Intro to Japanese

Hajimemashite!

In the year 2005, I fell in love with the culture and language of Japan. Six years have gone by since I first started learning Hiragana and Katakana under the tutelage of Sensei Kieko Hamilton. I would like to share with you my love with this by exposing you to a few basic phrases of the Japanese language, and also teaching you the basic writing systems known as the Kana. Over the next few weeks, I will be including in the section below any links that I think might help you out in your studies of Japanese language.

Displaying Japanese on your Computer

I use some Japanese characters on this site, in order to be able to use them, you will need to know how to set up your PC or Mac to display Japanese. Most newer systems are ready out of the box to display Japanese, but in case yours isn't it, these pages should help.

Introducing yourself.

Japan, and most of Asia for that matter, is a land full of formalities. There is a specific method to conduct daily business, a typical method to address your friends in the morning, a structure to things most Westerners give nary a second thought to. In any language, it is vital to introduce yourself to others. There is a structure to do this in Japanese. Following is a short script you will encounter in every Japanese text book, because it is a standard dialogue used when first meeting somebody.

はじめまして! Hello!

わたしのなまえは____です。 My name is _____.

どうぞよろしくおねがいします。Pleased to meet you!

Say No To Romaji!

Don't be lazy when learning a new language. Japanese is not written using Roman letters, so why are you trying to learn it by using Roman letters? Invest some time now to learn Japanese kana and Kanji and you will be that much quicker in your studies.