Before you start

Lesson 1 - Contents

Lesson one of Real Japanese looks at the basics of learning Japanese. Simple greetings, introductions, and the writing system. Don't get discouraged by the amount of Hiragana and Katakana! Just enjoy learning Japanese!

Note: To read the Japanese font you need to apply "(Japanese) - Shift_ JIS" to your browser.To do this go to the menu bar select "View > Character Encoding > (Japanese) - Shift_ JIS. If you don't see it there select View> Character Encoding's > More Encoding's > East Asian > (Japanese) Shift_ JIS. I

1. Greetings (basic)
2. Giving Thanks
3. Introducing Yourself For The First Time (conversation)
4. Hiragana
5. Katakana
6. Reading

Skip to Lesson:
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 9 - 10

1. Greetings (Basic)

Person 1 - Speaker		Person 2 - Response
Ohayougozaimasu	Good Morning	Ohayougozaimasu
Konnichiwa	Hi Hello Good Afternoon	Konnichiwa
Konbanwa	Good Evening	Konbanwa
Oyasumi	Good Night	Oyasumi
Sayounara	Good-Bye	Sayonara
Ittekimasu	Said when going out.	Itterasshai	Said to someone going out
Tadaima	Said when returning	Okaerinasai	Said to someone returning

2. Giving Thanks

	Person 2 - Response
Thank you very much	Douitashimashite	You're welcome
Thank You	Douitashimashite	You're welcome
I'm sorry Excuse me	Iie	It's ok
Please do so	Doumo	Thanks Thank you
Said when offering food	Itadakimasu	Said when starting a meal
Said when finishing a meal	Gochisousamadeshita	Said in reply

3. Introducing your self (Conversation)

Note: "Hajimemashite" is used only when greeting someone for the first time.

Person 1: Hajimemashite. (Watashi wa) John desu. How do you do. I am John.
Person 2: Hajimemashite. (Watashi wa) Yamada desu. How do you. I am Yamada
Person 1: Douzo yoroshiku. Nice to meet you.
Person 2: Kochirakoso. Nice to meet you too.

4. Hiragana	To continue with these lessons you will need to memorize or at least have a good grasp of Hirigana and Katakana. I suggest memorizing about 10 a day. You can easily pick up Hirigana in a week if you work at it!
Hiragana Table 1 all Japanese charters work off of the 5 vowels "AEIOU". They are pronounced a little different and are usually spoken in a different order. "AIUEO" Pronunciation is as follows: A - "Awww" I wanted a blue one, mommy! I - "ee" as in Bee (buzz buzz) U - "ooh" that feels good! E - "eh" You are Canadian, Eh? O - "Oh" Canada our home and... "OH!" my god don't sing please With these basic sound we just ad the consonant. ie. K + A = Ka (K Aw) Is that "KaKa" on your shoe! N + I = Ni (N ee) Like "Knee" neat huh? Ok you get the gist of it now start studying!

Hirigana table 2 Like the above. Notice that the characters are the same except for some added marks. ”。 These should be easy to memorize! Watch out for a couple of them though. zu, ji, ju

Hirigana table 3 Here we ad a "ya, yu, or yo" to th original to make a new character. Also we always change the original character to the "I" form Ka= Ki, Ga=Gi, Ba=Bi then add "ya, yu, or yo" Example: Ka becomes Ki + Ya = Kya (like the karate chop "Kyaaaa!" Na becomes Ni + Ya = Nya ( sounds like Niyaaa) (Also this is the sound of a cat or girls trying to be sexy) Note: I missed adding the "R" ones please add them accordingly Rya, Ryu, Ryo Sorry for the incontinence.

5. Katakana	These follow the same rules as above they just look different!


Note: I missed adding the "R" ones in the table below. Please add them accordingly Rya, Ryu, Ryo Sorry for the inconvenience.

6. Reading
おはようございます。	...よう...　"う" after an "o" sound usually makes an "oh" sound. In this case the "yo" will become "yo-" a little longer.	さようなら。
こんにちは。	"...は"　at the end of a greeting makes a "wa" sound, not a "ha" sound.	こんばんは。
いってきます。	A small "っ" represents a double consonant. Pause for a very brief second before the preceding character.	いってらっしゃい。
ありがとうございます。ありがとう。おやすみ。おやすみなさい。こんばんは。	Try reading these. "ー" elongates the preceding character.	カナダ。 Canada アメリカ。America イギリス。England オーストラリア Australia めきしこ　What's this one?