#japanese for beginners

[nordic-language-love]

IRL Japanese 2: Things the kids I teach say all the time

If you're planning to work as an ESL teacher in Japan working with kids, this vocab is gonna be super useful for you! You'll pick up a lot as you go along, but it's good to have an overview from the start.

できた = done, finished (whenever they finish an exercise I've set them. The older kids will use the ます-form, but kids under like age 8 will use this one)

かえる？= is it time to go home? (lit: go home?)

わかった = got it (again, the older kids will use the ます-form)

わからない / わかんない = I don't get it (idk if わかんない is just dialect or if it's common overall, but I hear it more than わからない. Usually from the kids who don't wanna be there and are making zero effort)

ちがう = wrong / different (when they give an answer but realise it's not correct. It's basically like "wait, no")

ばか = idiot (sometimes boys say this to their friends)

全部？（ぜんぶ）= everything?! (asked in disbelief when I ask them to write more than one word)

やめろ = stop it! (used with friends when they're teasing each other)

いたいよ = that actually hurts, you know! (used with friends when they're rough-housing)

よし (more like 'yoshhh') = right then (filler word indicating the start of an activity or a change of activity)

水筒（すいとう）= water bottle (most kids bring one to class and frequently forget to take them with them when they go home)

忘れた（わすれた）= I forgot (usually in reference to the text book they left at home)

トイレに行きたい = I want to go to the bathroom

先生、大好き！（せんせい、だいすき！）= I love you, Sensei!

Other useful classroom/school vocabulary:

サイコロ = dice

トランプ = playing cards

ごろごろ = onomatopeia for the sound for rolling (I found the kids got confused if I just mimed rolling a dice/ball and said "roll!" but if I did the gesture and said "gorogoro", they understood)

ビリビリ = onomatopeia for ripping (useful for when you have tear-apart crafts in class)

ケシケシ = onomatopeia for erasing something (useful when you try to explain to a kid they spelled something wrong. Because it's easier to just say "A kesh-kesh, E" than "Not A, E. Okay great you wrote E, but A needs to go. No no no not the whole word, just A. Oh my God. Okay. Let me write it and you copy.")

ちょっと = a little, soon, wait a little (useful if the kids are getting a bit antsy and ready to go home a bit too early/don't want to wait their turn. Don't use it with parents though!)

がんばれ = do your best / you can do it!

あぶない！= dangerous / look out! (useful if a kid unexpectedly runs in front of me while I'm carrying a table)

せえの！= Altogether now! (When I need the kids to repeat something after me)

だめだよ = Don't do that (for when the kids repeatedly do something I've asked them not to do)

少々お待ちください（しょうしょう　おまち　ください）= polite form of "please wait a moment". Useful if you have a parent talking to you and you need to go get something (e.g. a communication sheet for them to point at so you know what they're trying to say)

授業参観 (じゅぎょうさんかん) = parent observation (PO). A couple of times a year, parents are invited into the classroom to watch the lesson (absolutely not a thing in the UK, not sure about other countries). The past two months I've had POs at my various schools, and so the parents come to the door and ask me if it's PO week. I don't understand most of the question, but I can pick out this one word and a question particle and figure out what they're asking.

It's also obviously a good idea to learn vocabulary related to stationery (eraser, pencil, crayon, pen, notebook, textbook, pencil case etc) because kids forget/lose their stuff all the time and will inevitably ask you if they can borrow something.

[mochimochi-learn-japanese]

Learning Japanese guideline for beginners

Are you ready to dive into the wonderful world of Japanese? Awesome! Buckle up, because we're about to embark on an exciting journey together.

On this website, we will show you how to learn Japanese from zero!

[peistudies]

にくい - Difficult to, Hard to

Verb in noun form［ます］+ にくい Polite: Verb in noun form［ます］+ にくい + です

Like 易い (やすい), にくい is an い-Adjective that is regularly attached to the ます stem of verbs, communicating the difficulty of performing the verb that precedes it. In other words, the verb, aka whatever is difficult to do, will always come before にくい.

The nuance of にくい is that a task is difficult to do because of the required skill level or similar factors.

私には英語の「Literally」という単語がとても言いにくい。For me, the English word ‘literally’ is very hard to say. (Hard due to the individual's skill level)

アフリカには行きにくいです。It is hard to go to Africa.

This is different from づらい, which focuses more on a task that is difficult due to being unbearable/hard to endure for some other reason (such as emotional). For example:

お前には本当に言いづらいけど、お前のギターを壊した。ごめん。This is very difficult for me to say to you, but I broke your guitar. I'm sorry. (Hard because the speaker knows that telling the listener will cause a negative response)

[milesofstars]

im finally getting out of my art slump so my style is getting a lil better/ more natural again

some doodles based on my gameplay of drv3 from last night,, im at the start of chapter 2 still (i already know all the trial outcomes but its fun anyways cuz i never watched/played it fully)

if you couldnt tell i am spending all my free time events with kokichi.. hes silly please.. i gave him a hammock and he was flabberghasted

[mimikyuno]

Nothing about how I feel about you has changed.

i wasn't gonna post this part of the chapter bc it was too long but. i truly cannot stop thinking about it. im unwell.

dabbled in translating and it was fun!! this was translated and edited by me and pls do not repost this, at least until the event is over!! thank you!

[redstonedust]

if u watch any pov of this wild life session i reccomend martyns for the editing. the little. advertisement breaks and character cards like we're watching an anime are killing me. he (and cheri) understood the assignment completely.

[dokushoclub]

Japanese Reading Resources for Absolute Beginners

A question I encounter often is "How much Japanese should I study before I can begin reading in Japanese?"

From my experience as a learner and reader myself and from managing a Japanese book club for other learners I can honestly say that you can start way earlier than you probably think!

There are many resources that only require knowing hiragana. Those texts usually teach vocabulary through pictures and only use basic grammar.

Some are even simpler than that: The Japan Foundation's Hiragana Books are great for those, who are still remembering hiragana characters. Every short book introduces only 1-2 new characters, so it's a great reading exercise for those who've just started.

The free graded reader 「どうぞ、どうも」 by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku only uses the words 「どうぞ」 and 「どうも」 to write an entire story. Again, this makes for a great exercise in reading hiragana and understanding context. Another "level 0" recommendation by the same NPO would definitely be 「しろい？くろい？」. This book uses the full range of hiragana characters but the grammar is simple and all used vocabulary is illustrated.

Another site with great resources for absolute beginners is Nihongo Tadoku Dōjō. If you have memorized both hiragana and katakana and know how the particles を and で work you will be able to read this text about stationary (ぶんぼうぐ) and understand everything by looking at the pictures!

The resources linked so far can all be accessed completely free on the linked websites. If you have the money to spare, please also have a look at the box 「スタート」 from the series reberubetsu nihongo tadoku raiburarī published by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku and ASK (affiliate link). This box includes 8 little books in very simple Japanese.

All these texts for absolute beginners will get you started reading in Japanese with very little knowledge of characters and vocabulary.

Reading in Japanese is a skill that requires practice. But once you get used to it, it can be such a valuable tool to reinforce new vocabulary and grammar. So please don't wait until you're "ready" before you start reading - start early at your own level!

[mochayoubi]

a fellow japanese learning friend told me there's 2 major "weed-out" learning curves to japanese, and that's 1) learning hiragana and katakana and the 2) learning kanji.

but I propose that there's a 3rd difficult learning curve and that's when you're in what I've called The Intermediate Soup where you don't have any specific thing to work on anymore but you know that you aren't There Yet

[bitter-bats-cult-of-the-moon]

Energy Explained in Other Systems

There is a lack of measurable evidence because any person that has worked with energies have had different experiences but were able to understand and manipulate energies according to their own will.

Energy has been used in many ways within culture and religion and have set beliefs depending on the system being practiced.

Next, are some given definitions defining energies within diverse philosophies.

Hindu = Prana

Chinese = Qi /Chi

Japanese =Ki

Greek = Pneuma

Hawaiian = Mana

Tibetan Buddhism = Lung

Hindu Philosophy

A Sanskrit word for "life force" or "vital principle" is often referred to as Prana. It is described as first coming down from the Sun and connecting all elements of the Universe. It has been invoked within the Hindu scriptures of the Vedas and Upanishads.

Prana is the belief of vitality surrounding all living beings. This energy is responsible for all bodily functions. There are five types of pranas, collectively known as the five vāyus.

1. Prāṇa:              Beating of the heart and breathing. Prana enters the body through the breath and is sent to every cell through the circulatory system.

2. Apāna:             Elimination of waste products from the body through the lungs and excretory systems.

3.Uḍāna:              Sound production through the vocal apparatus. It represents the conscious energy required to produce the vocal sounds corresponding to the intent.

4. Samāna:          Food digestions, repair or manufacture of new cells and growth, and heat regulations throughout the body.

5. Vyāna:             The energy that is needed for the body to have proper circulation, and the functions for the voluntary muscular system in which there is expansion and contraction processes throughout the body.

Chinese Philosophy

The earliest texts in which Qi or Chi is described was in 'Analects of Confucius' where it could mean "breath" and was combined with the Chinese word for blood.

Xue-qi, "blood and breath."

Living beings are born because of an accumulation of qi, and as the beings live out their lives the qi declines eventually resulting in death. This indicates that xue-qi referred to all living things, but it is believed that qi or chi exists within all things tangible.

For example, the wind is the qi or chi to the Earth, and the cosmic concepts of yin and yang are "the greatest of qi"

Yin and Yang which means "bright-dark," and "positive-negative" are the opposing forces needed in order to complement the concept of balance. There are thoughts that this duality symbolizes contradicting energy forces which manifest as light and dark, fire and water, expansion, and contraction. With this said, Chinese medicine states that the balance of negative and positive forms in the body are believed to be essential for overall satisfactory health.

Japanese Mythology

During the sixth and seventh centuries the Chinese word qi (or chi) was written using the same kanji script for their interpretation for energy being "Ki"

However, the meanings are a tad different.

While the Chinese use chi or qi to describe that energy exists in all things, animate and inanimate objects, the Japanese believe it is the creative flow and expressions used within our daily lives, martial arts, and symbolizes aspects of nature, and thusly the spirits. It is the transfer from living, animate beings in to inanimate which can change and manifest into various forms. It is the necessary intentions one wields.

Greek Mythology

Pneuma, "The breath of life" or "vital spirit" is composed of kinetic energies within the vessel, while Ignis is composed of thermal energies. All human beings need both kinetic and thermal energies in order to properly function.

In Greek medicine, pneuma is the form of circulation throughout the body's vital organs. Due to this the role, pneuma plays within the body to sustain consciousness. Some physiological theories suggest that the pneuma mediates between the heart, and the heart is regarded as the seat of the mind, and the brain.

In similar, Stoic philosophy, pneuma is the active and generative principles that are organized between the individual and the cosmos. The highest forms are the Gods, and the human soul. The human soul is believed to be fragments of the gods given life force in order to be born and given a vessel upon the physical plane. This exists within all animate and inanimate objects as energy transfers and changes.

Hawaiian Mythology

Mana, the spiritual energy of power and strength. This energy exists within places and people; however, it is said that mana is both external and internal concepts.

The Hawaiian people believe that individuals can gain mana or lose it depending on one's actions in everything that they do.

In mythology there were two ways to gain mana, and this was either done sexually or through violence.

To sexually gain mana one must invoke the god, Lono, deity of peace and fertility.

To gain mana through violence one must invoke the god Ku, deity of war and politics.

Tibetan Buddhism

Lung means the wind or breath. Exists as a key concept in Vajrayana traditions. Generally, it's concept relates to the understanding of the subtle body, and Three Vajras. Those three are the body, speech, and mind. Lung relates to the subtle flow of energy and the five elements. (Fire, Water, Earth, Space, and Air) Lung is mostly closely connected to the Air Element.

Lung has also been used to describe the winds or prana being used in conjunction with the subtle body during a time of exercise, but also more importantly everyday functions of the body and its own senses. There are five psychic winds which manifest into mahabhuta. These five relate to the lifeforce that animate the body-mind (namarupa) of all sentient beings.

The Five Root or Major Winds

The root winds support an element and is responsible for a function of the human body.

    The 'life-supporting wind' (Tib. སྲོག་འཛིན་རླུང་, sok dzin lung; Wyl. srog 'dzin rlung). Located in the brain, this lung regulates functions such as swallowing, inhalation, and concentration.

    The 'upward-moving wind' (Tib. གྱེན་རྒྱུ་རླུང་, gyengyu lung; Wyl. gyen rgyu rlung). Located in the chest and thorax, this lung regulates, among other things, speech, the body's energy and vitality, memory, mental endeavour and diligence.

    The 'all-pervading wind' (Tib. ཁྱབ་བྱེད་རླུང་, khyap ché lung; Wyl. khyab byed rlung). Residing in the heart, this lung controls all the motor activities of the body.

    The 'fire-accompanying wind' (Tib. མེ་མཉམ་གནས་རླུང་, me nyam né lung; Wyl. me mnyam gnas rlung). Found in the stomach and abdomen area, the fire-accompanying wind regulates digestion and metabolism.

    The 'downward-clearing wind' (Tib. ཐུར་སེལ་རླུང་, thursel lung; Wyl. thur sel rlung). Located in the rectum, bowels and perineal region, this lung's function is to expel faeces, urine, semen, and menstrual blood. It also regulates uterine contractions during labour.

The Five Branch Winds

The five branch winds enable the senses to operate.

    The naga wind (Tib.ཀླུའི་རླུང་, lu'i lung; Wyl. klu'i rlung). This lung connects with the eyes and sight.

    The tortoise wind (Tib. རུ་སྦལ་གྱི་་རླུང་, rubal gyi lung; Wyl. ru sbal gyi rlung). This wind connects with the heart and the sense of hearing.

    The lizard wind (Tib.རྩངས་པའི་རླུང་, tsangpé lung; Wyl. rtsangs pa'i rlung) associated with the nose and the sense of smell.

    The devadatta wind (Tib.ལྷས་བྱིན་གྱི་རླུང་, lhéjin gyi lung; Wyl. lhas byin gyi rlung) related to the sense of taste.

    The 'king of wealth deities' wind (Tib. ནོར་ལྷ་རྒྱལ་གྱི་རླུང་, nor lha gyal gyi lung; Wyl. nor lha rgyal gyi rlung). This wind connects with the body and the sense of touch.

[nordic-language-love]

N5 Grammar Review: Vない

The ない form of the verb is used to mean "not" or "don't". I'm going to make some posts about grammar that uses this form soon, but first I thought it'd be good to go over how exactly we get the ない form.

To make the ない form:

Group 1: change the last 'u' in the dictionary form to 'a', then add ない:

書く（かく）→ 書かない [to write -> not write]

話す（はなす）→ 話さない [to speak -> not speak]

立つ（たつ）→ 立たない [to stand -> not stand]

遊ぶ（あそぶ）→ 遊ばない [to play -> not play]

読む（よむ）→ 読まない [to read -> not read]

知る（しる）→ 知らない [to know -> not know]

Be careful! If the verb ends in う, it becomes わ:

歌う（うたう）→ 歌わない [to sing -> not sing]

買う（かう）→ 買わない [to buy -> not buy]

Group 2: add ない to the stem:

食べる（たべる）→ 食べない [to eat -> not eat]

寝る（ねる）→ 寝ない [to sleep -> not sleep]

見る（みる）→ 見ない [to see -> not see]

教える（おしえる）→ 教えない [to teach -> not teach]

Group 3 of course is a bit different:

する → しない [to do -> not do]

来る（くる）→ こない [to come -> not come]

The ない form is used in casual speech to mean "don't/doesn't do":

Particles in brackets because you can drop them in casual speech.

魚（は）食べない さかな（は）たべない = I don't eat fish

父（は）雑誌（を）読まない ちち（は）ざっし（を）よまない = My dad doesn't read magazines

コーヒー（を）全然飲まない コーヒー（を）ぜんぜん　のまない = I don't drink coffee at all

Other than that, the ない form is used a lot as a base for more complex grammar. It's important to get to grips with it early on.

I'm still a beginner myself (I'm only N4 level!) so please let me know if I've made any mistakes!

[mochimochi-learn-japanese]

How long does it take to master Hiragana and Katakana?

As you know, learning Hiragana and Katakana is the first step to learn everything about Japanese language. Depending on your time investment, your goals, the learning duration will be different!

It takes 1-4 weeks to master these Japanese alphabets normally. Let's start learning Hiragana with MochiKana and you'll be able to memorize all characters in just one week!

[peistudies]

There is/are

Different from です because it establishes existence and/or possession. Uses particle が because there is emphasis on the fact that it is in existence.

There is room for ambiguity because there isn’t a need for specification on whether the object is plural or singular.

ある・ありますNonliving thing

Xがあります　

there is/are X (nonliving)

Example: 本があります I have a book (Lit. There is a book)

—————————

いる・いますLiving thing

Xがいます

there is/are X (living)

Example: 猫がいます I have a cat/there is a cat

Note: plants use ある for some reason, but bacteria/microorganisms actually use いる!

——————————

Location description:

Place に thing が ある

“at <place> there is <thing>” ie. “there’s a student over there”

• It calls for particle に rather than で for the place description. に can specify locations of existence like it specifies times and dates (kind of like on/at/to)

• The place description usually comes at the beginning of sentence.

• The thing description is usually followed by the particle が rather than は (more on that later)

1. There is/are X (が)

あそこにマクドナルドがあります。(There is a McDonalds over there.)

2. You have X

(は is often used for added clarification)

私はテレビがありません。(I don’t have a TV OR I am the one without a TV)

私の先生はこどもがいます。(My sensei has children.)

ロバートさんはおねえさんがいます。(Robert has an older sister.)

[nomanisanisland]

@shiraishimanana july 2024

[sleepyfrog123]

Beetle Floating in Space 🪲