And now we can ask questions and deny everything.
Boku wa Makoto-kun dewa arimasen.
And I don’t look like Makoto-kun at all!
Interrogative and negative forms of japanese verbs are not difficult, at this level.
And we can begin to make some small form of communication.
Fine.
Category Archives: My Projects
The big problem with these quick-and-dirty teach yourself ultrafast courses is, there comes a time when they simply decide it’s time to learn a lot of vocabulary by heart.
And so, here’s lesson four – places, family and animals, here, there and everywhere.
So now, having greeted our host and asked for food, we can introduce ourselves – and our closest relatives – and affirm that, yes, that’s a cat – are wa neko desu.
And no kidding.
Food!
A long list of food-stuff, and how to order it.
So now we can wander in a Japanese restaurant, greet the people there (as per lesson two – no eye contact, no smile), and then go Sandoicchi to sarada o kudasai… which should get us a sandwich and a salad.
Starvation is no longer a proble.
On to lesson four!
Second lesson – greetings.
This is a great classic of self-teaching language courses.
Maybe you can’t speak the lingo, but you can at least be polite enough to greet those you meet.
So, Konnichiwa, Konbanwa… but also Dozo Yoroshiku.
The best bit is the half-page primer on meeting the Japanese – bow low, don’t make eye contact, don’t smile.
Oh, c’mon…
Course materials – Giapponese in 30 Giorni (Italian edition of Berlitz/Langenscheidt Japanese in 30 Days), a pencil, a wad of post-its to fill the handbook with annotations. MP3 Reader for listening practice.
First lesson.
A handful of pages: Hiragana & Katakana, how to pronounce Japanese, the dread long vowels…
So far so good.
Japanese in 30 days? Let’s try…
How does it feel to try and learn Japanese in 30 days from one of those small handbooks called… well, Japanese in 30 Days?
An old copy of one of those books resurfaced as I tried to put some order in my library.
So… why not give it a try.
One lesson a day, every day, for the whole of March, starting tonight.
One hour after dinner.
And I’ll post about my progress.
Karavansara 