Category Archive: Learning Japanese
The word “keigo (敬語)” generally means “respectful Japanese.” It is one of the three general levels of politeness used in Japanese speech, namely: colloquial, polite, and honorific. These are all differentiated by verb endings and certain words or expressions, and keigo refers to the honorific level of speech. It means speaking very humbly of yourself and addressing the other person formally with the utmost respect and esteem.
Japan has distinct social classes; the way you speak to someone depends on who you are talking to. For those with a higher social status, such as teachers and elders, use keigo speech. For example, a young lady would converse with her grandparent in keigo, which extremely respectful, while the grandparent does not have to do the same to the grandchild.
Types of Keigo
Sonkeigo (尊敬語) – also called “respectful Japanese,” this is only used to address others, such as customers and those with a higher social status. It is not used when referring to yourself. Lengthy and well-mannered expressions typify sonkeigo speech. Verbs and nouns can be altered into respectful forms of the words. For instance, a verb can be modified by adding a prefix and a polite suffix. The verb “yomu” which means “read” changes to “o-yomi ni naru.” The prefix o- is added to the verb’s i-form (yomi) and the verb ending “ni naru”.
Kenjōgo (謙譲語) – also called “humble language,” it is used to refer to your own or your group’s actions when assisting someone higher in status than yourself. It is similar to sonkeigo in that verbs are often modified by adding a prefix and a polite suffix. For instance, “motsu” which means “carry” is turned into “o mochi shimasu”, which is what a Japanese would say when offering to carry something for someone.
Teineigo (丁寧語) – also called “polite language,” can be used to address other people and your own actions. This type is generally taught first to foreigners who are still learning Japanese. Teineigo speech makes use of the verb ending “masu” and the sentence ending “desu.”
Usage of Keigo
Keigo is vital in business where respect and esteem is held in high regard. It is challenging to learn but essential when interacting with Japanese society. It can be tricky because if you do not speak with adequate politeness, you can be deemed rude. But if you overdo it and speak too politely, you may be considered mocking. Japanese children use informal speech but are expected to know keigo by heart by the time they become adults. For foreigners in Japan, varying standards of polite Japanese are applicable.
Manual Keigo
Manual keigo (マニュアル敬語) is a controversial version of standard keigo. It is usually found in manuals which fast-food restaurant and convenience store employers give to their employees, such as cashiers and servers, to be used when addressing their customers. These employees are often young and not very familiar with keigo speech. Manual keigo makes use of expressions that are lengthier and not as clear as standard keigo expressions.
Tags: Japanese polite language, Japanese respectful language, Japanese speech, keigo, keigo speech, kenjōgo, polite Japanese, respectful Japanese, sonkeigo, teineigo
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
“Kanji” is Japanese for the Chinese hanzi characters that Japan has adopted as part of its modern writing system. Over 100,000 of these logograms, or visual word symbols, exist but only about 5,000-10,000 are in common use today. Memorizing the still enormous number of kanji is a big challenge. In 1981, the Japanese government decided to implement the jōyō kanji hyō, or List of Chinese Characters for General Use, in their documents and publications. The list contains 1,945 regular characters and 166 special characters reserved for people’s names.
KCP students practicing writing kanji. | KCP Flickr
Before kanji, the Japanese had no written language. Chinese characters were introduced to Japan through imported articles, and it is believed that Chinese immigrants wrote the first Japanese documents. Over time, the Chinese writing system evolved to accommodate the rules of Japanese grammar and linguistics, and became a system known as “kanbun.”
Kanji makes up part of the modern Japanese writing system, which also includes the kana syllabaries, hiragana and katakana. Each of these systems have specific purposes, For example, kanji are used when writing nouns, verb stems, and adjective stems; hiragana are used to represent particles, inflected verb and subject endings; and katakana are used for certain plant and animal names and onomatopoeic words.
Chart of common Kanji characters | Beheim
Here are some types of kanji:
Shōkei-moji (象形文字) – pictograms that visually represent the meaning of a word. For example, the kanji character “木” means “tree” and also resembles a tree.
Shiji-moji (指事文字) – simple ideograms that represent abstract concepts. An example is the kanji character “上”, which means “up” or “above”.
Kanji for “strong” | Amazing_Japan
Kaii-moji (会意文字) – compound ideograms: a combination of two or more pictograms. An example is the kanji “峠” (kokuji) which means “mountain pass.” It is a combination of “山” which means “mountain”, “上” which means “up” and “下” which means “down.”
Keisei-moji (形声文字) – the most widely used in modern standard lists of kanji. These are semantic-phonetic characters generally made up of two components: meaning and pronunciation or sound. An example is “茎” which means “stem” or “stalk.” It is composed of “艹” which means “plant” and “圣” or “straight.”
Kanji on Japanese lanterns. | credit_00
Tags: Japanese writing system, Japanese written language, kanbun, kanji, kanji characters, KCP, KCP language learning, KCP study abroad, learning Japanese
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
Learning a second language is essential in gaining an advantage in the competitive world of business. Many of the top colleges and universities in the U.S.A. recognize the advantages of this. Thus, they encourage young American students to pursue a foreign language.
Tokyo metropolis with Tokyo Tower| KCP Flickr
Furthermore, learning a new language, especially in that country, is an eye opener and a life-changing experience. The study abroad experience can be a defining moment in a student’s life no matter how long the stay in that country.
Some of the advantages of pursuing a study abroad education: it contributes to personal growth since you must learn to negotiate another culture, the inter-cultural knowledge gained helps shape future global leaders, and it contributes to overall academic and career advancement.
Many young Americans recognize the wealth of Japan’s popular culture and its role as a driving factor in anyone’s career, especially those involving politics or economics. This is evidenced by the upward trend in American students choosing to study and learn Japanese.
KCP students and the buddha | KCP Flickr
Japan is the third largest economy, after the U.S. and China. For any student interested in international business, technological advancement, trading in the Pacific Rim, getting ideal background knowledge on business practices, learning a rich culture and so on, Japan is a prime destination. Its capital, Tokyo, is an ultra-modern city diverse in population and rich in culture. It is full of shrines, temples, museums, and other historic sites. Its many thrilling attractions, vibrant nightlife, and the biggest concentration of educational institutions make it arguably the best place to learn about Japan’s language and people.
KCP students enjoying Hanami | KCP Flickr
For anyone with a thirst to discover the world, gain valuable perspective, and achieve personal growth, studying in Tokyo, Japan is the answer.
For more information, you can check out these sites.
Tags: advantages of learning Japanese, Japan, KCP International, KCP International students, KCP study abroad, learn in Japan, Learn Japanese, learn second language, study abroad, study abroad program, study in japan, Tokyo, why study abroad
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
Language is any means of communication, whether spoken or written. Hyojungo is the Standard Japanese officially taught as a foreign language, and it is used in Tokyo. This came about in the latter half of the Meiji era, 1868-1912, when written and spoken language was being unified during the Genbun itchi movement.
Since Japan is an archipelago of over six thousand islands, various dialects have developed. These dialects are generally categorized as Western, Eastern, and Kyushu (Japan’s third-largest island), but there are more variations. Homogenization’s goal was to show the world that Japan was a unified, civilized country. Schools were made to use Standard Japanese as a move to regulate the language in all classrooms.
The Japanese language works in the order of Subject-Object-Verb, so most of the time, sentences end with a verb. Most of the time, subject pronouns are not included in a sentence if they are already implied. There are only two types of verb tenses: present and past. Also, there are few irregular verbs. Nouns do not distinguish number and gender, nor do they go with article words such as “the” and “a.” Japanese includes five phonemes which are /a/, /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/. To differentiate Japanese words, it is important to stress the lengthened vowels.
Three Main Writing Systems
The Japanese writing system is a mix of three different types of usage—namely kanji, katakana, and hiragana (the latter two are under the Kana system.)
Kanji – derived from the Chinese writing system. Every character in kanji holds its own specific meaning. Two thousand characters are used regularly in Japan.
Kanji characters on Japanese lanterns.| credit_00
Kana – composed of katakana and hiragana. This system is ideally comprised of syllabic characters and follows a similar structure to the sequence of speech. Katakana is more angular and is primarily used for the purpose of transcribing foreign words. Hiragana is more cursive and is used for words that are not found in kanji, or for grammatical intonations.
Katakana characters.
image Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary
Japanese is the sixth most popular language studied in the U.S. The interest to learn Standard Japanese has increased over the years because Japan has much to offer in culture and the arts, as well as business resources that entice foreign investors.
The government and the media are promoting the use of the Standard Japanese language. Aside from it being taught in Japanese schools, it is also practiced in public communication such as radio, television, and print.
KCP, located in Tokyo, teaches Standard Japanese. You can learn more about Standard Japanese by visiting these sites.
Tags: hyojungo, Japanese language, kanji, katakana, KCP language lesson, Kiragana, standard Japanese
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
Tokyo is a beautiful, modern city of dramatic contrasts. Dignified shrines and temples stand quietly in the shadows of massive skyscrapers. Tokyo’s modern, fast-paced urban life is tempered by the charm of its parks and the courtesy of its people. Both graceful and energetic, Tokyo is the gateway toJapan’s fascinating culture.
Brilliant Tokyo twilight cityscape. | KCP Flickr
Tokyo, with about 100,000 international students, boasts the biggest concentration of universities, theatres, corporate offices, museums, and financial institutions in Japan. All of this translates into unparalleled opportunity for overseas study.
| KCP Flickr
Here are the top reasons why you should learn Japanese in Tokyo:
- As a global finance center with a GDP of about $1.35 trillion, Tokyo is an awesome location to pursue an internship, especially for those with a keen interest in international business.
- Tokyo has a near perfect literacy rate and puts huge emphasis on its educated workforce.
- Discipline, cooperation, and creativity are essential educational ingredients.
- Tokyo offers rich opportunities for individuals who are interested in the Japanese culture and who want to gain a modern international perspective.
- This modern megalopolis offers cutting-edge technological facilities.
Learn Standard Japanese in Tokyo
There are plenty of dialects spoken in other parts of Japan. Among them are Okinawa-kotoba, Kansai-ben, Tugaru-ben, and Kanto-ben. Dialects are mutually intelligible except for geographically separated dialects like the Kyuushuu and Touhoku variants. Dialects differ in terms of particle usage, pitch accent, vocabulary, verb morphology, and pronunciation.
KCP students with their Japanese professors. | KCP Flickr
Standard Japanese was developed after the Meiji Restoration from the language spoken in the higher class areas of Tokyo as a communication necessity. Standard Japanese is taught in schools and used in national television and in official communication. As a student, it is key that you learn the language from teachers who speak standard Japanese.
Tags: how to speak Japanese, Japanese, Japanese culture, Japanese language, Japanese language school, Learn Japanese, learning Japanese, schools in japan, standard Japanese, study in japan
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
Katakana and Hiragana are the first truly Japanese alphabets. They originated in the 9th century when the Japanese people wanted to create their own writing system distinct from Kanji, which was borrowed from the Chinese. Together, they are known as the kana. When viewing Japanese script, it is easy to differentiate Hiragana and Katakana from the more complex Kanji. The three together make up the Japanese writing system.
Learn its History
Katakana was developed during the Heian period as a shorthand form of sections of the manyogana characters, an ancient Chinese writing system. Recent studies showed that the kana system may have originated from the 8th century on the Korean peninsula and was introduced to Japan via Buddhist texts. However, this hypothesis is still questioned by many scholars.
This chart shows the origins of the Katakana. The red marks of the original Chinese characters (right) became the corresponding Katakana symbols (left). | Wikipedia
The Fragmentary Kana
The word katakana means “fragmentary kana,” as the scripts are derived from components of the more complex Kanji. Katakana is used to write words borrowed from other languages, like rokka (locker), supuun (spoon), botoru (bottle), kohii (coffee), and te-buru (table).
Unlike the Hiragana system (used for Japanese words the Kanji doesn’t cover), the Katakana writing system is used for foreign language transcription into Japanese and for writing loan words, or gairaigo. Katakana is also used to represent onomatopoeia, scientific-technical terms, and the names of minerals, animals, and plants. The names of most Japanese-owned companies are also written in Katakana.
Katakana Basics
The Katakana system is usually characterized by short straight strokes and angular corners. It is the simplest of all Japanese scripts. Like Hiragana, Katakana is an alphabet made up of 46 letters beginning with the vowels A, I, U, E & O. Every group is similar to Hiragana and dictates the same pronunciation patterns.
Katakana chart. | Wikipedia
Many Katakana letters look very similar to the ones in Hiragana but are sharper, with less curve. For instance, O is a similar shape but written with straight lines.
Comparison between Katakana O and Hiragana O.
Katakana is also used for proper nouns that aren’t in Kanji. Western names like Phillip, Mark, Lauren, James, and Louise are written in Katakana so that they sound as close to the original pronunciation as possible. For example, Lauren would be spelled Ro-ren. The Katakana system is very helpful for foreigners visiting Japan, since it’s used not just for names but also for advertisements and foreign words that can’t be written in Kanji (e.g Amerika, Kanada).
As soon as you have mastered Hiragana and Katakana, expect to have an easy start on Kanji. Start learning Japanese today!
Tags: Japanese, Japanese immersion, Japanese language school, katakana, Learn Japanese
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
Any intensive Japanese course includes study of the Hiragana and Katakana. Also known as the Japanese syllabary, Hiragana is a primary component of the Japanese writing system (along with kanji, katakana, and the Latin alphabet). Pronounced hee-ra-GA-na, it is the most useful and the simplest to write.
Writing Basics Hiragana are parts of words and sentences (like “and” or “is”), and they are used in kids’ story books. Japanese children learn Hiragana first, then moving steadily through Katakana and kanji. 
The 46 Hiragana letters are sounds that make up syllables. For instance, the first 5 Hiragana letters are A, I, U, E and O. The remaining letters are built from the first 5 vowels. As soon as you master the vowels, the pronunciation of the rest of the letters will follow the same pattern. For example, the next 5 letters are ka, ki, ku, ke and ko.
Hiragana are usually arranged in groups of 5. Although Ks are constant, some groups aren’t. The 3rd group, for instance, is sa, shi, su, se and so. Shi is obviously different: a Japanese letter for Si doesn’t exist. This can be confusing and intimidating at first, but with constant practice, you’ll remember them easily. Some other inconsistencies:
- Ta, chi, tsu, te and to. Tu and Ti don’t exist.
- Ha, hi, fu, he and ho. Hu is not a letter.
- The W (only wo and wa) and Y (ya, yu, and yo) groups
N, the last letter, is the only one that doesn’t have a vowel. In Japanese writing, all words end N or a vowel.
Practice, Practice, Practice! There are other rules for writing Hiragana. If you plan to enroll in an intensive Japanese course, learn one Hiragana letter daily and practice writing it thoroughly. Get used to writing these Japanese characters and you will become a pro in no time.
Sources–
wikipedia
omniglot.com
wikimedia commons
Tags: hiragana, Hiragana characters, Japanese, Japanese language, learning Japanese
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (1)
Zach Zappala
July 25, 2010
I’m trying to cope with advancing my Japanese production quality, especially when I talk. Almost every sentence that comes to my head is always in a “(A) is (B)” or “(A) does (B)” structure: very basic structures that are, as KCP deems, “Level 1.” I am “Level 2.” So I need to speak like it.
[photo Boryune, wikimedia commons]
I can write like it fine because I can think about what I’m going to say, and listening to it isn’t that hard anymore. A little background–complex Japanese modifiers (or subordinate clauses) tend to appear first, *before* what they modify (and as far as I know, they *must* do that). English is a lot more direct here, and we use it based on convenience and context.
For instance:
English:
(Level 1) That guy is wearing a red shirt.
(Level 2) The guy wearing a red shirt is walking east.
Japanese sentence structure converted to English, to demonstrate difference:
(Level 1) As for that guy, a red shirt he is wearing.
(Level 2) Wearing a red shirt guy towards east is walking.
So basically, whereas I’m always used to describing things after I’ve mentioned them, I need to start thinking about it the other way around. Even though these sentences listed are trivial, I’m having trouble generating them when speaking because I think of the noun first. When writing I can be deliberate and figure out the right subordinate clause. Listening to it used to be hard, but you get kind of used to it: it’s like Yoda-speak– you can understand it, but it’s just weird.
Maybe the difference is to focus on the first thing my senses take in–the red shirt–rather than on the “static” person, place, or thing.
Read more of Zach’s adventures in Japan at http://peculiarpuffin.com/wordpress.
Tags: Japanese immersion, KCP, learning Japanese, opinion
Posted in: Learning Japanese | Comments (0)
In 2007, the talented staff at KCP created this book/DVD–
Virtual Hiragana Class in One Week (published by Bonjinsha).
It’s a fun, very educational workbook getting you up to speed with these basic characters in one week. This bilingual workbook includes romaji for basic pronunciation, but it mostly uses visuals to help you remember the phonetics when you see these characters.
The course teaches pronunciation and writing of Hiragana by showing their appearance and using simple sentences. Each of the 8 units consists of a lecturer on screen teaching the Hiragana individually, explaining stroke order, common errors, pronunciation and more. The workbook has clear, short explanations, written practice, and simple fun tasks. Visual associations aid in memorizing each character. You’ll also pick up basic vocabulary through the quizzes.
It’s not widely available in the U.S. . . . Prices top out at around $52, but the Kinokuniya Bookweb has it for under $30. When you click the link below, choose Bookweb USA and type Virtual Hiragana into the search box. Much of the info is in kanji, but click a shopping cart symbol at the right of the page to see the order form. Click “In English” just above the form. The site figures your nearest Kinokuniya branch store, or you can have it mailed (and pay the shipping cost).
To buy the virtual class–Kinokuniya
(Company info–Kinokuniya Company Ltd., founded in 1927, is the largest bookstore chain in Japan, a leading importer of information products like books, journals, and electronic databases, and the operator of a Yahoo award–winning online bookstore.)
If you want to get closer to the Japanese language–and to Tokyo–this is a fine start that’s not too spendy.
Tags: books, Japanese language, learning Japanese
Posted in: Learning Japanese, Resources | Comments (0)
