Easy Japanese. Samuel E. Martin

      Introduction

      This little book will have you talking Japanese in no time at all. Each lesson presents a few of the most common features of the language in sentences which are short, easy, and immediately useful. The first thirteen lessons show you there is a lot that can be said with just a word or two. The later lessons introduce more variety and explain a few of the fine points. I have tried to keep the sentences short but colloquial, abrupt but not rude. Each lesson contains first a number of PHRASES; these should be memorized. There is only one way to learn a language, and that is to TALK it. As soon as you have memorized a phrase, START USING IT. Once you know how to say “hello” and “goodbye” in Japanese, never let a Japanese hear you use English in those situations. Japanese are pleased to hear you talk their language, and the more you talk it, the better you will get along. After the phrases, there is some material for PRACTICE. These are short conversations made up entirely of the phrases you have learned in the lesson (or in preceding lessons). Each of these conversations is built around a rather simple situation; see if you can figure the situation out. Finally there are some TIPS to help you learn the material and to tell you a few other things helpful in talking with your Japanese friends. A key to the practice exercise is included at the end of each lesson. You should consult this only after you have tried to puzzle out the exercise without it. After looking at the key, go back and practice the exercise again. Try to get the situation in Japanese terms, not English ones.

      After the lessons, there is a basic vocabulary of some common Japanese words and their English equivalents. In this, the Japanese verbs are presented both in the polite present (-mas’) and the plain present (-u or -ru). When the two forms would come close together in alphabetical order, they are given on one line; in other cases, you will see two entries. You will find it useful to get a copy of the author’s forthcoming BASIC JAPANESE CONVERSATION DICTIONARY. This dictionary, in addition to a Japanese-English part, includes 3000 common English words with their Japanese equivalents in both Romanization and Japanese writing.

      At the end of the book there are some charts of Japanese writing. When you have finished the lessons, you may want to learn to read some of the simple symbols you see on the signs around you.

      The Japanese is presented in a modified version of the Hepburn romanization. Most of the consonants are pronounced about as in English, the vowels as in Italian: a as in father. e as in met or yes, i as in marine or macaroni, o as in solo or Pogo, u as in rule or Lulu. These vowels are shorter than our English vowels; the long varieties (marked ā, ō, ū, ii, and ei or ē) are a little longer and tenser than the English sounds like them. In everyday speech, many final long vowels are shortened. The apostrophe (as in s’koshi arimas’) represents a short u or i which is suppressed in ordinary speech. The tongue is pushed farther forward (against the teeth) for Japanese t, d, and n than for the English sounds. The Japanese r may sound like a combination of r, l, and d to you. Your English d (if you say it very quick) is probably the closest. But don’t mix it up with a Japanese d! The Japanese g never has the “soft” j - sound as in gem or gin; it is either “hard” as in get or gift or it has the “ng” sound in sin ger. If you have trouble with the “ng” version, forget it and use the “hard” g everywhere. The n which comes at the end of a word sounds a little bit like a weak “ng” instead of a full-fledged n; try to imitate this if you hear the difference.

      If you want to find out more about Japanese, get a copy of the author’s complete textbook ESSENTIAL JAPANESE. This explains the grammar in more detail and gives many additional examples. You might like to continue your study of Japanese with that book when you have finished this.