The lessons below comes with video tutorials – to learn more visit Read Japanese Fast

Reading Practice Vocabulary　 読み練習の単語を覚えましょう 1 来る くる To come 2 毎日 まいにち Every day 3 良い よい Good 4 天気 てんき Weather 5 食べ物 たべもの Food 6 多い おおい Many, lots of 7 大きい おおきい Big 8 小さい ちいさい Small 9 見に行ってきました みにいってきました Went and saw 10 千 せん A thousand 11 来週 らいしゅう Next week 12 百 ひゃく A hundred

Email の読み練習

おにいちゃんへ こんにちは。ニュウヨークへ来て、２週間がすぎました。毎日良い天気です。こちらのレストランでは、食べ物がとても多いです。そして、みんな大きい人たちばかりで、私は、とても小さいです。 今日は、がっこうを見に行ってきました。とても大きいキャンパスで、千人いじょうせいとがいるそうです。がっこうは来週の金曜からはじまります。とてもたのしみです。 アパートがみつからないので、まだともだちのところにいます。週に百ドルくらいのアパートをさがしています。来週の火曜か水曜ぐらいまでには見つけたいとおもいます。 では、またメールするね。

Grammar Points

みんな大きい人たちばかりで	ばかり means all or only. In this case “everyone”
とてもたのしみ	たのしみ means “to look forward to”
アパートがみつからないので	みつからない is the negative form of  the verb みつける　－　to find. “(Since) I haven’t been able to find an apartment..”
見つけたいとおもいます	見つけたいis the “tai” form of みつける　to find.Adding とおもいます expresses a hope or expectation. “I hope to find an apartment”

]]> http://talksushi.com/kanji-lessons-read-kanji-characters-in-conext/feed/ 1 http://talksushi.com/learn-to-read-japanese-the-right-way/ http://talksushi.com/learn-to-read-japanese-the-right-way/#comments Fri, 06 Mar 2009 08:42:52 +0000 Nick http://talksushi.com/?p=543 Most students of Japanese go about learning to read Japanese the wrong way. In fact most teachers go about teaching Japanese the wrong way. It is harsh comment, but an unfortunate reality. It is the reason why most students never reach a level where they can read real Japanese.

Most students are taught to read Hiragana, Katakana and then memorize Kanji in order to read Japanese. This is obviously a logical learning pattern or method.  However,  too much emphasis is placed on learning individual kanji characters and all their readings. Once a student has reached a basic level, where they can read hiragana and katakana, they should start trying to read kanji in context.  The problem is students try to learn and memorize hundreds of kanji in no context at all.

Memorizing hundreds of kanji readings will not help you read Japanese. More emphasis should be place on actually reading kanji in context and on “kanji vocabulary”.  I struggled for years in order to reach a level where I could read real Japanese. I spent hours and hours on trying to memorize hundreds of kanji and lots of grammar points. When I went to practice to read I couldn’t. It was like having all the right ingredients, but not knowing how to use them.  This is the problem you are probably facing right now with your Japanese - you know hiragana, katakana, a few hundred kanji, basic grammar, but you can’t read.

My wife and I have developed a learning method to help people learn to read Japanese quickly – in 30 days in fact. We coach students to read with screen capture video tutorials. We teach the basics, hiragana and katakana, but we mainly focus on reading kanji in context. We go through twenty reading pieces word by word, phrases by phrase explaining everything. We also take into consideration learner needs and the ambiguity of Japanese.

Culture plays an important part of Japanese, too. Most teachers of Japanese forget this. We discuss culture, social customs and the Japanese mind-set in our video tutorials. These factors play an important part in learning, speaking and reading Japanese. We also give concise easy to understand grammar explanations as well.

If your goal is to learn how to read Japanese then I urge you to give our product a go. We can have you reading Japanese in 30 days. I know that sounds like a bunch of sushi.  Ten years ago, when I first started learning Japanese I wouldn’t have believe it myself.  We have tested our method and upgraded our product over several years. If you have a basic understanding of Japanese and are frustrated with your slow progress consider ”Read Japanese Fast”. Our product comes with an 8 week guarantee so you have plenty of time to try our product without risk.

Here is a link for more information. You can sign up to our newsletter and receive some sample videos.

http://www.readjapanesefast.com/

Learning Kanji is a great way to build vocabulary quickly.  Also, I find Japanese writing to be quite beautiful. It is actually a pleasure to be able to write in Japanese.  Learning to read and write Japanese characters is very worthwhile and something you should consider doing immediately if you are serious about learning Japanese. Don’t bother wasting your time with romaji. Get straight into learning Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

 Common Kanji Charaters

　なつ　のとき　よく　水　を　のみます。

I drink a lot of water in summer.

　本　を　よむ　のは　好きです。

 I like to read books.

　あの　人 　 あなた　の　ともだち　ですか

 Is that person your friend?

　気　に　しないで　ください

 Please, don’t worry about it.

　元気　ですか

 How are you?

 
If you want to learn how to start reading Kanji with in 30 days please check out

The Kanji Supremacy Method

1. Go to the vocabulary section and read the words.
2. Play the audio and follow the text (email) as Kaoru Sensei reads. Do this several times.
3. Try reading the email by yourself
4. Refer back to the vocabulary to check words you don’t understand
5. Read the text yourself aloud.

Reading Practice Vocabulary -読み練習の単語を覚えましょう

No. Kanji Reading Meaning
1    -  元気       -     げんき               -    Well
2    -  私           -     わたし               -    I
3    -  今           -     いま                  -     Now
4    -  人           -     ひと                   -    People
5    -  日本       -     にほん              -    Japan
6    -  今日       -     きょう                 -    Today
7    -  十二時   -    じゅうにじ          -   12 o’clock
8    -  四十三   -    よんじゅうさん   -   Fourty three
9    -  来月       -     らいげつ            -   Next month
10  -  七日      -     なのか               –  7th
11 土曜日       -     どようび              -  Saturday

Reading Practice – emails From New York 1

おにいちゃんへ

元気ですか。　私は今インターネットカフェにいます。おいしいコーヒーをのんでいます。
ニュウヨークはすごいまちですよ。人がおおくて、とてもにぎやかです。日本とぜんぜんちがいます。
今日は、まちのバスツアーをします。　たのしみですけど、ちょっとたかいです。
四十三ドルもする。そのあとは、ともだちのアパートにいきます。来月の七日までとまります。

土曜日にうちにでんわをしますね。　みんなによろしくね。

Note: にぎやか -Lively, bustling

The Kanji learning Package comes with video tutorials that coach you how to kanji in context.
Grammar explainantions are also provided for each lesson. To learn more visit Kanji Supremacy

Watch the video kanji lesson below.

Let’s revise!

車　has two readings;  くるま and  しゃ. Which one is the Chinese reading?

Here are the questions and vocabulary from the video;

車をもってますか　　－ Do you own a car?

車をもってません      － I don’t own a car

車はたかいですね　－　Cars are expensive

車　－　　　　　くるま　　－　　　kuruma         –  car

車椅子　－　　 くるまいす　－　kurumaisu   -   wheelchair

自動車　－　    じどうしゃ　 －   jidousha       -   motor vehicle

自転車　－　     じてんしゃ　－ jitensha          -   bicycle

書庫　 　－  　 しゃこ　　　　－　shako             -   garage

駐車所 　－ ちゅうしゃじょ　－ chuushajyo   -  car park

車輪　　  － しゃりん　　　　－　sharin             -  wheel

What did you think?