Let's ask questions

What is it?

The first thing anybody learning a foreign language probably would ask is;

"What is it?" 

なん　です　か。

(nan desu ka.)

Now think back to what we already know about これ (kore)、それ (sore) and あれ (are) - the triple ripple effect. Based on that knowledge we can now point to specific things and ask about it. か(ka) functions as a question marker. は (ha) when used as a particle/topic marker (will cover that later on) is pronounced wa.

What is this?                                                                   これ　は　なん　です　か。

(directed to something you have in                                       (kore wa nan desu ka.)

your hands or is near your inner space circle)

What is that?                                                                 それ　は　なん　です　か。

(indicating something a little further from

 you/or in someone else's hands)　　　　　　　　　　　(sore wa nan desu ka.)

What is that?                                                                  あれ　は　なん　です　か。

(indicating something far away from you.)　　　　　　    (are wa nan desu ka.)

You can answer that too by saying; __________ です。

Here's a few fun bits to practice with. Again, learning a little vocabulary frequently will only help communicating better. For now, let's stick our favourite topics;

Vocabulary:

ねこ                         やさい                    すし                         まくら

(neko)　　　　　      (yasai)                    (sushi)　　　　　     (makura)

cat                           vegetable                 sushi                        pillow

いぬ                         みず                       くるま                    ペン 

(inu)                         (mizu)                     (kuruma)                (pen)

dog                           water                       car                        pen

Let's practice:

これ　は　なん　です　か。　　　　　　   ペン　です。

(kore was nan desu ka.)                                  (pen desu.)

What is this? (in my hand)                                 It's a pen.

それ　は　なん　です　か。　　　　　　   やさい　です。

(sore wa nan desu ka.)                                    (yasai desu.)

What is that? (pointing to something away)       It's a vegetable.

あれ　は　なん　です　か。　　　　　　   くるまです。

(are wa nan desu ka.)                                      (kuruma desu.)

What is that? (something far away from you)    It's a car.

すし　は　です　か。　　　　　　              はい、すし　です。

(sushi wa desu ka.)                                        (hai, sushi desu.)

Is this sushi?                                                      Yes, it's sushi.

みず　は　です　か。　　　　　　　   　  いいえ、おちゃ　です。

(mizu desu ka.)                                             (iie, ocha desu.)

Is this water?                                                     No, it's tea,

ねこ　は　です　か。　　　　　　　  　    いいえ、いぬ　です。

(neko desu ka.)                                              (iie, inu desu.)

Is this a cat?                                                      No, it's a dog.

それ　は　すし　です　か。　　　　　    いいえ、それ　は　やさい　です。

(sore wa sushi desu ka.)                               (iie, sore wa yasai desu.)

Is that sushi?                                                     No, that is a vegetable.       

You get the idea? Now put your own vocabulary in there and just play around with it. If you're lucky, you will have a partner to practice with. If, like me, you do it on your own (violins playing!) you need to get creative. I recorded some questions on my phone, leaving enough time in between for me to answer back out loud (when no-one was around!) and also the reverse. The point being, you need to start getting used to hearing what you say/read and also get your mouth used to forming these new words and sounds. In the beginning it sounds really awful and feels weird (I still laugh at my very foreignness in pronunciation!) but with practice, I hope words will eventually flow better and that I will be able to have an ACTUAL conversation with someone.

Start asking questions! Question everything! 

　

　　

Kore wa...Sore wa...Are wa...

This..

That...

That over there....

Think of a triple ripple, with you in the centre as the speaker, each ripple is further away from you..



1) The object you are holding in your hands are being referred to as kore (　 これ　）-  this

これ　は　なん　です　か。                　What is this? 

(Kore wa nan desu ka.)                                          

　　　　これ　は　ギター　です。　　　　　This is a guitar.　　　　

(Kore wa gita- desu.)                                            

2) Next ripple, the object is in another's hands; sore (　それ　）- that

 それ　は　なん　です　か。　　　  　What is that?     

 (Sore wa nan desu ka.) 　　                                 

       

　       プレゼント　です　か。　　　　　 Is it a present?　

(Purezento desu ka.)                                          

3) Third ripple, the object way over in the distance; are ( 　あれ　) - that over there

あれ　は　なん　です　か。　    What is that (over there)?

(Are wa nan desu ka.)                                                   

Conversation: 



Q: それ　は　なんですか。　　　　　　What  is that?（Points to the thing in person's hands)
　（Sore wa nan desu ka.）

A: これ　は　ねこ　です。　　　　　　This is a cat.
　（Kore wa neko desu.)




Q: あれ　は　なん　です　か。　　　 What is that (over there?)
　　(Are wa nan desu ka.)

A: あれ　は　くるま　です。　　　　　That (over there) is a car.
　（Are wa kuruma desu.)




Q: それ　は　ペン　です　か。　　　  Is that a pen?
　　(Sore wa pen desu ka.)

A:  はい、これ　は　ペン　です。　　  Yes, it is a pen.
      (Hai, kore wa pen desu.)

Where do I even start?!

" Where do I even start?!"

The loaded question that fills everyone with instant panic and confusion! Yes, I too was a slave to this overwhelming panic! (Probably still could class myself as overwhelmed, but you have to start somewhere right?)

I made the classic mistake of trying to learn by copying and repeating all these self-help "useful phrases everyone must know to  speak Japanese!". There are hundreds of them just on You Tube alone! So...I learned to sound-copy some stuff...great!

Next...try to listen to other speakers...and try to follow what they are saying...

uhm...I can't understand much of what is being said, let alone try to even answer...NO....utter despair!!!

It became very clear that this is not the way for me. I need to understand first what all these sounds are (because let's face it, at this point, it all is just a bunch of sounds grouped together. It has no meaning yet). So if I can't understand what I'm hearing/saying, how can I even begin to respond? There are  these little annoying things called "conjugation", the annoying tenses etc. that make up any language. It makes a lot more sense to learn those first before I can leap to reciting a whole masterpiece by some famous Japanese poet.

Everyone is dishing out advise on which material to use and what is the best way forward, that alone is enough to make my head swim!

Basically, I narrowed it down to a few popular choices. The general consensus is
           1) The Genki Series
           2) Minna no Nihongo
           3) Tae Kim's Guide To Japanese
           4) Japanese from ZERO
           5) Japanese Pod101
           6) Memrise

Oh there are so many more! I did extensive research on each of these because I do believe that once you are making a choice, you have to stick to that choice to fully appreciate that material. I am not going to tell anyone which material to use themselves, because we are all different, have different reasons for wanting to learn Japanese and we have different uses in mind for that acquired knowledge.

What I end up choosing

I personally decided to go with Japanese from ZERO, as it literally starts from scratch, but with the aim to get you talking immediately. At a glance each chapter covers;

•  a lesson goal,
•  a review of the previous lesson, advice from the teachers,
•  new words,
•  new phrases, 
• culture clips (which I find fascinating), 
• grammar,
•  a Q&A section,
•  new hiragana and katakana,
•  writing practice, 
• everyday words, drills,
•  and lastly, a question  activity section where you respond to questions

Before each new lesson there is a recap of what you learnt in your previous lesson, and a suggestion to review the previous chapter again before continuing if you are struggling to remember some basics. I like the book as the writing is very clear, sometimes very funny, and it shows you your progress on sentence building at the end of each chapter. To accompany the book, you can log in to the website also and do the lessons on line too at http://www.yesjapan.com/ (which is filled with mini games and audio clips and kana tests which is great fun to do!). I had a quick read through the first chapter and registered on line (it is totally free too!). I think it will be more beneficial to use both platforms, as sometimes on the website you find little pearls of wisdom that is not in the book.

 In my research about which book to use, I found that some people were put off by the fact that the Japanese is in romaji. Ok, your first thought; " But I'm supposed to ditch romaji and dive straight into hiragana!". Well, that's assuming you know all your hiragana and katakana before you even opened a book (which is a bit unrealistic!). The kana is introduced progressively as you would learn it line by line, like you were taught your ABC's in school. Gradually the kanas replace the romaji, until it is all kana. If, like me, you already learned your hiragana and katakana, you can simply answer the questions in kana for added practice. You get plenty of kana reading practice on the website in the mini games too, so I really don't understand why some people are so against this course for that reason.

Anyway I will see where this takes me and hopefully I can stay motivated throughout this journey.

Important thing to remember;

Don't get overwhelmed!! Stop! Take a breath, and just focus on one thing at a time.

But most of all, have fun learning!

いきましょう！

Why Japanese?

"Why? Why do you want to study Japanese?"

I get asked that a lot...

Why indeed? There is no single answer to that. Of course, the most common answer to this would be due to the influence of manga and anime, J-Rock, J-Pop and VK (Visual Kei). But...the more I listened to the language, the more I fell in love with the sound of it. 

Versailles

The Gazette

Akeboshi

Kumanoza shrine, Kumamoto, Japan

Other factors would be; I do freelance proofreading, am interested in languages and would like to add Japanese translation to my niche. The art of writing the kana itself is a thing of beauty and I can only hope to emulate it half decently by the end of my studies. 

But my biggest hope would be a visit to Japan and being able to make my way across with confidence and meeting loads of different people, sharing their stories and learn from them about their own culture, beliefs and not just the "tourist brochure version". I like to go off the beaten track so to speak.

Ganbatte!

About this blogg, here's the thing. It is not a tutorial of "How To" (sorry to disappoint). It is more of a diary for marking my progress as I go along, celebrating my mini achievements and epic failures along the way. I hope it will keep me motivated and cheer me up to see how far I have come when I feel like I'm getting no where. 

Should anybody want to get in touch with me to suggest something helpful, or to correct a grammar/pronunciation mistake or just even to go along with me at this snails pace and start a conversation with that first basic konnichiwa, I am more than eager to hear from you and try to overcome this massive shyness and intimidation that I feel when it's suggested I join chat rooms (with  already established speakers).