Lesson 5

TODAY'S TOPIC: Daijobu
(I am all right)

Welcome back to the second week of Japanese for Anime Lovers. This week, we will study some more useful expressions, Daijo~bu (I am all right), Iko~ (let's go) and so on, and greetings (mandatory for language learning, right?). Now, let's begin this week's lesson.

Today's topic is Daijo~bu, literally means safe, secure, free from danger, all right and OK. I don't want to make things complicated, but this word is an adjective. There are two kinds of adjectives in Japanese called i-adjective and na-adjective. (The reason we call those adjective with those names is because dictionary form of i-adjectives end with "i" and na-adjective end with "na.") Don't worry about this right now. Just remember that Daijo~bu is a na-adjective, thus in a dictionary it is listed as "daijo~bu-na."

In Anime, you must hear this word a lot. First, let's listen to Hikaru-chan.

hkr-5-1.wav (68KB)
Daijo~bu da yo, Umi-chan.
(We will be OK, Umi-chan)
Here, Hikaru meant, "Don't worry Umi-chan. We will be safe (because I got my magic, I will beat the monster)."

da & na: Do you want to know what are "da" and "yo" after daijo~bu? Well, you already know "yo" from the 1st week, it just emphasizes what you say. And "da",,,, I don't think you want to know,,, it is equivalent to be-verb in English. Some of you who learned Japanese in classroom may know "desu." In plain speech or colloquial speech, "desu" changes to "da." But, hey, don't worry about the grammar right now. All you need to know is the proper pronunciation of Daijo~bu. As a proof, you can skip "da" if you are female (sorry if you are male, you'd better include "da" if you don't want to sound like a female).

umi-5-1.wav (63KB)
Daijo~bu-yo, Hikaru.
(I am all right, Hikaru.)

See? You didn't hear "da" sound, did you?
Now, listen to Umi-chan several times and repeat after her, please?

For very polite person like Fu, here is the polite way of saying "we will be fine."

fuu-5-1.wav (45KB)
Daijo~bu desu yo.
(We will be OK.)

desu: Fu uses "desu" after daijo~bu. Did you catch the word? Good! This word, "desu" functions like be-verb in English. The difference is that in Japanese a verb usually comes at the end of a sentence. Therefore, we don't say "I am fine" but "(I) fine am." Also, desu is used only in a formal situation or by polite people like Fu. So, if you never want to appear polite, you can forget about this. However, "desu" often appear as a plain form "da" in casual conversation. Hmm, you cannot forget about "da" after all?

Also, notice that no one use I, you, or we (pronouns) here. In Japanese, those words are omitted as much as possible when we can know the subjects from the context.

Now, try this.

fuu-5-2.wav (56KB)
Daijo~bu desu wa ne.
(I guess, you are all right, aren't you?)
Remember the particle "ne" places a tag question at the end of the sentence (see 1st week's lessons). "Wa" here is also a particle which makes your speech more feminine. If you are male, don't even think about using it. Also, notice that particle I have introduced so far, such as "ka," "ne," "yo," and so on, always come at the end of a sentence (even after "wa" which could come at the end if "ne" was not used here).Note: A topic marker wa and ending wa are different. Though the pronunciation is the same, they are written in different letters.

How about this?

fuu-5-3.wav (?KB)
Umi-san, daijo~bu desu ka.
(Umi-san, are you all right?)
Particle "ka" is a question maker, which makes a sentence into a question. Do you remember? (see 1st week's lesson)
Do you understand the usage of "daijo~bu"? Please repeat after Umi and Fu and practice saying until you feel comfortable, please?

Extra

Here is one more (advanced) expression.

umi-5-2.wav (53KB)
Hikaru, daijo~bu datta?

(Hikaru, were you OK?)

da-tta: Did you hear the difference? Yes, here, Umi uses "datta' instead of "desu." By changing "desu" (or "da") to "datta," you can make a past tense sentense. It is like changing from "Are you OK?" to "Have you been all right?" (Note: "Daijo~bu datta?" does not have a particle "ka," but by raising the intonation at the end, you can make it a question, like in English. Also, remember, Umi is not as polite as Fu, therefore "datta" is not a polite way of saying. If it were Fu, "deshita" was used.)

OMAKE

Following expressions are how you would answer the question "Daijo~bu?"

hkr-5-2.wav (52KB)
Mo~, daijo~bu.
(I am fine now.)

Mo~: literally means "already" in this case. Therefore, she means "I am already safe now (because all the danger is gone.)"

alco-5-1.wav (?KB)
Hai.
(Yes, sir. (I am all right.)

hkr-5-3.wav (34KB)
Un!
(Yeah! I am all right.)
How did you do today? I hope you enjoyed today's lesson.

rei-5-1.wav (50KB)
Ja~, mata!
(Then, see you!)

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Lesson 6

TODAY'S TOPIC: Iku yo!
(Let's go)

In Anime, you hear the verb "iku" plus a particle, like "Iku yo," a lot. For example, when a character begins fighting with a monster or enemy to mean "I'm gonna begin fighting against you now!" Or when a character asks his/her friends to go with her/him to mean "let's go." This verb "iku" literally means "to go" and is very useful in many occasions. Now as always, listen to Hikaru first.

hkr-6-1.wav (36KB)
Iku yo, Umi-chan!
(Let's go, Umi-chan!)
As you already know, a particle "yo" emphasizes what you say. By adding a person's name after "iku yo" you can specify whom you want to go with.

Now, listen to Umi-chan

umi-6-1.wav (37KB)
Hikaru, i ku yo!
(Hikaru, let's go)
Did you catch what she said? Great! How about this?

prc-6-1.wav (42KB)
Iku wa yo!
(Now, let's begin fighting!)
Presea is a grown up polite person, so she inserted "wa" between "iku" and "yo" to appear politer and more feminine. If you are a male, don't even think about using "wa." Also, "iku" is the plain form, which is listed in a dictionary. (It is the same rule as da is the plain form of desu, datta is the plain form of deshita, and so on.)

Now, try this.

fuu-6-1.wav (90KB)
So~ ne, Iki masho~.
(You're right. Let's go.)
I am sure you could hear "Iki" part at least. This is a polite way of saying "let's go."
"Masho~" means "let's." and when you use this polite expression you must conjugate the verb "iku" to "iki." Since this rule can be used to other verbs, it is a good idea to remember this rule.
"So~ ne" means "that's so," which is explained in detail in Lesson 8.

Now here are other ways of saying "let's go."

hkr-6-2.wav (34KB)
Iko~!
(Let's go)
Different from "ikimasho~," this conjugated version is very natural and casual. You just need to change the last vowel "u" (in Iku) to "o~." Now, how about this?

hkr-6-5.wav (60KB)
Iko~! Eteruna e!
(Let's go to Eternus!)
You remember Eternus, the legendary fountain? Here, "TO Eternus" is expressed in Japanese as "Eteruna E."
"E": is another particle that specifies the direction and destination. Not like "to," an English equivalent, Japanese "e" is placed AFTER the destination. Easy?

Here are more variations.

fro-6-1.wav (44KB)
Ima da, Iku zo!
(Now! Let's go!)
"Ima" means "now."
"Zo" functions like "yo" but used only (usually) by men. Ferio meant "now is the chance, let's go!"

The next one is a little bit difficult grammatically, but easy to pronounce.

clf-6-1.wav (44KB)
Ike!
(Go!)
This is another conjugated patten of a verb "iku." By changing the last vowel "u" to "e," you can order someone to go. Now try this!

asct-6-1.wav (45KB)
Ike! Biga~!
(GO! Bigor!)
As you know Ascot has an ability to summon monsters and order them to do what he wants. Here, he orders a monster named Bigor to go fight.

Finally, here are some example of "iku" without conjugations.

hkr-6-3.wav (44KB)
Watashi, iku!
(I am going!)
As we already learned, watashi means "I." So, this sentence means "I am going." The reason Hikaru used often omitted pronoun here is that she wanted to emphasize "I." She meant that she didn't know about other people, but at least "she" was definitely going,

hkr-6-4.wav (44KB)
Iku, Iku!
(I go, I go!)
She said this when Ferio asked Hikaru whether she wanted to go with him to a coffee shop to eat cakes (Ferio's treat). She loves cakes and said "OF COURSE, I am happy to go." The happy feeling is expressed by repetition and the tone of her voice.

Well, I guess I taught you too much today, but I hope today's lesson was interesting for you. Don't give up yet, because we will learn the greetings, the fun part, tomorrow.

rei-6-1.wav (40KB)
Mata, Ashita!
(See you tomorrow again)

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Lesson 7

TODAY'S TOPIC: Konnichiwa
(Hello)

Today, we will learn some of the greeting expressions. Hope you have fun. First, "Hi" or "Hello" in Japanese is,,,

hkr-7-1.wav (52KB)
Konnichiwa.
(Hello)
You may already know this phrase, but pay attention to the pitch and practice by repeating after Hikaru. Remember, you need to pronounce each syllable exactly the same length without putting accent on "ni" which most English speaking people do.

Next, "how are you?" or "take care" (depending on when you say it) in Japanese is,,,

fuu-7-1.wav (56KB)
Go, go kigenyo~.
(How are you?)
Remember, Fu is an extremely polite person as a girl. Therefore, this expression is very polite. She said this when she met Ferrio unexpectedly. So, she was shy and stammered a little. Usually among friends, "genki" is used to mean "how are you?". Listen to me please.

rei-7-1.wav (43KB)
Genki?
(How are you?)
This is a very casual way of saying "How are you?" "Genki" literally means "be in good health" or "be in high spirits" and its dictionary form is "genki-na" (na-adjective).

rei-7-2.wav (51KB)
Genki desu ka?
(How are you?)
This is a polite way of saying "How are you?" though not as polite as Fu.

rei-7-3.wav (47KB)
Genki datta?
(How have you been?)
Very casual way of saying "How have you been though we didn't see eath other recently." Remember, "datta" is plain, past tense of Japanese be-verb "desu" and "da" (plain form of "desu").

Next, "Nice to meet you" is:

alco-7-1.wav (62KB)
Hajimemashite
(How do you do?)
Since this is a phrase you use when you first meet someone, you can introduce yourself using expression we learned in lesson 1 after you say this.

Next, almighty word"Sumimasen." You can use this word to mean excuse me, (but will you tell me the way to the station?), I am sorry, (but I cannot go out with you today as I have another plan), pardon me (to cause you trouble), or even thank you very much depending on how you say it. Now listen to Hikaru and practice saying Sumimasen.

hkr-7-2.wav (63KB)
Sumimasen.
(Excuse me, may I come in?)

Next, "thank you" in Japanese is:

prc-7-1.wav (72KB)
Hikaru, Arigato~
(Hikaru, Thank you.)

You can say more politely like Ferrio.

fro-7-1.wav (54KB)
Arigato~ gozaimasu.
(Thank you very much.)

And "I am sorry" in Japanese is:

hkr-7-3.wav (53KB)
Gomen na sai.
(I am sorry.)

More casually,

umi-7-1.wav (84KB)
Go, gomen.
(Oops, I am sorry.)

Here are some very Japanese expressions. We say this to a person when we go out some place. (like to your mom when you go out to school.)

hkr-7-4.wav (55KB)
Un, ja~ itte kimasu.
(OK, then, I am going.)
Note: This one literally means I will go and come.

Here is an expression that you say before eating a meal.

rei-7-4.wav (44KB)
Itadakimasu
(Thanks for the meal, I am going to eat now.)
Sounds strange? But you must say this when you are invited to dinner by Japanese people to express your gratitude.

And after you finish eating (even if the dinner was horrible), say this.

rei-7-5.wav (51KB)
Gochiso~ sama.
(It was a gorgeous dinner, or something like that.)

And finally, "good bye."

hkr-7-5.wav (63KB)
Sayonara. Hikari.
(Good bye, Hikari.)
You may remember that Hikari is her dog. She met a cute animal on her way to the legendary fountain and named him "Hikari" after her dog. But the Animal was killed, then Hikari said this. So she sounds very unhappy.
Note: You may hear it pronounced both sayonara and sayo~nara.

That's all for today. If you have problems or questions, please feel free to write to me. Hope you had fun today.

rei-7-6.wav (70KB)
Sayonara, mata ne.
(Bye, see you again)

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Lesson 8

TODAY'S TOPIC: Soo
(So)

Today, we will learn how to use the only one word Japanese and English have in common, So~.
Japanese "so~" is almost the same as "so" in English. Therefore, it might be easy for you to remember. Let's begin!

Today, let's start from Alcyone.

alco-8-1.wav (35KB)
So~.
(That is so. = You are right.)
Did you catch the word? I guess you did. Now how about this?

clf-8-1.wav (45KB)
So~ da.
(That is so. = That's right)
You may remember that "da" is the plain form (casual, non-polite) of "desu" (Japanese be-verb), thus "so~ da" is directly translated as "(That) so is" since verbs usually come at the end of a sentence and pronouns are usually omitted.
Now try this.

umi-8-1.wav (40KB)
So~ ne.
(Maybe so.)
The particle "ne" is a tag question maker (you remember?), therefore "So~ ne" means "That's so, isn't it?" as well as "you MAY BE right.

umi-8-2.wav (67KB)
So, so~?
(Oh, is that so?)
Just change the intonation and you get an interrogative sentence.

"So~ da" sometimes means "I got an idea," as in following utterances.

hkr-8-1.wav (27KB)
So~ da!
(I've got an idea!)

asct-8-1.wav (39KB)
So~ da!
How did you do today? Easy? GooooooD! That's all for this week's lesson. Next week, I will introduce you more frequently used expressions so that you can learn more vocabulary. Are you doing "daijo~bu?" Then, see you next week.

rei-8-1.wav (41KB)
Mata, raishu~!
(See you next week)

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This is the end of Week 2