#study japanese

Check out the accompanying YouTube video here for detailed instructions.

I’ve been using Anki for over 10 years to study Japanese. It’s one of the best ways to learn and remember vocabulary, especially when everything starts to look the same…

I have created a Copy & Paste CSS code to use with your Anki decks. It is fully customizable, using the this gradient generator.  You can find high quality, free stock images here on Pexels. You can see a quick video of the template working on the Anki app here.

DOWNLOAD FREE CUSTOM CSS HERE!

Check out the YouTube video for detailed instructions and more!

Have fun customizing, creating, and most of all - learning!!

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Check out the accompanying YouTube video here. Make sure to look at all the key vocabulary at the end of this post.

On Episode 1 of the Writing Business Japanese Series, we’re looking at how to ask for a quotation. This email can be used and adjusted when you’re looking to get a quote for a certain number of products from a company who you have been in touch with in the past. If it’s the first time emailing, be sure to introduce yourself!

Let’s take a look at the mail in full.

Subject: お見積もりのお願い

山田　様

いつもお世話にっております。
早速ですが、弊社では新たな製品の購入を検討しております。
つきましては、下記の内訳でお見積もりをいただければ幸いです。

記

品名：〇〇
数量：〇〇個

以上

お手数ですが、本日中にお送りいただければ幸いです。
お忙しいところ恐縮ですが、よろしくお願いいたします。

べんきょうご

Now let’s look in a little more detail.

Subject: お見積もりのお願い

The subject line should be short and sweet. In this case, ‘request for a quote’.

いつもお世話にっております。

This literally means something like “You’re taking care of me”, but in business terms it’s a standard greeting. “ーておます” is used here, which indicates this is a business relationship that is already established. If you are making a new connection, it is sometimes better to say ‘お世話になります’.

早速ですが、弊社では新たな製品の購入を検討しております。

The next sentence is “Sorry for getting right to it, but we’re considering purchasing some of your new items.” The key word here is 早速ですが, which is a way of indicating that you are about to jump right into the main topic of the email.

つきましては、下記の内訳でお見積もりをいただければ幸いです。

記

品名：〇〇
数量：〇〇個

以上

The recipient needs to know what they’re quoting for, so you have to give them an itemized breakdown (内訳). By using ‘下記’, you’re saying that you want a quote for the following. When using 下記, you must follow the sentence by starting a list with ‘記’, otherwise the person doesn’t know where to look. So literally, “I’d like a quote with the breakdown as follows, below the 記’

お手数ですが、本日中にお送りいただければ幸いです。

You can include a deadline. Although お送りいただければ幸いです sounds like a tentative deadline, it’s always best to just follow the deadline, and apologise if you can’t make it. Remember, Japanese people aren’t often direct when making requests…

お忙しいところ恐縮ですが、よろしくお願いいたします。

The final keyword is ‘恐縮’ - this means ‘I’m terribly sorry’ and is used frequently at the end of business emails to politely say sorry for taking up the recipient’s time.

KEY WORD LIST

お世話になる: I’m indebted to you
早速 sudden
弊社 our company (formal)
新たな new
製品 product
購入する purchase
検討する considering
下記 the following 
内訳 itemized
幸い appreciative
品名 product name
数量 quantity
以上 that’s all
お手数ですが、 sorry to trouble you,
本日中 within today, by the end of today
お忙しいところ while you’re busy
恐縮 sorry

—————

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Here are 5 essential textbooks to learn the Japanese language from beginner to intermediate level.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH: THE GENKI TEXTBOOK SERIES

Available Here

The Genki textbooks are renowned for being some of the most accessible beginners textbooks for learning Japanese. They’re well laid out into different chapters, provide vocabulary and Kanji, and you can also acquire workbooks with CD’s that allow you to self-study.

The 23 lessons of Genki introduce students to a wide range of elementary grammar points, nearly 300 kanji, and over 1000 vocabulary terms, which makes this a fantastic starter textbook for learning Japanese.

EASY TEXTBOOK KANJI METHOD: LOOK AND LEARN

Available Here

This accompanying Kanji book to the Genki textbooks is a great, simple method to learn Kanji through illustrations and mnemonics - little stories that help keep them in your brain. I find this method really successful compared to boring repetition-based Kanji textbooks that exist elsewhere.

The various indexes at the end of the book allow learners to easily look up a particular kanji or kanji vocabulary. The book contains 512 kanji, as well as 3,500 essential vocabulary for beginner and intermediate learners. The book includes all kanji in levels 3 and 4 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), as well as all kanji in the Genki textbooks.

MOVING ON TO INTERMEDIATE: TOBIRA

Available Here

When you’ve conquered the Genki textbook series (both I and II), it’s the perfect time to move on to Tobira. Tobira bridges the gap between Genki and advanced Japanese. Although the lessons are intense, with up to 100 vocabulary per chapter, the structure, layout and contents of the book are much more interactive than those in the Genki textbooks - simply because you have more knowledge to work with!  The accompanying Kanji book is also brilliant to improve your Kanji recognition.

Tobira will make you realise you can finally read some intermediate Japanese, which Genki doesn’t push you to do.

GRAMMAR: DICTIONARIES OF  JAPANESE GRAMMAR

Available Here

This set of grammar textbooks is known to be the most comprehensive and useful set around. The catch comes with the price - over £100 for the set (a cheaper alternative is listed below).

These dictionaries explain grammar points in terms of how to use them, the differences between one grammar point and other similar ones, and provides many examples in Japanese. A great review of the series can be found on Tofugu, here.

GRAMMAR: WHEN AND HOW? DONNA TOKI DŌ TSUKAU

Available Here

A cheaper alternative to the grammar textbook series above, the Donna Toki textbook categories grammar points alphabetically, but also includes what JLPT level they would be found in. For this reason, it’s great for learners who are studying for the JLPT.

You can use this supplementary to your main textbooks for more example sentences and explanations. It also includes Chinese and Korean translations.

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Drama’s can be one of the most enjoyable ways to practice your Japanese listening ability, expand your vocabulary, and understand Japanese language used in every-day situations. For those reasons and more, I present to you 5 of my favourite ‘vintage’ and easy to watch Japanese dramas!

5.電車男 [Densha Otoko] (Train Man)

Episodes: 11
Wiki:Link
Year: 2005

So we start with one of the most popular Drama’s of all time in Japan. Densha Otoko (“Train Man”) tells the story of an Otaku who gets to know a beautiful woman on a train after attempting to rescue her from an attack. He posts about this relationship on a Japanese message board, and the drama centers around the advice he receives from the board’s users.

This drama is amazing and you will love it regardless of your interests. It’s wacky, cheesy, hilarious, but also sincere and there are some tear-jerking moments. Most of all, it shows human emotion in a lovely way. I have to warn you though, it’s a rollercoaster ride (train ride?) - your emotions will be up and down with each episode!

4. 結婚できない男 [Kekkon Dekinai Otoko] (The Man Who Can’t Marry)

Episodes: 12
Wiki:Link
Year: 2009

Next we have a drama with another male protagonist, a 40-year old architect who can’t marry. Or rather, he doesn’t want to. The drama revolves around this man who prefers to be alone but is forced to make friendships and relationships with people around him.

I love Natsukawa Yui who plays the love interest in this drama, and the way the relationship between her and Kuwano (main guy) develops. This drama is really heartwarming and addictive, definitely worth a watch.

Note: trailer is for the second series, “The man who still can’t marry”, released this year!

3. 私が恋愛できない理由 [Watashi Ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu] (The Reason I Can’t Find My Love)

Episodes: 12
Wiki:Link
Year: 2011

This is a different drama to the previous two, in that it revolves around 3 women. However, similarly they cannot find love. This is supposedly a common problem in Japanese society in general and is the topic of many dramas.

This is a great show about the friendships between modern working women who have trouble finding love.

2. 結婚しない [Kekkon Shinai] (I won’t Marry/Wonderful Single Life)

Episodes: 11
Wiki:Link
Year: 2012

Another drama centering around being unable to find love, but I just loved this drama. The three main actors are great, I especially love Amami Yuki as the main actress (she also appears in BOSS, a good old drama), and Kanno Miho (main actress) is super cute.

1. TOKYOエアポート[TOKYO Ea-po-to] (TOKYO Airport)

Episodes: 10
Wiki:Link
Year: 2012

Finally, my most favourite drama of the 2010′s. This takes a different genre to the other drama’s as it isn’t based on a love story but on the difficulties faced working as a newbie in the Tokyo Airport control tower.

I knew nothing about aeroplanes, airports or control towers or had any interest in them, but this is so beautifully filmed and well acted that I was actually really interested in it. The drama is great quality and still feels modern.

—————

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How to count from 1 ~ 100 in Japanese?☺️

いつもありがとう

[ itsumo arigatou ]

➡️”Thank you for everything”

・いつも[itsumo]→always

・ありがとう[arigatou]→thank you

⚠️”everything” in Japanese is すべて[ subete ]

or ぜんぶ [ zenbu ],

but we don’t say すべてありがとう or ぜんぶありがとう　　

We always say いつもありがとう

————————————————————

ずっといっしょにいたい

[ zutto isshoni itai ]

➡️”I want to be with you forever”

・ずっと[zutto]→forever

・いっしょに[isshoni]→together

・いたい[ itai ] →want to be

————————————————————

これからもよろしくね

[ korekaramo yoroshikune]

➡️”I want to stay with you forever”

・これから[korekara]→from now on

・も[mo] →as well as / too

・よろしくね[ yoroshikune ]

→please be nice to me

Please keep in touch with me

————————————————————

だいすき[daisuki]

➡️I really like you/ i love you

Thank you for studying with me!!☺️

Have a wonderful day!!

Layla

@nihogo_layla

Bite size Japanese

①Please say “arigatougozaimasu”, not just “arigatou” in public!

“arigatou” is too casual to use in public.

② We don’t have a tipping culture!

③Please talk quietly in public, especially on a train!

But also don’t forget to enjoy your trip!!✨

These are the 7 basic Japanese words that you say differently if you want to sound more #casual and #natural! ☺️

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Intro : How to sound more casual when you speak Japanese?

00:30 ①いいえ→いや

01:25 ②とても→ほんとに

02:16 ③たくさん→すごい

03:32 ④ごめんなさい→ごめん

04:42 ⑤そして→あと/それに

05:51 ⑥てform＋います→てform ＋ます

06:14 ⑦ますform＋ませんか？→ないform?

07:41 Concluding