JPNLessonsOsaka Blog

Since I have started online lessons, some of my students pay the lesson fee by bank transfer. They are common words you might need at bank.

If you need help,

振込ふりこみしたいんですが、おしえてもらえませんか。

→I would like to transfer the money, could you please tell me ( how to do it )?

In Osaka the number of new Covid-19 cases has been increasing rapidly. Osaka prefecture declared local medical emergency.

I will continue to have online lessons.

大阪で新しいコロナの感染者かんせんしゃが増えています。変異へんいウィルスも増えているそうです。医療非常事態宣言いりょうひじょうじたいせんげんが出されました。

しばらくzoomやskypeを使ったオンラインレッスンを続つづけます。

感染者（かんせんしゃ）infected people

変異(へんい）ウィルス　variant virus

医療（いりょう）medical

非常事態宣言（ひじょうじたいせんげん）the state of emergency

日本語で 「Happy new year」は２つあります。

12月30日まで（before new year’s eve)

「よいお年としを！」

formal 「よいお年としをおむかえください」

１月１日から (from January 1st)

「あけましておめでとう！」

formal 「あけましておめでとうございます。」

super casual 「あけおめ」(only between friends)

今年はコロナで大変な一年でした。来年はいい一年になりますように。

よいお年をおむかえください。

There are many textbooks for JLPT N2 and N1.

New Kanzen Master is one of the popular series. 

JLPTのテキストで「新完全マスター」シリーズは人気がありますね。

I have been using this series quite often, especially with my students who like studying Japanese in depth.

Since the explanations are all in Japanese, they require a lot of patience and time.

文法の説明は全て日本語で書かれているのでかなり大変ですが、この説明で理解できればかなりのレベルアップになると思います。

I wouldn’t recommend them for people who found N3 or N2 a struggle, but if you enjoy learning grammatical structures, they are very useful.

特に細かい文法を学ぶのが好きな学習者の方ならこのシリーズはおすすめです。N3やN2にギリギリ合格した、という場合はちょっと難しいかもしれません。

It is very important to understand Japanese grammar points as expressed in Japanese.

With only the English explanations, it is difficult to understand the different nuances between similar grammar points.

細かい表現のちがいは英語には訳せないものが多く、日本語で理解することが必要です。JLPTを受けないという人でも、日本語で小説を読みたい、など特に書き言葉を学ぶにはいいかなと思います。

If you don’t have enough time to prepare for the JLPT, or you have a different learning style, I can recommend different textbooks.

Watch this space.

Many students ask me if there are any books they can read when they complete the beginner level.

Some students try to read Japanese books for children because they have more hiragana and furigana, but sometimes the vocabulary and expressions in these books are much too difficult, or their stories are not interesting enough for adult students.

I use 「小説ミラーさん」for reading practice.

I recommend this novel because it is about Miller’s daily life in Japan, using basic vocabulary and grammar points for those who have finished elementary study. This book is based on the series of「みんなの日本語 Minna no Nihongo」textbooks , but even though you have never used this series it is still good to read when you finished elementary level.

I cannot deny that there are some stereotypical terms related to “being in Japan as a foreigner” in this book, but it is still good for reading practice and creates a certain sense of accomplishment at having read a whole novel in Japanese.

The Japanese language is not so strict about pluralization as English is.

Normally the word ねこ which means cat , can be a cat, some cats or cats in general. There are some specific words and suffixes to pluralize nouns, but when you are a beginner please don’t worry too much about whether they are singular or plural.

ねこが好きすです。　 I like cats ( in general )

あそこにねこがいます。can be “there is a cat over there” or “there are some cats over there”.

友だちと学校へ行きます。　can be ” I go to school with my friend ” or ” I go to school with my friends.”