6 August 2012
So you want to learn Japanese?
First things first, there are a lot of things you have to learn in order to speak Japanese so it's not a language you take for fun.
Example: you have to learn all of the Japanese writing systems, hiragana, katakana, and kanji.
Let's start by learning the Japanese vowel system.
A I E U O.
A is pronounced ah as in father.
I is pronounced ee as in feet.
E is pronounced eh as in kettle.
U is pronounced oo as in food.
O is pronounced oh as in ok.
So now that we've got the vowels down it's time to learn some Japanese!
Important note: there are politer ways to say different phrases such as "good morning," or "thank you."
Good morning is ohayo. (pronounced like the state Ohio.) a more polite way to say good morning would be ohayo gozaimasu. (note: you don't pronounce the u.)
Hello and/or good afternoon is konnichiwa.
Thank you is arigato. A more polite way to say this would be arigato gozaimasu. Another way to say thank you that's a little bit more informal would be domo arigato.
Excuse me is sumimasen.
I'm sorry is gomen nasai.
When you see the letters ai together it's pronounced I.
How much is this is ikura desu ka. This is one of the exceptions where you do pronounce the u at the end of desu.
Good evening is konbanwa.
But is demo.
You is no.
And is to (pronounced toe)
The Japanese have a different order in which the words go in.
To show you I am now going to teach you how to say "It is a pen."
First the word for "it is" which would be desu.
Now the word for pen which is pen. Pretty simple.
Now instead of it being desu pen the correct way to say it is pen desu.
Hope this helps!
And now for our last word.
Sayōnara which means good bye. Only use this if you're leaving and you're not going to be seeing each other for awhile.
Have fun learning Japanese!
:)
Learn Japanese • Opuss № I