****If there are corrections or additions I should make to this list, please send me a message!****
So I just started using HelloTalk for Japanese, and found out pretty quickly that asking people to help you IN Japanese gets you MUCH better answers so long as you’re up to the challenge of figuring out slightly more complicated explanations! Here are some ways to do that:
THINGS TO ASK
Can I ask you a question?
ちょっと質問していいですか？
How do you say “_____” in Japanese?
「＿＿＿」は日本語で何と言いますか？
日本語で「＿＿＿」はどうやって言いますか？
What does “_____” mean?
「＿＿＿」の意味はなんですか？
「＿＿＿」って、どういう意味ですか？
Could you please correct my sentences/check them for errors?
文章を直してください/くれませんか/もらえませんか
間違いがあるかどうかチェックしてもらえますか？
What is the difference between “__” and “__”?
「＿＿」と「＿＿」の違いは何ですか？
Which one sounds more natural?
どちらがもっと自然に聞こえますか？
どちらの方が自然ですか？
What kind of situation should I use it in?
どんな場合に使いますか？
Is there another way to say it?
日本語で同じような言い回しがありますか？
How would you say it?
___さんなら、これを何と言いますか？
Do people normally use this word/phrase?
このフレーズ/言葉を普段使いますか？
How do I use (this word/phrase)
「＿＿＿」をどうやって使いますか？
Is it similar to/Is it like “_____,” for example?
「＿＿＿」という事ですか？
「＿＿＿」と同じような意味ですか？
AND IF U DIDNT REALLY GET THEIR CORRECTIONS/COMMENTS:
I’m sorry, I didn’t really understand “_____.” Could you explain it to me?
（すみません、「＿＿＿」はよく分からなくて）、ちょっと説明してもらえませんか？
I’m sorry, would you mind explaining your corrections?
すみません、訂正を説明してもらえませんか？
OTHER TIPS
Say thank you afterward!
The sentences above are mostly starting points. The more you talk to people, the more you’ll notice how people ask things like “Oh, can you explain that thing on the bottom?” or “So it’s okay if I say this instead of this?” etc. etc. But these sentences will help you get on your feet!
What I sometimes like to do if they’re using really complicated Japanese to explain to me, it try to explain it in my own words and then add っていうことですか？ to find out if I’m understanding right!
Challenge yourself by answering Japanese-speakers’s questions in Japanese! You’d be surprised how much you can learn about explaining just by reading explanations!
Good luck! Please let me know if you have any questions! <3
頑張ってください！皆さん何か聞きたいことがあったら、何でも聞いてくださいね！<3
Sorry for yet another hiatus. I’ve been busy trying to find another job (since I lost the last one because of Brexit) and also preparing for some trips in the summer. More content soon, I promise.
How is everyone? How is everyone’s studying going?
Are you living in Japan? You seem to be able to get hold of lots of new published Japanese textbooks! Love from Hong Kong <3 Do you have any recommendation for N5? I started in July from zero and finished Chapter 14 of Minna No Nihongo.. Am I too slow? :D
Hello! Sorry that my reply comes to you so late! I haven’t used that textbook, but you should always go at your own pace so that language learning remains fun! :) don’t pressure yourself, and take the time to absorb and process the information. Your progression will get quicker, too, as you become more advanced.
Do you mean recommendations for textbooks or just resources in general for N5? I promise I’ll reply more quickly this time :)
How would you compare the conjugation master to textbooks in terms of the level of difficulty? For example, does this book cover basically the same things as Genki 1?
Hello! Sorry for the incredibly late reply! I’ve never used Genki so I can’t say with great certainty, but the book covers all the conjugations (but that doesn’t mean all of the grammar associated with verbs) that is needed for both N5 and N4 so my guess would be yes.
I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a copy of the brand new にほんご活用マスター (Nihongo Conjugation Master), from the same people as the Sou Matome books.
In the book’s own words, users of the book will “learn how to conjugate beginner-level verbs and adjectives”. The book is aimed at learners “wishing to relearn conjugations they may have previously studied, those looking to properly learn the rules of conjugation or those looking for a general overview of conjugations”.
The book is divided into four parts.
Part 1 is an introduction and teaches how to differentiate between the three groups of Japanese verbs, how to deal with plain and polite form, the conjugation of adjectives, all about na-adjectives etc. All the things you would need to know before you start dealing with
Part 2 presents the methods of conjugation, i.e. how Group I, II and III verbs conjugate across the forms (te, ta, ba, nai, passive etc.). The rules are presented on one page and there are formation exercises on the opposite page. All of the conjugations required for N4 are included, as well as two sections on honorifics (as required for that level).
As you can see, the book comes with a red filter so that the answers, which are printed in the book in red/orange, can be”filtered out” or hidden when doing the exercises for oneself.
Part 3 of the book offers more exercises for the forms covered in Part 2. By far and large, the exercises are a choose-from-these-options to fill a blank.
Part 4 looks at extensions of the forms covered in Part 2 such as adding ~んです or ~そう (among others) to other verb forms. Exercises are also included here.
The book is smaller, but thicker, than the other books by the publisher, making it even handier to carry about on the go for a quick review.
tl;dr — the book has a lot of exercises that can be useful for people studying conjugation and verb forms, but for the actual usage of these forms you would need to study with an actual grammar text for N5 or N4, since the only explanations are about formation and derivation. But, indeed, for the actual study of this, this book would be very useful. The text is clear to read, furigana is provided, and the handy filter makes it easy to study with (the only downside of this is that it’s not possible to write answers into the book, but apparently I’m in the minority for doing that).
For any questions about this book my ask box is open.
早くシャワー浴びなさい。はい、これ、着替えのパンツとシャツ。ちゃんとひげもそってね。
Hurry up and take a shower. Here, these are a spare pair of pants and a shirt. And you ought to shave your beard.
昨日は友達の田中君の結婚式でした。ぼくはお祝いのスピーチをして、歌を一曲歌いました。奥さんになる人はとてもきれいでした。とても楽しかったので、夜、なかなか寝られませんでした。
Yesterday, my friend Tanaka(-kun) got married. I’m going to make a congratulatory speech and sing a song. His wife looked very beautiful. Because we all enjoyed ourselves a lot, we didn’t sleep during the night.
結婚式 — (kekkonshiki) wedding ceremony
お祝いのスピーチ — (o-iwai no spiichi) congratulatory speech
歌を一曲歌う — (uta-o hitokuse utau) sing a song
奥さん — (okusan) someone else’s wife
とても — very
なかなか — fairly/pretty/quite/rather
寝られませんでした — (ne~) wasn’t able to sleep
なかなか面白い映画だった。
It was quite an interesting movie
新しい単語がなかなか覚えられない。
I can’t easily memorise new words.
私、来月、１０日に、ハワイで結婚式をあげるの。
Y’know, next month on the tenth I’ll have my wedding ceremony in Hawai’i...
そんな····· 急に言われても予定を立てるのは難しいわ。一応、手帳につけておくけど·····
Ah that... It’s difficult to make plans no matter how quickly one is told. I’ll set it in my agenda for now, but...
結婚式 — wedding ceremony
結婚式をあげる — (kekkonshiki-o ageru) have a wedding ceremony
予定 — plan, forecast, expectation (looking ahead to something)
予定を立てる — (yotei-o tateru) make a plan
一応 — (ichiō) tentatively, for now, just in case
手帳 — (techō) agenda
手帳につける — set in an agenda
けさ、理想の人に出会ったの。本屋の前を通りかかったとき、突然その人にはなしかけられて·····。そこで立ち止まって、１時間も話したの。
This morning, I met the ideal person. When I was passing by the bookstore (lit: in front of), I suddenly started talking to that person... I stopped there and talked for one hour.
理想の人に出会う — meet an ideal person
出会い — an encounter
通りかかる — to walk by (+を)
突然 — suddenly
人に話しかける — to talk to a person
立ち止まる — to stop walking
O月X日
今日の試験の結果は、きっといいと思う。見直しをする時間はなかったが、試験で問われている意味がわかったし、漢字も間違わずに書いた。先生に教わったところを、じゅうぶん復習しておいてよかった。
本当に今日レポートを提出しなければいけなかったが、担当の先生が休みだったので、明日でいいということになった。
今日はすごくついている日だった。
I think the result of today's exam will be alright. I did not have the time to review, but I understood the meanings of what was on the exam and I wrote the kanji without making a mistake. I’m glad that I had practiced what we had just learned.
I really needed to submit a report today, but because the teacher in charge was on holiday, I decided that it would be fine to do it tomorrow.
試験の結果 — exam result(s)
見直しをする — to review, to revise
試験で問われる — (shiken-de okowareru); (something) is on the test
間違う — to make a mistake
間違わずに — without making a mistake
復習 — practice
提出 — (teishutsu) submission (with suru, to submit)
担当の先生 — (tantō) teacher in charge
ぼくは法学部を受験します。授業料が高いので大変ですが、奨学金をもらえるように、がんばります。留学もしたいです。
I will take the entrance exam for the faculty of law. It will be tough because the tuition fees are high, but I will do my best to get a scholarship. I’d also like to study abroad.
〜部 — (~bu) faculty of ~
法学部 — (hōgakubu) faculty of law
理工部 — (rikōgakubu) faculty of science and engineering
医学部 — (igakubu) faculty of medicine
受験する — (juken suru) take an entrance exam
授業料 — (jugyōryō) tuition fees
奨学金 — (shōgakukin) scholarship
留学 — (ryūgaku) study abroad
〜を専攻する — (~o senkō suru) I major in—
経済学 — (keizaigaku) economics
政治学 — (seijigaku) political science
心理学 — (shinrigaku) psychology
言語学 — (gengogaku) linguistics
物理学 — (butsurigaku) physics
田中さんは、ふだんはかなりおとなしい人だが、昨日は、いきなり怒り出したので。ものすごくびっくりした。友達の話では、たまにそういうことがあるらしい。
Mr Tanaka is usually quite a quiet person, but yesterday he all of a sudden flew into a rage. I was really surprised. From what friends have said, this kind of thing happens now and again.
ふだんは — usually
かなり おとなしい — quite/rather quiet
いきなり — all of a sudden
怒り出す — (okoridasu) fly into a rage, lose one’s temper
ものすごく — terribly, extremely
たまに — occasionally
ね、君のバイト、時給いくら？勤務時間は？交通費、出る？仕事、きつい？
Say, your part-time job, how much do you make per hour? What are your working hours? Do they pay your transport costs? Is it hard work?
俺もやとってもらえないかな。お金、かせがないと、授業料が払えないんだ。
I wonder if I also couldn’t get hired [somewhere]. I can’t afford my tuition fees if I don’t earn money.
仕事、なまけて、昨日、首になってしまったんだ·····
I work lazily and got fired yesterday...
時給 — (jikyū) per hour
勤務時間 — (senmu jikan) working hours
交通費が出る — (kōtsūhi) pay the transportation costs
きつい — hard, tough
やとう — hire
お金をかせぐ — to earn money
授業料が払えない — (jugyōryō ga haraenai) can’t afford the tuition fees
なまける — be lazy
首になる — be fired
pixelskylines
vaporwave
stormborns
areudirty
janainaart
ellievsbear
kaledo-art