By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
- Introduce yourself
- Greet people appropriately at different times of the day
- Start and end class
- Report that a student is tardy or absent
- Count from 1 - 100
- Ask a friend for their phone number
- Talk about the weather
1-1 Self Introduction
When you first meet someone and introduce yourself to them, you tell them your name and also say "How do you do? Nice to meet you!".
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1-2 Japanese Pronunciation
Japanese has five different vowels. They are:
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There are 46 basic syllables. All syllables have one of the five vowels except for one. There are variations of these 46 basic sounds by adding marks like ″ ("ten ten") and ◦ ("maru") or combining the basic with や[ya], ゆ [yu], よ[yo].
Stress/Emphasis
In English, there is usually one syllable in the word that is emphasized. In Japanese, there is no emphasis on one syllable. All the syllables in the word are evenly pronounced. So, a word like "Hiroshima" is pronounced in Japanese HI-RO-SHI-MA, not like in English hi-ro-SHI-ma.
In English, there is usually one syllable in the word that is emphasized. In Japanese, there is no emphasis on one syllable. All the syllables in the word are evenly pronounced. So, a word like "Hiroshima" is pronounced in Japanese HI-RO-SHI-MA, not like in English hi-ro-SHI-ma.
Long Vowels
In some words, there is a difference of only an extended vowel sound. In roomaji, it is usually written with a double vowel and is written with that corresponding hiragana character. The excepion is long "o" - it is written in roomaji with a double "oo" but is written おう [ou]. Remember to pronounce it "oh" as in "boat" and not "oo" as in "boot". Long "ee" as in "bet" is written in hiragana as えい [ei]. Make sure you say these long vowels a little longer because if you don't, you may end up with a different word!
In some words, there is a difference of only an extended vowel sound. In roomaji, it is usually written with a double vowel and is written with that corresponding hiragana character. The excepion is long "o" - it is written in roomaji with a double "oo" but is written おう [ou]. Remember to pronounce it "oh" as in "boat" and not "oo" as in "boot". Long "ee" as in "bet" is written in hiragana as えい [ei]. Make sure you say these long vowels a little longer because if you don't, you may end up with a different word!
Double Consonants
In roomaji, when a consonant is repeated, you write the first repeated consonant with a small つ [tsu]. That character itself is not pronounced but you briefly pause at it before saying the next sound, so it sounds like a little hiccough. So, がっこう [gakkoo] is pronounced "gak-koh", with a definite pause between the two 'k's. The only exception is a double 'n'. The double 'n' is written with a ん [n] first, then whatever character comes after it, e.g. おんな [onna].
In roomaji, when a consonant is repeated, you write the first repeated consonant with a small つ [tsu]. That character itself is not pronounced but you briefly pause at it before saying the next sound, so it sounds like a little hiccough. So, がっこう [gakkoo] is pronounced "gak-koh", with a definite pause between the two 'k's. The only exception is a double 'n'. The double 'n' is written with a ん [n] first, then whatever character comes after it, e.g. おんな [onna].
1-3 Greetings
ButGreet people with expressions appropriate to the time of day and to the formality of the situation. In general, the morning greeting is acceptable until mid-morning (about 10:30-11:00) and the evening greeting can start about 6:00pm or so.
There are many ways to show politeness and respect in Japanese. There are two expressions for "good morning" - おはよう ございます [ohayoo gozaimasu] and おはよう [ohayoo]. The longer one is more polite and should be used when greeting people superior to you or in more formal situations. The shorter one is more casual and can be used amongst family and friends. When talking about other people or addressing them, you add a title to the END of their name. You can add the suffix さん [san] to anyone's name to show respect towards them. This is equivalent to Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms. in English. You can also add くん [kun] to any boy's name (but not adult men) and ちゃん [chan] to any child's (boy or girl) name. But, you should ALWAYS add せんせい [sensei] to your teacher's name! But remember, adding a title after a person's name is a sign of respect, you DO NOT add it to your own! |
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1-4 Classroom Expressions
High school classes in Japan differ from those in Canada in a few ways. One of those ways is that the students stay in the classroom for all the different subjects and the teachers rotate. When the teacher enters the room, a classroom student leader will start the class with some greetings: きりつ [kiritsu]、れい [rei]、ちゃくせき [chakuseki], which mean "Stand!", "Bow!" and "Sit!".
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1-5 1 ~ 10
Counting in Japanese is relatively simple. As long as you know the numbers 1 to 10, you will be able to count up to 99. Pay attention to the alternate pronunciations of some of the numbers.
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1-6 11 ~ 100
Now that you learned the word for 100, you will be able to count up to 999! Again, pay attention to some of the sound changes.
これ [kore]、それ [sore]、あれ [are] These words are nouns that mean "this thing (near me)", "that thing (near you)", and "that thing way over there (away from us)". |
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1-7 Weather Expressions
The Japanese are always talking about the weather in small talk. They often add on a particle at the end of the phrase 〜ね [~ne], which means "isn't it?". The person is just asking for your agreement. If the sound is longer like 〜ねえ [~nee], it just emphasizes the phrase more. Compare 「あついですね」[atsui desu ne] "It's hot, isn't?" to「あついですねえ」[atsui desu nee] "It's hot, isn't it!".
Vocabulary ReviewClick here to access Yamazaki-sensei's Quizlet flashcards for chapter 1.
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