Ko-S-A-Do Words, are what make up pronouns & the w5 (If you never watched Nick News W5 on nickelodeon, W5 are the Who, What, Where, When & Why. How is also in there too.)

For Now, I’m only going to cover 3 endings. There are 5 or so more, but we didn’t cover those in class.

The table below shos the 4 bases (ko, so, a, do) with the 3 endings (ko, no, re). Do is always a question word. こ Ko talks about someone/something you’re holding or are very close to.  そ So describes something that you are close to but it is farther away than こ.  あ A is always talking about something/someone away from you, say across the room, but is also far from the other person you’re talking to. These change depending on the location of the object to the speaker.

Say I have a pen ぺん.   I would say　これは　なですか？ (Korewa nandesuka?)
The answer would be そらは ぺんです。 (Sorawa pen desu.)

The only one that needs a special note is の.  No is always used with a noun as if to say where is THAT book, not just where are the books. When you’re talking about a specific noun vs that noun in general, you’d use no.

Other than that, they’re just used like in the example above.

I’ve used this program for years- It’s called the NJStar Japanese Word Processor. It’s totally free to try… and the best alternative if you can’t get the Global IME for whatever reason.  (You can’t get the IME, it’s not your computer, you run linux, etc) You can download it here: http://www.njstar.com/cms/njstar-japanese-word-processor-download.

When you open it, there’s a bunch of text showing off other font samples. I assume that if you were to purchase the software, it’d go away. It says it’s a 30 day trial, but you can continue to use it once 30 days is up. ( I installed this version 9/30… more than 30 days ago. It still works fine for me!)

So delete the demo text & you’re ready to start!

Make sure that the option for Romaji is selected in the bottom left corner. If it’s not, just keep clicking it until it is. This is the input selection method, and what allows us to type in Japanese with a non-Japanese keyboard!

So lets type “Hello, My name is ____.”
こにちわ、わたしは　＿＿＿です。
Konnichiwa, watashi wa (ha) _____ desu.

As you begin to type Konni… just to the right of the romaji button a box shows what you typed, and the Japanese it has come up with.

Generally, box 1 is hiargana & 2 is katakana, but it changes with what you type. Finish typing Konnichiwa & then click box 1.
It’s as easy as that! You just typed in Japanese!

But lets finish our sentance. Put a space after こんにちわ, and type watashi. when you do the 2 boxes will be back, one with hiragana & one with the kanji for watashi. When you mouse over the boxes it gives you a dictionary of all the uses of the parts of the word. Sometimes it’s overkill & not always what you’re looking for in the definition, even though what you put in is correct. Add は (ha) to the end of watashi. (It’s a subject particle, but we’re not going to get in to grammar in this post. Just take my word for it ^_^)

Now you need to add your name. Unless you are Japanese, you name will almost always be in Katakana.  Mine in Japanese is キャシ.
To switch to Katakana, just click the button in the right bottom corner that says  カナ(kana).

If you don’t know your name in Japanese, this site can help: http://japanesetranslator.co.uk/your-name-in-japanese/ it’s pretty reliable.

When that’s done, click off the kana button & add desu.

You’re finished! You just typed a whole sentence in Japanese!
There’s so many more features of this application (even the trial version!) that I just can’t cover here. Just note the dictionary function is really handy (Tools Menu –> Dictionary).

But that’s it!

がんばって!

I finally got My Japanese Coach a week or so ago, & I absolutely love it! It starts off with a placement quiz, and I just played dumb to just start at the beginning. Others have said that if you’re not good with hiragana, then you’ll just start at lesson 1. I’ve also read that it’s not good at placing advanced speakers. (My thought is that if you’re that good, you won’t need this game. Use it as refresher perhaps…)

You start off with a few vocab lessons, then some kana, and some grammar. In order to unlock the next lesson, you must master each word from the lesson you are currently in by playing games & earning points. If while playing the game,  you get an answer wrong or mess up, you’ll get less points for that word. Makes sense.

Each lesson will give you new words, with a chance to listen to them being said, you can then either write them, of record your own voice to compare to the speakers’.

The 1st section of lessons goes from 1-29 (of 1000 total!) As of this posting, I’m only up to Lesson 21.

1. Basic Words
2. Pronunciation
3. Numbers
4. Colors
5. Days of the Week
6. Kana 1
7. Months
8. Kana 2
9. Pronouns
10. Kana 3
11. Desu
12. Desu Tenses
13. Kana 4
14. Questions
15. Numbers 2
16. Number 3
17. Kana 5
18. Greetings
19. Verbs in Sentences
20. Kana 6
21. Informal Verbs

As you progress through the lessons you “travel” across Japan, and while on the map screen picking you lessons, there’s a paragraph of info on the top. (Lessons 16-20 are at Puroland!)

Also as you progress you unlock new games. The first ones you get are Multiple Choice, a Whack-a-mole game, and a word search.  By lesson 21, I have 5 or 6 games to pick from.

There’s also a reference section with lots of great phrases if you’re goin to travel in Japan.

All in all, it’s a great game for beginners, & It’s supplementing my class nicely. We’re covering different things in class, but the game is really helping with my writing. The Write Cards games make me think. ^_^;

My only beef with it currently is that when playing any of the games that require you to write kana, you can’t erase. Once you make a mistake, you can’t correct it & will have to do a game again to get the points needed to master the word.

Score:
4/5 Kitties

We’ve covered 6 lines of Katakana
a-ka, or sa-ta, na-ha, and now we’re up to the  ma & ya

I was waiting to do this lesson because I had nothing relevant to say about the kana. Luckily, today I found my topic. Well, won it I should say. In class today, we played a round of Katakana bingo.  Last time we played the Winners got 2 little bags of Japanese Candy & everyone else just got a single piece. Today, I won the bingo game & was given a bottle of Ramune, a Japanese soda. (Tastes like THIS, if you’ve tried either.) It’s kind of a pain to open, but there were several of my classmates that knew how it worked. The neat thing about this soda is the bottle. It’s called a codd-neck bottle, and is sealed by a marble & the pressure from the soda, very clever. A quick youtube search will get you TONS of how to “open ramune,” but most of them pronounce it wrong. It’s not  “RAMOON” it’s ra-mu-ne like all good Japanese students know.

When I get more, I”ll make my own “How-to video.” Now I just need to get the marble out…

But on with the Show!

One of the biggest problems I’ve encountered with Katakana is that ア (a), マ (ma) & ヤ (ya) look so similar. Just note the angles of the vertical straight lines, & if & where they cross the top part.

マ   ミ   ム   メ   モ
ma mi mu me mo
ヤ ユ   ヨ
ya yu yo

hiragana my-ya

Some words using these Kana:
ラ ム ネ
ramune

ニューヨーク
Nyuu- Yo-ku
New York

Practice!

がんばって
Ganbatte!

Japan is the home of super cute & crazy, so it should be no big shock that they made a cat head of a train station. Tama had been living in a grocery store near the station where the owner Toshiko Koyama fed her & other stray cats. The store owner was the station master until the train line switched to unmanned stations in April 2006 to cut costs. With no where else to go Tama stayed at the station anyway.

In January 2007, railway officials decided to officially name Tama the station master. As station master her primary duty is to greet passengers. The position comes with a stationmaster’s hat; in lieu of a salary, the railway provides Tama with free cat food. Word got out about the new station master, and tourists now flock to Kinokawa to see Tama in her uniform, thus helping the financial crisis of the Kishigawa Line.
Read more »

This lesson will cover the na & ha lines, but if you need a review of a-ka, or sa-ta, they’re always available.

Something I’ve noticed as my class has been getting into katakana more is that when using foreign words, vowels tend to be stretched.

The word Hamburger in Katakana is
ハ ン バー ガー
ha n baa gaa
My initial thought was to put ア (a) in there (like ハンバアガア), but that is incorrect even though it’d be pronounced very similarly if not the same way.
Coffee is the same way:
コーヒー
ko- hi-
I keep feeling like I should put the extra letter in there, but it’s not necessary. The ー covers it nicely. It doesn’t appear to be as common in Hiragana, at least from what I’ve seen. It does happen though.

On with the show!

ナ ニ ヌ ネ ノ
na ni nu ne no

ハ ヒ フ ヘ ホ
ha hi fu* he ho

These are all said the same as in Hiragana.

**Don’t forget that fu is still irregular.

When I was cramming for my quiz, I had a good thought on how to remember

ホ.  When ho is drawn, you draw the part that looks like a cross 1st. I thought to myself that a cross gives HOpe to alot of people.

But that’s it for now! Practice hard! http://www.realkana.com/katakana/

がんばって ください - Please try your best!

The 招き猫 ( まねきねこ [Maneki Neko]- Beckoning cat) is a prominent part of Japanese culture. Seen in many stores & restaurants, these cats are meant to beckon customers in & bring the owners luck.  To foreigners, it looks like the cats are waving, but in Japan, the motion to call someone over looks much like a wave (to me at least, lol.) They’re also called Lucky Cats, and will bring different kinds of luck depending on which paw is raised. Generally the left paw is to bring in customers, while the right paw usually means wealth & general good luck. Nearly all Maneki Neko are holding a koban- a coin from the Edo period in Japan which also signifies wealth & prosperity.

The Lucky Cats are depicted as a Japanese Bobtail, and are usually white with spots.  The pokemon Meowth is said to be modeled after a Maneki Neko.
Many times, the figurines are made of plastic, ceramic or porcelain, but it doesn’t really make a difference. Most Maneki Neko are seen wearing a collar and/or a bib. The wiki article says that

“The bib might also be related to the bibs often decorating statues of the divinity Jizō Bosatsu. Protective statues of Jizō can be found guarding the entrances to Japanese shrines and graveyards. Jizō is the protector of sick and dying children and grateful parents of children recovered from illness will place a bib around Jizō as a gift of thankfulness.”

I bought my lucky Cat from a little gift shop when I was in California. /shrug
Poor little fella doesn’t have a bib, but he was only a dollar or two when I got him. Hooray for discount luck!

Read more »

In my ever-ongoing search for a solid hiragana chart, I came across these gems, floating around the internet. I’m not sure where I first saw them, but I tracked the original creators to deviant art- na-insoo & starshock12. They’ve done a fantastic job with these posters (which you can order through deviant art.)

So what makes these posters so great? It’s the fact that each kana (one poster for hiragana & one for katakana) features an anime or video game character that use it in their name.

Apparently the artists got some flak for mixing the English & Japanese names, but I think it’s a great thing.
You can check out the posters here: Hiragana  |  Katakana

With the A & ka lines under our belts, we can move onto the Sa & Ta lines.
Same as before,these are pronounces just like the hiragana. (The hiranaga sa & ta line post is here.)

サ   シ   ス   セ   ソ
sa shi* su se so
タ   チ    ツ    テ  ト
ta chi* tsu* te to

Some words using these kana:
シール
shiiru- sticker/seal

テスト
tesuto- test

Practice! http://www.realkana.com/

かたかな is the 2nd Japanese syllabary we’ll cover. It is setup & sounds JUST LIKE Hiragana, but it used to write foreign & “borrowed” words & names of non-Japanese people. Words like  テレビ (terebi - television) &  ニコラス (nikorasu - Nicholas) will always be written in Katakana.
(かたかな (katakana) itself is written in hiragana since it is a Japanese word :P)

Don’t forget that these are pronounced just like the A & Ka lines in hiragana.

ア イ ウ エ オ
a  i  u  e  o
カ  キ  ク  ケ コ
ka ki ku ke ko

Some Words using these kana:
アルファベット - Alphabet
arufabetto

コアラ - Koala
Koara

Don’t forget to practice!  http://www.realkana.com/