Pre-Lesson A

Question 1

What’s the difference between hiragana, katakana, kanji, and ro-maji?

Answer 1

Kanji are Chinese characters, and each one has a specific meaning. Many kanji have multiple meanings and can be read different ways.

Hiragana and katakana are phonetic characters derived from the more complicated kanji. They each represent a sound and do not have meaning by themselves.

Ro-maji are roman letters in the Japanese language.

Question 2

How do you pronounce the normal vowels: a, i, u, e, and o?

Answer 2

a: ah as in father
i: ee as in see
u: oo as in zoo
e: eh as in men
o: oh as in boat

Question 3

ie

Answer 3

house

Question 4

iie

Answer 4

no

Question 5

obasan

Answer 5

aunt

Question 6

obaasan

Answer 6

grandmother

Question 7

ojisan

Answer 7

uncle

Question 8

ojiisan

Answer 8

grandfather

Question 9

kyoutsuu

Answer 9

common

Question 10

satou

Answer 10

sugar

Question 11

heiwa

Answer 11

peace

Question 12

yasashii

Answer 12

kind

Question 13

otousan

Answer 13

father

Question 14

sensou

Answer 14

war

Question 15

isogashii

Answer 15

busy

Question 16

roku

Answer 16

number six

Question 17

rokku

Answer 17

rock (music)

Question 18

uta

Answer 18

a song

Question 19

utta

Answer 19

sold (past tense verb)

Question 20

mata

Answer 20

again

Question 21

matta

Answer 21

waited