 What is a lesson like?
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Would you like to know what's going on during a lesson? Let's peek at the first lesson.
T (teacher): Hello, everyone! Welcome to Hougang Japanese Language School. I hope you can enjoy studying Japanese with us. Let's begin to study Japanese. Before studying Lesson 1 Grammar, I would like to explain Writing System of the Japanese language that is very important to learn Japanese for the first time. Let's see a textbook at page 1. (A teacher reads a textbook at page 1.)
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Most of the Japanese sentences are composed of three kinds of letter: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.
Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic characters. There are no specific meanings in Hiragana and Katakana. They show a certain sound or syllable.
Mainly, Hiragana is used to write the particles, conjunctions, some adverbs, the ending of verbs and adjective that conjugate. Some words are also written in Hiragana and also if you do not know how to write Katakana and Kanji, Hiragana can be used.
Some Japanese words are made from foreign language such as erajiof made from gradioh,
eterebif made from gtelevisionh, ekouhiif made from gcoffeeh, etc. To write those words, we use Katakana. However, Hiragana can be used if you do not know to write Katakana.
Kanji (Chinese characters for the Japanese language) was imported from China. Please note that there is a great difference between Kanji and Chinese characters because Kanji developed independently in Japan after being imported. About 2,000 Kanji are used commonly.
Hiragana and Katakana can be replaced by English alphabet ? known as Roumaji that is not used generally. It is only used to teach the Japanese language to foreigners who do not know how to read and write Hiragana and Katakana. Where pronunciation is concerned Roumaji is different from English alphabet. Roumaji is used to help you pronounce Hiragana and Katakana until you can memorize them. It is best if you can memorize Hiragana and Katakana as soon as possible.
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T: I believe that you know now what the Japanese Writing is like. Hiraganag is most important since all Japanese sentences actually can be written in Hiragana. So, we study how to read and write Hiragang at Beginner 1. We study Katakana at Beginner 2 and start to study Kanji at Intermediate 1. Let's pronounce Hiragana while looking at Hiraganag chart at page 2 of the textbook. Please listen to me closely and repeat after me. The Japanese syllables consist of the vowels a, i, u, e and o or a combination of one consonant sound with a vowel. (A teacher and students read Hiragana chart together.)
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Pronunciation of Roumaji (Roman alphabet is based on the Hepburn system)
a as in farm/ i as in eel/ u as in boom/ e
as in egg/ o as in oak/ k as in cake/ g as in glass/ s as in soap/ z as in zebra/ j as in jam/ t as in teeth/ d as in doll/ n as in noon/ h as in hat/ f as in foot/ b as in ball/ p as in puppy/
m as in mail/ y as in yacht/ r as in radish/ w
as in waffle/
one n as in insect
A consonant plus eyaf, eyuf or eyof such as echaf, echuf or echof is pronounced as in gchanceh, gchooseh or gchokeh. eshaf, eshuf or eshof is pronounced as in gsharkh, gshoeh or gshowh.
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T: Remember to pronounce Roumaji in Japanese way. Let's read the Japanese greetings. Look at page 3 of the textbook. At first, I read and you follow me. |
Greetings:
A: o-ha-yo-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Good morning.)
B: o-ha-yo-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Good morning.)
A: ko-n-ni-chi-wa. (Good afternoon.)
B: ko-n-ni-chi-wa. (Good afternoon.)
A: sa-yo-na-ra. (Good bye.)
B: sa-yo-na-ra. (Good bey.)
A: ko-n-ba-n-wa. (Good evening.)
B: ko-n-ba-n-wa. (Good evening.)
A: o-ya-su-mi-na-sa-i. (Good night.)
B: o-ya-su-mi-na-sa-i. (Good night.)
A: do-u-mo / a-ri-ga-to-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Thank you very much.)
B: i-i-e / do-u / i-ta-shi-ma-shi-te. (You are welcome.)
A: do-u-mo / su-mi-ma-se-n. (I am sorry.)
B: i-i-e / ka-ma-i-ma-se-n. (Never mind.)
A: cho-t-to / su-mi-ma-se-n. (Excuse me,)
B: ha-i / na-n / de-su / ka. (Yes?)
A: ma-ta / a-i-ma-sho-u. (See you.)
B: ma-ta / a-i-ma-sho-u.(See you.)
A: o-ge-n-ki / de-su/ ka. (How are you?)
B: ha-i / o-ka-ge / sa-ma-de / ge-n-ki / de-su. (I am fine.)
A: o-me-de-to-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Congratulations.)
B: do-u / mo-a-ri-ga-to-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Thank you very much.)
A: ga-n-ba-t-te / ku-da-sa-i. (Do your best.)
B: ha-i / ga-n-ba-ri-ma-su. (Yes, I will do my best.)
A: o-hi-sa-shi-bu-ri / de-su / ne. (Long time no see.)
B: o-hi-sa-shi-bu-ri / de-su / ne. (Long time no see.)
A: ha-ji-me / ma-shi-te. (How do you do? (Used to say when you see the person for the first time )
B: ha-ji-me / ma-shi-te. (How do you do?)
A: do-u-zo / yo-ro-shi-ku / o-ne-ga-i / shi-ma-su. (Do take care of me.)
A: ki-o-tsu-ke-te / ku-da-sa-i. (Watch out!/ Take care of yourself.)
A: o-ne-ga-i / shi-ma-su. (Do me a favor.)
A: mo-u / i-chi-do / o-ne-ga-i / shi-ma-su. (Please say (repeat) one more time.)
A: ta-n-jo-u-bi / o-me-de-to-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Happy birthday to you!)
A: a-ke-ma-shi-te / o-me-de-to-u / go-za-i-ma-su. (Happy New Year!)
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T: I hope you learn by heart these greetings. Now, let's study Lesson 1. Look at page 4 of the textbook. Please repeat after me whenever I read a Japanese sentence. |
We study how to identify a person in this lesson (How to say gI am Mr Tanaka.h, gHe is a student.h, gShe is a Japaneseh, etc in Japanese). And also, we study what a particle is.
(1) watashi WA gakusei DESU. (I am a student.)
eWAf is a particle that is used to show a topic and a subject of the sentence. A particle shows the grammatical relationships between the words used before it and some other word in the sentence. It looks like an English preposition. However, Japanese particles come after the words.
In Japanese, the meaning of a topic and a subject are slightly different. A topic means that what the sentence is about and a subject means that the thing or the person that performs the action of the verb, or about which something is stated. However, a topic and a subject are the same in most of the Japanese sentences. So, we simply put eWAf right after what we are going to talk about. In sentence (1), ewatashif is a topic. Therefore, eWAf follows ewatashif.
eDESUf corresponds with an English be-verb (gish, gareh and gamh) and is put at the end of the sentence. The conception of e(A) WA (B) DESUf is that g(A) equals (B).h It is not necessary to change eDESUf into another form no matter what the subject is. ((A) and (B) must be a noun.)
Example:
ex.1 anata WA sensei DESU. (You are a teacher.)
ex.2 kare WA kaishain DESU. (He is an employee.)
ex.3 kanojo WA Nihon-jin DESU. (She is a Japanese.)
ex.4 Kimura-san WA jieigyou DESU. (Mr Kimura is a self-employed person.)
1. We can describe onefs nationality by adding e-jinf to the name of the country.
2. e-sanf is used for addressing people. It is added after the name. It can be used for all people@regardless of gender, marriage status, but never used when we mention our own name.
(2) watashi wa gakusei DEWA ARIMASEN. (I am not a student.)
e-DEWA ARIMASENf is the negative of eDESUf. It means gis not/ are not/ am noth. In daily conversation, e-JA ARIMASENf is used commonly.
Example:
ex.1 anata wa sensei DEWA ARIMASEN. (You are not a teacher.)
ex.2 kare wa dokushin DEWA ARIMASEN. (He is not a bachelor.)
ex.3 Tanaka-san wa kangofu DEWA ARIMASEN. (Miss Tanaka is not a nurse.)
(3) anata wa gakusei desu KA? (Are you a student?)
eKAf is a particle that is used to make a question. It is added at the end of the sentence.
Example:
ex.1 anata wa sensei desu KA? (Are you a teacher?)
ex.2 kanojo wa mushoku desu KA? (Is she jobless?)
ex.3 Kimura?-san wa shufu desu KA? (Is Mrs Kimura a housewife?)
ex.4 Q: anata wa Nihon-jin desu KA? (Are you a Japanese?)
%%%%A1: hai, [watashi wa] Nihon-jin desu. / sou desu. (Yes, I am.)
%%%%A2: iie, [ watashi wa Nihon-jin dewa arimasen. ] (No, I am not.)
%%%%%%%%%[watashi wa] Shingapouru-jin desu. (I am a Singaporean.)
*You are free to leave out the words in [ ].
1.Basically, ehaif means gYesh and eiief means gNo.h However, the exact meaning of ehaif is gwhat you have said is righth and that of eiief is gwhat you have said is wrong.h Thus, you have to be careful to answer the negative question in Japanese. For example, to answer eanata wa Tanaka-san dewa arimasen ka? (Arenft you Mr Tanaka?)h, ehai, Tanaka dewa arimasen (No, I am not Tanaka.)f should be used if you are not Mr Tanaka, and eiie, Tanaka desu (Yes, I am Tanaka.)f should be used if you are Mr Tanaka.
2. We can leave out the topic when both the speaker and the listener already know it.
3. esouf means gItfs so.h It is used so as to avoid to repeat the noun in the answer. Thus, it cannot be replaced by the verb and adjective.
ex.5 Q: anata wa gakusei desu KA? (Are you a student?)
%%%%A1: hai, [watashi wa ] gakusei desu. / sou desu. (Yes, I am.)
%%%%A2: iie, [ watashi wa gakusei dewa arimasen. ] (No, I am not.)
%%%%%%%%% [watashi wa] kaishain desu. (I am an employee.)
New Question-Word:
ex.6 Q: anata wa DONATA* ( DARE ) desu ka? (Who are you?)
%%%%A: [watashi wa] Tanaka desu. (I am Tanaka.)
* eDONATAf and eDAREf are question-words for asking who the person is. Both mean gwho.h However, eDONATAf is more polite expression than eDAREf. In Japanese, it is not necessary to change the word order by using the question-word.
(4) watashi MO sensei desu. (I am a teacher, too.)
eMOf is a particle that means galsoh or gtooh or gas wellh. It replaces a particle, eWAf.
Example:
ex.1 anata MO Chuugoku-jin desu. (You are also a Chinese.)
ex.2 kare MO shachou desu ka? (Is he a boss as well?)
ex.3 Suzuki san MO Shingapouru-jin dewa arimasen. (Mr. Suzuki is not a Singaporean too.)
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T: wakarimasu ka? (Do you understand?) Try to learn by heart all the sentences that you learnt so far. I would like to ask you some questions. So, try to answer for me. (A teacher asks each student questions using what students have learnt. Every student can answer the teacher's question very well.) OK. suigoi desu.(Excellent!) Then, let's study conversation. Let's see at page 5 of the textbook. |
Conversation: Self-Introduction
A: konnichi wa. hajime mashite. watashi wa Tanaka to moushimasu.
douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
B: watashi wa Kimura to moushimasu. kochira koso douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
A: shitsurei desu ga, Kimura-san wa gakusei desu ka?
B: hai, sou desu. gakusei desu. Tanaka-san wa?
A: watashi wa kaishain desu.
Grammar Note:
1. ehajime mashitef means gHow do you do?h In Japan, this greeting is used when we meet someone for the first time. After this greeting, we shake hands with each other.
2. eto moushimasuf is used when you are introducing your name. In this case, edesuf is seldom used.
3. edouzo yoroshiku onegai shimasuf means gNice to meet you.h
4. ekochira kosof means gme, too.h
5. eshitsurei desu gaf means gExcuse me, but ...h It is used when asking personal questions such as onefs age, marriage status and name we have forgotten and so on.
6. In Japan, the name is usually used rather than eanataf when addressing to a person or asking a question about a person whom you talk with.
7. ec wa?f is pronounced with the rising intonation. This is a kind of question and means gHow about c?h
Translation:
A: Good afternoon. How do you do? My name is Tanaka. Nice to meet you.
B: Ifm Kimura. Nice to meet you.
A: Excuse me, are you a student?
B: Yes, I am. How about you?
A: Ifm a company employee.
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T: If you would like to study more, call us at 62827590 (Hougang School) or 62738434 (Alexandra School) right now. Hope I see you soon! (*^-^*) I summarise what we are going to study at each lesson below.
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Lesson 1
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How to Identify a Person
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Lesson 2
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How to Identify a Thing
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Lesson 3
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How to Identify a Place
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Lesson 4
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How to Tell Time and Days of a Week / Basic Usage of Japanese Verb
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Lesson 5
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How to Tell Days of The Month / Usage of Directional Verb
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Lesson 6
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How to Describe What You Do (Direct Object of Verb)
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Lesson 7
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How to Show Means and How to Say Give or Get
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Lesson 8
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How to Show How Things, Persons and Animals are (Adjective)
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Lesson 9
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How to Show The Characteristics
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Lesson 10
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How to Say Where Things or Persons is/ Exists
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Lesson 11
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How to Count Items
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Lesson 12
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How to Compare Items
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Lesson 13
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How to Show Your Wish and Purpose / Verious Adverbs
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Lesson 14
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Number of Verb / TE-form of Verb and Usage of TE-form (How to Make a Request and How to Show Continuity)
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Lesson 15
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How to Permit and Prohibit
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Lesson 16
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How to Join Sentences and Adjectives
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Lesson 17
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How to Make NAI-form and Usage of NAI-form (How to Make a Negative Request and to Show Obligation and Unnecessity)
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Lesson 18
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How to Make Dictionary-form and Usage of Dictionary-form (How to Show Ability)
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Lesson 19
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How to Make TA-form and Usage of TA-form (How to Show Experience and Advice)
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Lesson 20
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Plain-style-sentence and Polite-style-sentence
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Lesson 21
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How to Quote a Sentence
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Lesson 22
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How to Say 'When ...'
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Lesson 23
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How to Modify a Noun by a Sentence (Relative Clause)
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Lesson 24
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How to Change a Verb to a Noun
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Lesson 25
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How to Say 'If ...'
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Lesson 26
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How to Show Ability 2
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Lesson 27
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How to Say Give or Get 2
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Lesson 28/29/30
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Grammar Summary of Beginner 1, 2 and Intermediate 1
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Lesson 31
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Conditional-form (How to Say 'if ...' 2)
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Lesson 32
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Volitional-Verb (How to Show Your Volition and Intention)
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Lesson 33
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How to Command and Order
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Lesson 34
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How to Imply Your Doubt, Surprise, Wonder, etc
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Lesson 35
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How to Say 'While ...' and How to Show Many Actions and Repeated Actions
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Lesson 36
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How to Describe a Reason
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Lesson 37
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How to Say '... so that ...'
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Lesson 38
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Passive-sentence (I am done ... by someone)
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Lesson 39
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Indirect Question
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Lesson 40
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How to Show Continuity 2
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Lesson 41
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How to Say 'do ... beforehand' and 'leave it do as it is'
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Lesson 42
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How to Change a Verb to a Noun 2
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Lesson 43
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How to Show Hearsay and Guess
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Lesson 44
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How to Show Hearsay and Guess 2
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Lesson 45
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How to Say 'be about to do ...' and 'be in th midst of doing ...' and 'have just done ...'
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Lesson 46
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Causative-sentence (I make[let] someone do ...)
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Lesson 47
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How to Say Give or Get 3
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Lesson 48
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Honorific-Verb and Humble-Verb
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Lesson 49/50
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Grammar Summary of Intermediate 2 and Advance 1
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J.L.P.T.3
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At first, we study J.L.P.T.3 Grammar Note that is especially prepared for students of Hougang Japanese Language School. Then we study past test papers and listening comprehension of J.L.P.T.3.
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J.L.P.T.2
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At first, we study J.L.P.T. 2 Grammar Textbook (Published by ALC) that explains important Grammar of J.L.P.T.2 with step-by-step method. And also study 4000 (four thousand) Basic Vocabularies. Then we study past test papers and listening comprehension of J.L.P.T.2.
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J.L.P.T.1
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At first, we study vocabularies of J.L.P.T.1. Then we study past test papers and listening comprehension of J.L.P.T.1.
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