In this Japanese lesson Kaoru Sensei will teach you numbers 1 to 10. Very easy stuff. Once you know numbers then it is very easy to tell the time, state your age and so on.
Large Japanese Numbers
It is Japanese units and large numbers that students find difficult to learn and memorize. In Japanese there is the unit “man”, 10,000. In English there no equivalent unit. As there is no English equivalent students find large numbers in Japanese very difficult to read, remember and translate into English. Having this extra unit in their number system can really throw you.
Also Japanese think and speak numbers in terms of yen (“cents”) rather than dollars in regard to money. For example, for 1 dollar the Japanese equivalent is 100 yen. As a result, large dollar amounts become very large yen amounts and are difficult to work out and read. We will look at large numbers in a later lesson. The table below is just an introduction to Japanese units.
The Japanese language can be extremely convenient. There is no small talk, in most cases you don’t need to state the subject or object or sentences, and there are single words and expressions that can express a way of thinking or ideology that have no equivalent in English.
If there is one word that is used and repeated more than any other in Japanese it is “Gambarimasu”. A quick look at a dictionary would tell you the word translates to “good luck” or “do your best”. However, as you will soon discover with many Japanese words, this one has a more complex meaning and importance in Japanese social culture. “Gambaru” or gambaru-ism is the primary philosophy of the Japanese.
Gambatte Meaning
I first remember hearing the word when working at a restaurant. I was making salads and slicing raw fish at a counter bar. A male customer was quite surprised to see me working there. We had a conversation about why and what I was doing in Japan. At the end of our conversation when he was getting ready to leave he said “Gambatte kudasai”. I wasn’t sure what he meant and my co-workers were unable to explain to me the meaning of the expression. Later, I found out the expression meant “Please, do your best”. I found this a little odd – a customer telling a me, either as a foreigner or staff member to do my best. Then I began hearing the word more and more.
The term is used as encouragement, as a promise, as a dedication or a battle cry. When baseball players golfers, singers, sumo wrestlers, newly elected politicians and others are interviewed they invariably promise to gambaru. It is used and said almost in every situation imaginable. Well-wishers seeing friends and co-workers off abroad yell out “Gambatte”. Newly hired employees pledge that they will do their absolute best for their company by gambaru-ing. Control Freak parents expect nothing less than their children to gambaru in the their school work.
You hear it so often that you begin to understand that it is an important cultural expression, rather than someone expressing their intentions to be all they can be. Also, I have noticed parents often say it to their children as an expression of love ( my interpretation) , rather than an expectation of high performance. I saw parents say to their kids “Gambatte ne” on countless of occasions when they dropped them off to kindergarten. It had me confused for while, because it was kindergarten, children no older then 3 or 4 years old. I thought it was strange to be saying “Do your best” to children at such a tender age. The I realized it was just a parting greeting, much like when we say “Have fun” to our own children.
It takes years to learn Japanese and understand the language. Some words are so culturally ceremented that you need to experience several years of living in Japan to finally get them. It can be a very interesting learning process, but it is frustrating. So “Gambatte” and do your best.
Sakura is the name for the celebrated and beautiful cherry blossom trees of Japan. I hope you enjoy this video, I spent two weeks documenting the Sakura trees in my local area. I was amazed how quickly the trees changed over night. The cherry blossom trees were in full bloom for less than two days. I don’t think you can find anything more beautiful than watching Sakura petals fall and scatter. Japanese culture at it’s most beautiful!
Somei Yoshino
Japan’s most beloved variety and the one I documented in the video is the Somei Yoshino. Its flowers are nearly pure white, tinged with the palest of pink. The flowers bloom, and usually fall within a week in Spring.
There are over 100 sakura varieties. In the video you can see Shidarezakura, weeping cherry blossom trees which have branches that fall like those of a weeping willow, bearing cascades of pink flowers.
The Somei Yoshino Cherry Blossom
Cherry-Blossom Front
Annually, the Japanese track the Sakura Zensen, or Cherry-Blossom Front. Nightly forecasts follow the weather segment of news programs. The blossoming begins in Okinawa in February, and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. Then it proceeds north, arriving in Hokkaido a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts so that they can plan “hanami”.
Hanami
Drinking and having a picnic under Sakura! Japanese will organize “cherry blossom viewing” parties usually with family and co-workers. They will go to parks to drink, eat and enjoy a few hours of well earned rest under the beautiful Sakura.
In my years of studying Japanese and living in Japan I have had a never ending battle with Japanese verbs. In my experience mastering verbs is one of the hardest aspects of learning the Japanese language. I first realized this when I came to work in Japan for the first time. Having studied the basic Japanese I thought it would take me no time before I would be speaking to the locals. Greetings and small talk weren’t a problem, but listening and trying to understand Japanese having conversations was something else.
Learn Japanese Verbs
In colloquial speech Japanese can almost have entire conversations just using verbs if the subject and object is understood by the speaker and listener. Understanding who or what is being spoken about can be very confusing unless you know and understand verb forms. Learning verbs is difficult because there are so many conjugations. Not having a solid grounding in “verb conjugation” will definitely compromise your ability to speak, read and understand Japanese. Needless to say, it is very important that you learn Japanese verbs.
The hardest hurdle with understanding Japanese conversation is the ambiguity or vagueness of verbs. Japanese verbs have no plural form, and correspondingly, verbs do not inflect for number. For example, this phrase “Hon wo Kaimashita” could mean I bought a book or I bought some books. We can’t determine the number.
Japanese verbs also do not inflect for person. So the verb “iku” to go could mean “I go”, “I will go”, “I am going “, “shall we go”, “will you go”, or “they will go”. Also, in impolite speech a single verb can be a “asked” as a question. Although, this does mean you have less to study or worry about say compared to French or German, understanding or knowing what is being spoken about becomes difficult with complex verbs.
Japanese Verbs – Lesson 1
Basic Japanese……………there is no such thing. Basic Japanese is what deters most people from learning Japanese. While living in Japan I saw hundreds of foreigners, usually English teachers, start learning Japanese and then give up within the space of a month. What happens is these newly arrived teachers get all excited up about learning Japanese and rush off to their local ward office where they can get free Japanese lessons. After a month or so they give up and move on to more exciting cultural adventures like drinking Japanese beer.
The problem is learning Basic Japanese isn’t basic at all. Learning the basics of Japanese is very difficult because the language is completely different to English. There is no common ground – no concrete language aspects to relate what you learn about the Japanese language to English. With complex grammar, two different alphabets, Kanji, hundreds of idioms and the very confusing cultural aspect of the language it isn’t surprising most would be Japanese speakers give up only after a few lessons.
Japanese Phrases
Some basic Japanese phrases and expressions are untranslatable. You are end up memorizing lots of set expressions that in essence hold no meaning to you. Unfortunately, too many formal set expressions are generally considered basic, when they aren’t. However they are fundamental to social interaction in Japan. So you are trapped into learning lots of formal expressions you don’t really understand.
The teaching method is also to blame. It blows my mind how poorly Japanese is taught at private colleges in and outside of Japan. Formal grammar focused conversations are usually the meat and potatoes of most learning courses. These are conversations, to my knowledge to exist in Japan. It all focuses on the “masu” form and speaking politely.
In Japan I have found the best foreigner Japanese speakers are non English speakers. The are forced to speak Japanese in their job and are usually immersed in the language constantly while living in Japan. So there is hope. You just need to get over learning the difficult basics – the fundamentals. If you learn the basics hopefully you’ll get to meet a few Japanese and develop friendships and get some exposure to real spoken Japanese. I felt somewhat freed when I came to Japan and discovered colloquial Japanese. Hopefully you’ll experience the same freedom.
Learning and memorizing a few Japanese phrases is an achievement in itself for most people. Say a few greetings and know a little bit about Japanese food and Japanese will be complimenting your Japanese. Which can be quite embarrassing. The first time a Japanese compliments your Japanese in Japanese you will of course have no idea about what is being said. Once you realize what is being said you will feel like an idiot and probably give up learning basic Japanese.
To learn more about understanding Japanese start with these lessons:
