Chapter One: Dialog

The Meeting

Click on any part of the kaiwa (dialog) to get an instant translation

Chapter One: Vocabulary

Run through these a few times until you can recognize them in the dialog

こんにちは konnichi wa - Hello, Good afternoon [Used in the afternoon until the evening: You may have noticed the 'WA' is actually a hiragana 'HA' this is because it is used as a particle and an ancient Japanese wise man made it that way!]
だいじょうぶ daijoubu - OK, Alright [This is a VERY useful word in real Japanese]
です desu - (copula) to be, am, are, is [You'll see this one a lot!]
か ka - the question marker, ? [Makes a sentence a question - easy! MORE...]
え？ e - Huh? What? [Frank is a little suprised and unsure what the Obaasan said, so e comes out]
ええと。。。 eeto - Well, Let me see... [This is a filler; filling in the space while thinking of what to say]
はい hai - Yes [iie means 'no']
わたしは watashi wa - I [only watashi means 'I' the 'wa' (which is actually a hiragana 'ha') is a particle that marks the main topic -- we will talk on this more later :) ]
おばあさん obaasan - Grandmother, old woman [obaasan is often used when talking of or to old women. ojiisan is the male equalivant (NOTE: obasan (shorter without the extra 'a') means aunt (not old woman) be careful!)]
あなたは？ anata wa - You? [Again only anata means 'you' the wa is the topic particle again.]
フランク　 furanku - Frank [Foreign names are always written in Katakana]
さん san - Mr. Mrs. Ms. [This tag is placed after names but never used when speaking of oneself. Remember Daniel-san from karate kid.]
はじめまして hajimemashite - Nice to meet you [This is an idiom from the verb meaning 'to start']

Chapter One: Explanation

• こんにちは konnichi wa - (Good afternoon) Here we have our first greeting. It is used from the afternoon until evening. It really means 'this day' but is used idiomatically as a greeting. As mentioned before, the wa is a hiragana ha but is pronounced as wa when used as a particle (see below for more on wa)
• です desu - (copula, to be) When you want to say, "A = (or relates to) B" desu is used. For example, I am Clay. watashi wa kurei desu. That is a TV. kore wa terebi desu. More on this later!
• か ka - In most cases simply putting a ka at the end of a regular sentence turns it into a question. Consider this example: anata wa nihonjin desu. (You are Japanese.) - add ka - anata wa nihonjin desu ka? (Are you Japanese?) Presto! Instant questions! MORE ON THIS...
• ええと・・・ eeto - (let me see..., hmmm) eeto is used quite frequently by Japanese speakers. It is uttered to buy time while thinking of just what to say. Just like "uhmmm" it can be extend eeeeto
• は wa - Particles in Japanese are placed after the word it modifies. This one makes the word it modifies the 'over all topic.' I know this sounds confusing at first and it is still confusing at second too. But don't despair there is more to confuse you later... This is pronounced as wa even though it uses the hiragana ha
• 「WORDS」 - These are Japanese quotation marks (" ") used to mark what is said. During the Edo Period Japanese had no punctuation. 「」,。,、,,, were not used
• あなたは？ anata wa - Literally this means, "You" and sets "you" as the main topic [see above] Often in Japanese things are left out when the listener can understand what is meant. What the Obaasan means here is, "And you, what is your name?" But simply saying , "you?" is sufficient and more natural.
• さん san - As mentioned before this is not used when refering to oneself. Other titles for people include kun (usually with boys) chan (usually with girls) sama (usually with customers and kings)

Chapter One: Quiz

uizQuiz PRESS OK TO BEGIN!