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")