Japanese for beginners

WorldPractice
WorldPractice

Japanese for beginners

Start Japanese from zero: one short lesson at a time, every word and sentence with its audio and its translation.

Essentials

  1. Greetings in JapaneseA1Say hello and goodbye in Japanese: こんにちは (konnichiwa), おはようございます (ohayō gozaimasu), じゃあね (jā ne) — and when to be polite or casual.
  2. Please and thank you in JapaneseA1Be polite in Japanese: ありがとう (arigatō), お願いします (onegai shimasu), ください (kudasai), すみません (sumimasen), ごめんなさい (gomen nasai) — and when to be casual.
  3. Introducing yourself in JapaneseA1Say your name, age, nationality and job in Japanese: hajimemashite, namae, sai, shusshin and -jin, plus why you use the person's name instead of "you".
  4. Pronouns in JapaneseA1Japanese pronouns: watashi (私), boku, ore, anata, kare, kanojo, watashi-tachi — and why Japanese usually leaves "I" and "you" out.
  5. Question words in JapaneseA1Ask questions in Japanese: 何 (nani), どうして, いつ, どこ, 誰 (dare), どれ, どう — polite ですか / ますか, and casual questions with の.
  6. Numbers in JapaneseA1Count in Japanese from zero to 10,000: ichi, ni, san, 十 jū, 百 hyaku, 千 sen, 一万 ichiman — the two readings of 4, 7 and 9, and counters like 人 and つ.
  7. Ordinal numbers and quantities in JapaneseA1Say first, second and last in Japanese with 番目, つ目 and 最後, and how many with 全部, たくさん, いくつか, 少ない, 一つも and 半分.
  8. Telling the time in JapaneseA1Ask and tell the time in Japanese: 今何時ですか, 三時 sanji, 十分 juppun, 半 han, 前 mae, 午前 and 午後, 朝 and 夜 — and 時間 for how long.
  9. Days, months and dates in JapaneseA1The days of the week and the months in Japanese: 月曜日, 日曜日, 1月, 5月 — how to say a date like 5月5日 and the special readings of the days of the month.
  10. Colors and Shapes in JapaneseA1The colors and shapes in Japanese: 赤い akai, 青い aoi, 白い shiroi, 緑 midori, ピンク pinku, 丸い marui, 三角形 sankakukei — and when you need の before a noun.
  11. Family members in JapaneseA1Family words in Japanese (母 and お母さん, 兄, 姉, 弟, 妹, 夫, 妻, 子供) and how to talk about your own family and ask about someone else's.
  12. To be and to have in JapaneseA1Saying "to be" and "to have" in Japanese: です and だ, いる and ある for where things are, がある, がいる, 持っている and 飼っている.
  13. Everyday verbs in JapaneseA1Do, go, want and like in Japanese: する, 行く, 欲しい, 〜たい and 好き, plain and polite (します, 行きます), with が for what you want or like.
  14. Negatives and yes-no questions in JapaneseA1Word order, はい and いいえ in Japanese: the verb goes last, ません and ない for "not", か for questions, and answering negative questions.
  15. Articles, gender and plural in JapaneseA1Japanese has no articles, no gender and no plural -s: how 本 means a book, the book or books, and how この, は, が and 二つ do the job instead.
  16. Prepositions and particles in JapaneseA1Saying where things are in Japanese: 中, 上, 下, 前, 後ろ, 隣 and 間 with の and に, the particles に and で, へ for "to" and から for "from".
  17. Adjectives in JapaneseA1Japanese adjectives for beginners: い-adjectives like 高い and 新しい, な-adjectives like 簡単な, the negative 高くない, and linking two with くて.
  18. Present tense in JapaneseA1Japanese verbs in the polite present (食べます, 飲みます, 勉強します, 食べません), habits with いつも, よく and ときどき, and 住んでいます.
  19. Possessives in JapaneseA1How to say my, your, his, her, our, their and whose in Japanese: just add の (私の, あなたの, 彼の), and when to leave "my" out.
  20. There is and where is in JapaneseA1Say there is in Japanese with あります for things and います for people and animals, ask where with どこですか, and use ここ, そこ, あそこ and どこ.
  21. Can, have to and need in JapaneseA1Can, have to and need in Japanese: the potential form (泳げる, 話せる, できる), なければなりません, 必要です, 要る and 〜なくてもいい.

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