click the Image to download the hkr-1-1.wav (26KB)
Introduce ourselves!
(Ji-ko-sho~-ka-i!)

click the Image to download the umi-1-1.wav (34KB)
Introduce ourselves?
(Ji-ko-sho~-ka-i?)

Today, we will learn how to say "I am Reiko Sakaguchi (your name)" in Japanese. Throughout JAL, I have used a "~" to indicate that the preceding sound is prolonged for an additional beat. Whenever you see a "~", elongate the sound before it, OK? For example, in Jikosho~kai, sho~ is long; thus, the pronunciation is ji-ko-sho-o-ka-i (total 6 beats). If you would like to know how each syllable is pronounced, please check out the Hiragana lessons.  Just click on the sound you want to hear me say it.
Now, let's hear how Hikaru introduces herself.

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Hikaru Shido, 14 years old, 8th grader.
(Shido~ Hikaru, Ju~-yon-sai, Chu~gaku Ni-nen.)

Did you catch some of the words? Now, read my explanation below and listen to her again.
Shido~ Hikaru: In Japanese, last name comes first. Her last name is Shidou, pronounced as SHI-DO-O. (note: Italicized part has high pitch. Don't try to put an accent there. Japanese uses only two pitches, high and low, not accents. Also, please notice that do~ is a long sound.) Her first name is, of course, Hikaru, pronounced as Hi-ka-ru.
Ju~yon-sai: Ju~ = ten, yon = four, and sai is a suffix that means "years old." 10 + 4 = 14, therefore she is 14 years old. Pronounced as Juu-Yo-N-Sa-I.
Chu~gaku Ni-nen: Chu~gaku = junior high. Ni = two, and nen is a suffix that means year. Therefore, she is in her second year in junior high. Pronounced as Chu-u-gaku ni-ne-n. In Japan, kids go to elementary school for 6 years, junior high for 3 years, and high school for 3 years. Therefore, Chu~gaku Ni-nen corresponds to 8th grade.

Did you get it? Next, let's listen to Umi-chan.

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I'm Umi Ryuzaki, 8th grader.
(Watashi wa Ryu~zaki Umi. Chu~gaku Ni-nen.)

Did you understand what she said? Well, here is some explanation. Read it, listen to it again, and repeat after Umi-chan several times, please?

Watashi: This word means "I," and pronounced as "wa-ta-shi."

wa : This small thing is a particle called a topic marker. It indicates that the preceding word is the sentence topic. In Japanese, we use particles (or markers) to indicate the functions of words; therefore, the word order is not so important as in English. However, it is very hard to use those particles properly and correctly, and if you fail to use them correctly, you will not be understood by Japanese people. So, when you are not confident in using them, just omit all the particles. This way, you sound like a kid, but I am sure you'll be understood by Japanese people. Now, listen to Fu-chan!
 
 

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I am Fu Hououji, Chuugaku ni-nen.
(Watakushi wa Ho~o~ji Fu~, Chu~gaku Ni-nen.)
 

I'm sure you understood what she said this time. She uses WA-TA-KU-SHI instead of WA-TA-SHI because she is an extremely polite person as a 14 years old girl. So when you want to appear very polite in a very formal situation, use watakushi instead of watashi (like Umi) or saying nothing (like Hikaru), OK?
 

That's all for today's lesson. I hope you enjoyed today's class. If you have any questions, please feel free to write to me.

Omake

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I am Master Clef.
(Wa-ta-shi wa Do~-shi Ku-re-fu.)
Doushi = Master, or a guru or leader.

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I am Ferrio.
(O-re wa Fe-ri-o)
Ore = "I," used normally by men.

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I am Emeraude of Cefiro.
(Wa-ta-shi wa Sefi~ro no E-me-ro~-do.)
"no" is a particle that means "of" in English (also called possessive marker). Thus, "Sefi~ro no Emero~do" means "Emeraude of Cefiro" in English by changing the word order to make it reverse.

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I am Ascot.
(Boku wa A-su-ko-tto da.)
boku also means "I" but usually used by boys.
da = "is (be verb)" Don't worry about this for now.

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Good-bye
(Sa-yo~-na-ra)

See you tomorrow!
 
 
 

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Not only in Anime but also in of Japanese conversations, we LOVE to use English words because they sound cool to us. However, we don't pronounce those words like you do, but we pronounce them in a Japanese way. In Today's lesson, let's try to pronounce those English words in the Japanese way.

Before we begin, please read following instructions.

1) Japanese sounds are all syllables, i.e. vowel plus consonant (or vowel alone). For example, "watashi" consists of three syllables, "wa," "ta," and "shi." Umi-chan's name consists of two syllables, "u" and "mi."

2) There are only 5 vowels, a, i, u, e, and o.

• a as in "but"
• i as in "beet"
• u as in "boot"
• e as in "bet"
• o as in "boat"

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a, i, u, e, o.

Now, practice "k" sound plus vowels, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko with Reiko-chan.

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ka, ki, ku, ke, ko

Got the idea? Now try this.

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ra, ri, ru, re, ro

"r" sounds more like "d" in English. Pronounce "r" sound by flipping your tongue while you pronounce "d." Practice, ra, ri, ru, re, and ro, very carefully with Reiko-chan several times.

3) You HAVE TO pronounce every syllable exactly the same length, never lengthen or shorten a sound due to accent. (as I told you in lesson one, use pitch instead of accent. However, for a sound I put ~ (as Fu~ is pronunced as Fu-u), you elongate the sound: thus you need two beats. OK?) This is the key to sounding Japanese!

Got the idea of sounding Japanese? All right! Then, you are all set! Let's begin today's lesson.

Repeat the following words after Hikaru, Fu, and Umi and feel the difference. Note, italicized parts have high pitch.
 
 

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Magic Knight RayEarth
(ma-ji-kku na-i-to Re~a~-su)

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table cloth
(te~-bu-ru ku-ro-su)

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knock (as in knock the door)
(no-kku)

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tent
(te-n-to)

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power up
(pa-wa~ a-ppu)

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damage
(da-me~-ji)

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door
(do-a)

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hotel
(ho-te-ru)

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ice cream shop
(a-i-su-ku-ri~-mu ya)
"Ya" = shop.

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convenient store
(ko-n-bi-ni)

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driver
(do-ra-i-ba~)

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dangerous
(de-n-ja-ra-su na)

How did you do today? I hope you had fun. Next time, we will study frequently used expressions, such as "awesome," "cool" and so on. Be here!
 

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See you then!
(ja~-na!)
 
 

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Today, we will learn one of the frequently used Anime expressions, sugoi.
Sugoi is an adjective, which literally means awesome, great, terrific, excellent, wonderful, amazing, enormous, fantastic, terrible, dreadful, horrible and so on and on. You can use this word anytime you feel something is extraordinary (good or bad because it's matter of how you say it.). Also, you can put a noun after this adjective to specify what is "sugoi." For example, "sugoi chikara" means great power. You understand?

Now, let's listen to Hikaru.
 

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Su-go-i!
(She used this word to mean that Clef's magic is unbelievably fantastic.)
 

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Su-go-i na!
By putting "na" (one of many particles used in Japanese) after "sugoi," Hikaru emphasized her feeling.
 

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Su-go-i, Mo-ko-na!
By putting person's name after or before sugoi, you can specify who is great.
 

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Su-go-i, su-go-i!
Repetition is also used for emphasis purpose.

1. Surprise
 

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Unbelievable!
E!
 

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I was SURPRISED!
E~!
 

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surprise, surprise, Surprise!!!
E-eeeeeee!
Just adding several "e" expresses surprise. The more you say "e," the more you are surprised it means. means.
 

2. Yes, that's right, all right.
 

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E~!
This means "Yes, that is right!"
 

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sorry but, that's right, , ,
E~, , ,
 

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C, certainly
E, e~.

How did you do today? I hope you had fun. Next time, we will study the frequently used expression, "cool." Be here!
 

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Thanks
Arigatou
 

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Bye!
Sayonara

 

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"Kakko-i~" is another adjective frequently used in daily conversation. "Kakko" or "kakko~" means looks, shape, appearance, etc. "Ii" means "good." Therefore, "kakko-i~" literary means "good looking," such as "kakko-i~ kuruma" (cool car), "kakko-i~ hito" (handsome man) etc. However, it is also used for someone's cool behavior. For example, Hikaru says this word when she saw Umi skillfully defeats a monster. Let's listen to Hikaru now.

(Hikaru)

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You are cool, Umi-chan!
Umi-chan! Kakko-i~ !

Did you catch the words? Listen to her several times and repeat after her, please?

Now, try this.

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Ka-kko-wa-ru-i!

What Ascot said was the opposite of Kakko-i~. He said this to Alcyone when he saw Alcyone defeated by Magic Knights. "Warui" means "bad," opposite of "i~ (good)." Therefore, it means "you were totally un-cool as to be beaten by those girls." Listen to him, several times and repeat after him until you feel comfortable.

Omake: Yatta!

Now, listen to Umi and Hikaru.
 

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we did it!
Ya-tta!
They (thought they) killed a monster, and said this.
 

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Ya-tta~~!
You can make the last vowel (a) longer to express satisfaction like her.
 

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Umi-chan, you did it!
Umi-chan, ya-tta!
By putting someone's name before or after "yatta," you can specify a person who did the feat.

You can put ending particles "yo (for female)" and "zo (male)" after "yatta" for emphasis. Note: By ending particles, I mean particles or markers usually put at the end of utterance or sentence.

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I DID it!
Ya-tta yo!

If you put "ne," it will make "yatta" a tag question.

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You did it, didn't you?
Ya-tta ne?

If you put "ka" or "no" it will make "yatta" a question.

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Did you do it?
Ya-tta-ka or (noka)?
 

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Did you do it?
Ya-tta no?
This one sound kinda cute, so seldom spoken by grown up men to grown up men (When addressing to girls, guys still can say this. It will sound sweet.).
Now listen to these variations of "yatta" and repeat until you remember them, please?

Japanese particles are very hard to use properly, but the ones I introduced you today are exceptions. They are easy, right? So, please remember these. I will explain the other particles (not so many left) in other lessons.

Well, that is all for this week's lesson. I hope you are getting used to Japanese sounds gradually and most importantly you are enjoying my lessons. Next week, we will work more on frequently used expressions and start working on greeting people.
See you next week.

umi-4-2.wav (45KB)
Don't miss it!
Zettai-mite-yo-ne!

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This is the end of Week 1