Boutwell - Learn Japanese through Dialogues

Learn Japanese throughDialogues:
Beginning Conversations
Listen. Repeat.Associate Clay & Yumi Boutwell Copyright 2016 Kotoba Books atSmashwords
www.TheJapanShop.com
www.TheJapanesePage.com All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION Finally, a fun and easy way to learnREAL conversational Japanese!
We are including, at no extra charge, MP3s for all the dialoguesfound in this book. Create play-lists to study on the go or burnthe sound files to a CD to listen at home. The download link is found on the last page (if the MP3s werenot included at purchase). The dialogues found in this book are allabout context and how Japanese is actually used with friendscasually and when peppered with politeness among newacquaintances.

Each dialogue will have MP3s. The Japanese isall recorded by native voice actors and actresses. The dialogue is presented naturally and allin Japanese. This may be too fast for you at first, but trylistening to it a few times to attune your ears. As you master the vocabulary and understandthe grammatical points mentioned in the book, you may find what wasdifficult upon first hearing is easy the second (or tenth!) timearound. The book itself contains the dialogue withthe English translation, but it also adds cultural and grammaticalnotes to help you understand the dialogue in context.

While you do not have to know hiraganabefore using this book (rmaji is provided), we highly recommendit. Every kanji here has furigana (small hiragana) over it to aidreading. However, if you do not yet know hiragana, please check outour Hiragana, the Basics of Japanese eBook and paperback. Let's get started! Clay & YumiBoutwell
help@thejapanshop.com
http://www.TheJapanShop.com
http://www.TheJapanesePage.com DialogueOne
Jane Introduces Herself to aCoworker Dialogue One: inJapanese
Jane Introduces Herself to a Coworker First, lets view the dialogue in naturalJapanese with translation. Dialogue One: inJapanese
Jane Introduces Herself to aCoworker Try to read the Japanese on the left pagefirst. hajimemashite.
Nice to meetyou. hajimemashite.
Nice to meetyou. je-n tomoushimasu.
I am Jane. tanaka desu. dochira noshusshin desu ka?
I'm Tanaka. dochira noshusshin desu ka?
I'm Tanaka.

Where are you from? amerika karakimashita.
I'm fromAmerica. a, amerika desu ka. itsukimashita ka?
Oh, America, huh? Whendid you arrive? senshuukimashita.
I arrived lastweek. nihon wa dou desuka?
What doyou think of Japan? daisuki desu. I love it. watashi mo desu. jaa, kondo tabe niikimashou. Me too. Me too.

Well, let's go eat sometime. hai, zehi ikimashou. Sure. Definitely, let's go. Dialogue One:Line-by-Line
Jane introduces Herself to aCoworker Tackle each line individually.
hajimemashite.
Nice to meetyou. hajimemashite Literally, lets begin. hajimemashite is the most common way to greet someone you arejust meeting. hajimemashite is the most common way to greet someone you arejust meeting.

When someone says, hajimemashite to you, you can simplyrepeat in response.
je-n to moushimasu.
I amJane. Literally, "I am called Jane." VOCABULARY
je-n Jane [The je sound is made bycombining ji with e: . The sound is enlongated( )to approximate the long sound in Jane.]
tomoushimasu I am called. [This set phrasecomes from the verb mousu meaning to speakor to call.]
tanaka desu. dochira noshusshin desu ka?
I'm Tanaka.

Whereare you from?
Here Tanaka simply says his name andthen " desu ." Tanaka to moushimasu is politer, but since he is the boss, his speechdoesnt have to be as polite as Janes. " dochira " is polite for" doko "(where). VOCABULARY
tanaka Tanaka [familyname]
desu the copula [often used like the English to be but also usedto show existence, a state, and identity.]
dochira from where
shusshin originally from;hometown
desu ka? Questionmarker A Few Common Japanese LastNames:

amerika karakimashita.
I'm from America.
Literally, "I came fromAmerica." means the United States; South America is minami amerika or nanbei . Both are used. Canada is,thankfully, just kanada .

VOCABULARY

amerika America
kara from [a common postpositional meaning from, of, through,with, by]
kimashita came [past tense of one of the few irregular verbs inJapanese: to come.]

a, amerika desu ka. itsu kimashita ka?
Oh, America, huh? When did you arrive?
Like oh in English, Japanese hasseveral similar interjections. a is very common. ka questionmarker; adding ka to the end of most any statement makes it into a question. Ifyou use a question word as in itsu kimashita ka , you dontnecessarily need the ending ka in casual speech . VOCABULARY

a ah;oh
amerika America
desu ka Usually desu ka makes a statementinto a question.

Here, it is doing that in a soft way. The speakeris repeating what is said: oh, so you are fromAmerica?
itsu when
kimashita came [pastof kuru tocome]
ka questionmarker
senshuu kimashita.
I arrivedlast week.
As mentioned earlier, Japanese hasvery few irregular verbs. Thankfully. But one of them is extremelycommon.
kuru to come. Learn thecommon forms well: (note, you can use the kanji or just write it inhiragana.

Both are acceptable) kuru to come(nonpast)
kimasu to come (nonpastpolite)
kitta came(past)
kimashita came (pastpolite)
konakatta didnt come(past)
kimasen deshita didnt come (pastpolite)

VOCABULARY

senshuu lastweek
kimashita came
nihon wa dou desu ka?
What doyou think of Japan?
~ ~wa dou desu ka? is a very useful question phrase. kono hon wa dou desu ka? What do youthink about this book? tenki wa dou desuka? What do you think about theweather? VOCABULARY

amerika The UnitedStates
wa [thetopic particle; marks the topic of thesentence]
dou howabout
desu ka question marker


daisuki desu.
I loveit.
" suki " means "to like. Add dai (which means big) in front ofit and it becomes love or big like. VOCABULARY

daisuki love; like alot
tabemono wa nani ga suki desuka?