Archive by Author
The Big Numbers Posted by Ginny on Apr 13, 2009
We’re gonna learn how to count the big numbers: 1,000 : せん 2,000 : にせん 3,000 : さんぜん 4,000 : よんせん 5,000 : ごせん 6,000 : ろくせん 7,000 : ななせん 8,000 : はっせん 9,000 : きゅうせん 10,000 : いちまん 20,000 : にまん 30,000 : さんまん 40,000 : よんまん 50,000 : ごまん 60,000 : ろくまん 70,000…
Japanese Age Posted by Ginny on Apr 10, 2009
In English, you state the number of years that you are, and attach the phrase “years old” or “year old” to the number to state your age. In Japanese, it works much like the same way, expect that there are some pronunciation changes that some of the numbers go through. The suffix sai (さい) means…
Japanese Minutes Posted by Ginny on Apr 7, 2009
Before I list the minutes, pay attention to the endings of each minute. I’ll explain why later: 1 : いっぷん 2 : にふん 3 : さんぷん 4 : よんぷん 5 : ごふん 6 : ろっぷん 7 : ななふん 8 : はっぷん or はちふん 9 : きゅうふん 10 : じゅっぷん If you look carefully at the…
Japanese Companies In the U.S. Posted by Ginny on Apr 5, 2009
I think most people take it for granted when it comes to the products they use. I’m willing to bet that everyone has at least one item made by a Japanese company. We’re going to play a little game today. Try to guess the company by the logo: Bandai (バンダイ): They’re known for their toys…
Japanese Time Posted by Ginny on Apr 3, 2009
If you want to say it’s one o’clock, just add the number one and ji (じ). Here are some examples: 1 : いち. 1 o’clock : いちじ. 2 : に. 2 o’clock : にじ. 3 : さん. 3 o’clock : さんじ. 4 : よん or し or よ. 4 o’clock : よじ. Note: only よじ will…
Japanese Baby Names Posted by Ginny on Mar 31, 2009
You’ll find that Japanese names that end in certain syllables tend to be names for boys while others tend to be names for girls. Take for example, names that end in roo (郎). Names that end in roo (郎) tend to be names for baby boys. Taroo (太郎) = eldest son. Ta (太) = big. …
Japanese Castles Posted by Ginny on Mar 30, 2009
Like the medieval castles of Europe, the castles of Japan were meant to be a fortress against attacks. The general term for castle is shiro (城), but when the word for castle is a proper noun, the word castle is pronounced as joo (城) is attached. For example Chihaya castle would be pronounced as chihayajoo (千早城)…