Hiragana song words.

Question 1

雨, あめ

Answer 1

Ame (Rain).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “A mess”
It was raining heavily on the way home from work and unfortunately they forgot their umbrella and therefore, when they got home their hair was a mess.

Question 2

烏賊, 鰞, いか, イカ

Answer 2

Ika (Squid).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “Eek a…”
Imagine a squid being scared by a sperm whale or pilot whale or other predator, which causes the squid to squirt ink and say “Eek a…” before swimming away and muffling the sound of the rest of its sentence, which would have involved the predator.

Question 3

梅干し, 梅干, うめぼし

Answer 3

Umeboshi (Dried plum).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - Umbridge from Harry Potter.
She was a cruel character who had a dry personality and similarly to Hagrid calling Mr Dursley an Dried up Old Prune, he would likely have called Professor Umbridge a Dried Plum or something much, much worse.

Question 4

笑顔, えがお

Answer 4

Egao (Smile).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “Eager”.
When you are eager to do something or feeling euphoria towards something you are eager to do you smile. Imagine smiling really big about something you are really keen to do in the future.
Someone is smiling so much because they are so eager to do something e.g. go on holiday to the Lake District.

Question 5

美味しい, おいしい

Answer 5

Oishii (Delicious / tasty).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “Oh I shouldn’t eat it!”
Imagine yourself eating your favourite dish, which you find delicious. Now think about becoming full and wanting more but saying “Oh I shouldn’t eat it!” and then backing down and eating more because it is so delicious.

Question 6

南瓜, かぼちゃ

Answer 6

Kabocha (Pumpkin).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “Kabo - Carve.” “Cha - chains saw.”
Imagine trying to carve a pumpkin with a chain saw. Bits of pumpkin are flying everywhere and the face of the pumpkin is starting to look less and less neat and more like a mess and pile of pumpkin innards, which luckily can be used for shaggy hair.

Question 7

気をつけて

Answer 7

Kiwotsukete (Take care / be careful).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “keep watch!” - “Kiwotsu” “kete / ete”
Someone is telling someone that they need to keep watch! because they need to be careful and take care because there is someone with a machete (…ete) on the lose!
There is a danger of being stabbed by a lunatic with a machete and therefore, someone is telling their friend to be careful/take care (kiwotsukete) and their method is to tell them to keep watch (kiwotsu)!

Question 8

下さい, ください

Answer 8

Kudasai (Please / please give me).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “Could I sigh?” (Kud a sai - Could I sigh).
A stressed student asking an exam instructor during an exam if they could sigh and let out a deep breath without receiving repercussions. “Could I sigh?”

Question 9

ケーキ

Answer 9

Keeki (Cake).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - Cake.
Sounds like some kids yelling in excitement about receiving slices of cake. “Yay…Keeki!”
Imagine a group of kids all cheering for cake. “Keeki!” Imagine their smiling faces and the eagerness to eat and taste the cake.

Question 10

はい

Answer 10

Hai (Yes).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “High”.
Imagine a jumping competition and someone tells one of the contestants, who are doing very well - “Yes you can jump very high!”

Question 11

侍, さむらい

Answer 11

Samurai (Samurai).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - Samurai.
Warrior from Japanese. Know the word from lots of examples of programmes, films, etc.

Question 12

白熊, しろくま, シロクマ

Answer 12

Shirokuma (Polar bear).
Mnemonic -
Sounds like - “Kuma sounds like come.”
Imagine a mother polar bear telling her baby polar bear to Come here - “Shiro come here.” “Shirokuma.”