Sorry, but as I'm still learning myself and I'm not being show all I want to know and don't have the time to dump into making any sort of guide to the language, I'm ending this blog for now.
Perhaps in the future when I have the time and resources I'll write again.
If you want specific help or a chance to practice Japanese, feel free to e-mail me.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Particles
In Japanese, most words have either particles or conjugation that follows them. These added parts give grammar and context to the words. Here are most of the particles:
は - (topic) Usually the focus of the sentence, though sometimes just the most important part.
ex. わたしはバカです。 I am an idiot.
わたしはえんぴつがある。 For me a pencil exists. (I have a pencil.)
が - Subject of the sentence, often replaced by は.
ex. わたしがいる。 I exist.
を - Object of the sentence, replacable by は.
ex. これをよむ。 Read this. (Statement, not a request.)
と - Other subjects of the sentence.
ex. ともだちとあそぶ。 Play with friends.
も - Topic with same situation as previous statement.
ex. わたしはいる。あなたもいる。 I exist. You also exist.
に - Where and when the action takes place.
ex. いえにはしる。 Run (to/at) home.
ごじにたべる。 Eat at six o'clock.
ともだちにはなす。 Talk to friends.
へ - Where the action takes place towards.
ex. いえへいく。 Go (towards) home.
で - How or where an action takes place.
ex.くるまでいく。Go by car.
みせでかう。 Buy at shop.
から - When or where the action begins.
ex. いえからはしる。 Run from home.
まで - When or where the action stops.
ex. ここまではしる。 Run until here.
は - (topic) Usually the focus of the sentence, though sometimes just the most important part.
ex. わたしはバカです。 I am an idiot.
わたしはえんぴつがある。 For me a pencil exists. (I have a pencil.)
が - Subject of the sentence, often replaced by は.
ex. わたしがいる。 I exist.
を - Object of the sentence, replacable by は.
ex. これをよむ。 Read this. (Statement, not a request.)
と - Other subjects of the sentence.
ex. ともだちとあそぶ。 Play with friends.
も - Topic with same situation as previous statement.
ex. わたしはいる。あなたもいる。 I exist. You also exist.
に - Where and when the action takes place.
ex. いえにはしる。 Run (to/at) home.
ごじにたべる。 Eat at six o'clock.
ともだちにはなす。 Talk to friends.
へ - Where the action takes place towards.
ex. いえへいく。 Go (towards) home.
で - How or where an action takes place.
ex.くるまでいく。Go by car.
みせでかう。 Buy at shop.
から - When or where the action begins.
ex. いえからはしる。 Run from home.
まで - When or where the action stops.
ex. ここまではしる。 Run until here.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Kanji Introdction and Names
Officially there are about ten thousand kanji. Elementary students learn a thousand and six. You'll need more to understand written Japanese.
Kanji are simplified drawings of their meanings based on Chinese. They have changed over the years so that now they are only loosely connected. Meaning can be derived from appearance but reading requires furigana or context.
Kanji have two types of readings (pronunciations): the Japanese on reading used in names, simple nouns, adjectives and verbs (usually one kanji and many hiragana) and the Chinese kun reading for complex words (two or more kanji in a row).
I'll start with names. Many of these kanji are also common in everyday speech and usually a name is two kanji (usually four kana).
As stated above, use the kun reading (and many name specific kanji only have kun readings).
Bewear, the Japanese use euphonics in names. Sometimes in a name where a consonant has already appeared, or where it would be a little difficult to pronounce, they add " to the hard-to-pronounce kana. Hence kawa 川 and ta 田 are often pronounced gawa and da.
Most names are written with simple kanji, but there are also very complex kanji used only in names.
Also, remember that Japanese family names come before their given names, but they understand this is opposite as in the West.
Kanji are simplified drawings of their meanings based on Chinese. They have changed over the years so that now they are only loosely connected. Meaning can be derived from appearance but reading requires furigana or context.
Kanji have two types of readings (pronunciations): the Japanese on reading used in names, simple nouns, adjectives and verbs (usually one kanji and many hiragana) and the Chinese kun reading for complex words (two or more kanji in a row).
I'll start with names. Many of these kanji are also common in everyday speech and usually a name is two kanji (usually four kana).
As stated above, use the kun reading (and many name specific kanji only have kun readings).
Bewear, the Japanese use euphonics in names. Sometimes in a name where a consonant has already appeared, or where it would be a little difficult to pronounce, they add " to the hard-to-pronounce kana. Hence kawa 川 and ta 田 are often pronounced gawa and da.
Most names are written with simple kanji, but there are also very complex kanji used only in names.
Also, remember that Japanese family names come before their given names, but they understand this is opposite as in the West.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Katakana
Similar to hiragana, but with a tweaked system, katakana is what the Japanese use for foreign words and pronounciation.
The main uses of katakana are Chinese readings of kanji and adopted foreign words, although I have seen it used for much more and it is essencially interchangeable with hiragana.
Most of what you'll see are English and French loanwords (a trend that is now filling up the language) like ベッド (beddo, bed) and パン (pan, pain, bread). The Japanese have even adapted "thank you" and "bye-bye."
The usage is similar to hiragana but with a few extra tricks:
A dash is used to ellongate sounds rather than extra vowels (though they will use whatever combination works best), this will likely be written in romaji as an accented vowel or omitted.
To make up for the missing "v" sound, they usually use a "b," however, on special occation they use an accented "u," ヴ with a small vowel following it (as they have trouble pronouncing stand alone consonants).
Similarly, they use "fu," フ with a small vowel following it for variations of "f."
For variations of "w" they use an unaccented "u," ウ with a small vowel following it.
They use "chi," チ, "shi," シ and "ji," ジ with a small ェ following for che, she and je.
There are other variations, but they're not very important.
I suggest trying to figure out the word and adding Japanese pronounciation for reading and speaking (you can also guess some Japanese words this way).
The main uses of katakana are Chinese readings of kanji and adopted foreign words, although I have seen it used for much more and it is essencially interchangeable with hiragana.
Most of what you'll see are English and French loanwords (a trend that is now filling up the language) like ベッド (beddo, bed) and パン (pan, pain, bread). The Japanese have even adapted "thank you" and "bye-bye."
The usage is similar to hiragana but with a few extra tricks:
A dash is used to ellongate sounds rather than extra vowels (though they will use whatever combination works best), this will likely be written in romaji as an accented vowel or omitted.
To make up for the missing "v" sound, they usually use a "b," however, on special occation they use an accented "u," ヴ with a small vowel following it (as they have trouble pronouncing stand alone consonants).
Similarly, they use "fu," フ with a small vowel following it for variations of "f."
For variations of "w" they use an unaccented "u," ウ with a small vowel following it.
They use "chi," チ, "shi," シ and "ji," ジ with a small ェ following for che, she and je.
There are other variations, but they're not very important.
I suggest trying to figure out the word and adding Japanese pronounciation for reading and speaking (you can also guess some Japanese words this way).
Monday, December 8, 2008
Romaji
Romaji is the transliteration of Japanese to the Roman alphabet. It's a good tool for translation and pronunciation, but it's not as exact as it seems.
The most common way of Romanizing Japanese is by using English consonants and European vowels. While this is generally easy to use, it can often make it tricky to change it back to Japanese if you're not familiar with it.
Here are a few tips on reading romaji:
While most consonants are the same, the Japanese r is more like a quick l sound, and the f is lighter, more like exhaling or saying phew. (More a general tip for speaking Japanese)
The ん can be written as n or m depending on euphonics, but it's easy to figure out since it's the only vowel free character.
The small っ can be written as a double consonant, a double consonant with a hyphen in the middle or not at all. I suggest using a double consonant.
Combinations using y are written simply by omitting the i of the first syllable.
Ellongated vowel sounds can be written as the vowel, the vowel with an accent, the vowel doubled, or the vowel with the corresponding vowel used in Japanese (example, とう as tou). I suggest using an accent, although writting the corresponding vowel is good practice for your Japanese writting.
Euphonics will mess you up with kanji, that'll just be annoying.
The most common way of Romanizing Japanese is by using English consonants and European vowels. While this is generally easy to use, it can often make it tricky to change it back to Japanese if you're not familiar with it.
Here are a few tips on reading romaji:
While most consonants are the same, the Japanese r is more like a quick l sound, and the f is lighter, more like exhaling or saying phew. (More a general tip for speaking Japanese)
The ん can be written as n or m depending on euphonics, but it's easy to figure out since it's the only vowel free character.
The small っ can be written as a double consonant, a double consonant with a hyphen in the middle or not at all. I suggest using a double consonant.
Combinations using y are written simply by omitting the i of the first syllable.
Ellongated vowel sounds can be written as the vowel, the vowel with an accent, the vowel doubled, or the vowel with the corresponding vowel used in Japanese (example, とう as tou). I suggest using an accent, although writting the corresponding vowel is good practice for your Japanese writting.
Euphonics will mess you up with kanji, that'll just be annoying.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Lession 3: Kana Usage
Alright, now that you're hopefully practicing your kana, I'm going to explain how to use them in combinations.
You've probably noticed that many kana have secondary (or even tritanary) soundings when using " (or °). This may seem confusing, but try sounding out ka and ga, or ha, ba and pa. The movements of your mouth are similar for similar kana. I would suggest learning k?+"=g? rather than adding more kana than I care to count to your chart. This also comes into play later in euphonics.
Another thing to notice is the ?i+y*=?y*. There's not much to explain here, it sounds cool. Again, learn the pattern or add another number of kana to your chart.
Next up are extended vowels. When you see any of these paterns, you extend the vowel sound: extended a=?a+a, extended i=?i+i, extended u=?u+u, extended e=?e+i and extended o=?o+u. Ifyou sound them out a few times, you might hear how this works.
And finally, there's the small tsu. If you see a small tsu, the next consonant is much more っPronounced.
You've probably noticed that many kana have secondary (or even tritanary) soundings when using " (or °). This may seem confusing, but try sounding out ka and ga, or ha, ba and pa. The movements of your mouth are similar for similar kana. I would suggest learning k?+"=g? rather than adding more kana than I care to count to your chart. This also comes into play later in euphonics.
Another thing to notice is the ?i+y*=?y*. There's not much to explain here, it sounds cool. Again, learn the pattern or add another number of kana to your chart.
Next up are extended vowels. When you see any of these paterns, you extend the vowel sound: extended a=?a+a, extended i=?i+i, extended u=?u+u, extended e=?e+i and extended o=?o+u. Ifyou sound them out a few times, you might hear how this works.
And finally, there's the small tsu. If you see a small tsu, the next consonant is much more っPronounced.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Lesson 2: Writting Characters
Once you know how the language sounds (have you tried pronouncing a few phrases?), start learning hiragana (it's the general purpose kana). I did this by drawing out a chart like so (you might need to download a language pack to read this):
あいうえお
かきくけこ
さしすせそ
たちつてと
んなにぬねの
はひふへほ
まみむめも
や ゆ よ
らりるれろ
わ を
A few things to take note of: I place ん in front of the n row to avoid that annoying habit of making another row that doesn't correspond to the rest of the chart, I don't include secondary and tritenary pronounciations (g, z, j, d, b, p), ?y? combinations or the archaic wi (ゐ) and we(ゑ). Most of these will be shown later with usage and euponics.
Once you get this chart right without cheating, start drawing out katakana as well. You could also try flashcards, but remember that recognizing and recalling are two different things.
Here's a chart I made for kana earlier this year, a, i, u, e, o and n are replaced by their kana, but I'm sure it's easy enough to understand.
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