Japan Facts, Basic vocab, Pronunciation tips, Sentence structure, Basic Katagana
Desu pronunciation
"Dehs"
Emoji broken down into romaji
"E" (long e): picture, ji=letter
How to say Mt. Fiji in Japanese
"Hoo jee san."--> Fuji-san: San means mountain here.
"Is it ok to speak/say (it) in English?" (Romanized and pronunciation)
"Informal": Ēgode hanashitemo īdesuka? (ee-goh-deh-hanahshtehmoh ee-des-kah) or *formal*: Ēgode ittemoīdesuka? (ee-goh-deh-eetehmoh-eedehskah)
Suffix often added to child's name
- chan
Suffix often added to boy's name
- kun
- years old
- sai
Amount of Japan that is mountainous
3/4 of Japan is a mountainous region.
Do (long o) itashimas.
?
That person, he/she
Ano hito (informal)/ano kata (formal)
Brazil
Burajiru
What is Kanji used for?
Chinese letters
China
Chūgoku
Sai
Counter for age (?)
University
Daigaku (die-kah-koo)
Graduate student
Daigakuinsei (Daee-gah-koo-een-say)
College student
Daigakusei (Die-kah-koo-say).
Who
Dare (informal)/ donata (polite)
Germany
Doitsu (Doh-its-soo).
Pleased to meet you (lit. Please be nice to me. Usually used at the *end* of a self-introduction).
Dozo yoroshiku. (Doh-zoh-yoh-roh-shee-koo). Formal: onegai-shimasu.
Engineer
Enginia (ehn-jee-neeah)
What is katagana used for?
For known English words to Japanese.
Kara
From
France
Furansu (Hoo-rahns-oo).
Student
Gakusei (Gah-koo-say)
Bank employee
Ginkoin (long o) (geen-koh-een)
How do you do? (lit. I am meeting you for the first time. Usually used as the first phrase when introducing oneself.)
Hajimemashite. (Hah-jee-meh-mahsh-ee-teh). (First word in picture=Haijimemashite).
One
Ichi
Freshman in college
Ichi nensei
U.K
Igirisu
Answering questions! (No)
Iie + (watashi wa) + nationality/student year + ja animasen. Actual answer + desu. (Ex. Iie, (watashi wa) Kankoku-jin ja arimasen. Chūgoku-jin desu.)
India
Indo
Indonesia
Indoneshia
What is Hiragana used for and come from?
It is derived from Chinese characters, or Kanji, and acts as a combination of Kanji and Katagana (self).
What does adding "ka" to the end of a statement do?
It makes it into a question since it is a question marker.
To friends
Jaa, mara.
Japan size compared to US
Japan is 1/25 the size of US. It is smaller than California.
Company employee
Kaishain
To write (please).
Kaite kudasai.
South Korea
Kankoku
Please listen
Kiite kudasai. (Kee-teh-koo-dah-sahee).
This is Ms./Mr. ___
Kochira wa ____san desu.
Good night (formal).
Konbanwa.
Teacher/instructor (occupation)
Kyoshi (Long o)
Ji
Letter
Ladies and gentleman, all of you
Minasen
To look.
Mitte. (Meet-teh).
One more time.
Moo "ici" "do". Moo=time, ici=one, do=time.
- san
Mr./Ms. ____ (title of respect added to name)
Making questions!
Name + wa + nationality/student year/etc. + desu + ka? (Ex. Alexus-san wa Nihon-Jin desu ka?)
Two
Ni
Sophomore in college
Ni nensei
Japan
Nihon
May I have your name?
O namae wa? (Oh, namah-eh-wah)
Your name (polite)
O-namae.
- jin
People, lit. "a national of".
(self) Kudasai.
Please.
Six
Roku
Romanized Japanese scripts (Romanzed)
Romaji. (Roh-mah-jee).
Root (long o)
Romanized
Fictitious universities
Sakura-daigaku or Fuji-daigaku
Three
San
Junior in college
San nensei
Hana
Say
Iite
Say
Teacher/instructor (not used when referring to one's
Sensei
Excuse me, but.
Shitsurei desu ga. (Sheetstoo-ee-dehskah)
Thailand
Tai
Stress/accent rhythm and accent in Japanese
The pitches and stresses/accents stay the same throughout a word in Japan.
Kochira
This person
Senior college
Yo nensei
To read
Yonde (yohn-deh)
Please read.
Yonde kudasai.
I came/come from ____.
___ kara kimashita.
What are the Japanese vowels answer how do you pronounce them?
a (ah), I (ee), u (oo), e (eh), o (oh).
hospital
byoin (long o)
Electricity, light
denki
Let's go. (Pronunciation)
ee-kee-mahs
How to say "Fuji-san" in Hepburn Style Romanization, Kumreishiki, and Nihonshiki?
fuji Tokyo (Fiji Tokyo-long o's); huzo Tokyo (long vowel); huzi Tôkyô.
Five
go
Eight
hachi
Medical doctor
isha
Ten
ju
Nine
kyu (long u?)
How old
nan-sai (informal)/o-ikustsu (oh-ee-kooks-too) (formal)
Seven
nana/shichi
iie
no
nan
what
hai
yes
Four
yo
Please write your name.
"Namae o kaite kudasai."
Sentence structure for "I am _____."
*Noun 1* + wa + *Noun 2* + desu. (Ex. Watashi wa Brenda desu.)
U.S.A
Amerika
You
Anata
Kimishita
Came
How to pronounce "r" in Japanese?
Curl tongue without touching roof, almost like pronouncing an l ("licking" roof and behind upper teeth.
Answering questions! (yes)
Hai + (watashi wa) Noun 1 desu. (Ex. Hai, (watashi wa) Nihon-Jin desu.)
"Yes, go ahead."
Hai, dozo. (Long o: Haee-dohzoh).
Nihon-jin
Japanese people
?
Shitsurē shimasu.
Please submit your homework.
Shukudai o dashite kudasai. (Shoo-koo-dahee)
What is important in writing hiragana?
Stroke order!!
Sei
Student
How to pronounce "F"?
There is no "f" sound in Japanese. They say it like an "h" instead. So "Fuji-san": Hoo-jee-san.
Rules for Questions
There is no change in the word order, the intonation rises, and the you is usually omitted and the name is used with its title because using you is considered rude (too direct/informal?).
I
Watashi
I am American.
Watashi wa Amerika-Jin desu.
I am a freshman in college.
Watashi wa Ichi nensei desu.
We
Watashitachi
Employee of _____ company (used with a company's name)
shain (sha-een?, used like "IMC no shain")