Preface and First Lesson
Welcome to the first lesson in our series of ‘Turning Japanese to Learning Japanese’.
Each lesson is structured to provide you with a function or set of functions to help you complete a specific task. The focus is not so much on the grammar as it is giving you a set of fundamental language tools to help you navigate your way through your time in Japan.
The sentences and grammar points will be written in both hiragana and romaji (English alphabet system) to help you practice reading and conversational skills. To get full use out of the Japanese provided (日本語), take some time to learn the hiragana and katakana phonetic alphabet systems.
A literal translation from Japanese to English often sounds strange as the Japanese system operates on the principle of Subject ? Object ? Verb (unlike English which uses Subject ? Verb ? Object). Therefore inline with the notion of providing you with a practical knowledge of Japanese we will list the translation which bears the closest resemblance to what an English speaker would say. For argument sake let’s called it a non-literal or <Nlit> translation.

Let’s get started!!

Lesson 1 - Expressing Not Understanding
Perhaps one of the most important components a brand new Japanese speaker needs is the ability to express that they don’t understand. The reason this occupies the no.1 lesson spot is simply because, if you know a few words in Japanese, chances are the person you are speaking with will take this as an indication of your wonderfully large Japanese speaking ability and open fire with a stream of questions and comments which can be likened to facing down a machine gun nest in your knickers. Therefore, we are going to teach you the very basics of what to say to pre-empt this barrage of Japanese and hopefully encourage the other person to try their English…of course only until you are fluent! Which you will become!!

Let’s start with the very basic words which will allow your interlocutor to understand that you do not.
Gomenasai = I’m sorry (I apologize)
Wakarimasen = I don’t understand

Let’s see it in action:

That wasn’t too bad, now was it?

Now for Japanese speakers who have a few words up their sleeve it is perhaps a little bit more encouraging for your interlocutor, if you express that your Japanese level is not so good. This will hopefully result in further conversation yet in more simple Japanese.

Here are the words you will need:
Watashi(no) = me (mine)
Nihongo = Japanese (language)
Heta = not good

And this is how you do it:

Too easy.
You might be lucky and get someone who can actually speak some degree of English. They might however, be shy and need some prompting to unveil their ability.

Here are the words you will need:
Eigo = English
Dekimasu = can do
Ka = <creates a question condition>

And this is how you do it:

Here are some possible answer you might get. Study up because these are important:

So there you have it! You are now fully equipped to tell people you don’t understand…lets get to rectifying that!!!

Just remember your Japanese learning experience will be vastly improved if you take some time to learn the hiragana and katakana alphabet systems.

NEXT UP lesson 2: Expressing Gratitude

pronunciation