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.