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PREFACE

Konnichiwa! Greeting you Hello and welcome to this study of foreign lan-
guage, the Japanese language. Japan is called Nippon or Nihon locally, and go
means language so Nippongo or Nihongo means Japanese language.
English may be the most popular language but most Japanese are not using
English and neither are comfortable in speaking English. If you will learn to speak
and write Japanese language, then Japan could be your next travel destination, be
it for leisure trip, study abroad or work.
Japan is a nation of myth and history, as they say, Nippon or Nihon means
“the origin of the Sun”. The flag, bearing a red circle at the middle of a white cloth,
was once feared by many because of its world military power. Now, the country is
a diverse mixture of seething metropolises and peaceful temple complexes, of the
most advanced in high technology and primitive folk festivals, and of kimonos and
business suits. A nation celebrating a mix of western and local culture, materialism
and spirituality, gaudiness and simplicity, noise and silence intermingle, forming an
exquisite dreamlike creation. Despite or even because of these contradictions,
outsiders find the island nation unusually fascinating.
So before we are drawn to the wonders of Japan, let’s get started. Dewa
hajimemashou.
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UNIT 1: PRELIMINARY LESSON AND HIRAGANA

1.0 Intended Learning Outcomes

a. Speak and memorize classroom instructions, daily greetings and expressions in Japa-
nese;
b. Count numerals in Japanese;
c. Speak using Japanese accent;
d. Write 46 hiragana characters and form Japanese words from them;
e. Read vocabularies written in hiragana; and
f. Answer reading and writing tests for hiragana.

1.1. Introduction
Just like when we first learn how to read and write the alphabet during the first
grade, studying Japanese language requires one to be like a first grader. We will begin
with the basic. First, you need to be acquainted with Japanese greetings and expressions so
you can practice speaking the language. Second is to be able to write Japanese characters.
There are three types of letters in Japanese. The Hiragana (phonetic sounds) are basi-
cally used for particles, words and parts of words, Katakana (phonetic sounds) are basical-
ly used for foreign/loan words and Kanji (Chinese characters) are used for the stem of
words and convey the meaning as well as sound.
Hiragana is basically used to express 46 different sounds used in the Japanese lan-
guage. We suggest you start learning Hiragana, then Katakana and then Kanji. If you
learn Hiragana first, it will be easier to learn Katakana next. Hiragana will help you learn
Japanese pronunciation properly, read Japanese beginners' textbooks and write sentences
in Japanese. Japanese will become a lot easier to study after having learned Hiragana.
Also, as you will be able to write sentences in Japanese, you will be able to write E-
mails in Hiragana. Katakana will help you read Japanese menus at restaurants. Hiragana
and Katakana will be a good help to your Japanese study and comfortable living in Japan.

1.2 Preliminary Lesson

Activity
We will begin our lesson with learning Japanese phrases like in surviving Basic Japa-
nese. I have split this section into two. Phrases used in the classroom and daily greetings
and expressions. Memorize and practice speaking them more often.

Classroom Instructions
1. dewa hajimemashou…………… Well, let's begin (the lesson)
2. 26 pe-ji wo akete kudasai……… Please open your book at page 26
3. isshoni itte kudasai…………….. Please say it together
4. yonde kudasai………………….. Please read it
5. kaite kudasai …………………… Please write it
6. kiite kudasai……………………. Please listen
7. yoku kiite kudasai……………… Please listen carefully
8. kurikaeshite kudasai…………… Please repeat it
9. hon wo mite kudasai…………… Please look at your book
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10. hon wo minaide kudasai………. Please don't look at your book

11. hon wo tojite kudasai………….. Please close your book
12. kotaete kudasai………………… Please answer
13. mouichido itte kudasai………... Please say it again
14. shitsumon wa arimasenka……. Do you have any question?
15. oshiete kudasai………………… Please let me know
16. motto yukkuri itte kudasai …… Please say it slowly
17. motto ookii koede itte kudasai.. Please say it in a louder voice
18. oboete kudasai…………………. Please remember
19. shitzuka ni kudasai……………. Please keep quiet
20. tonari no hito ni hanasanaide kudasai.. Please don't talk to the person next to you
21. ushiro ni watashite kudasai…... Please pass this to the back
22. tesuto no kami wo mae ni watashite kudasai… Please pass the test paper to the front
23. isoide kudasai………………….. Please hurry up
24. ashita chikoku shinaide kudasai Please don't be late tomorrow
25. wakarimashitaka………………. Did you understand?
26. hai, wakarimashita……………. Yes, I understood
27. iie, wakarimasen………………. No, I don't understand
28. shitte imasuka…………………. Do you know?
29. hai, shitte imasu……………….. Yes, I know
30. iie, shirimasen…………………. No, I don't know
31. ashita motte kite kudasai…….. Please bring this tomorrow
32. chotto yasumimashou………… Let's take a short break
33. juppun yasunde kudasai……... Please take a 10min break
34. ganbatte kudasai………………. Please do your best
35. dewa owarimasu………………. That's all for today ('s lesson)

Analysis
The Japanese number system is based on two sets of pronunciations (or readings): the
Sino-Japanese readings (on’yomi or “On reading”) that are based on the Chinese numerals
and the Native Japanese readings (kun’yomi or “Kun reading”) that are based on the Japa-
nese yamato kotoba (native words).
Since the Native Japanese reading is used
only up to 10, the Sino-Japanese reading is the
one you’ll use more often. But now comes the
tricky part because the Sino-Japanese reading
(ichi, ni, san or “one, two, three” as we say in
English) uses counters. We’ll talk more about
counters in a moment, but what you need to
know now is that counters specify what kind of
objects you are counting in Japanese. There can be
long objects, animals, small objects, machinery
and so on. The native Japanese reading is used for Fig. 1 Japanese numbers in Kanji
counters.
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Number Sino-Japanese reading Kanji Native Japanese reading Kanji

1 いち (ichi) 一 ひとつ (hitotsu) 一つ

2 に (ni) 二 ふたつ (futatsu) 二つ

3 さん (san) 三 みっつ (mittsu) 三つ

4 し、よん (shi, yon) 四 よっつ (yottsu) 四つ

5 ご (go) 五 いつつ (itsutsu) 五つ

6 ろく (roku) 六 むっつ (muttsu) 六つ

7 しち、なな (shichi, nana) 七 ななつ (nanatsu) 七つ

8 はち (hachi) 八 やっつ (yattsu) 八つ

9 く、きゅう (ku, kyuu) 九 ここのつ (kokonotsu) 九つ

10 じゅう (juu) 十 とう (tou) 十

0 れい、ゼロ、マル (rei, zero, maru) 零

1.2.1 Japanese Greetings and Expressions

1. ohayou gozaimasu……………. Good morning
2. konnichiwa……………………. Hello/Good afternoon
3. konbanwa……………………… Good evening
4. youkoso………………………… Welcome (aboard)
5. sayounara……………………… Good bye (This is only used if you are leaving for a
long time, like going overseas)
6. mata ashita…………………….. See you tomorrow
7. dewa mata……………………... See you
8. sumimasen…………………….. Excuse me (when asking for something)
9. sumimasen…………………….. I am sorry (for my fault)
10. sumimasen…………………….. Pardon me (for missing what you said)
11. sumimasen…………………….. Thank you (for taking the trouble to do... for me)
12. gomen nasai…………………… I am sorry
13. shitsurei desuga………………. Excuse me, but... (when asking for something)
14. arigatou gozaimasu…………… Thank you very much
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15. dou itashimashite……………... You are welcome/Don't mention it/Not at all

16. douzo…………………………… Here you are. (Used when offering something to
someone)
17. doumo………………………….. Well, thanks
18. oyasumi nasai…………………. Good night
19. omedetou gozaimasu………… Congratulations
20. ogenki desu ka………………… How are you?
21. hai, okagesamade, genki desu.. Yes, due to your kind thought, I am very good
22. daijoubu desu ka……………… Are you OK?
23. daijoubu desu…………………. I am OK
24. hajimemashite………………… How do you do? (Literally "I am meeting you for
the first time". This Japanese phrase is usually used as
the first phrase when introducing oneself)
25. maiku to moushimasu……….. My name is Mike (Assuming your name is Mike)
26. douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu… I am pleased to meet you. (Literally "Please
make good relation with me" or "Please be kind to
me". Usually used at the end of a self-introduction)
27. kochira koso yoroshiku onegaishimasu.. I am please to meet you too. (Literally
"Please be kind to me too")
(Response to "douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu")
28. korekara osewani narimasu…. I hope for your assistance hereafter.
(Literally "Please take care of me hereafter")
29. gomenkudasai………………… Anybody home?/May I come in?
(An expression used by a visitor)
30. irasshai………………………… How nice of you to come/Welcome
31. douzo oagari kudasai………... Please come in (the house)
32. ojamashimasu………………… Excuse me for disturbing you
(Greeting used when going to someone's house)
33. o namae wa…………………… What is your name?
(The "o" in front makes the question more polite)
34. itadakimasu…………………… You say this to express your gratitude before meals
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35. gochisou sama deshita………. You say this to express your gratitude after meals
36. ittekimasu…………………….. I am going out now. See you later
(Phrase used when going out from home)
37. itterasshai……………………... Take care. Have a nice day (Response to
"ittekimasu", used by people in the house)
38. tadaima………………………... I am home (Phrase used when coming back to
home)
39. okaerinasai……………………. Welcome back (Response to "tadaima", used by
people in the house)
40. o ki wo tsukete……………….. Be careful
41. o daiji ni………………………. Take care of your body (say this to friend who is
sick)

1.2.2 Learning Hiragana

Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system,
along with katakana, kanji and in some cases rōmaji (Latin script). It is a phonetic letter-
ing system. The word hiragana literally means "ordinary" or "simple" kana ("simple" orig-
inally as contrasted with kanji).
Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems. With one or two minor exceptions,
each syllable in the Japanese language (strictly, each mora) is represented by one charac-
ter (or one digraph) in each system. This may be either a vowel such as "a" (hiragana あ);
a consonant followed by a vowel such as "ka" (か) or "n" (ん), a nasal sonorant which, de-
pending on the context, sounds either like English m, n or ng ([ŋ]) when syllable-final or
like the nasal vowels of French, Portuguese or Galician. Because the characters of the ka-
na do not represent single consonants (except in the case of ん "n"), the kana are referred
to as syllabic symbols and not alphabetic letters.
Hiragana is used to write okurigana (kana suffixes following a kanji root, for example
to inflect verbs and adjectives), various grammatical and function words including parti-
cles, as well as miscellaneous other native words for which there are no kanji or whose
kanji form is obscure or too formal for the writing purpose. Words that do have common
kanji renditions may also sometimes be written instead in hiragana, according to an indi-
vidual author's preference, for example to impart an informal feel. Hiragana is also used
to write furigana, a reading aid that shows the pronunciation of kanji characters.
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The table below shows the hiragana and katakana and how they are read in romaji.
Please study the table and bring this always with you because this will serve as your
guide in reading and writing hiragana and katakana. For speaking and to learn how they
are being pronounced, I want you to watch a video tutorial from Youtube from this site:
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/
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Activity 2. Let’s try to write Hiragana. Following the number guide as stroke order, fill
up the empty boxes below.

So now, let’s practice writing words!!! Write the following words in hiragana. Also,
take note of these new vocabularies in your notebook and remember them.
aka (red)_______________ ike (pond) ___________________ika (squid)_____________
ao (blue) _______________ koe (voice) __________________ okii (big) _____________
aki (autumn) ___________ ie (house) ___________________kao (face) _____________
eki (station) ____________ kaki (persimmon) _____________ue (on top) ____________
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Yasumimashou. Let’s have a break first. Maybe you can drink some juice or coffee or
milk. Or you can go to your garden, or backyard and when you are rejuvenated, here’s
more to writing.

More words, new vocabularies, etc.

asa (morning)_______________ seki (cough) _____________sushi ______________________
sake (wine) _________________shio (salt) ______________ ase (sweat) ______________
ashita (tomorrow)____________ tokei (watch)___________chikatetsu (subway)__________
kutsu (shoes)_______________keisatsu (police) __________ tako (octopus) _____________
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Are you tired already? Well, we are only halfway done. After learning all these hira-
gana characters, and when you can now write and read hiragana, I’ll tell you, there is that
feeling of success and you will say it’s worth it.

Try to write these words in hiragana.

kono neko (this cat) _________________ ano sakana (that fish)________________________
nani (what) ______________________ anata (you) ________________________________
inu (dog) __________________________ niku (meat) ________________________________
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More vocabularies…
fuku (clothes)__________________ hito (people)___________________________
heso (navel)___________________ hako (box)_____________________________
hoshi (star)____________________ fune (ship)_____________________________

Write and practice speaking these vocabularies.

ame (rain) ________________ meishi (business card) ________________________
miso (water) ______________ mushi (insect) _______________________________
namae (name) _____________ moshi moshi (Hello) _________________________

More vocabularies…yehey (not huh!)!

yasumi (day off)__________________ fuyu (winter)____________________________
yuki (snow)______________________ yakiniku (grilled meat) ___________________
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■Note that the particle O is represented by を, not お．

Practice these vocabularies. Write the hiragana of these words.

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Now let’s have another activity for similar characters. Write the following characters
in hiragana. This time this quiz is to be recorded. Gambatte ne.

This time, you will learn to write ga line from the ka line, za from sa, and so on.
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And finally, the kya, sha, cha and hya line and so on..

Let us have another quiz.

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This is important. Yoku kiite kudasai.

The Rules in Hiragana

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-oOo-

Congratulations! Omedetou gozaimasu. You have finished your unit 1. You may an-
swer the Post-test in the last page and kindly return the answer sheet to the Kiosk and wait
for the next learning packets on Katakana and Grammar lessons. Keep well and be safe!
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1.3 References

AOTS (2000). Self-Study Kana Workbook, Learning through Listening and Writing.

Diana (n.d.). Count in Japanese – A Complete Guide to Japanese Numbers. Retrieved from
https://www.mondly.com/blog/2019/11/22/count-in-japanese-a-complete-guide-to-japanese-
numbers/

Koichi (2014). Learning Hiragana. The Ultimate Guide. Retrieved from https://
www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/

Learn Japanese Adventure (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/

common-japanese-phrases.html

Meguro Language Center (n.d.). Hiragana and Katakana Worksheets. Retrieved from https://
www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/hiragana_katakana.html

MLC (n.d.) JLPT Practice quizzes. Retrieved from https://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/

n4_jlpt_grammar_quiz_01.html

1.4 Acknowledgement

All the figures and information contained in this module were taken from the references
enumerated above.
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————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

ANSWER SHEET
Name: ______________________________ Course/Year & Section: __________________________
Course Code and Title of LP: ___________________________________________________________
Location of ALC / Kiosk :__________________________ Date Submitted: ____________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Activity Quizzes

POST-TEST. Answer the following. (Bonus point. Ask somebody or search in the internet
the meaning in English. The first one was done for you.)

I will go to the post

office the day after to-
morrow.
________________________
________________________
________________________
_______________________.

________________________
________________________
________________________
_______________________.

________________________
_______________________.

_______________________
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————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

ANSWER SHEET
Name: ______________________________ Course/Year & Section: __________________________
Course Code and Title of LP: ___________________________________________________________
Location of ALC / Kiosk :__________________________ Date Submitted: ____________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________