Our
free Japanese lessons are an online adaptation of of the
Defense Language
Institute, Foreign Language Center's Japanese Headstart.
This Free online
Japanese language program
includes 8 lessons Each lessons includes vocabulary (a
listing of Japanese words introduced in the lessons), practice drills (in
which you will learn to use Japanese expressions),
dialogues
(to which you first listen and in which you then play the role of a
foreigner conversing in japanese) as well as one or two self-evaluation quiz (by
which you check your progress). This Japanese
course includes around 8h of
audio
(MP3 format).
About
the course
The
Japanese Headstart
Program can help
make your stay
in Japan rewarding by
providing essential language
skills and
cultural information.
Unlike traditional "textbook
Japanese" this
course
focuses on the
kind of practical,
everyday Japanese
you will
need to go
shopping, ask directions,
or ride
the subway.
The
program is
designed to be
challenging and stimulating, and it
can be fun.
It
is a
self-instructional
course. You are
urged
to study the
course materials at
your own
pace. There
should be no
time limits except
those you set
for finishing each of
the lessons and
the whole course.
Although
the lessons
are numbered, you
are encouraged to study
the first six
in any order
you choose. Lessons
7 and
8 should
not be attempted
before you have
mastered lessons
1 to 6.
About
the language
No
attempt
is made in
the Headstart Program
to analyze the grammar of
the Japanese language.
However, you should
be aware of some
of the important
differences between Japanese and
English:
1.
The
Japanese language has
no words
for "a," "an,"
and "the." For
example, "a building"
and
"the building" are the
same in Japanese.
2.
Often
no distinction is
possible in Japanese
between singular and plural.
For example
"building"
and "buildings" are the same
in Japanese.
3.
The
Japanese equivalents of
"I,"
"me,"
"you," and other pronouns are
often left out
of Japanese sentences.
One must listen carefully listen to the
sentence in context
to understand what
is being discussed.
4.
Sometimes
the Japanese subject
of a sentence
is understood
but not
expressed. When the
subject of a
sentence is
expressed, it is
almost
always the first
word in the sentence.
The verb is
almost always the
last word in
a sentence.
5.
In
Japanese there is
no difference in
word order between a
statement and a
question. When the
Japanese want to
ask
a question, they
add the word
ka at the
end of a
statement. The
word ka
is one of
several small
words in
Japanese (others
include wa,
ga,
o,
te,
de,
no,
and ni) called "sentence particles." They
are used in
Japanese sentences
to indicate
the functions of particular
words within sentences.
For example, both
wa
and ga indicate
that the
preceding word
is the subject
of a sentence.
o
indicates that
the
preceding word is
a direct
object. To learn conversational Japanese,
it is not
necessary to study
these particles
because they
are sometimes
omitted in
everyday conversation.
For this
reason, some sentences
introduced in the lessons
are given with
particles left
out.
6.
The
words are, kore,
and
sore are
pronouns for things: are
refers
to things at
a distance from
both the speaker and
the listener; kore
refers
to things near
the speaker, meaning
"this one" or "this
thing"; sore
refers
to
things near the listener,
meaning
"that one" or "that
thing."
(photo
by Kate Nevens used
under terms of Creative Commons license.)
The
program is divided in 8 lessons:
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