on trains, that local trains stop at every station but other fast trains skip minor stations. If you get on a very fast train by mistake, it may not stop at where you want to get off! If you’re traveling on trains in rush hours, 7 to 9 am in the morning, please expect to be squashed between strangers! Sometimes the travelers are literally pushed in the door by station masters. It is not a very pleasant experience. I do not recommend it to anyone!!!


III. Writing a) Hiragana of the day The third set of hiragana we’re going to look at is the sa set, sa shi su se so. さ

し

す

せ

そ

sa

shi

su

se

so

Here are some words that use some of these five along with the ten we studied up to now. Can you read them? Yomemasu ka? すし

sushi

さけ

sake (Japanese rice wine)

せかい

world

あそこ

over there

あさ

morning

b) Kanji of the day 車

a car

kuruma 電車

an electric train / street car

densha The basic meaning of this kanji is a car or a wheel, like a wheel of a wheelbarrow. The same kanji 車is read kuruma in the first word and sha in the second word. The first kanji of the second word 電 means “electricity.” When you join “electricity” with a “wheel” you get an electric train! I hope you enjoyed today’s lesson about public transportation. Do you have public transportation in your country? Do you use it? Please pick many places and practice saying how long it takes to get there by what transportation. Practicing with things you are personally familiar with is the best way! Maybe next time you get in your car, you can tell yourself how long it’s going to take to get to your destination by car before you turn that ignition key.


Grammar Lesson Part 7 Minasan o genki desu ka? Great to see you again!!!! This is our seventh grammar lesson. Have you been listening to your audio lessons? You may be very excited about your progress and may be in the mood to move on to next lessons as soon as you can! That’s great. But please remember it’s always good to go back and listen to the previous lessons, too. Last lesson we went over asking for directions and how long it takes to your destination. We studied minutes and hours. We also learned a bit about Japanese public transportation. How long does it take to your work? To your nearest supermarket? To your children’s schools? I hope you are able to answer in Japanese! Today, I would like to provide supplementary explanation on Lesson 2.2 of the Rocket Japanese Interactive Audio Course, the Perfect Tourist. We’ll learn how to ask for permission. We will also learn to politely ask someone to do something. And we will be introducing you to the strange world of Japanese counting! Sounds interesting? Let’s start, then! Jā, hajimemashō!

I. Grammar a) Politely asking for permission When you are traveling, there will be occasions that you need to ask for p ermission. For example, you may be in some kind of a museum and are not sure if you are allowed to take a photo. Shashin o totte mo ii desu ka? May I take a photo? Let’s break down that sentence. Ii desu ka? The word ii means “good” or “all right.” So with ii desu ka, you are asking if it’s all right. If anything, please remember this expression. Even if you forgot all the other parts of this sentence, you can point at the camera you’re holding and say Ii desu ka, then anyone will understand what you mean. Shashin o toru

to take a photo

Shashin o totte mo ii desu ka? You changed toru to totte. What form of a verb do you think totte is? If you said te form, then you guessed right! Sugoi desu ne! As to HOW to get the te form, we will not get into that today because it involves slightly complicated conjugation. Instead, we will go over some other situations where you may have to ask for permission.


1) May I smoke? 2) May I open the window? 3) May I close the window? 4) May I use the toilet? 5) May I borrow the phone? 1) tabako o suu

→

Tabako o sutte mo ii desu ka?

2) mado o akeru

→

Mado o akete mo ii desu ka?

3) mado o shimeru

→

Mado o shimete mo ii desu ka?

4) toire o tsukau

→

Toire o tsukatte mo ii desu ka?

5) denwa o kariru

→

Denwa o karite mo ii desu ka?

Great! Now you can be a polite tourist asking for permission before smoking. b) Politely asking someone to do something for you Shashin o totte mo ii desu ka?

May I take a photo?

Shashin o totte moratte mo ii desu ka?

Could you take a photo for me?

Please compare the two sentences above. The first one is asking for permission to take a photo. The second one is asking someone to take a photo for you. The only difference between the two is the word moratte. Moratte means “receiving.” In this case, you are receiving a favor. Can you ask someone: 1) to open the window for you? 2) to close the window for you? 3) to speak slowly? 4) to speak in English? 5) to write in rōmaji ? 1) mado o akeru

→

Mado o akete moratte mo ii desu ka?

2) mado o shimeru

→

Mado o shimete moratte mo ii desu ka?

3) yukkuri hanasu

→

Yukkuri hanashite moratte mo ii desu ka?

4) ēgo de hanasu

→

Ēgo de hanashite moratte mo ii desu ka?

5) rōmaji de kaku

→

Rōmaji de kaite moratte mo ii desu ka?


c) Here, there, and over there! Koko de shashin o totte mo ii desu ka?

May I take a photo here?

koko

here

kore

this

soko

there

sore

that

asoko

over there

are

that over there

doko

where

dore

which

These words are called ko so a do words in Japanese, taking the first syllable of each word. When the speaker is pointing at a place near the speaker, they will use koko. When the speaker is pointing at a place near the listener, they will use soko. When the speaker is pointing at a place far from both of them, they will use asoko. Similarly, when the speaker is pointing at an object near the speaker, they will use kore. When the speaker is pointing at an object near the listener, they will use sore. When the speaker is pointing at an object far from both of them, they will use are. Pretty much similar to English.

d) Counting Counting in Japanese is not as simple as it sounds. I know you have learned numbers already. But they are just numbers. You use them for phone numbers, page numbers, addresses, money, and so on. But when you are actually COUNTING things, like one apple, two apples, and so on, a concept of a “counter” gets involved. A counter is a suffix you put after a number when you are counting things. You already know some counters like minutes (fun), hours ( jikan), and months (ka getsu). What makes Japanese counting very confusing is………..when you count objects, you use different counters depending on the shape of the objects!!!! For example, you use certain counter for counting long slender objects like pencils, belts, and bottles. You use another counter for counting thin flat objects like paper, stamps, and plates. And there are many many many counters!!!! But we won’t get into that today. I will, instead, give you the general counters we use for many - 37 www.rocketlanguages.com

things as well as when we are not sure which counter to use! Yes, that’s right. Even a native speaker is sometimes not sure which counter to use. 1

hitotsu

2

futatsu

3

mittsu

4

yottsu

5

itsutsu

6

muttsu

7

nanatsu

8

yattsu

9

kokonotsu

10 tō In Grammar Lesson Part 3, we learned how to order drinks. Do you remember how to order a coffee?

Kōhī o kudasai .

Please give me coffee.

Now we can order two cups of coffee! But please note where you put the counter.

Kōhī o futatsu kudasai.

Please give me two cups of coffee.

That’s right. We don’t put the quantity before the word kōhī as you would in English. Can you ask for the following things in the following quantity? Three apples

Ringo o mittsu kudasai .

Four cups of tea

Kōcha o yottsu kudasai .

Five glasses of wine

Wain o itsutsu kudasai .

Six beers

Bīru o muttsu kudasai .

Yoku dekimashita! Well done! Now you don’t have to go thirsty when you want those six cans of beer!!!

II. Culture 1) Shoes In Lesson 2.2 of the Rocket Japanese Interactive Audio Course, the Perfect Tourist, Kenny mentioned the toilet slippers! To tell you the truth, I have forgotten to get out of those toilet slippers once or twice myself… Some of you may already know but in Japan, we NEVER go inside a home with our shoes on. It is possibly the rudest thing you can do to go into someone’s home with your shoes on.


When you move homes, you may hire r emoval people. Or when you buy a new bed, you may get it delivered to your home. Those people will also take their shoes off before they go inside. I have heard that some burglars also take their shoes off!!!! We love slip-on shoes for that purpose! I have a pair of lace up boots. I bought them in Japan so they have fasteners so that I don’t have to undo the laces every time I go into someone’s home! You may think “If I have to take them off all the time, I won’t bother to wear them in the first place!” Well, the Japanese will not do that either! And if you walk outside without shoes on, then your feet must be cleaned before going inside. When you enter someone’s house, you will often be offered indoor slippers. Those are expe cted to be worn on the linoleum or wooden floors. When you walk into a traditional Japanese room with tatami mat floor, you’re expected to take those slippers off. So you have slippers you wear in some parts of the house and slippers you wear only inside the bathroom…see it does get confusing sometimes. My advice to you. If you’ve been invited to a Japanese home, it may pay to check that you don’t have holes in your socks!!! 2) Toilet Kenny also mentioned the fun you can have with the toilet in Japan. Some hotels have a very fancy toilet with many controls. I suggest that you try and have fun! Many people become a fan of those toilets! While many modern homes are now equipped with a Western style toilet, public bathrooms will often have both the Western style toilets and Japanese style toilets. Here’s an example of a traditional Japanese style toilet.


III. Writing a) Hiragana of the day The fourth set of hiragana we’re going to look at is the ta set, ta chi tsu te to. た

ち

つ

て

と

ta

chi

tsu

te

to

Here are some words that use some of these five along with the others we studied up to now. Can you read them? Yomemasu ka? うた

song

いち

one

いつつ five て

hand

おと

sound / noise

b) Kanji of the day 女

female

onna 男

male

otoko The above are kanji that represents female and male. While some public bathrooms have signs in English, it may prevent some embarrassing situations if you know these two characters! So that’s it for today. You’re learning so much! Now that you know how to ask for permission and how to politely ask someone to do something for you, I really hope that you get to be a real perfect tourist in Japan in a very near future! Keep practicing until then! Ganbatte ne! Ōen shiteimasu! I’m rooting for you!


Grammar Lesson Part 8 O genki desu ka? I’m having a great time talking to you about the Japanese language and culture. I hope you are being more and more interested in Japanese and Japan as we eks go by. Last lesson you have learned how to be a perfect tourist! You can now ask permission before smoking or taking a photo as well as politely asking people to do something for you. Don’t want to be obnoxious travelers and offend people, do we! We also learned general counters so that we can ask for six cans of beers! Also I hope I was able to convey the importance of taking shoes off at someone’s home. Today, you will learn how to tell someone what you want to do and ask for assistance in a very natural Japanese way. You might want to book a room at a hotel or call a taxi. We will also learn how to count people. Yes, another counter! This one is a bit more straight forward, I think……..^^) We will also look into different types of Japanese accommodations and what to do in a Japanese hot spring!

Jā hajimemashō!

I. Grammar a) Telling someone what you want to do – I want to ～ Heya o yoyaku shitai no desu ga.

I’d like to book a room.

Last lesson you learned how to ask for permission. In similar situations, instead of asking for permission, you may want to simply tell them what you want to do and ask for assistance. The above is how it was used in the dialogue. Heya o yoyaku shi masu. shi + tai

I will book a room.

want to

↑

stem of the verb “do” shimasu Heya o yoyaku shitai no desu ga. *1 no desuattached after shitai indicates you are explaining your situation. You often attach it when you are telling someone what you want to do. For now, let’s just remember the whole phrase tai no desu. *2 ga at the very end literally means “but” and the Japanese often end the sentence with “but.” It is put there to avoid strongly stating something and it also prompts the other person to say something back. In this case it sounds like saying “I’d like to book a room but (can you help me).” It is the Japanese way not to spell out everything and end a sentence in a hanging manner like this. And it is up to the listener to respond properly.


Just like last lesson, let’s go over some other situations where you may want to tell someone what you want to do in order to gain some assistance. 1)

I’d like to go to the bathroom.

2)

I’d like to read English newspapers.

3)

I’d like to buy some cigarettes.

4)

I’d like to call a taxi.

1) toire ni iki masu

→

2) ēgo no shinbun o yomi masu →

Toire ni ikitai no desu ga.

Ēgo no shinbun o yomitai no desu ga.

3) tabako o kai masu

→

Tabako o kaitai no desu ga.

4) takushī o yobi masu

→

Takushī o yobitai no desu ga.

Yoku dekimashita! Well done! When you tell someone what you want to do, ending with tai no desu ga, in the above fashion, the listener will respond by giving you assistance or telling you where you could go to get the assistance. b) How many people?

Nan mē sama desu ka?

How many people?

Watashi dake desu.

Only me.

Last lesson you were introduced to the concept of Japanese counting.

Nan mē sama, how many people, used in the dialogue is a fairly polite version as it is used by a hotel receptionist. The nan mē part indicates “how many” and sama, is a politer version of the word you are already familiar with, san. While you may not have an opportunity to use this expression in this polite manner yourself, you will encounter it many times during your stay in Japan. As in the dialogue, when you’re booking a room at a hotel. When you enter a restaurant, you will be asked how many people are in your group. In the dialogue, Kenny was traveling by himself. You may travel with your family. So let’s learn how to count one to ten people. The left hand side shows the polite version the hotel receptionist would use and the right hand side shows the neutral version that you can use.


Mē is the counter for the polite version and nin is the counter for the neutral version. How many? Nan mē sama desu ka?

Nan nin desu ka?

1

o hitori sama

Hitori

2

o futari sama

Futari

3

san mē sama

san nin

4

yon mē sama

yo nin

5

go mē sama

go nin

6

roku mē sama

roku nin

7

nana mē sama

nana nin

8

hachi mē sama

hachi nin

9

kyū mē sama

kyū nin

10

jū mē sama

jū nin

As you can see, the Japanese words for one person and two persons are irregular but the rest are the numbers you are already familiar with followed by the respective counters. Here’s a typical conversation as you enter a restaurant. Waiter:

Irasshaimase! Nan mē sama desu ka?

Customer:

Futari desu.

Waiter:

O futari sama desu ne. Kochira e dōzo.

Waiter:

Welcome! How many people?

Customer:

Two people.

Waiter:

Two people (confirming). This way please.

If the number of you standing there and the total number who is eventually going to be at the table is different, it may become very important to convey the number correctly! Don’t hesitate to use your fingers. Don’t worry. I usually use my fingers, too!


II. Culture a) Hotels and ryokan There are different types of accommodations available in Japan. For budget travelers, there are youth hostels just like the ones that can be found in most parts of the world. For those of you who seek a bit more privacy and comfort, there are hotels and ryokan, traditional Japanese style inn. In some ryokan, you may have to take your shoes off at the entrance and wear the slippers provided. In each room, there will be an entrance area where you can take off those slippers and step up into the actual room. The Japanese style rooms have the tatami floor. As I told you last lesson, you do not wear slippers on the tatami floor.

In each room, you can find yukata. That’s a cotton sleepwear kimono. Find the size that fits you and you can wear it to relax in the room at night and also sleep in it. Don’t forget to leave them behind, though. They are usually not part of your amenity set. In a proper ryokan, dinner and breakfast are included. It depends on the ryokan but you will often be served dinner in your room. The first thing you may notice in the room may be that there are no beds! Yes, the Japanese bedding, futon, is packed away in the closet called oshiire and they will be laid down on the floor for you before bed time by the room service. Those of you who are used to a very soft bed may have a sleepless night or a sore back next morning! b) Japanese style bath It is my personal opinion that you MUST experience a hot spring while you are in Japan! There are so many of them throughout Japan and we all love it! It may be popular to bathe in hot springs in your country but there may be different protocols!


First of all, we do not wear anything in the hot springs. Nothing at all! No bathing suit is allowed in the hot springs. Before jumping into the hot spring, we usually clean ourselves first. Every bathing room is provided with a space for that with a shower. Once you cleaned yourself, and thoroughly rinsed off the soap thuds, then you can jump in the hot spring. But be careful! Some hot springs are very hot! If you stay in them too long, you can get sick. Please enjoy many health benefits of the natural hot springs!

III. Writing a) Hiragana of the day The fifth set of hiragana we’re going to look at is the na set, na ni nu ne no. な

に

ぬ

ね

の

Na

ni

nu

ne

no

Here are some words that use some of these five along with the others we studied up to now. Can you read them? Yomemasu ka? なす

eggplant

あに

(my) older brother

いぬ

dog

おかね money おの

ax

b) Kanji of the day Last lesson I showed you the characters for female and male. Today I will show you another set of characters that are often used on the public bathrooms and bath house. 婦人 ladies

fujin 殿方 gentlemen

tonogata Please have a look at the first kanji of fujin, 婦. Doesn’t the left hand side look familiar? Yes, it’s the kanji for female we looked at last lesson, 女. Kanji often works this way. It is made up of parts. And the parts often tell you what the meaning of the kanji is related to. These sets are complicated kanji but if you can spot this part, then you know this one is for ladies and the other one must be for gentlemen! - 45 www.rocketlanguages.com

Grammar Lesson Part 9 Minasan, o genki desu ka? Watashi wa totemo genki desu! This is my ninth grammar lesson. I hope you’re enjoying the improvements you’re making every day! In the last lesson, you learned how to say “I want to” in a way so that you will be given some kind of assistance. You also learned how to count people. I hope you enjoyed the information about the Japanese accommodations and the etiquettes regarding the hot springs! Today, I’d like to talk about a very basic activity in our lives, coming and going. Also another fundamental activity in our lives, occupation. Yes, coming, going, and working!

Jā hajimemashō!

I. Grammar a) Coming and going

Tēkoku Hoteru ni ikimasu.

I’m going to Teikoku Hotel.

ni: destination particle [place name]

ni ikimasu.

I’m going to ～

[place name]

ni kimasu

I’m coming to ～

Particle ni has many meanings but when used after a place name along with ikimasu (iku: go) or kimasu (kuru: come), it works as a destination particle, meaning “to.” Let’s go to places! What place names do you know? Japan

Nihon ni ikimasu.

Public bathroom

Toire ni ikimasu.

Park

Kōen ni ikimasu.

Temple

O tera ni ikimasu.

Shinto shrine

Jinja ni ikimasu.

Castle

O shiro ni ikimasu.

Bank

Ginkō ni ikimasu.

Post office

Yūbinkyoku ni ikimasu.

Station

Eki ni ikimasu.

Do you remember how to say “I want to”? We used the expressions in our last lesson when we wanted to book a room at a hotel. It’s Hoteru o yoyaku shitai no desu ga. The “want to” part is tai no desu ga. Can you then say to someone that you “want to” go to some of these places listed above and seek some assistance? - 46 www.rocketlanguages.com

Public bathroom

Toire ni ikitai no desu ga.

Bank

Ginkō ni ikitai no desu ga.

Post office

Yūbinkyoku ni ikitai no desu ga.

Station

Eki ni ikitai no desu ga..

made: until / up to / as far as [place name]

made ikimasu.

I’m going as far as ～

When you are traveling on the train, bus and so on, the particle made which means “until” or “as far as” is often used instead of ni . Ni indicates a point of destination where as made indicates

more like “end of your travel.” Imagine a long railway. The Ginza station may be where you are getting off the train, meaning that’s as far as you’re going. But the railway will continue with or without you. Machi made iku takushī o matte imasu ka? Are you waiting for a taxi that goes to the city? Here’s another handy expression.

You want to know how much it costs to ride a train to the Ginza station. Ginza eki made ikura desu ka? How much is it to the Ginza station? b) Are you coming or are you going? When two languages are as different as Japanese and English, you often cannot translate word for word. Have you ever read the English that has been machine translated from Japanese? A lot of editing by human translator is still re quired! Well, the two words we are talking about this lesson, coming and going, are also used a little bit differently in one situation between English and Japanese. In English, if the speaker is going to the listener’s house later on, the speaker will say: I’m coming to your house later!


But in Japanese, if the speaker is the one who is physically moving, then the speaker will say: Atode anata no uchi ni ikimasu! Just remember this little story. A Japanese high school student, Akio, is in America staying with a homestay family. He’s upstairs in his room. His host mother screams from downstairs “Akio, the dinner is ready!” to which Akio replies “I’m going!” You know what he meant, though, don’t you? He meant to say “I’m coming!” but he, being a Japanese person, literally translated what he wanted to say.

When he came downstairs a few minutes later to the dining room, his plate was not set up. He said to his host mother “Where is my plate?” The innocent looking mother says “But you just said you were going!” You might have noticed by now, that the Japanese and English sentence orders are often back to front. Yes, “coming” and “going” can be back to front as well!!!!

II. Culture – Occupation O shigoto wa nan desu ka? What is your occupation? When someone asks you what your occupation is, how do you answer? For example, when you enter a foreign country, you must fill in the immigration form. It usually has a box for your occupation. What do you write in the box? Many Japanese people write these two words in the box – company employee. Is that an occupation? For many years, Japanese men were employed for life. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, things have changed in recent days and many people change jobs during their working career. But before that, once you work for a company, you work for the same company

until you retire. And what you do within the organization may change. “I am an employee of this company” is how they identify themselves. The Japanese words for “company employee” is kaishain. Kaisha is “company” and in is a suffix meaning “member.” These people are often referred to as Sararī Man, a Salary Man. Anata no o shigoto wa nan desu ka? What is YOUR occupation? Maybe you fall into a category of kaishain, too.

III. Writing a) Hiragana of the day The sixth set of hiragana we’re going to look at is the ha set, ha hi fu he ho. は

ひ

ふ

へ

ほ

ha

hi

fu

he

Ho


Here are some words that use some of these five along with the others we studied up to now. Can you read them? Yomemasu ka? はな

flower

ひく

to pull

ふく

clothes

ふね

boat

ほね

bone

b) Kanji of the day 行きます I’m going

ikimasu 来ます

I’m coming

kimasu The kanji of the day is of course none other than coming and These two verbs in the form found in the dictionary, called the dictionary form, are: 行く

go

iku 来る

come

kuru Note that for the second word, the kanji stayed the same but the reading changed.


going!

Grammar Lesson Part 10 O genki desu ka? Have you practiced the verbs ikimasu and kimasu? Where did you go in the past week? Work, shopping mall, movies? Did anybody come to your place? Before going to any place from now on, I hope you say to yourself where you’re going in Japanese! Today, we will look more closely into the grammar of the adjectives as used in the Lesson 2.5 of the Rocket Japanese Interactive Audio Course, “Visiting the History.” You will learn about the two types of adjectives in the Japanese language and how to use them. You will also learn to make a suggestion such as when choosing a restaurant to go to or a date for getting together with friends. In addition, you will see what o tera and jinja are!

Jā hajimemashō!

I. Grammar a) Adjectives What are adjectives? Adjectives are words that describe nouns. Some example adjectives in English are big, small, beautiful, famous, and so on. There are adjectives in the Japanese language as well. We talked about them a bit in grammar lesson Part 4. The Japanese adjectives are classified into two types: I adjectives and NA adjectives. The ad jectives we learned in grammar lesson Part 4, are all I adjectives. Let’s have a look at them.

muzukashii

difficult

oishii

delicious

karai

spicy

amai

sweet

sugoi

great

ōkii

big

You can see that they all end with a vowel i and that’s why they are called I adjectives. Some examples of NA adjectives are:

shizuka

quiet

nigiyaka

lively, bustling

yūmē

famous

kirē

clean, beautiful


These adjectives above do not end with a vowel i and they are called NA adjectives. But, I know, they do not end with na either! Well, we’ll get into that in a minute! There are a lot more of I adjectives than NA adjectives. Nevertheless, whenever we talk about the conjugation of adjectives, we always have to ask ourselves, “Is it an I adjective or is it a NA adjective?” How do we use adjectives in a sentence? Let’s study English adjectives first. The adjective “big” can be used in the following two ways. a) This dog is big.

b) This is a big dog.

You might think they are exactly the same! Well, you’re right. They MEAN the same thing but when you look at them from the grammatical point of view, the adjective is used in two different ways. In the example (a), the word “big” is used at the end of the sentence following the word “is.” In the example (b), the word “big” is used before a noun “dog.” That’s the difference. The Japanese adjectives can be used in these two ways just like English. a) Kono inu wa ōkii desu.

b) Kore wa ōkii inu desu.

In the example (a), the word ōkii is used just before desu but in the example (b) the word ōkii is used before the noun inu. Please note, however, the word ōkii did not change whether it is used before desu or before the noun. That’s because the word ōkii is an I adjective. Let’s take a NA adjective as an example. a) Kono kōen wa kirē desu.

b) Kore wa kirē na kōen desu.

This park is beautiful.

This is a beautiful park.

What happened in the example (b)? I have inserted na between the adjective kirrē and the noun kōen. And this is why they are called NA adjectives!

Kono aka chan wa shizuka desu. → Shizuka na akachan desu. This baby is quiet.

Tōkyō wa nigiyaka desu.

It’s a quiet baby. →

Nigiyaka na machi desu.

Tokyo is bustling.

It’s a bustling city.

Fuji san wa yūmē desu.

Yūmē na yama desu.

Mt. Fuji is famous

It’s a famous mountain.

Kono resutoran wa kirē desu. This restaurant is beautiful.

→

Kirē na resutoran desu. It’s a beautiful restaurant.


b) Making a suggestion – How about ～?

Raishū wa dō desu ka?

How about next week?

When you’re making a suggestion, use the phrase dō desu ka. In the dialogue, Kenny wanted me to go to a temple with him. And I suggested the time “next week.” If you’re going out for dinner and are trying to decide what kind of food to eat, you can make a suggestion using this phrase.

Chūka ryōri wa dō desu ka?

How about Chinese food?

You can respond to this by saying: Ii desu ne!

Sounds good!

II. Culture – Temples and Shrines While some Japanese people may not think of themselves as not particularly religious, most of them follow some traditional customs that involve religious ceremonies or visits to the religious institutions at sometime in their lives. The two main religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shinto. The Buddhism temples are called o tera and the Shinto shrines are called jinja. There are many temples and shrines throughout Japan and some of them are major tourist spots.

In some temples, there may be an area where you purify your hands with water. Or there may be an area where you try to put the smoke from burning incense to the parts of your body that need to get better. You will notice, lots of people putting smoke onto their head, hoping they will get smarter!!!!


RJ_Grammar1_v1.01

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