maandag 17 december 2012

Let's learn Japanese! ~ Lesson 5: Conversation (1)



In the previous lessons two lessons, I explained some basic grammar and gave you a bunch of words to learn. In this lesson we're just going to do some reading/ conversation practice. I'll be giving you a few short conversations using the grammar you learned in the previous lessons. If I use any phrases, words or kanji you haven't learned yet, they'll be explained after the conversation.
It's not necessary, but try and read the conversations out loud, to practice your talking skills.

Meeting someone for the first time


マリア:          こんにちは。                                             Good afternoon.            
田中:              こんにちは。                                             Good afternoon.
                          しつれいですが、誰ですか?                  Excuse me, but who are you?
マリア:          初めまして、マリアです。                      How do you do?  I'm Maria.
                          オランダから来ました。                          I came from the Netherlands.
                          どうぞよろしくお願いします。              Pleased to meet you.                     
田中:               私は田中です。                                         I'm Tanaka.
                           どうぞよろしく。                                     Please to meet you too.

Explanation of sentences:


「こんにちは」 means " Good afternoon".「おはよう(ございます )is " Good morning"  and 「こんばんは」 is "good evening". Not much to explain about this. (All of them could be translated as "hello" or "hi" as well, but you still need to pay attention to the time of the day to decide which one you use.)

「しつれいですが is one of the many ways to say "Excuse me, but...". Other ways to say this will be introduced later. It's not needed to remember them all at once.
                              
There's not really one set translation for初めまして」 (はじめまして). Literally it means:  "I'm meeting you for the first time", but could be regarded as a combination of "How do you do?", "It's nice to meet you." and "Hello". Usually used as the opening phrase of an introduction.

「~から来ました」 means "I came from". It's used to tell people from what country or place you came.

「どうぞよろしく(お願いします) (おねがいします)」is usually used at the end of a self-introduction. Literally it means "please be nice to me", but usually translates to something along the lines of "Pleased to meet you".

Telling more about yourself (and other people)


田中:             マリアさん、何歳ですか?                             Ms. Maria, how old are you?
マリア:          私は22歳です。                                            I'm 22 years old.
田中:              学生ですか?                                                    Are you a student?
マリア:          はい、私は 学生です。                                Yes, I'm a student?
田中:              どちらの学校の 学生ですか。                     What school are you a student of?
マリア:          ライデン大学の 学生です。                         I'm a student of Leiden University.
田中:              先生は誰 ですか?                                         Who's your teacher.
マリア:          ロビンさんは 私の先生です。                     Mr. Robin is my teacher.
田中:              ロビンさんも オランダ人ですか。              Is Mr. Robin also Dutch?
マリア:          いいえ、ロビン先生は アメリカ人です。  No, Prof. Robin is American.

Explanation of sentences:


  「どちら」This will be explained in the next lesson.

「学校 (がっこう)」 translated to "school", "college", "university" or any other kind of teaching institution.

「ライデン大学 (だいがく)」or Leiden University, it's an actual university in the Netherlands. I graduated from Leiden University in September 2012.

大学 (だいがく)」translates to "university" or "college".

「~先生」can be used as an suffix after the name of someone who teaches you. (Not just school teachers, but also sports teacher, etc.) This suffix is also use for medical doctors.  For example:「中村先生 (なかむらせんせい)」would be "Dr. Nakamura".

Going to meet your neighbors for the first time

*Maria rings bell of neighbors. Neighbor Yamada opens the door.*
マリア:          こんにちは。                                                    Good afternoon.
山田:               はい。どなたですか。                                    Yes. Who are you?
マリア:          409のマリアです。                                           I'm Maria from apartment no. 409.
                          これからお世話になります。                         How do you do?
                           どうぞよろしくお願いします。                    It's nice to meet you.
山田:               こちらこそよろしく。                                    The pleasure's mine.
マリア:           あのう、これ、ほんの気持ちです。             Er, this is a little something.
山田:               どうも。何ですか。                                         Thanks. What is it?
マリア:           チョコレートです。どうぞ。                         It's chocolate. Please.
山田:               どうもありがとうございます。                     Thank you very much.

Explanation of sentences:


「これからお世話になります(これからおせわになります)」 literally translates to "I'll be taken care of by you from now on", but should be interpreted as "I hope for you kind assistance hereafter." As this is quite long, actual translation may resort to other things. You use it for example when you start a job, a class or some other social kind of activity and anticipate that the other person will be taking care of you. It's actually quite hard to explain this sentence at this point, but I'm sure you'll come to understand it better as we continue grammar lessons.

「こちらこそよろしく」also means "please to meet you", but is use as a response to (どうぞ) よろしく.

「あのう」 is used to show hesitation.

「ほんの気持ちです (ほんのきもちです)」translated to "It's nothing" or "It's a token of my gratitude". It's used when you give someone a little present.

「(どうも)ありがとう(ございます)」means "thank you". It can be shortened to either   「どうも」、「どうもありがとう」 、「 ありがとう」 or 「ありがとうございます」.  「どうもございます」 doesn't exist.

「どうぞ。」means "please" or "here you are", it's used when you offer something to someone.

Just some useless talk

ロビン:          それは何ですか。                                  What is this?
マリア:          これは冊子です。                                  It's a magazine
ロビン:          その冊子は何の冊子ですか。              What is this magazine about?
マリア:          猫の冊子です。                                      It's a magazine about cats.
ロビン:          誰の冊子ですか。                                  Who's magazine is it?
マリア:          私のです。                                               It's mine.
美加:               いいえ、違います。                              No, it's not.
(みか)          これは私の冊子です。                           This is my magazine.
                          あの冊子はマリアのです。                   That magazine over there is yours.
マリア:          そうですか、すみません。                   I see, I'm sorry.
ロビン:          猫の冊子は人気ですね。                       Magazines about cats are popular it seems.

Explanation of sentences:


「猫 (ねこ)」means "cat". 

「違います (ちがいます)」means "It's not."  or " you are wrong". 

「そうですか」is used when the speaker receives new information and shows that her or she understands it. Possible translations are "I see" or "Is that so?". 

「すみません」is one of the many way to apologize. It translates to "excuse me", "I'm sorry" or anything alike. 

「人気 (にんき)」means " popular".

Some other sentences I couldn't fit in the conversations, but are important enough to mention.


「お元気ですか?」literally means "are you healthy?", but can be interpreted as "How are you doing?".

「お名前は(なんですか)?」, 「名前」  translates to " name". Thus this sentences translated to " what is your name"  the "what is"  part 「なんですか」 can be omitted.

Homework

We didn't study any new grammar, but there's a whole lot of new standard phrases explained in this lessons. Also, there are a few new words. By sure to learn those!

Next time we'll start with some new grammar!

zondag 9 december 2012

Let's Learn Japanese ~ Lesson 4: Grammar (2)



Alright, it's been a while, but here's another lesson. We'll continue were we left off last time! I hope you studied  well!

N

is added after a topic instead of when the statement about the topic is the same as the previous topic.
Some examples:

マリア は 学生 です。
私 も 学生 です。
Maria is a student.
I am a student too.

田中さん は 学生 じゃありません。
ロビンさん も 学生 じゃありません。
Mr. Tanaka isn't a student.
Mr. Robin isn't a student either.

N1 N2 (1)

is used to connect two nouns. N1 modifies N2.

(1) N1 is an organization N2 belongs to.

田中さん Xの会社員 です。
Mr.Tanaka is a X employee.

これ・それ・あれ

これ、それ and あれ are demonstratives, they work as nouns. これ refers to something near the speaker. それ refers to something near the listener. あれ refers to something that's far away from both the speaker and the listener.

Some examples.
これは本です。
This is a book

それは時計です。
That is a clock.

このN・そのN・あのN

この、その  andあのare use in combination with nouns, to modify those. この、そのand あの on their own aren't nouns. このN refers to something close to the listener. そのN refers to something close to the listener. あのN refers to something far from both the speaker and the listener.

そのかばん は ロビンさんの です。
That bag is Mr.Robin's.

あの人 は 誰 ですか。
Who is that person?

N1 N2 (2)


(2) N1 explains what N2 is about.

これは コンピューター の ほん です。
This is a book about computers.

(3) N1 explains who owns N2.

それは マリア の かさ です。
That is Maria's umbrella.

Sometimes it's possible to omit N2, because it's obvious. You can never omit N2 when it's a person though.

あれは 誰 の かさ ですか?
...マリアのです。
Whose umbrella is that?
... It's Maria's.

Homework

Okay, let's leave the grammar with that for now and give some homework again. Of course, be sure to study the grammar well! And I also have some vocabulary I'd like you to learn. Again, there's no need to learn how to write the kanji, but try to recognize them and now their reading and meaning. If you want to practice a bit more, try to translate the sentences.

Vocabulary

これ                                                                    this (thing here)
それ                                                                    that (thing near you)
あれ                                                                    that (thing over there)

この~                                                                              this~ (here)
その~                                                                              that~ (near you)
あの~                                                                              that~ (over there)

ほん                                                                            book
じしょ                                               辞書                     dictionary
ざっし                                               雑誌                     magazine
しんぶん                                           新聞                     newspaper
ノート                                                                            notebook
めいし                                               名刺                     business card
カード                                                                              card

えんぴつ                                            鉛筆                     pencil
シャープペンシル                                                          mechanical pencil

かぎ                                                                             key
とけい                                               時計                      clock
かさ                                                                             umbrella
かばん                                                                             bag
               
テレビ                                                                              TV
ラジオ                                                                              Radio
カメラ                                                                              Camera
コンピューター                                                              Computer
パソコン                                                                          PC
じどうしゃ                                       自動車                   Car
くるま                                                                         Car

つくえ                                                                         Desk
いす                                                   椅子                     Chair

チョコレート                                                              Chocolate
コーヒー                                                                      Coffee

えいご                                               英語                     English
にほん                                          日本語                  Japanese
~語                                                                              ~language

なん、なに                                                                what

Sentences
English to Japanese
1) I am a student. Maria is a student too.
2) That (near you) is my notebook.
3)This is Tanaka's coffee.
4) Whose desk is that (over there)?
5)That magazine about computers is Robin's.

Japanese to English
1) それはロビンのじゃありません。それも田中のじゃありません。
2)これはマリアの傘です。
3)この傘はマリアのです。
4)それはラジオの雑誌です。
5)あのかぎは車のです。