Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Articles & Books From Eriko Sato
Learn to speak JapaneseJapanese language enrollment is up by 27.5 percent since 2006, making it the sixth most popular language studied on college campuses. Whether studying for school, business, or travel, Japanese For Dummies provides complete coverage of all Japanese language essentials including grammar, usage, and vocabulary.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-11-2021
If you're learning Japanese, you need the basics — numbers, questions, and phrases—for meeting, greeting, and being polite. In Japanese, verbs change according to whether they're negative or affirmative but not according to the person who's the subject of the action. Japanese also has particles rather than the articles and prepositions of English — all of which adds up to a fascinating learning experience.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
English grammar has articles and prepositions, but Japanese grammar has particles that follow a noun to show the noun's function. Japanese particles denote such things as the topic of the sentence; the start point, end point, and direction of the action; the tools and means of the action; and even the subject and direct object of the sentence.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The whole point of learning Japanese is to be able to converse, right? Knowing Japanese phrases for meeting, greeting, and saying good-bye are important parts of conversation. Here are some phrases you'll need when you're meeting and greeting in Japanese:
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Making small talk in Japanese is just the same as in English. Touch on familiar topics like jobs, sports, children — just say it in Japanese! Small talk describes the brief conversations that you have with people you don't know well. Small talk is where friendships are made.
After the necessary introductions, small talk is really just a question of sharing information about yourself and asking the other person questions about themselves.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The Japanese place a premium on politeness, so the Japanese language includes key phrases to keep conversation on a polite footing. The following list sets out common courteous Japanese phrases and questions:
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
To understand any language, including Japanese, you need to know verbs — the words that convey action. Like English verbs, Japanese verbs have a few eccentricities, so you need to keep a few facts in mind when you're dealing with Japanese verbs:
Habitual actions and future actions use the same verb form, so taberu means I eat and I will eat.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
One of the most basic skills in picking up any new language, including Japanese, is learning to count. The following table shows Japanese numbers from 1 to 20 and selected higher numbers along with the pronunciations in parentheses.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
As you travel in Japan and speak Japanese to everyone you meet, you need to ask questions. The standard who, what, when, where, and why are in the following list, along with a few other useful questions.
Article / Updated 12-09-2021
When traveling in Japan, the words and phrases you'll use most frequently will be the common Japanese greetings (gashi). These Japanese greetings and goodbyes will quickly become second nature because you use them day in and day out with everyone you come across.In Japan, greetings are given great importance. It is considered rude to fail to greet someone or even to greet them in a lazy or offhand manner.