nihongo-note

[nihongo-note]

Hebrew in ~300 words עִבְרִית בְּכְ־300 מִּלִּים

Attention! I made some mistakes on the original post due to how similar the vowel points look on the HTML editor, hopefully enough people will see this on my blog and see that I’ve fixed them. Sorry :(

As a part of this post about beginning to learn a language, I’d decided to translate 300 basic words and phrases into Hebrew.

Note: all words will be written in defective spelling (ktiv haser) and with vowel points for ease of pronunciation

A hyphen (מָקָף) indicates the preposition / conjunction is immediately attached to the next word, and a dot underneath the hyphen is a dagesh, a bowel point indicating change in pronunciation of ב, כ, פ from the expected mid-word soft pronunciations (v, kh, f) to the hard ones (b, k ,p, respectively).

First Verbs

Verbs are given in their simplest form: 3rd person, male, past tense. modal verbs are exceptional in Hebrew, so they are given in their most common form.

be - no equivalent. The subject and the complement are simply put one after the other in the case of an adj. (which is conjugated according to number and gender), and connected with a 3rd person pronoun conjugated accordingly in case of a noun complement (הוּא/הִיא; הֵם/הֵן)

there is - יֵשׁ, past הָיה

have - יֵשׁ לְ־ (there is to subj.) past הָיָה לְ־

do - עָשָׂה

go - הָלַךְ

want - רָצָה

can - m יָכוֹל / f יְכוֹלָה

need - m צָרִיךְ / f צְרִיכָה

think - חָשַׁב

know - יָדַע

say - אָמַר, הֵגִיד

like - אָהַב (same as love)

speak - דִּבֶּר

learn - לָמַד

understand - הֵבִין

Conjunctions

that (as in “I think that…” or “the woman that…”) - ּשֶׁ־ (i think that…, the woman that… all tenses), הַ־ּ (the woman that… alternative to present tense)

and - וְ־

or - אוֹ

but - אֲבָל

because - in decreasing order of frequency - כִּי, בִּגְלַל שֶׁ־ּ, מִשֹּוּם שֶׁ־ּ, (מִ)כֵּיוָן שֶׁ־ּ, etc.

though - in decreasing order of frequency - לַמְרוׁת שֶׁ־ּ, עַל אַף שֶׁ־ּ, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁ־ּ, etc.

so (meaning “therefore”; e.g. “I wanted it, so I bought it”) - אַז, לָכֵן

if - אִם

Prepositions

When used with pronouns, Hebrew prepositions are always conjugated with a specific ending for each pronoun.

of - של

to - אֵל (direction), לְ־ (all other uses tbh)

from - מִ־ּ

in - ְבְּתוֹך (inside), בְּ־ (in general)

at (a place) - בְּ־

at (a time) - בְּ־

with - עִם (with a noun), אֵת (with a pronoun, conjugated as ָאִתִּי, אִתְּך, etc.)

about - עַל

like (meaning “similar to”) - כְּמוֹ, כְּ־

for (warning, this one has several meanings that you need to take care of) - בִּשְׁבִיל (intended to)

before (also as a conjunction) - לִפְנֵי/לִפְנֵי שֶׁ־ּ

after (also as a conjunction) - אַחֲרֵי/אַחֲרֵי שֶׁ־ּ

during - תּוֹךְ כְּדֵי

bonus: direct obj. marker - אֵת (used with a defininte noun, conjugated ָאוֹתִי, אוֹתְך but אֶתְכֶם, אֵֶתְכֶן

Question Words

who - מִי

what - מָה

where - אֵיפֹה

when - מָתַי

why - לָמָּה

how - אֵיךְ

how much - כַּמָּה

which - אֵיזֶה

Adverbs

a lot - הַרְבֵּה

a little - קְצַת, מְעַט

well - טוֹב

badly - רַע

only - רָק

also - גַּם

very - מְאֹד

too (as in “too tall”) - מִדַּי (lit. (more) than enough)

too much - יוֹתֵר מִדַּי

so (as in “so tall”) - m כָּזֶה, f כָּזֹאת; or כָּל כַּךְ

so much - כָּל כַּךְ הַרְבֵּה

more (know how to say “more … than …”) - יוֹתֵר

less (know how to say “less … than …”) - פַּחוֹת

than - מִ־ּ

as … as … (e.g. “as tall as”) - … כְּמוֹ …

comparative (more, -er) - יוֹתַר

superlative (most, -est) - הֲכִי

now - עַכְשָׁו, כָּעֵת

then - אַז

here - פֹּה, כָּאן

there - שָׁם

maybe - אוּלַי

always - תָּמִיד

usually - בְּדֶרֶךְ כְּלַל

often - הַרְבֵּה, לְעִתִּים קְרוֹבוֹת

sometimes - לִפְעָמִים, מְדֵּי פַּעַם

never - אַף פַּעַם (used with neg. verb / copula)

today - הַיּוֹם

yesterday - אֱתְמוֹל

tomorrow - מַחַר

soon - תֵּכֶף

almostֹ - כִּמְעַט

already - כְּבָר

still - עָדַיִן

even - אַפִלּוּ, אַף, גַּם

enough - מַסְפִּיק

Adjectives

the, a (technically articles) - הַ־ּ, no indef. article 

this - m הַזֶּה, f הַזֹּאת

that - m הַזֶּה, f הַזֹּאת or  m הָהוּא, f הָהִיא

good - טוֹב

bad - רַע

all - כָּל הַ־ּ

some - כַּמָּה

no - שׁוּם

any - שׁוּם

many - הַרְבֵּה

few - קְצַת, מְעַט

most - רֹב הַ־ּ

other - אַחֵר

same - m אוֹתוֹ הַ־ּ , f אוֹתָה הַ־ּ

different - שׁוֹנֶה

enough - מַסְפִּיק

one - m אֶחָד, f אַחַת

two - m שְׁנַיִם, f שְׁתַּיִם

a few - כַּמָּה

first - רִאשׁוֹן

next - הַבַּא (in time), לְיַד, עַל יַד (both in place)

last (meaning “past”, e.g. “last Friday”) - שֶׁעָבַר, הַקּוֹדֵם

last (meaning “final”) - הָאַחֲרוֹן

easy - קָל

hard - קָשֶׁה

early - מֻקְדַם

late - מְאֻחָר

important - חָשׁוּב

interesting - מְעַנְיֵן

fun - כֵּיף, כֵּיפִי

boring - מְשַׁעֲמֵם

beautiful - יָפֵה

big - גָּדֹל

small - קָטַן

happy - שָׂמֵחַ

sad - עָצוּב

busy - עָסוּק

excited - מִתְרַגֵּשׁ, נִרְגָּשׁ

tired - עָיֵף

ready - מוּכָן

favorite - הָאָהוּב עַל …

new - חָדָשׁ

right (meaning “correct”) - (e.g. a right answer) נָכוֹן; (e.g. to have the right answer) צוֹדֵק

wrong - לֹא נָכוֹן, שָׁגוּי; טוֹעֶה

true - נָכוֹן

Pronouns

Conjugated as:

subject

‘singular’ prepositional ending - בְּ־, כְּ־, לְ־, מִ־ּ, עם, את, של, בשביל, etc.

‘plural’ prepositional ending - עַל יְדֵי, אַחֲרֵי, מְאֲחוֹרֵי, עַל, אֵל, etc.

ס stands for the preceding prepostion

I

אֲנִי

סִי

סַי

you m

אַתָּה

סְךָ

סֶיךָ

you f

אַתְּ

סָךְ

סַיִךְ

he

הוּא

סוֹ

סָיו

she

הִיא

סָהּ

סֶיהָ

* it

m זֶה f זֹאת

we

אֲנַחְנוּ

סָנוּ

סֶינוּ

you (pl.) m

אֲתֶּם

סְכֵם

סֶיכֵם

** you (pl.) f

אַתֶּן

סְכֵן

סֶיכֵן

they (pl.) m

הֵם

סָם

סֶיהֵם

** they (pl.) f

הֵן

סָן

סֶיהן

* There is no neuter gender (it), so inanimate nouns are referred to by the corresponding male or female third person pronouns and conjugations

** Many speakers these days make no distinction between male and female second and third person pronouns (you, they), so these conjugations are gradually becoming obsolete.

Nouns

Hebrew nouns come in two genders, masculine and feminine, however unlike many other languages, the definite article is identical for all genders and inflections, therefore it is not included.

everything - הַכֹּל

something - מָשֶׁהוּ

nothing - כְּלוּם

everyone - כֻּלָּם

someone - מִישֶׁהוּ

no one - אַף אֶחָד / אַחַת (used in negation)

(name of the language you’re studying) - עִבְרִית

English - אַנְגְּלִית

thing - דָּבָר

person - בֵּן אָדָם (lit. son of Adam)

place - מָקוֹם

time (as in “a long time”) - זְמַן

time (as in “I did it 3 times”) - פַּעַם

friend - חָבֵר

woman - אִשָּׁה

man - אִישׁ

money - כֶּסֶף

country - מְדִינָה

(name of your home country) - ישְׂרָאֵל

city - עִיר

language - שָׂפָה, לָשׁוֹן

word - מִלָּה

food - אֹכֶל

house - בַּיִת

store - חָנוּת

office - מִשְׂרַד

company - חֵבְרָה

manager - מְנָהֵל

coworker - קוֹלֶגָה

job - עֲבֹדָה

work (as in “I have a lot of work to do”) - עֲבֹדָה

problem - בַּעֲיָה

question - שֶׁאֱלָה

idea - רַעֲיוֹן

life - חַיִּים

world - עוֹלָם

day - יוֹם

year - שָׁנָה

week - שָׁבוּעַ

month - חֹדֶשׁ

hour - שָׁעָה

mother, father, parent - אֵם, אַב, הוֹרֶה/הוֹרָה

daughter, son, child - בַּת, בֵּן, יֶלֶד/יָלְדָה

wife, husband - אִשָּׁה, בַּעַל

girlfriend, boyfriend - חָבֵרָה, חָבֵר

More Verbs

work (as in a person working) - עָבַד

work (meaning “to function”, e.g. “the TV works”) - עָבַד

see - רָאָה

use - הִשְֹתַּמּשׁ

should - הָיָה צָרִיךְ

believe - הֶאֱמִין

practice - הִתְאַמֵּן (practice a skill), פָּעַל (practice one’s beliefs) 

seem - נִרְאָה, נִדְמָה

come - בָּא

leave - עָזַב

return - חָזַר

give - נָתַן

take - לָקַח

bring - הֵבִיא

look for - חִפֵּשׂ

find - מָצַא

get (meaning “obtain”) - הֵשׂיג

receive - קִבֵּל

buy - קָנָה

try -  נִסָּה

start - הִתְחִיל

stop (doing something) - הִפְסִיק

finish - סִיֵּם, גָּמַר

continue - הִמְשִׁיךְ

wake up - הִתְעוֹרֵר

get up - קָם

eat - אָכַל

happen - קָרָה

feel - הִרְגִּישׁ

create (aka “make”) - יָצַר, עָשָׂה

cause (aka “make”) - גָּרַם לְ־

meet (meeting someone for the first time) - פָּגַשׁ, נִפְגַּשׁ

meet (meaning “to bump into”) - פָּגַשׁ

meet (an arranged meeting) - נִפְגַּשׁ

ask (a question) - שָׁאַל

ask for (aka “request”) - בִּקֵּשׁ

wonder - תָּהָה

reply - הֵגִיב

mean - אָמַר

read - קָרַא

write - כָּתַב

listen - הִקְשִׁיב

hear - שָׁמַע

remember - זָכַר

forget - שָׁכַח

choose - בָּחַר

decide - הִחְלִיט / הֶחֱלִיט

be born - נוֹלַד

die - מֵת

kill - הָרַג

live - חַי

stay - נִשְׁאַר

change - שִׁנָּה (for someone to change something), הִשְׁתָּנָּה (for something to change itself)

help - עָזַר

send - שָׁלַח

study - לָמַד

improve - שִׁפֵּר (for someone to improve something), הִשְׁתַּפֵּר (for somthing to improve itself)

hope - קִוָּה

care - הָיָה לְ־ אִכְפַּת (word or word, there-was to-subj. care)

Phrases

hello - שָׁלוֹם

goodbye - שָׁלוֹם / לְהִתְרָאוֹת

thank you - תּוֹדָה

you’re welcome - אֵין בְּעַד מָה, עַל לֹא דָּבָר

excuse me (to get someone’s attention) - סְלִיחָה

sorry - סְלִיחָה

it’s fine (response to an apology) - זֶה בְּסֶדֶר

please - בְּבַקָּשָׁה

yes - כֵּן

no - לֹא

okay - אוֹקֵיִי, בְּסֶדֶר, סַּבָּבָּה (slang)

My name is _____ - קוֹרְאִים לִי _____

What’s your name? אֵיךְ קוֹרְאִים לְךָ/לָךְ?

Nice to meet you. - נָעִים לְהַכִּיר

How are you? - מָה שְׁלוֹמְךָ/שְׂלוֹמֶךְ?, מָה קוֹרֶה?

I’m doing well, how about you? אֲנִי בְּסֶדַר, מָה אִתְּךָ/אִתָּך?

Sorry? / What? (if you didn’t hear something) - סְלִיחָה / שׁוּב?

How do you say ______? - אֵיךְ אוֹמְרִים _____?

What does ______ mean? - מָה _____ אוֹמֵר?

I don’t understand. - לֹא הֵבָנְתִּי.

Could you repeat that? אַתָּה/אַתְּ יָכוֹל/יְכוֹלָה לַחְזֹר עַל זֶה?.

Could you speak more slowly, please? אַתָּה/אַתְּ יָכוֹל/יְכוֹלָה לְדַבֶּר יוֹתֵר לְאַט?

Well (as in “well, I think…”) -  not really one word as in English. טוֹב can be said, but oftentimes simple filler sounds are used (אֶמממ, אֶההה, etc.)

Really? - בֶּאֱמֶת?

I guess that … - -אֲנִי מֵנִיחַ/מְנִיחָה שֶׁ.

* It’s hot. (talking about the weather) - חַם.

* It’s cold. (talking about the weather) - קַר.

* As these are one word sentences, they’re rarely said as is, usually coupled with a preposition indicating who or what is cold. (E.g. I’m cold - קַר לִי; It’s cold outside - קַר בָּחוּץ

[nihongo-note]

Hebrew Basics #1: All about the Hebrew Alphabet

In order to learn a language, the very first thing you need to know is reading it. This is a basic step in all language studies. Hopefully you’ll start conquering that by the end of this lesson :)

The Hebrew alphabet… isn’t an alphabet. Technically speaking, it’s an “‘abjad” (an acronym of the first four letters of the Arabic ‘abjad), although it is commonly called an alphabet (as I’ll continue calling it for simplicity’s sake). Characteristic of Semitic languages (to which Hebrew belongs, among Arabic and many others, extinct and alive), the ‘abjad’s main characteristic is (almost) complete lack of vowels. Every letter stands for a consonant, and vowels are simply omitted. It’s equivalent to writing English “lk ths.”

While using an ‘abjad-like system with English is quite hellish, the case for Hebrew is quite different. Due to its relatively simple vowel system and unique Semitic grammar and morphology (how words are formed and act in a sentence), using an ‘abjad is actually quite a reasonable choice for Hebrew. Oversimplifying, Hebrew words are comprised of a root and a template, each contribute meaning to the final word. The root is comprised of (usually three) consonants, and the template describes the vowels, prefixes and suffixes you insert between and around the consonants.

The Letters

The Hebrew alphabet, called הָאַלֶף־בֵּית/אָלֶפְבֵּית הָעִבְרִי ha’álef-bét ha’ivrí, is comprised of 22 letters.

The first, most important fact is that Hebrew is read from right to left.

Note: the names aren’t all that important to learning the letters. Simply learning their pronunciation is enough at this point.

Five of the letters, for historical reasons, have two different forms - a word-initial and -medial form, and a separate final form. These are marked with a 1 on the table.

As you might have noticed, some letters have multiple pronunciations, and some of these overlap with one another. This was caused by many changes that happened to the language’s phonology over the years since the alphabet was created (some 3,000 years ago in its earliest forms).

The most notable of these letters are the בֶּגֶ״ד כֶּפֶ״ת* béged kéfet letters, marked with a 2. These days, for historical reasons**, only three letters actually change their pronunciation depending on their position in a word–ב bet, כ kaf, פ pe–and they are the only ones marked on the list, pronounced as /b~v/, /k~kh/, /p~f/, respectively. Generally speaking, for native words, at the beginning of a word and directly after a consonant (with no vowel in-between), they are pronounced with their ‘hard’ pronunciation (/b/ /k/ /p/), and in all other positions with their ‘soft’ pronunciation (/v/ /kh/ /f/). Loanwords do not follow these rules, and are pronounced as they are in the original language.

*Acronyms and initialisms, as well as Hebrew letter names and numerals, are marked by the Hebrew punctuation mark ״, called גֵּרְשַׁיִם gershayim, and placed before the last letter of the phrase. It is similar looking to the Latin quotation mark, and is often confused with it even by native speakers, but nonetheless different.

**You might have noticed that ‘historically’, ‘for historical reasons’, etc. are somewhat a trend in this lesson. Hebrew is an incredibly old language, about 5,000 years old in fact, riddled with old tales and tradition. During that period it changed a lot, it even died for 2,000 years and came back to haunt us in the last 150. Despite this, the Hebrew writing system as we know it today was tailored (albeit not perfectly) for Hebrew as it was spoken some 2,500 years ago, and remained relatively unchanged during that whole period. Therefore, there are a lot of peculiarities in the Hebrew alphabet that we simply do not have time to cover, stemming from the complicated history of the language.

There are also a handful of letters which, for historical reasons, are still pronounced the same.

א alef + ע áyin (+ ה he) = ‘ (glottal stop) or none (ה he only as none)

soft ב bet + ו vav = /v/

ח chet + soft כ kaf = /ch/*

ט tet + ת tav = /t/

hard כ kaf + ק qof = /k/*

ס sámekh + שׂ sin = /s/

*I still transcribe hard כ kaf and ק qof, as well as ח chet and soft כ kaf differently (/k/ vs /q/, /ch/ vs /kh/) because, well, it’s easier than the other homophones.

To form a word, simply string together letters - the vowels magically appear in your head!

ספר (séfer) - book

ספר (sapár) - barber, hairdresser

ספר (sipér) - (he) told, (he) cut hair

ספר (supár) - (passive of above verb)

ספר (sper) - spare (English loanword)

…Yeah, that’s easier said than done.

See, in general with the ‘abjad system, all words pronounced with the same consonants are written exactly the same, which can create a heck of a lot of homographs, words written the same but pronounced differently. This problem has been cleverly solved using אִמּוֹת קְרִיאָה - ‘imót kri’á (literally mothers of reading). These are letters in Hebrew that serve a double function as a consonant and a vowel, marked with a 3 on the table. Noticed the letters ו vav and י yod have multiple pronunciations?

In many words, vowels (especially /i/, /o/ and /u/) are marked using one of these letters to reduce the number of homographs. For example, the words listed earlier are usually written:

ספר (séfer) - book

ספר (sapár) - barber, hairdresser

סיפר (sipér) - (he) told, (he) cut hair

סופר (supár) - (passive of above verb) 

ספייר (sper) - spare (English loanword)

These letters can be conveniently memorized using the acronym אֶהֶוִ״י ‘eheví.

Interestingly enough, Yiddish, written with the same 22 letters, uses these letters (and some more) to create a full alphabet, where each and every vowel in a word is written, as well as the consonants. But we aren’t learning Yiddish here.

Learning when and where to put ‘imót kri’á comes with time, as it is often up to the reader where to put them. The style of writing I’ll be teaching with is called כְּתִיב חֲסֵר ktiv chasér, or ‘lacking spelling,’ where the bare minimum of ‘imót kri’á are used, and all vowels are indicated using vowel points, נִקּוּד niqúd, explained in the next section. This style is often used in children’s books and Biblical inscriptions; ktiv chasér is historically the only way Hebrew was written. This is in opposition to כְּתִיב מָלֵא ktiv malé, ‘full spelling,’ where ‘imót kri’á are used and vowel points aren’t; this is the style of writing virtually every modern Hebrew text is written in.

This might seem all confusing at this point, but let me assure you it isn’t. Once you wrap your head around it and start reading more and more of the language, you just instinctively know how a word is read off the bat. Context is usually more than enough to settle any ambiguities in how to read a word.

Vowel Points

Vowel points, נִקּוּד niqúd, are the diacritics used in Hebrew to indicate the vowels of a word, to complement the ambiguous ‘abjad system. These are the little dots and lines around each letter in previous examples.

Hebrew has five vowels: /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/ - pronounced almost identically to those in Spanish and Greek, to name a few. However, it has 13 different vowel points. Historically, and still in some traditional readings of the Bible, each mark had a different pronunciation, but in Modern Hebrew a lot of them merged with one another.

The final form of מ mem, ם, is used as a placeholder here.

Make no mistake, the two vowels marked with an asterisk are in fact the same vowel. For now, know that in most cases it is pronounces as /a/. The /o/ pronunciation is rare, only in certain templates of words, and distinguishing between them is out of the scope of this lesson. For now, the only common word that uses the /o/ pronunciation is כָּל kol, meaning ‘all’.

Short and long vowels are only traditional nomenclature - in practice, all vowels in each row are pronounced with the same length. תְּנוּעוֹת חֲטוּפוֹת tnu’ót chatufót are stlightly different, but nonetheless pronounced the same. Note that the some long vowels use ‘imót kri’á intrinsically.

דָּגֶשׁ Dagésh:

The point on the bottom left, the דָּגֶשׁ dagésh, is an interesting topic. However, the only relevant point to this lesson is that it distinguishes between hard (with dagesh) and soft (without) pronunciations of בֶּגֶ״ד כֶּפֶ״ת béged kéfet letters.

שְׁוָא Shva:

There are two types of shva: נַע na’ ‘moving’ - indicating an /e/, and נַח nach ‘still’ - indicating no vowel. Distinguishing between them is way out of the scope of this lesson, so for now the only way to tell them apart is through experience and transliterations.

שִׁי״ן Shin Points:

You might have noticed the rogue ש shin at the bottom of the table there. ש shin is different to other letters with double pronunciations, as it had always had two different pronunciations. Therefore, it got a different point to distinguish between the two: a dot on the right spoke of the ש shin indicates the common /sh/ pronunciation - שׁ, and a dot on the left spoke indicates the rarer /s/ pronunciation - שׂ. Each pronunciation is subsequently called שִׁי״ן יְמַנִית shin yemanít ‘right שִׁי״ן’ and שִׁי״ן שְֹמָאלִית shin smalít ‘left שִׁי״ן’.

All word-final letters have no vowel, unless marked otherwise. Most letters cannot even take a vowel mark at the end of a word. Exceptionally, ה he, ח chet, final ך kaf, ע áyin, ת tav, in certain circumstances do take vowel marks. ש shin must always have either a left or a right point, but no other vowel mark.

Practice!

Try reading these basic Hebrew words, then look at the answer key at the end to see if you were right.

1. אֲנִי 2. כֶּלֶב 3. בְּתוֹךְ 4. שֻׁלְחָן 5. פְּרִי 6. כָּל 7. יַם 8. עֵץ 9. אֲדָמָה 10. שְׂמֹאל

Answer Key

‘aní – I (me)

kélev – dog

betókh – inside

shulchán – table

pri – fruit

kol – all

yam – sea

‘ets – tree

‘adamá – ground, earth

smol – left (vs. right)

Alright then, that’s it for today! Follow me for more Hebrew lessons, hopefully they won’t all be as long as this one :D

לְהִתְרַאוֹת בַּפַּעַם הַבָּאָה! (lehitraót bapá’am haba’á)

See you next time!

[nihongo-note]

aquarius moon moodboard

[nihongo-note]

[nihongo-note]

[nihongo-note]

site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

[nihongo-note]

Like if you want to study/work in here!

Her workspace always kill me ;0;

(source: https://instagram.com/p/BQxlwkTleGp/)

[nihongo-note]

[nihongo-note]

Cléo de Merode (1875-1966)- Photographie de Jean Reutlinger - Paris 1900.

[nihongo-note]

mayor’s bedroom! (feat. a lil reading corner & a desk area for writing)

[nihongo-note]

Stating Reasons

There will come a day when you’ll have to explain yourself. You’ll have to give reason for why you think the way you do. Lets learn how to do that.

Here’s the formula: AしBしY。→A,B and so Y.  

*A and B express the reasons for Y

1.) このセーターは軽いし、暖かいし、とてもいいです。(kono seetaa wa karuishi, atatakaishi, totemo ii desu) -> This sweater is light, and warm so it’s very good.

2.) 私の生活は忙しくなるし、時間がないし、勉強しませんでした。(watashi no seikatsu wa isogashiku narushi, jikan ga naishi, benkyoushimasen deshita) ->My life became busy, and I did not have time so I did not study.

3.)私のアパートは古いし、駅から遠いし、あまりよくありません。(watashi no apaato wa furuishi, eki kara tooishi, amari yoku arimasen) -> My apartment in old, and far from the station so it’s not so good.

4.)田中さんは親切だし、真面目だし、とてもいい人です。(tanaka san wa shinsetsu da shi, majime da shi, totemo ii hito desu) ->Mr./Ms. Tanaka is kind,and earnest, so he/she is a good person.

5.)  あの公園はきれいだし、静かだし、いいですよ。(ano kouen wa kirei dashi, shizuka dashi, ii desu yo) -> That park is clean and quiet so it’s good.

6.) そのレストランはおいしいし、あまり高くないし、また行きたいです。(sono resutoran wa oishiishi, amari takaku naishi, mata ikitai desu) -> That restaurant is delicious, and not very expensive,, so I want to go again.

[nihongo-note]

Japanese Aisatsu (greetings) list

Common Greetings

おはよう ohayou: Good Morning (from sunrise to 10.00) おはようございます ohayou gozaimasu: Good Morning (more polite) こんにちは konnichiwa: Good Evening (from 10.00 to dark) こんばんは konbanwa: Good Night (once dark) あきましておめでとう akimashite omedetou: Happy new year (used only after 1st of Jan). お誕生日おめでとう otanjoubi omedetou: Happy birthday おめでとう omedetou: Congratulations おめでとうございます omedetou gozaimasu: Congratulations (more polite) もしもし moshi moshi:Hello (only used on phone)

…………………………………………  

Saying Goodbye

おやすみなさい oyasuminasai: Have a good night sleep / good night (when someone about to sleep) さようなら sayounara: Goodbye (for a long time) じゃまた ja mata: Okay, bye! また後で mata ato de: See you next time また明日 mata ashita: See you tomorrow

…………………………………………  

Introduction

初めまして hajimemashite: Nice to meet you (used in the first meeting) よろしくお願いします yoroshiku onegaishimasu: Please take care of me (used at the end of a self-introduction) *Learn more about these words*

…………………………………………  

Cultural Greeting at home

行ってきます ittekimasu: I’m leaving (used when going outside the house. Literally means “I will go and come back”) 行ってらしゃい itterasshai: Proper response for 行ってきます (ittekimasu), literally means “please go and come back”. ただいま tadaima: Translated as “I’m back”. おかえり okaeri: Translated as  “Welcome home”. Proper response for ただいま (tadaima). おかえりなさい okaerinasai: A more polite version of おかえり (okaeri). いただきます itadakimasu: Thanks for the food! (Used when you’re about to eat). ごちそうさまでした gochisousama deshita: What a well prepared dish! (Used after you eat as a compliment to the one who prepared it). おじゃまします ojamashimasu:Sorry for intruding (Used when entering other people’s house) 気をつけてください ki o tsukete kudasai: Please be careful. 気をつけて! ki o tsukete!: Be careful!

…………………………………………  

Thank you & Sorry

ありがとう arigatou: Thank you ありがとうございます arigatou gozaimasu: Thank you (more polite) ごめんなさい gomennasai: I’m sorry (often used for someone equal or lower status) ごめん gomen: Less polite version of ごめんなさい (gomennasai) すみません sumimasen: Excuse me / Sorry (a polite word) 申し訳ありません moushiwake arimasen: I apologize (a formal apology used by worker when apologizing to guest. Literally means “I have no excuse”) おまたせしました omataseshimashita: Thanks for waiting (used by worker to guest)

………………………………………… 

Work related and other useful phrases

どうぞゆっくりしてください douzo yukkuri shite kudasai: Please take your time. おかげさまです okagesama desu: It all thanks to you. (common greeting used when you’re about to leave from work or after you finish some work with someone). お先に osaki ni: This phrase is used as a goodbye greeting when you’re about to leave the office before someone else. お願いします onegaishimasu : Please. *Learn more about this word* 頑張ってください ganbatte kudasai: Good luck! (used to give encouragement to people so they can do well on something) 頑張って ganbatte: Good luck! (less polite version). お元気で ogenki de: Take care of your health お元気です ogenki desu: I’m doing good / I’m well どうぞ douzo: A phrase used to let someone do something or when you give something to someone.

Happy learning °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°  

…………………………………………

Useful Links:

• CrunchyNihongo - Easy to Learn Japanese Lessons Site • Get our easy Japan lessons on your facebook timeline • FREE DOWNLOAD! Resourceful app to start learning Japanese! • Books to guide & help you learn Japanese

[nihongo-note]

Japanese Book Publishing Vocabulary

文芸(ぶんげい) - (art and) literature

読書(どくしょ) - reading (books)

ページを捲る（。めく。）- to turn (e.g. the page)

飛ばし読み＋する（と。よ。）- skimming the pages, skipping words, reading quickly (literally “jump reading”)

読書家(どくしょか) - great reader

書店(しょてん) - bookshop, bookstore

書架(しょか) - bookshelf

執筆(しっぴつ) - writing(e.g. as a profession)

書籍(しょせき) - publication, book

出版(しゅっぱん) - publication

出版物(しゅっぱんぶつ) - publication(s)

出版する(しゅっぱん。) - to publish

購読(こうどく) - subscription (e.g. of a magazine)

編集(へんしゅう) - editing, editorial, compilation

営業(えいぎょう) - business, sales, trade 

販売(はんばい) - sales, selling

企画(きかく) - project

*営業企画（えいぎょうきかく）- sales/ operation project

促進(そくしん) - promotion, marketing

児童書(じどうしょ) - children’s book(s)

雑誌(ざっし) - magazine

百科事典（ひゃっかじてん）- encyclopedia

随筆(ずいひつ) - essay, miscellaneous writings, literary jottings

索引(さくいん) - index, indices

目次(もくじ) - table of contents

解説(かいせつ) - explanation, commentary

粗筋(あらすじ) - outline, summary

台詞(せりふ)—>セリフ- one’s line, speech, dialogue in writing (normally written in katakana)

評論(ひょうろん) - criticism, critique

評判(ひょうばん) - fame

傑作(けっさく) - masterpiece

名作(めいさく) - famous piece of work/art

無名(むめい) - unsigned, anonymous; unpopular

Essential verbs:

読む（よ。）- to read

書く（か。）- to write

売る（う。）- to sell

買う（か。）- to buy

[nihongo-note]

for a lot of students, myself included, it can be really hard to figure out how to set goals! often, things like new year’s resolutions are made with the best of intentions, followed for a week, and then forgotten. here’s my personal step-by-step on setting and sticking to a goal!

think about why you are setting this each goal. if you have a concrete reason, it’s much easier to remind yourself of that later and stay motivated.

set realistic goals. if what you are trying to do is impossible, you simply can’t meet your goals, and you will become discouraged!

make quantifiable goals. this is, in my opinion, the most important step! you need to be able to keep definite track of your progress. if your goal is just “smile more” or “be nicer,” how will you know that you are succeeding? however, if your goal is “smile at least 5 times a day” or “compliment my friends at least 3 times a week,” that’s something you can measure. if you have trouble coming up with these, check out my list of them here! 

set a time limit. this isn’t applicable to all types of goals, but it’s important for some. if your goal is something that can be completed, like writing a novel or finishing an assignment, know when you want it done by, instead of just “someday.”

break down your goal into smaller goals. “writing a book” is a daunting task, but if you have smaller, daily goals of “write 1000 words,” it becomes much less intimidating. it’s easier to hold yourself accountable. this also prevents procrastination, because if you are making regular progress, you can avoid doing it all right before the deadline.

account for time. make sure to include goals in your schedule, especially if it’s something like “work out for half an hour every day.” set aside time to achieve your goals, otherwise you might find yourself scrambling.

set reminders. sometimes the easiest way to not achieve a goal is to forget to complete it! i use phone alarms with a unique sound and a label, but sometimes all you need is a daily checklist.

have a way to track progress. keep all your information about a goal in one spot, and don’t lose it! bullet journals, google docs, and printables are great for this. at the end of every day, consider: did you meet your goal for the day? write down the answer, and maybe a reason why. it’s a great way to hold yourself accountable.

tell others. another way to hold yourself accountable is with a little help! personally, if i’m the only one who knows about my goal, i’m less likely to achieve it because if i fail, i don’t feel like i’m letting anyone down. sometimes that extra pressure is useful.

reward success. sometimes success can be its own reward, but sometimes you need a little extra motivation. this is where having an outside party helping can come in handy: if you have a partner who you’re working with, they can reward you if and ONLY if you’ve achieved your goal! it might be hard to restrain yourself from taking the reward anyway if you’re the only one calling the shots, so having an outside voice of reason can be really useful.

don’t let failure make you quit. sometimes, it takes a lot of work and a lot of tries to get something right. if it seems like you won’t get it on the first try, see if you can on your second.

work hard! in the end, only you can get yourself there.

good luck with your goals, and feel free to add to this post if you have any other tips! if you end up using my method, tag me with #celestudial. you can do it!

[nihongo-note]

JLPT N3 Kanji 5&6

Lists taken from the Nihongo So-Matome N3 Series.

5.

指定　してい   Specify, designate

指定席　していせき   Reserved seat

指　ゆび   Finger

指輪　ゆびわ   Ring

定休日　ていきゅうび   A set/regular holiday

安定　あんてい    Stable

出席　しゅっせき   Attend

欠席　けっせき   Absence

自由（な）　じゆう（な）  Free

自由席　じゆうせき   Non-reserved seat

理由　りゆう   Reason

番号　ばんごう   Number

～番　~ばん   Number…

～番線　～ばんせん    Line (platform) number…

窓　まど   Window

窓口　まどぐち   Teller’s window

両側　りょうがわ   Both sides

窓側　まだがわ   Window seat

通路　つうろ   Aisle

道路　どうろ   Road

線路　せんろ   Railway

 6.

停車　ていしゃ   Stop a vehicle

バス亭　ばすてい   Bus stop

整理　せいり  Tidy

整理券　せいりけん   Numbered/ordered tickets

乗車券　じょうしゃけん   Boarding ticket

駐車券　ちゅうしゃけん   Parking ticket

回数券　かいすうけん   Book of commuter tickets

現金　げんきん   Cash

現れる　あらわれる   Appear

表現　ひょうげん   Expression

両親　りょうしん   Parents

～両　～りょう   …cars on a train

取り換える　とりかえる   Exchange

両替　りょうがえ   Exchange

着替える　きがえる   Change clothes

優先席　ゆうせんせき   Priority seat

女優　じょゆう   Actress

優しい　やさしい   Kind

座席　ざせき   Seat

座る　すわる   Sit

降車口　こうしゃぐち   Exit (for getting off)

降りる　おりる   To get off (e.g. the train)

以降　いこう   After…

降る　ふる   To fall (e.g. rain)

[nihongo-note]

Langblr 

Hello I’m new here.

I’m looking for:

Studyblr blogs

Langblr blogs

Study motivation blogs

Swedish Langblr blogs

Reblog this so I can check out your blog please :)

[nihongo-note]

How I Got Straight A’s in My First Year of University

I was so proud of myself when I received firsts (that’s A’s for those not attending uni in the UK) on all of my assessments in my first year at university. Here are some tips for y’all to try at any point in university. They may be specific at times to my experience—my degree is in the social sciences and humanities, and I’m studying in the UK—but I did try to make them more generally applicable, and hopefully they should be helpful to someone out there.

Part One: Everyday Study Routine

Before the start of the academic year, try to get in a little bit of preparation. See if there are any syllabi or reading lists posted online. You don’t have to pour over them, of course, but do attempt to do something, and have a basic grasp on what will be covered in your classes.

Go to all your lectures and seminars. Unless you absolutely have to miss class because you are ill or have an important obligation to take care of, it’s really important to attend your lectures every day. (Note: if you are struggling with mental or chronic illness or a disability, don’t beat yourself up if you keep missing class. Please take care of yourself.) You may be tempted to just look at the PowerPoint presentation online, but it’s much more effective to be there in person. Often the lecturer may include information or extra explanations which are not included in the presentation. It will also allow you to process the information aurally as well as visually, and you will have the added benefit of taking notes too. You may also be able to ask questions.

Do all the pre-reading for lectures. I know it’s tempting to put it off, but try to work it into your daily routine (because you will have reading to do every day). Inevitably, there will be times where you slip up and don’t have time to finish. If this happens, make sure you catch up on it at some point, because it’s very important to solidifying the concepts you are learning about. Also, the more you read in general, the better you will become at reading (and also writing).

Take diligent notes (for both your lectures and pre-reading), and keep them organized. I prefer to handwrite in a notebook, as it helps me synthesize information rather than just typing it out verbatim—but it is totally up to you. If you do use a notebook, make a table of contents on the first page, where you write the date, topic, class, and page numbers of each set of notes you take. I think it’s a great idea to include your own thoughts and opinions in notes, or linking concepts you are learning to concepts you already know about.

If you have the time, make sure to be reading books/essays/articles and engaging with ideas outside of your regular syllabus. This is one of the most important techniques (in my experience, at least) when it comes to writing essays and answering exam questions. Evidence of wider reading around a topic is a great way to boost the credibility of your argument. It also does wonders to solidify and broaden your conceptualization of certain ideas you may have covered in your classes.

Where possible, try to contribute (as much as you feel comfortable) in seminars. If you are very quiet and reserved, that is totally okay too. I’m with you. But it has helped me tremendously in the past year to push myself to speak up more often in seminars. Talking in seminars allows you to clarify concepts and engage more deeply with the material being discussed (and it might impress your seminar tutor too, though this is secondary to the learning in my opinion).

If you have some nerdy-ass friends, talk with them about your ideas and what you’re both learning in your courses. I can’t tell you the number of essays I’ve written which actually have blossomed out of conversations I’ve had with friends, where they’ve exposed me to topics I’d never heard of before or broadened my view of a concept. Learning from each other in a casual and fun setting is amazing!

Part Two: Assessment Time

When you are given notice about big assignments coming up, such as essays or group projects, try to start working on them ASAP. Trust me, I know how hard it is. This is coming from someone who has dealt for years with chronic procrastination issues and nearly didn’t graduate from high school because of it. But you must start planning as soon as you possibly can, because the due date will come screaming up and before you know it, it’ll be the night before the deadline and you won’t have a clue what you’re writing about. Work it into your daily schedule if you have to. One great tip is to write down the deadline as being earlier (say, a week earlier) than what it actually is. This will prompt you to start earlier than you normally would have.

Do a shitload of reading, widely, from multiple sources. Read everything you can on the topic you are doing your assignment on. For a basic literature review, this means looking through at least 20+ sources. That doesn’t mean carefully perusing each one front to back; it means looking through all the relevant literature to find a few great sources which will really give you a coherent argument and a big picture of the topic at hand.

Keep your sources organized. I use Paperpile, which is a Chrome extension that allows you to save and organize academic sources. I make a folder for each assessment I am working on, and anything I find relevant to my topic, I save it to the folder. This will be a life saver for you when you actually go to plan your paper and also do the referencing.

Content is important, but perhaps even more important is your argument and structure. This mostly applies to essays, but you can apply it to other types of assessments too. Try not to structure your argument in terms of blocks of content—e.g. Paragraph 1 is about Topic A, Paragraph 2 is about Topic B—but rather in terms of how you are laying out your argument. Make sure each part of your essay flows into the next, so that you are, for example, setting up a kind of dialogue or narrative between the different sources you’re using. Also ensure that any point you are making clearly relates back to your main thesis.

If you’re a perfectionist like me: train yourself to remember that there is no such thing as perfect. Try to imagine what the perfect essay would be like. Can you imagine it? It’s probably pretty difficult, right? That’s because there is no such thing as a perfect assignment. Remind yourself of this, constantly. Tell yourself that you will be okay with just doing your very best. If you think about it logically: handing in something that is perhaps not your best ever, but handing it in on time and doing pretty well, is infinitely better than attempting to have a “perfect” essay but handing it in late and failing the assignment.

I hope this helped some of you! Best of luck and happy studying this year—go knock ‘em out! xo