Japanese Langage Centre's Official Classroom

[Shaku]

Lesson 4 S1 - Conversation and Words
Personal Pronouns

As we all know and hear especially in anime, there are many ways of saying "I" and "you". Let's take a look at these because here we will be using only some of them:

First person (myself):
Watashi - This is the most well-known form and you can be safe with it in any situation. if it becomes a little plain you can also use the next ones, but please pay attention;
Boku - Used only by boys and even though it's not offending please avoid using it around teachers, older people etc. and use it with your friends and family;
Ore - It's a stronger form of boku, again used only by boys (or by motorcycle girls LOL) and it is kinda rude to use it, so only with close friends;
Atashi - This is only used by females and it has the mild tone of watashi ^^
Watakushi - Very formal and to be used only on special occasions like formal visits and around very important and respected persons.


Second person (you):
Anata - The basic form and the tone of watashi form the 1st person;
Kimi - Used with close friends and with boyfriends/girlfriends because it also carries the meaning of "darling, dear";
Omae - Used only with people of lower status than you and close boy friends;
Kisama / Teme - Extremely rude. Posted it just for the sake of knowledge xD
Otaku - Very formal and used in situations just like watakushi.
Between otaku and anata (like Mr. and such) there's the situation of using the person's name, e.g. Kimura-sensei wa ogenki desu ka. - Are you in good health?

Third Person:
Kare - He;
Kanojo - She;
Kono kata, sono kata, ano kata - Formal, kata meaning person.

Plural
To make the plural you add -tachi after all of the pronouns above, including a person's name (Kimura-tachi - You plural) but pay attention as -tachi puts an emphasis on the person with who you are speaking and not the others;
You can also use it with almost every noun: kodomo-tachi (children), neko-tachi (the cats).

Word list

 Spoiler: click to show

hito - person
otoko - man
otokonohito - man (polite)
otokonoko - boy
onna - woman
onnanohito - woman (polite)
onnanoko - girl
kodomo - child
tomodachi - friend (see? tomo and tachi; tomo is somewhat obsolete and tachi becomes -dachi)
sensei - teacher (you can even use it when speaking to a very good doctor or specialist in a domain)
gakusei - pupil, student

Homework

 Spoiler: click to show

Please make a conversation between you and your friend, introducing him to your teacher. The more lines and more words the better

[Hitsugaya-shiro-chan]

konnichiwa
i would wanna enroll
ogenkidesu to all of you and
shaku-sama too
just wanna tell you that
watashiwa nihongowo amari umaku hanasemasen that is why im gonna enroll
if im correct

[sonata]

Hello there Hitsugaya-shiro-chan. This is not the place for enrolling, if you want to join us, you can go to the Japanese Language Center (a.k.a JLC), the link is in my sig.

Thanks for the lesson, Shaku-sensei! Hm, and I have several questions...

 Spoiler: click to show

What about aitsu?
Can we use kochira to replace kono kata?

The homework's a bit difficult, I'm still not finished...

[Shaku]

Hahaha! Just after translating your request I wondered whether you would like to become a student here Please follow Sonata's directions ^_^

Now,

You are right, koitsu, soitsu and aitsu are indeed pronouns, but as you can see, they too make part of the kore-sore-are trilogy of words, so I will include them in our next Grammar lesson
Kochira-sochira-achira are just another KSA group and they show the direction.

You gave me the idea about the next lesson: all KSA groups including D-group (surprise surprise), making them the KSAD group

[aie89]

Ohaiyo everyone....

Shaku..sensei and everyone....
I am sorry not doing homework for a while..because I get busy with RL but I try to do as much as I can.....Gomen ne.....

[Shaku]

LESSON 5 - Section 2: Grammar
Adjectives

In Japanese the nouns haven't number, gender or case, so the adjectives have only one form and use particles, but as an exception they will chage their form if the verb tense for example is changed, but today we will learn the basics ^_^

Japanese adjectives are split in two big categories: -i Adjectives (1st group) and -na Adjectives (2nd Group), this being their ending.
So you will know right away how to use an adjective because you will learn what type it is, but there are also some adjectives which end in "i" but are n"a"

1. -i Adjectives

These are the easiest to learn because they end in i when they have their basic form. Here are some examples of different i adjectives:

ii - ureshii, tanoshii, kanashii, ii - happy, pleasant, sad, good;
ai - akai, chiisai, mijikai - red, small, short;
oi - shiroi, kuroi, aoi, ooi - white, black, blue, big;
ui - karui, nemui - light, sleepy.

EXCEPTION: kirei, suki, kirai, etc. - clean (beautiful), favorite, hated.
these are the ones that you need to memorize because you will often have the tendency to use them as -i adjectives. There can be seen as irregular, especially suki which has various ways of use.

2. -na Adjectives

Unfortunately there aren't any adjectives which end in "-na", but you can recognize them by having various forms which usually don't end in "i":
shizuka, shinsetsu, jouzu, benri, kirei, etc. - quiet, kind, talented, convenient, clean & beautiful.

Although they don't end in "-na", it is used when after them follows a noun which they refer to:

Koko ni shizuka desu - Here it is quiet.
Gakusei-tachi wa jouzu desu ne! - Wow, the students are talented!
Sono neko to kono inu wa kirei desu ka - Is that cat and this dog clean?
Kore wa shizukana heya desu - This is a quiet room.
Ano otokonohito wa shinsetsuna hito desu - Those men are kind people.
7eleven wa benrina mise desu ka - Is 7eleven a convenient store?

So please memorize that most adjectives that end in "i" don't change their form if there is a noun after them AS OPPOSED to the other adjectives with use "na" between them and the noun which they refer to.

WordList

 Spoiler: click to show

otousan - father (polite and when referring to someone else's parents)
okaasan - mother (polite and when referring to someone else's parents);
chichi - father;
haha - mother;
oniisan - elder brother (polite and when referring to someone else's brother);
ani - elder brother;
oneesan - older sister (polite and when referring to someone else's sister);
ane - older sister;
otoutou - younger brother
imoutou - younger sister;

Shukudai

 Spoiler: click to show

Order these adjectives by category: tanoshii, akai, shinsetsu, muda (futile), suppai (sour), urusai (noisy), genki (healthy, lively), nagai (long), yuumei (famous), hima (free time), isogashii (busy), odayaka (gentle), amai (sweet), chokusetsu (straight), yowai (weak), tsuyoi (strong).

Choose 3 from each category and make some nice sentences with each ^_^

[sonata]

Thank you for the lesson, Shaku-sensei, and sorry for the late shukudai...

Shukudai:

 Spoiler: click to show

Order these adjectives by category: tanoshii, akai, shinsetsu, muda (futile), suppai (sour), urusai (noisy), genki (healthy, lively), nagai (long), yuumei (famous), hima (free time), isogashii (busy), odayaka (gentle), amai (sweet), chokusetsu (straight), yowai (weak), tsuyoi (strong).

-i adjectives: tanoshii, akai, suppai, urusai, genki, nagai, yuumei, isogashii, amai, yowai, tsuyoi, nagai
-na adjectives: shinsetsu, muda, hima, odayaka, chokusetsu

I'm not so creative with making sentences, but here I go...
-i adjectives:
1. tanoshii: Kinou no patii wa totemo tanoshikatta desu ne...
2. akai: Akai no kaban wa watashi no.
3. urusai: Ichigo to Renji wa urusai otoko-tachi desu yo.

-na adjectives:
1. Chokusetsu: Kono chokusetsu na michi o massugu itte, tsugi no shingou o migi ni magatte kudasai.
2. Odayaka: Kenpachi ga imasen no toki, SS ga totemo odayaka desu.
3. Muda: Kenpachi o korosu ga muda desu.

The word "muda" reminds me to the word "young", because "muda" means "young" in Indonesian... Oh, and I'm sorry if there's a lot of mistakes...

[speachy_15]

Domo minna!!! Sensei.... Kore wa watashi no shukudai desu.... (Lesson 4)

 Spoiler: click to show

Watashi: Sarah-chan.... Iku yo... Smith-sensei wa asoko desu....
Sarah-chan: Hai....
(We run to meet Smith-sensei)
Watashi: Smith-sensei.....
Smith-sensei: Oh, anata desu, Peachy-san. Ogenki desu ka?
Watashi: hai. Genki desu, sensei.... Ne, sensei... (pulls Sarah-chan forward) Kono kata wa Sarah Miller Desu. Kanojo wa watashi no tomodachi desu...
(Turns to Sarah-chan) Sarah-chan.... Kono kata wa James Smith-sensei.
Sarah-chan:(bowing) Hajimemashite, sensei. Watashi wa Sarah-Miller desu. Doozo yoroshiku.
Smith-sensei: Oh, hajimemashite. Watashi wa James Smith. Doozo yoroshiku.

There... i hope it'll turn out to be ok.... Sensei.... Gomen if there are a lot of mistakes....

----------
Oh, yes... Kore wa watashi no atarashii shukudai desu. (lesson 5)

 Spoiler: click to show

-i adjectives: Tanoshii, akai, suppai (sour), urusai (noisy) genki (healthy, lively), nagai (long), isogashii (busy),amai (sweet), yowai (weak), tsuyoi (strong), yuumei (famous),

-na adjectives: shinsetsu, muda (futile), , hima (free time), odayaka (gentle), chokusetsu (straight),

The sentences: (ooh... i hope they turn out right.....)
-i adjectives:
1. Soko wa tanoshii desu, ne?
2. Ano furui otoko wa urusai da.....
3. Otoosan wa itsudemo isogashii desu.

-na adjectives
1. Ano tadakai wa muda da yo.(ooh... i hope i got dat right.)
2. Watashi no kao ni odayaka na kaze ga mai. (ooohhh... sorry!!! i forgot the word!!!!! Gommenasai sensei!!!)
3. Kono shizuka na onna wa watashi no tomodachi desu....

[Shaku]

Mattaku T.T Although we got a pretty large list of students the only ones with homework are Sonata, Aie and Speachy
Anyway:

sonata:

 Spoiler: click to show

-i adjectives: tanoshii, akai, suppai, urusai, genki, nagai, yuumei, isogashii, amai, yowai, tsuyoi, nagai
-na adjectives: shinsetsu, muda, hima, odayaka, chokusetsu

-i adjectives:
1. tanoshii: Kinou no patii wa totemo tanoshikatta desu ne...
2. akai: Akai no kaban wa watashi no. Akai kaban...
3. urusai: Ichigo to Renji wa urusai otoko-tachi desu yo.

-na adjectives:
1. Chokusetsu: Kono chokusetsu na michi o massugu itte, tsugi no shingou o migi ni magatte kudasai.
2. Odayaka: Kenpachi ga imasen no toki, SS ga totemo odayaka desu.
3. Muda: Kenpachi o korosu (koto) ga muda desu.

You ordered the adj with few mistakes and the sentences are all correct. 91/100 points

Speachy
Shukudai 4

 Spoiler: click to show

Watashi: Sarah-chan.... Iku yo... Smith-sensei wa asoko desu....
Sarah-chan: Hai....
(We run to meet Smith-sensei)
Watashi: Smith-sensei.....
Smith-sensei: Oh, anata desu, Peachy-san. Ogenki desu ka?
Watashi: hai. Genki desu, sensei.... Ne, sensei... (pulls Sarah-chan forward) Kono kata wa Sarah Miller Desu. Kanojo wa watashi no tomodachi desu...
(Turns to Sarah-chan) Sarah-chan.... Kono kata wa James Smith-sensei.
Sarah-chan:(bowing) Hajimemashite, sensei. Watashi wa Sarah-Miller desu. Doozo yoroshiku.
Smith-sensei: Oh, hajimemashite. Watashi wa James Smith. Doozo yoroshiku.

Nice dialogue and no mistakes!!!!! 100/100 points

Shukudai 5

 Spoiler: click to show

-i adjectives: Tanoshii, akai, suppai (sour), urusai (noisy) genki (healthy, lively), nagai (long), isogashii (busy),amai (sweet), yowai (weak), tsuyoi (strong), yuumei (famous),

-na adjectives: shinsetsu, muda (futile), , hima (free time), odayaka (gentle), chokusetsu (straight),

The sentences: (ooh... i hope they turn out right.....)
-i adjectives:
1. Soko wa tanoshii desu, ne?
2. Ano furui otoko wa urusai da..... (although the sentence is gramatically correct, furui is used only for things and toshiue for old - age )
3. Otoosan wa itsudemo isogashii desu.

-na adjectives
1. Ano tadakai wa muda da yo. Could you please trnaslate the sentence?
2. Watashi no kao ni odayaka na kaze ga mai fuite imasu.
3. Kono shizuka na onna wa watashi no tomodachi desu....

88/100 points, great ^_^

[speachy_15]

Oooooohhh... Gomennasai sensei!!!!!!! i forgot the word for blow at the time i entered my shukudai.... Thanks for the correction.... As for the sentence no. 1 in the -na adjectives... i meant it as :this fight is useless..." i don't know if it was tadakai or tatakai.... i didn'r hear correctly... i tink...
(Gotta clean my ears...)