Learn Japanese

Japanese (spoken) is one of *the* easiest languages you can learn. There are some rules to learn, but they are very easy and have very few exceptions! -Pronunciation- Japanese has five vowels in the following order (with pronunciation):
A - the "a" sound as in "saw" (but don't hold the sound so long)
I - the "ee" sound as in "knee" (once again, don't hold it so long)
U - the "oo" sound as in "spoon" (ditto on the length of the sound, in fact, some words in Japanese sound as if the “U” isn’t there at all)
E - the "e" sound as in "net"
O - the "ow" sound as in "grow" (you know the drill)

-There are NO exceptions to these pronunciations. Sometimes, you'll hold the sound longer or shorter, but that's it. You can tell with English, people mess up pronunciations of words, like: karaoke, sake, and kamikaze. Before we start speaking, let me introduce some words that we'll use.
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-anata [ah-na-tah] - you
-watashi [wah-tah-shee]- I, me
-hon [hohn]- book
-neko [neh-koh]- cat
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In Japanese, many words have "markers" after them called particles (or postpositions). It's a strange concept but way easy to get used to. In this lesson, we'll talk about the particle "no." One of the meanings of this is to show possession. Let's look:

anata no hon - your book
watashi no neko - my cat
Leiko no neko – Leiko’s cat
Now, we'll make some sentences that translate into English as "to be." What is "to be"? It's that verb that somehow transforms into "am," "are," and "is."

One of the meanings of "to be" is equality, Little = Small, like in the sentence “Little is Small." Here are words we'll be using this lesson:
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-kore [kor-ay] - this
-namae [nah-mai]- name
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First, let's make an example sentence with words you already know:
Watashi wa Leiko desu. - I am Leiko.
Whoa, back up a minute! What's with the extra words? Wa? Desu? "Wa" is another little word like "no" (Lesson 1). "No" shows possession and "wa" shows the grammatical subject. The word before wa is the subject. In my stupid example, watashi comes before wa, so watashi is the subject. Get what I’m saying…? ^-^;;

"Desu" is a very strange word to English speakers. It is a word you put at the end of a "to be" sentence to affirm the sentence. You might be thinking "Wha?" Simply put, this makes the sentence "I am Leiko" as opposed to "I am not Leiko." We'll learn more on this later… o.O;

More examples:

Kore wa hon desu. - This is a book.
Anata wa neko desu. - You are a cat.
Watashi wa neko desu. - I am a cat.

Now let's combine Lesson 2 with Lesson 1:

Kore wa anata no hon desu. - This is your book.
Watashi no namae wa Leiko desu. - My name is Leiko.
Kore wa watashi no neko desu. - This is my cat.

The Quick Japanese Word Guide
These are words commonly seen in anime:

Arigatou [ah-ree-gah-to] - Thanks. The full wording is arigatou gozaimasu [go-chah-ee--mah-soo].

Bishojo [bee-sho-joe] – Japanese for a pretty young girl.

Bishonen [bee-sho-nen] - Japanese for a handsom young boy.

Chisai [chee-sah-ee] - Small, Little, Tiny.

Domo [doh-moh] - From the Japanese, meaning "very much".

Dozi [doh-zee] - From the Japanese, literally meaning "klutz".

Dozo [doh-zo]- If you please; please proceed.

Gomen Nasai [go-men nah-sah-ee] - I'm Sorry.

Hai [hah-ee] - Yes.

Hashi [hah-shee]- Chopsticks.

Iie [ee-eh] – No.

Itadakimasu [ee-tah-dah-kee-mah-soo] - Roughly translates to: Let's Eat.

Katana [kah-tah-nah] – A sword with a traditional, slightly curved blade of about 3 feet in length.

Nani? [nah-nee] - "What?" Can also be used out of surprise or confusion.

Neko [neh-ko] - A cat. Can be used in conjunction with a girl or boy to describe half-human, half-cat.

Sumimasen [soo-mee-mah-sen] - "I'm Sorry"

Name Status Additions:
-Chan [chahn] - Suffix meaning darling or little one, young female friends, small animals or children. (Example, Ayame-chan, Suzume-chan)

-Sama [sah-mah] - Lord. Used when addressing people of utmost respect when addressing or when referring to gods. (Example, Sesshoumaru-sama)

Numbers: ichi – 1, ni - 2, san – 3, shi – 4, go – 5, roku – 6, shichi – 7, hachi – 8, ku – 9, ju - 10