Japanese Mobile Tips

Did you know? There are more than 120 million speakers of Japanese! You can tell just by looking that it's a pretty different language from English, but don't worry. We'll get started with the basics and help you through the tricky sports. Welcome to the Japanese course!

### **What is hiragana?**

Japanese is actually written with three different scripts. Let's start with the one called **hiragana**!

In English, each letter usually represents one sound, like **k** or **s**. But hiragana characters each represent a syllable - (a word or part of a word that contains one vowel sound. For example, "cat" has one syllable, but "banana" and "pineapple" have three.

There are a few exceptions. The vowels can appear by themselves, like with い (i). There's also a singular consonant, ん (n). Also, keep in mind that **ch** and **sh** count as one consonant sound, even though they're spelled with two letters in English!

### **Numbers**

The next time you walk up a flight of stairs, practice a Japanese number with each step!

 2
 3
 4

## Hiragana 2

### **Hiragana**

Japanese has just five vowels! You can even group hiragana together based on their starting consonant. Like this:

There are a few exceptions, of course. For example, in the **s** group, you see '**shi**' instead of '**si**'. But you can still use these groups of five to help you practice and learn this new writing system!

### **Japanese Sounds**

Let's go over the pronunciation of those five Japanese vowels.

**a**: あか (*a-ka*) = red, あまい (*a-ma-i*) = sweet, やさい (*ya-sa-i*) = vegetables

* ('a' as in 'f**a**ther')

**i**: いち (*i-chi*) = one, はい (*ha-i*) = yes, すし (*su-shi*) = sushi

* (as in "s**ee**")

**u**: よむ (*yo-mu*) = read, よる (*yo-ru*) = night, のむ (*no-mu*) = drink (similar to 'f**oo**d', but with unrounded lips)

* When you say 'f**oo**d', your lips make a rounded shape for the **oo** sound. The Japanese **u** is similar, but the lips are more relaxed.

**e**: おさけ (*o-sa-ke*) = alcohol, てりやき (*te-ri-ya-ki*) = teriyaki, せかい (*se-ka-i*) = world

* (as in "p**e**t")

**o**: ほしい (*ho-shi-i*) = want, あお (*a-o*) = blue, のむ (*no-mu*) = drink

* as in "**o**pen"

### **Say hello!**

To say **Hello!** in Japanese, just say こんにちは！(*ko-n-ni-chi-wa*). Note that **は** doesn't always sound like **ha**. In this word, it's pronounced like **wa**!

こんにちは！ - Konnichiwa! - Hello!

## Hiragana 3

### **Hiragana**

Congrats! After this skill, you'll have encountered all the basic hiragana characters.

Remember, most hiragana can be separated into groups of five, based on the beginning consonant and vowels **a**, **i**, **u**, **e**, and **o**. Let's take a look!

There are also a couple groups where the beginning sound changes a bit, but they're still grouped together.

### **Japanese Sounds**

Let's go over a couple sounds that might be new to you!

**ru:** ひる (*hi-ru*) = day, とり (*to-ri*) = bird, さよなら (*sa-yo-na-ra*) = goodbye

* like a very light **d**, as in "rea**d**y"

Say the worlds *we**dd**ing, bu**dd**y,* or *rea**d**y*. Notice how the d sound is fairly quick, and not too heavy? Try saying the Japanese **r** with that sound in mind!

**fu:** ふゆ (*fu-yu*) = winter, ふろ (*fu-ro*) = bath, ふく (*fu-ku*) = clothes

* **f** sound just with the lips

When we say an **f** in English, the upper teeth touch the bottom lip. But in Japanese, you only use your lips to say **f**, like blowing out a tiny candle.

**tsu:** なつ (*na-tsu*) = summer, えんぴつ (*e-n-pi-tsu*) = pencil, つき (*tsu-ki*) = moon

* as in "rats"

If you're not careful, it can be easy to say this syllable like **su**, but remember to put that hard **t** sound at the beginning!

## Hiragana 4

### **Hiragana**

You've already seen all the basic hiragana, but there are also marks which modify the pronunciation.

For example, you might see two lines like this ﾞon the top right corner of the hiragana. That mark changes **k** into **g**, **s** into **z**, and so on. Remember to watch out for the hiragana with a different beginning sound!

 か、き、く、け、こ
*ka、ki、ku、ke、ko*
 さ、**し**、す、せ、そ
*sa、**shi**、su、se、so*
 た、**ち**、**つ**、て、と
*ta、**chi**、**tsu**、te、to*
 は、ひ、**ふ**、へ、ほ
*ha、hi、**fu**、he、ho*
*ba、bi、bu、be、bo*

There's also the small circle ﾟ, which only appeas with the **h** group of hiragana, changing the sound to **p**!

 は、ひ、**ふ**、へ、ほ
*ha、hi、**fu**、he、ho*
*pa、pi、**pu**、pe、po*

### **Japanese Sounds**

You can combine a consonant with the **ya**, **yu**, or **yo** sounds by adding the small form of ゃ (*ya*), ゅ (*yu*), ょ(*yo*) after a hiragana character. Try out these ones!

**kyu:** きゅう (*kyu-u*) = nine

**kyo:** きょう (*kyo-u*) = today

**cha:** おちゃ (*o-cha*) = tea

Remember to pronounce these as single syllables. For example, it's **kyo**, not **ki-yo**. And notice that **cha** is a bit of an exception, since it doesn't include the **y**!

The character **つ** (*tsu*) that we saw before also has a small form, **っ**. When you see this, it means you have to hold the next consonant longer than normal, like it's its own syllable. Take a listen!

**kippu:** きっぷ (*ki-ppu*) = ticket

**gakkō:** がっこう (*ga-kko-u*) = school

## Greetings

### **Flexible Phrases**

These Japanese phrases can have a couple different variations and meanings, so let's go over a few of them!

* First off, **よろしく** (*yo-ro-shi-ku*) can mean **Nice to meet you!**

It's fairly casual though, so you can use **おねがいします** (*o-ne-ga-i-shi-ma-su*) to be more polite.

* **よろしくおねがいします** (*yo-ro-shi-ku-o-ne-ga-i-shi-ma-su*) = **nice to meet you** (very formal and polite)

At its core, the phrase is often used when someone will do something for you. When you first meet a person, you're asking for them to treat you well! Even just **おねがいします** (*o-ne-ga-i-shi-ma-su*) by itself is also often used when making a polite request!

* **おねがいします** (*o-ne-ga-i-shi-ma-su*) = **please**

### **Apologies**

If you need to apologise for something you did, use the phrase **ごめんなさい** (*go-me-n-na-sa-i*).

* **ごめんなさい** (*go-me-n-na-sa-i*) = **sorry**

**すみません** (su-mi-ma-se-n) can be used to apologse as well, especially in formal situations. It also works to get someone's attention, like **excuse me** in English.

* **すみません** (*su-mi-ma-se-n*) = **excuse me**

You can also add **どうも** (*do-u-mo*) which adds emphasis, and say **どうもすみません** (*do-u-mo-su-mi-ma-se-n*)

* **どうもすみません** (*do-u-mo-su-mi-ma-se-n*) = **please excuse me**

### **Thanks**

There's lots of ways to give thanks in Japanese! These are a coupl more informal ones that you might use with friends and family.

* **どうも**！(*do-u-mo*) = **thanks**!
* **ありがとう**！(*a-ri-ga-to-u*) = **thank you**!
* どうもありがとう！(*do-u-mo-a-ri-ga-to-u*) = **thank you very much**!

In daily life, **ありがとう** (*a-ri-ga-to-u*) is probably the most common of those three! But for strangers, teachers, or your boss, you can add **ございます** (*go-za-i-ma-su*) for some extra formality.

* **ありがとうございます**！(*a-ri-ga-to-u-go-za-i-ma-su*) = **thank you**!

## Intro 1

### **What's your name?**

Let's talk about some differences between Japanese and English!

In English, we would say ***I** am Maria* or ***He** is an American*, but Japanese speakers often leave our words like **I** and **he**. It's usually understood from context!

Another difference is that the **verb** comes at the end of the sentence in Japanese. Plus, it doesn't change depending on the person you're talking about. In English, we have *I **am*** and *She **is***, but in Japanese, there's just **です** (*de-su*)!

* はじめまして、マリア**です**。(*ha-ji-me-ma-shi-te, ma-ri-a **de-su***) = Nice to meet you, (I) **am** Maria.

Another way to introduce yourself is to say ... **といいます** (to-i-i-ma-su), which means **My name is**...! It's a verb, so remember to put it at the end.

* こんにちは！マリア**といいます**。(*ko-n-ni-chi-wa! ma-ri-a **to-i-i-ma-su***) = Hello! **My name is** Maria

- (literally: Hello! (I) am called Maria.

### **Showing Respect**

If you want to talk about someone else, be sure to put **さん** (*sa-n*) after their name. It's a sign of respect! It's similar to titles like Mr. or Ms. in English but **さん** (*sa-n*) is much more commonly used. It can also be combined with someone's first name, not just their last name.

* ジョン**さん**です。(*jo-n **sa-n** de-su*) = (He) is John.

If you want to say ***John** is American* or ***Maria** is Japanese*, put **は** after *John* or *Maria* to show that it's the topic of your sentence! Notice that when it's a topic marker, **は** sounds like **wa**, not **ha**.

* ジョンさん**は**アメリカ人です。(*jo-n sa-n **wa** A-me-ri-ka-jin de-su*) = John is American

### **Japanese Writing**

Along with hiragana, there are two other writing systems. **Katakana** is a script just like hiragana. For every hiragana letter, there's a matching katakana one! Sometimes you'll even see ones with similar shapes.

a
 **か**
ka
 **り**
ri
 **し**
shi
 **ま**
ma
ma

What's the difference then? Well in general, hiragana is mostly used for native Japanese words, and katakana is used with foreign words.

* アメリカ (*a-me-ri-ka*) = **America**

Many words are also written with **kanji**, a script that uses Chinese characters. Kanji characters don't represent sounds, but words and ideas!

* 中国 (*chuu-goku*) = **China** (チュウゴク / ちゅうごく)

The pronunciations and maning can also change based on the word they're in. For example, 中 is different in the name **田中** (*ta-naka*), and in the country **中国** (*chuu-goku*). With kanji, just focus on learning each new vocabulary term as a whole, and pick up patterns along the wayy.

These three scripts are mixed together when writing Japanese!

* アメリカ**人**です。(*a-me-ri-ka **ji-n** de-su*) = (We) are American. Lit: (We) are American **people**.

## Intro 2

### **Verbs**

In English, we'd say *I **am not** a student*, but to say that you're **not** something in Japanese, you change the verb **です** (*de-su*) to **ではありません** (*de-wa-a-ri-ma-se-n*).

chuu-goku-jin-**de-su**
(I) **am** Chinese.
chuu-goku-jin-**de-wa-a-ri-ma-se-n**
 学生**です**。
gaku-sei-**de-su**
(I) **am** a student
gaku-sei-**de-wa-a-ri-ma-se-n**
(I) **am not** a student

* お元気**です**か？(*o-gen-ki **de-su**-ka*) = **Are** (you) well?

* いいえ、元気**ではありません**。(*i-i-e, gen-ki **de-wa-a-ri-ma-se-n***) = No, (I) **am not** well.

What's that **お** (*o*) in the question, by the way? It's just something for adding a little extra politeness!

### **Asking Questions**

Asking questions in Japanese is easy! Just add **か** (*ka*) to the end of a normal sentence, after the verb!

*ni-hon-jin de-su*
(I) am Japanese.
*ni-hon-jin-de-su-**ka**?*
 学生です。
*gaku-sei de-su*
(I) am a student
*gaku-sei de-su-**ka**?*
 イギリス出身です。
*i-gi-ri-su shu-sshin de-su*
(I) am from England.
*i-gi-ri-su shu-sshin de-su-**ka**?*
Are you from England?

If you want to ask something like ***What** is your name*?in Japanese, it's more like *Your name is **what***? And don't forget to use **か** (*ka*)!

* お名前は**何**です**か**？(*o-na-mae-wa **nan** de-su-**ka**?*) = **What** is (your) name?

### **Languages**

Remember how you use **は** (*wa*) after a noun to show what the subject is?

* ジョンさん**は**アメリカ人です。
* *jo-n sa-n **wa** a-me-ri-ka ji-n de-su*
* John is American

The word **が** (*ga*) is very smilar. The difference between the two is a bit complicated. We'll learn more along the way. But for now, when talking about what languages you speak, just remember that you usually use **が** in statements, and **は** in questions!

*ei-go **ga** hana-se ma-su.*
(I) speak English.
*ei-go **wa** hana-se ma-su-ka?*
Do (you) speak English?

## Food 1 - Sunday 29th March 2020

### **What are you eating?**

You do something to a noun, like when you *eat **something*** or *drink **something***, you put **を** (w*o*) after the thing that receives the action.

Also, you may notice that verbs in Japanese often end with -**ます** (*-masu*). Notice that -**ます** (*-masu*) verbs can refer to either the present or the future, depending on the context. It's like wehn we say *I'm eating now* or *I'm eating dinner later* in English!

* 野菜を食べます。
* ***ya-sai** o ta-be ma-su =* (I) eat **vegetables.**

* どれを飲みますか？
* **do**-**re** o no-mi ma-su-ka? = W**hich one** will you drink?

You can also use **を** (*o*) when asking for something! Just put it after the thing you want, then add **please**!

* これをください
* **ko-re** o ku-da-sa-i = **This one**, please.

You might see that the pronunciation of **を** is often written as **wo**. But when it's used in a sentence this way, the sound is closer to just **o**!

### **Verbs**

To say something like "*I **do not** eat"* or "*I **do not** drink"*, just change -**ます** (*masu*) to -**ません** (-*ma-se-n*)! Like with questions, it's common to use **は** (*wa*) in the negative sentences, instead of **を** (*o*).

*go-han-**o**-ta-be-**ma-su**.*
(I) eat rice.
*go-han-**wa**-ta-be-**ma-se-n**.*
 お茶**を**のみ**ます**。
*o-cha-**o**-no-mi-**ma-su***.
(I) drink tea.
*o-cha-**wa**-no-mi-**ma-se-n***.
(I) **do not** drink tea.

By the way, even though **ご飯** (*go-han*) means **rice**, it's also often used to mean **meal**.

### **それ vs. あれ**

**それ** (*so-re*) and **あれ** (*a-re*) both mean **that**, so what's the difference?

**それ** (*so-re*) is used to talk about things near the listener. (As opposed to **これ** (*ko-re*), which referers to things near the speaker.)

* **それ**は何でか？(***so-re** wa nan de-su-ka*?) = What is **that**?

**あれ** (*a-re*) referers to something that isn't near the speaker of the listerner!

* **あれ**は何でか？(***a-re** wa nan de-su-ka*?) = What is **that (over there)**?

### **Let's eat!**

Japanese people usually say these phrases before and after eating. It's simply good etiquette to do so!

Before the meal, say **いただきます** (*i-ta-da-ki-ma-su*). People often put their hands together (like in prayer) while saying it to show their gratitude. The phrase comes from Japan's roots in Buddhism, which teaches respect for all living things. This includes the plants, the animals, and all the peopl who made your meal possible!

* **いただきます!** (*i-ta-da-ki-ma-su!*) = Let's eat!

Afterwards, show your thanks again with:

* **ごちそうさまでした**。(*go-chi-so-u-sa-ma-de-shi-ta.*) = Thank you for the meal.

## Time - Monday 30th March 2020

### **What time is it?**

To ask ***What time** is it?* in Japanese, say **何時**ですか (nan-ji de-su-ka). To give an answer, just say the number and add **時** (*ji*).

* **何時**ですか？(***nan-ji** de-su-ka?*) = **What time** is (it)?

* 二**時**です。(*ni-ji de-su*.) = (It) is two **o'clock**.

**時** (*ji*) literally means *hour,* so you're really asking *What hour is it?*

### **Numbers**

Many words in Japanese can be written in either hiragana or kanji (though depending on the word, one way is often more common than the other). Let's revisit some numbers, but with kanji this time!

The first three are pretty easy to recognise. Just count the lines!

 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
 10
juu

Keep in mind, numbers sometimes change pronunciations a bit, like with **一分** (*i-ppun*). Depending on the context, **四** can be read as **yon** or **shi**, **七** can be **nana** or **shichi**, and **九** can be **ku** or **kyuu**

**Zero**, on the other hand, is written in katanaka because the word comes from a foreign language!

ze-ro

### **Combining Numbers**

In Japanese, you just combine the numbers above to make bigger numbers. Take a look!

juu-hachi

If you want to say 18, it's **ten** plus **eight**.

yon-juu

40 is **four tens**!

yon-juu-hachi

So for 48, it's **four tens**, plus **eight**!

### **Counting Minutes**

For a more precise time including minutes, you follow the same pattern you do with hours. So **1:01** would be **one hour one minute**. Notice the pronunciation changes a little bit, depending on the number!

* **今**は三**時**十五**分**です
* (***ima**-wa-san-**ji** juu-go-**fun** de-s*u)
* (It) is 3:15 right now.

### **Pronunciation**

This table will show you the pronunciation changes you need to know for saying what time it is!

 2:02
 3:03
 4:04
 5:05
 6:06
 7:07
 8:08
 9:09
 10:10
**juu** ji **juu** pun

Since the numbers from 11 - 99 are all made with those first ten numbers, they use the same pronunciation changes!

 6:20
**ro-ku** ji **ni-juu** ppun

So what time is it?

## Routines - Tuesday 31st March 2020

### **When and Where?**

If you want to say when something happens, put **に** (*ni*) after the **time**!

* 七時**に**起きます。
* (*shi-chi ji **ni** o-ki ma-su.*)
* (I) wake up **at** 7 o'clock.

You can also put **に** (*ni*) after a location to show where you're going!

* 会社**に**行きません。
* (*kai-sha **ni** i-ki-ma-se-n*.)
* (I) am not going **to** work.

Similarly, you can also use **へ** (*e*) after a location to show where you're going! Notice that in this situation, **へ** is pronounced ***e***, not ***he***!

* 八時**に**学校**へ**行きます。
* (ha-chi ji **ni** gak-kou **e** i-ki-ma-su.)
* (I) go **to** school **at** 8 o'clock.

What's the difference? Well, **に** (*ni*) focuses on the journey and the destination of going somewhere, but **へ** (*e*) focuses more on the process of going. But don't stress too much here. In daily life, they're basically interchangeable.

### **Learning Kanji**

We've mentioned before that kanji characters represent meaning, You can usually see those meanings from the words they appear in. Take a look at the kanji **学**. Words with **学** always have something to do with **learning**!

***gaku**-sei*
student
**学**校
***gak**-kou*
school

The words **a.m.** and **p.m.** are also made up of two kanji. Thes words break down pretty straightforwardly. Take a look!

go-zen
 **午 + 後**noon + after
go-go
p.m.

### **Talking Time**

In English, we refer to midnight as **12** a.m*.* In Japanese, you'd say it's ***0** a.m*, which makes sense if you think about how it comes before **1 a.m**! When talking about time, people usually use the word 零 (*rei*) instead of **ゼロ** (*ze-ro*)!

* 午前零時
* go-zen rei ji
* twelve o'clock a..m.
* Litreral: zero o'clock a.m.

## Home 1 / Home

### **There's a dog!**

In English, we'd say "***There is** a table*" or "***There are** tables*". In Japanese, you can use the verb **あります** (a-ri-ma-su = "*there is/are"*)! Keep in mind, nouns in Japanese have the same form, whether you're talking about one thing o many things. In a conversation, you can tell based on context, or it's just not important.

## Intro 3

### **Introduce yourself!**

Where do you live? In nglish, we'd say "*I live in...*". In Japanese, you end your sentence with the phrase... **住んでいます** (su-n-de-i-ma-su = "l*ive/lives*")! Remember to use **に** (n*i*) after the location.

## Family 1 / Family

### **My family!**

Saying words like **my** and **your** is easy in Japanese! Just add **の** (*no*) to words like "I" and "you"!

## Restaurant

### **Numbers**

In English, the next biggest number word after **thousand** is **million**. In Japanese, the next step up is **ten thousand**.

## Activity 1

### **The past is in the past!**

In English, when we talk about something in the past, we often add **-ed** (for example, "I walk" and "I walk**ed**"). In Japanese, you'd change the **-ます** (*ma-su*) in the verb to **-ました** (*ma-shi-ta*).

## Position

### **A Fresh Look**

Heads up! Starting with this skill, the transcriptions for the Japanese characters and sentences won't be on screen anymore. But don't worry! You can still just tap the words to se how they'e pronounced and translaed whenever you want to.

## Hobby 1

### **A Letter Home**

It's nice to be nice to other people! When doing something for someone else, you can use **に** after the person.

## Transit 1 / Transit

### **All aboard!**

When talking about using mode of transportation, put **に** after the vehicle and end with **乗ります** (no-ri-ma-su = *to ride/take*). Remember, the verb comes at the end of the sentence in Japanese!

## Clothes 1 / Clothes

### **Wearing Me Out**

There are multiple words for **to wear** in Japanese. You can choose which word to use, based on where the clothing is on your body.

## Hobby 2

### **Kanji time!**

We've mentioned before that kanji represent words. The kanji 週 (shuu = *week*) and 月 (getsu = *month*) can combine with other words to make different time phrases!

## Weather 1 / Weather

### **Isn't this fun?**

In Japanese, we can change the whole meaning of a sentence just by changing how it ends!

## Food 2

### **Not At All**

No everything can be what we want it to be. We can use the phrases **全く** (matta-ku = *at all*) or 全然 (zen-zen = *at all*) with **-くない** or **-ません** words to mean ***not** at all.*

## Direct. 1 / Direction 1

### **Neither here nor there!**

To say where things are, you can use casual words like **こっち** (*ko-cchi* = here), or make them more polite by saying **こちら** (*ko-chi-ra* = here)

## Dates

### **It's a date!**

If you want to ask someone out to dinner in Japanese, you need to know how to say the date! Fo months, say the number of the month (for exampl, October is the 10th month) followed by **月** (*getsu* = month). Then for the day, say the number followed by **日** (*nichi* = day)!

## Shopping 1

### **The gift that keeps on giving!**

It's nice to give people things! In Japanese, you put **に** after the person you've giving something **to**.

## People 1 / People

### **The wrong person!**

Be careful with the length of the vowel sounds in your words - it can change the meaning!

## Activity 2

### **て Form**

In Japanese, there's a verb form that ends with **て** or **で**. You can use the **て** form with **ください** to give requests!

If a vrb has an **e** sound before **-ます**, remove **-ます** and add **-て**.

## Nature 1 / Nature

### **What were you doing?**

Remember, you can use the **て** form in the phrases like **食べています** to talk about something you're doing. To talk about something you *were doing*, you'd say **食べていました** instead!

## Classroom

### **Are we there yet?**

To ask or say if something has **already** happened, you use the word **もう**.

## Class. 2

### **Please don't do that!**

When you ask someone to not do something in Japanese, you combine the ***plain form verb*** with **ない** and **でください**.

## Feelings 1

### **It was fun!**

To describe how something **was** in Japanese, just replace the final **-い** of the adjective with **-かった**.

## Direct. 2 / Direction 2

### **Only in Japan**

To say that things happen in specific countries, you can put **日本では** or **アメリカでは** at the beginning of the sentence

## Shopping 2

### **Mine is better!**

To say you like cats more than dogs, you'd say...

## Hobby 3

### **Plain Form**

There is another verb form in Japanese called **plain form**. Plain form is what you see in dictionaries, and it's often used when talking casually with friends. Here are some common examples!

## Class. 3 / Classroom 3

### **Please don't do that!**

When you ask someone to not do something in Japanese, you can combine the **plain form verb** with **ない** and **でください**.

## Health 1

### **痛い!**

You need to be prepared for the unexpected!

## Vacation 2 / Vacation

### **Have you ever!?**

To tell someone what you've done before, use the **た verb from** (the one that ends in **た** or **だ**!), plus **ことが あります**.

## The City / Subculture

### **Fashionable Tokyo**

原宿 (*hara-juku*) and 渋谷 (*shi-buya*) are two areas of Tokyo that are famous for

## Olympics

**Just keep swimming!**

In Japanese, there are two ways to talk about swimming. **水泳** is the noun and **泳ぎます** is the verb!

* **水泳**はいい運動です。= **Swimming** is good exercise

* 毎日**泳ぎます**。 = (I) **swim** everyday

## Ability

No mobile notes aftr the Olympics skill as of 1st April 2020