Week 10

This week we spent some time practicing for the part of the oral test where you have to talk about/ answer questions about two pictures. I was pleased to see that most people seemed to be getting on OK with it. Remember there are not right and wrong answers, the main objective is to show off how much Japanese you know. Try to use as many different constructions as you can - past , present tense, etc, and use as wide a vocabulary as you can.

In order to help you with vocab, I have uploaded to BB an excel chart of all the verbs that are in the GCSE specifications - 178 of them. You don't need to know ALL of them but the person who compiled this list has kindly included various forms such as masu form and te form as well as the kanji. A useful reference tool.

Also, I uploaded the verb chart document that I handed out last night. You can use multiple copies of this to keep a record of verbs that you have learnt in and out of class and their various forms. This particular chart has plain dictionary form, negative plain and te form.

These are all in the folder Handouts ->> Week 10.

The remainder of the time was spent asking permission, giving permission and asking someone not to do something, lessons 20 and 21. See also the handout entitled "May I".

Next week we will practice the presentations for the oral test so prepare what you are going to say and bring along any props if you have them (max 3 items, no power point or things that require a PC etc)

If you have any worries or would like to talk about the portfolio with me, get in touch and we can arrange a tutorial for next week. It's your last chance!

Week 9

This week we completed the assessed reading and grammar exercises (preliminary people only need to do the reading and not grammar)
These form a requirement for your portfolio so if you were absent you must contact me to arrange a time to do them. They should take about 30 mins or so.
Lesson 19:
This lesson covers inviting people out (using shimasen ka) and talking about how long it takes to go from A to B and different modes of transport:
Note - the particle "de" is used to by "by" with a mode of transport as in densha de, kuruma de and so on, except aruite - on foot.
The counters for periods of time:
jikan - hour
shuukan - week

E.g. Tokyo kara sapporo made wa aruite nishuukan kakarimasu.

For days use:
ichi nichi
futsuka-kan
mikka-kan
yokka-ka etc the words used for dates but with "kan" (period) added.

This chapter also covers the following verbs: deru (leave) tsuku (arrive) kaeru (go home/back) noru (get on (transport)/ ride) oriru (get off (transport)

Note the particles for these verbs:
ie o demasu
kaisha ni tsukimasu
ie ni kaerimasu
basu ni norimasu
basu o orimasu

Lesson 20
This chapter covers asking permission to do something using the construction:

- shite mo ii desu ka = Is it all right if I... / May I

shashin o totte mo ii desu ka = May I take a photo
panfuretto o moratte mo ii desu ka

Note that the verbs toru and morau are in the -te form.

Tutorials:
If you would like a tutorial to talk about the portfolio or about any other aspect of the course, email me and arrange a time. If I haven't had your written homework for feedback (a passage about your free time) then let me have it asap. This will form the basis of your speech for the oral test.

week 8

Ths topics for this week were:
Directions
Comparing things

We reviewed directions such as:
massugu itte, hidari, migi etc and expanded on these

key words and phrases
magaru - to turn --> migi matte
shingo - lights --> shingo de hidari magatte
tooru - to go through or past --> bijutsukan no mae o tootte
kousaten - cross roads
tsukiatari - T junction
routari - roundabout
jouheki - city walls (very important word in York)

ni ban me - second
san ban me - third

The task was to write directions from the bus stop to your home for a visitor, and then from your home to the nearest shop.

NOTE
If giving instructions like how to get to your house or a recipe, use the -masu form.
Migi ni magarimasu

But if you are asking someone to do something (eg telling a taxi driver where to go) you use the +te kudasai construction.
Migi ni magatte kudasai


Comparing things
Expanding on likes and dislikes:

wain ga suki desu - I like wine
wain yori ocha ga suki desu - I prefer tea to wine
wain yori ocha no hou ga suki desu - I prefer tea to wine
wain no hou ga suki desu - I prefer wine
wain ga ichiban suki desu - I like wine best

Questions
ocha to wain wa dochi ga suki desu ka
wain yori ocha ga suki desu

Pretty much any adjective can be put in the construction in place of suki:

Tokyo yori Rondon no hou ga omoshiroi
Tokyo no hou ga ookii desu.
Rondon to Pari wa dochi ga kirei desu ka

Don't forget to get your homework for feedback in ASAP if you haven't already.
If you want to book a personal tutorial with me, please get in touch.

Week 7

Topics for this week were:

• Offering to do something (lesson 16)
• Talking about future plans (lesson 17)

Offering to do something

The key construction when you are offering to do something is "shimashou ka"

Last week we used "shimashou" to mean "Let's/ shall we", but in this context it means "Shall I?"

for example: mado o akemashou ka - shall I open the window.

If you want to accept the offer: arigatou gozaimasu, onegaishimasu.

To refuse: Kekkou desu.

Talking about future plans

We've already covered using the +masu form for talking about future plans, but this lesson was focusing also on ways to talk about more than one event and show what order they happened in.

Phrases such as "(noun) no ato de" - kaigi no ato de - after the meeting

(noun) no mae ni - kaigi no mae ni - before the meeting

You can also use sorekara -

The +te form of the verb which we started to look at is also a useful way of putting events in order. See last weeks notes about the +te form and sheets on blackboard.

kaigi ni itte, chokoreto koujou o mite, sorekara Toukyou e kaerimasu = (I'll) go to the meeting, see the chocolate factory and then go back to Tokyo.

The +te form has no tense of its own so can be used in a past sentence as well as a present/future one

kaigi ni itte, chokoreto koujou o mite, sorekara Toukyou e kaerimashita = I went to the meeting, saw the chocolate factory and then came back to Tokyo.

Review of talking about hobbies and interests

In the last 10 minutes we did a very quick reveiw of how to talk about what sports/ musical instruments we like/ don't like/ are good at/ are not good at etc. This was partly to get you thinking about the topic for the assignment.

Assignment for feedback

I asked you to produce a paragraph on the topic of "Free time" - this is a deliberately broad topic area and you can write about whatever you like. Try to show off how much you know and experiment with new words and phrases - especially things that we might not yet have covered during class. I like to see that you are working independently and not just sticking to material covered in the class.

I will give feedback on how you could expand and improve on the passage, you should then put this in the portfolio but it will also form the basis of your 2 minute talk in the oral test.

Week 6

The main topics last night were:
*adjectives - giving compliments and also giving opinions on past events
*inviting some one out
*-te form of verbs

Adjectives:
Following on from last week, we practiced giving compliments:
kawaii kaban desu ne
arigatou
doko de kaimashita ka
TK max de kaimashita, yasukatta desu yo

Then page 141 of the book, using negative masu form to invite some to do something:
ikimasen ka -Wouldn't you like to go?
isshoni eiga o mimasen ka - Wouldn't you like to come to the cinema with me

This section of the book also focussed on making arrangements using +mashou
This is simply the masu form, but the masu is changed to mashou and is used to mean "let's"
eki de aimashou - Let's meet at the station
densha de ikimashou - Let's go by train

We practiced inviting people out and making arrangements to meet, but I also gave some useful phrases for politely refusing an invitation:
chotto.... - well....(usually precedes a "no")
tsugou ga warui desu - It's not convenient
youji ga arimasu - I have something to do

All suitably vague and polite.

Finally, I introduced the -te form of the verb. We will be covering this again next week so this was just a taster. The -te form is used a lot and although initially it seems hard because the -te form of a verb doesn't always look much like it's masu form, it is very regular and once you get your head round it, it will help you understand much more Japanese.

I have uploaded worksheets on to blackboard for this and we will look at it again next week.

If I haven't had your homework paragraph for feedback please let me have it next week. If anyone would like a one-to-one tutorial, I will be in uni on Tuesday and Weds afternoons so email me and make an appointment.

Week 5

In this class we covered unit 6 , lessons 12 and 13.

Lesson 12 is about offering/ accepting/ refusing hospitality at someone's house which we have covered before. I also picked up on the adjectives and we studied adjectives in a bit more detail, in particular how to use more than one adjective at a time in a sentence. The grammar notes are on BB.
I also gave some extra vocab for describing patterns:
gara - pattern
hanagara - flowery
muji - plain
mizutama - spots

mizutama ga tsuite imasu - it has spots on it
hoshi ga tsuiteimasu - It has stars on it

We also practiced describing things (umbrellas mostly) in the lost property office. Again the sheet for this is on BB.

Lesson 13 was about giving compliments - Mr Smith was lost in admiration at Mr Takahashi's beautiful vase, after listening to this we practiced giving / accepting compliments.

As well as the phrases in the book I gave some extra vocabulary:
moraimono - it was given to me (literally: a received thing)
yasumono - a cheap thing

(Like in English, if someone admires your clothing or accessories, the polite thing is to say something self deprecating)

I have just been playing with this website for listening activities on the internet. http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/lal/japanesemain/ISLPR_listening/ISLPRlistening_frame.html
They are all real bits of spoken Japanese so it can be quite hard to catch what they are saying. The ones recorded in shops are all ultra polite so lots of use of "gozaimasu" and very polite phrases. Have a go and see how you get on. Even if you don't catch every word, see if you can get the gist or the main points.

Week 4

The topics for this lesson were:

• talking about past, (+mashita) as well as the future and habits using +masu form.
• describing where things are
• particles

We listened to the conversations for chapters 9,10,11 and practiced reading the conversations.

Some words for expressing frequency:

mainichi - every day

maishuu - every week

maiasa - every morning

maiban - every evening

maishuu no nichiyoubi - every Sunday

yoku - often

tokidoki - sometimes

zenzen + negative - never

amari + neg - not often

In a question you'd use "yoku" - terebi o yoku mimasu ka - do you watch TV often?

To reply - in Japanese it is normal to respond to a yes/ no question by repeating the VERB either in positive or negative form, rather than use hai or iie on its own.

eg. Jitensha ni mainichi norimasu ka - Do you ride a bike everyday?

(Hai ) Norimasu - Yes I do

(Iie*) Norimasen - No I don't

*Often iie is pronounced more like "ya"

Particles easily overlooked and easy to get wrong, but worth studying occasionally:

wa - topic marker

ga - subject marker

o - object marker

ni - to/ in the direction of also used with time phrases like 3ji ni/ nichiyoubi ni

e - to/ towards

kara - from as in 3ji kara. Also means because when at the end of a sentence. chokoreto ga suki desu. Oishii desu kara.

made - until

ka - question marker

mo - as well

to - with/ and

mo - also

ya - used like and but implying that the list has not finished. asagohan wa tosuto ya tamago o tabemasu - I eat toast and eggs and other things for breakfast

TASK FOR FEEDBACK

To write a paragraph about your family, your hobby, your everyday life, the everyday life of another person (fictional or real)

The purpose is to show off how much Japanese you know, so use as many different contructions and vocabulary as you can. Include kanji where possible. It does not have to be true!