Learning Japanese

We started Japanese lessons in November 2005 with a private tutor. You may expect us to be almost fluent having been here for more than a year, but Japanese is really hard. There are 3 alphabets, strange grammar and when you try to read they have no punctuation! We are intermediate now and next year we will do level 4 (the lowest level) of the Japanese proficiency test.

Hirgana

Here are some Japanese greetings for you to learn:

• ohayo (gozaimasu) - Good morning.
• kon-nichiwa - Good afternoon. / Hello.
• konbanwa - Good evening.
• sayonara - Good bye. / See you later.
• yasuminasai - Good night
• arigato (gozaimasu) - Thank you.
• do-itashi-mashite - You're welcome.
• sumimasen - I'm sorry. / Excuse me. / Thank you.
• gomen-nasai - I'm terribly sorry.
• ogenki-desu-ka - How are you?
• do-shimashita-ka - What's the matter?
• odaijini - Take good care of yourself.