Day #4.2

This segment is a continuation of Lesson #3. It includes:

• Asking “what floor”
• Asking someone about school
• Asking someone about work – what company and what it is (Apple Inc, Computers)
• Asking about the place of origin an object is (i.e. This bag is from Japan)
• Asking about the brand name of an object (Uniqlo t-shirt)

FLOORS/ LEVELS 

Q:

Which level is the Wine section at? | Wain uriba wa nan kai desu ka? | ワイン うりば は なんかい です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  The Wine section is at basement 1. | Wain uriba wa chika ikkai desu. | ワイン うりば は ちかいっかい です。

ASKING SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR SCHOOL

Q:

What school are you from (Where is your school)? | Daigaku wa dochira desu ka? | だいがく は どちら です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  Osaka University. | Oosaka daigaku desu. |  おおさか だいがく です。

ASKING SOMEONE ABOUT THEIR COMPANY

Q:

Which company are you from? | Kaisha wa dochira desu ka? | かいしゃ は どちら です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  Apple. | Appuru. | アップル です。

Q:

What kind of company is it? | Nan no kaisha desu ka? | なんの かいしゃ です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  Computer company. | Konpyuta no kaisha desu. | コンピューター の かいしゃ です。

ASKING ABOUT PLACE OF ORIGIN 

Q:

Where is this bag from? | Sono kaban wa doko desu ka? | その かばん は どこの かばん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  This bag is from Japan. | Nihon no kaban desu. | にほん の かばん です。

ASKING ABOUT THE BRAND NAME

Q:

What brand is this shirt? | Sore wa doko no shyatsu desu ka? | それ は どこ の シャツ です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  It’s Uniqlo. | Uniqlo no shyatsu desu. | ユニクロ の シャツ です。

Day #4.1

Today’s lesson recapped the six main demonstratives and introduced a more in-depth dialogue on visiting a friend to give a gift. We also started on Lesson #3:

• How to discuss and talk about places
• Locations demonstratives

DEMONSTRATIVES

1. Pertaining to objects:

What kind of book is that? | Sore wa nan no hon desu ka? | それ は なん の ほん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  A Japanese book. | Nihongo no hon desu. | にほんご の ほん です。

2. Pertaining to possession:

Whose book is that? | Sore wa dare no hon desu ka? | それ は だれ の ほん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  Yamada’s book. | Yamada no hon desu. | やまだ の ほん です。

DIALOGUE 

Santousu: Konnichiwa. Santousu desu. Korekara osewa ni narimasu. | I’ll be taken care of by you ⇒ I hope for your kind assistance hereafter.

Yamada: Kochira koso yoroshiku. | Same to you.

SOUVENIRS FROM JAPAN

Souvenir | Omiyage

A list of souvenirs will be added in the Vocabulary section. This section will be continued in Day #11.2.

Lesson #3

There are 6 main location demonstratives, grammatically similar to the first 6 possession demonstratives.

• Koko | Here
• Soko | There (near you)
• Asoko | Over there
• Kochira | Here*
• Sochira | There (near you)*
• Achira | Over there*

*polite form of koko, soko and asoko respectively

To ask a question of where, we use the word ‘doko’. Places will be added under the Vocabulary section.

LOCATION DEMONSTRATIVES 

Where is the toilet? | Toire wa doko desu ka? | トイレ は どこ です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  Over there. | Asoko | あそこ です。

Where is your house? | Uchi wa doko desu ka? | うち は どこ です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  Orchard. | Ochaado desu. | オーチャード です。

Day #3.2

Today’s lesson was about possession of objects; simply put, whose object/ thing it is. Besides the three main demonstratives we covered last lesson, there are an additional three to take note of. The lesson also covered how to give and receive gifts from others.

Agenda:

• Possession + Object
• 3 new demonstratives
• Giving and receiving gifts (token of gratitude)

POSSESSION OF OBJECTS

This is my bag. | Kore wa watashi no kaban desu. | これ は わたし の かばん です。

 

 

Q:

Whose bag is that (near you)? | Sore wa dare no kaban desu ka? | それ は だれ の かばん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  This is my bag. | Kore wa watashi no kaban desu. | これ は わたし の かばん です。

DEMONSTRATIVES

We’ve learnt “kore”, “sore” and “are”. Today, we add “kono”, “sono” and “ano” to the list.

When we use “Kore”, we refer to “this”, but we use “Kono” to refer to “this ~”, ~ being the object. Thus “Kono” is only used when there’s a noun following it. Literally, it would be “This bag is mine”. For “Kore”, it is “This is my bag”.

This bag is mine. | Kono kaban wa watashi no desu. |  この かばん は わたし の です。

Q:

Whose pen is that? | Sono pen wa dare no desu ka? | その ぺん は だれ の です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  This pen is mine. | Kono pen wa watashi no desu. | その ぺん は わたし の です。

GIVING AND RECEIVING GIFTS

Here is a token of my gratitude. | Ano, kore, honno kimochi desu.

Thank you… What is it? | Domo… Nan desu ka?

Coffee. Here. | Kohi desu. Dozo.

Thank you very much. |Domo arigatou gozaimasu.

Day #3.1

Today we continued with numbers till 1000 and we started on Lesson #2. It introduces the idea of demonstratives and a load of Vocabulary to enable one to form simple sentences. The main verbs we learnt were ‘Kore | これ’, ‘Sore | それ’ and ‘Are | あれ’. We asked sentences like “What is this?” and phrased sentences like “This is a book”/ “This is a TV”.

This lesson really focused on building a Vocabulary, adding new words to the bank! 🙂

There’re three main demonstratives to know:

1. This | Kore | これ

2. That (near you) | Sore | それ

3. That (over there) | Are | あれ

Q:

What is that (near you)? | Sore wa nan desu ka? | それ は なん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  This is a book. | Kore wa hon desu. | これ は ほん です。

(We reply “this” instead of following the speaker because the speaker is asking from his point of view.)

In short, the sentence structure goes like:  Demonstrative + *particle wa + Object

When talking to a friend beside you and referring to an object that is further away, we use the demonstrative ‘Are | あれ’.

Q:

What is that over there? | Are wa nan desu ka? | あれ は なん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  A computer. | Konpyuta desu. | コンピューター です。

ASKING “THIS OR THAT” 

When posed with two choices, the Japanese language does not have an equivalent to “OR”. The sentence structure is simply “Is this a book? A notebook?”

Is this a book or notebook? | Sore wa hon desu ka? Noto desu ka? | それ は ほん です か。ノート です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  A notebook. | Noto desu. | ノート です。

WHAT KIND OF BOOK [PARTICLE ‘NO | の’]

Q:

What kind of book is that? | Sore wa nan no hon desu ka? | それ は なん の ほん です か。

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  –  A book about cats. | Neko no hon desu. | ねこ の ほん です。

This is a Japanese Language book. | Kore wa nihongo no hon desu. | これ は にほんご の ほん です。