Lesson 1-1:

pronouncation♥

I take spanish and a lot of these vowels sound like spanish words, so if you know that language you should have no problem. I'll start off simple so you can get the hang of it. After when you're done, you can practice your pronunciation by typing your name in the translater at the bottom of this lesson. I'll try my best to have an activity after each lesson to make you practice!--Sayami

Vowel English Sound Example

A sounds like "ah" as in father Ayame [from: Inuyasha]
([AH]-Y[AH]-MAY)

I sounds like "ee" as in eat Usagi [from: Sailor Moon]
(OO-SAHG-[EE])

U sounds like "oo" as in soon Jakotsu [from: Inuyasha]
(JAHK-OHT-S[OO])

E sounds like "A" as in may Kagome [from: Inuyasha]
(KAH-GOH-M[A]Y)

O sounds like "O" as in open Ryoko [from: Tenchi Muyo]
(REE-OH-K[O])

For Fun

translate your name!♥

Lesson 1-2

suffixes♥

You may have read a lot of Mangas or fanfiction stories when you see a character's name end with a suffix. Example Sesshoumaru-sama and Rin-chan. Like in spanish when you talk to an adult or a person of authority, you use "Usted/Ustedes". It's the same with Japanese. The endings show a form or respect to people you're just meeting or been friends with for a while, kind of like social ranking.

Here are the most used suffixes:

Suffix Meaning

-chan Used when you indicate affection, but mostly used with children.

-kun This term is used when you're talking to your male friends or a person you just met.

-ko This is permanant term used when you talk to someone you have a romantic relationship with.

-sama Used to dignify someone with high honor, as in Inuyasha, you'd respond any Lord with the ending "-sama"

-san Used when speaking to someone older than yourself that are aquintances, mostly used with adults.

Lesson 1-3

basic syllables♥

NEW! These are the basic sounds that are used to form Japanese words. O the left are the vowels and the corresponding row are the sounds that go w/ that vowel. There is no sound in Japanese equivalant to the 'l', 'r' or 'v' in English, and the only consonant that can be written alone is 'n'. A Japanese syllable can be written alone, as a combination consonant + vowel, or consonant + guide + vowel. Below the vowels are double consonants, and they can be used in two ways. One which is used to double consonants other than n and m, and another -n which is used to double the consonants n and m.

a ka ga sa za ta da na ha pa ba ma ya ra wa n

i ki gi shi ji chi ni hi pi bi mi ri

u ku gu su zu tsu nu fu pu bu mu yu ru

e ke ge se ze te de ne he pe be me re

o ko go so zo to do no ho po bo mo yo ro

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

Lesson 2-1

making sentences♥

In Japanese, the structure of the sentences are different than in English. instead of the verb being in the beginnig of the sentence, the verb is at the end. The subject is in the beginning, instead of the end. For example, when Inuyasha says "Kaze no kizu" it roughly means "Cutting wind", but we all know "kaze" means "wind" and "kizu" means "to cut." In this case the subject is kaze and the verb is kizu , see what I mean?

Lesson 2-2

singular and plural♥

You know when you speak in English you have to add a -s or -es to a word if you're speaking of two or more people? Well, Japanese is much easier. There's nothing to add! You just leave the word as it is. For example, tomodachi is a way of saying "friend." In English you would say friends, but in Japanese you say friend and the way the sentence is structured is how you know how many people you're talking about.

Lesson 3-1

Learning Your Numbers and Colours!♥

Like any language you're going to learn, you have to start from the bottom, so lets pretend we're kindergardeners learning the basics. The good old days...

Colours

English Japanese

red aka

yellow kiiro

blue ao

green midori

orange daidaiiro

purple murasaki

black kuro (or kuroi)

grey haiiro

brown chairo

pink momoiro

white shiro

Numbers

English Japanese Japanese (traditional)

one ichi hitotsu

two ni futatsu

three san mittsu

four shi or yon yottsu

five go itsutsu

six roku muttsu

seven shichi or nana nanatsu

eight hachi yattsu

nine ku or kyu kokonotsu

ten jyu toh

one hundred hyaku momo

one thousand sen chi

Lesson 3-2

periods in time♥

Time

English Japanese

one o'clock ichiji

two o'clock niji

three o'clock sanji

four o'clock yoji

five o'clock goji

six o'clock rokuji

seven o'clock shichiji

eight o'clock hachiji

nine o'clock kuji

ten o'clock juji

eleven o' clock juichiji

twelve o'clock juniji

second byo

minute fun

hour ji

Days of the Week

English Japanese

Monday getsuyo-bi

Tuesday kayo-bi

Wednesday suiyo-bi

Thursday mokuyo-bi

Friday kinyo-bi

Saturday doyo-bi

Sunday nichiyo-bi

Months

English Japanese Japanese (ancient) Meaning

January itigatu mutuki The month of friendship

February nigatu kisaragi The month of the rebirth of plants

March sangatu yayoi The month of growing plants

April sigatu uzuki The month of the rabbit

May gogatu satuki The month of rice sprouts

June rokugatu minazuki The month of water

July itigatu sitigatu The month of letters

August itigatu hatigatu The month of leaves

September itigatu kugatu The month of long nights

October zy�gatu kannazuki The month of gods

November zy�itigatu simotuki The month of frost

December zy�nigatu siwasu The month of busy people

Lesson 4-1

basic grammer♥

Alright people, unlike other websites, I'm not listing a few words and saying that you're learning Japanese. Oh no, this is the real deal, and this is where it starts to get harder.

Topics

When you're speaking to a friend, it's normal to ask things like "What movie did you see over the weekend?" Every language has a topic and a focus, and in this case what is the focus because you want to know what exactly your friend saw over the weekend. The topic is over the weekend because you already know it happened over the weekend, it's nothing new. Do you get it? Heh, sorry if this is confusing, I don't explain things well. So, you know how in English you have who, what, where, when, why, and how? Well, there's something similar to it in Japanese. They are what we like to call 'postpositions.' The subject is always followed by the postposition "wa," unless it's a focus. Like we learned, topics and focuses are two different things.

Let's see how I should explain it to you... ok got it!

Like English, each postposition are used for something different, each has a different meaning:

-Topic- Case Of Subject-- wa
Direct Object-- wa
Indirect Object-- niwa
Location-- dewa
Describing Direction Away From Something-- karawa

-Non-Topic- Case Of Subject-- ga
Direct Object-- o
Indirect Object-- ni
Location-- de
Describing Direction Away From Something-- kara

If you asked a friend "Who drew that?" who is the focus, making the postposition a "non-topic" postposition. Example

Gaka wa e o kaita.

Gaka is the artist, which is the subject! and what do we put after a subject? A postposition! So, wa would be the postposition! e (Don't have a picture of the Kanji) means picture. o is the direct object and kaita means drew. So, the sentence basically says Artist picture drew, which in English is, The artist drew the picture. Like I said earlier, the verb comes after the subject.

Verbs

Here you'll learn your basic, everyday verbs! In Japanese, there's two groups of verbs, the Godan and Ichidan verbs. Godan verbs are consanant verbs and Ichidan verbs are vowel verbs. All verbs end with -u, but the Ichidan verbs end with -eru or -iru. -u is used for either for present or future tense. But don't be fooled, not all Godan verbs end with -u and via with Ichidan verbs.

-Godan Verbs-

English Verb Japanese Verb

to read yumu

to die sinu

to speak hanasu

to listen to kiku

to chat syaberu

to enter hairu

-Ichidan Verbs-

English Verb Japanese Verb

to sleep neru

to chat syaberu

As you know, Japanese people are very formal and you have to show respect to others, so that's why we also have a suffix you add. It's known as -masu. All you do is add it at the verb at the end of the sentence. If the stem of the verb (a verb without its -u, -iru, or -eru ending) ends with a consonant, it changes to -imasu instead. I will go more in depth later, but I just wanted to give you an overview. =)

Ouick Tip!

In Japan, you have to show respect to people you aren't familiar with, that's why we have so many suffixes that go at the end of words, it shows your status in a relationship with someone. You can talk in a plain, normal fashion when you speak to close friends and family.

Lesson 4-2

adjectives♥

Okay, so you know in English how most adj. end in -ly? Well, in Japanese it ends in -i! To make the adjective past tense, you add -katta instend. For example:

Present Adjective In English Past Adjective In English

atui is hot atukatta was hot

uresii is glad uresikatta was glad

Again, like the verbs, we add a suffix to make it "polite." For adjectives, the suffix is -desu. For Example:

Susi wa oisiidesu.

Susi(Sushi) is the noun, wa is the direct object, and oisiidesu is a polite way of saying "is tasty." So this sentence is saying "sushi is tasty," but politely because it has that -desu suffix. ;)

JUMP!back to start?

JUMP! BACK FORWARD

The Higurashi Shrine is copyright to Kamiana, Sayami and The Colourwalk Network. The layout & the content can't be stolen because it's her own property :] Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahasi; Love Hina © Ken Akamatsu; FLCL © Gainax.

Which Anime On "THS" Is Your Favourite?
	Inuyasha
	Love Hina
	FLCL
	Neon Gensis Evangelion
	Elfen Lied