日本語の学習
Ch. 4
Here is a list of all the key concepts you need to master in order to ace those exams!
Go through and see where you need to practice some more.
1) Grammar
a) て form
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〜てください。(making a request) (pg. 231)
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〜て (Functions as "then" when connecting sentences) (pg. 234)
b) Verb Conjugations
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Verbs conjugations are where people tend to trip up especially with ごだんどうし (5-step) verbs, so make you understand how to conjugate correctly.
A guide to conjugating ごだんどうし verbs
c) これ、それ、あれ vs. ここ、そこ、あそこ (pg. 136)
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Are you able to tell the difference between これ vs. ここ、それ vs. そこ、あれ vs. あそこ?
Note: The most important thing to keep in mind is what is the main point? Is it an actual thing you're talking about or a location?
これ= This (closer to the speaker) vs. ここ= Here
それ= That (closer to the listener) vs. そこ= There
あれ= That over there (farther away) vs. あそこ= Over there
Also, be careful when using あそこ because it can sometimes come off a bit inappropriate if you leave some information out.
Ex) あそこはおいしいですね！= The "down there area" is yummy, isn't it!
vs.
あそこのレストランはおいしいですね！= The restaurant over there is yummy, isn't it!
When introducing people (unless it's someone in a photo) remember not to introduce them using 『これ』、『それ』、『あれ』！
You want to say 『こちらはやまださんです』、『そちらはやまださんです』、『あちらはやまださんです』
d) 〜よ vs. 〜ね (pg. 136)
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Using 〜よ and 〜ね can be challenging because it's easy to overdo using them and your sentences will also start to sound more and more casual.
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If you use 〜よ too much you can start to sound like you're saying "duh." For native speakers who use 〜ね a lot, they sound very young and youthful (oftentimes feminine). With foreign speakers who use 〜ね a lot, it's pretty obvious they watch a lot of anime.
When can you use 〜ね？
Listen to how someone is saying 〜ね, specifically the intonation.
Test-taking strategy: Always look at the next sentence to see how the person responded. If it sounds like they're nodding their head and agreeing with what you said, you should use 〜ね. If it sounds like they're saying "Oh, I see" you should use 〜よ.
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Confirmation
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Showing you understood what the person said to you
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Ex. "Ok, so it's that building over there."
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Ex. "Ok, so you're coming back soon then."
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Ex. "I see you like anime."
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Agreement
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"Yeah, that's right"
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Sense of togetherness
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"〜isn't (it)" (the nuance is kind of weird just like in English because you're basically making a statement but offering room for the listener to agree with you or confirm what you said) (0:30)
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Ex. "This is so hard isn't it." vs. "This is so hard!"
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Ex. "He's cute isn't he." vs. "He's really cute"
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Ex. "She's working hard every day isn't she." vs. "She's working hard every day"
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Ex. "That's too bad isn't it." vs. "That's too bad"
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〜okay? (Sounds more encouraging and friendly as opposed to sounding like you're pushing the listener to do something) (8:05)
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"Eat this, okay?" vs. "Eat this"
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"I'm going to send this to you, okay?" vs. "I'm going to send this to you"
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"Don't forget to put away your stuff, okay? vs. "Don't forget to put away your stuff
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Adding an informal, cheerful flair to your sentence (girls use this much more than guys)
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Ex. "Let's hang out again!" （またあそぼうね！）
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Ex. "See you later!" （じゃね！）
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Ex. "Good luck!" （がんばってね！）
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Ex. "Come back again!" （またきてね！）
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When can you use 〜よ？
When talking to elders or senpai, be really careful not to overuse 〜よ because it can rub people in the wrong way. As you hear people talking more, you'll begin to understand when you should use 〜よ and when you can go about saying your sentence in a more polite/formal way.
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Providing new information (10:30)
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Saying something the listener didn't know or doesn't realize
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Ex.
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Person A: "Is Japan a cool place?"
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Person B: "Yeah, there's a lot of fun places to visit!"
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Ex.
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Person A: "Is that restaurant good?"
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Person B: "Yeah, it is!"
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Giving someone permission (17:10)
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Ex:
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Person A: "Can I look at your notes?"
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Person B: "Sure!"
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Ex:
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Person A: "Can I borrow this?"
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Person B: "Yeah, of course!"
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Ex:
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Person A: "Can you take a photo for me?"
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Person B: "Yeah!"
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Being assertive (12:08)
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Point out that what someone just said was wrong (12:08)
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Ex:
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Person A: "There's nothing do at Mount Holyoke because it's in the middle of nowhere."
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Person B: "No that not true, there's plenty of things you can do!"
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Ex:
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Person A: "Her dad's a doctor right?"
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Person B: "No, her dad's a lawyer."
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Actually sounding more assertive(depending on the tone of someone's voice, it can make you feel like you're getting scolded ) (17:48)
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"No, you can't do that!"
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"If you leave it in the oven for too long you're gonna burn it!!"
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"That's dangerous!"
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"Stop it!"
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Give a sense of urgency
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"Hurry up, let's go!" (『いこうよ！』sounds as though you wanna leave asap).
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"Guys! Listen up, you can't believe what I just heard!"
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Giving advice/your opinion(15:15)
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Ex: "It's better not to do that"
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Ex: "I think this dress will suit you better."
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Ex: "I think you should go talk to someone"
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Ex: "You should get more sleep"
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e) 〜と / 〜って
Note: Both mean the exact same thing except 『って 』is usually used when you're speaking colloquially whereas you would write 『と』 or say it in more formal settings.
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The most simple way to remember when to use 『と』/『って』is:
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You're putting it after something that belongs in quotation marks (ie. when referring to a specific term, something someone said, etc.)
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You're talking about something you think 『(だ)とおもいます』 or someone else thinks 『(だ)とおもっています』
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*You'll learn more about the correct usage in the later chapters!
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You're talking about something you heard.
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Ex: In English, this is called "equestrian." --> 『えいごで、equestrianといいます。』
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Ex: My name is Catherine but please call me "Cat" --> 『わたしのなまえは Catherineですが、Catってよんでください。』
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Ex: I think animals are cute --> 『どうぶつはかわいとおもいます』
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Ex: "That's a pretty flower," said Jake --> 『それはきれいなはなだ』とJakeがいいました。
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Ex: I heard Japanese is hard --> 『にほんごはたいへんだとききました』
You may have noticed that 『だ』is used and that's because 『たいへん』is a 『な』adjective.
(you'll learn more about this concept later)
F)『い』and『な』adjectives
This is a presentation the Language Assistants didn't end up using.
When making an adjective negative:
『な』adjective + 『じゃありません』(formal)
Ex: {Not quiet} しずか --> しずかじゃありません
『な』adjective + 『じゃない』 (casual)
Ex: {Not quiet} しずか --> しずかじゃない
『い』adjective + 『くありません』(formal)
Ex: {Not hard} むずかしい --> むずかしくありません
『い』adjective + 『くない』(casual)
Ex: {Not hard} むずかしい --> むずかしくない
Unless there's an exception,
『な』adjectives are all the other adjectives
that don't end with 『い』.
G) Location に Noun 〜が あります/います
Note: Remember if you use 『あります』with a living thing, it makes it sound like it's actually dead.
For example, 『ねこがいる』indicates that there's a cat that's alive but『ねこがある』sounds like you came across a dead cat in the street. Only use 『あります』 with nonliving things.
Location で activity/event 〜が あります
2) Katakana
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Katakana is a writing system developed specifically for non-Japanese words.
3) Ch. 4 Vocab
A) Ch. 4 Vocab
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To make sure you've memorized all the vocab, you can print the list and fold it in such a way that you can quiz yourself.
B) Colors
C) Days of the month
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Can you remember all the "funky" dates?
