After learning the names of months in Japanese, let us learn how to say dates and days of the week in Japanese. Days of the week are named after the sun, moon and five elements associated with the five planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). This naming system is exactly the same as the […]
Japanese Lessons
Japanese Months
The Japanese names of months are very easy to remember. Unlike in English, the months are sequentially named according to numbers (ichi, ni, san, shi…..); and after each number 月 gatsu is added. For example, January is called 一月 ichigatsu, literally meaning ‘the first month’ and February is called 二月 nigatsu, literally ‘the second month’. However, January […]
Japanese Numbers and Counting
The Japanese traditional counting system is also used as a universal counter (josuushi). However, this system is used to count only till 10. The Sino-Japanese counting system is more prevalent and commonly used in everyday context.
Japanese Counters or 助数詞
When I first learned the Japanese counters, about 10 or 15 of them, I thought that it was all I had to know. In reality, there are so many more counters in Japanese language. There are different Japanese counters or 助数詞 (josuushi) used to count objects of different shapes or kinds, living things, time etc. […]
Japanese Zodiac Signs 十干十二支
It is not improper for cats to despise rats, as their enmity goes back to the time of gods. Jikkan Jūnishi (lit ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches), the Japanese zodiac is based on the Chinese zodiac system which has twelve animals representing each year respectively from the twelve-year-cycle. Jikkan refers to the ten […]
Kanji Compound Words or Jukugo
The Japanese writing system comprises three different scripts – hiragan, katakana and kanji. I have explained a little bit about these three scripts in separate posts. You can read about hiragana in Japanese Alphabets – Hiragana Charts and katakana in Japanese Alphabets – Katakana Charts. A detailed study about the kanji script and its origin […]
Japanese Adjectives – 形容詞
The Japanese language uses two types of adjectives; the いadjective and the な adjective. The いadjectives follow and modify the noun. It is used as a predicate, therefore it can also act as a conjugate. For example, いadjectives in its: Basic Dictionary Forms このパンがおいしいです。This bread is tasty. (used as a predicate adjective) わたしは高いふくを買いました。I bought an expensive […]
Studying for the new JLPT- step by step
What could be the right way to prepare for the new JLPT? Just keep this in mind, “there is no shortcut to success”. The JLPT N levels have been improved on the grounds of syllabus and time. Unlike the old test, the new JLPT syllabi are broader and the question patterns are set to test […]
Radicals 部首
Radicals or ‘bushu‘ form a noticeably meaningful part of a Kanji. Mostly dictionaries and books use around 214 to 250 radicals in order to group kanji. Radicals are very useful when it comes to memorizing kanji. They can be used to associate between a character and its meaning. For instance, the kanji for the word […]
JLPT N5 Kanji List
The JLPT N5 syllabus is said to be almost equivalent to the JLPT 4 (old syllabus). Accordingly, there should be around 100 kanji to be learnt for JLPT N5. Since the change in JLPT exam patterns from 2010, there has been no official publication of the new JLPT syllabus.The following is the kanji list for […]