Learning Japanese: A Gateway into Culture

Learn the five vowel and 15 consonant sounds of Japanese, only two of which differ significantly from English. But unlike the English alphabet, each Japanese character can represent a syllable, not just a single sound. Begin to explore the three Japanese writing methods—hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

As you practice introducing yourself in Japanese using your name and nationality, you will also learn the polite, present, affirmative form of the verb “to be,” and its location within a sentence. While you might also expect to learn all the pronouns, you’ll find that Japanese speakers almost never use second-person pronouns in their conversations. Begin learning to write hiragana.

Learn to count to 99 and develop the vocabulary and sentence construction to speak about time. Your grammar lesson will focus on the dictionary non-past-tense of some ru and irregular verbs—always using the polite form of the verb. And, you’ll listen to a conversation between two people as they take the bullet train to Kyoto.

Learn how to ask positive and negative questions, extend an invitation, and identify a direct object in a sentence. As you listen to this lesson’s dialogue, you’ll learn about the famous Tokyo shopping district called Harajuku. You’ll also practice writing new hiragana as you expand your vocabulary.