S2: Introduction
Global presentation of Japanese grammar and which serves as an introduction to season two. Here I present to you everything you will discover during this second season.
Dictionaries
Learn about all the resources you need to help you in your learning right now.
First big step in Japanese grammar
Build your very first sentences in Japanese. It is important to know the vocabulary about animals to be able to follow this course.
The particle の is the genitive particle, one of the most used in the Japanese language. It will be present in almost all your sentences. It is the simplest particle to use and yet there is so much to say about it. Take this course and enrich your sentences.
How to say in Japanese that the sun is shining? Is the sky calm or is it raining? If the rain is only a passing shower, a drizzle or a heavy rain... Or a hurricane is brewing. This vocabulary lesson is here to help you.
A very easy course where you have to memorize the twenty largest cities in Japan. More proper names to learn by heart!
Harmonica, accordion, xylophone, metallophone, glockenspiel, marimba, bagpipes, vibraphone… the lexicon of music is easy to memorize. A great vocabulary course, hope you will love it. Lots of katakana words and few new kanji. Enjoy it.
Everyone wears clothes every day. To stay at home, to go to school, to work, to go shopping, to play sports, to hike, to run a marathon... It is therefore important to know how to name them. Thirty-two vocabulary words on everyday clothing. This course focuses exclusively on Western clothing. 👕👚👔👖🧦👙👗
Discover the particle of the enumeration. Its use is very simple because almost identical to « and » in English.
Discover the particle of the non-exhaustive list. The particle や, like the particle と, is used to list one or more names but we are going to imply that the list we are drawing up is not complete, it is not exhaustive.
Discover the particle of the theme of the sentence. First of all, know that the particle は is not pronounced « ha » but rather « wa ».
22 vocabulary words on various places that can be found in a city: the town hall, the school, the hospital, the pharmacy, the park, the zoo, the pet shop...
You are in Japan and you might want to watch a baseball game. Or you just want to participate in a football, tennis, or other match. You want to have a game of bowling with your family or with your friends. Visit the arena or the racetrack. Or maybe you just want to learn some vocabulary? In any case, this course is for you.
The Japanese language mark a difference between places where nothing is happening, places where someone or something is present, which includes the use of presence verbs; and places where action takes place, which includes action verbs. Learn more about the verbs いる and ある and how the particle に is used to indicate the location or existence of a subject.
If you need to locate a person, an object, a place in space, you will need to know the lexicon of spatial landmarks. Right, left, top, bottom, above, below… Twenty vocabulary words in total.
To learn how to name the different rooms in the house, take this course. 25 vocabulary words from the entrance to the ceiling, through the living room, bedroom, bathroom... to the attic and on the roof. Very important words to know.
Discover the particle で which expresses the place where an action takes place, where something is happening. It is therefore used in sentences containing an action verb. It also allows the means to be expressed. Also discover many widely used Japanese verbs.
40 vocabulary words on the different parts of the human body: the head, the face, the nose, the mouth, the tongue, the cheeks, the hair, the ears, the mustache, the beard, the arms, the hands, the legs, the feet, the neck, the nape of the neck, the stomach, the back... There is a lot to say and to learn. ✋👂👃🦵🦶👅
Automobiles, taxis, trucks, buses, bicycles, motorcycles, scooters, sports cars, ambulances, fire trucks... In cities and in the countryside, means of transport are everywhere and constitute a commonly used vocabulary.
Discover the particle へ which indicates the place to which we are heading. It is used with verbs of directional movement. The particle へ is not pronounced « he » but rather « e ».
Mainly cereals and dairy products: bread, rice, nuts, cashews, pistachios, almonds, oatmeal, pasta, egg, cheese, yogurt… A lot of words are from English but you will have some new kanji to learn. 🍞🥚🧀🍦🥣🍯🍚
Eat five fruits and vegetables a day. Yes, you have probably already heard this phrase (too) many times. In this course, 33 vocabulary words on the fruits of the world: apple, pear, peach, blackberry, apricot, strawberry, raspberry, melon, pineapple, lemon, cherry, plum… Added to this is a whole lesson about the relationship that the Japanese have with fruits, and it is very different from that of Westerners. And at the end, some etymology on the lexicon of fruit trees. 🥥🍅🥝🍓🍒🍇🍈🍉🍊️🍋️🍌️🍍️🥭️🍎️
Discover the particle of COD (the Direct Object Complement), a very important particle of the Japanese language.
21 vocabulary words to situate yourself in time.
In this lesson, we will study the time complement also called the circumstantial time complement which makes it possible to indicate in our sentences the moment when the action is performed.
These days, many of the Western dishes you know well have made their way onto Japanese tables. Let’s see together how the Japanese have katakanized all these foreign words. 30 new words in katakana. No new kanji to learn. An easy course that will satisfy gourmets and cooking enthusiasts.
Discover two complementary particles. The particle から expresses a point of origin or a starting point and the particle まで expresses the point of arrival, the limit.
A simple but equally important vocabulary course. And very useful if you want to order fruit juice, milk chocolate or coffee. By the way, if you have learned your course on the fruits of the world well, this new vocabulary course will be a piece of cake, for sure.
Discover the particle of the subject of the verb. It serves to mark the difference between the theme and the subject of the verb, it serves to emphasize the subject of the verb or to give completely new information, it serves to indicate the presence of something or someone, it serves to express the verb « to have ».
If you have a green thumb and love to cultivate your garden, or just want to learn vocabulary, then this course is for you. A very important course where I will get you to think about the construction of words in Japanese by giving you some very useful tips.
In this course, we will only see the first use of the particle も. It allows you to introduce into a sentence a thing identical to a previously stated thing. It can be translated as « also », « likewise ».
Most people like insects and reptiles, some don’t. Regardless, it is important to know how to write them, in kanji as in kana: ant, fly, bee, mosquito, butterfly, dragonfly, grasshopper, ladybug, frog, slug, lizard, chameleon... 25 vocabulary words in total. 🐜🐛🐌🐝🦋🐸🕷️🦂🐍🦎
Discover the particle より which serves as the basis for a comparison.
When the sun is shining, picnicking is a fun activity to do with the family… or alone, or with your pets, why not. 25 vocabulary words where we will talk about picnics, barbecue, towels, food, and other odds and ends.
After having discovered in detail all the fundamental particles of the Japanese language, it is high time to approach adverbs and adverbial particles to enrich our sentences.
Three new particles in a single course : the particle こそ is an emphasis particle with an accented theme; the particle さえ used to express something amazing, which should not be so; and the particle でも used to express something extreme. It generally corresponds to a positive idea.
Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world. Whether you are an amateur or a cinephile, you may have already been interested in Japanese cinema. This vocabulary course will help you better appreciate Japanese works in their original version.
Learn about the particles よ, ぞ, ぜ, さ, ね and many more and their many uses.
Discover the explanatory form のだ which allows you to give an explanation to the interlocutor. In this course, you will learn some subtle nuances like asking a question to request information and asking a question to request an explanation.
A bedroom is a room in the house where everyone spends a lot of time. You can find all kinds of everyday objects as well as furniture. And all these little things, you must know how to name them in Japanese. So, do not wait any longer and click. 📅🛏️🪑
A long list of vocabulary words. You will learn to designate and recognize everyday places such as restaurants, fish shops, bakeries, grocery stores, supermarkets, butcher shops and many more. Many synonyms await you.
A very important course and very linked with the course on end of sentence particles. You will learn to do a partial interrogation where the question relates to a specific element of the sentence, an element which is unknown to us. You will learn to say « Who ? », « Where ? », « What ? », « When ? » and many other things.
In Japanese, we designate / indicate different things according to four positions. Discover the demonstrative prefixes こ・そ・あ・ど and much more.
The Japanese count using numeral classifiers: humans, small animals, large animals, winged animals, flat and thin objects, long and cylindrical objects, clothing, machines, vehicles, letters, books, dictionaries, magazines, chairs, houses, buildings, banks... The list is long. However, these numeral classifiers must be known by heart. This course is there for that.
Discover the units of measure for counting floors, stairs, levels, grades, stories, episodes, nights, generations, chapters, sections... But also, to express the duration in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and year with the kanji 秒, 分, 時. And more!
Discover new uses of the particle か, the particle が and the particle から... and the list is still long.
A global recap of all the particles we have seen since the start of season two and some new stuff.
Japanese culture and politeness
Discover lots of little things, lots of little things specific to the Japanese language that do not exist in English or which are different in English. A light but very important lesson.
Discover all the richness and nuances offered by Japanese personal pronouns. More than ten ways to say « I », several ways to say « you ». And many other things...
Learn the plural of Japanese personal pronouns using the plural suffixes 達, 等, 共 and 方. Express the plural by repeating the kanji. Learn demonstrative prefixes with the plural suffix 等. Discover possessive adjectives.
Discover all the richness of Japanese honorary suffixes : さん, ちゃん, 先生, 氏, 様… and in which contexts each of them must be used. With the honorary suffixes, you will see how very hierarchical Japanese society is and how the expression of this hierarchy goes through language.
Discover all the richness of the polite prefix お. Learn to show respect for the other person.
Now that you have mastered honorific suffixes and prefixes, it is time to learn the very specific terms for talking about the family of others. This course also contains crucial information on how to speak to people on the street.
Do you like cats? If someone asks you this question, chances are you will answer yes. They have a hairy face and large predatory eyes that glow in the dark, they hunt mice and small insects, they meow and sleep two thirds of the day when they are not grooming themselves. A good topic for a vocabulary lesson.
Learn more about the suffixes 市, 区, 町, 村 and many more. Memorize the names of towns, prefectures, towns, villages and more. Discover three new non-honorary titles: 市長, 町長 and 村長.
Learn more about suffixes 城, 島, 諸島 and many others. Memorize the names of castles, islands, archipelagos, lakes and more.
Learn a bit more about the suffixes 宮殿, 王宮, 寺, 寺院, 寺院, and many others. Memorize names of temples, cathedrals, basilicas, monasteries, and many others. Discover a new non-honorary title : 修道院長.
The post office is an important place in a city along with all the vocabulary words that revolve around it. A lexicon that will be of great help if you need to send or receive a package by post. Or if you find a job in a Japanese post office.
After fruits, vegetables, and the list goes on. Here is the first part. Some new kanji that are rather difficult to remember. One more step to take.
The simple objective of this course is to introduce you to a few things you need to know to improve your mastery of the Japanese language. A very important course so read it !
It is time to go back to some vocabulary words that we have seen throughout this second season. Memorizing vocabulary is good, understanding how words are constructed is better. And that makes memorization easier.
Towards the start of season two, we studied the lexicon of spatial references. This course goes much further by teaching you more specific vocabulary words to indicate the location of an item.
Towards the start of season two, we studied the lexicon of time marks. This course goes much further by teaching you more specific vocabulary words.
This is not a geography lesson but you will still discover some vocabulary. As in the previous lesson, pay close attention to the etymology of words. Learn more about ryokans. Discover new non-honorary titles : 部長, 主将, 室長 and a few others.
In Japan, it is customary to wait seven days after the birth of a child to give him a name. Because the birth of a child is a happy event but also a very important one. The whole family is there: children, parents and grandparents at best.
Make a strong comeback on Japanese surnames and broaden your horizons. Learn about Sino-Japanese surnames and more.
Discover the Japanese names, their history, how did they come about? How were they formed? How do you tell them apart from Japanese surnames? What are the mnemonic tricks to differentiate male and female given names? What are gender-neutral given names? And many other things.
How was the imperial dynasty born? What does it rely on to legitimize its power? How is imperial power passed from generation to generation? What are the habits and customs? And above all, what are the specificities of the naming system for Emperors, Empresses, princes, and imperial princesses? The differences between Japan and the West?
Shintoism is a set of beliefs dating from the ancient history of Japan, sometimes recognized as a religion. It mixes polytheistic and animistic elements. Discover this religion and all the lexicon that revolves around it. New words, new kanji and a bit of history await you.
Works of art in the open air and a real feast for the eyes, Japanese gardens are a fascinating subject that deserves to be lingered over. An introduction to an age-old art with History, vocabulary and etymology. Discover a new non-honorary title : 園長.
We are continuing our journey in the world of vegetables. Here is the second part. More new kanji and some giddy pronunciations.
The last stage of our journey in the world of vegetables. Here is the third part. It is much easier than the previous course.
History can teach us so much about the origin of a word, its etymology, meaning and how it has evolved over the centuries. The Japanese language is no exception.
Revising the adverbial particles will do you the greatest good. And we will also take the opportunity to discover three new particles: わずか, だいたい and 約 . やく.
The particle で is one of the most used in the Japanese language. In this course, we will return to this particle and cover everything there is to know about it. And this, in the smallest details with numerous examples.
The kanji 中 is very common in the Japanese language and there is a lot to say about it. Discover more about the Japanese language, broaden your horizons and learn how to create even more complex sentences.
Boats come in all sizes and types. Sailing and motor boats, trawlers and cruisers, mail boats and container ships, river boats, catamarans, and canoes. Some have wooden or metal hulls, a mast, and a rudder. Often, they have portholes and a captain with a crew. The vocabulary of boats is vast and this vocabulary will be very useful to you. ⛵🛥️🚣🚢
22 vocabulary words. A lexicon very easy to memorize and complementary to the previous vocabulary course. You will learn all the vocabulary necessary to be able to situate yourself in the open sea.
A very important geography course with new kanji, new vocabulary words and a good opportunity to review the names of countries.
The penultimate class before the end of season two. Learn how to express dual nationality, someone’s place of origin, and more in Japanese. A simple and effective course.
A global recap of all the honorary suffixes we’ve seen since the start of this fourth part and some new stuff.
Review
A simple summary of everything you will have seen in this second season.
Vocabulary courses
The bathroom is one of the most important rooms in a house. Toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, bathtub, shower head, washcloth, mirror and much more. You have to know how to name it all. 🛁🚿🧼🪒
After the bathroom comes, of course, the laundry room, a room in the house with the washing machine, detergent, basket of dirty clothes, clothes pegs and many other very useful little things. Twenty-six vocabulary words. 🧺
Flowers, cacti, a hammock and lots of greenery. Without forgetting the specialized stores. Gardening is a very pleasant activity with a very rich vocabulary. So, grab your tools, a sheet and a pen I mean. Thirty vocabulary words await you.
Cleaning is great. Cleanliness is better. And if there is one thing, among many others, that is deeply rooted in Japanese culture, it is cleanliness. Because in Japan, everything must be clean. We must sweep up dead leaves, clear snow in winter, do not throw anything on the ground… 🧹🗑️
We do not say it often enough but Japan is one of the great cycling nations in the world. This course offers you a brief overview of this tool that many Japanese consider an integral part of daily life.
Second part and continuation of the cinema vocabulary course. Discover the lexicon of film genres. A good way to further broaden your horizons.
The continuation of the first part. 40 new words in katakana. No new kanji to learn. Enjoy.
Japanese culture attaches great importance to nature, which does not prevent the Japanese from giving flowers and other plants names with sometimes little used kanji. Luckily for you, I have selected the easiest names to remember. Thus, you will know how to name the most common flowers and plants on Earth.
A highly respected animal in Japan, a sacred figure in Shinto beliefs, the deer is considered the messenger of the gods. Mascots of Nara Park, it is also a well-known tourist attraction and is part of Japanese pop culture. Between preserving forests and the human connection with Nature, discover the deer.
A short vocabulary lesson on the states of the United States of America. Nothing complicated, this course is very easy. You will learn at least one new kanji : 州.
Japanese grammar