CONTENTS

Classroom Instructions and Greetings ……………….. 1

Basic Numbers ……………………………………...... 1

Lesson 1 ………………………………………………. 2
Introducing yourself ……………………………..... 3
Nationality…………………………………………… 3
Occupation ………………………………………..... 3
Introducing yourself II …………………………….. 4
Negative construction ……………………………... 4
Yes/No questions ………………………………….. 5
Particle mo: also, as well ………………………….. 5
Particle no: joining two nouns ……………………. 6
Asking who It is …………………………………….. 7
Asking for the age ………………………………….. 7
Conversation practice ……………………………… 8
Dialogue: Hajimemashite ………………………….. 9

Lesson 2 ………………………………………………. 10
Grammar Notes: Chapter 2 …………………….. 10
Yes/No questions and how to answer them ……... 11
Kore wa A desu ka, B desu ka. Is this A or B? …. 12
Asking what it is ….…………………………………... 12
The use of “what kind of…” …………………..…… 13
The use of “whose”dare no………………………….. 14
Talking about one’s belongings: Omission ……… 14
Demonstratives (Pronominal and adjectival)……. 14
Conversation practice ………………………………. 15
Dialogue: Kore kara o-sewa ni narimasu ………. 16

Lesson 3 ………………………………………………. 17
The use of koko, soko, asoko
(here, there and over there) ………………… 17
Where is….? The use of doko and dochira …….. 17
The other uses of どこ＆どちら ……………… 18
Large numbers & How to ask for the price
いくら (how much) …………………….…... 20
How to count floors ………………………………… 21
Dialogue: これをください …………………….... 21

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Lesson 4 ………………………………………………. 22
Asking for a telephone number ………………….... 22
Talking about the time ……………………………… 22
AM and PM ………………………………………….. 22
から まで (from to) ……………………………. 23
Days of the week ……………………………………. 23
Action verbs …………………………………………. 24
Negative ません, past tense ました,
negative past ませんでした ……………. 25
Dialogue: そちらはなんじまでですか ……… 26

Lesson 5 ………………………………………………. 27
Going, coming and returning いきます
きます、かえります …………………... 27
Dialogue: このでんしゃは
こうしえんへ いきますか …………... 30

Lesson 6 ………………………………………………. 31
Object marker particle を and verbs …………….. 31
Yes/No questions ……………………………………. 31
Interrogative questions: なに (what) ……..…….. 32
Particle for the place of action:
Place で (in, at, on) …………………….…. 33
それから and then …………………………………. 33
いつも？ときどき？ ………………………….. 33
ませんか (inviting someone to do something) &
ましょう (let’s) ……………………….… 34
いっしょに（ ）ませんか
Would you like to….together?.................... 34
Dialogue: いっしょにいきませんか ………... 35

Lesson 7 ………………………………………………. 36
Particle で, indicating tool/mean ……………… 36
Verbs related to “giving and receiving” ………. 37
もう already & まだ not yet …………………… 39
Dialogue: いらっしゃい …………………….... 40

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Reading and Writing ……………………………………….. 41
Romaji .……………………………………………..... 42
Primary syllables ………………………………. 42
Secondary syllables ……………………………. 42
Tertiary syllables ………………………………. 43
Double consonants …………………………….. 43
Long vowels (Double vowels) …………………. 43

Hiragana ………………………………………………. 44
あーそ …………………………………………. 44
たーほ …………………………………………. 45
まーん ………………………………………….. 46
がーぞ ………………………………………….. 47
だーぽ ………………………………………….. 48
きゃーちょ …………………………………….. 49
にゃーりょ …………………………………….. 50
ぎゃーぴょ …………………………………….. 51
じ＆ぢ(ji) ず＆づ(zu) ………………………….. 52
Double consonants ……………………………… 52
Double vowels, long vowels ……………………. 53
Particles wa and o ……………………………… 53
How to type certain characters in hiragana ……. 54

Katakana ………………………………………………. 55
アート …………………………………………. 55
ナーヨ …………………………………………. 56
ラーン …………………………………………. 57
Long vowels/double vowels in katakana ……….. 57
Reading/writing practice in katakana ………….. 57
Other special syllables in katakana ……………. 58
Katakana words in Chapter 1 ……………….…. 59
Katakana words in Chapters 2-4 ………...…….. 60
Katakana words in Chapters 5-7 ………………. 61
Answers: Katakana words in Chapters 1-3 …….. 62
Answers: Katakana words in Chapters 4-7 …….. 63

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Review Notes ……………………………………………….. 64
Particles ………………………….……………. 64
Interrogatives …………………………….……. 67
Large Numbers and Demonstratives …………... 70
Summary of Each Lesson ………………………. 71
Appendices
Hiragana in 48 Minutes1
Katakana in 48 Minutes2

Listening Practices and Reviews outside the Classroom

Some reviews and listening practices outside the classroom is important in order to
develop good grammatical knowledge and listening skills.

At the end of each lesson, there are some listening and grammatical tasks in the textbook
for you to complete at your own time. Answers are attached to your textbook. The
listening sections are very important since it normally takes a long time to improve
listening skills.

Spaces in-between Words

In Japanese, no space should be left between words. However, in this unit (Japanese 101),
I will leave space in-between words in order to make it easy to read. This technique is
used in children’s books where no kanji is used.
e.g. だいがくは なんじからですか。
だいがく なんじ
If kanji is used as in….大学は何時からですか。It is easy to see where each word starts.
If it is written without kanji…..だいがくはなんじからですか。It’s harder to see where
each word starts or ends.

Japanese Fonts
There are many types of Japanese fonts, which look different to each other. Japanese
textbooks often use a font called kyookasho-tai (textbook font) which resembles
handwriting. However, other fonts are also used commonly and it is important that you
are able to read different types of fonts.

There are only a few characters which look reasonably different, such as hiragana ki and
sa, and in some fonts, hu, ra and ri, as well.
Kyookasho-tai (Textbook font): みかさの やまに いでし つきかも
Minchoo-tai (Mincho font): みかさの やまに いでし つきかも
Mikasa no yama ni ideshi tsuki kamo

1
Quackenbush, HC & Ohso, M (1991). Hiragana in 48 Minutes. Teacher’s Set. Melbourne: Curriculum
Corporation
2
Quackenbush, HC & Ikeda, S (1994). Katakana in 48 Minutes. Teacher’s Set. Melbourne: Curriculum
Corporation