Ima 1 - はじめる前に

1. a&tftt
Learn how to:
• read and write the hiragana letters
• ask someone their name
• tell someone your name
• count to ten
• ask someone their age
• tell someone your age
• saywhat the weather is like
• be agreeable!
• say that something is yours
•'end and borrow classroom items
give and understand some
classroom instructions
sing a hiragana rap song
read and write the kanji
"~ — ^ E7 JS.
* * Jl -f- -gf

2. l£D#><5i;X.IC Before we start
Japanese writing
Ascript is a way ofwriting. In English we use the Roman script. Why do you think it
is called this? Do you know any other languages that use the Roman script?
Japanese writing uses three scripts. These are called kanji, hiragana and katakana.
You can see all three used on this chocolate snack box.
kanji
hiragana
katakana
kanji
m$ Kanji
You'll notice that the words labelled :&^r look a bit complicated. Kanji are
characters that have been adapted from Chinese writing. They were introduced
into Japan around the sixth century AD. Many kanji have come from pictures.
The kanji ih in the brown writing means mountain. This is how a picture became
the kanji character J-j:
£a C? #* &• Hiragana
There are 46 basic symbols or sounds in the hiragana table, which is like our
alphabet. You can see that hiragana has a curving, flowing look: &© <1 ©Jj
See if you can find some more hiragana words on the chocolate box.
1j9Jj+ Katakana
Katakana is also a set of sounds which can be put in a table like hiragana.
The difference between hiragana and katakana is that katakana is used for
writing foreign words. For example, on the chocolate box, the word for chocolate,
•f- 3 ? V— h, is written in katakana.
Look carefully at the word that is labelled ii 9id -J", Does it look like hiragana?
Can you tell that it is more angular?
-f- g =* X -f ••/ 7, which means chocolate snack, is also written on the box.
Try to find it!

3. The hiragana table
Here is the hiragana table. Each hiragana letter represents a syllable or sound -
either a vowel, a consonant, or a consonant and a vowel.
When a Japanese person looks at a word like hiragana they would say that it
has four letters or four syllables. Find these on the table. Haveyou found CA (hi),
<o (ra), ¥ (ga), & (na)?
How many syllables does the word kanji have?
Did you also notice the red rows on the hiragana table? These are hiragana letters
that are made by adding special marks. For example, ¥ (ga) from the word
hiragana has been created by adding "to if* (ka).
a U e 0
tb ^ *9 £ £
¥ S < frt ^—
• l l ¥ V <- tf r
L (shi) t -tf t
V
too f -<£ *'
tz. £> (chi) o (tsu) T £
W*m ti
ft
(<0(zu)
ft
T5
(7)
ti CA j* 'X ll
^^^^H
wr c< J-; *< i?
W*M tf CA° ,£ K. tf
^3 £ <£ E 36 &
B f * J:
L> (J 3 h b
t> £(o)
//(n)

4. u £ tftz 1
&$4>S ^4) $>•?< The Asano family
fe/ckLi^CA £>#*'#• New hiragana
KO SA

5. &&<o tc CA h & & Hiragana you now know!

6. i^oT*i*5i
$>&££.(£? What's your name?
*A/fcT
Ask five people their name using &&• j; ^.(i?
Answer for the
people in the photos.
or

7. 1 Whose book is this?
2 Who is Mr Fujino?
3 What do you think
< J+ means?
1 Who is the interviewer
talking to?
2 What does he ask?
£*)**#
-* . frfr^Jt
fr t X.: 53
< ^:*d
££ £., which you have seen already, simply means name. fc&* ££(£? is used
when you want to ask someone their name. You can respond to this by giving your
name and adding T ~f. T "t means itis or / am.
Japanese people will sometimes answer the question ££; j;;i(i? by giving their
surname followed by their given name. You should give your name in the English
order - first your given name and then your family name. If you are in an informal
situation, for example with people your own age, just give the name you'd like to
be called and then say T~f.
You may be wondering about ti and fo both having the same sound. When the
letter i± (ha) is used as a particle, it is pronounced wa. You will learn more about
particles and it later.

8. • £A6>;&*&2
T ? C Numbers
4U
8 ti*>
4 J^
ftv 0
v>£> 1
U 2
^ 3
U d:A 4
v— 5
3 < 6
l*>, fr£ 7
tifc 8
10

9. fe/bkLv** *>£#*£ New hiragana
*>
KU GO CHI Nl
^ HA ^ ^ YO
-6
RO
tthitz&b ifi 4" Hiragana you now know!
11

10. SfrcS/Ui&A/^-r-f ^0 How old are you, Sawako?
How old is Sawako?
Jt-kttX
M) Z5 LKi&k $ ^Xt fr.
13 $.*X"t0
Ask five people their ages. Be ready to give your age too.
~e$ »,> ~ years old
i»^5v one
ksv* two
5//So three
iX/So four
:"Jw five
£<5o six
fcfcfjo seven
li^Ji' eight
5 *}So nine
t *oio ten
L'^^'oii.' eleven
C •>*)(- 5 o twelve
£**•)$//$ o thirteen
£ *p -5 «tA/3 o fourteen
tr^c'Sv fifteen
12

11. lAjXfrln
1 What do you think that $ k> means?
2 How old is your •£ ^^f >?
L0T6?
1 To ask someone their age you can use the expression #X $ v,», which means
/701V o/d? or now manyyears?. ~ 5 .»after a number means ~ years old.
#> added at the end of the sentence makes the sentence into a question.
Sometimes the pronunciation ofa number changes when you add 25 v
The numbers that change are highlighted (in red) on the list on the opposite
page. Your teacher will explain how to read these - don't worry that there are
CA i? ¥ &" that you haven't learnt yet.
2 You can ask Sawako the question 3 teZ $A,ti&% 5 ^XTfc directly or
you can use it to ask someone else about Sawako's age. You will notice that
it is used after the name of the person, it indicates that you are either talking
about the person or speaking directly to them. In Japanese it is considered
polite to refer to a person by name rather than use the word for you.
3 ~~ $ ^ is a title used after a person's name. It can mean Mr, Mrs, Ms or Miss.
~ < A/can be used after the names of boys. Sometimes ~£> ^>h is used
after the names of smaller children and also by children to refer to friends
and close relatives. Don't use any of these titles after your own name when
you are talking about yourself.
After a teacher's name, -tf /On* v. ms used. «£• A/-£ v.» is also used after the
names of doctors, dentists, lawyers and politicians.
13

12. U 6 tft£ 3
VH^T^i"t5•f0 It's nice weather.
feouft.
&o.^ hot
£>* rain
(-' ll* good
ifv cold
T/v J weather
CA^V dreadful, awful
14

13. h tz £ L Vi >CA t? if* & New hiragana
-t
^ Kl SU
b
TO
Hiragana you now know!
15
o
OfTSU ^*
DO
T
TE

14. ^oT^i-93
(A£*fo$>X-f te0 It's heavy rain, isn't it?
J+ht£X
Imagine you and your partner are in the classrooms below
and comment on the weather.
| ^Mxirn,
Zix-ft20
16

15. 1 What might the girls in this photo say
to each other about the weather?
Choose their comments from the
speech bubbles below. (What do
you think i L X means?)
CAi:'V&#-tJ-tfc,
flTN feo^T-f 4ao
tlTN 25*J^T'-tfc0
2 This is a postcard that is
sent at the start of a
particular season.
Which season do you
think it would be?
v. *v.' X ^ $ X T fa„
0 ^ttfe,
1 Japanese people often comment on the weather when they meet, just as we ask
someone how they are.
When the weather is nice, you can say ^oXL<bX~ffa (It's nice weather,
isn't it?). If it is hot, you can say l>*5^T'ffe, The response in these cases is
usually to agree, saying 'ZlX-ffa (It is, isn't it?).
2 fa at the end of a sentence means isn't it?, aren't you?, doesn't it? etc.
17

16. s-s
*?^
U 6 flttt 4
^Z/uftt® Various things
bi*t£-h
4"U:^fc 4> i)
ww> I
4'U:liU: ^/c^
£>/c£> Ia^£a<9^£: New hiragana
fct£fc friend/s
^ -K3 room
NU
18

17. MO Rl
&: h o tz lh £ ifi £: Hiragana you now know!
19

18. V^oT^.J:94
Z.ft&htzl0)t*fa'e-to Thisismydog.
Z<Wbl±1£<0)ki)i**>X*i'o This is my friend.
£HC£tr< o^fox-ft
Bring a photo to class
and explain as much
as you can about it.
Your classmates may
also ask you questions.
SrJ-tli?
20

19. Imagine that one of these photos is yours and you are talking about it with a friend.
Which of these sentences would you use to describe it?
Qz<7)tfibim<0)tt>tzt>Xi-o © tz^Cit&&$vXTteo
cute
big
BjL*:T|
jBH^^V' *~ map ' ^^(
. MB
> -
^H •#•
13^^MmU- '"^^NM
1 There are several words in Japanese for /. fotz I is a good general all-purpose
word that everyone uses. When talking casually with family and friends, boys
often say (£"< to refer to themselves.
2 O is like 's in English. It shows possession and so =fa/c LW~ and !£"< W~ both
mean my ~.
3 To tell someone This is myroom, you use the word £ fl for fn/'s. However, when
you talk about people, you should say £ <D Ihh (this person).
£iitt>tzt^>^-^XT0 This is my room.
but
£0)Xfihi$t>tzL<Db%tzt>XT0 This (person) is myfriend.
4 You'll remember that when you agree with someone you say •?" OX-ffo.
(It is, isn't it?). When you are told something and you want to say oh, really?
oh, Isee, is that right? you use h k>s t Ift^. When you are talking with
your friends you can speak more casually and say k> &>, -^0. These short
expressions are used a lot in Japanese, so try to include them in your speech
as much as you can.
21

20. •
Zh £> tfito 5
£A,Ca°o£jMT< fz$< Please lend me a pencil
&/c £> L^ CA £> ^£ New hiragana
*
so
22

21. & £> o fc £A ?> ifi & Hiragana you now know!
Congratulations! You have completed the main letters of the CA k #*& table.
Now you can fill in the gaps. As you know, there are some letters that use
* (TAsXAs) to make new sounds, and ° (J: 5) is added to (£ C«S>/s(£
to makep sounds.
Here is a summary of those changes.
fr < H Cm + become ¥ y <- If u.
L T *t * + become u •f •tf" *
it *> o X £ + become ti GO (<*) T- £*
it & ^ *N (2 + become ti" CA" ,$•; K. tr
it (A £* <% (J + become ii £A° -5! «"?. (j°
(The letters # and <*' do exist and are used in specialist readings.)
You now know all the letters on the table!
Sing the U- &#*&* rap with
X<**>-*tA;4t^ It's on the
^J: cassettes.
23

22. nin
l^iXfhll5)
it $«£s ^LT0 Lend me some scissors.
C> tin?
s c
& i y a ©
L + £ « « £
<D ***
*./ £^lt< i*$y.
£"^ *;
bhtft ^•"5'^t0
Borrow various items from your classmates and it faS v
Don't forget to say thanks when you return them!
SX- i££
o
ti**, ^IT0 -t*x-t±v. i a,ca'o£#»l-c </£$<«%
i
24

23. Read the following conversation, which took place in a classroom.
&OC
-ti-^-t*- v.
&oc
4-4>*
feoc
/:ltL
&oc
Ji:
&oc
h±A^-^ v,
£nx
fnx
t'ix
fix
fn to
feoc :•*/,•* , ^-f. ^iST-f0
-tf/0-tf^ : i'oto
1 Make a list of what Atsuko has borrowed from each person.
2 Why has she borrowed these items?
3 What is a ¥ t 6 ?
[LoT£?
1 To borrow a pencil from a classmate, you can say t h> CA"oN ^> LT. Your
friend will of course reply tf 1 x' (Go right ahead or Here you are). To ask more
formally, for example if you want to borrow your teacher's book, you need to say
(iAyir^LX's tzt$ i« You should also use this more polite version with people
you don't know very well.
Don't forget to put •£• after the name of the item that you want to borrow. •£-, like
it which you met previously, is a particle. Although •£- is in the wo position on
the cA tpifilH: table, it is usually pronounced o.
2 <k*3 $) is a very casual way of saying thanks. You can say this to friends and
people you know well. To say thank you, you need to use a longer and more
polite expression, k> *) tfi 11 u 3Ti»i.-f.
Try using these expressions in class from now on whenever you need to thank
it ^ it v* or your friends.
25
green
what are (you doing)?

24. u e> #& 6
¥<it* Students
ll^X-tH
t'TAA-f
O 9 </$<P0
O 10 e vp i
O wo ca^<
senior high school student
junior high school student
primary/elementary school student
kindergarten student
bicycle
26

25. You have already seen how £a h ¥tt uses T ^T ^ and I 6 to make new
sounds. There are three other ways to create new sounds. After you have learnt
these, you will beable to write any word in Japanese in £a h$*fc. Let's look at
two of the three ways.
Long vowels
To write words with long vowel sounds you simply write them as you would say
them. & ¥ h & ^ spells out the word for mother.
However, long £ is usually written with n instead of £. There are a few words that
are written with fc fc and you will need to learn these separately. Fortunately, there
aren't many!
Try to read these words aloud.
S) S) ah, oh C3 C^HtV* senior high student
b^h^L mother fcii^/u father
^ v.1 t no £*•)*> thanks
fctcv $ ^ older brother xnxrfr really?
*p -5 tz < ^ Yuuta (boy's name) fcfc£v big
-t-3 l numbers i fctp far away
yeah
older sister
v.* letters and little f», ^, J;
When f», "4> or J: are written at a
quarter of their original size and put
next to any letter from the << * column
(&, £", L, C, U etc.), the result
is a new sound using the v.» column
consonant with f», ^ and J;. The
sound is made by not pronouncing
the v This table sets this out for you.
Practise reading it aloud.
Take care with L-p, L >}>, Li
and *> •?>, £ 4> , & J .
27
*
ff «p i
^i* $* £j-
y S> £> yjt
L I* L <•? u
L' L> IS «p L'j-
*> £> ^ t> **> *>J:
C fc* fc* tCi
CA CA-^ CA «^> 6U
C< cA> #> tfi
CA° Ca> £A> ^i
* J?.j(> «#.*$> ^-1
0 0 + /) 9 >) i

26. vmT*J;06
$ h Z$ ^ it Z•) Z*) itV*T -t jK
Is Sawako a senior high school student?
Sawako, are you a senior high school student?
$t> £
13$ ^
£$/vit£-)£Oit^X~?fr0
.>v.>;tN ^t^j^-ih'tt.
H^^*><hit £ n c -)it ^t-t *
or
££> ^-OT-to
28

27. Imagine that you have become friends with one of the students pictured
on the opposite page. Introduce your new friend to a classmate.
ILXJfll
How much do you know
about this person? Read her
introduction and then write
three to four sentences about
her in your notebook.
t>tzLO)%&tit lJ>-Xir0
lj.n¥<it.>x-f0
£iitfrtzlO)i:XAsl*>X*ir
&tz$>i^xi-0
htz^> L^ new
£Q)Tfibit*>tzLO)h $tz*>Xl-e
^:5/uft0
$=b£$>Ui13$^T-fe
t>*n¥<it^x-rn
J
LoT£?j
1 If you aren't sure about whether a student, for example Sawako, is in senior
high or junior high, you can find out by asking $=bCi*A/t££*)£3-tHvT*-t"if*.
You have seen previously how this style of question can be used to ask someone
directly or to ask about someone. So you can use the above question to ask
Sawako directly or to ask someone else about her.
2 it v.» means yes, i_ i_ means yeah and v,»» £ means no.
29

28. CA e> tftZ 7
tfoZOX* At school
¥oZ^
tt5-,T (<£3 WO
school
hang in there! try hard!
sit down
stand up
wait a minute
30

29. You have already learnt two of the three ways to create new sounds. Sofar you
can read complicated words like fc *P7¥<it Now look at reading a word
like & i. o b, which means a bit.
Double consonants
To write words that have double consonants, you use little -o for the letter that
is being doubled. It is like inserting a beat into theword. Try reading aloud the
following words, and clap where little o appears. For example:
tzoX tz—clap— T
You should be able to hear the consonant sound that is being repeated. In the
example that you have just done, the sound is of course t.
•ffo^X ty o < h TrY tnese tw0 also:
lot ¥o £ 3 ifo -5° burp
¥Asi£oX &£•?& L-^o</) hiccup
Practise reading these words.
ii.T
•i •••l.n. •-•!-? ••i.:l7ifi ••T MivV;.'ii-'..lM|-,...-.."i -,i iYira
J J:") ZXA,L*
31
a

30. tzo X ! Stand up!
*&$/Ox /: -,T
it. ZiiiCAsirJtX
Lfi'CLT
T t J:
look at the board
be quiet, do it quietly
listen to the tape
open your book
32

31. fyktzx
Form a group and take
turns to be itAjit^.
Give some classroom
instructions to your
'students'.
X/uX^ll
(A£^foftx-fto<, fri£A?><Ajs i~t>oXe
L-f>ClT0
X *>N it A,it.
^-T< tz$.
v.^«T^^T-tJ;0
1^
tz^X<tz$v
1 What have each student and the teacher been asked to do?
2 Explain what has happened in this class.
LoT3?
1 The expressions given in >.1-5T^J:'i 7 are all instructions for you to follow and
use in class. As you saw with ^LT</;M you can leave off <tz% V1 when
you are talking with your friends.
it ^ it v,» will use both tzoX and tz-oXi /c $ i% but if you ask it A, it ." to
do something, be sure to add < /c $ v,
33

32. W
U £ #& 8
T/vN £ &0 Commas and full stops
The two main punctuation marks used in Japanese are the comma, called Xh,
which looks like this , and the full stop, called £ 5, which is written like this .
Word spaces
As you have probably noticed, in Japanese writing there are no spaces between
words. You mayfind this tricky at first but if you listen carefully to it Ay it >>
speaking and reading aloud to you, you will gradually learn where to take a break!
XZ&'$ s tzX¥£ Horizontal and vertical writing
Japanese can be written both horizontally and vertically. Vertical writing is called
tzX¥ &and it runs from top to bottom and right to left. Books written using
tzX¥ b begin where English books end. Horizontal writing is called «fcCs&*£.
Novels are always written using tzX¥ £. You will see both tzX¥ & and
X£1)* £ in newspapers and magazines and, except in Japanese language classes,
students usually write their notes in ££& &. See if you can pick out some
tzX¥ £ and i.£¥b in the following.
4 !**•»»
34

33. Read the following names of towns, shops and hotels.
v-btt
»••#
5I3S/U
3845-17B5
tc & ? I
o
35

34. fr/uC
Now that you have learnt to read and write Ca bifift you are probably feeling
pretty good. Well done!
Here's another challenge.
In each chapter of this book there are some new frh> L characters for you to
learn to recognise, read and write. As you did with hiragana, practise writing
the strokes by tracing over the character with your finger in the order of the little
numbers and in the direction shown by the arrows. Count i^fc, (C, fifa I etc.
as you trace over the lines. When you've done that, practise writing the characters
in your workbook.
r
one
1 stroke
( - v$ one
)
<~-J
"^^
2
three
3 strokes
r^
I I
•••
two
2 strokes
two J
four
5 strokes
L^ ^ three ) ( E9 XAj/L four )
five
4 strokes
( i five )
%%L fl
QEG
, ll£= L
( six
I 4 strokes
J1
< * h < six )
«$=• JL. - P4
36

35. seven
2 strokes
( -fa L*>/frfr seven )j ( /V
ex
JL
C*
37
*
</£**)
nine
2 strokes
nine
h
hundred
6 strokes
J^j
} CZ
CA -f < hundred j
a^~
it*>
eight
2 strokes
sight )
/I
L^-9
ten
2 strokes
A
J
ten )

36. J^T*<fc3
When Japanese people write horizontally (X £ifi £) they tend to use arabic
numerals, as in 5^-— v, but sometimes you will see kanji numbers. Vertical writing
(fzXtf £) always uses kanji numbers. You'll need to be able to recognise them to
find pages quickly in your book when -tiAz-tfv.* says 5«^—v^&CA h^^X...
Many people in Japan use a business card, called <*ov.N L, which lists their name,
position in the company, telephone and fax numbers and perhaps email address.
Some #!hN Lare written using X£ ¥ & and others using tzX¥ $. On 4h ' L
with tzX~¥ $ , numbers are written in fc/u L
Look at these examples of ao^ L and signs with tzX¥<$ numbers and write the
answers to the questions in your notebook.
1 This is the
0) v>L of
the principal
of Sawako's
school.
What are the
telephone and
fax numbers of
the school?
3 This picture
gives the price of
noodle lunches.
Can you work
out how much
they are? Can
you guess what
the kanji P3
means?
4 There are lots
of kanji on this
advertisement
for a tempura
lunch. Pick out
the kanji that
gives the price
of the lunch.
How much is
a lunch here?
2 This Tokyo
office has many
phone lines.
Their fax number
is also here.
Write out their
phone and fax
numbers.
38