Either works, sorry man, I'm not really decisive either way here...

m0ssb3rg935 :
EX Palen :
A user of this :
Since you three replied, I decided to summon you specifically.

A few of you are a little behind and trying to catch back up, so I'll go ahead and skip posting a lesson this week so as not to overload you. Besides, this gives me a chance to get a few lessons put together early.
Unless someone feels that it's overkill, I'll break the tests into two lessons after this break as well. I'd rather finish off the beginner lessons slowly than go too fast and cause anyone to feel overwhelmed.

Fun fact: I nearly posted をします and nothing else instead of the lesson on accident. lol




だいにじゅぅきゅぅか。Dai nijuukyuuka

Hello and welcome to lesson number twenty nine! We're nearly there folks, just a few more pushes and we'll have this thing cleared! But enough blabbering, let's get on with the lesson.


Vocabulary:
ジャズ
jazu
Jazz

ロック
rokku
Rock

ポップス
poppusu
Pop

ヒップホップ
hippuhoppu
Hip Hop

クラシック
kurashikku
Classical

にほん
nihon
Japan

アメリカ
amerika
The United States


ジョッギング
joggingu
Jogging, jog

ジョッギングをします
joggingu wo shimasu
To jog

スキー
sukii
Ski, skiing

スキーをします
sukii wo shimasu
To ski

ゲーム
geemu
Game

ゲームをします
geemu wo shimasu
To play a game

ダンス
dansu
Dance, dancing

おどります
odorimasu
To dance
Yeah, probably expected dansu wo shimasu, right? I did too.

りょぅり
ryouri
Cooking

りょぅりをします
ryouri wo shimasu
To cook



Katakana
は - ハ - ha
ひ - ヒ - hi
ふ - フ - fu
へ - ヘ - he
ほ - ホ - ho




Test:

Match the Japanese vocabulary to it's English counterpart.


A. ロック - rokku
B. アメリカ - amerika
C. にほん - nihon
D. ポップス - poppusu
E. クラシック - kurashikku
F. りょぅり - ryouri
G. ヒップホップ - hippuhoppu
H. ジョッギングをします - joggingu wo shimasu
I. ジョッギング - joggingu
J. ジャズ - jazu
K. ゲーム - geemu
L. スキー - sukii
M. ゲームをします - geemu wo shimasu
N. おどります - odorimasu
O. ダンス - dansu
P. スキーをします - sukii wo shimasu
Q. りょぅりをします - ryouri wo shimasu



1. Jazz
2. The United States
3. Japan
4. Classical
5. Cooking
6. Pop
7. Rock
8. Jogging, jog
9. Hip Hop
10. To jog
11. Ski, skiing
12. To play a game
13. Game
14. Dance, dancing
15. To ski
16. To dance
17. To cook


Link:
Video lesson
Note: My pronunciation of ジョッギング joggingu, スキー sukii and りょぅり ryouri was less than perfect in the first example, but I pronounced them properly the second time (when をします wo shimasu was added to them), so listen to that example for each of them specifically.



みなさん、おめでとうございます! minasan, omedetou gozaimasu! Congratulations everyone!
You have finished your last vocabulary and grammar lesson in the beginner portion! We'll go ahead and do some more intense testing next week, and then if you feel that you're ready, we'll move on to the next level: Intermediate!


Corrections:
I erased a good sized chunk of text from lesson eleven. There were several errors on the description of the suffix さん. I've known this for a while, but just now got around to fixing it. What it boils down to is I had a decent grasp on how to use it and what it was, but my literature assumed the reader had no knowledge of Japanese at all, and so tried to assign the term an English equivalent for ease of learning, when in fact it has none.

EDIT: Another fun fact: I accidentally posted the test answers and had to edit them out. xD

__________________________________

EX Palen : Indeed, it was the so called American football. :V And no, I don't think it should be called football. Seriously, you make a sport where the objective is to use your hands to control the ball, and you call it football? How does that make sense?

"Why don't we" in the sense that it was used in the last lesson, and "can we" would be synonymous really, so either translation is probably entirely accurate, indeed.
While mashou appears to have a slightly different translation, "why don't we/can we" and "Let's" are also very similar, and in English at least, interchangeable in most situations, so I could see using any of the three to communicate essentially the same thought.

As for issho ni, I'm not sure, but I suspect that the ni is used as a particle there, much the same way as the ha in Konnichiha is a particle. Typically a particle is written without spacing between it and the word it's attached to. While spacing is typically not employed in Japanese, it is when you use only kana because it's difficult to read otherwise.
So basically it's separated here for readability, but it would normally be written together. And it's probably a particle.

Totemo... Again, I can't say for sure. I do know that だいすき daisuki is usually translated love, but とてもすき totemo suki is translated in my literature as liking very much. So I'd say it's a little different, but I have nothing to base that on. It could be anything from outdated to proper vs. colloquial. I'll let you know as soon as I come up with an answer (as long as I don't forget).


___________________________________


Summon list:
Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
PoptartSlayerXD :

We've finished the first part of the vocabulary! Yay us!

The last bit was fairly easy as most where "anglicized" words (if that term actually exists lol). I expect the next level to include other translations that aren't directly taken from English, like "dance" being ranbu or some other words I may have discussed in previous lessons

I think I know what's the deal with totemo, and probably it's something you cannot really describe in English. Each language has its own quirks, and where English may be lacking variety of words or expressions, other languages may not lack such things. Spanish is one of those, and I've been able to more or less differentiate between totemo and dai, which is another reason to cope these lessons with my own learning so I can get more than one translation

ごめんなさい みなさん。Gomennasai minasan. Sorry for missing last week's post.

Alright, this week we won't have a lesson, just a test. A really big test. I need everyone to take this test and pay close attention to your answers. This will determine if we can move on to the next book or if I was as lousy at conveying the information as I feel I was, and we need to brush up on it again as a result. I know it seems like a pain, but it would be in our best interest to take a refresher course if we aren't ready than it would be to move on unprepared and not grasp the majority of the upcoming lessons fully.


Each section of the test should be graded separately, and the instructions attached to them followed afterward.
Good luck everyone.


_________________________________________

Section 1.


1-A: Translate the following vocabulary words.

1. がくせい ー gakusei

2. いいえ ー iie

3. はちにん ー hachinin

4. でんわ ー denwa

5. あたらしい ー atarashii



1-B: Translate the following vocabulary words.

1. みぎ ー migi

2. あまい ー amai

3. いそがしい ー isogashii

4. みじかい ー mijikai

5. これ ー kore



1-C: Translate the following into Japanese.

1. How are you?

2. What's your name?

3. Is there/do you have?

4. Good evening

5. Good morning



1-D: Write the following times. Example: 7:57 A.M.

1. ごぜん くじはっぷん です。gozen kuji happun desu.

2. ごご じゅぅいちじはん です。 gogo juuichiji han desu.

3. ごぜん にじゅぅじさんじゅぅろっぱん です。 gozen nijuuji sanjuuroppun desu.

Write the following in Japanese.

4. It's 7:23 P.M.

5. It's 11:15 A.M.


1-E: Insert the appropriate adjective in it's correct form.

1. たなかさんのいえは ____ です よ。Tanaka-san no ie ha ______ desu yo. (big)

2. なかむらせんせいのくるまは ____です。 Nakamura-sensei no kuruma ha _____ desu. (expensive)

3. わたしのペンは ___ です。 watashi no pen ha ____ desu. (black)

4. あの とけいは _____ ない てす。 ano tokei ha ____ nai desu. (not expensive)

5. それは ______ ほん で は ありません。 sore ha ________ hon de wa arimasen. (not new)



1-F: Fill in the blank.

1. _____です か。_____ desu ka. (what is it?)
arigatou ______. (Thank you (polite))

2. ____です か。_____ desu ka. (where is it?)

3. ____ゲーム です か。_____ geemu desu ka. (what kind of game is it?)

4. ______あたらしい です か。______ atarashii desu ka. (is that (close to the listener) new?)

5. ____ペンは やすいです。(this pen)



1-G: Write the appropriate Japanese word for each of the following.

Mother:
One's own:
Someone else's:

Father:
One's own:
Someone else's:

Older sister:
One's own:
Someone else's:

Older brother:
One's own:
Someone else's:

Younger sister:
One's own:
Someone else's:


_________________
End of section 1.
Give yourself one point for every correct answer. Compare your score to the list below.

•0 - 18: Go over all vocabulary again. There's no shame in practicing until we get it down.

•19 - 28: Brush up on the vocabulary up to this point. You have a decent grasp of what we've covered, but a better handle on it would be advised.

•29 - 35: Proceed to section 2.
_________________


Section 2.

2-A: Insert the appropriate particle.

1. くるま__ありません。kuruma __ arimasen.

2. わたし__ねこはしろい です よ。watashi __ neko ha shiroi desu yo.

3. なに__あります か。nani __ arimasu ka.

4. たなかせんせい__いません。tanaka-sensei __ imasen.

5. __なん です か。__ nan desu ka.



2-B: Insert the appropriate particle (again).

1. おんがく__ききます。ongaku __ kikimasu.

2. コンビニ__いきます。konbini __ ikimasu.

3. らいしゅう__もくよび。raishuu __ mokuyobi. (next Thursday)

4. ろくじ__たべましょぅrokuji __ tabemashou. (let's eat at six)

5. もずかしい です__。muzukashii desu __. (is it difficult?)



2-C: Insert the appropriate verb in it's correct form.

1. ほんを_____。hon wo ______. (I read books)

2. にくは_____。niku ha _______. (I don't eat meat)

3. やきゅぅを_____。yakyuu wo ______. (I play baseball)

4. コンピューターは_____か。konpyuutaa ha ______ ka. (do you have a computer?)

5. フットボールを_______。



2-D: Answer True or False.

1. です = to be

2. います = there is (for an animal or object)

3. します = to do

4. いきます = to go

5. よみます = to read



2-E: More True or False.

1. To express negativity with the verb ending ます masu, change it to ません masen.

2. To say "let's" you change the verb ending ます masu to ませんか masen ka.

3. The particle よ yo is used to get the attention of the person being spoken to, to add emphasis, and to express that new information is being given.

4. To make a noun plural, you add しょぅ shou to the end of it.

5. The particle を wo is used to mark the object of a verb.



_________________
End of section 2.
Same as above.

•0 - 8: Check out the grammar sections of all lessons that contain them again.

•9 - 16: Doing good. Brush up on the grammar a little to make sure you're ready.

•17 - 25: Nice work. You're ready to move on to more tests. :V lol

_________________


Section 3.

3-A:
Translate the following conversation. Please use the kana form if you are able to. If you cannot read it all, or kana doesn't show up in your browser, the Romaji form will be listed below.
There will be a few words we haven't covered, but not many. If you can't get those words, that's fine.


Good luck!



Description: なかむらせんせい meets one of their がくせい in a ゲームのみせ.


なかむらせんせい:　おはよう。

だいがくせい:　おはようございます、せんせい。

なかむらせんせい:　おげんきですか。

だいがくせい:　はい。おかげさまで。なかむらせんせいは？

なかむらせんせい::　はい。げんきです。

*なかむらせんせい picks up a ゲーム*

だいがくせい:　ええ？ なかむらせんせいは ゲームは すき ですか。

なかむらせんせい:　はい。

だいがくせい:　すごい ですよ。

なかむらせんせい:　ははははは　この ゲームが とても すき ですよ。

*がくせい looks closely*

だいがくせい:　ああ。「りゆうハンター」?　なんですか。

なかむらせんせい:　アクション - シュータです。

だいがくせい:　ほんと ですか。

なかむらせんせい:　うん。むずかしい ですよ。

だいがくせい:　おもしるい。やすい ですか。

なかむらせんせい:　いいえ、やすく ない です。￥6,600 ですよ。

だいがくせい:　￥6,600？とても たかい ですよ。

なかむらせんせい:　ははははは　はい はい。わたなびくんは (だいがくせい)、どんな ゲームが すき ですか。

だいがくせい:　スポーツのゲームが すき です。

なかむらせんせい:　どんな スポーツのゲーム ですか。

だいがくせい:　 サッカー。フィファ。

なかむらせんせい:　ああ。わたしも フィファのゲームが すき ですね。

だいがくせい:　すごい。

*なかむらせんせい gets a text message*

なかむらせんせい:　すみません わたなびくん。わたしは にいきます でいがく。

だいがくせい:　しゅぅまつに ですか。ごめん!

なかむらせんせい:　わたしも！

だいがくせい:　はははは　さようなら、なかむらせんせい。

なかむらせんせい:　さようなら、わたなびくん。


[Romaji]
Description: Nakamura-sensei meets one of their gakusei in a geemu no mise.


Nakamura-sensei:　ohayou.

daigakusei:　ohayou gozaimasu, sensei.

Nakamura-sensei:　ogenki desu ka.

daigakusei:　hai. okagesamade. Nakamura-sensei ha?

Nakamura-sensei:　hai. genki desu.

*Nakamura-sensei picks up a geemu*

daigakusei:　ee? Nakamura-sensei ha geemu ha suki desu ka.

Nakamura-sensei:　hai.

daigakusei:　sugoi desu yo.

Nakamura-sensei:　hahahahaha　kono geemu ga totemo suki desu yo.

*gakusei looks closely*

daigakusei: aa. "riyuu hantaa"?　nan desu ka.

Nakamura-sensei:　akushon - shuuta desu.

daigakusei:　honto desu ka.

Nakamura-sensei:　un. muzukashii desu yo.

daigakusei:　omoshiroi. yasui desu ka.

Nakamura-sensei:　iie, yasuku nai desu.￥6,600 desu yo.

daigakusei:　￥6,600？totemo takai desu yo.

Nakamura-sensei:　hahahahaha　hai hai. Watanani-kun ha (daigakusei), donna geemu ga suki desu ka.

daigakusei:　supootsu no geemu ga suki desu.

Nakamura-sensei:　donna supootsu no geemu desu ka.

daigakusei:　 sakka. fifa.

Nakamura-sensei:　aa. watashi mo fifa no geemu suki desu ne.

daigakusei:　sugoi.

*Nakamura-sensei gets a text message*

Nakamura-sensei:　sumimasen Watanabi-kun. watashi ha ni ikimasu daigaku.

daigakusei:　shuumatsu ni desu ka. gomen!

Nakamura-sensei:　watashi mo!

daigakusei:　hahahaha　sayounara, Nakamura-sensei.

Nakamura-sensei:　sayounara, Watanabi-kun.




That's it (finally, right?). Please remember to send me your results so I can know if anyone needs a personal refresher, if we need to redo the lessons in general, or if we're all good to move on.
________________________________________



Summon list:

Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
EX Palen :
PoptartSlayerXD :

Well, I never really took the tests for going at my own pace, so this could very well be my first actual test. I was in the middle of planning my schedule after university started as I still have to deal with other real life things, like that other source I have for learning Japanese (man, how I had to fight so mom didn't throw the brochure into the trash), so I'll see if I have time for this any soon.

Having a quick look through the tests, I can't help but include the not-yet-covered personal pronouns, so maybe I do need some more revising of the grammar to actually use what I've rightfully learnt because I cannot let my ego convince me that I'm ahead

Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
EX Palen :
PoptartSlayerXD :

Just letting you guys know that I haven't received everyone's results yet. Please be sure to let me know how you did, or at least if your scores were high enough to move on soon. I can't pass on any more lessons until I know which book to use.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
EX Palen :
PoptartSlayerXD :


Sorry to make you expect a lesson with this summon, but I wanted to let you know a couple of things: first, we will be moving on to the Intermediate lessons. If you need any help with the Begginer stuff that we've covered send me a message and I'll gladly help in any way that I can.

Also, I've been pretty sick the past two days, so I'll not be able to post a lesson this week. I should be well in time to post next week's lesson (I hope), and then we'll skip the next week because I'll be away from the site for around ten days, then we'll go back to business as usual here. Sorry for the delays, and thanks for your patience.

Well, we might as well use this chance to clear our own business out of the way. Next lesson can simply be noted down so two weeks after we resume the usual pace. This would essentially give us four weeks before getting serious again, so I'm definitely reprogramming my schedule to introduce this new level.

Just a small question, I've been looking into language levels and I can't help but ask: do you know what level we're attempting to master right now? I mean, what kind of academy exam could I tackle with your teachings? Similar to CAE (level C1, or so says the British Council over here) or inferior?

Get well, sensei. Our hype won't cease to increase as a new adventure unfolds before our eyes xD

Welcome to our first intermediate lesson! If you missed the graduation party, don't worry. To sum it up, Palen threw "real" footballs at everyone while m0ss taught Icelandic against a backdrop of video game music, and User shouted "nani??" and pretended he wasn't the one that put sake in the punch. It culminated in the punch drinkers holding hands and singing in Japanese until they realized that they had no idea how to put sentences together well enough to sing, and passed out.

But fear not: from henceforth we shall begin developing our grammar skills enough that they'll be able to sing proper drunken songs at the intermediate graduation ceremony when User once again does not spike the punch! :V


Actually this week we'll only cover vocabulary again, but we'll pick up a few handy bits of information regarding vocabulary that we learned months ago as well, so...yeah, that's something.


Vocabulary:

祖父 （そふ）*
sofu
Grandfather (one's own)

お祖父さん (おじいさん）*
ojiisan
Grandfather (someone else's)

祖母 （そぼ）*
sobo
Grandmother (one's own)

お祖母さん （おばあさん）*
obaasan
Grandmother (someone else's)

夫、主人 （おっと、しゅじん）
otto, shujin
Husband (one's own)

ご主人（ごしゅじん）
goshujin
Husband (someone else's)

つま、家内 （かない）
tsuma, kanai
Wife (one's own)

奥さん（おくさん）*
okusan
Wife (someone else's)

子供（こども）*
kodomo
Child (one's own)

お子さん、子供さん（おこさん、こどもさん）*
okosan, kodomosan
Child (someone else's)

おじょぅさん
ojousan
Daughter (someone else's)
Note that the word we originally learned for this (むすめさん) is also correct.

従兄弟 （いとこ）*
itoko
Cousin


Note: Words marked with an asterisk are words that I cannot say with 100% certainty utilized the correct Kanji spelling, but I am almost certain they all did.


Grammar:
Remember います (imasu)? This week we're going to learn how to use this verb in a sentence.

The formula is simple: X が います, with X being the person or animal you're talking about.
Some examples
父（ちち）が います。
chichi ga imasu.
My father is there/here./I have a father (obviously).

祖母（そぼ）が います。
sobo ga imasu.
My grandmother is there/here./I have a grandmother.

私の犬（わたしのいぬ）が います。
watashi no inu ga imasu.
My dog is there/here.

Simple, right?


One key difference between Japanese and English in the above sentences is that the English version of this formula requires the mention of a location, but Japanese, as you already know, does not.
However, if you do mention where someone is, you'll need to follow the location with the particle に and use the following structure:
X が Y に います with X again being the person or animal in question, and Y being their location.
Some examples.

父（ちち）が コンビニに います。
chichi ga konbini ni imasu.
My father is at the convenience store.

祖母（そぼ）が ニューヨークに います。
sobo ga nyuu yooku ni imasu.
My grandmother is in New York.

Notice that in the first sentence, に acted like the English word at and in the second one it acted like the English word in. This is because, as we learned several months back, one use of に is to indicate location or direction, just as the English words in and at do.


So now we have two formulae (just wanted a chance to use that weird word) for the proper usage of います (imasu), but we're not done just yet.

We know how to tell where someone is, but how do we ask if someone is there? As they say in Japan, easy peasy lemon squeezy (they don't really. In fact no one says that...anywhere. So don't.) : use the following formula.
X は Y に いますか, with X still being the person or animal in question, and Y still being the place or question word (where).
Examples:

おじょぅさん は どこに いますか。
ojousan ha doko ni imasu ka.
Where is your daughter?

お母さん（おかあさん）は うちに いますか。
okaasan ha uchi ni imasu ka.
Is mom/your mom home?

Yes, this is something we covered in the Beginner lessons, but I figured it couldn't hurt to cover it again. Long story short, change が (ga) to は (ha) in yes/no questions, and add か (ka) at the end.

There are more formulas for the usage of います (imasu), but to keep from overloading anyone, we'll save those for later.


Old words become new!
Remember how we learned words for one's own mother, father, older sister, etc. and another word for someone else's mother, father, older sister, etc.? Well as it turns out, that wasn't right. Or it was, but it isn't quite that simple...

You see, おかあさん (okaasan)、おとうさん (otousan)、おにいさん (oniisan)、and おねえさん (oneesan) ー and honestly this probably applies to the words we learned this week as well, namely おじいさん (ojiisan) and おばあさん (obaasan) ー are words used for referring to someone else's family members, AND for addressing one's own family members, whereas はは (haha)、ちち (chichi)、あに (ani)、あね (ane) and yes, probably そふ (sofu) and そぼ (soba) as well, are used for referring to one's own family while speaking to someone else.

Think of it like how you could say "My brother" but not "brother" while talking to me about your brother, but when speaking to him you could call him "brother" but not "my brother". So, when speaking to me about your dad, you would say ちち (chichi), but when speaking TO your dad, you would say おとうさん otousan.


Interesting tidbit gleaned from a culture note in the lesson in the book:
In Japan it's typical for people to refer to their parents as おとうさん (otousan) and おかあさん (okaasan), but in Western parts of Japan, such as Kyoto, it's common to address one's parents as おとうちゃん (otouchan) and おかあちゃん (okaachan) especially among children and teens, while some (especially small children) call them パパ (papa) and ママ (mama). Some adults even use the terms パパ (papa) and ママ (mama), and while some view it as strange for an adult to use these terms, others view it as normal, or even fashionable.

And while the book didn't mention this, it is indeed common to change おにいさん (oniisan) and おねえさん (oneesan) to おにいちゃん (oniichan) and おねえちゃん (oneechan) when speaking to one's own siblings, as さん (san) is often changed to ちゃん (chan) as a sign of endearment because it's perceived as cute. This practice is also used on the suffix さん (san) when addressing a younger female, or a teenage girl, howbeit, this is a condescending title, so consider who you're speaking to before using it.



Tests:

Section A.
Fill in the blanks with the English counterpart of the Japanese words given.

そふ
sofu
________


ごしゅじん
goshujin
_____________


おじいさん
ojiisan
_____________


おこさん、こどもさん
okosan, kodomosan
__________________

そぼ
sobo
____________

つま、かない
tsuma, kanai
_____________


おばあさん
obaasan
_____________


こども
kodomo
__________

いとこ
itoko
_________


おっと、しゅじん
otto, shujin
_______________


おじょぅさん
ojousan
____________


おくさん
okusan
______________


Section B.
Translate the following into English.

1. お母さん（おかあさん）が スーパーに います。
okaasan ga suupaa ni imasu.

2. お兄ちゃん（おにいちゃん）が うちに います。
oniichan ga uchi ni imasu.

3. お姉ちゃん（おねえちゃん）が 東京（とうきょぅ）に います。
oneechan ga toukyou ni imasu.

4. 子供（こども）は いません。
kodomo ha imasen.

5. お母さん（おかあさん）は どこに いますか。
okaasan ha doko ni imasu ka.


Section C.
Translate the following sentences into Japanese.

1. My older brother is here.

2. Good evening, brother. (spoken to one's own older brother)

3. Is dad there? (spoken to one's sibling)

4. Professor Nakamura isn't at the college.

5. Is your grandma at the convenience store?


_______________________________________


Well that was an interesting lesson, now wasn't it? :3 Remember, you have two weeks to get it down since there will be no lesson next week, so don't be too overwhelmed by all of the information I dumped on you all at once. Also the Kanji will be used in future lessons as well, but don't worry with learning them yet: we've a ways to go before we even start trying that (gotta finish Katakana for one thing). It's just there for the sake of exposing us to it, which will slowly help us to learn it and become more comfortable with it. Besides, it looks cool.


Video link:

Note: I sound funny in this video because I was stuffy, and also because I had to use the mic that came boxed in with the PS4. As an added side effect of the old mic being used, when we get to the word "wife" the breath feedback is so loud on the f that there's a 23.716523541% chance that you'll go deaf. Sorry if you go deaf. Finally there are some timing issues at various points in the video lesson. Hopefully it's not too confusing (it shouldn't be, I don't think).

Wizards Intermediates only...
Yes, I made an Adventure Time reference.
No, I don't know what I was thinking.


______________________________________



EX Palen : At our current level? Kindergarten would flunk us. xD jk I'm not familiar with those terms, so I'll have to look into them. Intermediate will just get us used to the language enough that we'll be able to speak it and understand when we hear it. I'm not sure what the end goal of Advanced is, but I'm under the impression that it will leave us with enough knowledge of the language that we could live in Japan and get along fine. However, the literature I currently have won't be enough to make us even high school level in reading, as it only covers thirty Kanji in the writing lessons, and a Japanese high school graduate is expected to know... I want to say 1,300 Kanji. To make up for that I'm going to buy additional materials once we reach the end of Advanced (which won't be for a long time).

To put it simply, I fully intend to continue acquiring all necessary materials until I have, at the very least, a good enough grasp on the language and the Kanji to be able to read and write anything I could need, so... enough to pass any high school level exams on the language. If you guys stick with me on this then you will all get access to the resources as well, so you'll be prepared to transfer to Tokyo university for your final year. :V lol

As an added note, I'm already looking around for the best supplemental materials that I can find for learning Kanji, and just Japanese in general. I currently have something that says it can teach you enough Kanji to clear the JLPT levels 1-5...or maybe it's 5-1... Anyway, I'm gonna make sure that it's good before I begin passing along any of it here.




Summon list:


Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
PoptartSlayerXD :

Welp, here we start with the words we will never hear in the anime because here we learn the language real people use and not the slang our heroes are portrayed with (or maybe it's because anime is focused to people who still doesn't have a high level of Japanese?).

I did hear a few words, and like always with different meanings that aren't that much apart. For example, お祖父さん has been used to refer to someone as "old man", and on a more personal level maybe some kind of father figure as well or friends from your parents. As for おじょぅさん, I've mostly heard it as what could be translated as "young mistress" or something along the lines.

The clarification for the use of the different words for family members was very good. It's still not a rule written in stone, if we take the anime as a reference, but given how a series of them is used as an "affectionate" (for a lack of a more suiting word) way to refer to somebody else it's clear which are mostly for personal use.

It was nice to have the first note about suffixes, looks like we will have several of them as we progress. It was a simple explanation, yet it made clear, directly or indirectly, how to properly use those two. We still have a few to go, let's see when can we get to know them.

I'd always thought that what you stated about the suffixes for siblings was also applied to your parents. Kind of odd to see it actually has to do with regions, though I'm sure that depending on your relationship with them and your overall way of speaking also play a role.

And well, can't end this without admitting that I had intended to reply 20 minutes ago but I couldn't type after reading what happened in our graduation ceremony. To be honest, it didn't differ too much from what would have actually happened, at least when it comes to my character xD

Honestly, that's totally what would've happened. Literally me.

The thing with which family terms to use with which people had me a little confused at first, but I think I get it. It's nothing a little force of habit can't fix, that's for sure. It's almost like this whole thing is muscle memory, only it's up-stairs instead of being physical.

And I couldn't help but laugh a little when we got to "wi[fhPHCKHCH]" in the video.

I'm also a little relieved that we have two weeks to drill this since, in all honesty, I've been a slacker since after the last big test. Gotta get back into the habit and pick the flow back up. Oh, and it's great that we're starting to see the Kanji with the vocabulary now. I know we're not quite into that just yet, but the fact that, after seeing one of then here a few hours before seeing it again in a video game, even though I couldn't really make out the whole word, I got the general idea of what was being said. It's a really weird feeling when you "read" a picture and, instead of getting phonetic information, you get semantic information.

Hello, and welcome to lesson thirty one. This week we'll be learning new vocabulary, refreshing and building on old vocabulary, and learning two new suffixes and a prefix. Good thing you had two weeks of rest, right?

Also I apologize for the lateness. I technically had this ready Monday but just now got around to posting it. I'll try to post the next lesson on a Monday or Tuesday to make it a six day period for study on this lesson, rather than four days.


Onward.


Vocabulary:

家族/ご家族 (かぞく/ごかぞく)
kazoku/gokazoku
Family

両親/ご両親 (りょうしん/ごりょうしん)
ryoushin/goryoushin
Parents

兄弟/ご兄弟 (きょうだい/ごきょうだい)
kyoudai/gokyoudai
Siblings

夫婦/ご夫婦 (ふうふ/ごふうふ)
fuufu/gofuufu
Married couple

親戚/ご親戚 (しんせき/ごしんせき)*
shinseki/goshinseki
Relatives

うち
uchi
House, one's home, one's family

皆/皆さん (みな/みなさん)*
mina/minasan
Everyone

中学校 (ちゅうがっこう)*
chuugakkou
Jr. high/middle school

高校 (こうこう)*
koukou
High school

大学 (だいがく)*
daigaku
College, university

先生、教師 (せんせい、きょうし)*
sensei, kyoushi
Teacher

数学 (すうがく)*
suugaku
Mathematics

経済 (けいざい)*
keizai
Economy

経済学 (けいざいがく)*
keizaigaku
Economics

主婦 (しゅふ)
shufu
Housewife

仕事 (しごと)*
shigoto
Work


Grammar:

ご ご ご! (go go go!)
So you surely must have noticed that the first five words in our vocabulary had ご (go) listed as an optional beginning for them. In all of these cases, ご (go) is added to make the honorific form of the word. Remember, as it is with name suffixes (such as さん (san)) , so it is with honorifics: always use them when speaking to or about someone outside of your circle, but never use them when speaking about yourself.
This extends to referring to another individual's family, and even their salary. If an honorific form of a word exists, use it to refer to things pertaining to the person you are speaking to or about, but use the plain form for referring to things pertaining to yourself. Not using these honorific forms for others would come across rude or condescending, and using them for yourself would sound arrogant.

Simply put, in Japanese you should always show others respect, and speak humbly of yourself. A difficult lesson for modern Americans, I know.



人 と 語 (じん and ご)
In case you hadn't noticed, English is an incredibly ambiguous language. That is, it can often be unclear what exactly is meant by a specific word in English. If I said "Japanese", "French", or "Spanish", without any context, you wouldn't have any way of knowing whether I was talking about a person's nationality, a type of food, a language, or an animal or item's place of origin. In Japanese however, these particular pitfalls are avoided by using specific suffixes. Namely 人 and 語 (じん and ご).

For example
Country:
日本 (にほん -- nihon) Japan
フランス (furansu) France
スペイン (supein) Spain

Nationality:
日本人 (にほんじん -- nihonjin) Japanese person
フランス人 (フランスじん -- furansujin) French person
スペイン人 (スペインじん -- supeinjin) Spanish person


Language:

日本語 (にほんご -- nihongo) Japanese language
フランス語 (フランスご -- furansugo) French language
スペイン語 (スペインご -- supeingo) Spanish language

Simple as that, we now know what you're talking about at a glance.


Tune in next week for a new particle. たのしい です、 ね (tanoshii desu, ne)?


Test:

Section one. You know what to do.

1. 夫婦/ご夫婦 (ふうふ) -- fuufu/gofuufu
2. 兄弟/ご兄弟 (きょうだい) -- kyoudai/gokyoudai
3. 先生、教師 (せんせい、きょうし)* -- sensei, kyoushi
4. 親戚/ご親戚 (しんせき)* -- shinseki/goshinseki
5. 家族/ご家族 (かぞく) -- kazoku/gokazoku
6. 両親/ご両親 (りょうしん) -- ryoushin/goryoushin
7. うち -- uchi
8. 経済 (けいざい)* -- keizai
9. 大学 (だいがく)* -- daigaku
10. 経済学 (けいざいがく)* -- keizaigaku
11. 数学 (すうがく)* -- suugaku
12. 仕事 (しごと)* -- shigoto
13. 高校 (こうこう)* -- koukou
14. 中学校 (ちゅうがっこう)* -- chuugakkou
15. 皆/皆さん (みな)* -- mina/minasan
16. 主婦 (しゅふ) -- shufu




A. Family
B. Work
C. Married couple
D. Economy
E. Everyone
F. Siblings
G. House, one's home, one's family
H. Housewife
I. Parents
J. College, university
K. Relatives
L. Teacher
M. High school
N. Jr. high/middle school
O. Economics
P. Mathematics

_________________________________

Section 2. Answer True or False.

1. 人 (じん -- jin) is added to the end of a country name to signify that the person in question speaks the language by the same name (ie. Japan -- Japanese).

2. #1. is false.

3. 語 (ご -- go) is used to refer to one's nationality.

4. #3 is true.

5. #2 is false

6. #4 is false

7. At this point I'm just trolling you.

_________________________________

Section 3. Translate the following.

1. My older sister is here
2. Professor Nakamura is Japanese
3. My dad is Spanish
4. The cat is French (Idk)
5. My older brother is in Japan

And yes, I'm aware the suffix we learned for nationality is for people, not cats, but indulge me.

_________________________________

Section 4. Answer the following questions in Japanese. The answer for some will be provided in English. Despite being contrary to proper Japanese practice, do not omit any words in the answers (don't say "in the car" to number one for example).

1. Where is your mother? (A. My mother is in the car)
2. Who is in the car? (Hint: it's still your mother in the car)
3. What nationality are you?

_________________________________


Video link:
Link


Did anyone else notice that lesson 31 falls on the week of Halloween? Also, I got the new mic... and it's trash. lol In all seriousness though, it's much lower quality than the last one I purchased from the company that made it. One of these days I'll quit being cheap and buy an actual gaming headset, and on that glorious day your ears will once again have decent audio to listen to for these lessons. No more wi[fhPHCKHCH], FAMIly (this lesson's spoof that I will blame on the mic, even though it was me), or other form of ear murder...aside from my actual talking voice BUT THAT IS ANOTHER STORY ENTIRELY.

Anyway, thanks for joining me for another lesson everyone.

_________________________________


EX Palen : お父ちゃん and お母ちゃん are probably said all over. Based on what that tip said I got the feeling that it was common in those areas, but not exclusive to them. It probably is indeed partly based on how close tour relationship is.

As for calling non relatives お兄ちゃん or お姉ちゃん, it makes sense. I see people here who consider one another adopted siblings, so maybe that's what's going on with those terms too. Just guessing. And it's also common here to use "grandma" and "grandpa" to imply that someone is old, or even slow, so the お祖父さん for a non relative also makes sense.

As for the graduation, I hoped you guys would enjoy that. xD



m0ssb3rg935 : Actually muscle memory is a good comparison. I've had a few lulls in study where I would go a few weeks without bothering to study for one reason or another, and when I would get back to it I would always be able to pick right back up with no problems. And forming sentences really helps with word retention as well, which is another reason I'm excited that these lessons are finally getting into it.

The Kanji is actually far less intimidating so far than I'd thought it would be too. I mean the multiple readings aren't as difficult to grasp as I'd expected, and I suspect learning which to use and when will be similar to learning how to read them in words. It won't be the easiest thing I've ever done, but I don't think it'll be the most difficult either.

My voice went wonky on the first word this time, so be prepared for another laugh. :p


Summon list:
Mynamescox44 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
PoptartSlayerXD :

Well, it's very late on here and I just became busy again, so I'll have to stack this lesson up with the rest. It looks pretty interesting, so I have one more reason to deal with my businesses so I can get to learn this and stop being a slowpoke.

Just a thought, but wouldn't "kyoushi" translate to "professor"? I'm not sure what the exact difference in English is between teacher and professor, and while it's true that Japanese has accepted their own version of "professor", spelled like "purofeza", they surely have a native word meaning the same, which I guess would be "kyoushi".

Nothing else to report, but maybe it's because it's been a tiring day and night. I'm glad you taught us that special lesson about nationality, country and language, it will surely be useful when we're ready to attempt a presentation of ourselves later on.

Hello and welcome to lesson number thirty two! Blah blah yaddah yaddah obligatory random nonsensical opening filler content.

Lesson.


Vocabulary:


会社 (かいしゃ)*
kaisha
Company

会社員 (かいしゃいん)*
kaishain
Company employee

銀行員 (ぎんこういん)*
ginkouin
Bank clerk

ウェブデザイナー
webudezainaa
Web designer

エンジニアー、技師 (ぎし)*
enjiniaa, gishi
Engineer

電気技師 (でんきぎし)*
denkigishi
Electrical engineer

経理 (けいり)*
keiri
Business administration, accounting

担当 (たんとう)*
tantou
Being in charge of

お給料 (おきゅうりょう)*/給料 (きゅうりょう)*
kyuuryou/okyuuryou
Salary (polite with O)

出身 (しゅっしん)*/ご出身 (ごしゅっしん)*
shusshin/goshusshin
Place of origin, hometown

でも
demo
However, but (at the beginning of a sentence)



Grammar
This week we have a simple grammar section, with only one particle making up the entire thing. Be ready because next week we have three of them. :3
And as always, the particle comes with a cheesy joke that no one asked for nor wanted.


Time for some も (mo) particles!
I'll wait for everyone to quit groaning over that lame pun before continuing.

Okay, good. Now we've covered this particle before, but we've never actually seen how to use it, and that's what we're going to do today. And before we go any further, let me say that I'm not even entirely comfortable with calling this one a particle as it acts more like a word than a particle, but for some reason it's deemed a particle anyway. There are some things in life that we just accept even though they make no sense, like the fact that a game that focuses on using your hands to hold a ball is called football, that cargo is carried by ships and shipments are carried by cars, and last but not least, liquid soap.

But back on topic.

も (mo), as you already know, means also or too. How is it used though? Well here we can go one of two ways: we can cover it just like I was taught it, which admittedly worked well enough, or we can do it the easy way. Now whether it's because I'm good at simplifying things, or because I'm lazy, I cannot say, but for whatever reason, I'm going with the easy route.

Simply put, you use も (mo) the same way that you use the words also and too, with only one exception: it can also be used to say "both...and...". For example, you could say 「マッスさんもペィレンさんもゲームをする。」massu-san mo paren-san mo geemu wo suru. "Both moss and Palen are playing a game."

And since my laziness and obsession with explaining things too thoroughly are conflicting right now, here are some more examples of usage.

も (mo) used like "too":
Palen: わたしはゲームがすきです。watashi ha geemu ga suki desu.
I like games.
User: わたしも(ゲームがすきです)。watashi mo (geemu ga suki desu).
I do (like games) too.

Eirinn : あにはふるいです。ani ha furoi desu.
My older brother is old.
m0ss: エィレンさんも。Eirinn-san mo.
You are too (lit. Eirinn too).


も (mo) used like "also":
あねはがくせいです。ane ha gakusei desu.
My older sister is a student.
おとうともがくせいです。otouto mo gakusei desu.
My younger brother is also a student. (lit. my younger brother also is a student)


So now you see an example for each of the uses of も (mo). It can replace particles, such as changing わたしは (watashi ha) to わたしも (watashi mo), appear in sentences with other particles, and can follow postpositions.

In case you aren't sure what a postposition is, It's like a preposition in English, such as "to", or "from", but it comes after the word it refers to. An example of a postposition would be 「アメリカから」amerika kara
From America (lit. America from).


Some final notes about も (mo): It can follow a noun, time adverb, demonstrative, or numeral, but it connot follow a verb or an adjective. These are the technical details, and they may sound daunting, but don't worry: you'll pick these up from exposure.



Test:
Section A.
Match the Japanese vocabulary to it's English counterpart.


A. お給料 (おきゅうりょう)*/給料 (きゅうりょう)* -- kyuuryou/okyuuryou

B.エンジニアー、技師 (ぎし)* -- enjiniaa, gishi

C. でも -- demo

D. 担当 (たんとう)* -- tantou

E. ウェブデザイナー -- webudezainaa

F. 銀行員 (ぎんこういん)*

G. 会社 (かいしゃ)* -- kaisha

H. 会社員 (かいしゃいん)* -- kaishain

I. 出身 (しゅっしん)*/ご出身 (ごしゅっしん)* -- shusshin/goshusshin

J. 電気技師 (でんきぎし)* -- denkigishi

K. 経理 (けいり)* -- keiri




1. Salary
2. Engineer
3. However, but
4. Being in charge of
5. Web designer
6. Bank clerk
7. Company
8. Company employee
9. Place of origin, hometown
10. Electrical engineer
11. Business administration, accounting

________________________________

Section B.
Answer the questions (boi!)

1. What parts of speech can the particle も (mo) not follow?

2. What is the polite form of the word 給料 (kyuuryou)*?

3. Is Eirinn old?

________________________________

Section C.

1. Write a sentence that uses the particle も (mo) in the same way you would use the English word "too".

2. Write a sentence that uses the particle も (mo) in the same way you would use the English word "also".

3. Write a sentence that uses the particle も (mo) in the same way you would use the English words "both...and...".


________________________________



That does it for this week's lesson. I'd like to say a few things before ending this post however. First off, I apologize for the lateness of the lesson once again, but as you'll hear in the video, my throat is still pretty messed up. I finally decided to just do the lesson anyway and hope I could get through it and you could understand it.
Next I want to reiterate a point I've made in the past: one serious obstacle you may run into with learning a new language is that teachers typically say things like "This Japanese word means [insert English word]". I've probably done this before as well, but I try to be careful to say things like "This word's English counterpart is..." The reason this can be an issue is the fact that these words are rarely used in the exact same way in both languages, whether due to the fact that the words aren't exact equals, or the sentence structure being so different. This can cause needless confusion, so please be aware that when we say things like も (mo) means "also", "too", or "both...and..." we aren't being literal. も (mo) means も (mo) and nothing else. "Also", "too", and "both...and..." are just the closest we can get to it in English. Hopefully remembering this will help you in grasping usage of words in very different ways than their English counterparts (I mean who says "I too my brother too do this"? But it works with も (mo)).


Video


_________________________________

EX Palen : To be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure what the difference between 教師 (きょうし) and 先生 (せんせい) is. Also I hope I got that Kanji right. xD I do know that the grammar section in my literature that used 教師 (きょうし) used it to refer to someone who was teaching in high school, and, in the U.S. at least, professor is usually reserved for college teachers. That may or may not mean anything for Japanese.





Summon list:
Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
PoptartSlayerXD :


Woohoo I posted a lesson!

EDIT: Woohoo I also summoned myself on accident!

Senpai, you forgot the transcription of bank clerk... Or is it a hidden test and we must find out the proper transcription based on which characters make up the word?

Another small bit of vocabulary that will help us build our first sentences. I was a bit confused at 出身, just too many esses in there, so I went to the video to dissipate my doubts about its spelling, not only where those doubts dissipated but now I want to see all videos to check if I can get a good laugh at the chosen pics xD

Let's see what does the next lesson bring up. Due to some real life events, which one user of this course already knows about, I could start paying very close attention to anime pronunciation, so with what we've already covered and what we're about to cover maybe I can start pestering the subbers about doing a bad job lol

Regarding the issue of the difference between teacher and professor (which, to some degree, used to exist over here as well but was eventually lost as the new generations stopped using one of the words for the other meanings it has), the same thing that happens in English could happen in Japanese, because all instances I've heard of "sensei" were at most in high school. And well, regarding the video, you do sound like not being perfectly okay, but even I could understand you perfectly so everybody else shouldn't have any problem either.

Mynamescox44 :
m0ssb3rg935 :
deggle :
SacredShadow :
Sanspai :
sevencube3 :
Jygin :
Frodlex :
Zlinqx :
tytytec04 :
lordbelial669 :
A user of this :
EX Palen :
PoptartSlayerXD :

No, not a lesson. Sorry. That's on it's way still, but we've reached the point in the literature where the lesson formatting changes drastically and I'm trying to figure out the best way to adapt that to fit a forum style lesson. I'll do what I can to hurry the process along without compromising the quality (if the way I handle them already can be called quality lol).

This post is here because I have an important question: as of this point the lessons will mostly be focused on sentence building and grammar, except for one or two lessons every month or two that might be vocabulary heavy.
That said, should we reformat the video lessons to include spoken dialogue as well as the vocabulary? For example, this week we'll be covering intonation (using the tone of your voice to alter the meaning of a word). Should I put examples in the video, or just let the text explain it? Bear in mind that at least one example will be present either way, as two items in our vocabulary list are the same words but with different tones of voice.

Thanks for your time, guys, and for learning with me!

If we're going to be covering prosodic details that make a big enough difference, if it's not too much more work for you, I'd like to have demonstrations of the sentences or examples we're covering. Reading it helps, but for this sort of thing I won't know for sure how to mimic it without something to listen too.

If we're dealing with intonation, I want examples. Last time I dealt with phonetics was an absolute pain, and while I know you'll make it easy for us to understand, I'd still like to hear it to better understand how to pronounce those words without messing up.

I'm okay with just one example for each specific variant. I mean, if the different intonations of a couple of words matches at least another couple, then having just one of those couples in the video as demonstration would be enough for me to understand how it works.

Not sure if I managed to explain myself, but that came to confirm why I can't take the Proficiency exam yet

Japanese Lesson thirty three, start!

Failed animé openings aside, welcome to lesson thirty three. This week is going to be...interesting. :3 Let's see why.


Sentences:
It's that time: time for our first sentence building section! This is where the new courses Begin to really develop our communication skills, and with around 400 words in our vocabulary at this point, it's high time we start working on using them, right?


五人家族 (ごにんかぞく)
gonin kazoku
Five people in a family
(lit. Five people family)

三人兄弟 (さんにんきょうだい)
sannin kyoudai
Three children in a family
(lit. Three people siblings)

一人っ子 (ひとりっこ)
hitorikko
Only child
Tip: if you pay close attention, you'll see that this is two words contracted: hitori (one person) and kodomo (child).

両親といっしょに (りょうしんといっしょに)
ryoushin to issho ni
Together with parents
(lit. Parents with together)

それから
sorekara
And then (this could also be read literally as there from, or from there)

それじゃまた
sore ja mata
See you then

そうですか。　
sou desu ka.
Is that so?
(with a rising tone)

そうですか。　
sou desu ka.
I see.
(with a falling tone)

そうですね。
sou desu ne.
Yes it is./Let me see.



Grammar:
Hopefully you, unlike me, didn't try to figure out some of the above before reading further down for the explanation. Either way, here come a few.

と！
Remember what was said in the last lesson about how we tend to say "this word means this in English"? Here's one example of why that is a bad practice. Before, we learned that と (to) translated as "and", but in 両親といっしょに (ryoushin to issho ni) it functions like the English word "with". Seriously, don't try to wrap your English speaking brain around that one, just accept that it works in Japanese. lol


Intonation
As with most, if not all languages, the tone of your voice in Japanese can alter the meaning of your words at times. そうですか。(sou desu ka.) is one such example. With a rising tone it is a question, and with a falling one it's a statement. Think of it like the word "Really" in English: if you tell me something and I say "Really?" And you answer "Really." we've both said the same word, but mine was a question and yours was a confirmation. The difference lies in the fact that my tone rises at the end of the word, and yours lowers at the end.

If that doesn't make sense, the video should clarify.


では、じゃ？(de ha, ja?)
If you think back to our first few lessons, you might remember us learning to say "See you then" or "see you later" as それではまた (sorede ha mata), but in this lesson we relearn it as それじゃまた (sore ja mata). The difference is the level of formality.

Simply put, the じゃ (ja) is the informal contracted form of the では (de ha) in the first one. Simple enough, right? You're gonna see more of this contraction in the near future, so be sure to remember it. (^_-)
I was totally just looking for a chance to use the emotes on my Japanese keyboard. lol


when is a question not a question?
No, it isn't a riddle, it's a particle discussion.

We all surely recall learning that か (ka) is essentially a spoken question mark. A particle that we use at the end of a sentence to turn the statement into a question (with the exception of questions that utilize question words, of course).

However, in this lesson you probably noticed that か (ka) was used as part of a statement. Don't be too confused: it's actually quite easy to understand, and it hearkens back to the above section on tone.


か (ka) can be used in a sentence to express surprise. Perhaps you've seen this in some games or shows, when a character exclaims "Kaaaa!!"... or maybe I just need to stop playing such poorly translated games. Either is entirely possible.

Anyway, when used to express surprise the pronunciation of か (ka) is often changed by dragging out the last half of the syllable, saying it as かあ (kaa) instead of か (ka). When said with a falling tone, か (ka) expresses mild surprise. When used with a rising tone it can serve as an echo question, confirming what was heard, or to express surprise.

Finally, because the list above failed to elaborate beyond a simple translation...
そうですか。(sou desu ka.) when spoken with a falling tone indicates that the speaker accepts the information they've been given with mild surprise. そうですか。(sou desu ka.) when spoken with a rising tone indicates that the speaker doesn't fully accept the information they've been given ー a sort of shocked disbelief.




Katakana returns:
You guys really need to stay after me about this. We should have finished katakana several lessons ago. :/ Sorry about that.

マ = ま - ma
ミ = み - mi
厶 = む - mu
メ = め - me
モ = も - mo

So yeah, there's another line. We'll do another next week...probably.

_____________________________________


Test:
Section A.
Match the Japanese vocabulary to it's English counterpart.

A. 一人っ子 (ひとりっこ) - hitorikko

B. 両親といっしょに (りょうしんといっしょに) - ryoushin to issho ni

C. それから - sorekara

D. そうですね。- sou desu ne.

E. そうですか。- sou desu ka.

F. それじゃまた - sore ja mata

G. 三人兄弟 (さんにんきょうだい) - sannin kyoudai

H. そうですか。- sou desu ka.

I. 五人家族 (ごにんかぞく) - gonin kazoku

J. そうですね。- sou desu ne.

K. 中学校 (ちゅうがっこう)* -- chuugakkou

L. 高校 (こうこう)* - koukou



1. I see.
2. Five people in a family
3. Middle school/Jr. High
4. Yes it is.
5. And then
6. See you then
7. Is that so?
8. High school
9. Three children in a family
10. Let me see.
11. Together with parents
12. Only child

_____________________________________

Section B.
Questions.

1. What is じゃ (ja) a contraction of?

2. True or False: when speaking to someone about your family, you should use the honorific forms.

3. List two English words that と (to) can translate to.

_____________________________________

Section C.
Sentences.

1. Make a sentence using at least one of the entries listed in the "Sentences" section of this lesson.

2. Again, please. :3

_____________________________________


Vidya link



_____________________________________



EX Palen : A hidden test? Uh... yes! Yes it was a hidden test! Now transcribe it, Palen-kun! Yeah, totally forgot. lol

Right? What threw me was the first time I saw っ and し together. I couldn't figure out how to double an sh sound without saying "sh sh". xD


Speaking of subs, I've noticed a few that were translated quite oddly here over the past couple of weeks. I find it particularly funny when はい is translated "no" yet somehow ends up accurately conveying the same message due to the differences in how English speakers talk and how Japanese speakers talk.

And that thing about the word professor in Spanish is pretty interesting. Speaking of Spanish, I took the liberty of assuming it used the same tones for questions and such as English. If I'm mistaken, I apologize for any confusion it may have caused (you'll see what I mean in the video).





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