Beginner Japanese

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初級の日本語

Shokyū no Nihongo

Beginner Japanese
Educational level: this is a secondary education resource.

Content summary[edit | edit source]

This learning project will provide an introduction to the Japanese language.

Goals[edit | edit source]

This learning project offers learning activities to enable you to:

  • Understand some basic elements of the Japanese language
  • Learn the pronunciation of Japanese
  • Understand the various writing systems
  • Learn the syllabaries of Japanese

Introduction[edit | edit source]

Before continuing, please see Computing in Japanese to determine if your computer and browser are configured properly for viewing course-related material.

Conventions[edit | edit source]

Throughout this course, Japanese terms are presented in two forms: the Japanese scripts, and romanized forms (rōmaji), which are bolded. Japanese terms written in the Japanese scripts are always followed by rōmaji.

Meanings of Japanese terms and their English equivalents are italicised.

話す hanasu (to speak)
食べる taberu (to eat)

Sample Japanese sentences will be formatted to help you understand how the parts of speech work together.

日本語話しますNihongo wa hanashimasu ka.
Do [you] speak Japanese?
Literally: Speaking of Japanese, speak?

Japanese can be said to use SOV (Subject-Object-Verb, 'I Japanese like' ) sentence structure, compared to the English SVO (Subject-Verb-Object, 'I like Japanese' ). Although this is not always true, it may help the beginner to establish a baseline from which to delve into the Japanese Language.

Lessons[edit | edit source]

Introduction[edit | edit source]

  1. Introduction to the Japanese Language
  2. Introduction to the Japanese Writing System
  3. Kana
  4. Kanji
  5. Pronunciation of Japanese

Grammar[edit | edit source]

  1. Existence and Copula
  2. Particles
  3. Adjectives
  4. Verbs
  5. Godan Verbs
  6. Ichidan Verbs
  7. Particles used with verbs

Applied Japanese[edit | edit source]

  1. Looking For Someone
  2. Politeness

Further reading[edit | edit source]

After the first five grammar lessons you have learned enough grammar to form simple sentences. Try learning words you find interesting by looking them up in a dictionary such as wiktionary. If you want some guidance try:

External resources[edit | edit source]