Lesson One:

What Does the FREE! Japanese

Name Really Say?
So now you have your FREE! Japanese Name and maybe a phrase translated for you with the
corresponding pronunciation written in roman characters. But how do you pronounce it so it sounds
close to natural? Fear not for help is on the way! In this lesson you will learn a bit about the history of
the language and how the language sounds. So sit back, take out your notebook and enjoy the first
lesson of the FREE! Japanese Lesson series.

Have you ever watched an old Japanese samurai movie on the late show? Chances are you thought
that everyone was always angry at everyone else and spent a lot of time yelling in monotonous
staccato tones. I felt the same way. It was all unintelligible blabber, not a real language. Well, guess
what? It is actually possible to make some sense out of the nonsensical language that you hear on
Japanese movies, etc. With a little understanding of how the language works, you will be on your way
to sounding just like those yelling, sword-swinging samurai of yore. Let's get down to business.

Stress:

In Japanese there is no clear stress on syllables in words as there is in English. A non-

Japanese speaker would pronounce the city of Yokohama as "Yoko-HAA-ma" and the family
name Yoshida as "Yo-SHEE-da". In English, stress tends to be placed on the second last
syllable of longer words. Not so in Japanese. All syllables are spoken with equal strength and
length. A Japanese speaker would say "Yo-ko-ha-ma" and "Yo-shi-da" without stressing any
parts.

Try saying the following words without putting any extra strength or stress on any of the syllables:

1. Yokohama 2. Kawasaki 3. Nagasaki 4. Hiroshima 5. Amerika

6. Osutoraria 7. koohii 8. Nihon 9. beesubooru 10. koppu

Syllable Length:

Some texts say that there are long and short syllables in the Japanese language. I disagree.
In most cases the longer sound of a syllable is due simply to an extra vowel placed after the
previous syllable. For example Tokyo is actually pronounced like To-u-kyo-u and Kyoto is
Kyo-u-to (note here that the final to in Kyoto sounds shorter than the middle to but it is just
because it lacks the additional u which makes the sound appear to be longer. Pronounced
carefully, the "long" syllable takes twice as long to pronounce as the "short" syllable.

1. biiru 2. biru 3. konpyuuta 4. konpyuutaa 5. koka koora

6. Toukyou 7. Kyouto 8. suteeki 9. ginkou 10. waapuro

Vowels and Consonants:

There are five vowels in the Japanese language: A, I, U, E, O. These vowels have
one sound apiece. Unlike the English "a" which can have the sounds found in cat,
crawl, cape, the Japanese A sounds like the vowel found in the word cup. And as a
matter of fact, all of the syllables in Japanese are very short and clipped (Suzuki
sounds more like S'z'ki). Remember that whenever you see a vowel in a Japanese
word it will always have the following sound:

Vowel: a i u e o

Sound: up heat soup left slope

Most consonants sound as they do in English with a few exceptions worth

noting: K, G, S, Z, D, T, P, B do not have the puff of air that is associated with same
consonants in English. The N is also a very unusual sound as it can actually take on four
different sounds, depending on where it is found in the word.

1. If it precedes a vowel (as in no) it has the normal N sound found in English.
Before t, ts, d, n, ch, j it also posses the normal n sound.
2. If it is found before p, b, m it takes on an m sound.
3. If it is found before k and g it sounds like ng as in finger.
4. If it is found at the end of a word, or before all other sounds, it has a nasal
sound, similar to the French n as in pain (bread).

There is one other sound that we need to discuss. It is the most difficult sound for foreigners
to pronounce correctly. It is the R sound. This sound is not found in the English language. It is
a somewhere between the English L, D, R and is a rather short, chopped sound. In this case
the tongue quickly flicks the roof of the mouth just in front of the soft upper pallette. This
sound takes a lot of practice to get right and in order to pronounce it correctly you need to
hear it to be able to reproduce it.

Syllable Structure:

The following chart shows all the possible combinations of consonants and vowels in the Japanese
Language. Note that in almost every case (except for n by itself) all consonants are followed by a
vowel. This makes the language very easy to pronounce.

a ka sa ta na ha ma ya ra wa wo n

i ki shi chi ni hi mi - ri - - -

u ku su tsu nu fu mu yu ru - - -

e ke se te ne he me - re - - -

o ko so to no ho mo yo ro - - -
There are some other sounds which are not quite as common, but are actually a slight variation of the
main sounds. They are:

ga za da ba pa

gi ji - bi pi

gu zu - bu pu

ge ze de be pe

go zo do bo po

There are situations where two consonants are together with a vowel. They produce the following
sounds.

kya gya sha ja cha nya hya pya bya mya rya

kyu gyu shu ju chu nyu hyu pyu byu myu ryu

kyo gyo sho jo cho nyo hyo pyo byo myo ryo

Now that you are armed with the correct sounds for the language, why don't you pull out your
Japanese Name or Phrase and give the pronunciation a try? with a bit of practice you should be able
to get the sounds just right.

One last thing to mention that I found really helps with getting the pronunciation right. Almost all of the
sounds can be said without the use of the lips. Think of yourself as a ventriloquist, speaking from a
puppet. Don't move your lips, and keep them relaxed. It should help. And practice.

Here are a few simple sentences that you can use for pronunciation practice and begin to memorize
for your future use

Practice Sentences

1. Watashi no namae wa Ken desu. (My name is Ken.)

2. Kono biiru wa ikura desu ka? (How much is this beer?)
3. Toire wa doko desuka? (Where is the toilet?)
4. Mata ne! (See you later!)
5. Ohisashiburi desu ne. (Long time no see.)
6. Ohayou gozaimasu. (Good morning.)
7. Konnichi wa. (Hello.)
8. Konban wa. (Good evening.)
9. Oyasumi nasai. (Good night.)
10. Koko wa doko desu ka? (Where am I now?)
The Culture Pocket: A Brief History of the Japanese Written Language

Most scholars believe that prior to the introduction of Kanji from China, there was no formal written
language. No one is certain when the script first came to the islands but some believe that it could
have been around the first century AD. In the early third century, artifacts have been recovered that
depict some form of writing.

Kanji was first used as a system of writing sometime in the late 5th century or early 6th century. It is
difficult to set an exact date because of the writings being based on the Chinese calendar which is
difficult to interpret. More than likely, Chinese or Koreans who came to the islands to live began using
the characters.

In the beginning kanji was more than likely used to represent sounds (phonetics) for loan words from
other cultures. Also, the introduction of Buddhism into China and eventually Japan prompted
translations of the scripts using the script. Buddhism probably had the greatest influence on the
development of the language due to the huge influx of people from the mainland to build temples,
translate documents, make statues, tiles, copy sutras, etc.

Around the seventh century it seems that the Japanese people began mastering the language
themselves and started to do some work of their own. The language began to make some changes
as it took on more than just a phonetic reproduction of foreign words (KUN reading). Eventually it
began to be used to represent ideas and concepts.

Chinese and Japanese are completely different. In terms of structure, Chinese is actually closer to
English than it is to Japanese. And yet, the Japanese, in their amazing ability to adapt things to their
own ideas, were able to take the Chinese and add marks so that it would conform to the Japanese
word order. Then the kanji began to take on a second reading, known as the ON reading, as
mentioned above. It may be that the Korean language had influenced the development of the
Japanese language as both have similar word orders and also use honorific auxiliaries.

In the Nara period (710-784) there was an explosion of Japanese literature. It seems that much of the
oral tradition of passing on history was translated into script for the future generations. The language
began to become more and more complex.

Hiragana began to be developed around the Nara period as well. It has its roots in the simplification
of a cursive-style of writing kanji. This cursive style was mainly used privately among individuals to
make notes, letters and other personal documents. For about 1400 years the hiragana had a very
large set of letters. In 1900 it was standardized in brushwritten and woodblock-printed forms, mainly
for artistic purposes. Because of this, hiragana tends to have a roundish, flowing style and shape.

Officials and scholars continued to use classical Chinese for their work for many hundred years. As
the language developed, it became necessary to add notes next to the text to aid in the reading of the
texts. This began in the Heian period (794-1192). Because space was limited, scholars began using a
shorthand version of the kanji used for pronunciation. This was the beginning of Katakana. In the
beginning it was not entirely different from hiragana but over time developed a more square
appearance, more scholarly. Eventually the katakana script evolved such that it began to be used
solely for writing foreign loan words, or concepts that did not exist in the native Japanese language.
 Lesson Two:
This is a pen. Is this a pen? This isn't a
pen. This is a pen for God's sake!!!
Now that we have a little bit better idea of how to pronounce some Japanese, let's jump right in and
start to learn some of the grammar so that we can start to say some simple, yet very important
phrases. In the real world we are always asking questions and looking for information so it might be
beneficial to learn how to make a question or two as well. And where would we end up if we always
said "yes" to every proposition we were offered? Perhaps the vice president's chair but more likely we
would end up either in jail, some deserted back lane or heaven forbid, a cemetery. So as Nancy
Reagan once said it, "Just Say No." Was that Nancy? I'm sorry but I don't recall saying that ...

As an aside, rather than have a long vocabulary list at the end of each lesson, I prefer to use the
vocabulary that is in the examples. If I decide to make questions using unfamiliar words, I will put
those in a table at the end. Otherwise, just consider the lesson as having the vocabulary directly in it.
After all, who wants to memorize lists of words, anyway, right?

The Basic Sentence Structure: A wa B desu.

Japanese has a very straightforward sentence structure as you see above. We do not invert,
rotate, or otherwise do funny things with it like we do in English (how many exceptions to the
rules are there again?). The basic pattern is A wa B desu. This essentially means "A is B."
The verb to be in this sentence is, as you might guess, desu. This is the polite form of the
verb. There is also a "dictionary" or ordinary form as well and it is da. The wa in the sentence
is a particle that marks the thing or person by means of B. It doesn't change; very simple.
Very simple indeed. Let's look at a few examples.

1. Kore wa pen desu. (This is a pen.)

2. Watashi wa dokushin desu. (I am single.)
3. Kanojo wa Kanadajin desu. (She is Canadian.)
4. Kono pasokon wa baka desu. (This computer is stupid.)
5. Buutsu wa neko desu. (Boots is a cat.)

As you can see, the pattern is exactly the same throughout all of the examples. The only
thing that changes is the vocabulary. Once you have mastered several useful words in
Japanese, you can say very rudimentary statements regarding the existence of things.

Another very easy thing about Japanese is how you describe nationalities. In English we
have so many different ways of doing it (American, Canadian, New Zealander, etc.) but in
Japanese all you have to do is add jin to the end of a country and you have a native of that
location.

How To Make A Question: A wa B desu ka?

This is even simpler than the first pattern and it is extremely easy and a great relief for
learners of Japanese to know that once you know the basic sentence structure, all you have
to do is put a ka? at the end of the sentence to make it a question. So to look at the same
examples as above we see:

1. Kore wa pen desu ka? (Is this a pen?)

2. Anata wa dokushin desu ka? (Are you single?)
3. Kanojo wa Kanadajin desu ka? (Is she Canadian?)
4. Sono pasokon wa baka desu ka? (Is that computer stupid?)
5. Kurinton-san wa neko desu ka? (Is Mr. Clinton a cat?)

　　　Very, very simple, don't you think?

How To Make A Negative Statement: A wa B de wa arimasen.

Now that you know how to say A is B it would probably be helpful to know how to say that A
is not B. Again, it is actually very simple. All you have to do is take the A wa B desu, and
replace desu with de wa arimasen (or de wa nai in the more informal situations and ja
arimasen or ja nai in a contracted format) to get the negative. How is that for straight
forward? Couldn't be easier, now could it? Are you remembering all this? Good. I knew you
could.

Usually it is also good to know how to say Yes, and No. I am sure every single person on the
face of this earth already knows, through TV and the movies that Hai means Yes. But did you
know that Iie means No? I bet you didn't. Well now you do. If someone asks you a question,
you can answer by putting Hai or Iie at the front of the sentence.

So here are similar examples in the negative:

1. Kore wa juu de wa arimasen. (This is not a gun.)

2. Iie, watashi wa dokushin ja nai. (No, I'm not single.)
3. Kanojo wa Kanadajin ja arimasen. (She isn't Canadian.)
4. Boku wa baka ja nai yo. (I'm not an idiot!)
5. Iie, Kurinton-san wa neko de wa arimasen. Itachi desu.
(No, Mr. Clinton is not a cat. He is a weasel.)

How To Make An Imperative Statement: A wa B desu yo.

Japanese does not use exclamation points, but there is a structure that shows stress and
imperative in a sentence. Simply adding yo at the end of a statement makes it similar to an
exclamatory sentence. The intonation is usually falling to emphasize the point being made.
Look at number 4 in the examples above to see what I mean. Now on your own, take the
above five sentences and practice saying them in the imperative.
How To Make A Statement Softer or Agreeable: A wa B desu ne.

In Japanese we try to be as unimposing as possible. It is important to try to agree with the

speaker in order to maintain smooth relations and so as not to be offensive. To soften your
speech so it doesn't seem quite so forceful, or to agree with what the speaker has said (not
necessarily what they mean) just add ne to the end of the sentences. It is a little like adding,
isn't it to the end of a sentence in English. Women use this quite frequently at the end of their
sentences because it is demure, sweet, and non-imposing, therefore "feminine". The
intonation is slightly rising. Look at the example below:

1. Goshujin wa dorobo de wa arimasen ne.

(Your husband isn't a thief, is he.)

2. So desu ne. (Yes, that's true, isn't it.)

How To Make Something Equal to Something Else: A mo B desu.

If A is B and A is also C you use the word mo. This means too, or also. Look at the
examples below:

1. Suzuki-san wa sensei desu. Watashi mo sensei desu.

(Mrs. Suzuki is a teacher. I am a teacher, too.)
2. Kyo wa ame desu ne. Ashita mo so.
(It is rainy today, isn't it? Tomorrow, too.)
3. Kore wa ame desu. Sore mo.
(This is candy. That is too.)

　　　Look at how you might answer Yes to the following question:

Suzuki-san mo sensei desu ka. (Is Mrs. Suzuki a teacher, too?)

- Hai, (Suzuki-san mo) sensei desu.
- Hai, (Suzuki-san mo) so desu.

You can omit the subject and mo if you wish. But if you answer No to the same
question you omit mo all together and replace it with wa.

Suzuki-san mo sensei desu ka. (Is Mrs. Suzuki a teacher, too?)

- Iie, Suzuki-san wa sensei de wa arimasen.
- Iie, so de wa arimasen.

How To Point Something (or Someone) Out: Kore wa pen desu.

The words kore, sore, are are used to point out objects (sometimes people) in
different locations in reference to the speakers. Kore is used for items closer to the
speaker than the listener: this. Sore is used for items closer to the listener than the
speaker: that. Are is used for items at a distance from both the speaker and the
listener: that over there.
 If you want to talk about the walking stick in your hand you would say:

Kore wa sutekki desu. (This is a walking stick.)

And when you want to refer to the pistol that someone is holding to your face, you
would say:

Sore wa honto no juu desu ka? (Is that a real gun?)

And when you want to inform your assailant that the policeman over there is pointing
a shotgun at both of you, you would say:

Are wa sandanjuu desu yo! (That is a shotgun!)

How To Make Something Possessive: A wa B no C desu.

By adding the word no between two words it becomes possessive, relational. In the
sentence,

Kore wa Kyan no tsukue desu. (This is Cam's desk.)

you can see what has happened. No allows nouns (people) to act as a possessive
adjective and is similar to the 's in English. If no is found after a noun that is a place,
it denotes the place of origin of the second noun.

Sore wa Furansu no Jamu desu. (That is French Jam)

If the first noun is any other kind of noun, it will be used to describe the makeup of the
second noun.

Nihongo no sensei. (A Japanese teacher)

Are wa Eigo no shimbun, ka na? (I wonder if that is an English newspaper?)

If you add no after watashi, you get my. Anata + no will give you your while kare +
no = his and kanojo + no = her. Watatashitachi no means our.

1. Kore wa watashi no pen desu. (This is my pen.)

2. Anata no okane desu ka? (Is this your money?)
3. Are wa kanojo no kodomo desu. (That is her child.)

You can use no in conjunction with dare (who), doko (where) nan (what) to make
dare no (whose), doko no (from where) ,and nan no (of what) to make even more
complex sentences.

1. Kore wa dare no kuruma desu ka? (Whose car is this?)

- Watashi no. (Mine).
2. Anata wa doko no hito desu ka? (Where are you from?)
- Boku wa Doitsujin desu. (I am German.)
 3. Yamada-san wa nan no sensei desu ka? (What kind of teacher is she?)
- Rika no sensei desu. (She is a Social Studies teacher.)

Here is a brief list of words that you can try putting together in various different combinations
and come up with several different sentences. Feel free to use the vocabulary in the above
examples as well:

watashi /boku I Kanadajin Canadian

anata/kimi you Igirisujin British

kare he mono thing

kanojo she pen pen

watashitachi we enpitsu pencil

sensei teacher kami paper

okusan wife okane money

shujin husband kasa umbrella

tomodachi friend shinbun newspaper

oniisan elder brother jitensha bicycle

oneesan elder sister okanemochi rich

otooto young brother tabemono food

imooto younger sister nomimono drink

itoko cousin biiru beer

inu dog sake sake

neko cat suteeki steak

itachi weasel sushi sushi

atsui hot kyou today

samui cold ashita tomorrow

ii good kino yesterday

Now try to make the following sentences. Practice saying them so that you get a feel for how
Japanese is supposed to sound off the tongue. If you are not sure how to pronounce the
sounds, return to Lesson One for revision. When you are done you can listen to the examples
by clicking on the icons. I recommend practicing before you listen otherwise it is kind of like
looking at your neighbor's test paper for the answers: it doesn't get you anywhere.

1. This is a dog.
 2. This is a cat steak.
3. Mrs. Clinton is not a weasel.
4. You are an idiot!
5. He is not a German teacher.
6. Is your cousin from Italy? (Is your sister Italian?)
- No, she isn't. She's from Australia.
7. Whose sushi is this?
- Not mine!
8. Are you single?
-Yes, I am.
9. This is my beer.
10. It is hot today, isn't it?
- Yes, it is. Tomorrow will be hot, too!
11. This sake is delicious.
- Yes, and the steak is too, isn't it.

If you have finished with these, why don't you try making a few sentences up on your
own for practice? It can't hurt.

This lesson is a little longer than I originally planned so in order to keep the load time down I will be
skipping the culture section.

You may notice that some of my accents are different from others in the same pattern. This is simply
because my Japanese is a mix of Tokyo dialect and Fukui (country) dialect. Each area has different
speech patterns, words, intonation. I am trying the best I can to make the intonation as standard as
possible, but my wife says I sound nothing but country bumpkin!! My retort is, "When in Fukui ..."
Have fun with this lesson. I look forward to hearing your comments.

NOTE: A fellow long-term resident in Japan recently contacted me and told me that I should not use
any reference to the word "anata" (you). It is not used in Japan like the English use of the word.
Rather it is used by women to call their husbands or lovers, or used in a derrogatory sense. In a way,
this is true. People tend to use the names instead of the pronouns when talking to a person. However
I do know some people that use it in regular ways, and there is no bad feeling metameant at all. Also,
I feel that even though it may not be a commonly-used word in the Japanese vocabulary, it is,
nonetheless important to learn the basics. ANATA does exist. Some people DO use it. Some in good
ways, some in not so good ways. The choice is entirely up to you, the student to decide how you wish
to use the word. However, the person who contacted me did have a very valid, understandable and
logical reason for his comment on this topic and I thank him for it.