Dear all,

This is a repost.
Continuation from Part 2, today i will share more about buying things.

Sometimes if you buy medicine, electronics, the person at the counter will ask you if you have a loyalty card or something. It’s always good to make a loyalty card if you plan to always buy electronics at the same place. You will get some discount (8-10% of points that you can use to offset your next purchase). Example would be LABI or Yodobashi Camera.

Shop Employee: ポイントカードがお持ちですか (poin-to kaa-do ga o-mo-chi-de-su ka/Do you have a point card)

You: いいえ、ないです(iie, nai desu/No)   or はい、もっています (hai, motte imasu/Yes)

If you don’t have a point card, usually the person will ask you if you want to apply for a point card (usually it’s free)

Shop Employee: ポイントカードを作りますか (poin-to kaa-do o tsu-ku-ri-ma-su ka/Do you want to apply for one?) or

Shop Employee: つくりましょうか (tsu-ku-ri-ma-shou ka/Do you want to apply for one?)

You: はい、おねがいします (hai, o-ne-gai-shi-masu/Yes, please)

Usually, you can put in your hotel address. If unsure, ask the shop employee. =)

This will really help to bring savings if you buy lots of electronics.

Good morning,

This is a repost of what i did few years ago. I would like to share with you all how to buy things in Japanese.
——————
すみません. (Su-mi-ma-sen/ Excuse Me)
これ/それ/あれ　を　___________   ください (kore / sore/ are   o  ________kudasai )
Give me _________ of this/that/ that thing over that (far from you and the listener)

これ: ko-re /this
それ: so-re / that
あれ: a-re / that thing over there (not near to you or listener)
ひとつ: hi-to-tsu/ one
ふたつ: fu-ta-tsu / two
みっつ: mi-ttsu / three
よっつ: yo-ttsu / four

Example:

これ　を　よっつ　ください。　(kore o yottsu kudasai/ Give me 4 of this)

それ　を　みっつ　ください。 (sore o mittsu kudasai/ Give me 3 of that)

For different items, there are different counters. For now, you can use the above first. We will learn more later. (^_^)
Usually Japanese will take the calculator and show you how much you need to pay.

Hi all,

This is a previous repost that i did a few years ago.
————————–
すみません. (Su-mi-ma-sen/ Excuse me)
道に迷いました。 (mi-chi  ni  ma-yo-i-ma-shita / I am lost)   / Optional to say
______(Place that you wish to go)　まで　どうやって　行きますか。
(_________(Place that you wish to go)  ma-de  dou-yatte   i-ki-masu ka / How do i get to _______)

Example:
すみません。 (su-mi-masen / Excuse Me)
道にまよいました。 (michi-ni-ma-yo-i-ma-shita / I am lost)
しんじゅくまで　どうやって　いきますか (shinjuku ma-de  dou-yatte iki-masu ka / How do i get to Shinjuku?)

You might hear words like ひだり (hidari / left)   ,   みぎ (migi / right) ,  まえ (mae/ front)  , うしろ (ushiro / back) ,
あがって (a-ga-tte / go up) , まがって (ma-ga-tte / turn) , つきあたり (tsu-ki-atari　/ end of the street) ,
わかりません　(wakarimasen/ i don’t know)

Once you are done, don’t forget to say ありがとうございました (a-ri-ga-tou  go-zai-ma-shita)  (^_^)

Hi all,

This is a revisit of the post that i did a few years ago.
——————————————————————-
In lesson 1, i’ll be sharing how can we do a self introduction in a humble manner. (^_^)
This is how it goes.

はじめまして (Ha-ji-me-ma-shi-te / How do you do?)
＿＿＿＿＿(your name) と申します (__________ to mou-shi-masu / I am called __________)
よろしく　おねがいいたします。 (Yo-ro-shi-ku o-ne-gai-ita-shi-masu / Please take care of me)

E.g

はじめまして (Ha-ji-me-ma-shi-te)
ケン　と申します (Ken to mou-shi-masu)
よろしく　おねがいいたします。 (Yo-ro-shi-ku o-ne-gai-ita-shi-masu)

If you watch youtube videos from Japanesepod101, etc, you would notice that
they will tell you to say 「わたしは＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿です」 (watashi wa _______ desu) in the second line,
「どうぞ　よろしく」 (douzo yoroshiku) in the third line.

What i am teaching here is the humble way of introducing yourself in Japanese.
i feel it will impress the person that you are speaking to when you are able to use this way of introducing yourself.
Do feel free to send your recording of your voices to me and i’ll be glad to correct you if needed.

Have a good day!
Can

Dear all,

In lesson 9, we are going further into verbs.

As mentioned in lesson 7, there are generally 2 types of verbs, transitive (他動詞/たどうし/ta-dou-shi)  and intransitive verbs (自動詞/じどうし/ji-dou-shi).

As many of you may know, transitive verbs take in a object and intransitive verbs don’t take in an object.

The general structure is like this.

Person wa Object o Verb

E.g
HKさん　は　いちご　を　たべます。
HK san wa Ichigo o tabemasu
HK is going to eat/will eat strawberry

============================================

In lesson 9, we are going to learn how to say the location where you do an action.

The structure is like this.

Person wa Place de Object o Verb

E.g

HKさん　は うちで　いちご　を　たべます。
HK san wa uchi de ichigo o tabemasu
HK is going to eat/will eat strawberry at home.

If you at a 「か」 at the back, it will become a question.

E.g

HKさん　は うちで　いちご　を　たべますか
HK san wa uchi de ichigo o tabemasu ka
Is HK is going to eat/will eat strawberry at home?

。。。はい、うちで　たべます。 (hai, uchi de tabemasu/Yes, he is going to eat/will eat at home.)

。。。いいえ、うちで　たべません。 (iie, uchi de tabemasen/No he is not going to/will not eat at home)

======================================

To make the verb become negative, change the 「ます/masu」 to 「ません/masen」。

E.g

たべます (to eat)

たべません(not to eat)

のみます (to drink)

のみません (not to drink)

======================================

To make the verb become past tense, change the 「ます/masu」 to 「ました/mashita」。

E.g

たべます (to eat)

たべました(ate)

のみます (to drink)

のみました (drank)

======================================

To make the verb become negative past tense, change the 「ます/masu」 to 「ませんでした/masen deshita」。

E.g

たべます (to eat)

たべませんでした(did not ate)

のみます (to drink)

のみませんでした (did not drink)

======================================

Try the following sentences and see if you can get the answers. Email us your answers for a small gift on Japanese studies. This is applicable to all students from all over the world.

Subject of email: Self Study Japanese Lesson 9 quiz

Name:

Email address:

How long you have been self studying Japanese:

======================================

1. Annie drank a coke at KFC

2. Sister (いもうと/imouto) ate lunch (ひるごはん) at home

3. Bryan did not buy chicken (チキン/chikin) at Macdonalds. He bought it at Long John Silvers

4. Hiroki wrote a letter (てがみ/tegami) in Shibuya.

5. Did Peter buy coffee at Starbucks? No, he didn’t.

 

In Lesson 10, we will move on to describe things using adjectives.

Dear all,

Lesson 7 is about verbs.

There are generally 2 types of verbs, transitive (他動詞/たどうし/ta-dou-shi)  and intransitive verbs (自動詞/じどうし/ji-dou-shi).

As many of you may know, transitive verbs take in a object and intransitive verbs don’t take in an object.

The general structure is like this.

Person wa Object o Verb

E.g
HKさん　は　いちご　を　たべます。
HK san wa Ichigo o tabemasu
HK is going to eat/will eat strawberry

Samuelさん　は　みず　を　のみます
Samuel san wa mizu o nomimasu
Samuel is going to drink/will drink water.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
To make the sentence become a question, add a か(ka) after the verb.

Sentence Structure:
Person wa Object o Verb ka

E.g
HKさんは　いちご　を　たべますか。
HK san wa Ichigo o tabemasu ka
Is HK going to eat/will eat strawberry?

Samuelさん　は　みず　を　のみますか
Samuel san wa mizu o nomimasu ka
Is Samuel going to drink/will drink water?

You can also replace the object with the question word “なに/nani” and then add a か/ka behind to make it a question.

E.g

Samuelさん　は　なに　を　のみますか。
Samuel san wa nani o nomimasu ka.
What is Samuel going to drink/will drink?

。。。みず　を　のみます。
…mizu o nomimasu.
He will drink water.
=======================================================================================
Below are some common verbs that can be used with this above structure.

1. うたいます (utaimasu/sing)
E.g わたしは　うた　を　うたいます (watashi wa uta o utaimasu/I am going to sing/will sing a song)

2. みます (mimasu/watch)
E.g Chloeさんは　テレビをみます (Chloe san wa terebi o mimasu/Chole is going to watch/will watch a TV)

3. よみます (yomimasu/read)
E.g Andyさんは　ほん　を　よみます (Andy san wa hon o yomimasu/Andy is going to read/will read a book)

4. かきます (kakimasu/write)
E.g Hao Keetさんは　てがみ　を　かきます (Hao Keet san wa tegami o kakimasu/Hao Keet is going to write/will write a letter) /To who? Maybe to Maeda Atsuko? :p

5. かいます (kaimasu/buy)
E.g Samuelさんは　まっく　を　かいますか (Samuel san wa makku o kaimasu ka/Will Samuel buy Macdonalds)?

6. とります (torimasu/take a picture)
E.g Peterさんは　たかみ　の　しゃしん　を　とります (Peter san wa Takami no shashin o torimasu/Peter is going to/will take Takami’s picture)

7. はらいます (haraimasu/pay)
E.g Samuelさんは　がくひ　を　はらいます (Samuel san wa gakuhi o haraimasu/Samuel will be paying/will pay school fees)
==========================================================================================

 

Dear all,

Lesson 6 is on telling time and trains part 1.

I-ma  nan-ji desu ka? (いま、なんじですか?)
What time is it now?

Nan-ji （なんじ) here refers to what time, so you can have something like this

Tsu-gi no den-sha wa nan-ji desu ka (次の電車は　なんじ　ですか）
What time does the next train comes? (What time is the next train?)

Nan-ji desu ka?
What time is it?

When the person replies you, you can see quite a lot of mixture. I’ll talk about the hour first.

Refer to the chart below. ________(number) followed by the word “ji”. So 3 o clock, it would be “san”+”ji” = “san-ji/三時/さんじ”)

For ___ thirty (e.g 6.30), add the word “han/はん” after “ji” , it would be “roku-ji-han/六時半/ろくじはん”

You can expect to hear some replies like

ima, roku-ji desu  (いま、ろくじです)
Now it’s 6 o clock

hachi-ji desu (はちじです)
It’s 8 o clock

Generally train companies like to use 24 hour clock. So you can have something like 18ji (jyuu-hachi ji/6pm) or 22ji (ni jyuu ni ji/10pm)

18: Jyuu (10) + hachi (8)
22: 2 (ni) x 10 (jyuu) + 2 (ni) = ni jyuu ni

Below is what time will come into use. An announcement of Shinkansen arriving.

Ma-mo-naku, 1 ban no-ri-ba ni jyuu hachi (18) ji, jyuu san pun hatsu, mizuho roppyaku go gou Kagoshima Chuuou yuki ga hairimasu)
まもなく、１番乗り場に１８時１３分発みずほ６０５号 鹿児島中央行きが入ります。
In a short while, in platform 1, departing at 18:13, Mizuho 605 for Kagoshima Chuuou will arrive.

Densha wa mae kara ichi gou sha, ni gou sha no jun de, ichi ban ushiro wa hachi gou sha desu
電車は前から１号車、２号車の順で、１番後ろは８号車です。
The train is from Cars 1 and 2, in the front. The last car is car 8.

Gurin seki wa roku gou sha ni arimasu.
グリーン席は６号車にあります。
The green cars are in car 6.

Jiyuu seki wa ichi gou sha, ni gou sha, san gou sha desu.
自由席は１号車、２号車、３号車です。
The non-reserved seats are Cars 1,2 and 3.

Ko no den-sha wa , zen seki kin-en to natte orimasu.
この電車は、全席禁煙となっております。
No smoking is allowed on this train.

O tabako o suwareru o kyaku-sama wa, kitsuen ruumu o go riyou kudasai.
おたばこを吸われるお客様は、喫煙ルームをご利用ください。
The customers who wish to smoke, please use the smoking rooms.

kitsuen ruumu wa san gousha to nana gousha ni arimasu .
喫煙ルームは３号車と７号車にあります。
The smoking rooms are in Cars 3 and 7.

kono densha wa, hachi ryou hensei de hoomu no nakahodo ni tomarimasu
この電車は、８両編成でホームの中ほどに停まります
The 8 cars- train will stop in the middle of the platform.

kono densha waa tochuu , okayama , hiroshima , kokura , hakata , kumamoto ni tomarimasu .
この電車は途中、岡山、広島、小倉、博多、熊本に停まります。
This train will stop at Okayama , Hiroshima , Kokura , Hakata , Kumamoto.

—————————————————————————————————————————
Another one

まもなく、１番線に渋谷ゆきがまいります。
mamonaku ,ichi-ban-sen ni shibuya yuki ga mairimasu .

白線の内側でお待ちください。
hakusen no uchigawa de o machi kudasai.

You might want to even put the announcement as your ring tone. All rights belong to the various train companies. (^_^)
http://melody.pos.to/page/jr.htm
http://www62.tok2.com/home/roman

皆さん、

おはようございます。今日はフィンランドにいて、日本語が話せる友達を紹介したいと思います。
彼の名前はJR (プライバシのため、本名を言わない）です。本当にすばらしい人だと思います。今でも考えると、出会いは本当に不思議かなと思って。。。。

８ヶ月前に、チャートのウェブサイトで知り合って、あまり信用されませんでした。なぜなら、インターネットで騙す人が多いですね。
時間を経ってから、彼はどうやって日本語が上手に話せるようになったかわかりました。。。２年間独学なのに日本語がぺらぺらに喋るようになって、すごいと思います。

皆さんは多分彼の秘密を知りたいでしょう。 英語で書かせていただきます

“Well first I learned hiragana – and since it actually takes about 6 months to be able to read it without paying attention, i had to study words both using hiragana and romaji first. By then I had learned what I need to learn to get better – I got a good awareness of grammar structures even though I still don’t know how to use many of them – and with that awareness I started to seek for online friends from Japan, but that’s where the road of mixed techniques begins. so by mixed techniques i mean online friends + flashcards + online learning sites + textbooks + kanji learning books + other books (i have like 15 books by now? i think). youtube is also a major resource because you ultimately need to find a way to motivate yourself. actually, it all comes down to immersion. i often don’t pay any attention to the language but i listen to japanese music every day even though I haven’t concentrated on learning it for 3 weeks. but I don’t believe there’s a right way to study, the key things are to immerse yourself in the language even if you don’t understand it because i definitely miss half of what i hear and to study on things that also motivate you at the same time. whatever may the be :|”

皆さん、どう思いますでしょうか。私も同感ですよ。毎日、どこにいても、日本語の歌とか日本語のラジオを聞いて、必ず上手になれます。

それでは、よい週末を～

JR,　ありがとう。。。

==============================================================

Good morning everyone.

Today, i’ll like to introduce a friend of mine who is from Finland.
His name is JR (to protect his privacy, i am not going to say his real name). I think he’s really good. Even now, when i think about it, our encounter is really a mystery.

I got to know him 8 months ago, through a chat website and i wasn’t really trusted in the first place. That’s because, on the Internet, there are lots of people who are conning others. As time pass by, i got to understand how he got to speak Japanese well. Despite self studying for 2 years and can speak well, i think it’s really a feat.

I guess you guys might want to know his secret, yea? Kindly allow me to write in English.

“Well first I learned hiragana – and since it actually takes about 6 months to be able to read it without paying attention, i had to study words both using hiragana and romaji first. By then I had learned what I need to learn to get better – I got a good awareness of grammar structures even though I still don’t know how to use many of them – and with that awareness I started to seek for online friends from Japan, but that’s where the road of mixed techniques begins. so by mixed techniques i mean online friends + flashcards + online learning sites + textbooks + kanji learning books + other books (i have like 15 books by now? i think). youtube is also a major resource because you ultimately need to find a way to motivate yourself. actually, it all comes down to immersion. i often don’t pay any attention to the language but i listen to japanese music every day even though I haven’t concentrated on learning it for 3 weeks. but I don’t believe there’s a right way to study, the key things are to immerse yourself in the language even if you don’t understand it because i definitely miss half of what i hear and to study on things that also motivate you at the same time. whatever may the be :|”

What do you guys think? I share the same sentiments as him. Everyday, no matter where you are, listen to Japanese songs, Japanese radio, i am sure you will become good in Japanese.

Have a good weekend ahead!

Thanks JR….