Beginners on 9/22/08

Today we had about 15 students.

What we did today:
(1) Hiraganas（ひらがな） あいうえお　かきくけこ　さしすせそ
Katakanas（カタカナ）アイウエオ　カキクケコ　サシスセソ
*And we also learnt some vocabulary which use these letters, for example: あい(love)、あか（red)、あお(blue)、あさ(morning)、けさ(this morning)、すし(sushi)、さけ(sake)、うそ(a lie)、せかい(the world)　etc.

(2) Review of the last class:
　　AはBです。
　　AはBですか。
　　はい、（Aは）Bです。
　　いいえ、(Aは）Bじゃありません。

(3) particle "の"
わたしのなまえ＝my name
わたしのせんもん= my major
たけしのせんもん=Takeshi's major

の is an equivalent to " 's" in Takeshi's.
Although in English, the pronoun "I" changes its form to "my" to express possession, in Japanese, "わたし"(=I) never changes its form, and you simply add "の" to express possession, just as you do with a person's name (like "Takeshi's").

にほんごのクラス(=Class of Japanese language=Japanese class) (Here, の is an equivalent to "of").

だいがくのがくせい (=a student of a university/college =a college/university stutent)

Homework
1. Practice and memorize "あいうえお　かきくけこ　さしすせそ" and "アイウエオ　カキクケコ　サシスセソ"
2. Review the exercises we did in the class today.
3. Start learning new vocabulary in Lesson 1 in the textbook.
4. Listen to the audio resource I sent you last week, and repeat/practice pronunciation as many times as you can.

See you next week~

beginners on 9/15/08

Today we had a surprisingly big number of students ... as many as 23 people!
I admit that I was quite a bit surprised, but of course I was at the same time very glad to know that so many people are interested in Japanese culture and learning Japanese!

In today's class we looked at:
(1) some Japanese greetings such as "おはようございます”, "こんにちは” and "ありがとうございます”, and then
(2) Hiraganas, and
(3) the first most important sentence pattern "AはBです"(A wa B desu), and its question form "AはBですか"(A wa B desuka)", together with "Yes/No" answers to that question.

Next week we will start from reviewing some hiraganas and the first sentence pattern.
Although we couldn't do speaking exercises very much today, I hope we can do more and more of speaking exercises from next week.

Homework:
Please start learning vocabulary of Lesson 1 of the textbook "Genki I".
I have sent you some audio files to help your self-study, so please make the most of them!
If you haven't received these audio files from me, please email me. Thank you!

Total beginners class on 9/8/2008

Today we had just one student.
We need more students (at least two more students) to continue this class, so I hope we will have more next week!
According to the ACC staff, there are 16 students who registered for my Japanese class this semester... where are they??!!

Today we learned Hiraganas, its pronunciation principles (and exceptions), and some essential greetings in Japanese. It was a very nice class, since Miya (the student who came today) is a very good learner.

Beginners on 4/8

　Today we had 4 students and 1 observer (Sachi-san, who is going to substitute my class from next week or the week after the next on).

What we did today:
(1) Review of Adjectives conjugation
(2) すきな／きらいな（=to like/to dislike)
(3) degree expressions for adjectives
　　とても＝very　　　　ex) とてもさむいです = It is very cold.
　　ちょっと=a little　　ex) ちょっとさむいです= It is a little bit cold.
　　あまり…くないです／じゃありません = not...very much　ex) あまりさむくないです = It is not cold very much.
　　ぜんぜん…くないです／じゃありません=not...at all ex) ぜんぜんさむくないです = It is not cold at all.
　　大（だい）すきです／大（だい）きらいです=like (it) very much/ dislike (it) intensely
(4) Brief explanation of 「～ましょう」（=let's～）
(5) Brief explanation of counting 「70円（えん）切手（きって）を２枚（まい）」「本が３冊（さつ）あります」
　　The most important thing you should remember here for now is that in Japanese,
　　COUNTERS (and NUMBERS) usually come after the noun.
　　Compare these: Give me two 70-yen post stamps. vs. 70円切手を２枚ください。
　　There are three books on the desk. vs. 机（つくえ）の上に本が３冊あります。

(6) Exercises p.109 IV-A. ～がすきです／きらいです
(7) Exercises p.109 IV-B どんな映画が好きですか
(8) Additional/advanced exercise: Using IV-B exercise as a base, we tried to expand the conversation a little: we supposed that one person of the pair wants to ask the other person for a date, and tried to make conversations like this:
　　A:　どんなたべものが好きですか。
　　B:　日本料理（にほんりょうり）が好きです。
　　A:　そうですか。大学（だいがく）の近（ちか）くにおいしい日本料理レストランがありますよ。
　　　　今週末（こんしゅうまつ）、いっしょにいきませんか。
　　B:　いいですね。いきましょう。
In this case... the person A was successful to have a date!

That's it for today.

I told the class today that today was going to be my last class and I will ask a friend Sachi to take over my class from next week till the end of the spring term (29th).

But after some second thoughts I changed my mind and I will try to make it for the next class as long as I am still around. So NEXT WEEK (15th) is going to be my last class. Please try to make it!


　

Beginners on 4/1

Today we had 5 students.

What we did today:
(1) Review of the last class: Conjugations of イ-adjectives and ナ-adjectives
(2) Exercises p.106 I-E, p.107 I-F
(3) Exercises p. 107 II-A, B, C, and p.108 II-D
(4) Exercises p. 108 III-A and p. 109 III-B
(5) Exercise from Workbook (Pair work)

Homework:
(1) Review and Practice (!!) what we did today
(2) Continue to learn vocabulary in Lesson 5
(3) Read p.102 (Genki I) on Grammatical Explanation of 好きな and きらいな

It is most likely that I can teach only 2 more classes before my baby comes. So please try not to miss any classes!

Beginners on 3/25

Today we had 3 students - it seems that everybody is too busy these days. But I appreciate the efforts of those who are keeping up with the classes in spite of their busy schedules.

We moved on to the new lesson (Lesson 5) and started learning adjectives and their conjugation patterns today.

What we did today are:
(1) Introduction of Adjectives

In Japanese, there are two kinds of adjectives: イ-adjectives and ナ-adjectives.
It is important to regard these two as two different grammar items, as their conjugation patterns are quite different.

イ-adjectives
ex) おもしろい（=interesting)
　　　　　　affirmative　　　　　　　　　negative
present　　おもしろいです。　　　　　　おもしろくないです。
past　　　 おもしろかったです。　　　　 おもしろくなかったです。

＊Note that I have introduced to the class the pattern in the footnote of the textbook (p.101), instead of the other pattern on p.100. It is because this footnoted pattern is easier to use (easier conjugation) and it is actually more useful in a way that you can make a short (casual) form just by dropping "です" from the sentence. (Ex. （この本は）おもしろい。おもしろくない。おもしろかった。おもしろくなかった。）

＊Conjugation Rules:
Rule 1): present → past　CHANGE い TO かった
Rule 2): (present) affirmative → negative CHANGE　い　TO くない
Rule 3): present negative → past negative CHANGE　い　TO かった　（おもしろくない→おもしろくなかった）

＊Note that "です" in these sentences above is not a be-verb but just an additional/supplementary verb which adds politeness. Therefore it doesn't change its form in any sentence.

＊The most important thing for you to realize here is that イ-adjectives are a kind of verbs, and it needs to conjugate regarding the tense and aspect (=affirmative/negative).

ナ-adjectives
ex) しずかな（=quiet)
　　　　　　affirmative　　　　　　　　　negative
present　　しずかです。　　　　　　しずかじゃありません。
past　　　 しずかでした。　　　　 　しずかじゃありませんでした。

＊Note that I have introduced the same conjugation pattern as the principally-introduced pattern in the textbook (not the footnoted one). This is because I want you to think of the ナ-adjective sentence as a "be-verb sentence".
Compare these sentences:
ゲイブはがくせいです。　　　　　　　　　この町（まち）はしずかです。
ゾランはがくせいじゃありません。　　　　この町はしずかじゃありません。

昨日（きのう）は月曜日でした。　　　　　
　　　　　おとつい、この家（いえ）はしずかでした。
昨日は日曜日じゃありませんでした。　　　
　　　　　昨日、この家はしずかじゃありませんでした。パーティがありました。

As you can see here, in he ナ-adjective sentence, it is actually "です" part that conjugates, just like in the 「～は [noun] です」sentence we have learned in the past. Please note that you need to drop な when you use it in these polite-form ナ-adjective sentences. (The fact is that "です" in ナ-adjective sentences is a conjugated form of "な".)

＊Note that here, in ナ-adjective sentences, です changes its form according to the tense and aspects. Compare it to イ-adjective sentences in which です doesn't change its form.

(2) Exercises
Textbook p. 105 I-A, B, C, and D

Homework:
(1) Review today's class and PRACTICE adjective conjugations. Play with these new adjectives and make sentences of your own using them, when you are taking a walk, or having a shower, etc.

(2) Learn the new vocabulary (especially adjectives) in the Lesson 5.

(3) Listen to the audio files of GENKI I Lesson 5 available online (See the BOOKMARK), and practice your pronunciation.

Beginners on 3/18

We had 4 students yesterday, and we finished Lesson 4.

What we did yesterday are basically review exercises of Lesson 4.

(1) Review exercises of "past tense conjugation of verbs", by Michiko asking various questions to each student about what they did during the spring break:
*New expressions
1： ～中（ちゅう）＝during～　　
ex1: はるやすみ中＝During the spring break
2: ～の間（あいだ）＝duing～　
ex2: はるやすみの間=During the spring break

**Cf. AとBのあいだ=between A and B [a word to indicate a certain period] のあいだ＝during [that certain period]

- はるやすみ中、どこへ行（い）きましたか。(Where did you go during the spring break?)
- はるやすみの間、だれと会（あ）いましたか。(Who did you see during the spring break?)
- はるやすみ中、日本語（にほんご）を勉強（べんきょう）しましたか。
- はるやすみの間、おいしいものを食（た）べましたか。
- はるやすみ中、デートをしましたか。
- はるやすみの間、何（なに）をしましたか。
etc.

(2) Review Exercises on the textbook (Genki I) p.92 VII-B
(3) Pop quiz (of Lesson 4 vocabulary)
(4) Dialogue (p.72-73) pronunciation practice → We recorded each student's conversation. (I'll send the audio files to those who attended yesterday's class.)

Homework
(1) Review of Lesson 4
(2) Study (Read) the p.100-p.101 (Grammar explanation of Adjectives)
*Read all the explanation including the notes on p.101.
(3) Start learning new vocabulary in Lesson 5.

In our next class, we are going to move on to Lesson 5. I am aiming to finish Lesson 5 before we close this spring term, so please study hard!!

Beginners on 3/4

Yesterday we had 3 students.

What we did yesterday:
(1) 「も」＝「は」(topic marker) ＋too/also

ex. 1　　たけしさんはコーヒーを飲（の）みます。
　　　　ロバートさんもコーヒーを飲みます。(Robert also drinks coffee.)
　　　　（＊ロバートさんは　→　ロバートさんも）

ex. 2　　ロバートさんはコーヒーを飲（の）みます。(Robert drinks coffee.)
　　　　ロバートさんはお茶（ちゃ）も飲みます。 (Robert drinks tea, too.)
　　　　（＊お茶を　→　お茶も）

ex. 3　　メアリーさんはうちで勉強（べんきょう）します。
　　　　メアリーさんは図書館（としょかん）でも勉強します。(Mary studies at the library, too.)
　　　　（＊図書館で　→　図書館でも）

ex. 4　　あした、メアリーさんはたけしさんに会（あ）います。
　　　　あした、メアリーさんはロバートさんにも会います。(Tomorrow, Mary is going see Robert too.)
　　　　（＊ロバートさんに　→　ロバートさんにも）

＊Note: 「は」「が」「を」have to be just replaced with 「も」(=×「はも」、「がも」、「をも」), but 「に」「で」(and all the other markers except for 「は」「が」「を」) cannot be omitted and you need to add「も」to such markers (=「にも」「でも」).

(2) Exercises textbook (GENKI I) p.90 VI-A and p.91 VI-B

(3) Dialogues of Lesson 4 (pp.72-73) : Listening comprehension and pronunciation practices

(4) Review Exercise p.92 VII-A


Homework
(1) 2 Worksheets (to practice the use of 「も」and to review word order and particle/markers).
I gave these worksheets to the three students who came to the class yesterday, but I forgot to leave them at the ACC for those who were not at the class --- sorry!

(2) Review of what we did yesterday

(3) Master all the vocabulary and grammatical items we have learned in Lesson 4 by the next class. (I'm aiming to finish Lesson 4 in the next class.)

Important Notice: We don't have classes next week (3/11) due to IU's spring break.
See you the week after next!（じゃあ、再来週（さらいしゅう）！）

Beginners on 2/26

Yesterday we had 5 students. 　（昨日(きのう）は生徒（せいと）が５人（にん）でした。）　

What we did yesterday are:
(1) 「～の時（とき）」＝At the time of ～
「こどもの時」「高校（こうこう）の時」(or「高校生（こうこうせい）の時」「大学生（だいがくせい）の時」etc.
　　　　　　↓
　This is a useful expression when you want to talk about habits/what you used to do in the past.

Ex.) 子どもの時、よく本（ほん）を読（よ）みました。（I used to read books often as a child.)
　　高校生の時、よくデートをしました。(I used to date a lot as a high school student,)
大学生の時、あまり勉強（べんきょう）をしませんでした。(I didn't study very much as a university student.)

　*Also take a note to the expressions such as 「よく／ときどき～ました」and 「あまり／ぜんぜん～ませんでした」。

(2) Exercise p. 90-V (Genki I)

(3) Sentence of Location 「[thing] は [place] です。」(←This is a simplified form of 「[thing]は[place]にあります。」In this simplification, 「です」functions as a substitute verb for 「にあります」.）

Ex.) 図書館（としょかん）は、大学のとなりです。(The library is next to the university.)
　　　 大学は、病院（びょういん）の向（む）かいです。(The university is opposite to the hospital across the street.)

(4) Exercise p.85 II-A (Genki I)

(5) Pronunciation practice of Lesson 4 Dialogue I (p.72)

(6) Exercise of asking a stranger on the street a location of something, based on the dialogue I on p.72

(7) Exercise p.85 II-B

(8) Pronunciation practice of Useful Expressions on p. 94 (locations) and p.95 (Day/Week/Month/Time reference)

That's it.

Next week, we are going to study and practice the use of "も" as in a sentence like "コーヒーも飲（の）みます」.
Please review/practice what we did in the class, continue to learn vocabulary, and read Genki I pp.81-82.

Please don't forget that "Practice makes perfect"!!!

Beginners on 2/19

Yesterday we had 5 students, and we mainly focused on practicing the past tense verb conjugation (making affirmative/negative sentences and question sentences using the past tense verbs).

What we did are:
(1) Exercise p.88 IV-A (review of the last class)
(2) Exercise p.88 IV-B (including how to say the days of the week such as Monday（げつようび）, Tuesday（かようび）, and so on)
(3) Exercise p.89 IV-C (practice for making questions and negative form of past tense)
(4) Exercise p.89 IV-D (practice for asking questions regarding "what"（なにを）"when"（いつ）"where"（どこで）)
(5) Exercise p. 89 IV-E (Pair Work - free conversation)


Homework
(1) Review of the class
(2) Continue to learn vocabulary of lesson 4
(3) Listen to the audio materials & Practice/brush up your listening and pronunciation skills
(4) Prepare for the next class: Read the Grammar explanation section of the textbook (Genki I), Item No. 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 (pp. 78-82)

See you next week