Day #1.11.1

Official penultimate lesson before the listening test and oral exam! 😮  We finally finished with Kanji and Lesson #7 – Tasks like Giving and Receiving (last lesson), Lending & Borrowing, Teach & Learn, Sending & Making a phone call.

These are direction related verbs. When talking about a relationship/ action between two people, there is the idea of “from whom” and “to who” *Particle ‘ni | に’ is used in this context. As in previous lesson #8.1, the *particle ‘e | へ’ can be used interchangeably with *particle ‘ni | に’ when talking about directions ‘go | いきます’, ‘come | きます’ and ‘go back | かえります’.

LEND & BORROW | Kashimasu & Karimasu | かします & かります

Conveying Tanaka san lending Satou san a book:

Tanaka lends Satou a book. | Tanaka-san wa Satou-san ni hon o kashimasu. | たなかさん は さとうさん に ほん を かします。

Conveying that Satou borrows a book from Tanaka:

Satou borrows a book from Tanaka. | Satou-san wa Tanaka-san ni hon o karimasu. | さとうさん は たなかさん に ほん を かります。

TEACHING & LEARNING | Oshiemasu & Naraimasu | おしえます & ならいます

Teacher Ayumi teaches Japanese Language to students . | Ayumi Sensei wa gakusei ni nihongo o oshiemasu. |あゆみ 先生 は がくせい に 日本ご  を おしえます。

Students learn Japanese Language from Teacher Ayumi. | Gakusei wa Ayumi Sensei ni nihongo o naraimasu. | がくせい は あゆみ 先生 に 日本ご を ならいます。

MAKE A PHONE CALL | Denwa o kakemasu | でんわ を かけます

Conveying that the girl Anne is making a phone call to her boyfriend:

Anne makes a phone call to her boyfriend. | Anne-san wa kare san ni denwa o kakemasu. | アッンさん は かれ に でんわ を かけます。

SENDING ~ | Okurimasu | おくります

Yamada sends a package to her friend in America. | Yamada-san wa Amerika no tomodachi ni nimotsu o okurimasu. | やまださん は アメリカの ともだち に にもつ を おくります。

Day #1.10.2

Today we dove into the second section of Lesson #7, using the direction related particle ‘ni | に’ to phrase sentences that involve a relationship between two people. A literal translation would be “from” and “to”. More on this will be covered in the next lesson! Today’s lesson also covered how to compliment others and ask where they got their stuff.

GIVING & RECEIVING | Agemasu & Moraimasu | あげます & もらいます

Conveying that Joseph gives Anne a box of chocolates:

Joseph gives Anne chocolates. | Joseph-san wa Anne-san ni chocoreto o agemasu. | ジョセフさん は アッンさん に チョコレート を あげます。

Sentence structure: giver +*particle wa + receiver + *particle ni + object + *particle o + verb

Conveying that Anne receives the chocolates from Joseph:

Anne receives chocolates from Joseph. | Anne-san wa Joseph-san ni chocoreto o moraimasu. | アッンさん は ジョセフさん に チョコレート を もらいます。

Sentence structure: receiver + *particle wa + giver + *particle ni + object + *particle o + verb

Dialogue:

J: Did you receive a present for your birthday last year? | A-san, kyonen no tanjoubi ni purezento o moraimashita ka? | さん、きょねん の たんじょうび に プレゼント を もらいました か。

A: Yes I did. | Hai, moraimashita. | はい、もらいました。

J: What did you receive? | Nani o moraimashita ka? | なに を もらいました か。

A: I received a car. | Kuruma o moraimashita. | くるま を もらいました。

J: From whom? | Dare ni moraimashita ka? | だれ に もらいました か。

A: My father. | Chichi ni moraimashita. | ちち に もらいました。

COMPLIMENTING OTHERS

A: I love your watch! | Sono tokei, suteki desu ne! | そのとけい、すてきですね。

B: Thank you very much. | Arigatou gozaimasu. | ありがとうございます。

A: Did you receive it or buy it? | Moraimashita ka? Kaimashita ka? | もらいました か。 かいました か。

B: I received it from my father on my birthday. | Tanjoubi ni chichi ni moraimashita. | たんじょうびに ちちに もらいました。

A: Your shoes are cute! | Sono kutsu, kawaii desu ne! | その くつ、かわいい です ね！

B: Thank you very much. | Arigatou gozaimasu. | ありがとうございます。

A:  Did you receive it or buy it? | Moraimashita ka? Kaimashita ka? | もらいました か。 かいました か。

B: I bought it at Takashimaya last week. | Senshuu takashimaya de kaimashita. | せんしゅう たかしまやで かいました。

Day #5.1

Today we learnt things related to prices:

1. How to ask for the price of an object
2. How to tell the price of an object

ASKING THE PRICE

‘Ikura desu ka | いくら です か’ roughly translated means “How much is this?”

Q:

How much is this book? | Kono hon wa ikura desu ka? |  この ほん は いくら です か。

TELLING THE PRICE

–  –  –  –  –  –  –  That book is 345 yen. | Sono hon wa 345 en desu. | その ほん は 345えん です。

Prices in dollars and cents are read as ‘doru’ and ‘sento’.

E.G. $10 | Juu doru | じゅう どる

E.G. 30¢ | San juu sento | セント

We also learnt how to speak in a Department Store with regards to an item that we wish to purchase.

At the department store:

1.

Q: Where is this necktie from? | Kore wa doko no nekutai desu ka? | これ は どこ の ねくたい です か。

A: Italy. | Itaria desu. | イタリア です。

Q: How much is it? | Ikura desu ka? | いくら です か。

A: 7,300 yen. | 7,300 en desu. | 7,300 えん です。

2.

Q: Where is this watch from? | Kore wa doko no toke desu ka? | これ は どこ の とけ です か。

A: Switzerland. | Suisu desu. | スイス です。

Q: How much is it? | Ikura desu ka? | いくら です か。

A: 18,800 yen. | 18,800 en desu. | 18,800 えん です。

Besides asking where an item is from and how much it costs, we also add the phrases ‘0 mise te kudasai’ and ‘o kudasai’ which mean “please show me” and “please give me” respectively.

At the wine section in the Department Store:

Q: Excuse me, please show me this bottle of wine. | Sumimasen, sono wain o misete kudasai. | すみません、その ワイン を みせて ください。

A: Here you go. | Hai, dozo. | はい、どぞ。

Q: Is this wine from France? | Sore wa Furansu no wain desu ka? | それ は フランス の ワイン です か。

A: No, it’s from Italy. | Ie, Itaria no wain desu. | いいえ、イタリア の ワイン です。

Q: How much is it? | Ikura desu ka? | いくら です か。

A: 4500 yen. | 4500 en desu. |  4500 えん です。

Q: Then, please give it to me. | Ja, kore o kudasai. | じゃ、これ を ください。

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。