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Today, the lesson will be on Numbers Pronunciation (Kazu no yomikata)

Just use the above combination to form the number that want to read. For example : 1,234 (sen nihyaku sanjuu yon), 12,177 (ichiman nisen hyaku nanajuu nana).

See, it simple. Stay Tune !!!

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Today, I will show you how to use positive and negative adjectives.

Q : Is it long? – Nagai desu ka? 　「ながいですか？」
Positive A : Yes, it’s long – Hai, nagai desu　「はい、ながいです」
Negative A : No, it isn’t long – Iie, nagaku arimasen　「いいえ、ながくありません」
Meaning : Nagai (Long)

See the difference between positive and negative answer? Yes, Japanese uses different pronunciation for positive and negative adjectives. For adjectives, it is no longer use “dewa arimasen” that I have covered earlier.

It is not difficult to convert from positive to negative adjectives. Whenever the adjectives ending with “i” (exp: nagai), remove the “i” and change to “ku” (exp: nagaku). See, it’s simple.

Other Adjectives
Short – Mijikai　（みじかい）
New – Atarashii　（あたらしい）
Old – Furui　（ふるい）
Big – Ookii　（おおきい）
Small – Chiisai　（ちいさい）
Fat – Futoi　（ふとい）
Thin – Hosoi　（ほそい）
Expensive – Takai　（たかい）
Cheap – Yasui　（やすい）
Heavy – Omoi　（おもい）
Light – Karui　（かるい）
Fast – Hayai　（はやい）
Slow – Osoi　（おそい）

Some adjectives are having the same pronunciation but different meaning. To diffirentiate them, normally it is base on the sentences you use.
Example:
Takai can be used for Expensive or Tall / High.

If you like to, post the negative adjectives in comments as to pratice the conversion. I will let you know if there is any mistakes. There are just too many adjectives where I can’t put eveything here. Throughout the whole course, I will teach you new words. Stay Tune !!!

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Parents – Go Ryoushin　（ごりょうしん）
Father – Otousan / Chichi　（おとうさん・ちち）
Mother – Okaasan / Haha　（おかあさん・はは）
Brothers – Kyoudai　（きょうだい）
Sisters – Shimai　（しまい）
Elder Brother – Oniisan / Ani　（おにいさん・あに）
Younger Brother – Otoutosan / Otouto　（おとうとさん・おとうと）
Elder Sister – Oneesan / Ane　（おねえさん・あね）
Younger Sister – Imoutosan / Imouto　（いもうとさん・おもうと）
Children – Kodomo　（こども）
Husband – Dannasan / Shujin　（だんなさん・しゅじん）
Wife – Okusan / Tsuma　（おくさん・つま）
Son – Musuko　（むすこ）
Daughter – Musume　（むすめ）

You may have notice that 2 different words are representing the same meaning. They are used in different way. Here’s how :
Q : What is your father’s name? – Anata no Otousan no o namae wa?
「あなた の おとうさん の お なまえ は？」
A : My father’s name is John – Watashi no Chichi no namae wa Jon desu
「わたし の ちち の なまえ は ジョン です」

Q : How old is your mother? – Anata no Okaasan wa o ikutsu desu ka?
「あなた の おかあさん は お いくつ です か？」
A : My mother is 48 years old – Watashi no Haha wa 48 sai desu
「わたし の はは は ４８ さい です」
Meaning : Namae (Name), Ikutsu (how old – age), Sai (years old – age)
When you are talking about other people’s father, you have to use “Otousan”. For own father, use “Chichi”. Same goes to Mother, Elder / Younger Brother / Sister.

You may also notice the “O” (o namae & o ikutsu). By adding “O” is to show your respect to the person you are talking to (like your boss, customer, etc)

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Yesterday, we have gone through the basic usage of This (Kore) & That (Sore / Are). Today I would like to share with your all on other usage.

Q : Is this your car? – Kore wa anata no kuruma desu ka?　
　「これ は あなた の くるま です か？」
A : No, this isn’t my car – Iie, kore wa watashi no kuruma dewa arimasen　
　「いいえ、これ は わたし の くるま で は ありません」
Q : So, whose car is this? – Jaa, Kore wa dare no kuruma desu ka?　
　「じゃあ、これ は だれ の くるま です か？」
A : This is John’s car – Kore wa Jon no kuruma desu　
　「これ は ジョン の くるま です」
Meaning : Jaa (So), Dare (Who), Dare no (Whose), Jon (John – in Katakana)

Another usage is :
Q : What is that? – Sore wa nan desu ka?　「それ は なん です か？」
A : Which one? – Dore desu ka?　「どれ です か？」
Q : This one? – Kore desu?　「これ です」
A: This is a map – Kore wa chizu desu　「これ は ちず です」
Meaning : Dore (Which), Chizu (Map)

The sentences we used so far for This & That are a proper form like “Is this your pen?. Yes, This is my pen”. During actual conversation we can just answer : “Yes, This is mine” instead of “Yes, This is my pen”.

Here, I will show you how :
Q : Is this your pen? – Kore wa anata no pen desu ka?　「これ は あなた の ペン です？」
A : Yes, This is mine – Hai, kore wa watashi no desu.　「はい、これ は わたし の です」

Q : Is this his book? – Kore wa kare no hon desu ka?　「これ は かれ の ほん です か？」
A : Yes, it is – Hai, Sou Desu　「はい、そう です」

Q : Is that John’s car? – Sore wa Jon no kuruma desu ka?　「それ は ジョン の くるま です か？」
A : Yes, that is John’s car – Hai, sore wa Jon no desu OR Hai, sou desu OR Hai, Jon no desu
Meaning : Watashi no (my / mine), Sou (agree to something), Kare (His)

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Today’s lesson is on This & That

This – Kore（これ）
That – Sore（それ） & Are（あれ） (Are is used when the thing you are pointing is very far away)

What is this? – Kore wa nan desu ka?　「これ は なん です か？」
What is that? – Sore wa nan desu ka?　「それ は なん です か？」
Meaning : kore (this), nan (what), ka (use when asking question)

Is this a Pen? – Kore wa pen desu ka?　「これ は ペン です か？」
Is that (very far) your car? – Are wa anata no kuruma desu ka?
「あれ は あなた の くるま です か？」
Meaning : are(that), nan (what), ka (use when asking question), pen (pen), kuruma (car)

“desu” is always positive where “de wa arimasen” is negative

Q & A
Q : Is this your book? – Kore wa anata no hon desu ka?　
「これ は あなた の ほん ですか？」
A : Yes, this is my book? – Hai, kore wa watashi no hon desu　
「はい、これ は わたし の ほん です」
Meaning : hon (book), hai (yes), watashi (I), watashi no (mine), anata (you), anata no (yours)

Q : Is that your car? – Are wa anata no kuruma desu ka?　
「あれ は あなた の くるま です か？」
A : No, that isn’t my car? – Iie, are wa watashi no kuruma dewa arimasen?　
「いいえ、あれ は わたし の くるま で は ありません」
Meaning : iie (no), kuruma (car)

Other words
Mobile Phone – Keitai Denwa　「けいたいでんわ」
Dog – Inu　「いぬ」
Cat – Neko　「ねこ」
Bag – Kaban　「かばん」
Bicycle – Jitensha　「じてんしゃ」
Camera – Kamera　「カメラ」

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When you are meeting new friends, colleagues, customers, etc, what should you say?
I am Tony, Nice to meet you – Tony Desu, Hajimemashite, Douzo Yoroshiku Onegai Shimasu (トニ　です。はじめまして　どうぞ　よろしく　おねがい　します）

Other common words you may use
I am the Manager of Human Resouce Department – Watashi wa jinjika no buchou desu　（わたし　は　じんじか　の　ぶちょう　です）
Others : Student (GaKuSei がくせい), Officer (KaiShaIn かいしゃいん), Police (KeiSaTsuKan けいさつかん), Doctor (ISha いしゃ), Secretary (HiSho ひしょ), Nurse (KanGoFu かんごふ), Banker (GinKoIn ぎんこいん), Teacher (SenSei せんせい)

I come from America – Watashi wa Amerika kara kimashita　（わたし　は　アメリカ　から　きました）

I am American – Watashi wa Amerika jin desu　（わたし　は　アメリカ　じん　です）
Others : British (IGiRiSu Jin イギリス じん), Mexican (MeKiShiKo Jin メキシコ じん), French (FuRanSu Jin フランス じん), Chinese (ChuuGoKu Jin ちゅうごく じん), Australian (O-SuToRaRiA Jin オストラリア じん) – Remove the “Jin” will represent Country

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From tomorrow, I will start off from Basic Japanese until Advance Stage. If you follow through everyday, you will most probably be able to master your japanese language. But before we proceed with tomorrow lesson, you must first study hard on the pronunciation that I have posted earlier. You do not need to learn about the hiragana & katakana writting where I will use “romaji” in all lesson here. Of course, if you are interesting in learning the hiragana & katakana, you can do so ;).

Link to Pronunciation Session

So see you tomorrow on Lesson : Jikoshoukai 「じこ　しょうかい」 (self-introduction)

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Japanese are very dicipline where they will wish everyone whenever they meet in the morning, afternoon and night.

Good Morning – Ohayō Gozaimasu　（おはようございます）
Good Afternoon – Konnichiwa　（こんにちは）
Good Evening – Konbanwa　（こんばんは）
Good Night – Oyasumi Nasai　（おやすみなさい）

There is another type of wishes where Japanese family will normally say :
When you are going out from home, dormitory, office, etc
You should say : Itte Kimasu （いってきます）- I’m going out
They should reply : Itte Rasshai （いってらっしゃい）- Take care yourself

When you return home, office, dormitory, etc
You should say : Tadaima （ただいま）- I’m Home
They should reply : O Kaeri Nasai （おかえりなさい）- Welcome Back

Based on the above, you may notice that some word has a double character like “itte” & “rasshai”. This will happen whenever there is a small “tsu”.
Example : itte （いって）and rasshai （らっしゃい）

To understanding further on the pronunciation, visit HERE

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Japanese Pronunciation uses its own set of characters which they called Hiragana & Katakana. Whether it is written in Kanji (Chinese Character), it still pronounce using Hiragana & Katakana. Hiragana & Katakana are having the same pronunciation except the way of writting.

Kanji and Hiragana is normally use for all japanese words except Katakana is use for english word with japanese pronunciation. Example : Check – “Chekku” written in Katakana as （チェック） and America – “Amerika” written in Katakana as　（アメリカ）

Romaji (in alphabet), Hiragana & Katakana (Bold)
a （あ）（ア）– read as “are”
i （い）（イ）– read as “ee”
u （う） （ウ）– read as “ooh”
e （え）（エ）– read as “a” (alphabet A)
o （お）（オ）– read as “all”

then follow by …
ka, ki, ku, ke, ko　（か、き、く、け、こ）　（カ、キ、ク、ケ、コ）
sa, shi, su, se, so　（さ、し、す、せ、そ）　（サ、シ、ス、セ、ソ）
ta, chi, tsu, te, to (“tsu” pronounce as “zu”)　（た、ち、つ、て、と）　（タ、チ、ツ、テ、ト）
ha, hi, hu/fu, he, ho　（は、ひ、ふ、へ、ほ）　（ハ、ヒ、フ、ヘ、ホ）
ma, mi, mu, me, mo　（ま、み、む、め、も）　（マ、ミ、ム、メ、モ）
na, ni, nu, ne, no　（な、に、ぬ、ね、の）　（ナ、ニ、ヌ、ネ、ノ）
ya, yu, yo　（や、ゆ、よ）　（ヤ、ユ、ヨ）
ra, ri, ru, re, ro　（ら、り、る、れ、ろ）　（ラ、リ、ル、レ、ロ）
wa, o, n (“n” pronounce as “earn”)　（わ、を、ん）　（ワ、ヲ、ン）

ga, gi, gu, ge, go　（が、ぎ、ぐ、げ、ご）　（ガ、ギ、グ、ゲ、ゴ）
za, zi/ji, zu, ze, zo　（ざ、じ、ず、ぜ、ぞ）　（ザ、ジ、ズ、ゼ、ゾ）
da, ji, zu, de, do　（だ、じ、づ、で、ど）　（ダ、ヂ、ジ、デ、ド）
ba, bi, bu, be, bo　（ば、び、ぶ、べ、ぼ）　（バ、ビ、ブ、ベ、ボ）
pa, pi, pu, pe, po　（ぱ、ぴ、ぷ、ぺ、ぽ）　（パ、ピ、プ、ペ、ポ）

kya, kyu, kyo　（きゃ、きゅ、きょ）　（キャ、キュ、キョ）
gya, gyu, gyo　（ぎゃ、ぎゅ、ぎょ）　（ギャ、ギュ、ギョ）
sha, shu, sho　（しゃ、しゅ、しょ）　（シャ、シュ、ショ）
ja, ju, jo　（じゃ、じゅ、じょ）　（ジャ、ジュ、ジョ）
cha, chu, cho　（ちゃ、ちゅ、ちょ）　（チャ、チュ、チョ）
hya, hyu, hyo　（ひゃ、ひゅ、ひょ）　（ヒャ、ヒュ、ヒョ）
nya, nyu, nyo　（にゃ、にゅ、にょ）　（ニャ、ニュ、ニョ）
bya, byu, byo　（びゃ、びゅ、びょ）　（ビャ、ビュ、ビョ）
pya, pyu, pyo　（ぴゃ、ぴゅ、ぴょ）　（ピャ、ピュ、ピョ）
mya, myu, myo　（みゃ、みゅ、みょ）　（ミャ、ミュ、ミョ）
rya, ryu, ryo　（りゃ、りゅ、りょ）　（リャ、リュ、リョ）

There are 2 special characters that pronounce differently from it’s ususal pronunciation depending on how it uses :

“ha（は）” should be read as “wa” when it is use individually
Example : kore ha nan desu ka?　（これはなんですか？） (What is this?) – we should read this as “kore wa nan desu ka?

Same goes to “he（へ）”, we should use “e” when it is used individually.

So practice now on the pronunciation and later I will start the first lesson of day to day conversation.

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