A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

2 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

Compiled by

Mr Busareddy Vijaya Kumar

Ms Rekha P R

Faculty of Japanese Language

Department of English and Foreign Languages

SRM Institute of Science and Technology

 PREFACE
This book is prepared primarily to meet the requirements of engineering students to acquire a
basic knowledge in Japanese language in the course of 30 hours.
The objective of this book is to empower the students to possess good conversational skills in
Japanese language together with the understanding of Japanese culture. However, attempt is
also made to encourage the students to learn the native scripts viz, Hiragana, Katakana and basic
Kanjis, which are Chinese characters that form part of the Japanese language writing system.
The lessons are prepared in such a manner that basic grammar is introduced right from the
beginning. The lessons are aimed at enabling the students to speak the language that will be
applicable to daily life situations. The main lessons are written in Hiragana script with Romaji
(Roman script) and English side by side for better understanding. The vocabulary and meanings,
grammar and exercises for each lesson is also given at the end of each lesson.
A brief description about Japan, its culture and society is given in the Glossary in English.
Adjectives, verbs and N5 Kanjis and given in the Additional Information section. All this
information has been procured from the internet. A glossary of terms such as greetings, family
relationships, time expression, numbers, etc. is also appended for reference at the end of every
lesson. Hiragana and Katakana practice charts are included to practise the scripts.
We, the faculty members hereby acknowledge that we are highly indebted to our Ryoko Iseda sensei,
who was formerly, the senior Japanese language advisor from the Japan Foundation, New Delhi for
her valuable suggestions and corrections made by her in the preparation of this book. We also
express our sincere thanks to our sensei Ms. Vimala Solomon, Director, Surya Nihongo Gakko,
Madurai, who gave her valuable suggestions towards the preparation of this book. A special mention
about Hideyuki Fujisawa sensei and Ms.Chiho BABA our voluntary teachers from JICA, Japan for their
invaluable contribution in bringing out this book to suit the needs of the learners.
Our sincere thanks to Yuka Kikuoka san, Mika Yamamoto san, Satou Tomoaki san, teachers from
Japan Foundation and Sohrab Azarparand san, a teacher from Iran, who lent their voices for the
audio of the lessons.
Our special thanks to Dr.K.Anbazhagan, Professor and Head, Dept of English and foreign
languages, SRM University, Kattankulathur, for his encouragement in bringing out this book.
We also express our sincere gratitude to the SRM Management, the Director (Engineering
&Technology) for facilitating the department to hold seminars and workshops conducted by
Japan foundation, New Delhi, for improving our teaching methodology in Japanese on couple of
occasions. These seminars prompted us to write a book for the use of our own students of
Japanese language.
Chennai
LESSONS
 BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

Lesson 3

Sore o kudasai
ラジャ： こんにちは
田中 ： こんにちは
ラジャ： デパートは なんじから
なんじまでですか。
田中 ： ごぜん はちじから ごご
くじはんまでです。
デパート で
てんいん: いらっしゃいませ。
ラジャ： とけい うりばは
どこにありますか。

てんいん: あそこに あります。

ラジャ： どうも。
てんいん: どう いたしまして。

とけい うりばで
ラジャ： すみません。
そのとけいは いくらですか。
てんいん: さんまんごせんえん です。
ラジャ：そうですか。
うーん、たかいですね。
もっと やすいのは ありますか。
てんいん: はい。
こちらは いちまんえんです。
ラジャ： じゃ、それを ください。
てんいん: ありがとうございます。
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

Raja: Konnichiwa. Raja: Hello.

Tanaka: Konnichiwa. Tanaka: Hello.
Raja: Depaato wa nan ji kara nan ji made Raja: From what time to what time does
desu ka. the department store work?
Tanaka: Gozen hachi ji kara gogo kuji Tanaka: From 8 A.M. to 9.30 P.M.
han made desu.

Depaato de At the department store

Ten in: Irasshaimase Clerk: Welcome
Raja: Tokei uriba wa doko ni arimasu ka. Raja: Where’s the watch section?
Ten in: Asoko ni arimasu. Clerk: It’s over there.
Raja: Doumo. Raja: Thanks.
Ten in: Dou itashimashite. Clerk: You’re welcome

Tokei uriba de At the watch counter

Raja: Sumimasen, sono tokei wa ikura desu ka. Raja: Excuse me. How much is that watch?
Ten in: Sanman gosen en desu. Clerk: It’s 35,000 yen.
Raja: Sou desu ka. Uuun…Takai desu ne. Raja: I see. Ummm…It’s expensive, isn’t it?
Motto yasui no wa arimasu ka. Do you have cheaper ones?
Ten in: Hai. Kochira wa ichi man en desu. Clerk: Yes. This is 10,000 yen.
Raja: Ja, sore o kudasai. Raja: Well, I’ll take that.
Ten in: Arigatou gozaimasu. Clerk: Thank you.
A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

れんしゅう

1. れい A: Sumimasen, ima nan ji desu ka.

B: Juu ji desu.
1. 3:30
2. 1:55
3. 7:45
4. 5:15
5. 11:10

2. れい A: Resutoran wa nan ji kara nan ji made desu ka.

B: Gozen juu ichi ji kara gogo juu ichi ji han made desu.
1. Toshokan, 8:00 a.m., 4.30 p.m.
2. Yuubinkyoku, 9:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m.
3. Ginkou, 8:30 a.m., 3:00 p.m.

→
3. れい Koko wa kaisha desu Kaisha wa koko ni arimasu.
Soko wa koujou desu.
Asoko wa eki desu.

4. れい A: Ano kaban wa ikura desu ka.

B: Go sen en desu.
1. mannenhitsu, 800 en
2. enpitsu, 120 en
3. hon, 600 en
4. shatsu, 1300 en
5. kutsu, 8,400 en

5. れい Kippu o kudasai.
1. kitte
2. mizu
3. hon
4. enpitsu
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

Exercises

I) Fill in the blanks

1. Daigaku wa nanji ___ nanji ____ desu ka.

2. Daigaku wa hachi ji han ____ yo ji ___ desu.
3. Kamera uriba ___ doko ___ arimasu ka.
4. Sumimasen, sono tokei ___ ikura desu ____.
5. Ja, sore __ kudasai.

II) Rearrange the following sentences

1. ji/wa/ginkou/ku/desu/ji/gozen/made/gogo/san/kara

2. ka/desu/ano/wa/ikura/shatsu

3. ni/wa/asoko/arimasu/eki

4. ka/toshokan/arimasu/doko/wa/ni

5. ka/made/wa/depaato/ji/desu/nan

III) Translate into Japanese

1. The post office is from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.

2. Excuse me, how much is that white shirt?

3. Do you have a cheaper camera?

4. Excuse me, where is the camera counter?

5. This watch costs 5000 yen.

A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

Kono lesson no kotoba

あいさつ Aisatsu greeting

こんにちは Konnichiwa hello, good afternoon
いらっしゃいませ irasshaimase welcome, may I help you
どうも Doumo thanks
どう いたしまして dou itashimashite you’re welcome
すみません Sumimasen excuse me

Building
デパート Depaato department store
～うりば ～uriba counter (in shop)
レストラン Resutoran restaurant
としょかん Toshokan library
ゆうびんきょく yuubinkyoku post office
きって Kitte stamp
ぎんこう Ginkou bank
えき Eki station
きっぷ Kippu ticket
かいしゃ Kaisha company
こうじょう Koujou factory

Shopping
えん En yen (Japanese currency)
いくら Ikura how much
たかい Takai expensive
やすい Yasui cheap
もっと Motto more
ください Kudasai please
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

time
いま Ima now
なん Nan what
～じ ～ji ～ o’clock
ごぜん Gozen A.M.
ごご Gogo P.M.

others
シャツ Shatsu shirt
みず Mizu water

Bunpou

ここ koko here, this place

そこ soko there, that place
あそこ asoko over there, that place over there
どこ doko where, which place
から kara From
まで made To
に ni At
ね ne isn’t it
を o refer to something (direct object)
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

Grammar notes
Demonstrative pronouns for place

The demonstratives – ここ, そこ, あそこ refer to a place.

Koko-is the place where the speaker is

Soko-is the place where the listener is
Asoko-is the place away from both speaker and listener.
When the speaker regards the listener as sharing his/her territory, the place where they both are,
is designated by the word Koko. Under this situation, Soko designates the place a little distant
from the speaker and asoko designates an even more distant location.

The こそあど system of demonstrative words:

Ko-series So-series A-series Do-series

thing Kore sore are dore
Pronoun place Koko soko asoko doko
direction Kocchi socchi acchi docchi
Prenominal thing / person kono (N) sono (N) ano (N) dono (N)
Pronoun* polite form
Kochira sochira achira dochira
for above words
Do-series are interrogatives.
* When followed by の they become
prenominal Particle-を
Placed after a noun, o indicates that the noun is the object of the sentence. o is used to indicate
the direct object of a transitive verb. The sound is “o” but 「を」is used for writing to show that
it is a particle.

Sentence ending particle-ね

Ne (isn’t it?) is attached to the end of the sentence to add feeling to what the speaker says. This
shows the speaker’s sympathy or the speaker’s expectation that the listener will agree.

~から ~まで
Kara indicates the starting time or place, while made indicates the finishing time or place.
Kara and made are not necessarily used together.
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

TIME – JIKAN
HOURS MINUTES*
ichi ji 1 o'clock ippun 1 minute
ni ji 2 o'clock ni fun 2 minutes
san ji 3 o'clock san pun 3 minutes
yoji 4 o'clock yon pun 4 minutes
go ji 5 o'clock go fun 5 minutes
roku ji 6 o'clock roppun 6 minutes
shichi ji 7 o'clock nana fun 7 minutes
hachi ji 8 o'clock happun 8 minutes
ku ji 9 o'clock kyuu fun 9 minutes
juu ji 10 o'clock juppun 10 minutes
juu ichi ji 11 o'clock juugofun 15 minutes
juu ni ji 12 o'clock han ** Half (30 minutes)
nanji what time nan pun how many minutes
* in Japanese we use ‘pun/fun’ for telling the time (minutes) but in English we don’t
use the word ‘minutes’, but only with duration
** never appears separately (by itself) but always follows “o’clock”.

Ima nan ji desu ka. What is the time now?

3:10 P.M. Gogo san ji juppun desu.
6:50 A.M. Gozen roku ji go juppun desu.
4:30 P.M. Gogo yo ji han desu/ Gogo yo ji san juppun desu.
 NUMBERS KAZU

1 ichi 100 hyaku

2 ni 200 ni hyaku
3 san 300 sanbyaku
4 yon/shi 400 yon hyaku
5 go 500 go hyaku
6 roku 600 roppyaku
7 nana/shichi 700 nana hyaku
8 hachi 800 happyaku
9 ku/kyuu 900 kyuu hyaku
10 juu 1,000 Sen
11 juu ichi 2,000 ni sen
12 juu ni 3,000 sanzen
20 ni juu 4,000 yon sen
21 ni juu ichi 5,000 go sen
100 hyaku 6,000 roku sen
1,000 sen 7,000 nana sen
10,000 ichi man 8,000 hassen
12,000 ichi man ni sen 9,000 kyuu sen
20,000 ni man
100,000 juu man 104 Man
150,000 juu go man 108 Oku
1,000,000 hyaku man 1012 chou
10,000,000 sen man ・
・
・

SEASONS (きせつ)
はる haru spring

なつ natsu summer

あき aki autumn

ふゆ fuyu winter
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

WEATHER (てんき)

はれ hare clear sky/ sunny

くもり kumori cloudy
あめ ame rain
ゆき yuki snow
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

3. CULTURE
いけばな/ Ikebana
Ikebana is the art of arranging flowers
aesthetically. One tries to represent the three elements
sky, earth, and mankind in a well balanced relation.
Traditional ikebana, called “the way of the
flower” (kado), developed in the 16th century. There are
many different schools of traditional ikebana. In
addition, modern styles of ikebana have evolved. Some
of these styles use glass, iron, and other materials.
ぼんさい/ Bonsai
Bonsai is a Japanese art form using miniature
trees grown in containers. Bonsai uses cultivation
techniques like pruning, root reduction, potting,
defoliation, and grafting to produce small trees that
mimic the shape and style of mature, full-size trees. The
purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation for the
viewer and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity
for the grower. By contrast with other plant cultivation
practices, bonsai is not intended for production of food,
for medicine, or for creating yard-size or park-size
gardens or landscapes. Instead, bonsai practice focuses
on long-term cultivation and shaping of one or more
small trees growing in a container.

おりがみ/ Origami
Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper
folding, which started in the 17th century AD at the
latest and was popularized outside of Japan in the mid-
1900s. It has since then evolved into a modern art form.
The goal of this art is to transform a flat sheet of
material into a finished sculpture through folding and
sculpting techniques, and as such the use of cuts or glue
are not considered to be origami. The number of basic
origami folds is small, but they can be combined in a
variety of ways to make intricate designs. The best
known origami model is probably the Japanese paper
crane. In general,
these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors or prints. The
principles of origami are also being used in stents, packaging and other engineering structures.
 A BASIC COURSE IN JAPANESE

かぶき/ Kabuki
Kabuki is a traditional
Japanese form of theater with its
origins in the Edo Period. In contrast
to the older forms of Japanese
performing arts, such as Noh, Kabuki
was initially popular only among the
common townspeople and not
among the higher social classes.
Kabuki plays are about
historical events, moral conflicts, love
relationships and the like. The actors
use an old fashioned language which is
difficult to understand even for some
Japanese people. Actors speak in somewhat monotonous voices accompanied by traditional
Japanese instruments.
Kabuki takes place on a rotating stage. The stage is further equipped with several gadgets
like trapdoors through which the actors can appear and disappear. Another specialty of the
kabuki stage is a footbridge that leads through the audience.
In the early years, both men and women acted in kabuki plays. Later during the Edo
Period, women were forbidden from acting, a restriction that survives to the present day. Several
male kabuki actors are therefore specialists in playing female roles.

らくご/ Rakugo
Rakugo is a form of Japanese verbal
entertainment. The lone
storyteller (rakugoka) sits on stage (kouza).
Using only a paper fan (sensu) and a small
cloth (tenugui) as props, and without
standing up, from one of the traditional
sitting positions (seiza), the rakugo artist
depicts a long and complicated comical
story. The story always involves the
dialogue of two or more characters, the difference between the characters depicted only through
change in pitch, tone, and a slight turn of the head. The speaker is on the stage, and his purpose
is to stimulate the general hilarity with tone and limited, yet specific body gestures. The
monologue always ends suddenly with a narrative stunt. Rakugo was invented by Buddhist monks
in the 9th and 10th century to make their sermons more interesting. Gradually the form turned
from humorous narrative into monologue, probably upon the request of the feudal lords
(daimyou), seeking people skilled enough to entertain them with various kinds of storytelling.