にほんご 日本語 nihon-go Japanese Language

Japanese Alphabets  3 different kinds of Alphabets – ひらがな （ hiragana) Used most often – カタカナ (katakana) Used for foreign names. Japanese language has many foreign words. – 漢字 (kanji) Chinese characters. Hiragana and Katakana have no meaning by itself whereas Kanji does.

れいぎ 礼儀 Politeness  Politeness is very important in Japanese language.  There are Verb conjugations and many expressions ( 敬語 – keigo) to show different levels of politeness.  One uses keigo to the elders, bosses, strangers, etc.

Some Other Characteristics  Sentence Structure –Subject + Object + Verb (Subjects are often omitted) –Particles shows the relationship of a word, phrase or clause.  No Articles  No strict distinction between plural and singular  Masculinity and Femininity are expressed by verb ending.  Onomatopoeias  Influence of foreign languages

あいさつ Ｇｒｅｅｔｉｎｇｓ  こんにちは。 - konnichiwa. (Hello.)  おはようございます。 - ohayo gozaimasu. (Good morning)  こんばんは。 - konbanwa. (Good evening.)  さようなら。 - sayonara. (Goodbye.)  すみません。 - sumimasen. (Excuse me.)  ありがとうございます。 -arigato gozaimasu. (Thank you.)  どういたしまして。 - do itashi mashite. (You ’ re welcome.)

じこしょうかい 自己紹介 Introducing Yourself  はじめまして。 Hajimemashite. (Nice to meet you)  私の名前は＿＿＿ です。 Watasino namae wa ___ desu.  ＿＿＿ と申します。 ___ to moshi masu. (My name is ___.)  ＿＿＿ からきました。 ___ kara kimashita. (I am from___.)  よろしくおねがいします。 Yoroshiku onegai shimasu. (Nice to meet you.)

Traveling in Japan  Most signs have English.  Japanese people are not very good at English but they try to help you.  Using public transportations in cities could be difficult.

Survival Japanese  英語話せますか？ –Eigo hanase masu ka? (Do you speak English/ May I speak English?)  日本語わかりません。 Nihongo wakari masen. (I don ’ t understand Japanese.)  ＿＿はどこですか？ –___ wa doko desu ka? (Where is ___?)  ここはどこですか？ –Koko wa doko desu ka? (Where am I?)  だいじょうぶです。 –Daijobu desu. (I am fine./OK.)

Japanese Restaurants  Food samples outside.  You can cook yourself!  Delicious and Reasonable.  No tip.

At Restaurants  レストラン –Resutoran (Restaurant)  ＿＿をください。 –___ o kudasai. (___ please. / I would like ___.)  いただきます。 –Itadaki masu. (before eating)  おいしい！ –Oishi! (delicious!)  ごちそうさまでした。 –Gochiso sama deshita. (after eating)