Lesson Notes for Lesson 1 of "Japanese Newbie Lessons"

Here is the Romaji version:

Konnichiwa.

Watashi wa Tanaka Mayumi desu.

Watashi wa Nihon-jin desu.

Watashi wa 25-sai desu.

Here is some explanation of Japanese language from Wikipedia:

The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: modified Chinese characters called kanji (漢字), and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ). The Latin alphabet, rōmaji (ローマ字), is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer.

I highly recommend all of you to learn Japanese characters as soon as possible. For this lesson, I will start from all-hiragana lesson, but eventually I will introduce Kanji little by little. It makes much easier to read Japanese when you know Japanese characters.

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Hiragana syllabary: http://www.lingq.com/learn/ja/store/25195/
Hiragana Drill: Hiragana Drill - LingQ Language Library
Katakana syllabary: http://www.lingq.com/learn/ja/store/25197/

Here is again from Wikipedia:

[Sentence structure]

Japanese word order is classified as [Subject] [Object] [Verb]. However, Japanese sentences only require that verbs come last for intelligibility. This is because the Japanese sentence elements are marked with particles that identify their grammatical functions.

Let’s see a sentence from the lesson, and I want to add Wikipedia explanation with it.

わたし は にほんじん です。 (Watashi wa Nihon-jin desu – I am Japanese.)

わたし(watashi) is the topic of the sentence, indicated by the particle -は(wa). The verb is です(desu), a copula, commonly translated as “to be” or “it is” (though there are other verbs that can be translated as “to be”), though technically it holds no meaning and is used to give a sentence ‘politeness’.

Particle は(wa)

Wa is a topic marker. It is written with the hiragana は ha, rather than the hiragana わ, wa.

Japanese Names

Japanese names in modern times usually consist of a family name (surname), followed by a given name. “Middle names” are not generally used. Japanese names are usually written in kanji. The kanji for a name may have a variety of possible Japanese pronunciations. A name written in kanji may have more than one common pronunciation, only one of which is correct for a given individual.

Yes… sometimes it is difficult to read Japanese names correctly. People alway misread my name too.

I have some more lessons I want you to study.

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あいさつ: Greetings and Goodbyes - LingQ Language Library ( or “Greeting (Romaji)” in the same collection)
1から20までのかぞえかた: Numbers - LingQ Language Library (or “Count 1-20 (in Romaji)” in the same collection)
おおきなかずのかぞえかた: Numbers - LingQ Language Library (or “Ookina kazu no kazoekata” in the same collection)

OH! I have to make a lesson of “how to count your age.”

Lastly here is the English translation of the lesson:

Hello.
I am Mayumi Tanaka.
I am Japanese.
Iam 25 years old.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to post this forum :slight_smile:

Thank you, Wikipedia!

“Watashi wa Tanaka Mayumi desu.”

Which is the family name and which the individual’s given name (which we would call the first name or Christian name?)

thanks for these simple lessons and comments, they are much appreciated!

Tanaka is the family name and Mayumi is the first name.

For this collection, I will try to write lesson notes :slight_smile: I believe it is helpful and fun to learn cultures.

I have received a request of the Kanji version. So, here it is.

漢字

こんにちは。

私 は 田中 真由美 です。(たなか まゆみ can be other kanji, but I think this is the most popular way to write たなか まゆみ with Kanji.)

私 は 日本人 です。

私 は 25才 です。

“才” can be written “歳.” They are both the same meaning.

Thank you for these notes. They are very helpful, indeed.

こんにちは。
私はエリック・ブレアです。
私は107歳です。
http://twitter.com/orwell_1984

I love LingQ and all you people that help us.

僕は イビリソル です。
僕は ブラジルじん です。
僕は 二十三さい です。

さよなら。。。

Is it an exception while writing you use は (ha) instead of わ (wa)? But then you say wa instead of ha…
Is it valid only for “watashi wa” or is there any other words? As I see you also do the same for “konnichiwa”

こんにちは 。お 元気です か ?
É a primeira vez que utilizo o site, e sinceramente adorei a oportunidade de ter contato com tantos idiomas ao mesmo tempo, pensei que ia aprender apenas o japonês, mas percebi que vou desenvolver o inglês ao mesmo tempo, adorei, parabéns ling!!!

hello my name is Viviane, my native language is Portuguese, Japanese intend to develop both English and mostly my, I’m glad to know that the translation was done without a dictionary, it’s me new perspectives for the search of new languages​​, I using the support of the translator, but I believe I will soon be able to perform these conversations without such assistance, thank you …

I do not understand anything…I need japanese alphabets…A - Z

@samyuktha - Hi! If you want to learn the Japanese kana I would recommend doing a quick Google search. You will find lots of resources that will help teach you the kana.

Is there a difference between using 私 and 我?

Yes. Use 私 (watashi) to mean I. Don’t use 我 (ware) unless you already know you can.