Japanese For Dummies, 2nd Edition

412 Pages·2012·58.94 MB·English

by  Eriko Sato

Japanese

FOR

DUMmIES

‰

2ND EDITION

by Eriko Sato, PhD

Japanese

FOR

DUMmIES

‰

2ND EDITION

Japanese For Dummies®, 2nd Edition
Published by
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
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Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2012947693

ISBN 978-1-118-13071-1 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-05385-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-05618-9 (ebk);
ISBN 978-1-118-21861-7 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Author

Eriko Sato, PhD, is Director of the Teacher Certification Program for
Japanese and the Pre-College Japanese Language Program at the State
University of New York at Stony Brook, where she has been teaching
Japanese language, linguistics, and pedagogy since 1995. She authored the
previous edition of Japanese For Dummies (Wiley), as well as Contemporary
Japanese: A Textbook for College Students (Tuttle) and Japanese Demystified
(McGraw Hill). She also coauthored My First Japanese Kanji Book (Tuttle),
Essential Japanese Grammar (Tuttle), and Basic Japanese (Tuttle).

Author’s Acknowledgments

I want to thank all the wonderful editors at Wiley. My heartfelt thanks go
to the project editor, Jennifer Tebbe, and the copy editor, Megan Knoll,
for their amazing editing skills, professionalism, and kindness. I enjoyed
working with them throughout the project. Additionally, I am indebted
to the two technical reviewers, Hiroko Chiba and Allen Kidd, who offered
numerous valuable suggestions from a variety of viewpoints. Special thanks
to Constance Carlisle for creating the audio recordings for this book, and to
Wiley’s executive editor, Lindsay Lefevere, and my agent, Grace Freedson, for
helping me get engaged in the Japanese For Dummies projects. I also want to
thank my students at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and in
its Pre-College Japanese Language Program for giving me the most valuable
input, inspiration, and insight. Finally, I wish to thank my husband, Yimei, our
daughter, Anna, and my family in Japan for their support and love.

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com.
For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974,
outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Vertical Websites

Project Editor: Jennifer Tebbe

(Previous Edition: Kathleen Dobie)

Executive Editor: Lindsay Sandman Lefevere

Copy Editor: Megan Knoll

(Previous Edition: Mike Baker)

Assistant Editor: David Lutton

Editorial Program Coordinator: Joe Niesen

Technical Editors: Hiroko Chiba, Allen Kidd

Vertical Websites: Melanie Orr,

Marilyn Hummel

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Editorial Manager: Christine Meloy Beck

Editorial Assistant: Alexa Koschier

Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South

Cover Photo: © iStockphoto.com/

David Kerkhoff

Cartoons: Rich Tennant

(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Layout and Graphics: Carrie A. Cesavice,

Joyce Haughey, Brent Savage, Erin Zeltner

Proofreaders: Jacqui Brownstein,

Melissa Cossell

Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC

Illustrator: Elizabeth Kurtzman

Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies

Kathleen Nebenhaus, Vice President and Executive Publisher

David Palmer, Associate Publisher

Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director

Publishing for Technology Dummies

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents at a Glance

Introduction .............................................................. 21

Part I: Getting Started ................................................. 7

Chapter 1: Japanese in a Nutshell ....................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Checking Out the Japanese Sounds and Scripts .......................................17
Chapter 3: Warming Up with Japanese Grammar Basics ...........................................33
Chapter 4: Starting with Simple Expressions ...............................................................61
Chapter 5: Getting Your Numbers, Times, and Measurements Straight ..................77
Chapter 6: Speaking Japanese at Home ........................................................................99
Part II: Japanese in Action ....................................... 117

Chapter 7: Getting to Know You: Making Small Talk .................................................119
Chapter 8: Asking for Directions ..................................................................................131
Chapter 9: Dining Out and Going to the Market.........................................................147
Chapter 10: Shopping Made Easy ................................................................................163
Chapter 11: Going Out on the Town ............................................................................183
Chapter 12: Taking Care of Business and Telecommunications..............................199
Chapter 13: Recreation and the Great Outdoors .......................................................219
Part III: Japanese on the Go ..................................... 233

Chapter 14: Planning a Trip ..........................................................................................235
Chapter 15: Dealing with Money in a Foreign Land ...................................................245
Chapter 16: Making Your Way Around: Planes, Trains, Taxis, and More ...............257
Chapter 17: Finding a Place to Stay .............................................................................275
Chapter 18: Handling Emergencies ..............................................................................291
Part IV: The Part of Tens .......................................... 309

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Pick Up Japanese Quickly .................................................311
Chapter 20: Ten Things Never to Say in Japanese.....................................................315
Chapter 21: Ten Favorite Japanese Expressions .......................................................319
Chapter 22: Ten Phrases That Make You Sound Fluent in Japanese ......................323

Part V: Appendixes .................................................. 327

Appendix A: Mini-Dictionary ........................................................................................329
Appendix B: Verb Tables ..............................................................................................349
Appendix C: On the CD..................................................................................................359
Appendix D: Answer Key ..............................................................................................363
Index ...................................................................... 365

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................. 1

About This Book ..............................................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book .....................................................................2
What You’re Not to Read ................................................................................4
Foolish Assumptions .......................................................................................4
How This Book Is Organized ..........................................................................4

Part I: Getting Started ............................................................................4
Part II: Japanese in Action ....................................................................5
Part III: Japanese on the Go ..................................................................5
Part IV: The Part of Tens .......................................................................5
Part V: Appendixes ................................................................................5

Icons Used in This Book .................................................................................5
Where to Go from Here ...................................................................................6

Part I: Getting Started .................................................. 7

Chapter 1: Japanese in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Discovering Basic Japanese Sounds and Script ..........................................9
Getting a Grip on Basic Grammar ................................................................10
Easing into Common Expressions ...............................................................10
Counting on Numbers ...................................................................................11
Speaking Japanese around the House ........................................................12
Using Japanese in Social Scenarios .............................................................12

Making small talk .................................................................................12
Asking for directions ...........................................................................13
Eating out and buying food.................................................................13
Going shopping ....................................................................................13
Exploring entertainment opportunities ............................................13
Doing business and communicating..................................................14
Enjoying sports, hobbies, recreation, and more .............................14

Tackling Travel-Related Topics ...................................................................15

Preparing for a trip ..............................................................................15
Making sense of money .......................................................................15
Getting around with local transportation .........................................15
Securing a place to stay ......................................................................16
Taking action during emergencies ....................................................16

Japanese For Dummies, 2nd Edition
xii

Chapter 2: Checking Out the Japanese Sounds and Scripts . . . . . . . .17

Pronouncing Basic Japanese Sounds ..........................................................17

Vowels ...................................................................................................17
Consonants ...........................................................................................19

Sounding Fluent .............................................................................................20

Don’t stress ...........................................................................................21
Watch out for pitch and intonation ...................................................21
Get in rhythm .......................................................................................22
Keep your speed up .............................................................................23

Introducing the Japanese Scripts ................................................................23

Kana .......................................................................................................23
Kanji .......................................................................................................27

Chapter 3: Warming Up with Japanese Grammar Basics . . . . . . . . . .33

Using Appropriate Speech Styles ................................................................33
Forming Sentences ........................................................................................34

Ordering the words correctly ............................................................34
Marking nouns with particles .............................................................35
Telling the topic ...................................................................................38
Dropping understood words ..............................................................39

Asking Questions ...........................................................................................39

Yes/no questions .................................................................................40
Content questions ................................................................................40

Getting a Handle on Pronouns .....................................................................42

Demonstrative pronouns ....................................................................42
Personal pronouns ..............................................................................44

Working with Verbs .......................................................................................45

Understanding basic verb forms .......................................................45
Doing the conjugation thing ...............................................................47
Speaking politely with –masu .............................................................50

Introducing the Verb Desu, to Be ................................................................51
Describing People and Things with Adjectives .........................................53
Using Adverbs to Describe Your Actions ...................................................56

Creating adverbs from adjectives ......................................................56
Perusing pure adverbs ........................................................................56
Turning to sentence-like adverbs ......................................................57

Expressing Moods and Attitudes .................................................................57

Chapter 4: Starting with Simple Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Beginning (And Ending) Conversations ......................................................61

Addressing friends and strangers ......................................................61
Greeting all day long ............................................................................64
Saying goodbye ....................................................................................65

Making Introductions ....................................................................................66

Introducing yourself ............................................................................67
Introducing your friends .....................................................................67
Asking people their names .................................................................69
Being polite with o- ..............................................................................69

xiii
Table of Contents

Finding Out About Your New Friend ...........................................................70

Asking people where they’re from.....................................................70
Talking about your language skills ....................................................72

Expressing Gratitude and Regret .................................................................74

Showing gratitude ................................................................................74
Apologizing ...........................................................................................74

Speaking about Speaking: The Verb Hanasu ..............................................75

Chapter 5: Getting Your Numbers, Times,
and Measurements Straight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Ichi, Ni, San: Counting in Japanese ..............................................................77

Numbers from 1 to 10 ..........................................................................77
Numbers from 11 to 99 ........................................................................78
Numbers from 100 to 9,999 .................................................................79
Numbers from 10,000 to 99,999 ..........................................................80
Numbers over 100,000 .........................................................................81
Expressing amount or quantity with counters ................................81
Indicating ordinal numbers with -me ................................................83

Telling Time ....................................................................................................84

Noting hours and minutes ..................................................................84
Talking about time ...............................................................................87

It’s a Date! Delving into the Calendar ..........................................................88

Talking about the days of the week ...................................................88
Naming the months and counting them up ......................................89
Counting the days ................................................................................90
Counting the weeks .............................................................................92
Reeling off the years ............................................................................92
Specifying dates and times .................................................................93

Familiarizing Yourself with the Metric System ..........................................97

Chapter 6: Speaking Japanese at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Taking a Tour of Your Home ........................................................................99

The kitchen .........................................................................................100
The dining room .................................................................................101
The living room ..................................................................................102
The bedroom ......................................................................................102
The bathroom.....................................................................................103
The laundry room ..............................................................................104
The storage room ..............................................................................104

Home Is Where the Food Is ........................................................................107

Getting cooking ..................................................................................107
Using two verbs at the table .............................................................107
Considering proper table manners..................................................108
Enjoying foods of all kinds ................................................................109
Talking about foods you like and dislike ........................................111