In the previous article, I explained how to say the days of the week.
  Days of the week >>


In this article, let's study how to explain the time of the day!



At first, let's check the keywords below!

English	Hiragana	Romaji	Kanji
hour	じ	ji	時
minute	ふん	fu n	分
second	びょう	byo	秒
A.M.	ごぜん	go ze n	午前
P.M.	ごご	go go	午後
half-hour	はん	ha n	半
around	ごろ	go ro	頃

English	Hiragana	Romaji
3 o'clock	さん じ	san ji
03:24	さん じ にじゅうよん ふん	san ji ni jyu yon fun
10 A.M.	ごぜん じゅう じ	gozen jyu ji
around 3 P.M.	ごご さん じ ごろ	gogo san ji goro
02:14:37	に じ じゅうよん ふん さんじゅうなな びょう	ni ji jyu yon fun san jyu nana byo
5:30	ご じ　はん	go ji han
5:30	ご じ さんじっぷん	san jippun
around 5:30 A.M.	ごぜん ご じ　はん ごろ	gozen go ji han goro

Hello! I'm Kosuke!

In the previous article, we went over the months of the year in Japanese!
  Months >>

We checked that the numbers are used to say the months in Japanese.

In this article, we will study how to say the days of the week!


The numbers are not used for the days of the week.
They are related to the names of planets!


Please see the table below:

English	Hiragana	Romaji	Kanji
Monday	げつ ようび	ge tsu yo u bi	月曜日
Tuesday	か ようび	ka yo u bi	火曜日
Wednesday	すい ようび	su i yo u bi	水曜日
Thursday	もく ようび	mo ku yo u bi	木曜日
Friday	きん ようび	ki n yo u bi	金曜日
Saturday	ど ようび	do yo u bi	土曜日
Sunday	にち ようび	ni chi yo u bi	日曜日

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In previous article, we learned how to count numbers in Japanese!
  Numbers >>


In this article, I would like to show one example how to use the numbers.


It is "Months"!




In English, we just say the name of the months, like January, June, October, and so on.

However, in Japanese, months don't have names!
So they just use numbers to say the months!


What to call months in Japanese is below:

English	Japanese	Romaji
January	１がつ	ichi gatsu
February	２がつ	ni gatsu
March	３がつ	san gatsu
April	４がつ	shi gatsu
May	５がつ	go gatsu
June	６がつ	roku gatsu
July	７がつ	shichi gatsu
August	８がつ	hachi gatsu
September	９がつ	ku gatsu
October	１０がつ	jyu gatsu
November	１１がつ	jyu ichi gatsu
December	１２がつ	jyu ni gatsu

In the previous article, I showed you greetings used when you say good bye.
  Greetings - How to say goodbye in Japanese >>



In this article, let's check how to count numbers!


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Click here to subscribe to this YouTube channel!

Basic pronunciation for numbers are below:

Number	Pronunciation
0	zero
1	ichi
2	ni
3	san
4	yon
5	go
6	roku
7	nana
8	hachi
9	kyu
10	jyu

Number	Pronunciation
10	jyu
20	ni-jyu
30	san-jyu
40	yon-jyu
50	go-jyu
60	roku-jyu
70	nana-jyu
80	hachi-jyu
90	kyu-jyu
100	hyaku
110	hyaku-jyu
120	hyaku-ni-jyu
130	hyaku-san-jyu

As you can know from the table above, the important items are '10 (jyu)' and '100 (hyaku)'.



After you remember the table above, let's check more detailed examples below!


I think if you look at the tables below, you can understand the rule to count numbers in Japanese.

Number	Pronunciation
1	ichi
2	ni
3	san
4	yon
5	go
6	roku
7	nana
8	hachi
9	kyu
10	jyu
11	jyu-ichi
12	jyu-ni
13	jyu-san
14	jyu-yon
15	jyu-go
16	jyu-roku
17	jyu-nana
18	jyu-hachi
19	jyu-kyu
20	ni-jyu
21	ni-jyu-ichi
22	ni-jyu-ni
23	ni-jyu-san
24	ni-jyu-yon
25	ni-jyu-go
26	ni-jyu-roku
27	ni-jyu-nana
28	ni-jyu-hachi
29	ni-jyu-kyu
30	san-jyu
31	san-jyu-ichi
32	san-jyu-ni
33	san-jyu-san
34	san-jyu-yon
35	san-jyu-go
36	san-jyu-roku
37	san-jyu-nana
38	san-jyu-hachi
39	san-jyu-kyu
40	yon-jyu
50	go-jyu
60	roku-jyu
70	nana-jyu
80	hachi-jyu
90	kyu-jyu
91	kyu-jyu-ichi
92	kyu-jyu-ni
93	kyu-jyu-san
94	kyu-jyu-yon
95	kyu-jyu-go
96	kyu-jyu-roku
97	kyu-jyu-nana
98	kyu-jyu-hachi
99	kyu-jyu-kyu
100	hyaku
101	hyaku-ichi
102	hyaku-ni
103	hyaku-san
104	hyaku-yon
105	hyaku-go
106	hyaku-roku
107	hyaku-nana
108	hyaku-hachi
109	hyaku-kyu
110	hyaku-jyu
111	hyaku-jyu-ichi
112	hyaku-jyu-ni
113	hyaku-jyu-san
114	hyaku-jyu-yon
115	hyaku-jyu-go
116	hyaku-jyu-roku
117	hyaku-jyu-nana
118	hyaku-jyu-hachi
119	hyaku-jyu-kyu
120	hyaku-ni-jyu
121	hyaku-ni-jyu-ichi
200	ni-hyaku
1000	sen
2000	ni-sen
2468	ni-sen-yon-hyaku-roku-jyu-hachi

Hello. I'm Kosuke!

In the previous article, I explained about greetings used when you meet someone.
  Greetings - How to say hello in Japanese >>

However, there are still more greetings in Japanese.

In this article, I will show you greetings used when you say good bye!




The 4 items below will be explained in this article:




1. さようなら (sa yo na ra)

This simply means "good bye".

This greeting can be used in both formal or casual situations.

This is the most basic way to say "good bye".



2. またね (ma ta ne)

This means "see you".

This is used in casual situations.
You can say it to your friends.
This cannot be used for business.

'また (mata)' means 'again'.

Originally, it was longer like 'またあおうね (ma ta a o u ne)'.
It means 'see you again'.

Later, it became shorter and they start to say just 'またね'.



3. ばいばい (bai bai)

I think you have already understood this meaning.

This means 'byebye'.

This is not formal in Japanese.
So you should not use this in business scene.
You can use this for your friends.


Of course, this greeting is from English.

Also, I heard that 'Good bye' comes from 'God be with you'.
Do you think it is true!?



4. おつかれさまです (o tsu ka re sa ma de su)

This is formal way to say 'good bye' in Japan.
Mainly, this greeting is used for business.

Actually, in your country, perhaps you don't need to say anything when you leave office.

However, generally, you should say 'o tsu ka re sa ma de su' to people around you before you leave the office.
This greeting makes it difficult for Japanese workers to leave the office on time.
(What an awful greeting this is!)


Also, 'おつかれさまです ' can be used as many other meanings, not only 'good bye'.

For example, when you meet your boss in the elevator, you should say 'おつかれさまです' as 'hello'.

When someone looks busy because he/she has too many tasks, you can say 'おつかれさまです' as 'my condolences'.
Then he/she would think "why does this person only say that without helping me!?" inside of his/her heart.
When it happens, you should ignore him/her and go home silently.
(This is the most important lesson today. hehe)


In the office, Japanese people use 'おつかれさまです' so often.
Also, in business emails, it is the manner to write おつかれさまです before your name.

'つかれ' means 'tiredness'.
All 'お', 'さま', and 'です' are the words to make the sentence polite.

If you don't know what 'さま(sama)' is, please check this:
  ～さま(sama) >>

If you don't know what 'です (desu)' is, please check this:
  です(desu) and ます(masu) >>


So originally, 'おつかれさまです' is just a very polite way to say 'tiredness'.

Why do Japanese people use this greetings in the office so often?

Because they are always so tired in the office.
(What an awful greeting this is!)


In the next article, let's check how to count numbers!
  Counting numbers in Japanese >>


I hope this article helps you study Japanese.
Thank you for reading!

How is your Japanese study going?

Please let me talk about how to study a language!


When we learn a new language, which do you think is important?


  1. Listening

  2. Reading






Maybe, the answer is 'BOTH'...





However, in my opinion, if we are beginners of the language, 'Listening' is a good way to get used to the language.

What do you think?



I am saying this from my experience of studying English.

In Japan, there are English education in junior high school and high school.
(Recently, they started to learn English also in elementary school. But when I was a child, I started to study in junior high school.)

However, generally, Japanese people can't speak English, even though we studied English so hard for more than 6 years!

I studied English in junior high school and high school, too.

But when I joined university, I couldn't speak English at all!
Also, my reading skill was not high...
My TOEIC score was 300...
(TOEIC : English test for non-native speakers)


Why does it happen?
Was it just because I didn't study hard!? hehe



I feel that it is because we just studied 'reading' or 'grammar' using text books.


After I joined university, I started to watch movie, listen to music, watch news, and spoke with English speakers.
I feel that they made my English improve so much.
They also improved my reading skill, and I could remember many words from conversation.

So I am thinking that if you want to get used to another language, you should listen to the language a lot (after remembering basic words).





Also, if you continue to study Japanese, there is a very very strong enemy against you.

Its name is....




"Kanji"





If you don't know what Kanji is, please check the article below:
  Types of Japanese characters >>

As I wrote in the article above, there are so many Kanji characters.
When you try to read Japanese documents, they always make you stop.


Learning a language takes a long time.

The most important thing is for you to continue to study.

If the study is so so tough and not interesting at all, it is almost impossible to continue.

That is another reason why I recommend you to watch movie or listen to music.
If you watch some action movie, maybe you can enjoy without completely understanding all the sentences.



When a baby is born, they can't read anything.
They slowly remember their own language by listening to their parents' words, watching TV, or talking with friends.
Regarding Japanese children, they start to study Kanji in elementary school, but they can speak Japanese before they start to learn Kanji.

Like that, if we listen to the language for a long time, we can get used to the language without thinking about grammar too much!




Indeed, when you study mathematics, maybe it is OK for you just to remember the basic principles.
All theorems can be logically introduced from definitions and principles.

However, when we study language, it is not enough to remember grammar and to think logically.

Even though there is no reason, if native speaker says "oh, maybe it's an exception", that means it is an exception!
There are many cases which have exceptions, like below.
  Months >>

So I am feeling that learning a language is not remembering, but getting used to.

To get used to, maybe listening is inevitable!
(Of course, both reading and listening are important.)



In this blog, I am mainly using Hiragana, instead of Kanji.
That is because I would like you to become able to listen to Japanese first.

If you become able to understand Japanese sentences by listening, you will have more ways to study!
(ex. Listening to Japanese music during walking, watching Japanese movie)

But no need to understand all sentences by listening!
Just understanding partially is enough to get used to Japanese!


Please try to search for the way to study, which is the best for you!

I hope your Japanese study will be a success!!!!!
Thank you for reading!

Hello. I am Kosuke!

In the previous article, I explained 'は (wa)' as a post-positional particle.
  ～は (wa) >>


At the end of the previous article, I also mentioned about a greeting,

'こ ん に ち は (ko n ni chi wa)'.



In this article, I would like to explain about some basic greetings of Japanese, especially the greetings used when you meet someone!

The 4 items below will be explained in this article:




1. こんにちは (ko n ni chi wa)

This is a very basic greeting in Japan.


It means 'Hello' in English.

You can use 'こんにちは' whenever you meet someone.
You can use this greeting throughout the whole day.




As I mentioned in the previous article, 'は' makes the sound 'wa' in this case.


Why does it make the sound 'wa'?


To know the reason, we need to think about the origin of 'こんにちは'.



In Japanese, 'こんにち (ko n ni chi)' means 'today' or 'nowadays'.


In the old days when Japanese people met someone, they used to say:
  "Today is a good day, isn't it?"
              or
  "How is today for you?"


In old Japanese, they were like:
   'こんにちはよいひですね'
   (ko n ni chi wa yo i hi de su ne)
              or
   'こんにちはいかがですか'
   (ko n ni chi wa i ka ga de su ka)


In these sentence, 'こんにち' is the subject.

In the last article, I explained that if 'は' is right after the subject of the sentence, it makes the sound 'wa' instead of 'ha'.

Because of this, 'は' makes the sound 'wa' in these sentences.



Today, we don't say the whole sentence of 'こんにちはいかがですか'.

It became shorter, and we just say 'こんにちは' now.

That's why 'こんにちは' is not 'こんにちわ' even though its sound is 'ko n ni chi wa'.



Also, 'こんにちは' is not a question anymore.
So you don't need to respond what you are feeling today.

It is OK for you just to say 'こんにちは' as your reply.
It is just like you say "Hello" when someone says "Hello" to you.



2. おはよう (o ha yo u)

'おはよう ' means 'Good morning'.

It is used only in the morning.



'おはよう' comes from the Japanese word, 'はやい (ha ya i)'.

'はやい' means 'early'.


In the old days, in the morning, people said:
  "You arrived here early today!"
  "You woke up early this morning, didn't you?"

Later, 'はやい (early)' changed its form, and they started to use 'おはよう' as a greeting for the morning.



3. こんばんは (ko m ba n wa)

'こんばんは' is a greeting at night.

It is just like 'Good evening' in English.

This sentence is very similar to 'こんにちは' which was discussed in #1 of this article.


As well as 'こんにちは', 'は' makes the sound 'wa'.

'こんばん (ko m ba n)' means 'tonight' in Japanese.
(In Romaji, 'n' becomes 'm' before 'b'.)

Probably, in the old days, people used to say:
  "How is tonight for you?"
  "Tonight is a very good night for you!"

In these sentences, 'こんばん (tonight)' was the subject.
That is the reason why 'は' makes the sound 'wa' in 'こんばんは', too.



4. Greeting without words

In this article, I have already explained three very basic greetings of Japanese.


However, greeting without words is sometimes more important in Japan.


Perhaps, you might think "What is greeting without words!?"




It is called "bow".



If you have ever lived in Japan for a long time, you might feel that Japanese people don't speak so much, and they don't say their opinion so often.

It is because of the Japanese mindset.

Japanese people usually think that silence is beautiful and good.

Recently, maybe the mindset is changing slowly.
However, that mindset is still common in Japan.
(I am not sure whether it is good culture or not.)


"Bow" is a very useful way for Japanese people to communicate without saying anything.


Originally, "bow" is the way to show respect to someone, by the act of lowering your own head.

However, now, "bow" has many meanings, like:

   "Hello."
   "Good morning."
   "Good evening."
   "Thank you."
   "You are welcome."
   "I am sorry."
   "Excuse me."
   "Good bye."
   "Nice to meet you."
   "Welcome."
          and so on...


Do you think it is useful?

Or confusing? hehe



Indeed, saying 'こんにちは' with energy is also very good.
It gives energy to people around you.




However, if you bow to someone while smiling gracefully, instead of saying something, it means that you have already understood Japanese culture deeply!


Do you think it is a strange culture?
I think so too! hehe


In the next article, I will show you greetings used when you say good bye!
   Greetings - How to say goodbye in Japanese >>

I hope this article helps you study Japanese.
Thank you for reading!

In this article, I will explain about the Japanese particle は (wa)! It is often called topic marking particle! は (wa) is the most often used particle in Japanese!

Today, please let me explain about Romaji!

After memorizing the Romaji chart, please use this to check your memory of Romaji:
   Hiragana quiz >>



If you are an English speaker, Romaji is quite easy for you.

Romaji is the way to write Japanese words using the alphabet.


Originally, there were no alphabetic words in Japan.

They used old Hiragana and old Kanji.

If you don't know what Hiragana and Kanji are, please check the article below:
  The three types of Japanese characters >>


However, recently, Japanese people need to write Japanese word in English.

For example, when they go abroad, they need to write their name in English.

That's why Romaji is generally used in Japan now.



Let's check the Romaji chart:

あ a	い i	う u	え e	お o
か ka	き ki	く ku	け ke	こ ko
さ sa	し shi	す su	せ se	そ so
た ta	ち chi	つ tsu	て te	と to
な na	に ni	ぬ nu	ね ne	の no
は ha	ひ hi	ふ fu	へ he	ほ ho
ま ma	み mi	む mu	め me	も mo
や ya	い i	ゆ yu	え e	よ yo
ら ra	り ri	る ru	れ re	ろ ro
わ wa				を wo
ん n

が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	げ ge	ご go
ざ za	じ ji	ず zu	ぜ ze	ぞ zo
だ da	ぢ ji	づ zu	で de	ど do
ば ba	び bi	ぶ bu	べ be	ぼ bo

ぱ pa

ぴ pi

ぷ pu

ぺ pe

ぽ po

きゃ kya		きゅ kyu		きょ kyo
しゃ sha		しゅ shu		しょ sho
ちゃ cha		ちゅ chu		ちょ cho
にゃ nya		にゅ nyu		にょ nyo
ひゃ hya		ひゅ hyu		ひょ hyo
みゃ mya		みゅ myu		みょ myo
りゃ rya		りゅ ryu		りょ ryo
ぎゃ gya		ぎゅ gyu		ぎょ gyo
じゃ ja		じゅ ju		じょ jo
びゃ bya		びゅ byu		びょ byo
ぴゃ pya		ぴゅ pyu		ぴょ pyo

I showed you this chart because I will use Romaji when I explain to you about Japanese grammar.
So I thought it would cause some confusion if I didn't explain about Romaji at all.

You should just remember that Romaji is a way to write Japanese words using the alphabet.


Please use the quiz to confirm if you remember all Romaji characters!
  Hiragana quiz >>



By the way, は sometimes makes the sound 'wa' instead of 'ha'.
Why does it happen?

In the next article, let's learn about post-positional particle, は(wa)!
  ～は(wa) >>

I hope this article helps you study Japanese.
Thank you for reading!

In the previous article, I explained about syllabic nasal.
  Syllabic nasal >>

It is a small version of the character, つ.

Like that, there are other small characters in Japanese.

They are called "Contracted sound".

But the way to use them is a little bit different from syllabic nasal!


At first, let's check the chart of contracted sound!



The chart of contracted sound:

The line of Ky	きゃ (kya)	きゅ (kyu)	きょ (kyo)
The line of Sh	しゃ (sha)	しゅ (shu)	しょ (sho)
The line of Ch	ちゃ (cha)	ちゅ (chu)	ちょ (cho)
The line of Ny	にゃ (nya)	にゅ (nyu)	にょ (nyo)
The line of Hy	ひゃ (hya)	ひゅ (hyu)	ひょ (hyo)
The line of My	みゃ (mya)	みゅ (myu)	みょ (myo)
The line of Ry	りゃ (rya)	りゅ (ryu)	りょ (ryo)

The line of Gy	ぎゃ (gya)	ぎゅ (gyu)	ぎょ (gyo)
The line of J	じゃ (ja)	じゅ (ju)	じょ (jo)
The line of J	ぢゃ (ja)	ぢゅ (ju)	ぢょ (jo)
The line of By	びゃ (bya)	びゅ (byu)	びょ (byo)

The line of Py

ぴゃ (pya)

ぴゅ (pyu)

ぴょ (pyo)

As the table above, contracted sound is a sound written by two characters, one big character and one small character.

English	Hiragana	Romaji
cat	きゃっと	kyatto
nuclear	にゅうくりあ	nyukuria
join	じょいん	join
pure	ぴゅあ	pyua

In this article, please let me explain about "P-sound"!

However, if you have already understood the explanation about basic Hiragana and Dull sound, this article is quite easy for you!

   Basic Hiragana chart >>

   Dull sound >>


"P-sound" is quite similar to "Dull sound".

Let's look at the chart of the P-sound characters at first!


The chart of P-sound characters is below:

The line of P	ぱ (pa)	ぴ (pi)	ぷ (pu)	ぺ (pe)	ぽ (po)

Is that all!?

The line of H	は (ha)	ひ (hi)	ふ (fu)	へ (he)	ほ (ho)